Chapter II: Part 2

A friend who was a photographer had a large Newfoundland dog who had a great deal of curiosity about his make-up, as well as much sense. His face was always the first to appear at the village postoffice window when the mail was opened. The master was an oldtime photographer when stronger water ammonia was much used in the preparation of paper. There was an assistant in the gallery who liked to tease the dog and knowing the trait of desiring to investigate every box or bottle that was opened, played many tricks on him, but none of them seemed to cure him or to lessen this desire until he got a good full whiff of stronger ammonia, which laid him full length on the floor and made him less anxious to look into everything with his nose.

His master had a book for the butcher and a different one for his account with the grocer. When meat or groceries were wanted it was only necessary to give him a book in which had been written the articles desired and a basket and away he went. He knew where to go by the color of the book. Often in coming home with meat he was set upon by other dogs who tried to rob him. One day a large hound tried several times to get the meat, but was kept away by very significant growls. Becoming more determined he made a final dash, when Newfoundland set the basket down and no hound ever got a sounder thrashing. Then with head and tail held high the basket was carried home in triumph.

Alvin M. Hendee.

PECULIAR MEXICAN BREAD.

Among some curios lately brought from Mexico, is a cake made of the eggs of water beetles.

This odd sort of edible resembles, outwardly, a biscuit made of coarse brown or oatmeal flour. In taste it is not unlike the same wholesome article of diet. As a matter of fact, water beetles hold a high place in the domestic economy of the poorer natives of Mexico.

Their collection is, therefore, quite an industry, and one in which the Indians, particularly, are adepts.

This is the plan of operation: Reeds are cut and placed along the margins of lakes and ponds. Soon these reeds are covered by an incredible number of eggs so minute that it is necessary to shake them on a cloth to gather them.

These eggs are then put in bags and pounded.

The result is a coarse flour, which may be cooked in a great variety of ways. All highly nutritious and stimulating. A vast number of beetles are also collected and used as food for chickens, but notwithstanding this immense demand, the supply suffers no appreciable diminution.

Louise Jamison.

NATURE’S GLORY.

Oh, golden days with cloudless skies—
When forests flame with gorgeous dyes;
A touch of wine seems in the air,
Fields are brown—pastures bare.
Deep purple wraps the distant hills,
Gray shadows fall upon the rills;—
Thro’ rustling corn the zephyrs sigh,
In grief to see fair summer die.
These are days of Nature’s glory,
Sung in song, and told in story.
—J. Mayne Baltimore.

LAPIS LAZULI, AMBER AND MALICHITE.

LAPIS LAZULI.

This stone was the sapphire of the Greeks, Romans and Hebrew Scriptures. Pliny likened it to the blue sky adorned with stars. Large quantities of worked pieces of it are found in early Egyptian tombs, and the Chinese have long held it in high esteem. Marco Polo visited Asiatic mines of the mineral in 1271 A. D., and these had doubtless been worked for a long time previous. Besides its value as a stone it was in former times used as a blue pigment, giving the ultramarine blue. In modern times not only has the esteem in which the stone is held for ornamental purposes declined but the mineral can be artificially made so as to give the desired blue color for paints and thus the use of the natural lapis lazuli has greatly diminished. It is still however carved to make vases, small dishes, brooches and ring stones and is used to a considerable extent for mosaic work. When, also, pieces of sufficient size and of a uniform color can be found, large carved objects may be made which command a high price.

The stone known as lapis lazuli as it occurs in nature is not a single mineral but a mixture of several, among which are calcite, pyrite and pyroxene. From these however it is possible to separate a mineral of uniform composition sometimes crystallized in dodecahedrons which is probably the essential ingredient of the stone. This mineral is known as lazulite and in composition is a silicate of soda and alumina with a small quantity of sodium sulphide. It is by making a substance of this composition that the artificial ultramarine is produced. The artificial is said to be as good as the natural for a pigment and can be produced for a three-hundredth part of the cost. The natural lapis lazuli has a hardness of 5½ and a specific gravity about like that of quartz. It is quite opaque. In color it is blue, varying from the prized ultramarine to paler, and at times is of a greenish shade. It is said the pale colored portions can be turned darker by heating to a red heat. When the variety from Chile is heated in the dark it emits a phosphorescent green light. The stone in Nature is often flecked with white calcite. Portions so affected are not considered as valuable as the uniform blue. Grains of pyrite are also usually scattered through the stone giving the “starry” effect referred to by Pliny.

Lapis lazuli usually occurs in limestone but in connection with granite so that it seems to be a product of the eruption of the granite through the limestone. The lapis lazuli of best quality comes from Asia, the mines being at Badakschan in the northeastern part of Afghanistan on the Oxus river. The mining is done by building great fires on the rocks and throwing water on them to break them. The yield at present is small, not over 1,500 pounds a year being obtained. The lapis lazuli from these mines is distributed all over Asia, going chiefly to China and Russia. The price realized is said to be from $50 to $75 per pound. Lapis lazuli of poorer quality comes from a region at the western end of Lake Baikal in Siberia. The only other important locality is in the Andes Mts. of Chile near the boundary of the Argentine Republic. This material is not much used at the present time on account of its poor quality but it was employed by the Incas for decorative purposes. One mass 24×12×8 in., doubtless from this locality is now in the Field Columbian Museum, and was found in a Peruvian grave. It is one of the largest masses of lapis lazuli known.

