THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



165 



The Dentist and the Squirrel. 



An item has l)ccn i^oiny' the rouiuls of 

 the papers Id ilic cHcct that a dentist 

 in Greenwich had a \w{ sc|uirrel that had 

 a broken tooth which the dentist capped 

 with a crown. This is interesting bitt 

 the facts are even more interesting as 

 evidenced b}- the following letter written 

 at the recjuest of the editor of this mag- 

 azine : 



Greenwich, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor: 



In reply to yotir letter I would say 

 that the story in newspapers, of my hav- 

 ing crowned the tooth of my pet squirrel, 

 is like the reported death of jMark 

 Twain — greatly exaggerated. 

 The facts are as follows : 

 Several months ago I noticed a gTey 

 squirrel on the Library lawn next to m}- 

 office. As he seemed to be hungry I 

 bought peanuts and tried to coax him to 

 me but failed ; so I left the nuts on the 

 groitnd. As he continued to appear 

 every day I watched for him, fed him 

 and kept getting- a little better acquainted 

 with him, until finally he would eat out 

 of my hand, climb on my shoulder and 

 sit there while he ate. He calls on me 

 twice a day for his food, and I no longer 

 watch for him as he now watches for 

 me, and will come when I whistle. He 

 rests on my arm and allows me to stroke 

 and pet him if I do not try to pick him 

 up. 



I have not crowned the squirrel's 

 tooth, but several days ago I gave him 

 an uncracked, hard shelled nut. He bit 

 through the shell when suddenly he 

 dropped the nut, scampered from my arm 

 and ran up the tree, where he was very 

 restless. I had difficulty in coaxing him 

 to return. When I succeeded, I tried to 

 feed him the kernel of a nut. He took 

 it into his mouth, dropped it and ran 

 up into the tree wdiere he was again 

 restless, jumping about as I had never 

 seen him do. I finally coaxed him back. 

 I thought something must have hurt him, 

 and I decided to investigate. Up to this 

 time he had not allowed me to put my 

 free hand on him. I knew that I must 

 grab him quickly, as I did by the should- 

 ers and the back of his Read so that he 

 could not bite. I took him to my office 

 and found a piece of nut shell like a 

 large sliver wedged between his teeth. 



I removed it and let him gcj out of the 

 window. He ran down the side of the 

 building, which is covered with vines, 

 and disappeared, i did not sec him again 

 for two days. He now visits me regu- 

 larl}-, twice a day, crawls all over me 

 and allows me to stroke and pet him. Jt 

 is strange but true that the nut on which 

 he apparently hurt his tooth was the 

 only one he ever attempted to open while 

 resting on my arm. He runs away with 

 every uncracked nut 1 give him and 

 buries it in the ground, then comes for 

 more. Dr. O. D. Flan.\Gan. 



Who Can Beat This? 



Sound l>each, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor : 



Enclosed find a photograph of a few 

 wild carrots which we think remarkably 



MISS ^^'ORRELL AND THE TALL WILD 

 CARROT. 



tall, some measuring six feet four inches, 

 and the tallest, six feet eight inches. They 

 grow behind our barn in ordinary uncul- 

 tivated soil. Linda ^^'oRRE;LL. 



Why hang back when Nature calls? 

 Why a prisoner in four walls? 

 Don't 3'ou know her sifts to be 

 Generously, wholly free? 



— Emma Peirce. 



