THE YOUNG 
to the floor. The base, whatever it may 
be, should be painted green, and covered 
with green moss and little branches of 
hemlock or pine. II: paint is objectiona- 
ble, green paper or cotton cloth may be 
used in place of the paint. 
The tree, when completed, should, be 
placed in a corner or the centre of the 
room, and have a white cloth spread 
under it, both to protect the carpet and 
to give brilliancy to the tree when the 
candles on it are lighted. 
Pieces of tin cut diamond shaped, and 
hung thickly among the branches of the 
tree, will add much to its appearance. 
Tinsel and gold paper may also be used 
with good effect. Gilded glass balls and 
pendants, that may be obtained cheaply. 
Bright colored ribbons and variegated 
prints may be made use of with effect by 
any ingenious young lady or gentleman. 
Indeed, when the tree is firmly set in 
place, the process of decoration may 
safely be left in the hands of the ladies 
of the household, who will, doubtless, 
make good use of all the advantages at 
, hand, not forgetting the all-important 
i Chinese lanterns, and the necessary wax 
tapers. 
It is pleasing and encouraging to see 
that both pulpit and press are taking up 
cudgels against that bane of our young 
folks: "Dime literature." A few Sun- 
days ago Dr. Crosby, in a sermon 
preached in his church, denounced the 
publication of the villainous stuff, and 
strongly advised parents to see that their 
children were provided with healthful 
reading. The following, which is taken 
from the New York Telegram, is to the 
point, and worth reproducing here : 
*' An interesting illustration of the man- 
ner in which dime novels act upon boy's 
brains has recently been given at Cleve- 
land, where a boy aged fourteen was the 
organizer of a secret society, to be called 
'The Society of the Silver Skulls.' The 
principles set forth by this delightful as- 
sociation included an unmitigated curse 
upon all those domestic and friendly re- 
lations which men hold dear, and the in- 
vocation of various appalling calamities 
upon whoever should prove a renegade. 
SCIENTIST. 373 
In the present age there is no reason why 
good and entertaining reading should not 
be furnished to boys and girls of all ages. 
Never has reading of this kind, intended 
especially for juveniles, so greatly 
abounded as at present. Never before 
have so many writers of talent, so many 
draughtsmen of skill and so many pub- 
lishers of respectability, backed by 
money, lent their aid to supplying chil- 
dren with reading matter of the first 
order. The class of 'literature,' there- 
fore, which comes under the denomina- 
tion of the dime novel ought to die. 
Those parents must be very unwatchful 
or extremely foolish who can allow their 
sons to pursue a course of reading the 
tendency of which is to arouse all the 
worst instincts and extinguish all the 
best. The Cleveland youth recently dis- 
appeared from his home, taking with him 
two revolvers. This looks as if he were 
going to join either the cowboys or the 
Indians, a little fraternization with whom 
would perhai)s dissipate his ideals." 
ODD NOTES. 
— Photography is one of the miracles, 
of modern times. The art has taken 
strides with its seven league boots since 
the time of Daguerre, who made a picture 
on a metal plate, which had to be turned 
and twisted almost out of shape before 
you could find what you were looking 
after. Lately pictures have been taken 
with such rapidity that forked lightning 
is compelled to strike a fasi er gait to keep 
up with tlie process. Dr. Koch tells us 
that he has photographed with a photo- 
micrograph ic camera that most minute 
filament, the flagellum of the bacteria. 
One might be satisfied with photo- 
graphing the bacteria as a whole, since it 
is beyond the reach of naked vision, but 
to take a picture of an insignificant por- 
tion of it is like getting up among fairy 
tales. Mr. Kockwood also has succeeded 
in getting satisfactory pictures of the 
vi})rating point in the diaphragm of a 
telephonic instrument while a person was 
speaking at it, and by means of a spark 
from Leyden jars. The work must have 
been done in the one twenty-four thou- 
sandth part of a second. This rapidity 
