THE SPECULUM. YoLUME A.—No, 7. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, Micu., JUNE Io, 1891. WHOLE No. 53. 2 The Student Labor System in Agri- cultural Colleges—A Symposium. FRES, GEO. T. FAIRCHILD, KANSAS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, In presenting a few thoughts upon the labor system, as connected with courses of study in agricultural colleges, it is fair to pre- sume that its advantages are great, from the fact that the most notably successful of such colleges have adhered to some such system in spite of numerous obstacles to its adoption and more difficulties in maintaining it. This presumption is strengthened by the fact that a large majority of trained thinkers who have had the advantages of such a system favor some form of the system in plans for their own Work in managing such courses. Some of these advantages may be very briefly suggested. Not the least is the cultivation of respect for energetic effort and consequent appreci- ation of the actual toil needed in every kind of life. Another is the encouragement given to readiness in any undertaking with- out reference to the amount of physical energy required. When the routine of life includes such labor, toil anywhere seems easier to undertake, and muscular exertion is a pleasure rather thana hardship. Better still is the spirit of usefulness gained—the best possible incentive to an energetic and philanthropic life. Nothing is better to develop this spirit than actual use of one’s power in youth upon the obviously useful work of the world. Again this helps to develop that practical judgment which makes the efficient man in every calling. The decision of character which is brought by judgment exercised in labor where the results can be at once perceived is most sound, All these are general in their nature, connected with such work anywhere. There is another class of advantages growing out of an evident adaptation of such a system to an outline of study. The sciences are real as they contemplate nature with reference to humanity. The differ- ence between truth and fancy appears in the effort to apply the generalizations of science. The student who works out problems in the art of moving things to accord with nature’s laws is in the best possible condition to appreciate accurate observation and correct reasoning. not only better applied, but is more really science from this actual relation to the handling of things which concern our life. Science 18 The arts of life are absolutely dependent upon some such training and continuous occupation, since, not only knowledge, but dexterity and skill are essentials. These will never be gained except by definite coupling of elementary efforts with the hands to the acquirement of knowledge by thought. I believe that the efficient observ- ers in our experiment stations taken from the ranks of those who have had such train- ing, owe not a little of their efficiency to this union of thinking and doing. I know that many difficulties stand in the way of gaining these advantages, and can not say that anywhere a perfect system has been reached. It often happens that unnec- essary friction between officers and students, or carelessness, or intention upon the part of the students, or conflict of interests among the students themselves may prevent their taking interest in the work. Sometimes a traditional opposition is cultivated without reason, and careless management interrupts the even progress. Often the toil seems too prominent and the dexterity and skill little Lo4 THE SPECULUM. thought of. Sometimes the very expense of overseeing such a force as the system implies, stands in the way of justice to the system. Indeed, it will always require a rare talent in those directly responsible for such work to adjust these requirements to the abilities and opportunities of students. In spite of all this it seems possible to ad- just methods to the actual accomplishment of the ends in view with varying success accord- ing to the ingenuity exercised. There must be study to contrive real work that will fill the daily routine and, if possible, show the actual proceeds of such labor, and to make the students feel that they return an equiva- lent for what they receive, and receive an equivalent for what they give. Such work is wisely graded for reputation’s sake, and if the college has a system of marking in intel- lectual duties it is well to extend it to the labor. Above all, responsibility must be cultivated to the utmost so that strict busi- ness rules apply to the every day action. At the same time the managers of such labor ate obliged to consider the personal charac- teristics of those under them, and keep upper- most the less evident results of labor in the students themselves. The driving foreman who can work a gang to the greatest effect- iveness is likely to overlook the chief end of such training; and on the other hand the easy going foreman fails to develop the genuine energy which makes a large part of the usefulness of the system. It is wise to keep up a mutual interest between the teacher and the overseer of the labor. When they can be the same person, the highest efficiency is gained in the adjust- ment of thought to effort; and the faculty in such an institution needs to cultivate that unity of spirit that upholds both sides of the training. The best of judgment is needed in adjust- ing the amount of labor required