The objects which can be examined by aid of this instrument are many in number, and can be readily prepared by simply inserting them between two pieces of glass, sufficiently small to slide in the opening l l, and pasting bits of brown paper over the edges to hold them in place.
In this manner the legs of flies and mosquitoes, the heads of the latter with their venomous sting; hairs of the dog and cat, also from the human head; tiny sections of human skin; down from the butterfly’s wing, obtained by dusting off a few of the tiny particles upon a glass plate; the pollen from different flowers; spores of the puff-ball and tiny grains of dust, all make very interesting subjects for study, when magnified and thrown upon the screen in the darkened room.
One of the most interesting experiments with this form of the magic lantern is made by throwing the image of a drop of some solution, like sulphate of copper, upon the screen, and watching the process of its crystallization; sulphate of copper and of iron; hyposulphite of soda, which latter may be colored by adding a very little permanganate of potash to the solution.
The eels in a drop of vinegar, drops of stagnant water, and the larvæ of the mosquito are also interesting objects, when viewed by the aid of this powerful magnifier.
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SEA-MOSSES.
No boy who has lived on our coast, or, indeed, who has spent much time near the sea, could have failed to notice and admire the beautiful feathery mosses which sway about so gracefully under the surface of the water. The most delicate mosses are not found upon the open sea-beach, but in the more sheltered bays and inlets near the coast, and one who has never given them especial attention cannot fail to be impressed by the great variety of form and color to be found within a small space of water. Ranging in color from the palest pink or straw to the deepest purple or brown, and from the lightest sea-green to the darkest shade of olive, they are capable of being arranged in most beautiful bits of coloring, while the delicate, fine specimens, united with the coarser varieties, add to the effectiveness of the whole. To gather and arrange these mosses is not as difficult a task as most people imagine. Any boy can, with a little care, make a fine collection, which would be valued very highly by some inland friend who cannot reach the sea-shore every year, or perhaps not more than once or twice in a lifetime. If any of you, my boy readers, have any such friend, do not fail to collect a quantity of the mosses common to the waters near you, and arrange them on cards for their preservation. In gathering your mosses have an old tin can filled with water in the bottom of the boat, and after detaching from the stones, throw them immediately into the can. When you get home they can be left in the can of salt water over night, if you have not the time to attend to them at once; or they may be put into a basin of fresh water, and left for awhile to wash away the salt and sand that remains on them. When they seem perfectly clean, take two or three carefully up on a bit of paper and throw them into a basin of clean water.
Now the delicate part of the process is reached. Have a number of square pieces of unglazed paper at hand—ribbon paper is very good for the purpose—and thrust them carefully into the water under the bit of moss you desire to take out. With a long, slender darning-needle carefully arrange the tiny filaments, so that they shall form a graceful composition, and raise the card carefully from the water. It is not necessary to exercise as much care with the coarser “silver mosses,” as their more wiry branchlets naturally assume graceful positions, and the water flowing from the surface of the card does not so easily disarrange their positions. When all the mosses have been taken up on cards, fasten each to a table or shelf to dry. This is done by driving a pin through one corner of the card into the edge of the shelf or table, and allowing it to remain undisturbed until both the moss and paper are perfectly dry. They may now be mounted upon cards prepared for the purpose, and their names, with the locality where they were found, neatly written beneath; or they may be preserved in a case or frame.
