MISCELLANY 



507 



are tolerably high and steady. In such in- 

 stances attention to the telegrams would in 

 all probability mislead. In conclusion, Mr, 

 Ley says: "The connection between the 

 weather periods on the two sides of the At- 

 lantic is one of the problems which the prog- 

 ress of research is steadily, though slowly, 

 attacking. But such research can be car- 

 ried on without embarking on a system of 

 weather telegraphy, which is unlikely to 

 be practically beneficial, and the failure 

 of which might rather tend to bring this 

 branch of the science into disrepute." 



Where do the Grasshoppers belong? 



Prof. Riley's Seventh Report contains most 

 valuable facts relative to the natural his- 

 tory and geographical distribution of the 

 grasshopper i^Caloptemis spreiiis) which has 

 caused so much human suffering by its de- 

 struction of crops in the Western part of this 

 country. It appears, from the Report, that 

 the late Mr. Walsh, State Entomologist of 

 Illinois, had previously predicted that the 

 insect would not reach the Mississippi Riv- 

 er, and, so far as known, subsequent facts 

 bear out the statement, although the reasons 

 stated for the limitation of the species to 

 its present territory are not entirely satis- 

 factory. Prof. Riley exclaims (pp. 165, 166) : 

 " Well is it for the people of Missouri, 

 well is it for the people of the Mississippi 

 Talley generally, that this insect cannot go 

 on multiplying indefinitely in their fertile 

 fields. Else, did it go on multiplying and 

 thriving as the Colorado potato-beetle has 

 done, this whole valley would soon become 

 a desert waste. A wise Providence has de- 

 creed thus far it shall go and no farther." 

 To the " wisdom " of this " Providence " 

 the poor people of Kansas, Nebraska, etc., 

 may well object, and very naturally withhold 

 their approval from Prof. Riley's biblical 

 rhetoric. It would rather seem, also, from 

 Prof. Riley's map of the portion of Mis- 

 souri overrun already by the grasshopper, 

 that all the citizens of that State cannot 

 agree that it is " well with them ; " but 

 some must be even content to share in 

 the suffering of the farmers of Kansas and 

 Nebraska. As to the " valley of the Mis- 

 sissippi," an inquiry as to the probability 

 of cotton-fields and sugar-plantations af- 

 fording the proper kind of food for the 



grasshopper will be in order before South- 

 erners may consider themselves as the cho- 

 sen people of Prof. Riley's geographically 

 discriminating "Providence." The fact 

 that the cotton-worm {Alciia argillacea) mi- 

 grates as far north as Canada, though not 

 breeding beyond the limits of the growth 

 of the cotton-plant, would show the possi- 

 bility of the grasshopper exceeding its pres- 

 ent range in favorable seasons, and in local- 

 ities where the food and soil are congenial. 

 A. R. Grote. 



Social Feeling in Dogs.- A correspond- 

 ent furnishes the following statement, for 

 the truth of which he vouches : " A gen- 

 tleman residing a few miles from Brooklyn, 

 on Long Island, had recently two dogs 

 which for several years had shown marked 

 attachment for each other. One day he no- 

 ticed that one of the dogs was ill, and the 

 following morning found him dead in the 

 barn, where he was accustomed to sleep. 

 The other dog, which slept in the house, 

 left in the morning when the gentleman 

 went out, lively and playful as usual, and 

 on the barn-door being opened bounded in, 

 and saw his companion dead on the floor. 

 Having smelt of him, he looked at him in- 

 tently for more than a minute, and started 

 for the house, with drooped ears and tail, 

 evidently in distress certainly he knew that 

 a great change had taken place in his com- 

 panion. At breakfast the dog refused food, 

 nor did he eat thereafter ; his usual cheer- 

 fulness gave place to melancholy, and in a 

 few days he died." 



A Cnrions Fog. Dr. R. Angus Smith 

 describes, in a recent pamphlet, a pecuhar 

 sort of fog observed by him in Iceland. 

 On a bright July afternoon Dr. Smith hap- 

 pened to be in Reikjavik, and saw a cloud 

 coming down the street from the southward. 

 Finding that it moved very slowly along 

 the ground, he concluded that it was smoke 

 from a chimney, but smoke mixed with 

 larger particles than are usually seen. 

 When the fog reached the spot where the 

 observer stood, it was found to be devoid 

 of smell, but its influence was decidedly 

 frigorific. Perceiving that it was a fog, 

 Dr. Smith ascended a rising ground, and 

 saw the fog coming from a small lake be- 