The walls of a palace at Zarskoe-Selo, Russia, built by order of Catherine II are entirely lined with slabs of lapis lazuli and amber. Pulverized the stone was used as a tonic and purgative by the Greeks and Romans. The name lapis lazuli means blue stone. Armenian stone is another term by which the stone is known in trade.

First row:
Lapis-lazuli, polished (Siberia).
Amber, rolled pebble (Coast of Baltic Sea).
Second row:
Amber, polished, showing insects enclosed (Coast of Baltic Sea).
Third row:
Malachite and Azurite, polished (Arizona).
Malachite, polished (Ural Mountains).
Fourth row:
Malachite, polished (Australia).
Malachite (Arizona).

AMBER.

Few minerals have been longer in favor for ornamental purposes than amber. Among remains of the earliest peoples such as the Egyptians and Cave-dwellers of Switzerland it is found in carved masses indicating that it was highly prized. The Phenicians are said to have sailed to the Baltic for the purpose of procuring it, while the Greeks’ knowledge of it is indelibly preserved in our word electricity derived from their word elektron. The high favor in which the ancients regarded amber has hardly endured however to the present time. Were it not for its use for mouthpieces of pipes and other smokers’ articles and the occasional amber necklace to be seen, amber would hardly be known among the present generation in our country.

Amber is a fossil gum of trees of the genus Pinus and is thus a vegetable rather than mineral product. In color it is yellow, varying to reddish, brownish and whitish. Its hardness is 2 to 2.5, it being slightly harder than gypsum and softer than calcite. It cannot be scratched by the finger nail but easily and deeply with a knife. It is also brittle. Its specific gravity is scarcely greater than that of water, the exact specific weight being 1.050-1.096. It thus almost floats in water, especially sea water. It is transparent to translucent. On being heated it becomes soft at 150 degrees and at 250 degrees to 300 degrees melts. It also burns readily and at a low temperature, a fact which has given rise to the name of bernstein by which the Germans know it, and to one of the Roman names for it, lapis ardens. Rubbed with a cloth it becomes strongly electric, attracting bits of paper, etc. As already noted, our word electricity comes from the Greek for amber, this seeming to be one of the first minerals in which this property was noted. Amber being a poor conductor of heat feels warm rather than cold in the hand, contrary to most minerals. It is attacked but slowly by alcohol, ether and similar solvents, a property by which it may be distinguished from most modern gums and some other fossil ones. In composition it is an oxygenated hydrocarbon, the percentages of these elements being in an average sample, carbon 78.94, hydrogen 10.53 and oxygen 10.53. The mineralogical name of amber is succinite, a word derived from the Latin succum, juice. One of its constituents is the organic acid called succinic acid.

The present source of most of the amber of commerce is the Prussian Coast of the Baltic Sea, between Memel and Dantzig, although it is found as far west as Schleswig-Holstein and the Frisian Islands and even occasionally on the shores of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. From time immemorial pieces of amber have been cast upon the shore in these localities and their collection and sale has afforded a livelihood to coast dwellers. Such amber is called sea stone or sea amber and is superior to that obtained by mining, since it is usually of uniform quality and not discolored and altered on the surface. Owing to its lightness the amber is often found entangled in seaweed and the collectors are accustomed to draw in masses of seaweed and search them for amber. Amber so obtained is called scoopstone, nets being sometimes used to gather in the seaweed. In the marshy regions men on horse-back, called amber riders, follow the outgoing tide and search for the yellow gum. It is also searched for by divers to some extent. From the earliest times the title to this amber has vested in the State and its collecting has been done either under State control or as at present when a tax is levied by the government upon it. This tax is levied on the amber that is mined as well as that obtained from the sea and brings a revenue at the present time of about $200,000.

Up to 1860 the methods of procuring amber were largely confined to obtaining it in the manner above noted. As it was evident however that the sea amber came from strata underneath and that if either by dredging or mining these strata could be reached a much larger supply could be obtained, exploration was carried on by mining methods with successful results, and the principal amount of the amber of commerce is now so obtained. The strata as shown in the mines of Samland, the rectangular peninsula of East Prussia where most of the mining is carried on, are: First, a bed of sand; below this a layer of lignite with sand and clay, and following this a stratum of greensand, fifty or sixty feet in thickness. While all these strata contain scattered pieces of amber, it is at the bottom of the greensand layer that the amber chiefly occurs, in a stratum four or five feet thick and of very dark color. It is called the “blue earth.” This stratum is of Tertiary age and there can be no doubt that its amber represents gum fallen from pines which grew at this period and whose woody remains are represented to some extent in the layer of lignite. It is probably true as Zaddach remarks that the amber has been collected here from older deposits. One of the most interesting proofs of the vegetable origin of amber is the occurrence in it of insects, sometimes with a leg or wing separated a little distance from the body, showing that it had struggled to escape. These insects include spiders, flies, ants and beetles, while the feather of a bird has even been found thus preserved. Indeed the amber deposits have furnished important contributions to our knowledge of Tertiary life. Inasmuch as the pieces bearing such remains are valued more highly than ordinary amber, unscrupulous persons have at times found profitable employment in boring cavities into pieces of amber, introducing flies or lizards into them and then filling up the hole with some modern gum of the same color. It is said that all amphibious or water animals seen in amber have been introduced in this way.

