238 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



ing- of the head worked slowly and 

 painfully upward, endeavoring to reach 

 the right angle at the top of the wall. 

 The feat was usually too much for 

 them and they dropped off into the 

 pool below, but occasionally one more 

 fortunate than the others managed to 

 get hold on the fiat top of the wall, 

 across which it quickly wriggled and 

 disappeared upstream." 



Young Red Fox, 



BY H. W. WEISGERBER, SALEM, OHIO. 



The picture is that of a young red 

 fox that was more than half grown. 

 The expression is one of intelligence, 



HE HAD HIS EYES ON US. 



but this was only for the moment for 

 it could be changed in a twinkling if 

 necessary. 



All of the fighting qualities of a wild 

 beast could be shown in a few mo- 

 ments' time ; in fact, they were. Then, 

 in almost as short a time, all would 

 be lovel}^ again. A month's period of 

 capitivity had somewhat tamed the 

 animal but it had not succeeded in sub- 

 duing it ; it was still as wild as though 

 it had never seen man. 



It would fight and bite, as the writer 

 can well testify, for it caught him by 

 the hand and held on with a bulldog 

 grip until it had its jaws pried open 

 by another man's hand. The mistake 

 I made was in trying to handle it with 

 bare hands after the poor animal had 

 been on exhibition in a store window. 

 But after putting on a pair of heavy 

 leather automobile gloves I had no fur- 

 ther trouble. 



This beautiful young animal was the 

 only one of a litter of five that came 

 through the fire alive. The den hap- 



pened to be in a slab pile on a farm, 

 and as the farmer thought that they 

 would run away from a fire he applied 

 the match, for he also wished to get 

 rid of that pile of waste material. But 

 the poor little animals for some reason 

 did not come out or else were smother- 

 ed by the smoke before they realized 

 their danger. 



I often think it a great pity that a 

 few of the wild animals of our wood- 

 lands cannot be allowed to exist as of 

 old. But it seems as if man is as sav- 

 age as the beasts of the jungle when- 

 ever any wild beast shows itself. 



The Hairs on the Wasp's Wing. 



The wing of the common wasp is 

 studded with hairs that merit atten- 

 tion, on account of their remarkable 

 structure. They have been known to 

 microscopists and, I suppose, to ento- 

 mologists, although all entomologists 

 are not microscopists. This, therefore, 

 is not the first time that the subject 

 has been put into print, but it is so 

 peculiar that it will bear repetition. 

 The special structure is conspicuous, 

 after it has once been detected, or after 

 the observer's attention has been direc- 

 ted to it, yet it is minute and demands 

 careful scrutiny with a comparative^' 

 high magnifying power. I saw it only 

 after one of my correspondents had 

 called my atention to it. 



The hairs are so deeply furrowed spi- 

 rally that they appear to be twisted, and 

 a remarkable and seemingly inexplica- 

 ble phenomenon of the spiral is that in 

 some the furrow winds toward the 

 right, in others toward the left. Of two 

 hairs standing side by side, one may 

 have the right-hand twist, the other the 

 left-hand ; and of two parallel rows of 

 hairs, one row may be formed of the 

 one kind of members, the other the 

 other kind. This fact I have never seen 

 in print, nor heard mentioned. So far 

 as I know, I may claim it as a little dis- 

 covery of my own. I hope it is, but I 

 am not making any positive assertions. 

 The peculiar structure may exist on 

 the wings or on other parts of other in- 

 sects, but I have never seen such nor 

 heard of it. I know it only on the wing 

 of the wasp. 



The furrows are visible with the one- 

 inch objective and the five (two-inch) 

 eyepiece, provided the microscopist's 

 eve has been well educated in the detec- 



