The Lafayette advertiser. [volume], June 29, 1889, Image 3

About The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??

Image provided by: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

                
W.HIP POOR WILL.
;Whm Pmpling shadows westward creel
And stars through crimsom curtains peep
And south winds sing themselves to sleep:
'Prom woodlands heavy with Perfume
-Of spicy bud and April bloom
Comes through the tender twilight gloom,
Music most mellow,
"Whip po' Will-.ill, oh!
Whip po' Will-Will, oh!
"Whip po Will, Whip p' Will, Whip po Will
-Will. oh "
The bo,. m of the brook- i. filih,l,
With n,w alarm, the for,,st thrilled
With startled echoes, and most skilledl
To rio a la.,vrinthine race
The lirefi., light their lams to clna',
The culprit through tih darkling !,ae
Mischievous fellow,
. h "Whip po' Will-W 11. I,!
Whip po Will-Will, h'
Whip !s Will, Whip po' Will, Whip po'
W\il-Will. oh"'
From Li.l to hill the echos!i fly
The marshy brakes take up the cry,
And where the slumlbring waters lii
In calm repose, and slyly fehlo
The snipe among the whispering re'e.,,
The tahi rf this wil sprite's inisdeel
:I'roubles the billow.,
"Whip po' Will-Will, oh!
Whip po' Will-Will, oh!
Whip p' Will. Whip po' Will, Whip po"
Will-Will, oh"'
And where is he of whom they speak?
Is he just playing the hide and seek,
Among the thickets up the creek
Or is he resting from his play
in some cool grotto, far away,
Where lullaby crooning :l'phyr. 5ray.
Smoothing his pill w,
"Whip po' Will-W-ill. oh!
Whip po' Will-Will. oh !
'Whip po' Will, Whip il"' Will, Whin p.
Will-Will, oh "'
-1!. M. Folsom ia . I tlantta C'ost.if tion..,
THE FATAL FLOWER.
"You are a'dead nman," said the D)e.
!tor, looking fixedly at Anatole.
Anatole was astonished.
He had come to spend the evening witl:
ais old friend, Dr. Bardais, the illustrionr
vant, whose studies of poi:onous plant
j-d made him famous. It was not hi"
_me, however, which attracted Anatol,
the Doctor, but his nobility of heart
lud almost paternal kindness. And now
'uddenly, without any prleparation. the
aoung man heard this terrific prognostica
tlon from the lips of so i.reat an author
"Uahappy Iboy." m'ult inue(l the Doctor,
"what have you (ldo)e'"
S'"Nothing that I know of, sta:nmierel
as3tole.
*Think. Tell mnc what you have
, what you h.le eaten, what you
Sinhaled!
This last word was like a ray of light
Anatole. That very morning he had
Mlceived a letter from a friend who was
.a.veling in India. In this letter he found
a flower which the tourist hadl lplucked
on the banks of the Ganges. an odd-look
little red flower. whose odor, he re
bered, seemed to him to be strangely
ant. Anatole looked in his pocket
and took therefrom the letter and
flower which he showed to the
ere is not a doubt !" exclaimed the
"It is the Pvramenensis Indica!
I flower of blood!"
u really think so?"''
! I am certain."
it is not possible that it should
fatal to me. I am only twenty-five
d, am strong and in the best of
what hour did you open this fatal
o'clock this morning."
, to-morrow morning, at the
r, at the same minute, in full
you say, you will feel a peculiar
7our heart, and that will end all."
you know of no remedy, no
," said the Doctor.
clasping his head in his hands,
t fell into a chair, overcome with
otion of his old friend convined
that he was indeed doomed. He
at once; he was almost insane.
sweat on his forehead, his ideas
walking mechanically, Anatole
into the night, unconscious of
passing about him. For a long
alked thus, then, coming to a
sat down.
did him good. Up to that
had been like a man who has
received a severe blow on the
At last, however, his mind seemed
and he began to gather his scat
uatt ,n' ie thought, "is like
man , ondemned to death. Such
b.wever, can still hope for
But I ... long have I to live?"
ked at his watch.
o'clock.in the morning. It is
Igotobed. What! Igotobed?
$eep the last six hours of my life?
