Chapter IX: Introduction (9)

People in the northern parts of Germany, remarks William Jones, say that to cross one's face with the first new-laid egg of a chicken that has been hatched in spring and begins to lay shortly before Christmas of the same year, is considered the means of improving and beautifying the complexion.

Camden, in his "Ancient and Modern Manners of the Irish," says that if the owners of horses eat eggs, they must take care to eat an even number, otherwise some mischief will betide the horses. Grooms are not allowed eggs, and the riders are obliged to wash their hands after eating eggs.

In Derbyshire it is considered a bad omen to gather eggs and bring them into the house after dark. Eggs ought not to be brought in on Sunday, and no hen must be set on that day. The number of eggs for a setting must be either eleven or thirteen; the number must be odd, and if twelve eggs are sat upon, the hen will scarcely succeed in hatching them; or, if hatched, the chickens will do no good.

In some parts of England it is believed that the first egg laid by a white pullet, placed under the pillow at night, will bring dreams of those you wish to marry.

In some parts of Java, at a wedding, the bride, as a sign of her subjection, kneels and washes the feet of the bridegroom, after he has trodden upon raw eggs.

In Ireland, at Hallow E'en, among other curious customs, the women take the yolks from some eggs boiled hard, fill the cavity with salt, and eat egg, shell and salt. They are careful not to quench their thirst until morning. If at night they dream that their lovers are at hand with water, they believe they will be jilted.

_The Camel as a Scape-Goat._

A very singular account of the use to which a camel is sometimes put is given by the traveler Bruce. He tells us that he saw one employed to appease a quarrel between two parties, somewhat in the same way as the scape-goat was used in the religious sacrifices of the Jewish people. The camel being brought out, was accused of all the injuries, real or fancied, which belonged to each. All the mischief that had been done they accused this camel of doing. They upbraided it with being the cause of all the trouble that had separated friends, called it by every opprobious epithet, finally killed it, and then declared themselves reconciled over its body.

_The Mark of the Cross on the Ass._

It is a common superstition that the dark marks across the shoulders of the ass, and which bear some resemblance to a cross, were given as memorials of our Saviour having entered Jerusalem riding on one of that humble species. In the north of England, however, a tradition prevails that the dark streaks are a memento of Balaam's having thrice smitten one of the family, which carried him, and, as the Bible states, reproved him for wilful disobedience of the Divine command.

_White Elephants._

White elephants are reverenced throughout the East, and the Chinese pay them a certain kind of worship. The Burmese monarch is called "The King of the White Elephants," and is regarded under that title with more than ordinary veneration, which oriental despotism extracts from its abject dependants.

_Tenacity of Life in an Elephant._

In March, 1826, it became necessary to kill an infuriated elephant at Exeter Change, in London. One hundred and fifty-two bullets were fired into him at short range, and directed toward vital parts, before he fell dead. It was found necessary to kill an elephant at Geneva, May 31st, 1820. Three ounces of prussic acid and three ounces of arsenic were administered, but produced no effect. He was shot by a cannon thrust through a breach in the wall, the muzzle almost touching him. The ball entered near the ear, behind the right eye, went through a thick partition on the opposite side of the enclosure, and spent itself against a wall. The animal stood still two or three seconds, then tottered, and fell without any convulsive movement.

_Ears of the Elephant._

The ears of the African elephant are said to be much larger, in proportion to the size of the animal, than those of the Indian species. Baker, the African traveler, says that he has frequently cut off an ear of one of these animals to form a mat, on which he has slept comfortably.

_A Shaved Bear._

"At Bristol I saw a shaved monkey shown for a fairy, and a shaved bear, in a check waistcoat and trousers, sitting in a great chair as an Ethiopian savage. This was the most cruel fraud I ever saw. The unnatural position of the beast and the brutality of the woman keeper, who sat upon his knee, put her arm around his neck, called him husband and sweetheart, and kissed him, made it the most disgusting spectacle I ever witnessed. Cottle was with me."—_Southey._

_Retailing a Lion._

A lion in a Cincinnati menagerie recently lost a part of his tail. A vicious hyena, confined in an adjoining cage, nipped it off, for want of something better or worse to do. The _Enquirer_ of that city tells the sequel of the story—

"The noble king of the woods was much mortified in consequence, and it was feared would worry himself to death. He kept continually biting his tail and playing all kinds of mysterious pranks in his cage. Two men were kept continually employed, at an expense of $21 a week each, to watch the lion and prevent him from further injury upon himself.

"Mr. John Carney, the new superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, devised a plan for the pacification of the king of the forest, which has succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectations. He had a small box-cage constructed adjoining the lion's cell, and coaxed the wounded beast therein. The cage was so constructed that the lion could not turn about in it. Once in, his tail was treated medically, and covered with a black snake's skin. The lion now seems perfectly satisfied with the amendment to his tail, and holds his head as erect and is as proud as ever. Mr. Carney is a genius."

_Magpie Stoning a Toad._

There is a story told of a tame magpie which was seen busily employed in a garden gathering pebbles, and with much solemnity and a studied air dropping them into a hole about eighteen inches deep, made to receive a post. After dropping each stone it cried "Currack" triumphantly, and set off for another. On examining the spot, a poor toad was found in the hole, which the magpie was stoning for his amusement.

