NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 249 
fever, cholera, and the like diseases" is a oo Mig tt rather thar 
a minute veris of phe iota organic matter, is but an hypothesis 
and nothing more. So far as it has been attempted to be demonstrated 
y the apace of eism and eris: it has sevi broken down, 
and the ablest fungologists in the kingdom — Berkley and others — are 
distinctly opposed to it, as are, we nee ape the more scientific of our 
modern physicians. 
ZOOLOGY. 
ABITS OF THE STRIPED SQUIRREL. — I lately noticed in my garden a 
bright-eyed chipmunk, Sciurus striatus, advancing along a line directly 
towards me e came briskly forward, without deviating a hair’s breadth 
to the nei or the left, till within two feet of me; then turned square 
towards my left — his right — and went about three feet or less. Here 
ng. 
ground, vndis ing this member with both forepaws, thrust his head 
and shoulde byte thr ipu the dry leaves and soft muck, half bury- 
ing seat in an instan 
t first, I thought “ed after the bulb of an — that grew 
emis in front of his face and about three inches from it. I was the 
more dd in this supposition, by the shaking of the Es 
Present » however, he became ii corta quiet. In this state he 
the contrary, he was gradually backing out. I was surprised that, in all 
is apparent hard work (he worked like a man on a wager) he threw back 
o dirt. But this vigorous labor could not last long. He was very soon 
completely above ground ; and then became manifest the object of his earn- 
es rk: he was refilling the hole he had oe and repacking the dirt 
ied leaves he had disturbed. Nor was he content with simply refilling 
and repacking the hole. With his two little eset feet he patted the 
surface, and so exactly replaced the leaves that, when he had completed his 
took out a dozen seeds or si re-covered the treasure as well as my bu is 
ling hands could, and withdrew filled with astonishment at the exhibit. 
AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. IV. 32 
