I

moths we catch at night, as there is but one that flies in the day, and that is the humming-bird moth. I like the imperialis best of all the moths. By what I saw of it in a picture, I think that you can tell moths from butterflies, because their antennæ are so much larger, and besides, the butterflies' antennæ are clubbed. think that they are much handsomer than the moths, at least most of them. The worms make cocoons in the autumn, and you have to keep them all through the winter, as they don't come out till spring; you have to water them once or twice, so that they think it is raining. I found a cocoon this winter; it was a cecropia. There are a good many of the polyphemus and saternice in Wickford, but saternice are poisonous; they are covered with fuzzy stuff, and if you touch it it makes your hand sting like everything. I was stung by one once, and I hope I never will be again. There is a southern butterfly in Wickford, only one or two. We only saw two of them, but we could not catch either of them. My papa saw a perfect one and I saw an imperfect one, but, of course, it was Sunday when papa saw the perfect one and a week day when I saw the imperfect one; but we caught a good many other kinds, as I said before. The sulphur and the white ones (I don't know the name of them) are the commonest; the archippus, Camberwell beauty, black swallow-tail, yellow swallow-tail, and the tortoise-shell are quite common, but they all have their time. The silver-moon is a very odd kind, it has a little silver crescent on the back of each wing. I found two worms in the early summer, and they came in the silver-moon time. My brother, myself, and a few others went on an expedition after butterflies, when my brother happened to go into some bushes when out came two prometheus moths; they had taken refuge in the bushes for the day; we caught them both, but one was imperfect, so we let him go. The luna is a very uncommon moth, and is one of the largest and prettiest, it is of a light green color, and has a white body, the wings ending in tails. The most scarce of all northern moths is the "hickory devil," and if you should happen to find one it is most likely to die, it is so sensitive, but some of them live, though it is very hard to take care of them; they are the terror of the negroes at the South, though they are harmless. I was very glad to see letters about worms and moths, because it shows that some one else is enjoying finding them. HELEN.

HOTEL METROpole, GenevA.

MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I have been taking you since last January, 1884 My dear Mamma gave you to me as a birthday present. I enjoy you very much. I watch for you every month. I am nine years old, and my birthday comes on the 26th of January. I have a little sister named Grace, and a brother named Allan. I often read you to them, and they like you very much. Allan is eight and Grace is six. I read the letters and like them too. I am in Europe and am having a very nice time. I stay in Geneva. And I lived in a little country place named Summit, New Jersey. And I came over here with Papa and my little brother, and came to see my cousin Marie, and I am with my dear Grandmamma, and left my little sister with my other Grandmamma. Grandmamma reads you to me very often, and I like the funny little pieces of poetry_she reads to me. Yours truly, LULA T.

A VISIT TO MOUNT VErnon.

READING, PA.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I visited Mt. Vernon recently, and I am now going to tell you about the principal things I saw there. Before entering the mansion of Mt. Vernon, we paused to take a view of Washington's tomb. All members of Washington's family are buried in lots fenced off around the tomb. Washington and his wife are buried inside the tomb, behind a heavy iron door. But outside of this door, in another division of this tomb, behind the grated iron door at the entrance, are two marble coffins. One of them has the name of George Washington and the coat-of-arms of the United States upon it. The other has the name of his wife upon it. This is all of the new tomb, except that the key has been thrown into the Potomac. The old tomb is just a common brick structure. We then had our photographs taken on the piazza of the mansion. The piazza is paved with stones taken from the Isle of Wight. We then entered the mansion. The first room we came to was the state dining-hall. In this hall there is a picture of Washington, on a white horse, surrounded by his officers. It represents a scene before Yorktown. Washington is in the act of reproving the chief engineer for some misdoing. Then there is a finely carved mantel, made of marble, and sent as a present to Washington from abroad, and upon is a sea-fan placed there by Washington himself. And upon a table in this room is a miniature cut of the Bastile in a glass case. And in different rooms are the harpsichord presented to Eleanor Custis by Washington as a wedding present; the flute on which Washington once played; the field-glass belonging to Washington still hanging where he hung it himself; the chair which came over in the "Mayflower," and which I had the pleasure of taking a seat in; the bed in which Lafayette once slept; the bed in which the Father of his Country died; also that in which Martha Washington died. A British field-ensign, which is said to have been captured by Wash

it

ington on the field of battle, is also in one of the rooms. Now, I would like you to publish this, for it may interest some of the young readers of ST. NICHOLAS very much. Yours truly, A. L. F.

