﻿144 FIELD AND FOREST. 



Last among the botanical productions represented, may be mentioned 

 the specimen of that vegetable prodigy, the Welwitchia, from one o 

 the Portugese provinces of South Africa. This was displayed in 

 Agricultural Hall, but was not placarded, and was consequently 

 recognized by very few persons among the hundreds of thousands who 

 saw and passed by it. 



George Vasey. 



FIELD RECORD. 



Sagacity of a Fox. — A very remarkable circumstance, showing 

 the sagacity of our common fox, occurred in Maryland some years ago. 

 A party of fox hunters, after a long day's chase, captured a live fox. 

 Wishing to continue the sport on the following day they determined 

 to lock up the fox in a barn, where there was no possible mode for 

 escape. 



The game being secure, the next morning was anticipated with- 

 pleasure. The horses were brought to the door, hounds called out, 

 servant sent to unlock the barn door to let the fox out, when, to the 

 astonishment of all, no fox could be found. Search was made, and 

 it was discovered that Reynard, true to his character, never at a loss in 

 an emergency, had, by some unaccountable means, made known his 

 danger to a relative in a distant field. During the night another fox 

 came to the rescue and both gnawed through die thick plank of the 

 barn floor an opening large enough for the prisoner to escape. The 

 Reynards went off rejoicing, leaving the hunters to look up other game. 



We are aware that animals have very acute hearing, that there are 

 sounds heard by both horses and dogs that the human ear cannot per- 

 ceive. May we not attribute this rescue to the remarkable hearing of 

 the fox? — M. B. 



Mr. Thomas Edwards, of Providence Township, Lancaster county, 

 Pa., took a beautiful and intensely odored specimen of Cychrus Viduus, 

 Dej., in October last, (1875) — the first insect of this species ever 

 known to have been taken within the limits of this country — and sent 

 it to us alive. He found it in an " upland " strip of forest, under a 

 pile of wood, which he was engaged in hauling away. — S. S. R. 



