124 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
would advize our readers to study them 
closely, so as to familiarize themselves 
with the way they look. A better plan, 
however, is to take the actual objects 
them.selves, and examine them carefully 
under the microscope. Bubbles, in par- 
ticular, deserve very careful study. Pro- 
cure a little gum water and a few phials. 
In one shake the pure gum water up with 
air, place a little on a slide, and study tlie 
air bubbles. In another put some gam 
water and a little oil colored with alkanet 
root ; sliake them up, put a little on a 
slide, and study the globules of oil in 
water. Fill a third half full of oil, add a 
little gum water, shake the two together, 
and study the globules of Avater in oil. A 
course of study of this kind will prove of 
inestimable value. 
Something New in Entomology. 
LAST Sunday, as Mr. Jones was re- 
turning from church with his family, 
he discovered a new and singular-looking 
bug on his front door-step. As he was 
something of a scientist, he was pleased 
with the new specimen, and, forming his 
pocket-handkerchief into a sort of cage, 
he pounced down on it and succeeded in 
capturing it. 
"Bring the microscope, children," he 
called, "and tell your ma to hurry; I 
want her to look at it ; I'm sure it belongs 
to the Heniiptera class, and is anew si)eci- 
men. Here, Charlie, put your eye to the 
ocular side and tell me what you see." 
" Oh, pa, ain't it splendid ? It's got 
four wings, eight eyes, and, oh, my! ain't 
it a-sparkling 1 liougJi ? Ked and green 
and yellow, and— oh, it's getting away, 
ain't it pa ? " 
" Then it isn't dead ! " cried Mr. Jones, 
in ecstacy ; " I wasn't quite sure whether 
it moved or not. Let me look ! Yes, it's 
a terrestrial, I think, after all ; it belongs 
to the genus Pentoma— the antennas have 
that peculiar flexible look ; and jet, now 
that I look again, the eyes seem to indi- 
cate that it is a phytocoris, in which case 
it will be very destructive to your ma's 
plants, and we must kill it at once. I'll 
ask Professor Sill. It will be in any case, 
a Taluable addition to science. Maria, 
Where's the chloroform ? " 
"Up on the clock shelf; what are you 
going to do with it? " asked Mrs. Jones, 
who had been giving her undivided atten- 
tion to the luiby. 
" Kill this bug as soon as you have ex- 
amined it," answered Mr. Jones, in a 
lofty voice. "I shall present it to the 
scientific association — " 
"Well, I guess not, Mr Jones," broke 
in his wife, who was looking with much 
interest at the new specimen. "I paid 
$2 for that bug last week to wear on my 
new bonnet, and I must have dropped it 
off when I came in. It belongs to the 
genus millinerse, and couldn't be any 
deader if it had been baked for a century. 
Science will have to get along without 
it, Jones; it's already classified." Poor 
Jones. — Kr. 
Marvels of Pond Life— II. 
THE winter months are on the whole 
less favorable to the collection of mi- 
croscopic objects from ponds and streams 
than the warmer portions of the year; 
but the difference is rather in abundance 
than in variety, and with a very moderate 
amount of trouble, representatives of the 
principal classes can always be obtained. 
On a clear January morning, when the 
j air was keen, but no ice had yet skinned 
: over the surface of the water, a visit to 
some small ponds in an open field not 
far from Kentish Town provided enter- 
! tainment for several days. The ponds 
: were selected from their open airy situa,- 
' tion, the general clearness of their water, 
' and the abundance of vegetation with 
which they were adorned. Near the 
j margin confervas abounded, their tangled 
j masses of hair-like filaments often matted 
i together, almost with the closeness of 
la felted texture. At intervals, minute 
bubbles of air, with occasionally a few of 
i greater size, indicated that the complex 
processes of vegetable life were actively 
going on, that the tiny plants were deconi- 
posijag carbonic acid, dexterously com- 
bining the carbon— which we are most 
familiar vrith in thobla^^k o]\arjue form r)£ 
