1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



601 



that these employes who made their em- 

 ployer's interests their own were the ones 

 destined to become the trusted and faithful 

 helpers who would hold their places year 

 after year. " Let each esteem other better 

 than themselves." is a good motto still, 

 though spoken over ISOO years ago. It was 

 a profitable and enjoyable visit, and an 

 earnest invitation was extended to renew it 

 in the near future. 



As the space allotted to me is about full, I 

 shall have to tell you of my visit to C C. 

 Miller in the next number. 



SPIDERS, -WIRE AATORMS, AND PLUG 

 HATS. 



PROF. COOK GIVES A TAI,K ON FAMILlAlt SUB- 

 JECTS. 



T^DITOR Gleanings:— The larvae, or grubs, of 

 '^^ the little striped squash or cucumber beetle 



IP]' feed on the roots of the plants in the ground. 

 "^^ That some of them should come up within 

 the covers of the plants is entirely natural; 

 yet this need not deter anj' one from using these 

 valuable protectors; for there will never be enough 

 beetles inside the boxes to do any serious mischief. 



SPIDERS. 



I have never meant to say that spiders were not 

 poisonous. All spiders have poison-glands, and se- 

 crete venom, I think. What I have said is, that the 

 common dread of spiders is wholly unnecessary. 

 Owr spidei's are all, so far as I can determine, en- 

 tirely harmless. Their bite is too feeble, and the 

 venom too slight to affect us. I have taught my 

 children that spiders may be safely handled, and 

 are to be admired just as much as any other of the 

 beautiful creatures God has given us. Emerton, 

 the greatest student of spiders that we have in 

 America, agrees with me in the above opinion. 



As to the toad and the plantain, I quite agree 

 with you. I think there must be some mistake, 

 certainly in the conclusion, probably in the obser- 

 vation. I doubt if toads eat plantain. I don't 

 believe any of our toads would mind any spi- 

 der-bite that they could get here. If bitten and 

 poisoned, the plantain, even granting it had virtue, 

 could not, as you urge, bring such speedy relief. 

 That the plantain has any such virtue, is very 

 questionable. 



Yes, friend Root, wire worms are really the 

 grubs, or larvae, of the snapping-beetles (not bugs) 

 that you and I used to play with in our pop-gun 

 days. You refer to the great elater, or snapping- 

 beetle, often nearly two inches long, which is mot- 

 tled gray-black, with two velvety black spots on 

 its pro-thorax. You ask if those are its eyes. Why, 

 bless you, my good friend, no. Eyes are on the 

 head. Yet their eye-like appearance evidently led 

 to the name of the beetle: Alaus oculatus. The 

 grubs live in decaying wood, and are often found 

 in the decaying trunks of apple-trees. These grubs 

 Boraetimes reach a length of 2H inches. 



You ask me if I can tell you about dandruff. 

 Well, not much. Yet I have a view in regard to 

 heads which your question calls to mind. If my 

 view is correct, then it gives a practical hint which 

 we may all heed. The outer skin of the head, and 

 the hair as well— indeed, the hair is only modified 

 skin— are nourished by blood-vessels whicli ramify 

 the scalp. The arteries which lead to these pass 



up in the scalp just about where the Derby or 

 stovepipe hugs the head. 



It has been suggested that baldness is owing to 

 hard stiff hats which press these blood-vessels, cut 

 off the supply of blood from the scalp, and so the 

 hair, as it is improperly nourished, falls out. 

 Likewise may it not be that the outer skin is simi- 

 larly starved and finds a premature grave? hence 

 dandruff. I imagine "Old Uncle Ned " wore a stiff 

 hat— very likely he was also troubled with dandruff', 

 though, so far as I can learn, tradition is silent on 

 that point. Do you know that women and farmers 

 are rarely bald? Well, they do not torture the 

 head with harsh hats, and thus throttle the scalp 

 circulation. Now, friend Root, if I remember cor- 

 rectly, you are *hin of hair on your crown. Did 

 you not indulge in the luxury (?) of a stovepipe 

 when you were younger? 1 never wear a stiff' hat, 

 and I expect to have a bountiful head-covering of 

 nature's own furnishing, even till 1 am fourscore. 

 I do not say that soft hats will prevent baldness or 

 dandruff in all cases. The law of inheritance is too 

 potent for that; but I do believe they will tend 

 powerfully in that direction. A. J. Co(JK. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



Friend Cook, I am glad to tell you that I 

 nevej' did wear a plug hat — that is, not more 

 than half a dozen tiuies. And do you know 

 that one reason why 1 liave always liked you 

 so well is because you do not wear a plug 

 hat, even if you are a professor ? I do not 

 care so much about the hat itself, Init I have 

 always been afraid of the geneial run of 

 professors. I do not mean by this that I 

 have any fault to tind with them, but the 

 fault is with myself. I am really glad they 

 know so much, but I am sorry that I know 

 so little. I have always worn a soft hat; 

 but of late years unless I wear it indoors as 

 well as out — that is, when there is much of 

 a breeze stiiring— 1 am afflicted with a trou- 

 ble in my throat, and may be this thioat 

 trouble has indirectly been the cause of the 

 bald head and dandruff too. Somebody has 

 asked the question why women are seldom 

 bald, and suggests that they go bareheaded 

 many more hours of their lives than men do. 



POISON IVY. 



DR. tvrrei.l's remedy; see prof, cook's reme- 

 dy, PAGE 512. 



fOR the benefit of Prof. Cook's students, and 

 all others who may come in contact with poi- 

 son ivy, poison sumach, rattlesnakes, and 

 other poisonous reptiles and insects, I w^sh 

 to inform them that lobelia ivflata has been in 

 my practice (botanic or physio-medical) a successful 

 remedy. J think I have saved very many lives with 

 it. My brother, A. Tyrrell, M. D., and I, who have 

 been in the practice of medicine over fifty years, 

 were poisoned very badly every summer when we 

 were boys at work on the farm. We suffered tor- 

 ments for what we thought was no sin. When 

 scratching and rubbing were irresistible, we rubbed 

 our feet and legs witli many kinds of herbs in try- 

 ing to stop the itching and burning, but with very 

 little relief until we used green lobelia herbs, which 

 relieved our sufferings every time after, when we 

 got poisoned. I thought then that the knowledge 

 we had gained of lobelia was worth fifty dollars to 



