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JAPANESE B1RD-JLIME. 



AUhough bird-lime may be obtained in 

 small quantities in Other countries, Japan is 

 probably the only one in the world jn 

 it ia regularly manufactured on a large ECale, 

 and gives employment to some thousands of 

 persons, The following brief particulars re- 

 specting its manufacture, etc. are condensed 

 from the Moyo News, and may prove interest- 

 ing. 



Biid-lime is called by the Japanese mochi, 

 a term which gives' a good idea of its nature, 

 as it means " bird-catching-sfioky-substance." 

 The date of its first discovery is uncertain, 

 some placing it five hundred years back, and 

 others three hundred. During the last 

 twenty years the quantity produced has been 

 perceptibly affected through the destruction 

 of the UveB by denuding them of their bark 

 for its manufacture; but the Japanese have 

 been endeavoring to obviate this, though 

 without much success, by leaving in a par- 

 ticular manner a certain amount of bark on 

 the trees, in the hope that they might serve a 

 second time. 



The best kinds of bird-lime are distin- 

 guished by being free from bark, of a dull 

 whitish color, extremely viscid, and having a 

 very grumous consistency ; these descriptions 

 are said to keep good for any length of time. 

 The principal tree from which this bird-lime 

 is made is a dark evergreen, found in the 

 southern half of Japan, which grows high up 

 the shady sides of deep mountain glens, and 

 is frequently used as an ornamental shrub. 

 Its bark is of a grayish-brown color and 

 rather rough texture ; the leaves are of a 

 smooth dark green, rather more pulpy thau 

 our holly leaf, and have an unbroken edge. 

 The manufacture of bird-lime extends over 

 a period of several months, commencing 

 about June, when the bark is stripped off the 

 trees and macerated in water for some forty 

 days, after which it is collected and beaten in 

 a mortar. The pestle used is shod with iron, 

 its flat under-surface being armed with spikes 

 projecting downwards. When the pulpy 

 mass under the pestle becomes glutinous, it is 

 taken out and washed in water in order to re- 

 move as far as possible the rough outer bark. 

 The pulp ia then again pounded and treated 

 in a caldron with hot water, on the surface of 

 which it floats. During this treatment it 

 undergoes considerable manipulation, at the 

 hands of the workman, for the purpose of 

 separating the remaining pattieles of bark, 

 which sink to the bottom of the boiler. This 

 is the most difficult part of the process, as 

 much skill and experience arc required in the 

 workman to keep the stuff from adhering to 

 his hands. After this, the pulpy mass is 

 again washed in cold water, and the pound- 

 ing, boiling, and washing are repeated until 

 the material becomes sufiicieutl clean and 

 pure. During the process we have briefly de- 

 scribed, about nine-tenths of the weight of 

 the raw material is lost, two hundred and 

 fifty pounds of the latter not turning out 

 more than twenty-five pounds of good bird- 

 lime. 



The uses to which the Japanese put this 

 substance are numerous, the chief being of 

 course the snaring of birds and animals. By 

 means of it, animals as large as monkeys are 

 caught, for when they once get the stuff up- 

 on their paws, they soon cover themselves 

 with it, and so exhaust their strength in try- 

 ing to get rid of it, that they fall an easy 

 prey. Birds almost of the size of ducks are 

 taken, and by a very ingenious process. The 

 young shoots of the wisteria, which attain 

 considerable length and are strong, are 

 gathered, dried, and knotted together in one 

 continuous length. This is floated out to sea, 

 after beiug smeared with bird-lime ; and very 

 often in the morning several birds are caught 

 Small birds are caught in various ways ; some 

 by means of a decoy-bird concealed near a 

 patch of tempting food, in which are fixed 

 numerous little splinters of bamboo like large 

 needles, the upper half of which is smeared 

 witli bird-lime. Others, again, are taken on 

 trees by means of a long slender bamboo the 

 top of which is anointed with the lime, and 

 then stealthily thrust against their feathers. 

 Rats are easily caught by spreading a small 

 quantity on a piece of board or paper, and 

 placing it near their holes. Bird-lime is also 

 spread upon a bamboo leaf, and everywhere 

 used in Japan for catching flies and other in- 

 sects. — Chambers' Journal. 



by buzzing. In the Scientific acceptation it 

 means to imitate the sound of the bumblebee, 



which is the type of buzzing insects. But 

 the bumblebee gives out. two very different 

 inda, which are an octave of each other— a 

 d when it flies, and a sharp sound 

 when it alights. We say, then, that buzzing 

 is the faculty of insects to produce two sounds 

 octave Th ■ <l Initiou limits the phe- 

 nomenon to the hymenoptera and the diptera. 

