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 illustration 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 butterfly
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.

[Illustration: 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
foo