_Cynocephalic Apes._

A correspondent in the "Transvaal Republic" writes that a species of large cynocephalic apes are in the habit of ravaging the coffee plantations there, which therefore have to be guarded. Among the coffee trees there grows a shrub whose fruit the apes particularly enjoy. But a species of wasp had fastened their nests to these shrubs, and the apes were kept from their tempting food by their fear of being stung. One morning fearful cries were heard from the apes, and the following scene was witnessed: A large baboon, the leader of the band, was throwing some young apes down into the shrubs, that they might break off the wasp nests with the shock of their fall. The poor victims, stung by the infuriated insects, were crying piteously, but the old baboon paid no heed to their miserable condition. While they were down below, suffering from the anger of the wasps, he quietly proceeded to regale himself with the fruit, now safely within his reach, and occasionally threw a handful to some females and young a little way off.

_Monkeys Demanding their Dead._

Mr. Forbes tells a story of a female monkey who was shot by a friend of his and carried to his tent. Forty or fifty of her tribe advanced with menacing gestures, but stood still when the gentleman pointed his gun at them. One, however, who appeared to be the chief of the tribe, came forward, chattering and threatening in a furious manner. Nothing short of firing at him seemed likely to drive him away. At length he approached the door of the tent with every sign of grief and supplication, as if he were begging for the body. It was given to him; he took it in his arms and carried it to his companions with actions expressive of affection, after which they all disappeared.

_Can Dogs Count?_

A gentleman on a visit to Scotland came across some men who were washing sheep. Close to the water where the operation was being carried on was a small pen, in which a detachment of ten sheep were placed handy to the men for washing. While watching the performance his attention was called to a sheep-dog lying down close by. This animal, on the pen becoming nearly empty, without a word from any one, started off to the main body of the flock, and brought back ten of their number, and drove them into the empty washing-pens. The fact of his bringing exactly the same number of sheep as had vacated it he looked upon at first as a strange coincidence—a mere chance. But he continued looking on, and, much to his surprise, as soon as the men had reduced the number to three sheep, the dog started off again, and brought back ten more, and so he continued throughout the afternoon, never bringing one more nor one less, and always going for a fresh lot when only three were left in the pen, evidently being aware that during the time the last three were washing he would be able to bring up a fresh detachment.

_Can Hens Count?_

On one occasion the author found a hen disposed to set in a horse-trough. She had but eight eggs under her, and he added five more. The next morning he noticed that she had discarded five of the eggs; they were replaced, and were again hustled to the other end of the trough. He next marked the eggs, in order to discover whether she objected to the five eggs with which he had supplied her. At his next visit he found that she had once more rejected five eggs, two of which were marked and three not marked. She would accept but eight eggs, and was left to incubate in peace.

_How Rats and Mice use their Tails._

To test the correctness of the popular belief that rats and mice use their tails for feeding purposes, when the food to be eaten is contained in vessels too narrow to admit the entire body of the animal, a writer in "Nature" made the following experiments: Into a couple of preserve bottles with narrow necks he put as much semi-liquid fruit jelly as filled them within three inches of the top. The bottles were then covered with bladder and set in a place frequented by rats. Next morning the covering of each bottle had a small hole gnawed in it, and the level of the jelly was lowered to an extent about equal to the length of a rat's tail, if inserted in the hole. The next experiment was still more decisive. The bottles were refilled to the extent of half an inch above the level left by the rats, a disk of moist paper laid upon the surface, and the bottles covered as before. The bottles were now laid aside in a place unfrequented by rats, until a good crop of mould had grown upon one of the moistened disks of paper. This bottle was then transferred to the place infested by the rats. Next morning the bladder had again been eaten through at one edge, and upon the mould were numerous and distinct tracings of the rats' tails, evidently caused by the animals sweeping their tails about in the endeavor to find a hole in the paper.

_Kicked by a Camel._

The camel's kick is a study. As it stands demurely chewing the cud, and gazing abstractedly at some totally different far-away object, up goes a hind leg, drawn close in to the body, with the foot pointing out; a short pause, and out it flies with an action like the piston and connecting-rod of a steam-engine, showing a judgment of distance and direction that would lead you to suppose the leg gifted with perceptions of its own, independent of the animal's proper senses. I have seen a heavy man fired several yards into a dense crowd by the kick of a camel, and picked up insensible.—_Keane._

_Crocodiles of the Nile._

The crocodile of the Nile is one of the most celebrated of the eastern species. Among the ancient Egyptians it was a sacred animal, and to destroy it was a crime. The priests kept crocodiles in tanks in the temple grounds; they ornamented them with jewels and fed them with the choicest food. After death the bodies were carefully embalmed and buried with great ceremony, and it is not uncommon at this date to find crocodile mummies in their tombs.

_Alligators Swallowing Stones._

The alligators on the banks of the Oronoko, previous to going in search of prey, swallow large stones, that they may acquire additional weight to aid them in diving and dragging their victims under water. Bolivar shot several with his rifle, and in all of them were found stones varying in weight according to the size of the animal. The largest killed was about seventeen feet in length, and had within him a stone which weighed sixty or seventy pounds.