 The coleoptera often produce in flying a 

 grave and dull sound, but they are powerless 

 to emit, the sharp sound, and, consequently, 

 do not buzz. There arc two or three ascer- 

 tained facts which will serve as guides in the 

 interpretation of the phenomenon. First, it 

 is indisputable that the grave sound always 

 accompanies the great vibrations of the wings, 

 which serve, for the translation of the insect. 

 It is easily seen that this sound commences 

 as soon as the wings begin to move, 

 and that if the wings be cut off it dis- 

 appears entirely. The sharp sound is 

 never, on the contrary, produced during flight; 

 it is only observed apart from the great vibra- 

 tious of the wings when the insect alights, or 

 when it is held so as to hinder its movement, 

 and in that, case the wing is seen to be ani- 

 mated by a rapid trembling. It is also pro- 

 ducedwhen the wings are "entirely taken away. 

 From these two remarks we may draw the 

 conclusion that the grave sound belongs prop- 

 erly to the wings ; that it is caused by' their 

 its of great amplitude. There is here 

 no difficulty. As to the sharp sound, it is cer- 

 tainly not produced by the wings, since it sur- 

 vives the absence of them. Tet the wings 

 participate in it and undergo a particular 

 trembling during the production of this sound. 

 To discover the. cause it is necessary to go 

 back to the mechanism of the movement of 

 the wing. It is known that among nearly all 

 insects the muscles which serve for flight are 

 not inserted in the wing itself, but in the parts 

 of the thorax which support it, and that it is 

 the movement of these which acts on the 

 wing and makes it vibrate. The form of the 

 thorax changes with each movement of the 

 wing under the influence of the contraction 

 of the thoracic muscles. The muscular masses 

 intended for flight being very powerful, this 

 vibratory movement of the thorax is very in- 

 tense, as may be proved by holding one of 

 these insects between the fingers. But as the 

 vibrations are repeated 200 or 300 times per 

 second, they give rise to a musical sound, 

 which is the sharp note. In fact, the air 

 which surrounds the thorax is set in vibration 

 by that, directly, and without the wing taking 

 part in it. There then are two simultaneous 

 sounds— one produced by the vibration of the 

 wings and the other by the tboracicvibration, 

 the latter twice as rapid as the former, and 

 therefore an octave. This is why in flight 

 only a single grave sound is heard. When 

 the thorax moves alone a sharp sound is pro- 

 duced. This, M. de Bellesme believes, is the 

 only explanation that can be given of the 

 mode of production of the two sounds which 

 constitutes buzzing. — London Times. 



succession of glasses of brandy, and then 

 made a show of remounting his horse. The 

 landlord reminded him that he had not paid 

 for his drink. The Cossack with a heavy 

 sigh drew out his huge dirty purse and began 

 fumbling for a coin, when his horse gave a 

 sudden snort and fell to the ground. The 

 Cossack was in despair; he did everything he 

 could to raise the beast upon its legs, but all 

 was in vain. "He is dead! be is dead!" 

 cried out; in chorus a number of bystanders, 

 who had been attracted to the spot by the ac- 

 cident. The poor Cossack would not believe 

 it. The crowd, knowing that a Cossactt's 

 horse is his own property, and that the loss of 

 the animal would be a terrible blow to his 

 owner, began to make a. collection in order to 

 mitigate bis sufferings as far as possible. 

 Even the landlord was touched, forgot his 

 bill, and presented the bereaved man with 

 another glass of brandy, refusing any pay. 

 The Cossack lifted up his saddle, slung his 

 lance over his shoulder, dropped a farewell 

 tear over the faithful beast, and walked sor- 

 rowfully away. When he was about a thous- 

 and paces distant he suddenly stopped, turned 

 round, and gave a long, shrill whistle. At 

 the sound of the well-known signal the horse 

 sprang up, neighed a friendly answer, and 

 off with lightning-like speed to his grinning 

 owner. The Cossack was soon on his back, 

 making significant symbols of thanks to the 

 assembled crowd for their generosity and 

 sympathy. In a few minutes he was out of 

 sight, and the landlord of the krouehma was 

 loudly registering his vow that he would 

 never again trust a Cossack. 