Besides the counterfeiting of the inclusions of amber there are several substitutes for the gum itself. These are chiefly celluloid and glass, the substitution of the former being dangerous if used for the embellishment of pipes, on account of its inflammatory character. Celluloid can be distinguished from amber by the fact that when rubbed it does not become electric and gives off an odor of camphor instead of the somewhat aromatic one of amber. It is also quickly attacked by alcohol or ether, and when scraped with a knife gives a shaving rather than a powder as amber does. Glass can be distinguished by its cold feeling and greater specific gravity.

Besides these substitutes it has been found possible by heating and pressing the scraps of amber not large enough for carving to make them into a homogeneous mass which is sometimes sold as amber and sometimes as amberoid. Amber is worked to desired shapes by turning it on lathes or by cutting by hand. By heating it in linseed oil it becomes soft so that it can be bent and often all opaque spots can be made to disappear by such treatment. The amber which is most highly prized of any in the world comes from Sicily. Eight hundred dollars have been paid for pieces of this no larger than walnuts, making their value nearly equal to that of diamonds. The beauty of the Sicilian amber consists in the variety of colors which it displays, blood red and chrysolite green being not uncommon, and the fact that these often exhibit a brilliant fluorescence, glowing within with a light of different color from the exterior. Chemically the Sicilian amber is not the same as the Prussian as it contains less succinic acid and is somewhat more soluble. In other respects it is not essentially different. It occurs chiefly on the eastern and southeastern coasts being washed up in a manner very similar to the Prussian amber.

Amber has been found in several places in the United States, but there is little of commercial value. It is mostly connected with the Cretaceous glauconitic or green sand deposits of New Jersey, fragments being frequently found there. This amber is of yellow color but not so compact or lustrous as foreign amber. Amber has also been reported from the marls of North Carolina, some of the coal beds of Wyoming and in connection with lignite in Alaska. In the latter region the natives are said to carve it into rude beads.

Amber occurs in small quantities in several countries of Europe, such as near Basel in Switzerland, near Paris in France, and near London in England. It is also found in many parts of Asia, these localities being a source of supply to the Asiatic countries such as China and India. Occasionally amber is obtained from Mexico which has the beautiful fluorescence of the Sicilian article, though the exact locality whence it comes is not known. Specimens of carved amber are found among the relics of the Aztecs and it is probable that they used it for incense. The early use of amber by European peoples has already been referred to. There are references to it in the most ancient literature and worked masses of it are found among human relics of the greatest antiquity. Up to comparatively modern times it was an important article of commerce among widely scattered peoples and had much to do with bringing about communication between them. Together with tin it was one of the chief objects which led the Romans to penetrate the Gallic regions to the west and north of the Mediterranean and Pliny says that “it had been so highly valued as an object of luxury that a very diminutive human effigy made of amber had been known to sell at a higher price than living men, even in stout and vigorous health.” One of the most elaborate of the Greek myths is that which accounts for the origin of amber. It runs in this wise:—Phaethon, undertaking to drive the chariot of his sun god father, Helios, lost control of his steeds and approaching too near the earth set it on fire. Jupiter to stop him launched a thunder-bolt at Phaethon and he fell dead into the Eridanus. His sisters lamenting his death were changed into poplars and their tears became amber.

In the Odyssey one of Penelope’s admirers gives her an amber necklace, and Martial compares the fragrance of amber to the fragrance of a kiss. Milton writes of amber and Shakespeare mentions it both in “Love’s Labor Lost” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Necklaces of amber are popular wedding presents among the peasants of Prussia and they form an important feature of the ornaments worn by many African chiefs.

The properties assigned to amber both as a charm and as a medicine have been many. From the earliest times it has been used as an amulet, being supposed to bring good luck and to protect the wearer against the evil eye of an enemy. Necklaces of amber beads are used to this day as preventive or curative of sore throat and the Shah of Persia wears around his neck a cube of amber reported to have fallen from heaven in the time of Mohammed, which is supposed to have the power of rendering its wearer invulnerable. Amber was also taken internally in former times as a cure for asthma, dropsy, toothache and other diseases and to this day is prescribed by physicians in France, Germany and Italy for different ailments.

The use of amber for artistic and decorative purposes has declined considerably since the Middle Ages, but magnificent illustrations of its employment for these purposes are to be seen in many European museums, notably the Green Vaults of Dresden.

Though so soft and easily destructible a substance it endures with ordinary care as well as the hardest stone, and works of art formed from amber are as well preserved as any to be found.

MALICHITE.

