208 



THE MUSEUM. 



of knowing jnst how long these bodies 

 have lain there. Some persons think 

 the Indians and mound builders were 

 buried in a common receptacle, the 

 latter taking their places first, but this 

 theory is not accepted by the best 

 authorities on the subject. 



Many pieces of beads, shells, etc. , 

 were found. No doubt these people 

 used them for ornaments, and they 

 were deposited in the graves with 

 them, just as the favorite dog was bur- 

 ied in the grave of the red man of the 

 forest at a later day. 



There were several pipes found, one 

 of which had the face of an idol carved 

 on it. This show of whatever race 

 these people were they were undoubt- 

 edly worshippers of idols. Near the 

 mounds there are the remains of an 

 old fort — at least, it is supposed to be 

 such — where these people gathered for 

 defense against their foes. 



It will probably always remain a 

 mystery just who these people were, 

 but just as long will the question be 

 full of interest. — Popular Science. 



The Tiger Swallow-Tail. 



The smooth caterpillar, of a green- 

 ish color, characterized by a continu- 

 ous black transverse band bordered with 

 yellow across the fourth segment dor- 

 sally and by having a pair of small 

 eye-like spots, one on each side of the 

 second segment, sent by Mr. H. S. 

 Burroughs, of Silver Bay, Lake 

 George, is the larva of one of our 

 prettiest swallow-tail butterflies [l\i' 

 pilio tunius). It is known as the 

 tiger swallor-tail, because the color of 

 the butterfly in its commonest form is 

 yellow, with black transverse bands. 

 This larva feeds on a number of differ- 

 ent plants and particularly on plum, 



cherry, liriodendron or tulip tree, birch,, 

 poplar, magnolia, linden, pear, ash, 

 catalpa, hop, beech, alder, hickory, 

 willow, lilac, etc. The lilac is given 

 as its favorite food in the North by 

 Mr. S. H. Scudder, who is one of our 

 best authorities on the New England 

 butterflies. The eggs are globular 

 and yellow and laid on the under side 

 of the leaf. The chrysalis is pale yel- 

 lowish gray, inclining to brown, and 

 is characterized, as are most of the 

 chrysalides of the genus, by a medio- 

 dorsal prominence on the thora.x and 

 by two ear-like projections on the 

 head. It is attached by the tip of the 

 body to a little bundle of silk and sus- 

 pended around the waist, so to speak, 

 by a thread of silk. 



An interesting fact in connection 

 with this butterfly is that in the South- 

 ern States, more particularly, but 

 reaching as far north as New York 

 and Wisconsin, a dimorphic form oc- 

 curs in which the yellow of the wings 

 is replaced by a dull black, this variety 

 being known as glaucus Linn., and 

 confined to the female se.x. The cat- 

 erpillar rarely occurs in sufficient num- 

 bers to be injurious. — C. W R. 



Alligators grow slowly. At i 5 years 

 of age they are only two feet long. 

 A i2-footer may be supposed to be 75 

 years old. It is believed that they 

 grow as long as they live, and prob- 

 ably live longer than any other ani- 

 mal. 



A heavenly census is now being tak- 

 en by the Paris Observatory. To 

 count the stars the heavens are photo- 

 graphed in sections. Some of these 

 sections show only a dozen stars, while 

 others of the same dimensions show 

 over I, 500. 



