5. "Don't overestimate the reader's knowledge and don't underestimate the reader's intelligence. He may not know as much as you do about this particular thing-let's hope not anyway--but otherwise he may be as bright as you are-let's hope so anyway."-Dr. Slosson. 6. Don't shoot in the air. Aim at somebody. 7. Don't forget to answer your reader's questions, 'Why?', 'What for?' or 'Well, what of it?' 8. Don't repeat; finish up each topic as you proceed. 9. Avoid qualifying your statements unnecessarily or too extensively. 10. Don't draw conclusions where there can be none. Don't go beyond the facts. Avoid sweeping generalizations. The Technique of Presentation The technique of presenting an article for publication should receive great care and consideration from every author, and no less from the great than the small. To do otherwise is to hinder the normal efficiency of an editor and results in waste of his time and his energy. A style manual is often provided to facilitate public printing. The Biologist needs no scheme which is quite so elaborate; however, it should have and does need a compilation of rules and suggestions to serve as a guide to chapter editors and active members who may submit material for publica tion. These rules should be distributed and filed so that they may be readily accessible to anyone who is concerned. They should be placed in a permanent file. If those submitting copy for publi cation will carefully observe the following suggestions they will contribute materially toward a better magazinc and a higher standard for The Biologist. The Copy 1. Copy should be typewritten always, and only the first sheet sent to this office, for the first sheets are much plainer than the carbons. 2. Copy should be sent flat, never rolled, pages numbered consecutively, and always complete under one cover if possible. 3. If a publication is composed of several parts each to be printed in separate numbers of The Biologist, a scheme of the desired arrangement should accompany the first installment of copy. 1. 2. Typographical Details Write on one side of the paper only. Always double space as this facilitates the printer in handling the copy. We have to rewrite single-spaced copy. This is expensive in money and time. 3. Use standard size typewriter sheets 811⁄2"x11". 4. Check for all typographical errors. Correct by drawing a line diagonally through the letter accompanied by the correct letter as example: "Cet" or as example: "sqhce program." Never mark over the outline of the original letter or word to correct an error. 5. Proper names, foreign words, and technical terms should be typed correctly and verified. Illegible signatures, letters and figures should be rewritten. Corrections of figures should not be written over the originals. 6. Abbreviations should not be used unless they are to be printed as written, in which case they should be accompanied by the word "follow" written on the margin of the page opposite in pencil. 7. Photographs, drawings, etc., for illustrations should accompany the manu script, unless requested in advance of the manuscript by the editor for the purpose of having cuts made. Each should bear the title of the article in which it is to be inserted and the figure number. The proper place for each illustration should be indicated on the copy by title, legend or by a penciled outlined space, the size and shape of the accompanying drawing or photograph. If a caption is used to accompany the drawing of photograph, by way of explanation, it should be printed conspicuously or typewritten below the lower limit of the space referred to above. College Degrees Lower-case college degrees when spelled, as degree of doctor of laws, degree of master of arts, etc. Scientific Names beThe 1. Capitalize the names of genera, families, orders, etc., as Cicada septendecim (the first the name of the genus, the second the name of the species), longs to the family Cicadidae. genus and species should be underscored in the copy when they occur together, in order that they may be italicized. 2. Usually the species name is in lower case, not always. 3. The authorities for a species should be followed by a comma when the name is spelled out in full, and by period only, when the authority name is abbreviated. 2. If the reference is to a book, the following form should be used: Example: Ellis, C., and A. A. Wells. The chemical action of ultra-violet rays. N. Y. Chem. Catalog Co. 362 pp. 1925. 3. If the citation refers to incomplete Example: Nellie Tegland-Marine 6. There is a place under the heading, "The Grist We Grind" providing for all citations to research papers. not include a formal array of them in the body of your news letter. Proposed Basis for Chapter Reports An outline of topics suggesting sub Author's name.. Digest of the research being undertak- lems. Number of candidates for degrees: Bachelor, #. High scholarship awards: Photographic Prints of Leaves Photographic prints of leaves (particularly collections of typical tree leaves) are easily made and are far more desirable for most purposes than are the pressed specimens. A six by eight-inch printing frame, some photographic printing paper of the same Press comments; send newspaper clip- size and some developing solution are pings. Vital statistics. Questions which might receive answer How