Malachite is a green opaque mineral whose color indicates a salt of copper. It is a carbonate of copper containing water, the percentages being in the typical mineral, cupric oxide 71.9, carbon dioxide 19.9, and water 8.2. It is the common form which copper assumes when it or even its ores oxidize in the air. Many of the green stains on rocks or minerals can be correctly referred to malachite. It is only valued for ornamental purposes however when it occurs in compact masses usually exhibiting concentric layers. Malachite in this form takes a fine polish. Malachite is not a hard mineral, its hardness being between 3.5 and 4. It can therefore be scratched with a knife. It is comparatively heavy, weighing four times as much as an equal bulk of water. When heated before the blowpipe it fuses easily, coloring the flame green. By heating long enough on charcoal it can be made to yield a globule of copper. It is easily attacked by common acids, causing effervescence of carbon dioxide. This test can be used to distinguish it from the silicate of copper, chryscolla, which has the same color.

Besides its occurrence in massive forms as noted above Malachite not uncommonly occurs in tufts and rosettes incrusting other minerals. This is an especially common occurrence in mines in Arizona and affords specimens of great beauty especially when the green tufts of malachite are seen upon brown limonite, for then the appearance of moss on wood is closely simulated. Such material is of course too fragile to be used for decorative purposes.

Malachite is prepared for ornamental use by sawing masses of the character of those previously referred to into thin strips which are then fastened as a veneer on vessels of copper, slate or other stone previously turned to the desired shape. Putting pieces together so that neither by their outlines nor color will it appear that they are patchwork requires a high degree of skill and such work is done almost exclusively in Russia. Table tops, vases and various other vessels are manufactured in this way and form objects of great beauty. The pillars of the Church of Isaac in St. Petersburg are of malachite prepared in this way and there are similar pillars in the Church of St. Sophia, Constantinople, said to have been taken from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus.

Occasionally the desired object can be turned from a single piece of malachite, but pieces of sufficient size for this purpose are rare. Bauer describes one piece found in the Gumeschewsk mines which was 17½ feet long, 8 feet broad and 3½ feet high and compact throughout. This is probably the largest single mass known.

Russia furnishes most of the malachite suitable for work of this kind and the art of cutting and fitting the stone is possessed almost exclusively in that country. Most of the Russian malachite has been obtained from the mines of Nischne-Tagilsk and Bogoslowsk in the northern Urals, or Gumeschewsk in the southern. The supply has gradually decreased till now only the Nischne-Tagilsk mines are productive. The malachite is said to occur there in veins in limestone.

Besides the Urals, fine malachite suitable for cutting comes from Australia. Burra Burra in New South Wales and Peak Downs in Queensland are localities whence good Australian malachite is obtained.

Malachite as a mineral is common in copper mines in the United States but it is only in Arizona that it is found of a quality suitable for cutting. A variety from Morenci, Arizona, consists of malachite and azurite and gives a combination of green and blue that is unique and pleasing. (See colored plate.) Less use has been made of such material for ornamental purposes than might have been for most of it has unfortunately been smelted as a copper ore.

Malachite is rarely used for rings or small jewels but is cut into earrings, bracelets, inkstands and similar objects. Art objects of malachite seem to have been in much favor with Russian emperors as gifts to contemporaneous sovereigns, and so bestowed are to be seen in numerous palaces in Europe. Perhaps the most famous of these gifts is the set of center tables, mantel pieces, ewers, basins and vases presented by the Emperor Alexander to Napoleon and still to be seen in an apartment of the Grand Trianon at Versailles.

Malachite was well known to the ancients and like other precious stones was worn as an amulet. It was called pseudo-emerald by Theophrastus. Its name is from the Greek malake, the word for mallows and was given doubtless on account of its green color.

Azurite, the blue mineral which often accompanies malachite is likewise a hydrous carbonate of copper and occasionally occurs so that it can be used with malachite for ornamental purposes.

Oliver Cummings Farrington.

THE LEAF BUTTERFLY.
(_Kallima paralekta_.)

There are many instances of protective imitation or mimicry in nature, but none are more pronounced, more perfect or more interesting than that shown by the leaf butterflies. Briefly defined, the phenomenon of mimicry is that relation which obtains when “a certain species of plants or animal possesses some special means of defense from its enemies and some other species inhabiting the same district or a part of it, and not itself provided with the same special means of defense, closely resembles the first species in all external points of form and color, though often very different in structure and unrelated in the biological order.” Many animals, such as some tree-lizards, resemble the colors of the environment in which they live, either for protection from enemies or in order that they may more easily catch their prey. Some arboreal snakes hang from the boughs of trees like the drooping ends of creeping vines.

The coloring of the under surface of the wings of the leaf butterflies very closely resembles the color of a dried leaf. As dried leaves vary in color and appearance, so do the butterflies vary in the color and markings of their wings. It is said that even in the same species, the under surface of the wings may be of various shades of brown, yellow, ash and red. But the imitation of the dried leaf does not alone rest on the color, for often, here and there, may be seen small groups of dark colored spots which strikingly resemble the patches of fungi that are so common on leaves. The mimicry of this butterfly is purely protective and not for the purpose of deceiving its prey.

Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace in his “Malay Archipelago” writes of this butterfly as he found it in its native element. He says, “This species was not uncommon in dry woods and thickets, and I often endeavored to capture it without success, for after flying a short distance it would enter a bush among dry or dead leaves, and however carefully I crept up to the spot, I could never discover it till it would suddenly start out again, and then disappear in a similar place. At length I was fortunate enough to see the exact spot where the butterfly settled, and though I lost sight of it for some time, I at length discovered that it was close before my eyes, but that in its position of repose it so closely resembled a dead leaf attached to a twig as almost certain to deceive the eye, even when gazing full upon it. I captured several specimens on the wing, and was able fully to understand the way in which this wonderful resemblance is produced.

“The ends of the upper wings terminate in a fine point, just as the leaves of many tropical shrubs and trees are pointed, while the lower wings are somewhat more obtuse, and are lengthened out into a short thick tail. Between these two points there runs a dark curved line, exactly representing the midrib of a leaf, and from this radiate on each side a few oblique marks, which well imitate the lateral veins. These marks are more clearly seen on the outer portion of the base of the wings and on the inner side toward the middle and apex, and they are produced by striae and markings which are very common in allied species, but which are here modified and strengthened so as to imitate more exactly the venation of a leaf.

“The habit of the species is always to rest on a dead twig and among dead or dried leaves, and in this position, with the wings closely pressed together, their outline is exactly that of a moderately sized leaf, slightly curved or shrivelled. The tail of the hind wing forms a perfect stalk, and touches the stick while the insect is supported by the middle pair of legs, which are not noticed among the twigs and fibers that surround it. The head and antennae are drawn back between the wings, so as to be quite concealed, and there is a little notch hollowed out at the very base of the wings, which allows the head to be retracted sufficiently. All these varied details combine to produce a disguise that is so complete and marvellous as to astonish everyone who observes it; and the habits of the insects are such as to utilize all these peculiarities, and render them available in such a manner as to remove all doubt of the purpose of this singular case of mimicry, which is undoubtedly a protection to the insect. Its strong, swift flight is sufficient to save it from its enemies when on the wing, but if it were equally conspicuous when at rest, it could not long escape extinction owing to the attacks of the insectivorous birds and reptiles that abound in tropical forests.”

IN AUTUMN.

The waves come galloping up the shore,
The trees are flinging their arms about.
All night I have heard the wind’s loud roar,
And the surf call back with angry shout.

And after the wind a grieving rain
Comes sighing and sobbing past my door,
“The summer flowers I seek in vain,
Is my work of love forever o’er?”

One day ago and a soft sun shone,
Butterflies flitted through quiet air,
But now both they and the birds are gone
And soon will the trees be stripped and bare.

Though winds blow cold and the skies are gray,
The sun of summer still shines for me,
For naught can drive from my heart away,
The memory of bird and flower and tree.
Grace Wickham Curran.

BEAUTIFUL VINES TO BE FOUND IN OUR WILD WOODS.

As the summer closes and the trees, flowers and vines have all reached their greatest perfection, have fulfilled their mission in life, and in addition have beautified all the spring and summer our lawns and verandas, and have been admired as wonderful children of the florists’ skill, how many of us know that many of them and especially most of these beautiful vines, could be found in our wild woods just for the looking? That we could with our own hands transplant them to our homes and have just as beautiful vines on our little porches and verandas as any millionaire on our boulevards?

One vine that we see covering our stateliest mansions and growing over our most humble little cottage, is common in all the woods of the United States from Maine to Florida, from New York to California, is the Ampelopsis quinquefolia—or Virginia creeper—American ivy or woodbine—its name changing with the portion of the country you happen to be when you find it, for we see it frequently under its various names in cultivation, and it certainly grows in great abundance and in the most graceful ways in our woods, over trees and shrubs and old rock fences, clinging in the most loving way to any surface with which it comes in contact. It belongs to the order Vitaceæ or Vine family, which is a family of climbing shrubs, and to which all of our wild grapes belong.

Its name Ampelopsis is from two Greek words, meaning vine and appearance; quinquefolia, five leaved or fingered; its leaves being alternate and compound, with five leaflets, long and pointed, radiating from the center. It may be that it was meant to signify that our five fingers may handle it recklessly and not run any risk of poisoning, as so many people are fearful of being—they being unable to distinguish it from the Rhus radicans or poison ivy—which belongs with the sumachs, and has only three leaflets or divisions in its leaves. This poison ivy could be so easily exterminated if every one who finds a plant of it would dig it up and burn it. It surely is as much one’s duty to help exterminate a poisonous plant as it is to cultivate and nourish an ornamental, beautiful, harmless one. Yet there is hardly a park in our larger cities where you will not find the Rhus radicans or poison ivy growing.

In the Virginia creeper we will find tendrils growing from the base of its leaves, that swell at their tips into sucker like disks, by means of which the plant clings firmly to walls and trees in its extensive climbing. The flowers of this beautiful vine are small, inconspicuous and greenish in color, with five concave thick spreading petals, with a calyx slightly five toothed, a two celled ovary or seed vessel, each cell containing two seeds. It blooms early in June and in the early autumn, when its leaves are turning the most exquisite shades of scarlet and crimson, these little flowers develop into clusters of deep blue or purple berries about the size of peas.

