First snow--3 inches Thanksgiving day

Skating--December 3rd

Weather clear and bright on Candlemas day, Feb. 2nd and therefore ground-hog saw his shadow

Heard crows cawing--Feb. 18th. Last year--Jan. 26th

Saw first robin--March 14th

Last snow--April 28th

There is scarcely anything in nature that is not interesting and in some way useful. Perhaps you will say "How about a bat?" As a matter of fact a bat is one of our best friends because he will spend the whole night catching mosquitoes. But some one will say "he flies into your hair and is covered with a certain kind of disgusting vermin."

Did you ever know of a bat flying into any one's hair? And as for the vermin science tells us that they are really his favourite food so it is unlikely that he would harbour a colony of them very long.

The subject of snakes is one in which there is more misinformation than any other common thing. There are only three venomous kinds of snakes in America. They are the rattlesnake, copperhead and moccasin.

All of them can be distinguished by a deep pit behind the eye, which gives them the name of "pit vipers." The general impression that puff adders, pilots, green snakes or water snakes are poisonous is absolutely wrong, and as for hoop snakes and the snake with a sting in his tail that all boys have heard about, they are absolutely fairy tales like "Jack and the Bean Stalk" or "Alice in Wonderland." We have all heard about black snakes eight or ten feet long that will chase you and wind themselves around your neck, but of the many hundreds of black snakes that a well known naturalist has seen he states that he never saw one that did not do its best to escape if given half a chance. Why so much misinformation about snakes exists is a mystery.

Nature study has recently been introduced into schools and it is a very excellent way to have the interesting things pointed out to us until our eyes are trained to see for ourselves. The usual methods of nature study may be roughly divided into, 1. Keeping pets. 2. Bird study. 3. Insect study. 4. Systematic study of flowers and plants. 5.

Wild animal life. The basis of nature study consists in making collections. A collection that we have made for ourselves of moths or flowers, for instance, is far more interesting than a stamp or coin collection where we buy our specimens. If we go afield and collect for ourselves, the cost is practically nothing and we have the benefit of being in the air and sunshine.

One kind of collecting is absolutely wrong--that of birds' eggs, nests or even the birds themselves. Our little feathered songsters are too few now and most states have very severe penalties for killing or molesting them. A nature student must not be a lawbreaker.

The outfit for a b.u.t.terfly or moth collection is very simple and inexpensive. We shall need an insect net to capture our specimens.

This can be made at home from a piece of stiff wire bent into the shape of a flattened circle about a foot across. Fasten the ring securely to a broom handle and make a cheesecloth net the same diameter as the ring and about two feet deep.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The cyanide bottle]

It is very cruel to run a pin through insects and to allow them slowly to torture to death. An insect killer that is generally used is called "the cyanide bottle." Its principle ingredient, cyanide of pota.s.sium is a harmless looking white powder but it is the _most deadly poison in the world_. Unless a boy or girl knows fully its terrible danger, they should never touch it or even breathe its fumes. One of your parents or the druggist should prepare the cyanide bottle for you and as long as you do not look into the bottle to watch the struggles of a dying bug or in any way get any of the contents of the bottle on your fingers, you are safe.

Take a wide-mouthed bottle made of clear gla.s.s and fit a cork or rubber stopper to it. Then wash the bottle thoroughly and dry it, finally polishing the inside with a piece of soft cloth or tissue paper. Place one ounce of cyanide of pota.s.sium into the bottle and pour in enough dry sawdust to cover the lumps of poison. Then wet some plaster of paris until it is the consistency of thick cream and quickly pour it over the sawdust, taking care that it does not run down the sides or splash against the bottle. Place the bottle on a level table and very soon the plaster of paris will set and harden into a solid cake.

Sufficient fumes from the cyanide will come up through the plaster to poison the air in the bottle and to kill any living thing that attempts to breathe it. As you capture your specimens of moths, bugs or b.u.t.terflies afield you place them into the bottle, and as soon as they are dead, you remove them; fold them carefully in stiff paper and store them in a paper box or a carrying case until you get home. They should then be mounted on boards or cork sheets, labelled carefully with the name of the specimen, date and place of capture and any other facts that you may wish to keep.