_Animals Forecasting Danger._

That animals forebode the approach of an earthquake is a fact which frequently has been demonstrated. When no sign announces to unthinking man the coming terror, these creatures indicate it by their agitation and their cries. Every animal, without exception, feels this singular presentiment, but it has been more particularly observed among the poultry in the barn-yard. Dogs howl distressingly, and great restlessness is shown by horses and oxen in the open country.

Humboldt relates that, in the earthquakes so frequent in South America, oxen and other domesticated animals will stand with their legs placed wide apart, as if they hoped by that device to lessen the danger of being precipitated into a crevasse which might suddenly open under their feet. It is for this reason that men in the same regions are advised, on the occurrence of an earthquake, to extend their arms from their bodies in the shape of a cross. The precaution is one which tradition and experience have impressed on the inhabitants.

_Singular Provision against Famine._

The synapta is a marine animal closely allied to the sea-cucumber. If one of them is preserved in sea-water for a short time, and subjected to a forced fast, a very strange thing will be observed. The animal, being unable to feed itself, successively detaches various parts of its body, which it amputates spontaneously. "It would appear," says M. Quatrefages, "that the animal, feeling that it had not sufficient food to support its whole body, is able successively to abridge its dimensions by suppressing the parts it would be most difficult to support, just as we should dismiss the most useless mouths from a besieged city." This singular mode of meeting a famine is employed by the synapta up to the last moment. In order to preserve life in the head, all the other parts of the body are sacrificed.

_Looking for the Head of the Bed._

Every one has observed that dogs, before they lie down, turn themselves round and round, which has been facetiously called "looking for the head of the bed." Those who have had an opportunity of witnessing the actions of animals in a wild state, know that they seek long grass for their beds, which they beat down and render more commodious by turning around in it several times. It would appear, therefore, that the habit of our domesticated dogs in this respect is derived from the nature of the same species in the wild state.—_Mr. Jesse._

_Getting Himself Outside of his Dinner._

The intelligence of a toad is remarkable. When an insect is too large to swallow, it thrusts the creature against a stone to push it down its throat. On one occasion, when a toad was attempting to swallow a locust, the head was down the former's throat, the hinder part protruding. The toad then sought a stone or clod, but as none were to be found, he lowered his head and crept along, pushing the locust against the ground. But the ground was too smooth (a rolled path), and the angle at which the locust lay to the ground too small, and thus no progress was made. To increase the angle, he straightened up his hind legs, but in vain. At length he threw up his hind quarters, and actually stood on his head, or, rather, on the locust sticking out of his mouth; and, after repeating this several times, succeeded in getting himself outside of his dinner.

_Superstition about the Camel._

The Orientals declare that, at the time of the rising of the Pleiades, the camel sees the constellation before it is visible to the human eye, and will not lie down in any other direction than with its head toward the east.

_Pedigree of Arabian Horses._

The Arabs claim that their finest horses are direct descendants of the stud of Solomon. The pedigree of an Arabian horse is hung around his neck soon after his birth, properly witnessed and attested. The following is the pedigree of a horse purchased by a French officer in Arabia:—

"In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate, and of Saed Mahomed, agent of the high God, and of the companions of Mahomed, and of Jerusalem. Praised be the Lord, the omnipotent Creator. This is a high-bred horse, and its colt's tooth is here in a bag about his neck, with his pedigree, and of undoubted authority, such as no infidel can refuse to believe. He is the son of Rabbamy, out of the dam Labadah, and equal in power to his sire of the tribe of Zazhalah; he is finely moulded, and made for running like an ostrich. In the honors of relationship he reckons Zuluah, sire of Mahat, sire of Kallac, and the unique Alket, sire of Manasseh, sire of Alsheh, father of the race down to the famous horse, the sire of Lahalala. And to him be ever abundance of green meat and corn, and water of life, as a reward from the tribe of Zazhalaha; and may a thousand branches shade his carcass from the hyæna of the tomb, from the howling wolf of the desert; and let the tribe of Zazhalah present him with a festival within an enclosure of walls; and let thousands assemble at the rising of the sun in troops hastily, where the tribe holds up, under a canopy of celestial signs within the walls, the saddle with the name and family of the possessor. Then let them strike the bands with a loud noise incessantly, and pray to God for immunity for the tribe of Zoab, the inspired tribe."

_Voracity of the Mole._

A naturalist has calculated that a mole devours annually 20,000 grubs. It is so voracious that it must eat every six hours. No animal is so favored in its carnivorous instincts as the mole; forty-four teeth studded with points never cease working from morning to night. It requires nourishment to such an extent, that if deprived of food for a day it dies of inanition. It is a complete eating machine, gulping down every day a proportionately enormous quantity of food, so that M. de la Blanchére was right in saying that "if we could magnify the mole to the size of an elephant, we should be face to face with the most terrific brute the world ever brought forth."

_Cat Worship._

In the Middle Ages animals formed as prominent a part in the worship of the time as they did in the old religion of Egypt. The cat was a very important personage in religious festivals. At Aix, in Provence, on the festival of Corpus Christi, the finest tom cat of the country, wrapt in swaddling clothes like a child, was exhibited in a magnificent shrine to public admiration. Every knee was bent, every hand strewed flowers or poured incense, and the cat was treated in all respects as the god of the day.