many active members engaged in How many have published manuscript? the only materials needed. The leaf is used as a negative, and by regulating the exposure the veining as well as the leaf outline will appear clearly upon the print. If a large collection is to be made, blue-print paper will be found more economical than photographic printing paper. -Turtox News. Wedding Bells T Urbana, Illinois, on Decem ber 27, 1928, N. A. Pettinger, alumnus and former president of Rho Chapter, was united in holy matrimony to Miss Bernice Phillippe in the presence of 36 guests. A reception was given in honor of the newly-weds immediately following the ceremony. With the customary delay in train service on such occasions, the bride and groom left for Chicago in a storm of merry-making. Rice was abundant. After a brief stay of two days in Chicago, a week was spent in the home of the groom's parents at Creston, Iowa, whence the bride and groom returned to Illinois to spend several days with the bride's parents Christmas nuptials have been unusually popular this year. During the Christmas holiday, two members from Phi Chapter were married; so, on February 23 they were given a Leap Year party in the form of a mock wedding by the chapter. The young couple were showered with small gifts and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the huge pieces of wedding cake and other refreshments which were served after the gifts were opened. Kappa Zoologist Invites Closer Understanding With Pittsburgh Botanist at Champaign. The usual pranks The Pair are Trying the Matrimon were successfully weathered and tolerated. Dr. and Mrs. Pettinger are now at home in Blacksburg, Virginia, where Dr. Pettinger is employed as Associate Agronomist by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. They had the opportunity of making their home in either Alaska, Virginia, or Florida. Virginia was chosen because of the splendor of the natural scenery in the Blue Ridge region and because of the lack of the extreme Alaska and Florida temperatures. ial Experiment It was another biologist's wedding when the church bells rang for S. T. Brooks, (Kappa '24), who married Miss Betty P. Watt, a student of botany at the University of Pittsburgh. They were married in April, 1927. Mr. Brooks is now working at the University of Pittsburgh toward his Ph.D. degree. He was recently appointed custodian of Invertebrate Zoology in the Carnegie Museum on the campus, an honor which has come to him following the death of the past curator, A. E. Ortmann, January 2, to gain what seems to be a glorious 1927. How Unusual! Acquaintances are sometimes wont to exclaim, "How unusual!" at two young things keeping abreast in identical professions, struggling with identical problems and wanting all the while just to get married. They are apt to overlook the fact that Nature herself is the only perfect match maker. Consider the multiplicity of her mysteries; you find them hidden deep, whether in the forest, in the ocean's depths, or whether they are to be found in rocks, test tubes or on microscope slides. Nature may mask herself in a thousand different ways but no matter if she is as barren as the timber line or as repelling as a muddy pool, she excites man's curiosity, fires his imagination, awakes his benumbed mind, and invites him to pitch his best skill against hers. Thus man and woman must be in tune with nature if they will understand her. Rarely is a biologist found who shows boredom at the finer and intimate beauties of Nature. But the road to complete understanding is long and hard. It leads through years of intensive study, and these must be punctuated by a purpose so profound that the will and the desire will not waver against extreme discouragement and loss of faith. Frequently the biologist who travels this road is burdened with severe handicaps. Sometimes health is sacrificed end. There are no markers to point the way where man's thoughts steer through unknown forests. It is as an uncharted sea, scourged with confused opinions, myth, prejudice, and fantastic explanations. His life may be spent also without acquiring that luring wealth which makes ease and luxury for many. All that I have said is known to be true, but this realization does not keep hundreds and thousands of men and women, chosen from among our great and small universities, from making scientific biology their life-long career. While the lone man may sometimes haunt Nature's back doors to find "sermons in trees," to give solace to an anguished heart or find songs to smooth a furrowed brow, or find there a spirit of worshipfulness, the story for the biologist may be quite different. Day after day the biologist is revealing a little more of nature within his laboratory, whether that means a research laboratory and library or one established on some mountain slope. Young men and women, trained biologists, imbued with the spirit of scientific inquiry, are constantly turning their serious attention to nature as well as to her in their play. From such contacts, they are drawn. instinctively, as time moves on, to respect and to admire her laws, to enjoy her new revelations. As they thrill at the complexity of all life, they are startled by the illision of the simplest of atoms. Here we have it then, the Why and the Wherefore, that a nature-loving |