In the number for July, 1880, ST. NICHOLAS published an article entitled "Two Gunpowder Stories," one of which told how Elizabeth Zane, a brave girl, at one of the border forts during the Revolution, faced death from the rifles and arrows of the besieging Indians, in her endeavor to secure fresh powder for the men who were defending the fort, when she knew that every man was needed. A friend and contributor, Mr. John S. Adams, now sends to the LETTER-BOX these verses commemorating the heroic deed of the girl who risked her life to save the garrison.

ELIZABETH ZANE.

THIS dauntless pioneer maiden's name
Is inscribed in gold on the scroll of Fame;
She was the lassie who knew no fear
When the tomahawk gleamed on the far frontier.
If deeds of daring should win renown,
Let us honor this damsel of Wheeling town,
Who braved the savage with deep disdain,-
Bright-eyed, buxom, Elizabeth Zane.

'T was more than a hundred years ago,
They were close beset by the dusky foe;
They had spent of powder their scanty store,
And who the gauntlet should run for more?
She sprang to the portal and shouted, "I;
'Tis better a girl than a man should die!
My loss would be but the garrison's gain.
Unbar the gate!" said Elizabeth Zane.

The powder was sixty yards away,
Around her the foemen in ambush lay;
As she darted from shelter they gazed with awe,
Then wildly shouted, "A squaw!" "a squaw!
She neither swerved to the left or right,

Swift as an antelope's was her flight.

Quick! Open the door!" she cried, amain, "For a hope forlorn! 'T is Elizabeth Zane!

No time had she to waver or wait,
Back she must go ere it be too late;
She snatched from the table its cloth in haste
And knotted it deftly about her waist,
Then filled it with powder - never, I ween,
Had powder so lovely a magazine;
Then, scorning the bullets, a deadly rain,
Like a startled fawn, fled Elizabeth Zane.

She gained the fort with her precious freight;
Strong hands fastened the oaken gate;
Brave men's eyes were suffused with tears
That had there been strangers for many years.
From flint-lock rifles again there sped
'Gainst the skulking redskins a storm of lead,
And the war-whoop sounded that day in vain,
Thanks to the deed of Elizabeth Zane.

WE are advised that under various pretexts our Chapters have been solicited to patronize various new papers or magazines, which are stated to be published "in the interests of" the A. A., and our Secretaries are kindly requested to "send in their reports" and "contributions," and otherwise to "aid in making this a helpful medium of intercommunication," etc.

It would seem unnecessary to state that all of these publications, without exception, are issued without any authority or sanction from the Editors or Publishers of ST. NICHOLAS, or from the President or projectors of the Agassiz Association. We should not refer to this had we not observed that a few of our Chapters already have been led to send reports, etc., to these periodicals, evidently supposing that they were in some way regularly connected with our Society.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

MR. H. H. BALLARD:

MY DEAR SIR: I should like to offer assistance to beginners in the study of lichens. I will cheerfully name

specimens as far as I am able, and advise as to methods of study.
I shall also be glad to make exchanges. Yours truly,
FRED'K LEROY SARGENT, President, Chapter No. 686.
Address 415 Broadway, Cambridge, Mass.

A COURSE IN ENTOMOLOGY.

PROF. A. W. PUTMAN-CRAMER, the President of the Brooklyn, N. Y., Entomological Society, in addition to the kind invitation printed in our latest report, has volunteered to conduct a class through a somewhat extended course of original observation and field-work in entomology. It is proposed that the course consist of 20 lessons, and be freely open to every one, whether a member of the A A. or not. To indicate somewhat the nature and scope of these lessons, we print the first lessons here. It will evidently be impracticable to print the course in ST. NICHOLAS, and we have decided to issue the lessons in the form of leaflets, which will be forwarded to students as rapidly as required. To help meet the expense of printing and mailing the twenty lessons, a nominal fee of one dollar for the course will be charged.

All who desire to avail themselves of this opportunity may send their names at once to Mr. John B. Smith, Editor of Entomologica Americana, 290 Third Av., Brooklyn, N. Y. If fifty names be received before Aug. 1, the course will be carried on. Every student handsome certificate, signed by the Instructor, and countersigned by the President of the A. A.

FOR the fifty-first time, the President of the A. A. has the pleasure of extending to each Chapter the right hand of fellowship, and to each member a hearty greeting. By an error in a recent report April 28 was mentioned as Agassiz's birthday, instead of the wellknown 28th of May. If any of our newer Chapters, misled by this, were beguiled into the rural districts a month too soon, we shall feel guilty of Pneumonia in the third degree!

LICHENS.

