1896. 



THE AMEIilGAN BEE-KEEPER. 



105 



One Way of Catchincr FiUdler Crabs. 



There ai-e various ways of catnliing 

 fiddler crabs. Que way of catching tlio 

 black or mud fiddler, the one that bores 

 into meadow banks alonj? salt creeks, is 

 with two boiu-ds so placed as to form a 

 deep sided letter V. The fisherman seeks 

 a spot where there is a little strip of 

 sand at low water, between the base of 

 the mud bank and the water's edge. 

 The crabs come out of their holes and go 

 down to the edge of the VN'ater, often in 

 great numbers. The fisherman comes 

 over the meadow with his boards, which 

 he sets up on edge as quietly as he can 

 on the sand, with the opening of the V 

 toward the water. Then he alarms tlie 

 crabs, and they come scurrying up the 

 little beach in multitudes, bound for 

 their holes. As they come they cai'ry 

 their big claw aloft, somewhat as the 

 soldier ctu:ries his gun. It is from this 

 habit that Xho. fiddler crab gets the ua.me 

 of soldier crab, by which it is also 

 known. Those crabs that are ojiposite 

 the opening in the V hustle with the 

 rest of the line, but when they strike 

 the botu-d sides they are thrown more 

 and more together, until they converge 

 in a mass at the point. The fisherman, 

 sitting outside, takes them out by the 

 handful. — New York Sun. 



uay, professional sailors feel and ex- 

 press for the slodiers who form a por- 

 tion of the complement on board a man- 

 of-war. 



Leonardo da Vinci. 



Leonardo da Vinci, being a great 

 architect and engineer, as well as painter 

 and sculptor, left notebooks proving 

 that he had studied the flight of birds 

 and had planned flying machines to be 

 driven by wings or by screw propellers. 

 But as Leonai'do was good at figures he 

 seems to have abandoned his plans after 

 finding out how much force would be 

 needed. — Tudor Jenks in St. Nicholas. 



The Weak Point. 



The owner of a menagerie in Berlin, 

 U-hich included a ' 'happy family, ' ' con- 

 sisting of a lion, a tiger, a wolf and a 

 sheep, w^as asked one day in confidence 

 how long these animals had lived to- 

 gether. ' 'About nine months, ' ' he re- 

 plied, "excepting the sheep, which has 

 to be renewed occasionally." — London 

 Fun. 



Grace leads the right way. If you 

 choose the wrong, take it and perish, 

 but restrain your tongue. Charge not, 

 with lights suflicient and left free, your 

 willful suicide ou God's decree. — Cow- 

 per. 



MYSTERIES OF THE LOUVRE. 



"Tell that to the marines" indicates 

 the contempt which, even to the present 



Walls That Are Believed to Hide the 

 Hones of Murdered Men. 



Every one who has ' 'done" the Louvre 

 will remember the low pitched and 

 somewhat glocmy halls in w^hich are 

 stored the treasures of Egypt. Beneath 

 these lie yet more darkly mysterious 

 vaults, inaccessible to the public, 

 though approached by a wide and hand- 

 some staircase, such as would lead one 

 to imagine that it communicated with 

 apartments of some importance. Yet 

 one finds at the bottom nothing but 

 broad passages disposed in the form of a 

 cross, and without any sign whatever 

 of door or window. 



A recent examination, however, of 

 the solid stone walls gives experts rea- 

 son to believe that the masomy is more 

 recent than the rest of the structure in 

 this, the oldest portion of the fortress 

 palace. M. Vaugneux, a well known 

 critic, believes that many of the bodies 

 of victims killed in the revolution of 

 18;j0 were immured here, and that the 

 government was afraid to reveal the 

 fact when the remains of their comrades 

 were collected beneath the Colonne de 

 Juillet. 



On the other hand, M. Blondel, the 

 architect of the building, and M. Nor- 

 mand, the secretary of the Society For 

 Protecting Parisian Monuments, hold 

 the opinion that these subterranean pas- 

 sages led to the oubliettes, into which 

 Catherine de' Medici cast those who 

 were unfortunate enough to incur her 

 hate or fear. A judicious exploration 

 would clear up the matter and settle, 

 too, several doubtful points as to the 

 foundations of Lescot's original citadel. 

 Unfortunately, the annual grant does 

 not provide for any such archaeological 

 research, and it would be necessary to 

 appeal for funds to the generosity of the 

 chamber. — London Chronicle. 



