53° 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ray first impressions have been fully con- 

 firmed. In every variety of situation and 

 circumstances the white petunias have been 

 neglected for the colored, in exact propor- 

 tion to the intensity and vividness of color ; 

 and the same I found to be true, in a less 

 degree, as regards the deep and pale morn- 

 ing-glories. I have called the attention of 

 others to the facts, and proved that the 

 preference of the insects is determined by 

 color alone. If there was any difference 

 whatever in sweetness or fragrance, it was 

 in favor of the rejected white flowers. 

 Yours respectfully, 



Thomas D. Lilly. 



Kent's Stoke, Fluvanna Countt, Va., I 

 October 23, 1878. j 



AN AMERICAN HAIRY TORTOISE. 

 To the Editors of the Popular Science Monthly. 



Noticing your interesting extract, from 

 " Land and Water," concerning the hairy 



tortoise, I take the liberty of mentioning a 

 similar species found, to my knowledge, in 

 the lakes of this valley. Its description 

 taUies almost exactly with that of the Chi- 

 nese variety, except perhaps in size. It is 

 about three inches in length by two and a 

 half in breadth, is very closely covered by 

 its shell ; the calipee is not hinged, and out 

 of some dozen specimens examined by me 

 not one was without the coat of water-grass. 

 Its habitat is the bottom of shallow lakes 

 and ponds, and near the submerged roots 

 of trees, where it is often caught with the 

 hook. It has a remarkably fetid odor. The 

 grassy or confervoid covering is not of any 

 very great length, generally about one half 

 or three fourths of an inch. It is, I believe, 

 an undescribed species, though Mr. Agassiz 

 may have had a specimen among his collec- 

 tion of tortoises from the Mississippi Valley. 

 Very respectfully, 



J. F. Battaile. 

 Yazoo City, Mississippi, December 8, 1878. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



COPYRIGHT AND MORALITY. 



THE recent fluttering among Amer- 

 ican publishers caused by the dis- 

 covery that Canadian enterprise threat- 

 ens to come into successful rivalry with 

 them, even in their own home market, 

 is sufficiently amusing. The violation 

 of the rights of foreign authors has 

 been hitherto excused on the ground 

 that it was necessary to the promotion 

 of American popular education and 

 indispensable to the intelligence of the 

 country. Authors and publishers, we 

 have been emphatically told, are by no 

 means the main parties to be considered 

 in this matter ; both must be subordi- 

 nated to the requirements of cheap lit- 

 erature for the reading public of the 

 United States. This sounds patriotic 

 and disinterested, and we might almost 

 be persuaded to assent and admire, 

 were it not for the odd circumstance 

 that those who talk loudest in this 

 strain seem to have been the most suc- 

 cessful in feathering their own nests at 

 the expense of the dear people whose 

 interests they have so much at heart. 

 The American publisher has been vir- 



tually saying to Jonathan and his fam- 

 ily, who, it is presumed, were intensely 

 hungering for knowledge, "By not 

 paying the foreign author I am able to 

 provide you with his productions many 

 times cheaper than you could otherwise 

 get them " ; and it has been agreed that 

 it was a very nice arrangement, high- 

 ly favorable to American intelligence, 

 which it might be a national disaster to 

 disturb. But when the Canadian pub- 

 lisher offers to join in this noble phil- 

 anthropic work of educating Jonathan 

 and his family by cheap literature, we 

 are surprised to observe that he gets 

 the cold shoulder. He says to Jona- 

 than and his family, " By not paying 

 American authors I can furnish you 

 with their productions many times 

 cheaper than you can otherwise get 

 them," and this he is proceeding to do 

 by means of the post-office. But, in- 

 stead of welcoming this efficient coop- 

 eration of the Canadian publishers for 

 cultivating and illuminating the Amer- 

 ican mind, our publishers are quite dis- 

 gusted, and say this thing must be 

 stopped, which simply shows what 