The whole vine is really more beautiful in the autumn than it is in the spring, and it surely does more than its part in making our American woodlands such great expanses of gorgeous coloring in the fall as to attract the attention and remarks of all visiting foreigners.

Miss J. O. Cochran.

SOME SNAILS OF THE OCEAN.

The Marine snails outnumber all of the other mollusks and their shells are far more beautiful, those in the tropics having the most gaudy colors imaginable. The animals are all formed on the same plan although each family has some peculiarity not shared by its relatives. They are found in all parts of the world, and in all climates. While the majority of species live either between tides on near low water, there are not a few which live in the abysses of the ocean and have been dredged at a depth of three thousand fathoms, a distance of over three miles. The average depth at which mollusks are found in any number is about one thousand fathoms. The variability of marine snails is so great that only a few typical forms can be mentioned.

The Limpet or Patella is a familiar mollusk to many visitors at the sea shore. This shell is a depressed, conical, oval disk, looking not unlike a miniature shield. They live on rocks, to which they tenaciously cling. Some experiments which were made on the English limpet several years ago showed that they could sustain a weight of thirty pounds attached to their shell without being pulled from the rock. The animal seems to have a pretty clear idea of local geography, for it invariably returns to the same place after its excursions for food and the rock in some localities has been hollowed out to a considerable depth by the continuous dwelling thereon of the limpet. If the surface of the rock is uneven the shell grows in such a manner as to fit these inequalities. While grazing along the sides of a rock covered with fine sea weed it will leave a track like a worm and will clear off quite an area in a very short space of time. This track is made by the radula, which is very long and is thrust out and loaded with food which it carries to the mouth. When at rest the radula is coiled like a watch spring. On the British coast the limpet is used as an article of food and primitive man not only ate the mollusks but made a necklace by stringing the shells together. There are several hundred species of limpet-like shells and they are found in all parts of the world, especially on rocky shores.

A family of shells closely related to the limpets is the Fissurellidæ, or keyhole limpet, distinguished from the last family by having a slit or foramen in the apex of the shell, through which the waste products of digestion are discharged. This slit resembles a key-hole and for this reason they are called key-hole limpets. The shells of Fissurella are generally rougher than those of Patella and they live, as a rule, in warmer seas. In habits the key-hole limpet resembles the limpet, living in one rocky place and making excursions for food. In the young shell the spire is without a perforation, this appearing as the shell increases in age. There are over one hundred species of key-hole limpets, several handsome species of which inhabit Florida and the West Indies.

The Haliotis or abalone shells abound in many parts of the world and are widely known for their beauty. The largest and finest shells live on the coast of California where they attain a length of ten inches. The shells are flat, though made in the form of a spiral and are perforated near the edge of the last whorl, which is many times the size of all the rest combined, and through this perforation the water from the gills, together with the waste products of the animal, are poured out. As the shell increases in size the old holes are filled up and new ones are formed. The inside of the shell is resplendent with iridescent colors, particularly about the region of the huge muscle scar, and when the outside is polished they become objects fit for the palace of a king. A large part of the mother-of-pearl is furnished by these shells and a vast number are annually exported for the purpose of making pearl buttons. In England they are called “Ormers” but the correct name, if we translate the generic title, is “Sea-ear” or ear-shells. To the Chinese the abalone is an object of great economic importance and they gather them in large quantities, dry the animals and use them as food, principally in the form of soup, which is said to be very delicious. The abalone clings to the rocks with terrible power and many a lonely fisherman has been drowned while gathering this mollusk, by getting his fingers caught between the shell and the rock.

Top row:
Strombus puris dianae (Philippines).
Bulla ampulla (Philippines).
Harpa nobilis (Philippines).
Second row:
Littorina angulifera (United States).
Fissurides listeri (United States).
Third row:
Nerita peloronta (Florida).
Crepidula fornicata (United States).
Terebra lamarckii (Sandwich Islands).
Turbo petholatus (Indian Ocean).
Fourth row:
Nitra politificalis (Indian Ocean).
Haliotis assimilis (California).
Cerithalma aluco (East Indies).

There are three families of shells which are much sought after by conchologists, these are the top shells (Trochidæ), the turban shells (Turbinidæ) and the pheasant shells (Phasionellidæ). Altogether they embrace nearly five hundred species which live from the shore between tides to the lowest depths of the ocean. The shells of the top shells vary to a wonderful degree; some are large, others small; some are perfectly plain and smooth while others are ornamented by impressed lines, ribs and granules, some are very thin and delicate while others are large and massive. Many of the species are richly colored with brown, purple, black, green and yellowish, and all are more or less pearly. They are all vegetable eaters.

One of the best known is Trochus niloticus, a large, massive shell striped with brown, which is seen on the mantle of many households. One of the prettiest top shells is the ringed top shell (Calliostoma annulatum) found abundantly in some parts of California. The surface is marked by several rows of delicate points and the suture is bordered by a rich line of purple. It lives in the seaweed off shore and may be seen in pleasant weather crawling about among the weeds. During storms or rough weather this frail mollusk sinks to the bottom of the sea. The top shells inhabit many parts of the world, the coasts of Florida and California producing several very handsome and interesting species.