*ave certainly something better
to do. But what? Why, I
will to make."
away was a restaurant which
n all night. Thither Anatole
bring me a pot of coffee and
of ink," he said, as he seated
at a table.
a cup of coffee, and, looking
lying on the table before
hom shail I leave my income of
I I have neither father nor
Among the people in whom I
there is only one to whom
leare;my money-Nicette."
was Anatole's second cousin, a
girl of eighteen years, having
and large dark eyes. Like
a rh, and this simhilar
hed log since established a
between them.
was uekly drawn up. He
-' sofmd eup of
:-I
wind int-truments which he teaclhe- pupil)
of the Conservatory to play, did not do
right in promising her hand to a brute, a
bully, whom she detests. She detest
him all the moret bI ause. sihe loves .rn
onre elce, if I have able to understndl hetr
tretic n ti tr }id her 'ntl:trr:t;.ssmt. t. Who
is this lhapty mortal: I kumw nR., biut
lh i< 'ert ilyv iort y of he- r sinct ,h,
la ch,,o-en hire. .;, al. -ti t, beautifut.l,
b:h nd . .\h' if :]u" min+t ha]t. Ib.,. mu
w if it i. I a!:':l eu. to t r'e h Ir i,
In:m ,i. il i:m i}-' h t!C-. I. Ir i l itr lit,
lO"uti. i: t litv trit l,,i t Ni, -
chang l,. :' I 11iR " I. I %, ill ua}r , t,.::
the t1 1ttt1r t ,-no( 'l'r.+, mlnt i nl: i ". 1},,1t i,
nier.It O ill b,, ton IcI': 1 -t i,2 :t
ilotC . It it ' n unm e l - ,:flt' hiirt( to t-,
peopletd., but a I "hull di,' in ti . htur
ticannot con, ider th, it '< tt ni, :u,1. It i
dentijIe ! IMy lifte fr Niletttl ""
A nati le l ft the. i '-t: ,ii : : 1-1, 1 ,
to the hol -( ," 1!. l; iu,'rd. the ' r ,
of Nica:tte.
It Na-t I , ht k in the m rniii ' vd v ,(0,
ihe rantl the ll. le ehm tvwie,, tirei
tire. hi ru At last MI. ih tmard him
selB . atonis. het . hit nili.ht-c;|l out t ihe
hlaul. ,,rued th.e lootr.
* W hat'. tite matter'.. hIl,- ask d,. 1"1
there a tire:
eo,, my dear 11. Honyatrd." replied
Anatole. "I have 'mnut to (all on gnu."
"At this hou-:'"
"A'll hour, itre 'ood in which one "au
see you, E1. ,,uoard. But you are in
your night-clothe't<: \u had better return
to bhel."
. That i, what I'm ,noing to do." And
then, l,.:ling Anatole to his chamber. he
continued: ''Hut I suppot"-, since Cout
have :rou-ed me at til-, hour, that you
have somethin_;' important to say to mle.."
• V,+ry important' It i, nees<ary. M1.
HotI|ardl. that you -huml give up the
idea <ff n,+rryine my c,,uain N\icetteto M1.
" p,11 ] tllena *" , +
"-My re~,litin ii taken: this marria.e
Ih:ll take piae(.'
S'It shall nit take i la- e.'
" Well, .e sh.all Ies. And n1ow that
you have myi answer I will not detain ,ou
longer."
"Y,,u are not SL V amiable thi- nm'rn
ing, M. Biovyarld. But I am not offended,
-and as I am pertsevering I remain: "
'Stay if you will. I, however. shall
imntagine that vyou ha:ve departed and I
shall say no more..' Then.turnin r away,
5M. Bouvardl muttered : " Who ever heard
of such a thin,' To disturb il pIaeeable
man. rou~ie him from his sleep to talk
Slddenly II. .1ouv ar I jumped into
Anatlole got the Prlofiessor's trombone,
in which he lilew as though a deaf per
son were trving to play it. The sounds
it emnitted were infternal.
* My precious trombone! the gift of
my pupils:" excl:imed the Professor.
'Leae: Ithat instrumnent alone."