to the peculiar circumstances under which the sys- tem is operated. Whether three hours or one hour a day is sufficient will depend wholly upon circumstances. With a proper understanding of the objects to be gained, ordinary wisdom will devise the plans and the extent. The “will and the way” will come together anywhere. PROF, § T. MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICUL- TURAL COLLEGE, The question of manual labor in our agricultural colleges is one that has re- ceived much thought and caused much discussion, still the problem seems unsettled in most of them. In some, manual train- ing is made compulsory, while in others, the skill and training received by the stu- dents in the use of tools and in the methods of growing and handling farm products, de- pend upon the inclination or necessity of the student. In the first case if the method of instruc- tion consists of a repetition of ordinary work with ordinary tools, and without special in- struction as tothe reasons for the various methods of doing the work, it becomes irksome and of little value, and the students soon learn to dislike and avoid the exercise, and perhaps lose their enthusiasm for the chosen calling and get switched off to some- thing more entertaining. If, on the other hand, new methods are discussed and tried, new implements used and a variety of work presented, interest will be awakened; the students instead of being driven from the farm are more and more attracted toit. Many a young man who has entered college with the idea of becoming a farmer has been led away to what seems at the distance to be the more attractive calling because the manual labor system was not made attractive. In all of the most important and success- ful industrial schools and colleges of the country, the fundamental idea is to give their graduates a thorough knowledge of the sciences relating to, or necessary for, success in their calling, making the application of laws and principles to the materials and THE SPECULUM. 105 forces employed in their various callings of the greatest importance, until they become masters of their trades or arts. This is illustrated by the schools of mines, of civil and railroad engineering, of electricity, of mechanics, of carpentry and other industrial technical schools. Here the practical application of the principles of the related sciences is made equally important with the text book study of the sciences themselves and all students must become familiar in a practical way with the materials, forces and implements used in their calling. In other words they must become skilled and intelligent work- To obtain advanced positions imme- diately after graduation, which is the aim of most young men who attend industrial schools and colleges, full and thorough training is required and most of the young men are fitted for such remunerative posi- tions upon graduating from most of these schools. men. This practice it is claimed may be some- what at the expense of a broad and well rounded educational foundation for life’s duties. But the time devoted to the study of elementary principles, if illustrated by their application to the forces and mate- rials of any industrial or even professional calling, will result in greater progress than where the science and the practice are taught separately, so that more real pro- gress will be made and even more ground be covered in a given time. It may be claimed that more skill and training in the manipulation of the tools and machines of other industrial arts are re- quired than in agricultural pursuits, but if one will only consider the special skill and judgment necessary in the breeding and care of our domestic animals, in the growth of farm and market garden crops, in. the cultivation of fruits, or in the care and successful growing of vegetables and flowers under glass, it will be seen that the suc- cessful men in any of these branches are those wh9 possess great skill and judgment that is only obtained by constant and ear- nest effort, and that such effort and skill are as liberally rewarded in agricultural pursuits as in any other. Agriculture, which is the most complicated of all of the arts or indus- tries of man, requiring a knowledge of a greater number of the natural sciences than any other, isno exception to the conditions which exist in other industries, and if in all other industrial schools and colleges it is found that practice must go hand in hand with the study of the sciences from the book, it follows that the best results will also be obtained in those agricultural colleges where manual training is an important part of the curriculum. Asarule the curriculum of our agricul- tural colleges is so much crowded, and nec- essarily so, that the time for the completion of the prescribed course is far too limited. We are trying to make specialists and well rounded, liberally educated citizens in the time allowed in many technical schools for the mastery of only one or two sciences and their application to a narrow field of employment. It seems, however, impossible, with the tendency of the times to run to specialties, to extend the course to more than four years, and our efforts must be directed to the bet- ter preparation of our students in the pub- lic and preparatory schools, and to the most thorough and practical work in the short time allowed, relying upon the manual training during the course to illustrate