NOVEMBER 143 



ped, unless in captivity, and their eliief knowledge 

 of it is gained from the proverbial expression 

 ^'playing 'possum," and perliaps from the song: 



Possum meat am good to eat, 

 Ca've him to de hea't.-^ 



The poor little creature seems to have had its 

 share of abuse for a long period. Julia E. Rogers 

 gives the last chapter of her recent Wild Animals 

 Every Child should Know to the opossum, and 

 these are the last words of her account: '' 'Play- 

 ing 'possum' was a trick noticed by the colonists 

 when they met the opossum for the first time. In 

 the 'Perfect Description of Virginia,' published in 

 1649, occurs this paragraph : 



" 'If a cat has nine lives, this creature surely 

 has nineteen, for if you break every bone in their 

 skin, and mash their skull, leaving them for dead, 

 you may come an hour after and they will be gone 

 quite away ; perhaps you may meet them creeping 

 off.'" 



Dcs Moines, November 27, 1912. 



Yesterday in Lawrence, we heard the faint 

 flight notes of bluebirds, and saw two flying quite 

 high across the street. This month has had its 

 usual quota of devastating prairie fires, including 

 one in southwestern Kansas, over nearly a town- 

 ship, another twenty miles long, and only two or 



29 See Ai)pendix, Note 24. 