'Ii. I:,ovard." replied Anatole. ":you
have ima:,giined thit I have departed. I
imagine you arc absent. and I amuse my
self aIamitin-, your return." Then, after
blowing furiously on the trombone, he
exclaimedi: "Ah, what a beautiful note"'
*You will cause my landlord to give
me notice to leave the hiouse. lie will
not let me play on my tromblllione after
midnight."
''Ah. the man ha, no music in his
soul]"
Again the twembone thundered.
'For heaven's sake. stop'"
"Do you consent.'
'To what ?"
"'To give up the idea of this marriage."
"But I cannot do that'"
"Very well, then----"
The trombone finished Anatole's
sentence.
"'b. itapdnenac is a terrible fellow. If
r should offer him such an affront he
would kill me."
'I"Does that fear restrain you?"
"Yes."
"Then leave the matter to me. 'Only
promise me that if Iobtain M. Capdenac\s
acquiscence my v ousin shall he free.'
-"Yes, I promise you she shall be free."
"Bravo! I have your word. Now I
will leave you. But, by the way. what
is this Capdenac's address ?"
"It is 1O( rue )eux-Epees."
"I will go ihre at ncc. (;Gooi,v."
'Ah '" thought M. Bouvard. -'vou are
going to throw yours lf in the lion's den,
and you will get what you deserve."
Anatole hastened to the address the
Professor had given him. It was six
o'clock when he reached the house. He
rang the bell violently.
"Who is there?" cried a de'ep voice be
hind the door.
"Let me in. I have an important
communication from M. Bouvard."
Anatole heard the rattling of a safety
chain which was being removed, and the
sound of a key which was turned in three
locks successively.
"Well, this man is well guarded!" ex
claimed Anatole.
At last the door was opened, and Ana
tole found himself in the presence of a
man who had fierce curling mustaches
and was arrayed like a buccaneer.
"You see-always prepared," said M.
Capdenac. "That is my motto."
The walls of the reception room were
covered with panoplies. In the little
room to which Capdenac led his visitor
one saw nothing jut arms-yataghans,
poisoned arrows, sabres, swords, pistols
and blunderbusses. It was a veritable
arsenal. It was enough to strike terror
to the soul of a timid person.
"Bah!" thought Anatole. "What
does it matter? I shall die within two
hours in any case."
"Monsieur," said Capdenac, "what is
the object of - "
"Monsieur," replied Anatole, inter
rupting him, "you wish to marry Mlle.
NicetteV'
"Yes, Monsieur."
"Monsieur, you shall not marry her."
"Alh, blood! and who will prevent
mel"
"I.,,
Capdhsac gazed at Anatole who was
dot very large, b4 who looked very d
ýýý ume,, ý 'lsaýr" ~r p~i t at! s'
Iood humor. Protit by it. Save your
self while there is yet time. Were I not
in in amiable mood I would not answer
. for your days."
'-And I do not rinswer foir Votus."
'"A de(titane! to me (':qaidenac! D)c
I, know that I have foutiht twenty
lduel<. thl:tt I h v:ve, killl tive of miy :ol
c:lr ; :till c nould,- d tll other tif(-^" :
I;, .o un - fnI . ro. I hliva pity f lir t,4
, h e 'aTherei is till tile: ."
Si l' l , rei l li ti 1i tAi t ,. [hi-, h 'tr
11.-til\r t:tiiin'i' ,Vlile 'iF 1 1el i'1 t- t;:ti oi i -i
t" ,ll:itti .I t. vjlt , ,i i-in (.- ii.f!: ,\our o t
il'r t! ii rl . i 1tilr i nt ,l e ii, t
*"*1 I : ' n (i I(t blll e titil r. ( tl rl ll ,,
i: . . lit t flitwo tie .r o .i t ti : -.ix(.
' **Wii l V i: lriite. a (ti( tsii. piprer tip l -
' I ur thl ikit r -f i r eoit "r w of
noit khiUti.w Ioe ti -hed athet it. abwoutl
qilo.itt o riat thio nhrtatld be il Et .ll.ndit
ite - r'h tt's i t u its her
1"1 lhae no mothIer. Iii. i rhet p, t 4uh
"ilr for cartine or revoh ppr st
n -Youna rin. do not hianl.1 thf Nic
i:tt i, of : ic" te.
under tand each other. ".yplt w thl you
ihtn.thinog
\aForl ho , time f mtself houe thought
not know how to ,o about it. I woubl,
queh'st, but you uletand that it will rtot
threat st. e
"Anatol .'