the principles and make practical the sciences involved and thus gain the requisite skill and broad education in the shortest time. The broad-minded, liberally educated agriculturist, who spends his time in con- tact with nature, has always been a power for good in this country and the world, and everything possible should be done to fit our students for success in this calling and to preserve and foster that love for the work that will keep them upon the farm andshow 106 THE SPECULUM. them the great blessings of thew inde- | age, the time for doing this soon goes by, pendent calling. PROF, THOS, SHAW, ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL * COLLEGE, Thisis confessedly a most difficult question While nearly all those who have studied it are agreed that some labor should be done by students attending these colleges, there is by no means a concensus of opinion as to the amount of it that will best serve the intended end, as to the best mode of distributing it, and as to the amount of the remuneration that should be given for it. There is no doubt in the mind of the writer that labor should at the present time be required, to some extent, from students who take a full course at these colleges, for the reason, (1) that unless they do some manual labor it will soon become distasteful to them, (2) that they will not become more efficient in performing it, and (3) that its health-producing and health-sustaining ef- fects will so far be lost. When manual labor ceases to be per- formed altogether a habit of the system is induced which makes it difficult to take it up again, hence the young men thus situated begin to look about for a situation in some other line of life. Turning their footsteps away from the high vantage ground which agriculture furnishes for distincticn and pre- ferment, they go down into the arena of the professions or to some lower level,.and bury themselves in that broad plane of obscurity where there 1s scarcely room even for the graves of the unambitious dead« They feed all their days upon the dry husks of medioc- rity, when otherwise they might have eaten the bread of distinguished attainment while laboring within the domain of agricu!ture— a science, the height and depth and length and breadth of which have not as yet been measured by any measuring line of man. Unless the young man who intends to farm is diligent in acquiring the art of per- forming manual labor well at the proper and, like the snow which melted at the close of last winter, it never comes again. I hold it as greatly important that the man who is to live by farming should himself be a mas- ter in the performance of the manual labor required there, and that he who is to direct manual labor on the farm, will do so more efficiently if he is able to perform it better than any man in his employ, nor does a pro- fessor of agriculture form any exception to this remark. To be able to apply brain- power to the performance of manual labor in its minutest details, either in the individual himself or in those whom he employs, is one of the highest attainments of the farmer. It is the ability todo this which makes the chief difference in the quality of the manual labor performed. It is no doubt the explana- tion of the fact that one man, both in the quantity and quality of the work which he does, comes up to a high standard every time, while another man of equal physical strength is in both of these respects provok- ingly deficient. In the one instance we have the result of the directing power of mind on muscle so constant in its exercise, that eventually the power to do manual work well becomes an inwrought habit. In the other, we have the result of the outgoing of muscle in action about as mechanical in its movements as though it constituted a part of an inanimate machine, ; The effects of manual labor upon the health of the student are very beneficial when it is properly regulated. Otherwise these effects may be equally baneful. In respect to health, under proper conditions, it will prove more helpful to young men than even college games of an athletic char- acter, for the reason that in the former instance, exercise is taken in a moderation that is helpful, while in the latter it is fre- quently of so violent a character that its influences are hurtful. In relative impor- tance there need not be any doubt as to which of these attainments the precedence THE SPECULUM. 107 should be given, for surely no one will be found so supremely foolish as to say that the end of being is better subserved by ability to kick a foot-bali well, than by ability to turn over a splendidly laid plough furrow. Let all the young men therefore, who attend our agricultural colleges, regulate their ambition accordingly. Since, then, one object of manual labor at agricultural colleges is the maintenance of health, it is clearly wrong to ask the stu- dents to perform any work that will either prove prejudicial to the health or that will hinder study. This would exclude some kinds of labor from the list, as thresh- ing and chaffing dusty fodder. That man has not yet been found since the world beyan, who can thresh for half a day and then go to his study and do efficient work. I know that old and well-meaning farmers will feel inclined to say, “Make the lads work, and let them have it as it comes,”. but old and well-meaning farmers even can easily make themselves appear. ridiculous by what