378 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



An Astonishing Hailstorm. 



Spring Hill, Tennessee. 

 To the Editor : 



An eighty-five acre cornfield near my 

 home was ruined by a hailstorm on 

 July ist. I send a snapshot of the de- 

 vastated field. Some of the hailstones 



usefully directed. In Kissimmee, 

 Florida, a four foot 'gator recently 

 cleaned an obstructed sewer pipe. The 

 municipal water works manager, after 

 racking his brain to devise a way in 

 which to open the pipe, decided to use 

 the 'gator for the purpose. The pipe 



WHAT A HAILSTORM DID TO A CORNFIELD. 



were ten inches in circumference ; five 

 weighed four pounds. Several people 

 had their arms broken by blows from 

 the stones. One negro had his skull 

 fractured. When you take into con- 

 sideration the thickness of a negro's 

 skull this was truly remarkable. 

 Yours truly. 



Ben G. Davis. 



An Alligator Cleans a Sewer Pipe. 



BY THOMAS R. B./^KER, PH. D., WINTER 

 PARK, FLORIDA. 



The usefulness of the alligator in 

 supplying us with his blotched and 

 wrinkled hide for commercial purposes ; 

 his proverbial posing on logs on Flor- 

 ida lakes and river shores, thus giving 

 interested tourists an opportunity to 

 see him at full length, and the sportive 

 ones to shoot at him ; and the infant 

 'gator's meek submission to captivity 

 in northern aquariums or yard pools, 

 where he lives miserably for a short 

 time, are well-known facts. 



But the alligator as a business as- 

 sistant is unusual. For probablv the 

 first time his sluggish energy has been 



was eight inches in diameter and as 

 long as the city block. With a little 

 urging the reptile wriggled into it and, 

 after a four hours' tussle in the un- 

 savory environment, reached the dis^ 

 tant manhole in a lively condition, and 

 received considerable deference on 

 account of his valuable service, for he 

 had done what skilled workmen had 

 been trying to do for several days, and 

 had failed. 



Although frogs commonly come up 

 every few minutes to breath, recent 

 experiments prove that they are able 

 to remain under water for an entire 

 week, while occasional individuals 

 can remain submerged for nearly a 

 month. Breathing in these circum- 

 stances, is done through the skin, 

 which acts as a gill. Curiously, even 

 after weeks of fishy life, the frog seems 

 not to suffer from lack of breath so 

 much as from general ill health. In 

 some unknown way, nearly pure nit- 

 rogen forms in the tissues and swells 

 up the body till the creature can no 

 longer dive. 