_Horses Feeding one Another._

M. de Bossanelle, captain of cavalry in the regiment of Beauvilliers, relates in his "Military Observations," printed in Paris in 1760, "that in the year 1757 an old horse of his company, that was very fine and full of mettle, had his teeth suddenly so worn down that he could not chew his hay and corn, and that he was fed for two months, and would still have been so fed had he been kept, by two horses on each side of him that ate in the same manger. These two horses drew hay from the rack, which they chewed, and afterward threw before the old horse; that they did the same with the oats, which they ground very small and also put before him. This was observed and witnessed by a whole company of cavalry, officers and men."

_Odd Mode of Revenge._

Monkeys in India are more or less objects of superstitious reverence, and are, consequently, seldom destroyed. In some places they are fed, encouraged and allowed to live on the roofs of the houses. If a man wishes to revenge himself for any injury done him, he has only to sprinkle some rice or corn upon the top of his enemy's house or granary, just before the rains set in, and the monkeys will assemble upon it, eat all they can find outside, and then pull off the tiles to get at that which falls through the crevices. This, of course, gives access to the torrents which fall in such countries, and house, furniture and stores are all ruined.

_Cats with Knotted Tails._

We extract the following paragraph from the narrative of a voyager in the Indian Ocean, because it contains an account of a rarity in natural history with which few, we suspect, are acquainted:—

"The steward is again pillowed on his beloved saltfish, and our only companion is a Malacca cat, who has also an attachment for the steward's pillow. Puss is a tame little creature and rubs herself mildly against our shoes, looking up in our faces and mewing her thoughts. Doubtless she is surprised that you have been so long looking at her without noticing the peculiarity in her tail, which so much distinguishes her from the rest of the female race in other quarters of the globe. Did you ever observe such a singular knot? so regular, too, in its formation? Some cruel monster must have tied it in a knot while puss was yet a kitten, and she has outlived both the pain and the inconvenience. But here comes a kitten, all full of gambols and fun, and we find that the tail is in precisely the same condition. So, then, this is a remarkable feature amongst the whole race of Malayan cats, but for which no one we meet with is able to give us a satisfactory explanation."

_Tortoises Afraid of Heat and Rain._

Tortoises seem, by their thick shells, to be protected against all changes of the weather. But one of immense size, imported from the Galapagos Islands to England, was actually afraid of rain. Its owner says: "No part of its behaviour ever struck me more than the extreme timidity it always expresses with regard to rain; and though it has a shell that would secure it against a loaded cart, yet it exhibits as much solicitude about rain as a lady dressed in her best attire, shuffling away on the first sprinklings and running its head into a corner. If attended to, it becomes an excellent weather glass; for as sure as it walks elate, and as it were on tip-toe, feeding with great earnestness in the morning, so sure will it rain before night." The same tortoise was careful to keep out of the hot sun, and always sought a shady nook at mid-day in summer.

_Pea Crabs._

The fact that these small crabs take up their abode within the shells of mollusks was well known to the ancients, and gave rise to many curious fables. A species is very common in the _pinnæ_ (mollusks) of the Mediterranean, and was imagined to render important services to its host in return for its lodging, keeping a lookout for approaching dangers, against which the blind pinna itself could not guard, and particularly apprising it, that it might close its shell when the cuttle-fish came near. It is curious to find this repeated by Hasselquist, in the middle of the last century, as a piece of genuine natural history. Whether the pea crab lives at the expense of the mollusk, and sucks its juices, is uncertain. It is certain, however, that the flesh of such mollusks is palatable to pea crabs, as they eat it greedily in the aquarium.

_Extraordinary Muscular Strength of the Bat._

When bats bring forth their young they are obliged to carry them on their backs, as they do not build nests like the birds, the little things hanging fast to their fur during flight. The extrordinary strength of muscle possessed by the bat is shown in the fact that two of the young, which are often born at a birth, weigh two-thirds as much as the parent. Thus, flying at nearly double its ordinary weight, we can fancy the power of this animal, surpassing in proportion the strength of the eagle or condor.

_Great Digestive Powers._

In certain caterpillars the digestive power is so great that they swallow every day three or four times their own weight in food. If the elephant and rhinoceros were to feed on this scale, and were as numerous as the caterpillars, they would require but a short time to devour all the vegetation on the globe.

_The Earwig._

This insect is supposed to have a "fondness" for getting into the human ear, the effect of which, it has been believed, is to penetrate the brain and cause madness. The earwig is not more likely than any other insect to enter the ear. The wings of the earwig, when fully expanded, are in shape precisely like the human ear, from which fact it is highly probable that the original name of the insect was ear-_wing_ and not ear-_wig_, which appears to be entirely without meaning. The name is also traced to the Saxon _ear-wigca_, from its destroying ears of grain and fruit.

_Eyes of the Cuttle-Fish._

The eyes of the cuttle-fish are so solid as to be almost calcareous. They are exceedingly beautiful, and reflect light with a splendid play of color, like an opal. They are used for necklace beads in Italy, and are highly valued objects for the jeweler's art.

