OUR FLORIDA ALLIGATOR. 337 



sarj), bags of ammunition, some strong chains, rawhide rope, and a 

 'gator pole. This last-mentioned " tool " is a stout pole about ten 

 feet long, armed with a heavy hook of quarter-inch iron, bearing a 

 barbed shank of two inches or more, and it is used for hauling the 

 dead alligators from the bottom, for the creatures sink as soon as 

 killed. 



The brilliant rays from the " jack " reveal a curious and a grew- 

 some sight when thrown upon a bank or island upon which a group of 

 the creatures have congregated. The shining waters of the swam]), 

 so still and black at that hour of midnight; the hideous tangle of 

 huge gray forms, as a dozen or more alligators, fairly intoxicated by 

 the gleam of the mysterious light, steadfastly watch its incomprehen- 

 sible presence. Gazing intently, their evil eyes blood-red in the glare 

 from the powerful reflector, some lie motionless, others roar and hiss 

 and snort with thrilling fierceness as the mystery deepens, inces- 

 santly arching their bodies, then alternately depressing them to the 

 ground. Still others, crawling from beneath their companions, 

 scuffle angrily to the front, and stand with jaws partly open — now 

 and then slowly inflating their lungs, until their throats and sides 

 puff out like bellows. Yet, strange to say, instinct seems to warn the 

 mother alligator, for there she may be seen quietly creeping away 

 with her young. 



Then, the loud reports from the guns, and the mystery is dis- 

 pelled! The island is deserted, and the work of raising the success- 

 fully shot saurians begins. 



Boards of rural engineering, syndicates of specialists organized in 

 several of the countries of northern Europe to look after drainage and irri- 

 gation, have rendered great services to the populations of the country dis- 

 tricts. With their aid 591 villages in Alsace-Lorraine were provided with 

 water between 1881 and 1895, and 516 communes in Baden have been bene- 

 fited by their assistance. The expense of the improvement has not ex 

 ceeded $6.61 (33 francs) per inhabitant. The Agricultural Bureau in Prus- 

 sia has in the past five years drawn the plans and directed the work of 554 

 hydraulic syndicates, covering a total surface of more than 600,000 acres. 

 A numerous body of these agricultural engineers is formed every year in 

 Germany, 517 students having pursued the course of the section of rural 

 engineering in 1893 in the agronomical institutes of Bonn and Berlin alone. 



It is generally accepted that the spider is a solitary animal, that will 

 tolerate no companions, even the male being in danger of being devoured 

 by his female. But a spider — the Stregodyphus gregarius — is described as 

 living in the Transvaal in communities, including males and females, 

 young and old. The nests are sometimes voluminous and have partitions 

 and numerous passages running through them. The spiders usually escape 

 observation by wrapping themselves in dry leaves that hang from stems. 