A LETTER asking for aid in the study of lichens fell into our box one day, closely followed by the following appropriate neighbor:

LESSON 1. HOW TO STUDY A BUTTERFLY.

No

Select any large butterfly - Danais Archippus, for example. 1st. Make as neat and accurate a pencil-drawing of it as you can. matter if you have never drawn a line before. Do your best. If you have a box of paints, you may color your sketch, but this is not essential.

2nd. With pen and ink on note-paper, write a careful description of the insect, noting the following points in order:

a. Measurements from tip of antennæ to tip of abdomen, and from tip to tip of extended wings.

b. The principal, or ground, color, whether brown, yellow, black,

d. Break the wings from one side, lay them flat on a piece of glass, and with a small camel's-hair brush, clean and dry, gently rub the color from them. Examine this colored dust carefully with a magnifying glass or microscope, and draw portions of it as it appears thus enlarged. To what can you compare the little particles? How are they arranged on the wing? Are they all of the same size and shape?

e. Carefully remove all the color from the wings, and examine the frame-work that remains. What color is it? What does it look like? Do you notice any device for imparting strength or rigidity to the wing? Describe it. Make a careful drawing of a wing after the color is removed; do not draw the veins or ribs at random, but count them, and follow their true direction, for their number and course aid in determining the name of the butterfly.

f. Break off the feelers or antennæ from the head. Look at them through your glass. Draw and describe them, making particular note of the shape of the club at the tip.

What device do you observe, by which the antennæ are enabled to bend freely in every direction, and yet be rendered rigid at the will of the insect?

g. Describe the head. State whether it is hairy or not; whether it is broad or narrow, long or short. Observe whether the eyes bulge out distinctly like a bead, or whether they are nearly flat. State also whether the antennæ, at their junction with the head, are far apart, or almost in contact with each other. This is also a point toward the naming of the insect. You should find attached to the head in front, two other appendages, called palpi, or lip-feelers. Describe them; and state whether they grow below, above, or between the antennæ. At the lower side of the head you should see a small coil, like a watch-spring. This is the tongue. easily examined in a dry insect, but you may note its color, and anything else you may observe.

It is not

h. Look, now, at the thorax, as the division of the body behind the head is called. What parts do you find attached to the thorax? How many legs on each side? How many wings? Break off the legs from one side, and carefully draw and describe them. Be especially careful with the one nearest the head. Is it longer or shorter than the others? More or less hairy? Has it the same number of joints? The joint nearest the body is the femur: the next is the tibia. The last is the foot, or tarsus. The plural of tibia is tibiæ, and of tarsus, tarsi. How many joints has the foot? Examine closely whether every leg has a foot. Which foot, if any, has fewer joints than the others? How many has it? If the legs are so thickly clothed with hairs that you can not see these parts, lay them on a piece of glass, and place a drop of carbolic acid on each. After half an hour, soak up the acid with blotting paper. You can then easily remove all the hairs with a stiff brush, and can see the joints perfectly.

i. Finally, look your butterfly over again, state anything you know of its habits; where and how and when you got it, and any other facts regarding it that occur to you.

Then carefully wrap up your drawings and descriptions, and mail them to the Brooklyn Entomological Society, to Mr. John B. Smith. 290 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

THE A. A. IN CANADA.

ONE of our largest and strongest Chapters is No. 395, Montreal, Canada. It has more than fifty members, and has made its influence felt in the city for several years.

Heretofore, our Association has not spread in the "Dominion" with anything like the rapidity of its extension in the United States. It has occurred to the Montreal Chapter that an impulse may be given to the work from that city.

We have, therefore, authorized Mr. W. D. Shaw, Secretary of Chapter 395, to act as our Canadian Secretary. Mr. Shaw will devote himself to the task of extending a knowledge of the A. A. in Canada, and he will receive and classify our Canadian correspondence, and regularly transmit the same to the President.

Hereafter, therefore, until further notice, all residents of Canada who desire information regarding our Association may address Mr. Shaw, at 34 St. Peter Street, Montreal.

REPORTS FROM CHAPTERS.

NINE SNAKES AND A SKELETON.

Spearfish, Dakota. I have never seen anything about rattlesnakes in ST. NICHOLAS but once, but to me they are very curious. I don't mind if they are dangerous. I killed nine rattlesnakes last sum

mer. One of these had fifteen rattles. I killed them coiled, so as to study their exact position. Then I boiled their heads, to examine the structure. My pet rabbit was bitten by one, and I watched the effect of the poison. I am getting a whole skeleton of a man,—I think he was an Indian, for I found it in an Indian burying-ground,in a bag. My little sister called it my "bag of bones," and would not go near it. No one knows how hard I have worked to put this skeleton together, gluing bones together, etc., but I have learned a great deal about human anatomy. With many good wishes for the A. A.-Jeannie Cowgill, Corresponding Member.

