WRITE 

 W/lftT YOU H&VE- 



SEEM 



THEFUNDF 



( 5EEIN6THINGS, 



I FOR YOUNG FOLKS 1 



V EDITED BY * 



\ Edward FBigelow / 



W/HOT YOU WP>NT 

 TO KNOW. 



^Souna^Qc^ch , Conn 



A Wooden Flower. 



A piece of wood in the form of a 

 flower or at any rate suggestive of a 

 flower has been sent to us by Mr. H. 

 E. Deats of Flemington, New Jersey. 

 He writes that he has no knowledge of 

 the curiosity except that it was given 

 him by his aunt, who received it from 



■■ 



• 





SUGGESTS A FLOWER. 



a young man who brought it from 

 Mexico. We shall be glad if any of our 

 botanical friends will tell us just what 

 it is, and if others have similar speci- 

 mens we should be glad to see them. 



The Slimy Salamander. 



We are indebted to "Aquatic Life" 

 for the cut of an interesting illustration 

 of the slimy salamander. The photo- 

 graph was taken by Dr- R. W. Shu- 

 feldt, who in an article in "Aquatic 

 Life" states as follows : 



"It will be observed that this speci- 

 men presents very unusual markings 

 for the species, the white speckling on 

 the upper parts being very numerous. 

 However, the Slimy Salamander is 

 known to show great variation in this 

 particular, some individuals being like 

 the one in the cut, others having very 

 few fine speckles, while still others are 

 blotched with the light color markings. 

 Sometimes the speckling is moderately 

 continued onto the ventral aspect of 

 the animal, where the general color is 

 of a deep lead color or stone gray ; for 

 the rest, it is a rich black, as shown in 

 the cut. The tail is round ; the eyes 

 conspicuously prominent, the species 

 being a slender one of moderate size. 



"This specimen measured about five 

 inches in length, half of which being 

 devoted to the tail. This Salamander 

 has rather a wide range, being found 

 from southern Canada to Florida and 

 westward to include Texas. In some 

 sections it is said to be very abundant; 

 but this surely does not apply to the 

 District of Columbia, where 1 have col- 

 lected salamanders for many years, and 

 where I have never taken a single in- 

 dividual of this species. 



"When trying to escape from the 

 hand, the Slimy Salamander often at- 

 temps to do so by quite an active little 

 jump in a horizontal direction ; but the 

 attempt is feeble. As a matter of fact, 

 it is a gentle little creature, and, in my 

 eyes, a very pretty one. It has earned 

 its scientific and common names from 

 the slimy exudation from its skin — a 

 clear, sticky mucus, a product of the 

 dermal glands- The species is a typi- 