_Innate Appetite._

McKenzie mentions the following fact as having been witnessed by Sir James Hall: He had been engaged in making experiments in hatching eggs by artificial heat, and on one occasion observed in one of his boxes a chicken in the act of breaking from its confinement. It happened that just as the creature was getting out of the shell a spider ran along the box, when the chicken darted forward, seized and swallowed it.

_Leaf-Butterfly of Java._

This butterfly, as a defense against the birds of the tropics, almost exactly imitates, in its color and appearance, the leaves of the trees among which it lives. The upper surface of the wings, when outspread, of a rich orange blue, is very marked, but the lower side consists of some shade of ash or brown or ochre, such as are found among dead and decaying leaves. When the insect is at rest on a tree, it resembles so closely a leaf that the most acute observation fails to note the difference. It sits on a twig, the wings closely fitted back to back, concealing the antennæ and head, which are drawn up beneath their basis. The little tails of the hind wing touch the branch and form a perfect stalk to the seeming leaf. The irregular outline of the wings gives exactly the perspective effect of the outline of a shriveled leaf.

_The Jump of a Flea._

M. de Fonvielle, in his interesting work on the "Invisible World," maintains that a flea can raise itself from the ground to a height equal to two hundred times its stature. At this rate, he says, a man would only make a joke of jumping over the towers of Notre-Dame or the heights of Montmartre. A prison yard would be useless unless the walls were more than a quarter of a mile in height.

_Book-Worms._

An instance is recorded of twenty-seven folio volumes being perforated, in a straight line, by the same worm, in such a manner that, by passing a cord through the round hole made by it, the twenty-seven volumes could be raised at once.

_Spider Barometers._

If the weather is likely to become rainy, windy or in other respects disagreeable, spiders fix the terminating filaments, on which the whole web is sustained, unusually short. If the terminating filaments are made uncommonly long, the weather will be serene, and continue so, at least for ten or twelve days. If spiders be totally indolent, rain generally succeeds; their activity during rain is certain proof that it will be of short duration, and followed by fair and constant weather. Spiders usually make some alteration in their webs every twenty-four hours; if these changes take place between the hours of six and seven in the evening, they indicate a clear and pleasant night.

"The clouds grow heavier over head—
The spider strengtheneth his web."

_Muscles of the Caterpillar._

Our varied movements are executed by the aid of fleshy muscles attached to the skeleton. In these, insects possess a numerical and dynamical superiority over the human race. Anatomists calculate that there are only 370 of these muscles in a man, whilst the patient Lyonet discovered more than 4000 in a single caterpillar.

_A Persistent Fly._

Linnæus saw one of the flies which attack cattle follow a reindeer an entire day, though dragging its sled at a gallop over the snow. The fly flew almost continuously by its side, watching for the moment when it might introduce one of its eggs beneath the skin.

_Phosphorescent Insects._

In tropical America there are phosphorescent insects of remarkable splendor. In Cuba the women often inclose several of the luminous beetles in little cages of glass, which they hang up in their rooms, and this living lustre throws out sufficient light for them to work by. Travelers, in a difficult road, light their path in the middle of the night by attaching one of these beetles to each of their feet. The Creoles sometimes set them in the curls of their hair, where, like resplendent jewels, they give a fairy-like aspect to their heads. The negresses, at their nocturnal dances, scatter these brilliant insects over their robes of lace which nature provides for them, all woven from the bark of the Lagetto.

_Eating Clouds._

Dr. Livingstone, relating his adventures on Lake Nyassa, says: "During a portion of the year the northern dwellers on the lake have a harvest which furnishes a singular kind of food. As we approached our limit in that direction, clouds as of smoke arising from miles of burning grass were observed tending in a southeasterly direction, and we thought that the unseen land on the opposite side was closing in, and that we were near the end of the lake. But next morning we sailed through one of the clouds on our own side, and discovered that it was neither smoke nor haze, but countless millions of midges, called "kungo," (a cloud or fog.) They filled the air to an immense height and swarmed upon the water, too light to sink in it. Eyes and mouth had to be kept closed while passing through this living cloud—they struck upon the face like fine drifting snow. The people gathered these insects by night, and boiled them into thick cakes to be used as a relish—millions of midges in a cake. A kungo cake an inch thick, and as large as the blue bonnet of a Scotch plow-man, was offered to us. It was very dark in color, and tasted not unlike caviare or salted locust."

_A Hundred Stomachs._

Some of the animalcules have in the interior of the body large cavities, which incessantly empty and fill themselves with colored fluid. These cavities represent the heart of large animals and their fluid the blood; and this circulating system is relatively so large that it may be stated, without exaggeration, that some microscopic beings have hearts fully fifty times as large and as strong, in proportion, as that of the horse or ox. A man has only one stomach, whilst invisible microzoa have sometimes a hundred.

_Motherly Sacrifice by the Gall Insect._

Some kinds of gall insects immolate themselves in order to protect their offspring. As the enormously distended insect gradually expels its eggs, it heaps them up in a little pile, and when its body is quite cleared out, and only resembles a hollow bladder, the female straightway covers its progeny with it, attaches the edges round them, and dies directly after. It thus forms for them a convex, solid roof, the impermeability of which protects its eggs against the injurious agency of the air and storms. The mother pays for her childbirth with her life, and her young are born under the shelter of her mummified corpse.