[Is there another girl in the world who has killed nine rattlesnakes and jointed a skeleton?]

682, Philadelphia (W.).- We have lectures on zoology at each meeting. A course on physiology was commenced last week.James E. Brooks, Sec.

WHAT IS THE USE OF THE A. A.?

[For obvious reasons, we withhold the name of the writer of the following letter, which is a sample of many that cause our hearts to overflow with gratitude. One such letter is ample compensation for all the time and labor given to our work. The writer is one of the gentlemen who have volunteered their kind assistance.]

I have received many letters from Chapters relative to their work, all showing the Chapters to be in sober earnest. In all the history of the Chapter in this place, there has never been a brighter outlook than now. At the last meeting there was an attendance of eighteen, with very many visitors. Two or three members are added each week. One thing which has served in great measure to further the cause has been the regular publication of extended reports of these meetings in our local papers. I am informed by the editor of one of these papers, that these reports are copied by the journals all through the State, and that the formation of similar Chapters in every town is strongly urged. Among those who have joined the Chapter here, are many young men who were just at the age when they began to have the sole charge of their own characters, and who have been benefited beyond measure by the Agassiz Association, and its influences. I could now enumerate twenty-five who have been saved to good and useful manhood through nothing but the ennobling effect of having this love of Nature grafted upon them. If this has been the result in this one town in five years, what must it be in the country in entirety? And what will it be in the future? Pardon the length of this letter. I have been so in earnest as to forget myself. Yours in all sincerity,

EXCHANGES.

Minerals, eggs, insects. Correspondence.-Louis W. Wheelock. 2017 N. 17th St., Philadelphia. (Curator, Ch. 556.)

Texas wild flowers and beautiful varieties of cactus, for eggs, minerals, insects, or back numbers of ST. NICHOLAS.-Chesly Alexander, Abilene, Texas.

Aragonite, selenite, and other good minerals. Correspondence.E. E. Amory, 3525 Grand Boulevard, Chicago.

Mica schist and gneiss, for fossils.-J. McFarland, Ch. 58, 1314 Franklin St., Philadelphia.

Foreign and Canadian insects, birds, reptiles, and minerals. Correspondence.-- W. D. Shaw, 34 St. Peter St., Montreal.

A complete collection of unmounted pressed ferns from Pough. keepsie, N. Y., for a complete collection of same from Hartford, Conn., or Gainesville, Florida. Write first.-G. Van Duzen, 81 Carroll St., Poughkeepsie, N. Y.

Lizards (salamander, erythronota, and bilineata). G. A. Grove, Fayetteville, N. Y.

Sea-urchins with or without spines, and from one-half inch to three inches in diameter, for eggs, or minerals. Chapter 256, Box 81, Newton Upper Falls, Mass.

Burrs of the long-leaved pine, for minerals and seaside curiosities. — R. S. Cross, Sec., Ch. 601, Purvis, Miss.

Starfish, horseshoe crabs, and Atlantic shells, for tin ore, asbestos, or agates. Parker C. Newbegin, Defiance, Ohio. Eggs.-S. Linton, 1243 Dorchester St., Montreal. Bird-skins, for same. Minerals for minerals.- Miss S. H. Montgomery, Box 764, Wakefield, Mass.

Questions.

Is there any such thing as a "hoop-snake"? A school-mate says 'No,' and brings a clipping from Forest and Stream to prove it; while a teacher of the High School names persons that have seen them!

[We will gladly publish the direct testimony of any one that has seen a hoop-snake with his own eyes.]

How does the common fresh-water snail support itself on the surface of the water with the ventral surface uppermost, and how does

it propel itself when in that position? G. Van Duzen.

If our atmosphere were removed, would another form?
What may be called impurities of the atmosphere?

Why do dark objects sink into snow more rapidly than light ones?

Why does whirling or the sight of whirling objects produce giddiness?

Of what use to the fish are the stones found over the eyes of the "sheep's head"?

5. Arthur Espy.

842 Clifton, O. (A). 843 W.Worthington, Mass. (A) 12..O. B. Parish. 844 Columbia, S. C. (A).......6..J. M. McBride. 845 Onondaga Valley, N. Y. (A) 6.. Mrs. J. W. Wilkie. 846 Greenwich, Conn. (A). 20. .D. L. Bardwell. 847 Washington, Ind. (A). .10.. Ben Clawson. 848 Harrisonville, Missouri (A)..4.. Miss Bessie Lawder. 849 Boston, Mass. (H)

.12.. Miss Sara E. Saunders, 17 State St.

