248 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



September 



We have a few copies of A. B. C. 

 of Bee Culture, with paper cover, 

 which we will send post-paid for 50c 

 each. 



THE MODERN MAUD MULLER. 



Society dames are playing Mauf) Muller 

 at their country homes and enjoying rides 

 on genuine ioads of sweet smelling hay. 

 Quite sophisticated, worldly Maud iNIullers 

 they are, however, in matter of dress, for 

 although innocent man is captivated by the 

 delightful simplicity of their attire, con- 

 noisseurs in such matters know that these 

 charming results are the inventions of the 

 cunning and artistic Frenchwoman's fertile 

 brain and deft lingers, and the cheques 

 which pay for these " creations " are in 

 three figures When my lady's cool looking 

 Gotten gown, so exquisitely fashioned, is 

 disarranged upon the load of hay, it disclos- 

 es a silken lining, and a glimpse of silk hose 

 matching the accessories of her gown is 

 caught above the low, white shoes. No, 

 M?mA il/uUer would not claim kinship with 

 these fair dames. — From "Chat," in Demor- 

 est's Magazine for September. 



Clubbing List. 



AVe will send the American Bee Kkeper with 



MIGRATiCNS OF THE LLi.lMING. 



A Carlyle Story. 



Dr. Donald Macleod, in an interview in 

 The Suuday Magazine, repeats a story 

 which Thackeray told him when he went 

 down to Glasgow to lecture on the "Four 

 George.-; : ' ' 



Carlyle and Thackeray were sitting in 

 the open air somewhere in the Midlands. 

 Carlyle was haranguing on some philo- 

 sophical subiect, when a pheasant began 

 "scraichin" near them. "What an extraor- 

 dinary noise that pheasant is making!" 

 remarked Thackeray. 



"Oh," said Carlyle, "something's trou- 

 bling its stomach, and it's taking that 

 method of t ittering itself to the universe." 



Money is highly desirable, but the man 

 who sacrifices his conscience for it iuvari;i- 

 hlv ma-ktis ;i luL^tiika. — Ti-uv Pi-asa. 



^ Norwegian Auitual Tliat Is Compelled 

 to Keep Moving. 



Professor R. Collett of Christiauia, who 

 has long been engaged in making re- 

 searches into the hubiis and migrations of 

 that interesting little rodent, the lemming, 

 has pubiislK'd a valualjle monograph on its 

 periodic waiulerings in vast hordes down 

 the Scandinavian valleys. The migrations, 

 which have long attracted the attention of 

 naturalists, are explained by Professor 

 Collett as directly due to overproduction. 



In certain years, termed by the writer 

 "prolific year^^'' an abnormal fecundity is 

 exhibited by the li'nnning, but the phenom- 

 enon is not cimtiiied to this species alone, 

 being equally ajiparent in numerous fam- 

 i^^s of mammals, birds and insects. The 

 ^•nsequences of this great multiplication 

 of the lemming is that the enormous mul- 

 titudes require increased space, and the in- 

 dividuals, \v-hich under normal conditions, 

 have each an excessively large tract at their 

 disposal, cai'uot on account of their disijo- 

 sition bear the unaccustonied proximity of 

 their numerous neigh oors. Involuntarily 

 the individuals are pressed out to the sides 

 until the edge of the moitutain is reached. 



For a short time they enjoy themselves 

 there, and the old individuals willingly 

 breed in the ujiper regions of the forests, 

 where in oi-dinarj- times they are entirely 

 wanting. New swarms, however, follow 

 on. The .jourutsy proceeds onward by each 

 fresh accretion down the sides of the moun- 

 tains until, when they reach the valleys, 

 thej' meet with localities which are quite 

 foreign to them. They then continue 

 blindly on, enileavoriug to find a home 

 correspondiiig in conditions to that which 

 they have W.iX. but which they never re- 

 gain. The niigratory individuals proceed 

 hopelessly on to a certain death. 



Sooner or later all the wanderers are de- 

 stroyed — thousands are drowned in rivers 

 or fords, thou.sands are attacked by beasts 

 and birds of prey, thousands perish from 

 the effects of cold and damp, but by far 

 the largest number die from the effects of 

 a peculiar epidemic which seizes them as 

 soon as they reach the lowlands, but from 

 whicli they appear to enjoy entire immu- 

 nity in their mountain forests. Tliis wan- 

 dering instinct developed dtiring migra- 

 tory years is suggested by Professor Collett 

 as being of distinct service to the species 

 in reducing the surpj;,is. population. 



His Business. 

 "You ought to see that fellow strike a 

 balance." 



"I stqipose he's a bookkeeper?" 

 "No, he's a professional juggler." — De- 

 troit Free Press. 