they say. It does not nece-sarily imply a cowardly spirit on the part of a ‘young man who desires to avoid the per- formance of any kind of work that will hin- der his success in study, and the performance of such work should not be asked of him, W hile it is des'rable that students in reg- war attendance shou'd labor to some extent at least, one class of students may, and should be admitted, of whom this should not be required. I refer to those who come from farm homes, with the object of taking lectures only in certain lines of agriculture, or in some of the sub-divisions thereof, There is not much danger that these young men will lose their love for manual labor. In the fact that they have chosen a special course we have a sufficient guarantee that they are determined to equip themselves in the furnishings that relate to a. department of agriculture which they have already decided to follow with a fixity of purpose from which they will not be turned aside. Labor with them should be optional, and because optional it should go without remun- It should not be the aim of agricul- tural colleges to take in hand raw recruits and turn them out proficients in doing farm work within the limited time usually allotted to the college course. Indeed it cannot be done. . It cannot be done, first, for the reason that the time is too short. A man may become expert in performing labor in some branch of mechanics in from two to three years but he cannot in the infinitely wider field of agriculture. It cannot be done, second, since the raw material referred to usually comes from the cities, or from lines of life not much acquainted with hard bodily labor, Such persons are therefore to some extent incapable of readily taking up with manual labor, since they have never pos- sessed those habits of labor which at an early age become as it were an essential. part of the existence of a farmer’s boy. No young man should be permitted to take a regular course at an agricultural college, who has not spent at least two years at the every day work of the farm. Anyone who graduates with honors from such a sifting process is likely to make a good agricultural student and also a good farmer. eration, The amount of labor required at our agri- cultural-colleges should not, if possible, be allowed to hinder the progress of the -stu- dént in his studies. I would be disposed to fix this amount at four hours per day, every alternate day, and to say that it should always be rendered in the afternoon. This enables the student to attend lectures in the forenoon when the physical powers have not become jaded with toil. It gives him the latter portion of every alternate afternoon to spend at games or in the gymnasium, and also prevents him from losing that love for farm labor without which the average indi- vidual will not succeed as a farmer. More than four hours of labor at one time may so exhaust the physical powers that the effort to study in the evening thereafter will prove 108 THE SPECULUM. Se kr a failure. Those who have any doubt on this point have only to go down into a gravel pit on a wintry afternoon and shovel gravel for four or five hours in succession, and then try to study the remainder of the evening, to be convinced of the correctness of this assumption. Were it not for the hindering effects of hard daily toil upon the activity and efficiency of the thought of the farmer, no class of men in the world would be able to stand before the farmers. The farm is beyond all question the best place in the world for strength of brain-production, but it does not occupy the position which it should for brain development, and for the reason just given. Anything, therefore, in the line of physical labor, that hinders brain- development at an agricultural college should be avoided. The distriéution of labor at these colleges is a difficult question. It is felt more at those of them which have no summer term, To find labor which will profitably employ all the students of an agricultural college in the season is no light task, and to furnish labor that will enable them all to change in a regular and unvarying succession from one department to another is still more diffi- cult, as some departments require more help than others. This difficulty will increase with the lapse of years, for, as those go by, there will be a great increase in the attend- ance of students, if our agricultural profes- sors quit themselves like men. When the wild seething prejudices of the farmers as to the non-utility of agricultural colleges shall have subsided by casting into them the salt of common sense, there will be an influx of students to these colleges such as the world has never thought of. When the graduates shall go back again from these colleges to the farms and beat their neigh- bors at practical farming—and shame on them if they fail to do this—there will then not be room to accommodate the students at these colleges, much less will there be opportunity to provide a proper distribution of lubor for them. In the meantime it 1s important that the farmer student be allowed to give much attention to carpen- tering and blacksmithing where the facilities admit of this. The question of remuneration is one of ever-growing difficulty. The teachers of the future will have to grapple with it more and more. When that better day comes, and it is sure to come, which will find the farmers as enthusiastic in