[Ill.u.s.tration: How insects are spread to dry them in a natural position]

Considerable skill is required to mount insects properly and in a life-like position. If they are out of shape you must "spread" them before they dry out. Spreading consists in holding them in the proper position by means of tiny bits of gla.s.s and pins until they are dry.

As moths are, as a rule, night-flying creatures the collector will either obtain them in a larval stage, or will adopt the method of "sugaring," one of the most fascinating branches of nature study. A favourable locality is selected, a comparatively open s.p.a.ce in preference to a dense growth, and several trees are baited or sugared to attract the moths when in search of food. The sugar or bait is made as follows: Take four pounds of dark brown sugar, one quart of mola.s.ses, a bottle of stale ale or beer, four ounces of Santa Cruz rum. Mix and heat gradually. After it is cooked for five minutes allow it to cool and place in Mason jars. The bait will be about the consistency of thick varnish.

Just before twilight the bait should be painted on a dozen or more trees with a strip about three inches wide and three feet long. You will need a bull's-eye lantern or bicycle lamp and after dark, make the rounds of your bait and cautiously flash the light on the baited tree. If you see a moth feeding there, carefully bring the cyanide bottle up and drop him into it. Under no circ.u.mstances, clap the bottle over the specimen. If you do the neck of the bottle will become smeared with the bait and the moth would be daubed over and ruined.

You will soon have all the specimens that you can care for at one time and will be ready to go home and take care of them.

The moths are among the most beautiful creatures in nature and a reasonably complete collection of the specimens in your neighbourhood will be something to be proud of.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Moth Collector and His Outfit (Photograph by F.W. Stack)]

The plant and flower collector should combine his field work with a study of botany. Like most subjects in school books, botany may seem dry and uninteresting but when we learn it for some definite purpose such as knowing the wild flowers and calling them our friends, we must accept the few strange words and dry things in the school work as a little bitter that goes with a great deal of sweet.

A collection of dried plants is called an herbarium. It is customary to take the entire plant as a specimen including the roots. Separate specimens of buds, leaves, flowers and fruit taken at different seasons of the year will make the collection more complete. Specimens should be first pressed or flattened between sheets of blotting paper and then mounted on sheets of white paper either by glue or by strips of gummed paper.

After a flower is properly identified, these sheets should be carefully numbered and labelled and a record kept in a book so that we can readily find a specimen without unnecessarily handling the specimen sheets. The sheets should be kept in heavy envelopes of manila paper and placed in a box just the size to hold them. The standard or museum size of herbarium sheets is 11-1/2 x 16-1/2 inches.

Specimens of seaweed or leaves can be kept in blank books.

A typical label for plants or flowers should be as follows:

Common names Yellow adder's tongue Date collected, May 16th, 1908 Dog tooth violet Botanical name Erythronium Americanum REMARKS: John Burroughs Family Lilies suggests that the name Where found Rockaway Valley near be changed either to Beaver Brook fawn lily because its leaves look like a spotted fawn or trout lily because they always appear at trout fishing season.

A boy or girl living in a section where minerals are plentiful, can make a very interesting collection of stones and mineral substances, especially crystals. This should be taken up in connection with school work in chemistry and mineralogy. To determine the names of minerals is by no means as easy as that of flowers or animals. We shall need to understand something of blow-pipe a.n.a.lysis. As a rule a high school pupil can receive a great deal of valuable instruction and aid from one of his teachers in this work. Mineral specimens should be mounted on small blocks or spindles using sealing wax to hold them in place.

There are unlimited possibilities in nature for making collections.

Sh.e.l.ls, mosses, ferns, leaves, gra.s.ses, seeds, are all interesting and of value. An observation beehive with a gla.s.s front which may be darkened will show us the wonderful intelligence of these little creatures. The true spirit of nature study is to learn as much as we can of her in all of her branches, not to make a specialty of one thing to the neglect of the rest and above all not to make work of anything.

We see some new side to our most common things when we once learn to look for it. Not one person in ten thousand knows that bean vines and morning glories will twine around a pole to the right while hop vines and honeysuckle will go to the left and yet who is there who has not seen these common vines hundreds of times?