The Turban shells include many fine and large shells, a notable species being Turbo marmoratus, the “green turban” of the dealers. This shell is about seven inches in diameter, rich green outside and pearly inside. It is largely used for mother-of-pearl work and for making pearl buttons. It is said that the early Scandinavian monarchs used this shell as a drinking cup. At the present time it is used for ornamental purposes, richly mounted. In Japan the animal is used for making chop suey, being cut in little dice-like pieces.

The Pheasant shells are beautifully variegated with red, black, white and brown and are very interesting animals to study alive. When crawling, the left side of the foot moves forward while the right remains stationary, and when the right side moves the left remains stationary. This curious mode of progression has been likened to the canter of a horse. The larger species, with beautifully variegated shells, inhabit Australia, while the smaller species live in the Mediterranean Sea, South Africa, the West Indies and California.

The Neritas are very abundant in tropical and semi-tropical countries where they live on rocks and stones near low water mark. They are said to be nocturnal and spend the night feeding on seaweed. The shell of the Nerita is solid and heavy and variously ornamented with ribs, pustules and color patterns. The “bleeding tooth shell” (Nerita peloronta), so named from the presence of a red spot near one of the columella teeth, is a typical member of this genus. A species living in the Philippine Islands is said to climb trees to a considerable height.

The family Cerithiidae comprises some very handsome shells which inhabit salt, brackish and fresh water. They are found throughout the world but the finest species live in the tropics. The spire is very long and is composed of many whorls. Some shells are smooth and polished, while others are marked by frills, knobs, spines and ribs. The name Cerithium is from the Greek word ceration, meaning a small horn, and is used because of the horn-like shape of the shell. This family has its giants and also its pygmies, the latter being pretty, reticulated shells from one fourth to three fourths of an inch in length, living among the eel grass and other vegetation along the shore. There are over a hundred species of these small shells, and some when handled discharge a bright green fluid.

Whoever visits the seashore is bound to become intimately acquainted with the Littorinas, or periwinkles, for they cover the rocky shores everywhere, millions of their rounded shells clinging to the rocks when the tide goes out. They feed on the algae which grows on the shore. They are found in both brackish and fresh water. The common periwinkle (Littorina littorea) is extremely abundant on the shores of southern Europe and the northern part of the United States. In England it is used as an article of food and it is said that nearly two thousand tons are gathered annually and that a thousand persons are employed in capturing it. In London and other large cities they are sold on the street, the animal being picked out with a pin. It is used for bait in some of the fisheries and the oystermen plant many bushels on their oyster beds yearly to keep the seaweeds from accumulating. From these facts it will appear that this periwinkle is of considerable economic importance. All of the species are amphibious, living for a long time out of the water.

Of all the gastropods none excel the curious Xenophora in point of oddity. The shell is in general form like that of the top shell, but as it grows it attaches to itself small stones and pieces of shell, so that when the animal is fully grown it looks like a heap of dead shells and pebbles. This habit is in all probability to conceal the animal from its enemies. They are called “carriers” and the individuals with shells attached to their house are called Conchologists, while those with stones attached are called Mineralogists. The fragments of shells are attached with concave sides upward so as not to impede the animal during locomotion. The carriers are not able to glide like other mollusks, their feet being very small. They progress by lifting the front part of the foot to an object and then drawing the hind part toward it. In this way they jump or scramble along in a ludicrous manner.

Related to the “carriers” are the slipper-shells (Crepidula), the horse-hoof shell (Hipponyx) and the bonnet-limpet (Capulus). The slipper shells are found in many parts of the world and are particularly abundant on the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the United States. The shell is flat and somewhat limpet-like, and across one end, near the apex, is a little shelf which gives it the appearance of a Chinese slipper. They adhere to stones, shells, crabs and any submerged object, and modify the form of their shell to fit the inequalities of their resting place. Thus a Crepidula on a Pecten shell will be ribbed while the same species on a stone will be perfectly smooth. Frequently they may be seen piled one upon another in tiers of six or more. The animal generally feeds on seaweed but has been known to eat other mollusks. The bonnet limpets also belong to this family, as do the cup-and-saucer limpets (Calyptraea).

The family Strombidae contains many large and interesting shells. The animal is very powerful and is able to leap a considerable distance. Mr. Arthur Adams, a celebrated conchologist, thus describes its method of leaping: “Planting firmly its powerful, narrow operculum against any resisting surface, it insinuates it under the edge of its shell and by a vigorous effort, throwing itself forwards, carrying its great heavy shell with it, the animal rolls along in a series of jumps in a most singular and grotesque manner.” The eyes of the animal are greatly developed. The shells of Strombus vary greatly in form and color. In some the outer lip is simply turned over while in others it is modified by little spines or projections. The aperture is frequently colored pink, purple or yellowish. The large Strombus gigas is used in carving cameos, its shell being made up of several layers of different colors. It is also ground to powder for the manufacture of porcelain and in the West Indies the animal is used as an article of food.