_Wonderful Spider's Web._

Across the sunny paths of Ceylon, where the forest meets the open country, and which constitute the bridle-roads of the island, an enormous spider stretches its web at the height of from four to eight feet from the ground. The cordage of these webs is fastened on either side to projecting shoots of trees or shrubs, and is so strong as to hurt the traveler's face, and even lift off his hat, if he happened not to see the line. The nest in the centre is sometimes as large as a man's head, and is continually growing larger, as it is formed of successive layers of the old webs rolled over each other, sheet after sheet, into a ball. These successive envelopes contain the limbs and wings of insects of all descriptions, which have been the prey of the spider and his family, who occupy the den formed in the midst. There seems to be no doubt that the spider casts the web loose and rolls it around the nucleus in the centre when it becomes overcharged with carcasses, and then proceeds to construct a fresh one, which in its turn is destined to be folded up with the rest.

_Horrible Mode of Assassination._

Before English law and custom had subdued the barbarism of Hindostan, the following mode of assassination was not uncommon: The murderer would kill one of a pair of cobras, and drag the body of the snake along the ground into the bungalow, over the floor, and into the very bed of the victim. After a few moments, the dead snake, having accomplished the purpose of leaving an odorous trail to the sleeping couch of the victim, would be thrown away. The dead cobra's living mate would infallibly follow the trail to the bed, where it would coil itself at rest, waiting to strike the sleeper.

_Fighting Fish._

It is a favorite amusement among the natives of the East Indian islands to secure a number of these fish, and pit them one against the other, just as English "gentlemen" of days gone by used to match game-cocks to fight each other. Mons. Carbonnier has never placed two together in the same vessel, but if two are put into separate glasses and placed near to each other, it is very amusing to watch their attempts at combat. At first they will closely scan each other from a distance; then, changing color and becoming almost black, the gill-covers are opened out and form a sort of collarette round the head, giving the fish a most curious appearance. The tail and fins become phosphorescent in color, as well as the eyes, and are tinted with the most beautiful hues. Then they attempt to get at each other, but are prevented by the intervening glass. When their anger is sufficiently aroused, they are turned into the same vessel, when they fight vigorously with rapid strokes of the tails and fins, till one of them seeks safety in flight, and turns a sort of grayish-white color, often jumping out of the water to escape his conqueror.

_A Snake's Attachment for Home._

Lord Monboddo relates the following anecdote of a serpent: "I am well informed of a tame serpent in the East Indies, which belonged to the late Dr. Vigot, once kept by him in the suburbs of Madras. This serpent was taken by the French when they invested Madras, and was carried to Pondicherry in a close carriage. But from thence he found his way back to his old quarters, though Madras was above one hundred miles distant from Pondicherry."

_Queer Legend about Fish._

Most of the flat-fish, such as the flounder, plaice, sole, &c., are white or colorless on one side and dark colored on the other. Naturalists account for this by saying that these fish live at the bottom of the sea, dark side uppermost, to prevent their being easily seen by the ocean monsters that devour them. The Egyptians give another explanation. They tell that Moses was once cooking a flat-fish, and when it had been broiled on one side, the fire or the oil gave out, and Moses angrily threw the fish into the sea, where, though half broiled, it became as lively as ever, and its descendants have retained its parti-colored appearance to the present day, being white on one side and brown or black on the other.

_An Old Pike._

In the year 1497 a pike was captured in the vicinity of Mannheim, Germany, with the following announcement, in Greek, appended to his muzzle:—

"I am the first fish that was put into this pond by the hands of the Emperor Frederic the Second, on this third day of October, 1262."

The age of the pike, therefore, if the notice spoke the truth (and the enormous dimensions of his body left little doubt on that point), was more than two hundred and thirty-five years. Already he had been the survivor of many important changes in the political and social world around him, and would have survived perhaps as many more, had it not been for his capture. His carcass, which weighed three hundred and fifty pounds, and measured nineteen feet, was sent to the museum at Mannheim, where it now hangs, a light, desiccated skeleton, which a child might move.

_Colossal Shells._

One of these in particular has acquired a certain celebrity on account of its size and the peculiar use to which it has been put. It is the gigantic Tridacna, commonly known as the "font," because it is sometimes employed in churches to contain the sacred water. The great Tridacnæ, which are only detached from the rocks by cutting their cable with an axe, sometimes weigh more than five hundred pounds. The natives of the Molucca Islands eat them like we do oysters, to which they are analogous, and the flesh of one is a sufficient meal for twenty people. Their thick valves, which are sometimes five feet long, serve as troughs for the inhabitants, which nature offers ready cut and polished, and which they often use for feeding pigs, or convert into bath-tubs for their children. Buffon speaks of a shell, the diameter of which was equal to that of a carriage-wheel, and which was used for a mill-stone.

_Changing Colors in a Dying Mullet._

The mullet is a fish that was much esteemed by the ancients. The Italians have a proverb which says: "He who catches a mullet is a fool if he eats it and does not sell it"—owing to the high price which the fish commanded. When it is dying, it changes its colors in a very singular manner until it is lifeless. This spectacle was so gratifying to the Romans that they used to show the fish dying in a glass vessel to their guests before dinner.

