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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



through the colonies, and the oflBcers chosen 

 accordingly. The meeting for 1889 is to be 

 held in Melbourne, with Baron Sir Ferdinand 

 von Miiller as president ; and the meeting 

 for 1890 will be in New Zealand. 



Habits of the Red Squirrel.— Dr. R. 



Bell, of the Canadian Geological Survey, 

 says that over more than one half of its 

 range, the chickaree, or red squirrel {Sciurus 

 Hudsonius, Pennant), lives chiefly on the 

 seeds of the black and the white spruce, 

 and evidently thrives on this diet. " Their 

 mode of obtaining a supply of cones is in- 

 genious. The cones grow principally at the 

 tops of the spruce- trees, and the largest and 

 finest are always to be found there. The 

 chickaree selects a tree which, either from 

 the steepness and density of its upper part 

 or from its leaning to one side, makes it cer- 

 tain that the cones, if detached, will fall to 

 the ground ; then he cuts off the heavily 

 laden twigs and lets them drop. This is 

 done with an impatient rapidity. Should a 

 person be sitting quietly under a tree while 

 one of these busy little creatures is at work 

 at the top, he will see the bunches of cones 

 come tumbling down in such quick succes- 

 sion that he might suppose half a dozen 

 squirrels were at work instead of only one 

 industrious little fellow. These bunches 

 seldom lodge in the branches below, but 

 should the squirrel on his way down (after 

 having cut off a satisfactory supply) notice 

 one of them arrested in a hopeful position 

 toward the extremity of a bough, he will 

 sometimes run out and give it a second send- 

 off. In climbing tall spruce-trees for obser- 

 vations of the surrounding country, I have 

 often noticed bunches of cones lodged where, 

 if started off a second time, they would be 

 certain to catch again in the thick branches 

 before reaching the ground. The squirrels 

 seem to understand the situation perfectly, 

 and they leave such bunches to their fate, 

 probably arguing that it would be easier for 

 them to cut off fresh ones than to trouble 

 themselves further about property lost be- 

 yond hope of profitable recovery — a piece 

 of wisdom which the most successful busi- 

 ness men have also learned to follow. The 

 chickaree, having thrown down a sufficient 

 stock for a few days' use, proceeds to carry 

 them, as required, to his favorite feeding- 



place near by. I have occasionally noticed 

 a squirrel feeding with a fresh cone lying 

 beside the one he was actually dining off, as 

 if it were waiting to be attacked the moment 

 he got through with the first. They peel off 

 the scales in succession, and nibble out the 

 seeds with great rapidity. They leave their 

 stock lying about under the tree, and only 

 carry off one or two cones at a time. A little 

 drying causes the scales to gape, and so 

 facilitates the opening process." 



Protection of Piles against the Teredo. 



— A series of experiments has been made in 

 San Francisco Harbor on the best method of 

 protecting piles against the attacks of the 

 teredo. Five methods of preparation were 

 tried, viz. : Jacketing with sewer pipe and 

 filling the space between pile and pipe with 

 concrete of sand, gravel, and Portland ce- 

 ment ; covering with asphaltum and wire 

 cloth ; washing, in four coats, w ith a secret 

 marine cement that contained an extreme- 

 ly poisonous substance of great efiiciency; 

 washing with Portland cement and other se- 

 cret ingredients; and covering with burlap 

 and a paste of naphtha, carbon bisulphide, 

 limestone, kaolin, sawdust, and sulphur. The 

 treated piles were all barked. Besides these, 

 some piles in the natural condition, untreated 

 but covered with their bark, were driven 

 down. Of a number pulled for examination 

 after about four years, all of the treated piles 

 except those prepared by the first method 

 were hopelessly riddled by the teredo, and 

 only one was strong enough to be removed 

 without breaking, while the untreated ones 

 were only slightly attacked, and were practi- 

 cally as sound as ever. The coatings ap- 

 plied by the various experimenters, depend- 

 ing upon their adhesion to the pile, utterly 

 failed to afford even the protection given by 

 the bark. The result agrees with experi- 

 ments made in other places. Inclosing with 

 drain-pipes and packing with concrete affords 

 adequate protection, but the expense of the 

 method — thirty dollars a pile — makes it un- 

 available. 



Bnlgarlan Wines. — It is only of recent 

 years that the cultivation and production of 

 the vine have attained any considerable pro- 

 portions in Bulgaria. Formerly it was looked 

 upon as a most unimportant industry. Now 