support of agri- cultural colleges as they are indifferent now, it is more than probable that paid labor will of necessity have to be abolished altogether. With one thousand students at an agricultu- ral college, what could be done by way of finding employment for all of these on a single farm? Why should this be looked upon as an incredible thing? Is the world to swing on and grow hoary and die with- out any agricultural millennium? The col- ‘lege faith that does not look for this is no faith at all; the professors who do not toil for this are no professors at all; and the stu- dents who do not labor for it are no students atall. Why, if one farmer father in Mich- igan out of every one hundred were willing that his farmer boy should be given a chance in the great race of life with those who are making for the professions, you would have more than one thousand agricultural stu- dents at Lansing to-day. It is very clear then that the question of the payment of student labor will one day become so burdened with difficulties as to lead in all probability to its abolition. In the meantime let the students in regular attendance both labor and get pay for it, according to its worth, no more, no less. It should be paid on the basis not of what other students get, but of what it would cost to get it done by the ordinary laborer. The variations in the amount given should be sharply drawn. The lout, whose labor consists in motion without progress, should be paid accord- ingly. Those who elect to be inefficient should get a similar amount, and those who THE SPECULUM. 109 are inefficient without design should get pre- cisely the same. They should all share and. share alike, that is they should get nothing. This is the only form of payment that would be just to these, for, if they were taught nothing else by it they would be taught this, that they had very probably chosen the wrong calling. On the other hand the young man who labors faithfully and effectively should be well paid. Labor, special in its nature, and of more or less permanency in its character, should have no place at our agricultural colleges, especially if such labor is paid. It is a form of discrimination unjust to those students not so employed, and its effects cannot but be baneful. Labor that is performed for the sole pur- pose of receiving instruction should not be paid. The payment of such labor would put a bonus on learning that would be wrong in principle and demoralizing in its tendencies. The little attention that this important fea- ture of outdoor work receives at our experi- mental farms is at once a weakness and a want. It can only be remedied by increased provision for giving instruction and by mak- ing it obligatory that those requiring it attend upon it. When instruction in the college and on the farm are what they ought to be, then will our farmers be con- vinced by the results that there is a differ- ence between the man who takes up his life work furnished with all that the agricul- tural colleges can give him and the man who is not so furnished, A Brief History of the Microscope. —— ¥. H. LOWE, FHI DELTA THETA FRATERNITY. Like many other instruments used in sci- entific investigation the early history of the microscope is wrapped in obscurity. Not even its discoverer or the date of its discov- ery are positively known, but as its simplest form consists of a single lens made of glass or some highly refractive material, it is not un- reasonable to suppose it may have existed even before the Christianera. Indeed wehave more reason than this to believe in its exis- tence among the ancients, for in the writings of Aristophanes, we read that “ burning spheres” were sold in the market places as early as 400 B.c. Seneca, a writer in the first year of the Christian era, is credited with having first observed that small, indis- tinct objects appear larger when viewed under a glass globe filled with water. Pliny also mentions the burning properties of lenses made of glass, and Ptolemy shows that he had some knowledge of the principles of microscopical construction, for he uses the word refracting in his work on optics. No importance, however, was placed on the microscope as an instrument of investigation until the thirteenth century, when Roger Hacon, the celebrated discoverer of his time, astonished the people of Oxford by the rev- elations of his wonderful glass. For some reason no one seemed inclined to experiment in this line, and so the pages of history con- tain nothing more in regard to the micros- cope until the sixteenth century, when it appeared in the compound form, that is, sup- plied with two or more magnifiers. Again there is considerable doubt as to whom the discovery is due, but the weight of opinion seems to be in favor of Hans Zansy or his son, Zacharias Zansy, both of whom were Dutch spectacle makers. Their instruments are described as being six feet in length, con- sisting of a copper tube about six inches in diameter supported by a brass pillar on a base of ebony which was so arranged as to hold the object to be viewed. With the foundation of the Royal Society in 1660, begins a new era in microscopical science. The early volumes of the Trans- actions “ literally teem” with descriptions of new instruments and improvements in the old. Inferior to none of its time was the microscope constructed by Robert Hooke, who appears to have been one of the earliest ilo THE