60 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



given itb}' Aristotle, the father of zoolog_y, 

 twenty-three hundred years ago, and re- 

 tained until now. 



'' The ancient city of Siena, secluded and 

 almost forgotten among the hills of North- 

 ern Italy, should have a peculiar interest 

 for Americans. Here Christopher Colum- 

 bus was educated, and here, in the height 

 of his triumphs as a discoverer, he chose to 

 deposit a memento of his first voyage across 

 the seas. His votive offering hangs over 

 the portal of the old collegiate church, closed 

 for man}' years, and rarel}- visited save by 

 some American tourists. -It consists of a 

 helmet and armor worn b\' the discoverer 

 when he first planted his feet on the New 

 World earth, his weapons, and the weapon 

 of a warrior killed b}' his party when ap- 

 proaching the American coast — the sword 

 .of a sword fish." 



There seems to be no record of this fish 

 entering the rivers of America, though they 

 are said to do so in Europe. 



There seems lo be an absence of the or- 

 dinary habits of breeding season with us. 

 None of the fish are ever taken with eggs, 

 and the}' do, not associate together. Cap- 

 tain Ashby says they are always distant 

 from each other at least thirtv or forty feet. 



Young fish are taken in the Mediterra- 

 nean in the winter, that will weigh from one- 

 half to twelve pounds, but the smallest re- 

 ported from this locality are four feet long, 

 including the sword, and weigh from thirty 

 to forty pounds ; the largest eight and one- 

 half feet long, with sword, and weigh three 

 liundred pounds gross. These fish are a 

 light plumbeous hue, darker on the back 

 and white on the bell}'. 



Mitchell and DeKay state that in 1791 a 

 specimen sixteen feet long was exhibited in 

 New York. 



The fish disappear with the month of 

 August, and where they pass the winter is 

 a matter of conjecture. 



The sword-fish is infested with many 

 species of invertebrate parasites, the gills, 

 stomach, intestines, and the flesh are all 

 subject to attack ; while among the verte- 

 brates the shark is his worst enemy. 



Wild Flowers of Warwick. 



The great mass of mankind can only 

 gaze and wonder ; if they undertake to 

 think, they grow listless, and soon tire out. 

 — Uncle JEsek. 



The earls of our Rhode Island Warwick, 

 if in our coming peerage there are ever 

 such, will we think, assume the Rndheckia 

 for their floral emblem. It is certainly a 

 knightly if not regal ornament. And it 

 abounds throughout the Warwick region 

 where we spend the summer. Perhaps the 

 less pedantic know it better by its com- 

 mon name of " cone flower, ' or better yet 

 by the title yellow daisy. The latter is a 

 pretty fair name for it. as popular names 

 go. But nomenclature aside, what a mag- 

 nificent creature is this weed ! The centre 

 is a chocolate-colored cone — around which 

 radiate the long strap-shaped, orange-col- 

 ored marginal flowers. Occasionally they 

 are large enough to be mistaken for sun- 

 flowers — and in structure are finer. To us 

 they always suggest something oriental, but 

 as a matter of fact they are essentially west- 

 ern. Most of our weeds come hither from 

 Europe ; this from our own prairies. It 

 may be that our now incessant communica- 

 tion with the newer states will bring us an- 

 nually more and more of their indigenous 

 plants. 



The question of what constitutes a weed 

 is of constant recurrence. The answer de- 

 pends largely upon the stand-point of the 

 observer. AYhatever is troublesome is a 

 weed, but the same thing transposed to 

 another location may be prized as an 

 elegant flower. In the bright little book. 

 Oil the IVfng, by Mrs. Blake, we have 

 just read how in California they try to cul- 

 tivate our too common white daisy or ox- 

 eye. With us it is a beautiful nuisance. 

 In return we grow in our garden the univer- 

 sal California poppy, (Eschsc/ioltzia) for 

 the value of its glorious yellow flowers. 



On these Buttonwood plains we have 

 often remarked there is always a prepon- 

 derating yellow. The progressive series is 

 something like this, St. John's wort in June 

 and early July, followed by wild indigo, 

 golden-top Aster (Crysoj^sis) , sensitive 

 plants, and in August and September a 

 variety of golden rods. The most splendid 

 of the latter has, in this state, almost a re- 

 stricted location near Old Buttonwoods Ho- 

 tel, but there it is very common. It is the 

 SoUdago rigida of science. The heads are 

 larger and fuller than in any other species, 



