246 NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
young and vigorous trees furnishing the whiter wood. —H. F. 
Bassett. i 
[These differences in the wood, in this and other trees, are not 
accompanied by recognizable differences in their foliage, ete. ; they 
are not even botanical varieties: the cause of the difference is un- 
known. —Eps. 3 
Wasps Carry orr Stamens Bopiry.—Ch. Morren, of Belgium, 
is the authority for the statement, that, having noticed that the 
stamens and pistils of certain Fuchsias were unaccountably re- 
moved, he set a watch and found that they were carried off by 
wasps; and the wasps were observed flying about the garden with 
the stamens in their mandibles. Vespa nidulans was the culprit. 
What use they make of them is not explained.—Gard. Chronicle, 
April 15. 
ZOOLOGY. 
ANATOMY OF THE SKUNK. — As lizards, toads and snakes had be- 
come nice playthings, I had a desire to test the virtues of a skunk 
with the dissecting knife. Boys and others had skinned the ani- 
mal by the thousands ; so I thought that task not very formidable, 
and at it I went. The truth is it was not the nicest job I ever did 
in my life, and the fellow was as fat as his skin could hold; for I 
got four pounds of the purest, most pliable oil I ever saw. It was 
mainly pure oleine, with a little margaric acid— as good as neat’s 
foot oil for harness and boots, but with no medical virtue. 
I approached the vital organs of the Mephitis with suitable care. 
I first examined the teeth, as being furthest off. Next I cut off 
the shoulder and breast just back of the ribs. The lungs were 
large, the heart fully developed, and the liver enormous. 
stomach contained the crop and intestines of at least one of my 
Thanksgiving pot-pie chickens ; so it gave no light on its usual food, 
except that chickens’ corn, oats and flesh were there. The intes- 
tines were very broad, and seemed as if mainly made of colon, 
with hardly a trace of jejunum or ileum. ‘The kidneys were 
remarkably large, but neither by odor nor by the microscope, 
showed any singularity; their internal portions were very like 
those in man. 
I approached the pelvis with great caution, and almost supersti- 
tious fear. I disjointed first each femur, and left bare the innom- 