SPECULUM. contributors. His paper on “ The Physio- logical Description of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses,” has been styled one of the wonders of the day. His instru- ment consisted of three lenses properly adjusted in a frame. To this frame was attached a globe filled with salt water and placed directly in front of a lamp, the pencil of rays being received by a_ plano-convex lens, placed with its convex side toward the globe, thus condensing the pencil upon the object. Hardly had the excitement over Hooke’s triumphs subsided before Leeuwen- hoek, the Dutch microscopist, made known the results of his labors. So wonderful his discoveries, so simple the microscope used, that the world has never ceased wondering » at his genius. His instruments were of his own invention, and consisted of a single double-convex lens placed between two silver or brass plates perforated by a small hole before which a movable pin sup-— ported the object to be examined. Each instrument was adapted to the study of one particular spec'men, hence the inventor often had a large number at one time. Leeuwen- hoek’s success with the simple microscope brought that instrument into great favor and for some time experiments with the com- pound form were dropped. Prominent as improvers of the single lens microscope are the names of Malpighi, Lieberkuhn, who, by means of his attachment for viewing vague objects, made many important discov- eries in the cons‘ruction of the mucous mem- brane lining the alimentary cana', Swam- merdam the botanist, Lyonnet, and Ellis. To Eustachio Divine we are indebted for the discovery of a certain combination of lenses termed doublets, which consist of two plano-convex lenses placed so as to touch each other in the middle of their convex sur- faces. “ This instrument,” it is stated in the Philosophical ‘Transactions of 1688, “hath this peculiar, that it shows the objects flat and not crooked, and although it takes in much, yet nevertheless magnified extraordin- a = arily.”. The subsequent improvements of John Herschel, David Brewster, Mr, Cod- dington, Dr, Wollaston and others gave us the forms in use at the present time. No further important improvements in the compound microscope are recorded until 1812, when Sir David Brewster devised a method whereby both simple and compound microscopes were rendered achromatic. Mr. Brewster's method is described by Quekett as follows: “Starting with the principle that all objects, however delicate, are best seen when immersed in fluid, he placed an object on a piece of glass, and put above it a drop of some kind of oil having a greater dispersive power than the single or concave lens, forming the object glass of the micro- scope.” The lens was then made to touch the fluid, so that the service of the flu'd was, as it were, formed into a concave lens, and if the radius of the outward surface were such as to correct the dispersion, we should have a perfect achromatic microscope both simple and compound.” The experiments of Professor Dr. Goring and Mr. Cuthburt upon the achromatic objec- tive resuited in bringing that instrument into greater popularity than it had ever known before. In 1530, Dr. Joseph Lister published his observations on cei tain proper- ties of achromatic combinations, which had before been unnoticed. The principles and results obtained by Dr, Lister enabled him to form a combination of lenses capable of transmitting a pencil of 50 degrees with a large field correct in every portion. These improvements have resulted in raising the compound microscope from its primitive and comparatively useless condition to that of being the most important instrument in the hands of the investigator of nature. Asnice, Of morerecent improvers in the microscope the names of Powell, Ross, Smith, Beck and Zeiss of Europe and Zeutomayer, Spen- ser, Bosch, Lomb and Bullock of— the United States are prominent. THE SPECULUM. ITI SCIENTIFIC. ENTOMOLOGICAL WORK. The rapid increase in work and workers, owing largely to the establishment of exper- iment stations in the several States, through government aid, is rapidly developing new facts in both economic and scientific ento- mology. Itis gratifying to know that our own college, and especially our several graduates, are taking no mean place in this important field of research. Important facts regarding kerosene emulsion have been de- veloped at our college, as exemplified in Bulletin No. 73, recently issued. The most desirable formula for this important insecti- cide, both as to the perfection of the emul- sion, and to ease of forming it, originated here. Professor Gillette, now of Colorado, has shown that this valuable insecticide 1s a specific in the treatment of the various species of lice that attack our domestic animals—the horse, hog and cattle—and also the ticks that are so serious a disturbance in sheep hus- bandry. The use of the arsenites to protect against the ravages of the codling moth, was first proved effective and safe at this college. It was here that they were also proved to be safe, even though stock were pastured in the orchard during the time of spraying, in case the spraying were properly done, It was here that late spraying was first shown to be more harmful than early. It is well know. that the arsenites, especially London purple, are often quite injurious to foliage. Professor Gillette has discovered that by use of strong line