_An Immense Zoological Cabinet._

Schleiden maintains that a single visiting card, when it is covered with a white layer of chalk, represents a zoological cabinet containing nearly 100,000 shells of animals. These shells are formed of carbonate of lime, and are so extremely small that it has been calculated that it would require 10,000,000 of them to make a pound of chalk.

_Chank-Shell._

This name is given to a shell of several species of _Turbinella_, a genus of mollusks found in the East Indian seas. They are much used as ornaments by Hindoo women, the arms and legs being encircled with them. Many of them are buried with opulent persons. A chank-shell opening to the right is rare, and highly prized in Calcutta, one hundred pounds being sometimes paid for one.

_Edifices of the Polypi._

The prodigious surface over which the combined and ceaseless toil of these little architects extends, must be taken into consideration in order to understand the important part they play in nature. They have built a barrier of reefs 400 miles long round New Caledonia, and another which extends along the northeast coast of Australia 1000 miles in length. This represents a mass in comparison with which the walls of Babylon and the Pyramids of Egypt are as children's toys. And these edifices of the Polypi have been reared in the midst of the ocean waves, and in defiance of tempests which so rapidly annihilate the strongest works constructed by man. They build their reefs and islands with remarkable rapidity. One of the straits in the approaches to Australia, which a few years ago only possessed twenty-six madrepore islands, at present displays one hundred and fifty.

_Showers of Blood._

In the old chronicles we often read of drops of blood scattered here and there being regarded as a sinister omen, or even of regular showers of blood which carried terror into the minds of our superstitious ancestors. Now-a-days we know that the phenomenon is connected with the metamorphosis of insects. Gregory of Tours speaks of a shower of blood which fell in the reign of Childebert and spread alarm among the Franks. But the most celebrated is that which took place at Aix during the summer of 1608. It struck the inhabitants of the country with terror. The walls of the church-yard and those of the houses for half a league round were spotted with great drops of blood. A careful examination of them convinced a savant of that day, M. de Peirese, that all that was told about the subject was only a fable. He could not at first explain the extraordinary phenomenon, but chance revealed the cause. Having inclosed in a box the chrysalis of one of the butterflies which were then showing themselves in great numbers, he was astonished to see a stain of scarlet red at the spot where the metamorphosis had taken place. He had discovered the cause of the wondrous rain which had alarmed the people. A prodigious swarm of butterflies had appeared at the time, and his conjectures were confirmed by the fact that no drops of blood had been found on the roofs of the houses, but only on the lower stories, the places which the butterflies had chosen for their metamorphoses.

_Shirts Growing on Trees._

"We saw on the slope of the Cerra Dnida," says Humboldt, "shirt trees fifty feet high. The Indians cut off cylindrical pieces two feet in diameter, from which they peel the red and fibrous bark without making any longitudinal incision. This bark affords them a sort of garment which resembles a sack of very coarse texture, and without a seam. The upper opening serves for the head, and two lateral holes are cut to admit the arms. The natives wear these shirts of Marina in the rainy season; they have the form of the ponchos and manos of cotton which are so common in New Grenada, at Quito and in Peru. As in this climate the riches and beneficence of nature are regarded as the primary cause of the indolence of the inhabitants, the missionaries do not fail to say, in showing the shirts of Marina, 'In the forests of Oroonoka garments are found ready made upon the trees.'"

_Whistling Trees._

Schweinfurth, in his "Heart of Africa," describes what may be termed an insect organ-builder. In the country of the Shillooks, he says, the acacia groves extend over an area of a hundred miles square and stretch along the right bank of the stream. From the attacks of larvæ of insects, which have worked to the inside, their ivory white shoots are often distorted in form and swollen out at their base with globular bladders measuring about an inch in diameter. After the mysterious insect has unaccountably managed to glide out of its circular hole, this thorn-like shoot becomes a sort of musical instrument, upon which the wind, as it plays, produces the regular sound of a flute. On this account the natives of the Soudan have named it the whistling tree.

_Aconite._

This plant was regarded by the ancients as the most violent of poisons. They said that it was the invention of Hecate, and that it sprung from the foam of Cerberus.

_Oysters Growing on Trees._

Mr. C. H. Williams, of the Geographical Society of England, tells us how oysters inhabit the Mangrove woods in Cuba: "For several years I resided in that island, and have several times come across scenes and objects which many people would consider great curiosities—one in particular. Oysters grow on trees, in immense quantities, especially in the southern part of the island. I have seen miles of trees, the lower stems and branches of which were literally covered with them, and many a good meal have I enjoyed with very little trouble in procuring it. I simply placed the branches over the fire, and, when opened, I picked out the oysters with a fork or a pointed stick. These peculiar shell-fish are indigenous in lagoons and swamps on the coast, and as far as the tide will rise and the spray fly so will they cling to the lower parts of the Mangrove trees, sometimes four or five deep, the Mangrove being one of the very few trees that flourish in salt water."

_The Shaking Aspen._

The aspen is popularly said to have been the tree which formed the cross upon which the Saviour was crucified, and since then its boughs have been filled with horror and tremble ceaselessly. Unfortunately for the probability of this story, the shivering of the aspen in the breeze may be traced to other than a supernatural cause. The construction of its foliage is particularly adapted for motion; a broad leaf is placed upon a long footstalk so flexible as scarcely to be able to support the leaf in an upright posture. The upper part of this stalk, on which the play or action seems mainly to depend, is contrary to the nature of footstalks in general, being perfectly flattened, and, as an eminent botanist has acutely observed, is placed at a right-angle with the leaf, being thus particularly fitted to receive the impulse of every wind that blows.