"(Go oa111, and tro to bed." cried the
Professor. routhly.
"I have ('apdenac's relinquishment ol
Nicette's hiand. Open the door, or I'll
hbreak it in."
.MB. Bouvard ,opened the door. Anatole
.-ave him the paper, and then went to the
door of Nicette's chamber and cried:
"Cousin. get up; dress yourself and
come here."
A few moments after. ard N icette, fresh
as a ro.s. entered the little reception
roomi.
W\Vhat's the matter:" whe said.
'The matter is," cried M. Bouvard,
"that your cousin is mad."
'Mad he it"' said Anatole; ''but Ni
cette will see that there is method in my
madness. This night, my dear little
cousin, I have accomplished two things:
3. ('apdenae renounces your hand, and
your Iniardlian co!lnsnts that you shall
marry the menu you love.''
"MIv uardian, are you indeed willing
that I should marry Anatol?"
Ah '!" exclaimed Anatole.
'It is you. my cousin, whom I love."
At that moment Anatole felt his heart
beat violently. What cau.sed it Was it
the pleasure which Nicette's unhoped-for
avowal gave him? Was it the pain fore
told by the Doctor? Was it death?
"Unfortunate man that I am!" cried
poor Anatole. -'She loved me. I see
my happiness before me, and I am going
to die without attaining it."
Then, grasping the hands of Nicette,
he told her all; he told her about the let
ter he had received, the flower whose
odor he had inhaled, the warning of his
old friend, his will, the subsequent events
and his success in obtaining her freedom.
"And now," he added, "I am going tc
die "
''That is impossible," exclaimed Ni.
cette. -'The Doctor is deceived. Who if
he ?"
"A man who is never deceived, Ni.
cette; he is lIr. Bardais."
"Bardais. Hardais:'" cried Bouvard
lauthiny. ""Li-ten to this paragraph it
the morning newspaper: 'The savant. Dr
Bardais. has become suddenly insane.
His insanity has taken a scientific turn.
It is well known that the Doctor has de
voted himself specially to the study o:
poisonous pl:nts. lie now believes al
persons whom he meets have been poi
soned, and he persuades them of the fact.
He was taken at midni"ht to an insane
asylum."
"Nicette :"
"Anatole!"
The lovers were clasped in each other'!
arms. -Epoch.
The Organ of Cremation
There is a paper published in Germane
called Die Flamme, and which is devotee
to the advocaay of cremation. Unwit
tingly, perhaps, a recent issue contain
the strongest sort of argument agains
that method of disposing of the dead. I1
seems that a Professor Ungarelli, of Fer.
rara, was taken ill and apparently died.
He was laid out, the funeral service held.
and the coffin was being put in the grave,
when one of the workmen heard a groan.
Examination showed the supposed deac
man to be alive, and that he had been
conscious all the time, though unable tc
move or express himself. Had crematior
been practiced a horrible death must have
resulted.-San Franlreco Chroniele.
The Language's Mint.
The rapidity with which words are
coined by the English-speaking race is
wonderful, and to England some of the
most remarkable instances are due. The
verb "to burke" (to rifle graves of
corpses) and its origin are well known,
ahd it has been in use for many years.
The word "boycott" is of too recent
origin to need more than passing notice.
But perhaps the most remarkable instance
yet afforded is now seen in the English
papers, which have adopted the verb "to
. itechapel." The now word certainly
ha the maPit aobeing soeh lesm sgPgu.
ti's-AsC the dt
THE MADSTONE.
WHAT IT IS AND ITS ALLEGED
MIRACULOUS WORK.
Pronounced by Doctors a Tradition
of' Igaorancell - A Madstone
Dt- scribed- Lates.t Story
Abouit One.