No one can give as an excuse that he is too busy to study nature. The busiest men in national affairs have had time for it and surely we with our little responsibilities and cares can do so too. I once went fishing with a clergyman and I noticed that he stood for a long time looking at a pure white water lily with beautiful fragrance that grew from the blackest and most uninviting looking mud that one could find.

The next Sunday he used this as an ill.u.s.tration for his text. How many of us ever saw the possibility of a sermon in this common everyday sight?

IX

WATER LIFE

The water telescope--How to manage an aquarium--Our insect friends and enemies--The observation beehive

The eggs of so many insects, toads, frogs and other interesting creatures are laid and hatched in water that a close study of pools, brooks and small bodies of water will disclose to the nature student some wonderful stories of animal life. To obtain water specimens for our collection, we shall need a net somewhat similar to the b.u.t.terfly net described in the previous chapter but with a much stronger frame.

One that I have used for several years was made by the village blacksmith. The ring or hoop is of quarter-inch round iron, securely fastened to a stout handle and bent to a shape as shown in the drawing. To this ring is fastened a regular landing net such as fishermen use, with an extra bag of cheesecloth to fit inside to capture insects too small to be held by the meshes of the outside net.

For frogs, turtles, and minnows, the single net is all that is necessary.

This device is almost strong enough to use as a shovel. It will scoop up a netful of mud without bending. This is important as muddy ditches and sluggish ponds will yield us more specimens than swiftly running brooks. In addition to the net, the collector will require a small pail to hold his trophies. A fisherman's minnow bucket is excellent for this purpose and the water can easily be freshened and the contents of the pail reached by simply lifting out the inside pail from the water, which will drain out.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A heavy net is useful to capture aquarium specimens]

To study the animal life under the surface of a clear and shallow lake, a water telescope is a great aid. It is simply a wooden box a foot or so long and open at both ends. The inside should be painted black to prevent cross reflection of light. A square of clear gla.s.s should be fitted into one end and puttied tight to keep out the water.

To use the water telescope, we simply shove the gla.s.s end under water and look into the box. A cloth hood or eye piece to keep out the outside light will make it more effective. The best way to use a water telescope is to lie in the bottom of a boat which is drifting about, and to look through the telescope over the side. As you study the marvellous animal and plant life that pa.s.ses along under you like a panorama, see to it that in your excitement you do not fall overboard as a boy friend of mine once did.

The care of an aquarium is a never ending source of interest to the nature student. If a boy is handy with tools he can build one himself.

It is by no means an easy task however to make a satisfactory water-tight box with gla.s.s sides, and my advice is not to attempt it.

Gla.s.s aquaria may be bought so cheaply that it is doubtful if you can save any money by making one at home. If you care to try it, this is the way it is usually done:

Use a piece of seasoned white wood 1-1/4 inches thick for the bottom.

If you wish your aquarium to be, say, 16 inches wide and 30 inches long, this bottom board should be 20 x 34 to give a margin at the edge. The size of a home-made aquarium can be anything that you desire. It is customary to allow a gallon of water to each three-inch gold fish that will inhabit it. By multiplying the three dimensions, length, width and height of your box and by dividing your result, which will be in cubic inches, by 231 (the number of cubic inches in a gallon) you can tell how many gallons of water it will hold. Of course the rule for gold fish is not absolute. The nature student will probably have no gold fish at all. They are not nearly so interesting as our native kinds. Besides nearly all varieties of fresh water fish will either kill gold fish or if they are too large to kill will at least make life so miserable for them that to keep them together is cruelty to animals. If we keep in our aquarium the specimens that we collect in our neighbourhood, beetles, newts, crawfish, snails, and tiny sunfish the number may be greatly increased. Overcrowding however is very bad. The ideal we should strive for is not "how many specimens" but "how many kinds" we can have in our collection.

The white wood board should have three or four hardwood cleats screwed to the bottom to prevent warping. The corner pieces of our gla.s.s box may either be made of sheet copper or heavy tin, or of wood, if we cannot work in metals. The wooden strips and the bottom board should have grooves ploughed in them to hold the gla.s.s. All the woodwork should be given several coats of asphalt varnish and to further waterproof it and as a final coat use some kind of marine copper paint that is used to coat the bottoms of vessels. Never use the common white lead and linseed oil paint for an aquarium.