The Buzzing of Insects.— The old natur" 

 alist generally thought that the buzzing of 

 insects was produced by the vibration of the 

 wings ; but they had scarcely attempted to 

 analyze the phenomenon, and their opinion 

 was abandoned when Reaumur showed that 

 when the wings are cut a blow fly continued 

 to buzz. Other explanations of the phe- 

 nomenon have been advanced by varions 

 naturalists, but none of them are satisfactory. 

 M. Jousset de Bellesme hns been making 

 some iuvestigations on the subject, and, 

 after proving that previous theories are un- 

 SRlisluclory, he d< scribes the results of his 

 own researches. To avoid coufusiou, it 

 should be distinctly understood what is meant 



House Cats Grown Wild.— In Chambers' 

 Journal we find the following : A greater 

 nuisance to game preservers in England than 

 the mountain-cat is grimalkin that has be- 

 come wild— the semi-wild cat. Almost the 

 equal of the mountain-cat in ferocity and de- 

 structiveness, these wild cats are enormously 

 more numerous. It is amazing the number 

 of domestic cats that, by cruel neglect on the 

 part of their owners, or other causes, annually 

 revert to their natural state, and take up their 

 quarters in the woods, to live as wild animals. 

 During the five years in which the Duke of 

 Sutherland's game-keepers bagged only five 

 mountain-oats, they shot two hundred and 

 thirty five of the other kind; and when we 

 come southwards, into the preserves near 

 large towns, the numbers grow enormously. 

 ' lu the preserves say from ten to twenty 

 miles round London, ' says a recent writer iu 

 the Pali Mall Gazette, ' the cats thus killed 

 must be counted by thousands. Families 

 change their houses;' the cat is driven away 

 by the new-comer, and takes to the fields. 

 In one little copse not more thau two acres in 

 extent, and about twelve miles from Hyde 

 Park Corner, fifteen cats were shot in six 

 weeks. "When two or three wild or house- 

 less animals take up their abode in a wood 

 they speedily attract half-a-dozen hitherto 

 tame ones; and if they are not destroyed, it 

 would be impossible to keep either game or 

 rabbits.' We have on more than one occas- 

 ion protested against the heartless cruelly cf 

 turning cats out of doors to starve, when 

 shutting up houses for the season. As is 

 seen, the poor creatures are often driven wild 

 with hunger and exposure, and liable to be 

 killed as a measure of general police. We 

 again denounce this odious misnsage of the 

 faithful and domestic cat, as a scandal to hu- 

 manity. Those who cannot permanently 

 provide for cats ought not to attempt; to keep 

 them. 



Ye Quail Hunter.— The foolish cow 

 frisketh her tail and cheweth her cud and 

 goeth forth with joy to browse in the thicket 

 the whole day long. 



But the wise cow kDowetb that quail shoot- 

 ng hath begun, and she harkeneth unto the 

 voice of wisdom, which saith, Lo, the hunter 

 is come anon, girt about with the shot-pouch 

 and the powder-horn, and in his hand he car- 

 rieth a weapon, the barrel of which be doublod. 



And he goeth about seeking the birds that 

 do run upon the ground with exceeding 

 swiftness, that he may ensnare them and slay 

 them with the weapon and devour them, 

 even upon toast. 



And the weapon goeth bang and ye heareth 

 the sound therof , and ye smelleth the powder, 

 but ye knoweth not, nor doth any man know- 

 eth whereunto the discharge appertaineth. 



For it flyeth with haste into the thicket 

 and into the region located thereby, even into 

 the whole territory thereunto adjacent. 



And it falleth upon the cow and it smiteth 

 her sore, so that she lifteth up her tail and 

 flyeth, being sorely and grievously displeased. 

 ' But the bird escapeth the wrath, and from a 

 rail in a remote corner of the land laugheth 

 he the hunter to scorn. 



Therefore has the wise cow said in her 

 heart, I will lay me down in the home pas- 

 ture and will not go into the thicket, nay, 

 not for the hunter or any udder man. — St. 

 Louis Journal. 



An Army Club.— About forty regular 

 army officers, active and retired, met Thurs- 

 day, (Jet. 10, at the Army Headquarters, this 

 city, to form an association modelled upon 

 the Royal United Service Institution of Great 

 Britain, but with less of its technicalities and 

 details. It is to be called the Military Ser- 

 vice Institution of the UDited States, with 

 headquarters in New York, and the object 

 will be to inform all officers on distant posts 

 of the steps and discoveries made in military 

 science. 



Care of Canary Birds.— Place the cage 

 so that no draught of air can strike the bird. 