'i:,'.-ul us st.r e.s of alleged c'urs of
: of hydr,,liil ,hi lv the tue ,of a .ltone
I'I ul:rly called a " ladlstonc'" have
", s lithe New Y1iork .ý'i, bec. com
n ,n in tr:.itioin. Althonth the m0ad
-t ,ir i' nolt dinscribedl in \Weliter's Dic
ti,,nar;x, aoir in the Atn'iriican Eniyvc!o
l,( lii:, a::ndl is g'nera.lly r riardcld iv it edu
ctted, l ])hy-iciins as a relic of superstition,
thes- storki" are vet cirn.ulatctl with the
,pretence of :itliheiti.ity. It may be
safely a,,otel that wherever there is evi
t.nce of an :all.,..d cluire, therei is no evi
d(hilce that thri, .\ais ainy hydlrophoilia to
(be cured, for such is the testimony of ex
l)rts who hla: si-pent a good deal of time
and mon'v inv\t.-igating stories of alleged
hydi r)ophobia.
The literature of the madstone is very
scarce. All that could bce found in the
big library of the Academy of Medicine
by the industrious lilbrarian, Mr. John S.
Brownne, was a description of the mad
stone, written by I)r. W. J. Hoffman, of
the Smithsonian Institute, and published
in the San Francisco Histern Lanictt for
January, 1884, as follows:
Having just had the iopmportunity to care
fully examine a so-called "madstone," a brief
descripti in may not ibe uninteresting. The
speciuen was obtained by one of the United
States (;eoiogical Survey in North Carolina
during the past field season. and consists of a
pebble measuring nine-tenths of an inch in
lengsth,three-fourths in width at the broadest
part, and appears to hayv. been the original
surface resulting from cleavage. Its weight
is 22) grains. The color is dirty white, but
upon the rounded surface has assumed a deep
brick red, which has penetrated into the body
of the pebble, and resulted, no doubt, from
infiltration of ferric compounds. The flat
surface shows the veinings of coloring matter
very distinctly, and as it shades off through
an orange tint into the white of the body of
the stone, causes quite an attractive speci
men. The rounded portion of the pebble,
w.hen held in the sunlight,shows a satin lustre
of a strawberry and burnt senna tint-a re
flection resembling that of the moonstone and
labradorite, being characteristic of some of
the feldspars, to which this emampie no doubt
belongs.
h ae gentleman whosold it to the present
owner stated that it had been obtained from
the paunch of a white-spotted deer (Macrurus
virginianus), shot about two years ago. It is
natural to suppose that the partial albinism
of the animal added considerable mystery to
the specimen found within its body, and the
funder, being no doubt, of a superstitious
nature, at once experimented with it, with
the result that one case of hydrophobia and
one of rattlesnake bite were cured. The per
son bitten by a mad dog is said to have been
a typical case, and a dog bitten by the same
rabid animal died afterward. Affidavits sub
stantiating the above mentioned cases are
offered by the discoverer, but we shall not
dwell upon the alleged merits of the stone
until actual experiments shall have been per
formed under the direction of compexteL\t
persons.
The manner of applying the stone is to heat
it in hot water and then to apply it to the
wound, when its great absorbing (?) proper
ties will at once cause it to adhere and. ex
tract the poison! It is said to partially bury
itself in the soft parts, puckering the skin im
mediately around it.
When first hearing of the above specimen I
thought it might be one of those ordinary
calcareous concretions sometimes met with
in the herbiverous mammalia, but a piece of
feldspar is quite an unusual deviatiou, and
the only reason that can be given is that the
deer's tongue coming in contact with a saline
substance, the animal would naturally swal
low it, on account of its extreme fondness for
salt. The piece of feldspar may, by its ex
posure and gradual decomposition, have ac
cummulated a thin film or incrustation of
potash, which is its chief alkaline constituent,
thus naturally affording a sufficiently salty
taste for it to be swallowed entire.
The latest story about the madstone
comes from Terra Haute, and is this:
The Indianapolis Journal's correspondent
at Terre Haute, Ind. reports that what is
known as the Terre Haute madstone was to
day applied to the leg of the eleven-year-old
danghter of John Kirk, at Rush County,
Ind., who was bitten two weeks ago by a
pup which afterward died with all the symp
toms of hydrophobia. The stone, after a
lapse of eleven hours still adhered. The dog
bit two sisters of the child, and either
scratched or bit a four-vear-old brother.
The madstone was applied to the boy but
would not adhere, and this confirms the im
pression that his injury is from a scratch.
