P OP ULAR MIS CELL ANY. 



123 



forward through their middle third, and, 

 opposite the angle of the mouth, turning 

 sharply upward at the tip. In the female 

 they are placed farther apart in the skull, 

 measure much less in circumference at the 

 point of insertion, and, though they like- 

 wise fall down and present the same curve 

 as those of the bull, the points are not in 

 the least inclined upward, but rather down, 

 or in the same plane with the hps. They 

 are powerful weapons, however, serving both 

 sexes equally well either for offense or de- 

 fense. They are very broad next to the 

 skull, but taper swiftly toward the points, 

 which are very sharp, and present a dull 

 whitish-yellow color, rough at the basal ex- 

 tremity, but smooth and shining beyond, and 

 black at the tips. The average proportions of 

 a pair of horns are two and a half feet across 

 from tip to tip, and each two feet in length, 

 measured from the median line of the fore- 

 head, to which they are attached by a char- 

 acteristic boss or protuberance. A pair 

 frequently weighs upward of sixty pounds. 

 The tail is very small, and completely hid- 

 den by the long hair of the voluminous 

 fleece. The legs, too, are short and greatly 

 concealed by the long hair of the shoulders 

 and flank. The feet are four-toed, and 

 armed with hoofs like all ruminants, the 

 two anterior and largest being broad and in- 

 flexed, with sharp cutting edges, and the 

 posterior or lateral ones, which are but 

 slightly developed in most quadrupeds, are 

 considerably prolonged, almost reaching to 

 the ground; this, with the upward curve 

 and great expansion, of which the front 

 hoofs are capable, presents a structure 

 which, by giving the animal a broader base 

 to stand upon, prevents its sinking too deep 

 into the snow, or when traversing boggy 

 ground. Without this, the musk-ox would 

 have been as ill-fitted to tramp over the 

 yielding snow-fields of the north as the 

 camel to perform long marches through the 

 burning sands of tropical deserts without 

 his broad, elastic sole-pad. 



Sagacity of the Beaver. — A Mississippi 

 correspondent of Chamhers's Journal re- 

 counts several interesting instances of the 

 sagacity of the beaver, and of the readiness 

 with which that animal grows accustomed to 

 the presence of man. At a place near this 



correspondent's residence a railroad crosses 

 some wet, springy ground, where there used 

 to be several beaver-dams. The line of em- 

 bankment supplied the place of these dams, 

 and the beavers, taking the good the gods 

 provided, worked no more on their own dams, 

 but enjoyed the pond of four or five acres 

 which the embankment had made for them. 

 A year or two since, the railway-workmen 

 undertook to put a culvert through the em- 

 bankment and drain the pond, which, after 

 running freely for a few days, and nearly 

 emptying the pond, suddenly stopped one 

 night : the flow had been arrested by the 

 beavers. The men opened it again, but 

 once more it was stopped up. This went 

 on for some time. As the men passed that 

 way they would open the entrance to the 

 culvert, and at night the beavers would 

 shut it up. At length, finding that closing 

 at the entrance, where their work could so 

 easily be broken down, did no good, the 

 beavers moved their dam to the middle of 

 the culvert, which was some forty feet long, 

 out of the reach of the poles used to poke 

 it down. Here was a community of beav- 

 ers working with express-trains thundering 

 over their heads ! 



A Tsefnl Snake. — In " Notes on the Nat- 

 ural History of Fort Macon, North Caro- 

 lina," contributed to the "Proceedings" of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, Drs. Coues and Yarrow describe 

 the king-snake {Ophiboliis c/eiulus), which is 

 said by the residents frequently to destroy 

 both rattlesnakes and moccasins, eating its 

 victims after the conflict is over. For this 

 reason the king-snake is in great esteem, 

 and is carefully protected. The fight which 

 takes place between the ophibolus and the 

 rattlesnake has often been witnessed, and 

 is described as follows : So soon as the 

 rattlesnake sees his enemy, he endeavors to 

 escape if possible, and, failing in this, he 

 instantly throws his body into coils. The 

 Idng-snake approaches swiftly, and moves 

 around the rattlesnake in a circle, gradually 

 drawing nearer and nearer, the rattlesn;rf!e 

 following his motions with his head. The 

 circular movement of his antagonist appears 

 finally to disconcert him, for after a time it 

 is noticed that his movements are less ener- 

 getic, and at length, in an unguarded mo- 



