136 



THE MUSEUM. 



they develop in much lower forms of 

 animal life, leaving them at maturity. 



Another exploded old time notion is 

 that owls see only during the night, 

 whereas they are now credited with 

 seeing equally as well during the day as 

 by night. That owls turn their heads 

 round and round until twisted off, in 

 their efforts to watch an enemy, who, 

 "knowing his bird," is repeatedly 

 walking around his prey, impatiently 

 awaiting the fall of the head that he 

 may enjoy a dainty meal, is equally as 

 rank rubbish. 



Notwithstanding the assertion in 

 Wood's Natural History, that rattle- 

 snakes and burrowing owls liNe in 

 prairie dogs' burrows, "finding an 

 easy subsistence off the young dogs," 

 it is known to a certainty that the rat- 

 tlers and owls "in all cases occupy the 

 deserted burrows of these quadrupeds, 

 not living in common with them as 

 usually supposed." — Cours. 



The emblem of our country, the 

 bald eagle, is no longer considered a 

 noble bird, but is known as an igno- 

 minious thief. 



Years ago, the natives, in preparing 

 skins of the birds of paradise for for- 

 eign markets, for some reason, best 

 known to themselves, always removed 

 the legs, and in such a manner that 

 an examination of the skin supported 

 the deception, so that for many years 

 these birds were supposed to be leg- 

 less. 



That the wishbone of a goose can in 

 any way indicate the future condition 

 of the weather is as hopelessly untrue 

 as that, if the woodchuck sees his 

 shadow on the 2d day of February, 

 we may expect a cold and backward 

 spring. Likewise, we may accept the 

 "charm" theory of snakes with a con- 

 siderable doubt, and it is now the be- 

 lief of naturalists that the opossum 

 does not "play 'possum, " but is sim- 

 ply paralyzed with fear. 



Our Atlantic seals possess large and 

 intelligent eyes, and as some species 

 have manes, it is not to be wondered 

 at, that ignorant Eskimo and super- 



stititious sailors, on seeing these ani- 

 mals unexpectedly emerge from the 

 sea, with their manes dripping with 

 water and uttering sounds strangely 

 human, should mistake them for hu- 

 man beings. This, no uoubt, gave 

 rise to the mermaid, merman, siren, 

 triton and sea nymph legends. The 

 so-called mermaids to be seen in dime 

 museums are all manufactured. 



The story of the Ibex dropping from 

 lofty precipices and lighting on its 

 horns as composedly as we would 

 jump a few feet, has long since ceased 

 to be considered anything but a 

 "fake," though early naturalists re- 

 ported it as a fact. 



"Blind as a mole" no longer pre- 

 vails, as moles have eyes, though they 

 are small and well hidden in the thick 

 coat of soft fur covering their head 

 and body. 



Thus, gradually, the fiction and ro- 

 mance connected with and surround- 

 ing many of our animals is succumb- 

 ing as reason and study penetrates and 

 disperses the fog of ignorance and su- 

 perstition. 



The Soap Plant. 



A few more facts concerning the 

 j'liccn angnstifolia or soap plant may 

 be of interest. It is called aviolc by 

 the Mexicans in southern Texas. 

 They attribute their fine hair to the 

 constant use of the plant in washing. 

 The roots look like stunted stringy 

 sweet potatoes. A few pieces are 

 bruised with a stone, then placed in a 

 tub and cold water poured on them 

 from a height. It makes a beautiful 

 lather, even with hard water. It is 

 very fine for washing blankets, which 

 become beautifully white and fleecy. 

 The' only drawback is that a rank veg- 

 etable smell clings to the wool for a 

 few days, but thorough sunning re- 

 moved this in about a week. A great 

 recommendation to housekeepers is 

 that no garment washed in amole is 

 ever attacked by moths or crickets. 