The wounds of the three girls were not deep,
but blood was drawn. The madstone is
thoroughly saturated, and the cloth about it
is soaked with poisonous-looking matter.
The longest time the stone ever adhered be
fore this application was fourteen hours, and
that was many years ago. The stone has an
authenticated record of more than ei'htv
years, and no death has ever resulted if it
once adhered. When it drops off the child
on whom it is now applied it will be tried on
one of the sisters.
The succeeding day brought the fol
lowing.
The madstone was yesterday applied to an
other of the four children of the Rush County
farmer who were bitten two weeks ago. The
stone adhered nearly twelve hours to the
eleven-year-old girl treated Sunday, and
eight hours to the five-year-old girl yester
day. Some of the virus drawn through the
porous stone will be subjected to a scientific
examination. Last night two men from
Warren County, this State, came here to
have the stone applied, each being appre
hensive that some of the saliva of a hog got
under the skin of their fingers. The hog was
bitten by a dog, as were several others in the
same pen, and so far three have died. The.
dog has been running wild through the
country.
Seeking the opinions of reputable
physicians, a Sun reporter saw Dr. Allan
McLane Hamilton, who emphatically de
clared that the madstone is not believed
by *rell-informed persons tq have any of
the curative or remedial properties
ascribed to it; that the belief in it is re
garded as a superstition of the past, not
worthy of serious thought. Dr. Hamil
ton said: "Possibly such a porons stone
may absorb the blood of a wound, and
with it virus, if there would be any to be
absorbed; but it would be no more
efficient than a sponge or any other ab
sorbent. No sensible person believes in
the curative powers of any such stone. It
is easy to see how, if there was no hydro
phobia to be cured, ignorant persons,
after seeing such astone applied, and
seeing the patient get well, might
honestly believe that they had seen a case
of hydrophobia cured by a madstone. As
a matter of fact, few physicians allege
that they have seen a genuine case of
hydrophobla in man. There is no au
theuticeted instance of a case of genuine
hydrebobia is man cared by a mad
ol,.. aost of the mad-dog stories,
} ha.p.r-e m o sift them to the bet
tom, turn out to be mere cases of hysteria
or nervous trouble. Often the most
trivial evidence of alleged hydrophobia is
accepted without question. People have
been known to imagine that they had
hydrophobia when they had not been
bitten at all. It would, of course, be
easy to cure such people with a madstone.
You may say for me that I believe there
is very little hydrophobia, and no more
curative power in a madstone than there
is in a sponge."
Stransgely Restored Facutltes.
A most peculiar case is interesting the
lpeople of the Holly neighborhood in
Webster County. W. Va. Abraham Mc
Masters has long been a well-known
citizen of that section. His family con
sisted of five children, two girls and three
boys, all in perfect health except the
youngest, a boy of seventeen, whose mind
had been affected from birth. He was
what is in provincial sectiG~s known as
simple. With the greatest difficulty he
had been taught to read, and by years of
laborious application had learned what
most children of five years know. IHe
was harmless, good-natured and in
dustrious. Early last fall the boy was
sent to mill. Not returning at the ex
pected hour, nor for some time later,
search was instituted and the imbecile
was found unconscious by the roadway.
Blood oozed from his nose and ears, and
his head appeared to have been struck by
some blunt instrument. A cheap watch
and some change the lad had were gone,
giving evidence that the boy had been
assaulted and robbed. He was taken
home and remained unconscious for two
weeks. At the end of that time the boy
became as a new-born child. His eyes
rolled, and he had no control over his
limbs and was cared for just as an infant.
In time his teeth camlie out and he is now
cutting a new set just as a baby. He
first crawled, then began to walk.
Speech came gradually, as with all in
fants, though much earlier, if his age
can be measured from the time of his in
jury. He is now able to go about as a
four-year-old does, his mind is clear, and
be is everything except stature of a boy
of four or five years. So far as can be
learned he has no recollection of his past
life, and scenes he knew well then are
now unfamiliar to him. He treats his
former playmates as strangers, and plays
with toys and wooden horses as do the
babies of the neighborhood. Physicians
;ay he will grow into an intelligent,
iealthy man.-Chicago Times.
Butterflies Protected by Ants.