 Give nothing to healthy birds but rape and 

 canary seed, water, cuttlefish bone and 

 gravel paper and sand on the floor of the 

 cage. No hemp seed. A bath three limes a 

 week. The Toom should not be overheated, 

 never above seventy degrees. When moult- 

 ing (shedding feathers) keep w T arm, avoid all 

 draughts of air. Give plenty of German rape 

 seed; a little hard boiled egg, mixed with 

 crackers grated fine, is excellent. Feed at a 

 certain hour in the morning. By observing 

 these simple rules, birds may be kept in fine 

 condition for years. For birds that are sick 

 or have lost their song, procure bird tonic at 

 a bird store. Very many keep birds who 

 mean to give their pets all things to make 

 them bright and bappj r , and at the same time 

 are guilty of great cruelty in regard to perch- 

 es. The perches m a cage should b(3 each 

 one of different size, and the smallest as large 

 as a pipe-stem. If perches are of the right 

 sort, no trouble is ever had about the bird's 

 toe-nails growing too long ; and of all things 

 keep the perches clean. 



— It is not so very many years since a 

 moustache could not safely be worn by a 

 New York merchant or bank clerk. Thirty 

 or twenty-five yeajs ago a man who ventured 

 to cultivate one was regarded as an outland- 

 ish foreigner, a flashy and disreputable sort of 

 person, an eccentric individual, or a loose 

 Bohemian. Moustaches stood in the way of 

 a man's getting credit, and a bank president 

 who did not shave his upper lip would have 

 been looked on as a monstrosity. — Sun. 



—A naturalist claims to have discovered 

 that crows, when in flocks, have regularly or- 

 ganized courts, in which they sit around and 

 try offenders — a sort of crow-bar, so to speak, 

 — Boston Globe. 



They often meet in caw cus, too. In the 

 spring it is not unusual to see a cro cus. 



Businf.ss Rules. — Business before plea- 

 sure, the surest road to success. No engage- 

 ments should be made that will interfere 

 with your business ; if any be made they 

 should be broken off. Pleasure before busi- 

 ness, the quickest, straightest and shortest 

 route to poverty. 



— Algernon, under her window in the cold 

 white moonlight, with tender expression says : 

 " 'Tis the la-last rose o hoi summer, 

 Le helt bloo hooming alo-hone ; 

 All its lo t)UT-tee ! companions 

 Ah-har la-deh hed and go-hone—" 



—The peanut crop of the United States for 

 the year ending Sept. 30, 1878, was 1,121,000 

 bushels ! Virginia eates most ; Tennessee next ; 

 North Carolina, third. 



—The Lincolnshire Rifle Volunteers were 

 recently turned out for a parade and a sham 

 fight, when the discovery was made that 

 they had been served with ball cartridge. 



— To prevent meat from scorching during 

 roasting, place a basin of water in the oven ; 

 steam generated prevents scorching, and 

 makes the meat cook better. 



— Enos Brown and Sons of Deep Hollow, 

 Dutchess Co., New York, have caught 107 

 bears during the past twenty years. 



— We go East for the precious metals and to 

 the West for solid meat — for gold to the Ore- 

 ient and for beef to the Ox-ident. 



A Knowing Hobsb.— A German almanac 

 for 1879, which is early in the field, contains 

 a notable story of Cossack ingenuity, which 

 has been reproduced by the Globe. During 

 the late war a Cossack rode up to the door of 

 a little inn at Braile, dismounted, drank a 



Raising the Wind.— A few days ago a 

 tramp, who was sparring his devious way 

 along near Reno, conceived a brilliant idea 

 for raising the wind. He knew that the 

 Wells Fargo stage would pass along that road 

 in about half an hour, so he took off his coat, 

 tore his shirt and pockets, rolled in the dust, 

 and finally tied himself, with much difficulty, 

 to a tree. His intention was to tell the stage 

 passengers that he had been foully dealt with 

 by highwaymen, and have a subscription to 

 repair his losses taken up on the spot. The 

 stage, however, took a short cut by a new 

 road that day and didn't go by at all. Alter 

 waiting until dusk, the tramp tried to take 

 off his bonds, but before he got the first knot 

 loose a grizzly came down out of the mount- 

 ain and picknicked off the greater part of his 

 left leg.— Han Franeisco flews Lttter, 



Stationery 



Department. 



Messrs. TIFFAJiY & CO.'S new tints of 

 Paper and Cards, and the correct styles 

 of Wedding and other Invitations for this 

 s eason, arc now ready. 



During the past Summer they have in- 

 creased their facilities for producing, and 

 and have made a material 



SEDUCTION JJV PBICMS, 



