266 



THE MUSEUM. 



their homes, are timid, 3-et easily be- 

 come famihar. Though retreating to 

 their holes when first alarmed, then 

 soon come cautiously out, one after 

 another, till one may hear their sharp 

 little cries in every direction. Their 

 color so nearly resembles that of the 

 rocks they live among that they are 

 not easily seen and their cry is of such 

 a character as to easily mislead one in 

 respect to the point from which it pro- 

 ceeds, seeming to be far away when 

 really only a few feet distant. They 

 sit erect like Marmots, and in no way 

 resemble the Hares in habits. They 

 carry into fissures of the rocks large 

 quantities of grass, which they lay up 

 for winter consumption. They are 

 weak, sedantary animals, and are ap- 

 parently strictly diurnal in their hab- 

 its." 



The Pikas, living and fossil, are all 

 traceable to a single genus, Lagoinys, 

 with eight species, found only in 

 Western North America and Northern 

 Asia. Two species are found in North 

 America, three in the elevated parts 

 of Northern India, and three others 

 farther northward. Formerly they 

 extended much farther southward and 

 westward; their fossil remains having 

 been found in the Pliocene strata of 

 England, France and one of the is- 

 lands of Corsica and Sardinia, (Op. 

 cit.). They represent an ancient fam- 

 ily, being a less specialized form than 

 the Hares. 



Changes in Land and Sea. 



A short time ago I paid a visit to 

 the place of my birth — Hull, an old 

 seaport in Yorkshire, in the north of 

 England; when there I felt most anx- 

 ious to again see some of those spots 



which in early boyhood had impressed 

 their features upon my memory, and 

 by theii familiarity or some incident 

 rendered themselves memorable by 

 furnishing enjoyment in my early years. 



One event I could call well to mem- 

 ory. I remember, when about five years 

 old, being invited with others to the 

 birthday treat of a school-fellow. He 

 lived in what w^as then called the coun- 

 try, distant about two miles from where 

 my parents resided. The invited chil- 

 dren met together with the object of 

 walkmg there in company, attended 

 by an old favorite nurse. All went on 

 merrily for a time, when suddenly we 

 thought that we were about to be de- 

 prived of our anticipated treat. A 

 high tide in the adjoining river had 

 just overflowed its banks, and was 

 pouring its waters freshly across the 

 highway. 



We stood a few moments in consul- 

 tation, — for Napoleon in crossing the 

 Alps could not have viewed the difficul- 

 ty with rnore concern and circumspec- 

 tion than the little band viewed the 

 ways and means to cross this little 

 stream. The old nurse determined 

 we should not be disappointed, took 

 off her shoes and stockings, fastened 

 up her garments, and then carried each 

 of us on her back across' the shallow 

 stream in safety. At that time green 

 fields extended as far as c}' e could see ; 

 the whole country around us was 

 clothed in its summer gay and lovely 

 garb, and the hedgerows, lanes and 

 fields were studded with the flowers 

 common to the district and the season. 

 It was a sight to be remembered, which 

 above twenty years ago had so fasten- 

 ed itself upon my memory that I de- 

 termined to visit the exact spot again. 