In the last number of the jouanal of
the Bombay Natural History Society, M.r.
Lionel de Niceville describes the manner
in which the larvae of a species of butter
fly are cultivated and protected by the
large, common black ants of Indian gar
dens and houses. As a rule, ants are the
most deadly and invc'.eeste enemies of
butterflies and ruthlessly destroy and eat
them whenever they get a chance, but in
the present case the larva exude a sweet
liquid of some sort, of which the ants
are inordinately fond, and which they
obtain by stroking the larvae gently with
their attennwe. Hence the great care
which is taken of them. The larvae feed
on a small thorny bush of the jungle, and
at the foot of this the ants construct a
temporary nest.
About the middle of June, just before
the rains set in, great activity is observa
ble on the tree. The ants are busy all
day running along the branches and leaves
in search of the larva, and guiding and
driving them down the stem of the tree
toward the nest. Each prisoner is guarded
until he is got safety into his place, when
he falls into a doze and undergoes his
transformation into a pupse. If the loose
earth at the foot of the tree is scraped
away hundreds of larvae and pupsae in all
stages of development, arranged in a
broad, even band all round the trunk,
will be seen. When the butterfly is ready
to emerge, in about a week, it is tenderly
assisted to disengage itself from its shell,
and, should it be strong and healthy, is
left undisturbed to spread its wings and
fly away. For some time after they have
gained strength they remain hovering
overtheir old home.-Naturalist.
Paris Wastes Nothing.
The Rerue des Deuxr Mondes has some
eurious statements respecting the food
consumption of Paris. In the large
lyceums and schools boys are generally
very wasteful; they will throw away half
the bread they get for lunch, tread upon
it, kick it into the gutter, ink it, etc.
None of these fragments are lost. The
servants sell them to certain dealers who
are called boulangers en vieiux, and turn I
their acquisitions to good account. They
first pick out all the tolerable pieces,
which they heat in an oven, and then rasp
clean. Thus prepared these bits re
appear in the market in the shape of
toast for soup. Most of the coutons cut
into lonzenges and served on the tables
of the rich, with spinach, have no other
origin. As for the dirty crumbs and
refuse left after the picking, they are
pounded in a mortar and sold to butchers
as chapelure, wiuh which they cover their
cutlets and knuces of ham. The really
filthy remainder, which is too bad even
for chapelure, is blackened over a fire,
pounded and then mixed up with honey
aromatized with a few drops of essence of
peppermint. This is sold as an opiate
for the toothache.
Why a Cat Falls With Impunity.
It is quite wonderful to see a cat jump
from a height. I never seems to hurt
itself, or to get giddy with the fall. It
always lands on its feet, and these are so
beautifully padded that they seldom or
never get broken. Why does not the
animal get a headache after its jump?
Why does it not receive a concussion of
the brain, as a man or a dog would if he
performed a similar acrobatic feat? To
answer this, we must examine a cat's
skull, when we shall see that it has a
regular partition wall projecting from its
sides, a good way inward, toward the
center, so as to prevent the brain from
suffering from concussion. This is indeed
a beautiful contrivance, and shows an ad.
mirable internal structure, made in wen
derful conformity with external form and
nocturnal habits.-&- . ds.ioa .
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Entomologists say that bees possess the
power of memory.
A Swiss writer attributes baldness to a
microscopic fungus.
A process has just been invented for
lining iron pipe with glass in a molten
condition.
The next thing is to make wall paper
that it can be heated by electricity, and
thus supplant stoves and coal.
The highest nunber of vibrations that
can be reached by the highest string of a
piano is about five thousand per second.
Experiments are now being made with
sending live fish in specially constructed
cars from Denmark to Switzerland and
Italy.
The evidence is accumulating that the
microbe of malaria, which was described
by Laverau, is the cause of intermittent
fever.
The fMedi4al Reriew' has made the dis
covery that a man's heart weighs 330
gammes (10 ounces), while a woman's
only weighs 260 gammes.
The magnificent stalactite cave lately
discovered near Reclere, Switzerland, is
estimated to be about a mile long, 2000
feet broad and ten to sixty feet high.
The zoological and scientific collections
of the late Crown Prince Rudolph are to
be distributed, by order of the Austrian
Emperor, among the museums of Austria
and Hungary.
