Decembek 1891.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



183 



ledge. She shivered from stem to stem, and 

 startled the passengers. 



For a moment they stood looking at one 

 anotlier with bhmehed faces. They had no 

 i<lea wliat liad caused the ship to tremble, and 

 m uiy thought that slie had struck some sub- 

 merged wreck. 



Tlie shock alarmed the passengers who were 

 below. 'I'liey rushed on deck and a panic 

 seemed imminent. C'aptain Wilson took in 

 the situation at once. He hurriedly left the 

 bridge .and appeared on deck. 



'•Have no fear," he said, "we have only 

 kiUed a whale. The ship is not hurt." 



His words allayed the fears of the passengers. 



•■ It w.is a rather nxinsual occurrence," said 

 Officer Fife. " Frequently transatlantic ships 

 sight whales, but it is not an every-day occur- 

 rence to kdl one. Tlie whale loomed up before 

 us so suddenly that for a time I was dazed, 

 .lust imagine su<di a monster suddenly lifting 

 itself out of the ocean just aliead of yon! It 

 was enough to terrify the most courageous. 

 We struck it a very square blow. It sank 

 almost immediately. It was a ghastly sight. 

 The blood that Howcd from its wound colored 

 the ocein. The sliock was quite perceptible. 

 Few of the passengers knew what we had 

 struck until we t(dd tliem." — Xew York Sun. 



One of our correspondents writes ns that she 

 has just lost her pet Laverack setter, and th.it 

 she could hardly reconcile herself to the loss. 

 Every one of our readers, who is a true lover 

 of nature, can sympathize with our friend in 

 her bereavement, for where can we suffer a 

 more severe loss than that of onr faithful dog, 

 who has shared onr walksafield. been onrcom- 

 l>anion at home, and greeted onr approach 

 with a wag of the tail, and many another 

 assurance of his fidelity in every h(uir of his 

 existence. So huig as we treat him well he 

 will never desert ns, which is more than we 

 can say of eitlier human friend or relative. 



City Sportsman (sadly)— I see you have 

 ■' Xo Trespass " signs all over your property. 

 Wliy are yon so afraid of having a few odd 

 ral)l>its shot ? 



Exi)erienced F.irmer — Oh. it hain't the 

 rabbits I'm skeert about. It's th" cows. — 

 (Jood News. 



Thought he lielouged to the M. F. * O. 

 V. .\sso. 



X.vriK.vi, Hisp'UY. — Policeman — You must 

 not walk on the grass. 



.Straii'.'er — There are some sheep over there 

 walkins' in it. 



'• Yes, but they are stupid animals." 



"Well, what am I? Do von take me for a 

 vegetable or a mineral '?" — Texas Siftings. 



.\ new kind of bird has been discovered 

 in Wyoming. It has the head and beak of a 

 Hoot Owl. the body and neck of a rooster and 

 its tail is similar to tliat of a Peacock, and 

 when shot made a noise not unlike that of a 

 fTuinea Hen. The discoverer's friends recom- 

 mend bi-chloride of gold. — Boston Post. 



The man whiv starts a new macazine shonld 

 he sure to put a little fire into it if lie wants to 



see its circulation go '''way up." — Boston 

 Post. 



It is the usual fate of the natural history 

 periodicals, that they start up and ./ice away 

 for a bit and then tliey yo v:ay up Salt Creek 

 and never return. 



Caledonian Balsam. — At a recent meet- 

 ing of the Paris Societe de Therapeutique, Dr. 

 Forne calletl attention to a preparation which 

 he had named "Baume calfedouien," and 

 which appeared to consist of a solution of 

 kauri gum in an equal weight of 90 per cent, 

 alcohol. He stated that it has been used with 

 great success in the tre.atment of wounds and 

 ulcers of ;tU kinds. When a]iplied to a well 

 cleansed and dried wound it causes a slight 

 but brief sensation of burning, but after a few 

 moments the solvent evaporates, and the resin 

 is left as a very adherent varnish, which is 

 not .affected by friction or contact with water. 

 The preparation can also be used advantage- 

 ously for fixed bandages in the place of the 

 solulile silicate. 



Collectors will find this very useful. 



A valuable cement tor labelling speciniens, 

 etc., is made by mixing a piece of gum trag- 

 acanth the size of a hazel nut with two 

 ounces of warm water. It must stand for 

 several hours before it is fit to use. Souring 

 does not hurt it. 



Paste to Affix Labels to Tin. — E. O. G., 



Bowling (ireen, Ky. — Tlie secret of success 



I in nftixing labels lies in preventing the paste 



t from drying too hard -and then cracking off. 



! This may be (buie l>y adding glycerine or 



calcium chloride to ordinary paste. Useful 



in attaching labels to glass or to minerals. 



"The male Ostrich of South Africa at the 

 time of breeding usually associates to himself 



I from two to six females. The hens lay all 

 their eggs together in one nest, the nest being 



1 merely a shallow cavity in the ground, of such 



{dimensions as to be conveniently covered by 

 one of these birds in incubation. . . . The 



I hens relieve each other in the office of incuba- 

 tion during the day, and the male takes his 



' turn at night, when his superior strength is 

 required to protect the eggs or the new-tledged 

 young from jackals, tiger-cats and other 



i enemies. . . . As many as sixty eggs are some- 

 times found in and around an Ostrich's nest, 

 but a sm.aller number is more common; and 

 incubation is occasi(UiaIly performed by a 

 sintrle pair of Ostriches. Each female lays 

 froni twelve to sixteen eggs. . . . The period 

 (it incubation is from thirty-six to forty days. 

 An Ostrich's egg is considered in its contents to 

 be equal to twenty-four hens" eggs. The Hot- 

 tentots cook them by placing one end of the 

 egg in hot ashes, making a small hole in the 

 other end through which they stir the 

 contents till sufficiently roasted. The feathers 

 that .are so desirable are from the wings." — 

 Goldsmith Animated Xature. 



The Emu is said to lay six or seven eggs to 

 the clutch, and the Cassowary five eggs. 