water or Bordeaux mix- ture instead of pure water the injury is much lessened, so that these substances are safe, even when used on the peach. Professor Gillette has also shown that white arsenic is almost entirely safe to use on fruit trees, so far as injury to the foliage is concerned, if used as soon as mixed, while the same gen- tleman has proved that with delay it is even worse than London purple to blight the fol1- ce rea age. Prof. C.M. Weed has tried the arsen- ites with considerable appearance of success in preventing the ravages of the plum cur- culio. Others have not succeeded so well. Should Mr. Weed show how the curculio can be held in check by the use of London purple or Paris green, he will doa very val- uable service. Mr. Weed was one of the first to try the copper compounds in con- nection with the arsenites, thus combining our best insecticides and fungicides, and de- stroying insects and fungi at one and the same time. Professor Gillette has shown that old, worthless pyrethrum can be partly if not wholly restored by grinding, and was the first to use pyrethtum and the kerosene emulsion together, by using a decoction of pyrethrum instead of water in making the emulsion, This substance was also used by Piofessor Menke, of Arkansas, who was the first to publish the fact. Professor Menke’s experiments, however, were made by Mr. G. C. Davis, in the cotton-fields of Arkansas, This pyrethro-kerosene emulsion was found by Mr. Davis to be superior to the emulsion alone. That kerosene emulsion will destroy plant-louse eggs, as well as plant-lice, was first found out at this-college. .As the viber- num plant-louse, the plum plant-louse, etc., etc., so speedily cause the leaves to roll, this discovery is doubly important. Such early spraying is not only more effective, but is applied more easily and economically, and as it may be safely used in more con- centrated form, there is added another ele- ment of success. This college was first to show, a year ago, that tobacco decoction is a preventive of the terrible destruction of the cucumber flea beetle, which is so great a pest tothe potato grower, as well as the general gardener. Professor Gillette has discovered and described several new insects, and is be- coming our first authority in the Family Cynipida, or four-winged gall flies, Mr. Ward has worked out the life history of sev- eral insects, before unknown, and is doing excellent work in the group of arachnoids a THE SPECULUM. —- a = TT knownas harvest men, or grandfather gray- beards. Mr. Weed has also described many new parasitic insects. Mr. J. C. Duffy has also worked out the life history of some very minute and interesting insects, which bear very closely on economic entomology. Mr. Duffy has charge of the practical entomology at the Missouri Botanic Gardens at St. Louis. Prof. L.H. Bailey has invented a spraying nozzle which promises to be very conven- ient, TWO COMMON SPIDERS. Much has been written about the common garden spider, Epeira vulgaris, the well known member of that large family of spiders, the Epeirede. Although the family is a large one the members are so much alike that each bears all the general marks and pursues much the same kind of industry as the others. On almost any bright day in spring or summer they can be found busily at work on their webs, which are often of enormous proportion, sometimes ocvering the whole side of a shrub or stretching between two bushes several feet apart. They are reddish- yellow in color, marked on the upper side of the large abdomen with dark lines that have been compared with the cross of St. Dennis. If you are fortunate enough to be on the spot just before the spider begins the con- struction of its new home, you may find it on the branch of some shrub making pre- parations to begin work. A silken thread is soon put forth and, being caught by the slightest breeze, is carried to a neighboring branch to which it clings. Carefully fasten- ing the first end the spider cautiously tries the thresd to see if it is strong enough. Being satisfied that itis she crosses to the other end, fastening in turn tothe branch on which it has caught. Similar threads are stretched to neighboring twigs in such a way as to form a polygon. This done she returns to the line first thrown over and, stopping exactly in the middle, drops, head downward, hanging to a thread which divides the polygon exactly intwo. At the central point is fixed a fleck of silk which holds the rays diverging from it. ‘Che frame is now made but there is yet more to be done before the web is complete. Sticky threads are stretched from ray to ray, being attached to the fleck of silk in the middle and passing round and round from ray to ray and reaching clear out to the ex- terior. The work is finished by returning in a similar manner from the circumference to the center. Accidents often happen to the web of the epeira. A gust of wind, a falling branch, or the stroke of some bird’s wing may cause considerable damage. But the skillful spin- ner does not. seem at a loss to know what to do in a case like this, for in a very short time the broken threads wil be replaced and the whole web as good as new, When attacked the epeira holds itself in the middle of the web. If an insect strikes the net work it is soon completely entangled in the sticky threads attached to the rays. At the end of summer the female deposits her eggs in a cocoon made