Artificial irrigation, however obtained,
whether from artesian wells or canals for
the distribution of water over the lands,
is never so profitable as that which comes
from natural rainfall.
Out near San I)iego. Cal., where there
is much coarse <and rock, covered by a
thin layer of soil, the experiment is be
ing tried of blasting holes into which to
plant shade and fruit trees.
In some of the Indian villages of
British Guiana Im Thurm noticed many
tamed animals--such as parrots, macaws,
trumpeters, monkeys, toucans, etc.
which were used as currency to adjust
balances in the bartering between the
different villages.
Fromentine. a new elementary sub
stance consisting of the embryo of wheat
reduced to flour, is said to contain three
times more nitrogenous substance than
meat, and a considerable portion of
sugar. It is suggested that it may ad
vantageously replace powdered meat as a
concentrated food.
It appears that the lover of mushrooms
is in danger not only from poisonous
species but fromr a poisonous state of the
edible kinds. In Switzerland several
cases of poisoning from dried mushrooms
have led to the conclusion that poisonous
ptomaine-like substances may be de
veloped in edible mushrooms by slight
putrefactive changes.
Plants grow as long at they live, and
they live much longer than animals. A
Boabab tree in Senegal, about 100 yards
in circumference, was reckoned by Adan
son to be about 5000 years old. An oak
in Dorsetshire. England, is thought to
be 2000 years old. As the Baobab is
now known to be a fast growing tree,
doubt has been thrown on the accuracy of
Adanson's estimate.
Prejevalsky's last work describes the
remarkable effects of the wind on the
soil of the deserts of Central Asia. Not
only are sand and dust blown about, but
sometimes smaller gravel is lifted into
the air, while larger stones are rolled
over the ground. In one case stones as
large as a man's fist had lodged in the
hollow of a rock, and whirled around
until one had worn through two feet of
sandstone.
Long-Horn Cattle.
Craven, in Yorkshire, is considered the
original home of the Long-Horn cattle.
Originally they were noted as well for
milk as for beef. The colors are brindled
and white or red and white, the former
colors being preferred. Under the breed
ing of Bakewell the Long-Horns acquired
great celebrity. With his deaththis class
of cattle lost caste, and now the breed
has little celebrity. The principal integer
in Bakewell's breedings was careful selec
tion. The breed resembled the Here
fords more than any other breed.
The characteristics of the breed are
given as follows: The head is finely cut,'
but long, and tapers well toward the
muzzle, being, moreover, well set on to a
thin, shortish neck. The horns are, ex
cept in the bulls, long, fine and tapering,
hanging well down by the cheeks and
then point forward by the muzzle; the
usual length in the cows and oxen is from
two and a half feet to three feet, but
those of the bulls rarely exceed eighteen
inches. The shoulders are comparatively
fine, but well set on, and the legs show
good bone. The girth is small; but the
loin is broad and the hips wide and out
standing. The chine is rarely full except
when the animal is fattening, and then it
will put on flesh in this part. The thighs
are long and fleshy with small, clean-cut
legs. The hide is of fair thickness, mel
low and soft to the touch. The flesh is
of fine quality, and the offal small. The
fatten rapidly and easily, and although
not coming to maturity so quickly as the
Shorthorns, they nevertheless approach
these, their supplanters, very closely,
leaving very little to be desired in this re
spect.--Prairie Farmer.
Oldest Pieces of Wrought Iron.
The oldest pieces of wrought iron now
known are probably the sickle blade
found by Belzoni under the base of a
sphinx in Karnac, near Thebes; the blade
found by Colonel Vyse, imbedded i4 the
masonry of the great pyramids; the por
tion of a crosscut saw exhumed at Nim
rod by Mr. Layard--all of which are now
in the British Museum. A wrought bar
of Damascus steel was presented by King
Porus to Alexander the Great, and the
razor steel of China for many centuries
has s '--,ed all European steel in tem
per an,, (,urability of edge. The Hindoos
appear to have made wrought iron direct.
ly from the ore, without passing i'
through the'furnace, from time a
rial, and elaborately wrought am~a
iron are still found in India, wi -
from the early centuries a the r.
ers.~