The Auger or steeple shells, belonging to the family Terebridae, have long been objects of interest not only to the naturalist but to the layman who places them in his house as ornaments. There are about two hundred species which are found in many parts of the world, although chiefly confined to tropical seas. The shells are very long and are composed of many tightly wound whorls, which are smooth in some species and longitudinally ribbed in others. They vary also in color, being yellowish, grayish or brownish, and many species are spotted with red or white.

A group of handsome mollusks live in the tropics whose shells have been named Mitra by the naturalist Lamarck from their fancied resemblance to the Pope’s miter. The shells are fusiform, very thick and heavy and beautifully ornamented with various colors. The surface of the shells of some species is smooth, others granulose and not a few spirally lined and longitudinally ribbed, while the columella is marked by several heavy plaits or folds. There are about two hundred species of this genus, living in all parts of the world but being more numerous in tropical regions. The Philippine Islands seem to be the metropolis of this mollusk, as of others, and their shores fairly teem with the graceful creatures. Some of them live among the coral reefs, concealing themselves in holes or among the sea weeds or under stones. Others live on the sandy or muddy beaches in which they bury themselves when the tide recedes.

The earlier naturalists were fond of applying significant names to the shells which they described and the Mitras have received their share. Thus we have the episcopal miter, having a white shell with brilliant red spots and flame; the papal miter, with a brown-spotted white shell; the pontifical miter, with a red-spotted shell and a coronated spire, and lastly the cardinal’s miter. These four species might be called the ecclesiastical quartette.

The Harp shells, although few in species, are among the most showy of the marine snails. The shells are large and marked by many elevated ribs extending longitudinally, giving the effect of the strings on a harp, hence the name of the genus. The colors are different shades of brown which form neat festoons of dark brown lines between the ribs. The inner lip of the shell is marked by a dark brown spot and another spot is frequently developed near the upper part of the whorl. In one species (Harpa rosea) the shell is marked by several rosy spots and tints, and is very beautiful. The animal of this genus is no less interesting than the shell, being variegated with many beautiful colors. The foot is long, crescent shaped in front and becomes narrowed to a point behind. The animal is said to voluntarily break off a piece of its shell when irritated, as it is not able to retreat within the shell, being destitute of an operculum. It is very active and crawls about with an easy, graceful motion. Harpa lives only in the tropics and is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and on the west coast of America.

The Bubble shells include within their number many curious and interesting animals. The typical genus, Bulla, numbers some fifty species of smooth, globular shells, frequently mottled like a bird’s egg. The aperture is as long as the shell and the outer lip is thin and sharp. The animal is large and fleshy and partly envelops the shell. The bubble shells love sandy mud flats in which they bury themselves or find concealment under masses of sea weed. Like many land shells they exude vast quantities of mucus to moisten their skin when the tide is out. These animals are carnivorous, living on bivalves and snails, which are swallowed whole and reduced to fragments by the huge, calcareous gizzard. Not all the mollusks of this order have true shells. The so-called sea hares, have large, flabby bodies in which is lodged a small, oblong, transparent shell. This animal lives among the sea weed, feeding upon the weed as well as upon mollusks and other animals. It discharges a violet liquid when handled which caused the ancients to believe that it was poisonous. The old Greek philosophers wrote a great deal on this subject, believing that to even touch the animal with a stick would cause death. Though repulsive looking creatures they are perfectly harmless and are even eaten raw by the natives of the Friendly and the Society Islands.

Frank Collins Baker.

JOIN A SUNRISE CLUB.

Join a sunrise club? as is proposed in Birds and Nature for January. Of course I will. I have for years belonged to one of two members—my daughter and myself. Now we will transfer our membership to the new club that is to have members all over the country.

Some of our winter sunsets here in Nebraska are glorious. I am especially fond of looking at them through the thousand interlaced branches of the leafless trees. One can study tree forms and sunsets in the same picture. I wonder that every person is not a sunset observer. But some people are sunset blind, and some rarely ever look at the heavens on starry nights. I sometimes meet people who lament the fact that they cannot go to Colorado and see the mountains, of which they hear such glowing accounts. I tell them that I do not pity them at all so long as they do not care to gaze upon the most glorious sight which mortal man is permitted to see—the starry heavens. They who do not appreciate the stars and the sunsets would soon tire of the mountains.

Our summer sunsets are also glorious, but I miss some of them on account of the trees around my house. I sometimes get on my wheel and go out of town simply to see the sunset. Trees are nice, but they often hide from us something nicer. When the towns of Colorado were new, twenty-five years ago, we could see the mountains from all our west doors and windows. Now in those same towns the people must go out into the street, or even out of town, if they would see the mountains in summer.

But, say, let us have another club—a Sunrise Club. It may be asking too much to make it operative for the whole year, so we will call it a sunrise club for May and June. Those are the bird months of the year, the months when some of us are out before sunrise morning after morning, to watch the birds and to hear their wonderful concerts. Some of the pleasantest memories of my life are of early morning trips on my wheel to a certain grove in the edge of town. On those trips I have seen many a new bird—new to me—and many a glorious sunrise.

Somehow birds and the rising of the sun fit into each other beautifully.