128 THREE KINGDOMS. 



puncture the wall of the corolla at a point in the angle formed 

 between it and the calyx, insert their proboscides, and extract the 

 honey. 



GILBERT VAN INGEN. 



HOME-BREWED SNOW-STORM. 



I can testify to the following, which took place in the kitchen 

 on wash-day. It was near Richmond, Ind. The temperature 

 was about 15 below zero. While the room was misty from the 

 vapor from tubs and boilers, the outside door was opened. A 

 shaft of cold air struck across the room, and its course was dis- 

 tinctly marked by a dense swarm of w r ell-defined snow-flakes, 

 which fell rapidly to the floor. We repeated the experiment for 

 the sake of seeing a ' home-brewed ' snow-storm. 



JOSEPH MOORE. 



EFFECT OF AN EARTHQUAKE ON INSECTS. 



On the night of August 31, 1886, when the first tremor was 

 felt by members of our family, the music of hundreds of katydids, 

 crickets, and other insects among the pines, suddenly ceased, and 

 did not begin again until after the shocks (which continued about 

 an hour) had ceased. The stars shone in a cloudless sky, no 

 wind was blowing, and an oppressive silence covered the land. 

 No sound was heard, with the exception of howling dogs and the 

 cries of frightened negroes. 



CARRIE H. GLOSSER, 

 Morganton, N. C., Sec. Chapter n. 



MUSKRATS AND MUSSEL-SHELLS. 



Having driven a muskrat into the water, I found a mussel which 

 it seemed to have dropped. It was not open, but had one valve 

 partially broken at one end. I broke the ice and found a large 

 pile of shells just under the bank. These shells had one valve 

 whole, and the other broken, at the places where the cords are 

 that hold the valves together. m 



ROGER C. ADAMS, Pres. 955. 



I have watched muskrats by the hour : have seen them go into 

 the water, come up on a log or stone with a clam, sit down on 

 their haunches, take the clam between their fore-feet, and pull the 

 shell open far enough to insert their noses and extract the mussel. 



D. A. KINNEY, Pres. 565. 