of different kinds of silk from that of which the web is con-. structed. The mother hides the precious bundle for she must die in autumn, leaving all to the mercy of herenemies. The voung spiders hatch the next spring, remaining together for a few weeks but finally sepa- rating to build new homes for themselves. Another spider with which we are all more orless familiar is the common house spider, 7egenaria domestica. Its desire for the warmth and protection afforded in the living room ofthe household is shown by the persistence with which the delicate webs are spun and respun in some upper corner of the room. Were it not for the large amount of dust which accumulates in the meshes the web would be pure white. This dust however does not seem to give the proprietor any concern for no effort is made to remove it. THE SPECULUM. 113 — a — The domestic spider is timid and so has a place of refuge which consists of a roomy hammock fastened beneath the web in such a way as to be easily accessible. The eggs are deposited in a silken cocoon, which is carefully guarded by the mother, who fre- quently goes without food for some time, remaining to protect her charge. When the young have hatched the half starved mother leaves them to take care of them- selves for a time while she makes a hearty meal on the flies caught in the web. This species is seldom found in hollows of old logs or in secluded portions of rubbish piles so frequently inhabited by other spe- cies. They prefer the shelter and protec- tion of houses where they are free from cold and storm. “ Insects and Insecticides ” is the title of a book just published by Prof. Clarence M. Weed of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture. Mr Weed graduated from this college in °53, and was appointed to the entomological experiment station at Colum- bus, O. He remained some years until ac- cepting the chair which he now holds in New Hampshire. Prof. Weed’s book is a practical manual of noxious insects and con- tains a comple'e list, with methods of applica- tion of insecticides, used in their destruction, It contains 276 pages, and is divided into six parts, treating of insects affecting larger - fruits, small fruits, shade trees, ornamental plants and flowers, vegetables, cereal and forage crops, and insect pests of domestic animals and the household. Seven full page plates and numerous cuts illustrate the sub- jects treated. . We quote the following from “College Reading” in the College Rambler: of what you read, to understand clearly why you like a book which pleases you. Analyze the author's mind, as he reveals it. Think over his hints as well as his full statements. Ey and by you will find more things that you can like, more that appeal to you. Some of your first favorites will have lost their attraction, some will be more pleasing, Hold fast to these last and continue reading and studying others.” "Try to see into the reasons: THE SPECULUM. PUBLISHED MONTHLY DURING THE COLLEGE YEAR, BY THE STUDENTS Or THe MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. ae 2 TERMS, 75 CENTS A YHRAR; SINGLE NUMBERS, 1g CENTS, ADVERTISING KATES MADE KNOWN ON APPLICATION. Ee All subscriptions will be regarded as continued, unless we are notified to the contrary. Lf this item is marked, your subscription is in arrears, THE MODERATOR. This superior educational journal and THe Specu- Lum will be sent to any address at §2 per year. Sn a BOARD OF EDITORS. ECLECTIC S0CIETY. K, L. Burren FIELD, - Editor-in-Chief, Literary Articles and Editorials, FHI DELTA THETA FRATERNITY, VY. iH. Lowe, - - - - oe OLYMPIC SOCIETY. H, W. Mumronn, = - UNION LITERARY SOCIETY. A, BR. Lock, - i. HESPERIAN SOCIETY. 5, C. Donporr, - « Colleres and Eachanges, DELTA TAU DELTA FRATERNITY. FRANK BAUEELE, . Science, College News, Personals, Athi eties. Business Manager. ~ Asst. Husiness Wanager. - Treasurer. W. A. Fox, J. E. Hixson, Sec, A, G. herywot. ns, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, JUNE 10, 1891. We call the especial attention of our read- ers to the articles in the literary department of this issue under the title of “ The Labor System.” They are written by men who have had much practical experience with the problem,and will be worth the careful perusal of all to whom the labor system has been a subject of thought. Tue loss of Dr. Durand from our faculty is in more than one sense a misfortune. His personal popularity among the students, his interest in all phases of student life, his wide range of culture, the fact that the Mechani- cal Department in a large measure has been built up around him and by him—all these make his departure to be regretted. We ean not help but ask, why should it be sor Liq THE SPECULUM. Why should we luse a man so thoroughly a part of our institution? WeE excuse the meagerness of the editorial column in this number, by saying that other matter in a measure crowds it, and also that there seems to be a drouth of material just at present. faculty appear to need no instructions (?); the Board silenced us by their recent kindly speeches in chapel; the legislature has not yet committed itsvlf sufficiently te bring down upon its head our-blessings or cursings. Such calmness of atmosphere does not induce rapid growth of the editorial grain. The fellows are doing well; the Fietp-Day, with its triumphs, glories, tin horns, sore throats, and magnificent home-coming has come and gone. M.