Vol. XXV. No. 8.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
117 
yai-d, at which we had some seventy-flve callers. 
Our next call for financial aid was a lecture on 
" Trees," given In January, 1886, at Plummer 
Ilall, by Rev. B. F. SlcDauiel, the proceeds being 
about $17. Another reception was held on March 
.5, 1886. In the summer of 1887 the meml)ers 
raised some silk worms, which weye exhibited in 
the window of William G. Webber & Co. 
A NEW BUILDING. 
But on March 1, the event of our life, as a 
Society, took place. It was a fair held in the 
vestry of the Barton Square Church, during the 
day and evening. There were the usual fancy 
tal)les presided over by friends, and also a Natural 
History table, at which we sold specimens of 
many kinds, the most of which we had collected 
ourselves. The receipts from this table were -820, 
and from the whole fair about .$200. We were so 
much elated over our success that it was im- 
mediately decided to build a Club house, and the 
present building is the result. In March, 1887, 
tlie house was in suitable condition, and a recep- 
tion, which surpassed all previous ones, was held, 
;it which a))out three hundred friends called. 
Since the establishment of the A. A., in 1875, 
nearly two thousand local societies have been 
formed for the study of natural science. Hun- 
dreds of these have had histories as interesting as 
that of the Cuvier Natural History Society. 
BEETLE, SPIDER, AND TOAD. 
One of our younger observers sends this from 
England : 
I saw a curious sight the other day. A beetle 
suddenly threw up Its fore legs and began to paw 
the air. I noticed then that a single thread of a 
spider's web had caught the beetle — I don't know 
how. The spider began winding a web round and 
round the beetle until it was rendered powerless, 
and then hauled it up three or four inches from 
the floor, and was proceeding to devour it, when I 
Interfered, as I wanted to see a fair fight, and be- 
sides I wanted the beetle to feed to a toad. I 
unwound tlie web and set the beetle and spider 
face to face on the floor. The beetle ate the spi- 
der. I then placed the insect in front of the toad. 
The toad advanced two hops, there was a click, 
and the beetle was gone. It is the first time I 
have seen a toad eat a beetle. — Godfrey Trencu. 
PECULIARrriES OF SCALLOPS. 
I WAS much interested while catching scallops 
' this summer to notice some of their peculiarities. 
I caught many in one of the harbors of Long 
I Island Sound. They like the long sedges, or eel- 
l^grass, and at low tide can easily be taken with a 
f crab-net or with the hands. I'hey often have 
[ their shells open, and when they see you they 
I seem to give a spring— that is, they shut their 
i shells quickly, which gives them an impetus that 
makes them rise a little, and they fall about 
i twelve inches fartlier away than they were at 
I first. The line of motion is a curve, and they 
" generally turn over just as they commence to fall. 
*nieu caught they seem quite indignant, spit out 
I stream of water, and open and shut their shells 
uite rapidly. ITie part which' is eaten is the 
ard muscle which controls the shells ; all around 
his muscle is soft flesh, like the edges of an oys- 
!er, and this extends to the edges of the shells. 
ill around are rows of spots of the most beauti- 
"nl steel blue. TTiese are probably organs of 
right. — J. IIUSSON. 
A BIRD DRUMMER. 
While passing a lamp-post the other day my 
attention was called to a loud noise, as if someone 
was pounding on a tin pan. Not being able to 
discover whence the sound came, I passed on. On 
my way back I heard the same noise again, and, 
.after looking around for some time, saw a downy 
woodpecker (Picws pubescens) perched on the tin 
cap of the l.amp-post and thumping as if his life 
depended on it. As there could have been noth- 
ing to eat there, I arrived at the conclusion that 
he did it simply to hear himself thump. He re- 
peated this at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon for 
several days. Can anyone account for his drum- 
ming in any otlier way?— Maurice S. Sherman, 
Hanover, N. H. 
AN ANCIENT QUARRY. 
Very few people in Washington, D. C, know 
that all around that city can be discovered re- 
mains of an extinct people. The most important 
discovery was made in the fall of 1880, by Mr. W. 
H. Holmes, the archaeologist of the Bure.au of 
Ethnology, who found an ancient quarry on 
Piney Branch, near Fourteenth street. The first 
known discovery of implements upon this particu- 
lar site was made by Mr. De Lancey Gill, in 1887. 