II.. Miss Allie I. Yeaton, 15 Prospect St.

..13.. Miss Fanny M. Stiteler. .6.. Mrs. F. A. Reynolds, (Beaverhead Co.)

827 Bridgeport, Conn. (A) 828 Cincinnati, O. (D)

Oak St., Mt. Auburn.

829 Shelburne Falls, Mass. (A) ..9.. Merrill Carley.

5..Edith W. Cadwallader. 10..W. H. Maltbie, Box 780.

.8.. May L. Perry, 49 Mariner St. 4.. Mrs. M. M. Johnston,

.20..

Box 539:

Miss Annie Bourne. .6..Miss Belle Green, N. Union St. ....4.. Morris Thompson,

213

2309 Octavia St. .4..G. S. Connell, 134 E. 19th St. 4.J. N. Bulkley, 351 W. 82d St. 6..R. Ainsworth, 49 Chorley R'd. 10.. Miss Bertha Harris. .12.. Mrs. C. W. Asbury.

REORGANIZED.

291 Providence, R. I. (B).... ...................... A. A. Packard, 115 Angell St.

The address of Ch. 762 is now W. H. Hugg, P. O. Box 3, Baltimore, Md. Address all communications for this department to the President of the A. A. MR. HARLAN H. BALLARD, Principal of LENOX ACADEMY, LENOX, MASS.

THE answer to this rebus is an extract from an oration. The seven letters, inclosed in seven similar circles, will spell the name of the orator. The letters of the monogram in the lower left-hand corner will spell his birth-place, and the right-hand monogram will spell the place where he died.

WORD-SQUARE.

1. To save. 2. An instrument for paring. 3. The central part of an amphitheater. 4. Splits. 5. To obliterate. "LYON HART."

NUMERICAL ENIGMA.

I AM composed of fifty-nine letters, and am the patriotic utterance of a great statesman, and his surname.

My 55-6-35-57-6-33 is a city famous in American history. My 57-28-43-57-48-3-40-23 is a business which was seriously interfered

with at the beginning of the Revolution. My 27-11-14-56-36-26-2039 is an American statesman and jurist who was born in Virginia in 1755. My 40-9-52-21-58-38 2-47-5-4-57-13-29 is the Christian and surname of our author. My 17-46-42-7-1-31-24-10 is his nationality. My 51-40-37-12-4 is the surname of a statesman upon whom our author pronounced a famous eulogy. My 16-45-5-19-44-54-57 is an official body of which our author was the leading member during 36-32-59-7-41-35-6-25's administration. My 53-34-56-50-6-8 4-30-18 became a State during Polk's administration. My 22-15-49, when read as Roman numerals, will hint at the age at which our author died. MISS GUSSY."

DOUBLE DIAGONALS.

I

5

ACROSS: 1. Given to luxury. 2. Complete views. 3. Sentenced. 4. One who is proposed for an office. 5. Placed. 6. Minute portions of matter. 7. Offers. 8. Untainted. 9. An opening through which cannon are discharged.

DIAGONALS. From 1 to 3, regions; from 2 to 3, particles of stony matter; from 3 to 5, to get away from; from 3 to 4, a hard substance; from 1 to 5, a familiar sort of picture; from 2 to 4, a kind of rock.

I.

DIAMONDS.

CYRIL DEANE.

4. Inde

1. In July, 2. A margin. 3. Gowns of state. pendence. 5. Gay. 6. An inclosure. 7. In July. II. 1. In firearms. 2. To proclaim. 3. A basket used by anglers. 4 Independence. 5. A city of Japan. 6. A game at cards. "DYCIE." 7. In firearms.

DOUBLE ACROSTIC.

My primals form a famous and familiar saying (in Latin) of Cæsar's. My finals form the modern name of the country to which Cæsar's saying referred.

Cross-words (of unequal length): 1. A city which surrendered to General Grant on July 4, 1863. 2. A republic of South America. 3. The most celebrated river of the ancient world. 4. An island in the Mediterranean that was visited, not long since, by a terrible earthquake. 5. One of the New England States. 6. A river of Afghanistan. 7. The capital of the State of Delaware. 8. One of the loftiest mountains of the Bolivian Andes. 9. A river of Holland which flows into the Zuyder Zee. 10. One of the north-central of the United States. 11. The capital of Sardinia. 12. A famous city, formerly the metropolis of Persia. "IMMO."