184 
THE NATURALISTS’ COMPANION. 
not recommend it. It is often very 
difficult to blow humming-birds’ eggs, 
the shell being so fragile and suscepti¬ 
ble to break. This difficulty may be 
surmounted by painting the egg with 
a strong solution of ginn arabic and 
water, which must then be left to diy 
on the egg; you will be surprised to 
see how much this strengthens an egg. 
To brighten eggs, rub a little of the 
white of the egg on them. 
A pair of climbers tv ill be found al¬ 
most indispensable; they range in 
price from one to three dollars. 
Always have a little note book in 
which you write name of bird from 
Tvhich each egg in your collection is 
taken, also size of egg, when and where 
found, name of collector linding it, also 
any remarks about nests or peculiari¬ 
ties about eggs. You have thus an 
interesting account about each egg 
that is in your collection. 
I have noticed a veiy simple but ef¬ 
fective method for measuring eggs. I 
take it, as it is, from an ancient num¬ 
ber of one of our amateur papers. 
‘^Take a small board (four inches 
square will be sufficient), draTv a line 
across the centre and at even distances 
from the line place pins or pegs, as 
shown in the diagram. 
. • -g■> 
.-I; .T 5 
.-i; .50 
.—.0/ 
To measure, place your egg length¬ 
wise upon the centre of this and run it 
along until the ends come in contact 
with the pins; the ligures at the pins 
Tvhich are touched give the width of 
the egg. Then repeat with the egg 
sidewise TVhich will give the length.” 
One more final hint and I will be 
done. Alwa3'S keep your cabinet in 
first-class order, and blowing utencils 
clean and bri ght. 
To Our Readers. 
With this number tvc have completed 
the first volume of the Naturalists’ 
CoMPAKioN. It has been our aim to 
make this magazine worth}" the sup¬ 
port and patronage of every naturalist 
in this broad land, and it has also been 
our aim to give our readers their mon- 
eT’’s worth of good reading and to aid 
them in their studies of the grand 
works of Nature. We did not venture 
the publication of our magazine in the 
view of a mone^-making, scheme but 
with a view to educate ourself and add 
to our knowledge of natural history. 
We have succeeded far beyond our 
expectations, both financially and oth¬ 
erwise, and, b}' the many flattering 
compliments bestow^ed on us bv our 
readers, Tve feel that the}- too are high¬ 
ly pleased with the magazine. If one 
wishes to note the advancement which 
our magazine has made during the 
past 3^ear, let him la}' side b}' side No. 
1 and No. 12 . Is there not a vast dif¬ 
ference V 
During the year just past, many 
new papers on natural sciences have 
appeared, and lo ! how' many have van¬ 
ished V When we note these occurances 
Tve feel heartily thankful that we have 
so safel}' passed through our first vo}*- 
age on that perilous sea of journalism, 