In September, 1889, Mr. Holmes visited Mr. Blag- 
den, owner of the place where the quarry is situ- 
ated, and obtained permission from him to work 
upon it. He learned from Mr. Blagden that in 
the year 1878 a street contractor had been per- 
mitted to collect paving material from these 
grounds, and that the piles of stone had then been 
collected but never removed. Mr. Holmes deter- 
mined from the contour of the ground the site of 
the old qu.arry, and excavated a trench directly 
across the ground occupied by the ancient work- 
men. This trench crossed a belt of anciently 
worked material, fifty feet wide and about six 
feet deep, .and this belt extends along the l)luft' 
for perhaps half a mile. I'he specimens collected 
were principally what Mr. Holmes termed " turtle- 
backs," although out of about fifteen hundred 
only twelve were perfect. I think three perfect 
arrow-heads were found. I visited tlie quarry 
and obtained about thirty-five specimens, and was 
lucky enough to obtain a perfect "turtle-back" 
knife and part of an arrow-head. Before the 
quaiTy was worked by Mr. Holmes, my brother 
and I were riding along the road near it, when he 
spied a stone which he thought had an unusual 
appearance. We brouglit it home, and I showed 
it to a curator at the Smithsonian Institution. He 
pronounced it to be a hammer which had once 
been an axe, but had been broken oft'. I think I 
may claim that it is the finest specimen which has 
been obtained at or near this quarry. It is double 
grooved and measures five inches in width by 
three and a half in length. — Chas. L. Wilhelm, 
President Chapter 347, A. A. 
*^*- 
WILL ANSWER ALL LETTERS. 
Please count us willing to answer all commu- 
nications, .and very glad to help any of the A. A. 
if within our power. We are interested in birds, 
stones, and relics of ancient tribes of men. — A. 
May Walter, Sec. Chapter 611, 1,370 Green Ridge 
street, Scranton, Pa. 
I will answer all letters on ornithology and en- 
tomology, and exchange insects for dragon-flies. 
Stamp required. — C. C. Adams, 806 East Empire 
street, Bloomington, 111. 
I will answer any inquiries about the dr.agon- 
flies of this region. — Miss Mattie Wadsworth, 
Chapter 535, Hallowell, Me. 
We desire correspondence. We prefer new 
Chfipters, and are particularly interested in geol- 
ogy, but will answer all letters. — Kate Noll, Sec. 
Chapter 370, Bethany, Mo. 
Archaeology, mineralogy, and ocnithology are 
to me the most interesting branches of natural 
science. I am very willing to answer all letters 
addressed to me by members of the A. A. upon 
these subjects. — Paul E. Beck, Lititz, Pa. 
THE CHEMISTRY OF MINERALS. 
In reply to the question of O. W. C. in the last 
issue, we refer the writer to the May number of 
this paper, where he will find notice of a series of 
science guides now in course of preparation by 
the President of the A. A. The plan of these 
guides is so new as to be almost experimental, 
yet it is believed that they will meet the necessi- 
ties of a very large number of persons, who can- 
not aft'ord to buy many expensive texts. ITie 
first book, for example, "A Guide to the Study 
of Miner.als," will contain all the elementary in- 
struction in chemistry and physics necessary to 
enable the student to understand the structure 
and the analysis of the more common mid&als, 
and it will also .apply this elementary chemical 
knowledge to the practical study of the minerals. 
It will thus combine in itself the elements of 
three sciences in so far as they have a bearing on 
the clear understanding of the mineral world. 
The book is to be published in October. 
A RARE FOSSIL. 
One evening last summer I was looking over a 
ledge of rock in search of fossils when I noticed a 
stone covered with little indentations. In the im- 
perfect light I thought it might be some species 
of coral, but upon taking it up found that it was 
the impression of a very curious fossil injbedded 
below. As I afterward found, it was a part of 
the sliield of a placoderm fish of the Devonian 
Age, and but one piece had ever been found be- 
fore. The fragment was about seven by three 
inches. One-third of this I sent to the Smith- 
sonian Institute through Mr. Deering, a local ge- 
ologist who has helped us a great deal in our 
work. In the thickest part it is about one-h,alf an 
inch through. The main portion has the structui-e 
of bone, but the pores are quite small, and there 
seems to be no solid casing. The top is covered 
by a thin brown enamel, bearing the little knobs 
which caused the curious impression ; these aver- 
age one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and 
there are between fifty and sixty in one square 
inch of surface. They are arranged in no very 
certain order, but in some parts parallel lines may 
be distinguished quite plainly. — Morris San- 
FOUD, Chapter 212, Independence, lo. 
FROG EATS FROG. 
I AM not a member of the A. A., but am an in- 
terested reader of your department in the Popu- 
lar Science News. Let me relate what I have 
seen, and I should like to Imow if others have had 
a similar experience. I once had seven or eight 
large and medium-sized frogs in a tub. I missed 
one, and, thinking he might have hopped out, 
began to look for him outside. On looking in the 
tub again I saw that one large croaker that had 
been looking rather hollow was swelled up to an 
uncommon degree of distension. A pair of frog's 
feet were protruding from his mouth. By pulling 
gently upon the protruding feet I succeeded in 
getting back my lost frog, which was soon as 
lively and apparently as well as ever. The large 
