IVORY NUT. — STAR NOSED MOLE. 33 



contact with the sides. There are seven or eight species of bat in our 

 country. J. G. M. 



IVORY NUT. (Phylelephas Macrocarpa.) 



A few weeks ago on coming into my study, I found on the table two 

 rough, brown nuts, nearly the size of a hen's egg. vviih a note by the 

 side of them marked, "■From a friend." One of them had been in a 

 lathe and the half of it beautifully turned, and finer ivory 1 thought I 

 had never seen. My knife made no impression on it, and altogether it 

 was a remarkable thing. I am extremely obliged to the unkown donor, 

 for he has added a rare gem to my cabinet. Accompanying the nuts 

 was a printed card stating that they may be bought at L. J. Cohen's 

 Stationery establishment, 138 William Street, New York. There is a 

 very short and unsatisfactory account of it in the October No. of Silli- 

 maa's Journal, p. 400, but from the ''card" 1 have gathered the follow- 

 ing information. 



This extraordinary nut, from the solidity which it acquires at a cer- 

 tain age, is rendered an object of peculiar interest and astonishment to 

 those who contemplate the wonderful economy of the vegetable world. 

 The shell or outer covering, is barely as thick as that of the common 

 hazel, and is so extremely hard that no instrument will make an impres- 

 sion on it ; it is only removed from the kernel by pressure. Bears and 

 other animals are said to eat the nut with avidity before it has acquired 

 the solid state. It is common in the Mascaren Islands, where it is called 

 the Tagua Plant. Pcrsoon describes the nut as enclosed in a prickly 

 head. The kernel in an early state contains a limpid liquor, which be- 

 comes milky and sweet and at length acquires the solidity of ivory. — 

 The natives cover their cottages with the largest leaves, and the English 

 manufacture all kinds of fancy articles from the nut, which in color ex- 

 cels the elephant ivory. J. G. M. 



STAR NOSED MOLE. (Coadylnra Chisiata.) 



lyast 4th of July I was out in the woods with the Sunday School 

 children. The boys raced through the forest "like all possessed ;" the 

 girls were swinging, or playing "catch me who can ;" not a few parents 

 were looking on the enlivening scene and apparently enjoying it as 

 much as their children ; the tables were preparing for a rich repast, and 

 all seemed happy. I observed a whole troupe of roystering youngsters 

 rushing towards nie, and it was evident something strange had been 