_Tree Planting in Java._

In Java a fruit tree is planted on the birth of each child, and is carefully tended as the record of his or her age.

_Turkish Superstition about the Geranium._

The Turks believe that the geranium was originally a swallow, and that its existence was changed by a touch from the robe of Mahomet.

_Four-leaved Clover._

For centuries it has been considered lucky to find a four-leaved clover. Melton, in his "Astrologaster," says: "That if a man, walking in the fields, find any foure-leaved grasse, he shall in a small while after find some good thing."

_Bitterness of Strychnia._

Strychnia, the active principle of the nux vomica bean, which has become so famous in the annals of criminal poisoning, is so intensely bitter that it will impart a sensibly bitter taste to six hundred thousand times its weight of water.

_Copied from Nature._

The remarkably pleasing patterns which adorn the Cashmere shawls from the foot of the Himalaya mountains are copied from the leaves of the begonia.

_Rose of Jericho._

Under this trivial name is known one of the most singular forms of plant-life. It is an annual, and is found in northern Africa, Syria and Arabia. It presents nothing strange during the growing season, but, as the pods begin to ripen on the approach of dry weather, the branches drop their leaves and curl inward, appearing like dead twigs. When completely ripe the whole plant presents the aspect of a ball of curious wicker-work at the top of a short stem. The roots die away, and the wind carries the plant to great distances. When the apparently dead, worthless ball reaches the sea or other water, or becomes wedged somewhere till a rain comes, then the curled and dried ball, under the influence of water, unbends, and the branches resume their proper places. The pods open and discharge their seeds perhaps hundreds of miles from the place of original growth.

The monks of Palestine call it "Mary's Flower," from the belief that it expands each year on the day and hour of the birth of the Saviour. It is also known as the resurrection plant, and women in Palestine, about to undergo the pangs of childbirth, place it in water at the beginning of their pains in the hope that the blooming may be the signal of their deliverance.

_Curious Oranges._

There are many oranges, of curious shape and flavor, which we seldom or never see in this country. Such are the pear-shaped kind grown in the far East; the orange of the Philippines, which is no larger than a good-sized cherry; the double orange, in which two perfect oranges appear, one within the other; and the "fingered citron" of China, which is very large, and is placed on the table by the Celestials rather for its exquisite fragrance than for its flavor.

_Trifoliated Plants considered Sacred._

Many trifoliated plants have been held sacred from a remote antiquity. The trefoil was eaten by the horses of Jupiter, and a golden, three-leaved, immortal plant, affording riches and protection, is noticed in Homer's Hymn _in Mercurium_. In the palaces of Nineveh, and on the medals of Rome, representations of triple branches, triple leaves and triple fruit are to be found. On the temples and pyramids of Gibel-el-Birkel, considered to be much older than those of Egypt, there are representations of a tri-leaved plant, which, in the illustrations of Hoskin's "Travels in Ethiopia," seem to be nothing else than the shamrock. The triad is still a favorite figure in national and heraldic emblems.

_The Belladonna Lily._

This flower (the _Amaryllis formosissima_), in a strong light, has a yellow lustre like gold. It was originally named _flos Jacobœbus_, because some imagined that they discovered in it a likeness to the badge of the knights of the order of St. James, founded in Spain in the fourteenth century.

_Thirty Years in Blossoming._

The bamboo tree does not blossom until it attains its thirtieth year, when it produces seed profusely and then dies. It is said that a famine was prevented in India, in 1812, by the sudden flowering of the bamboo trees, where fifty thousand people resorted to the jungles to gather the seed for food.

_Mouse-Ear._

Lupton, in his third "Book of Notable Things," 1660, says: "Mousear, any manner of way administered to horses, brings this help unto them, that they cannot be hurt while the smith is shoeing of them; therefore it is called of many, herba clavorum, the herb of nails."

_Mugwort._

Coles, in his "Art of Simpling," says: "If a footman take mugwort and put into his shoes in the morning, he may goe forty miles before noon, and not be weary."

_The Shoe-black Plant._

There is a species of hibiscus growing in New South Wales, the showy flowers of which contain a large proportion of mucilaginous juice of a glossy, varnish-like appearance. Chinese ladies use the juice for dyeing their hair and eyebrows. In Java the flowers are used for blacking shoes.

_St. John's Wort._

The common people in France and Germany gather this plant with great ceremony on St. John's day, and hang it in their windows as a charm against thunder and evil spirits. In Scotland it is carried about as a charm against witchcraft and enchantment, and the people fancy it cures ropy milk, which they suppose to be under some malignant influence. As the flowers, when rubbed between the fingers, yield a red juice, it has obtained the name of _Sanguis hominis_ (human blood) among some fanciful medical writers.

The young maid stole through the cottage door,
And blushed as she sought the plant of pow'r—
"Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light,
I must gather the mystic St. John's wort to-night."

_Vegetable Fungus._