198 



Marvels of the Universe 



Photo bill 



1 HE 



One of the claws of th 

 more higKly magnified. It 

 Id explain how it clings t 

 through the air. 



[_J.J. Ward, F.ii.S 



Airifb CLAW. 



Beetle's mite is here shown much 



s grasping a hair, and this serves 



when 



the Beetle 



latte 



i\\ 



les 



In this connection it is interesting to 

 observe that the legs and feet of the mites are 

 adapted for locomotion on moist land, being 

 provided with claws and suckers, and tliat they 

 have no eyes. It would be a distinct advantage, 

 therefore, when an individual had travelled 

 a long distance to suitable ground to find 

 a mate, and 3'et had been unsuccessful, to 

 get quickly conveyed to another similar situa- 

 tion ; indeed, it may be that the beetle itself is 

 the profitable hunting-ground for iinding their 

 mates. 



In anj' case, it is certain that the mite obtains 

 some advantages from its association with the 

 beetle, and as these on the whole do not appear 

 to be of a parasitic character, perhaps the sugges- 

 tions offered here will tend to further investiga- 

 tion regarding the habits of these curious little 

 organisms. 



The mites themselves are queer little animals, 

 and may be regarded as degenerate spiders. In 

 their earl}- stages the}' have only six legs, but 

 when their development is complete, another 

 pair appears. Their projecting mouth-pincers 

 can be either partially or wholly withdrawn into 

 their bodies. 



THE WINE PLANT 



BY EDW.\RD STEP, F.L.S. 



The American Aloe, which has been extensively introduced into Southern Europe and may fre- 

 quently be seen in English gardens, is not really an aloe at all, but an agave. Gardeners used 

 to call it the Century Plant, from an erroneous idea that it did not flower until it was a hundred 

 years old. It is a native of Mexico, and is one of the largest of the herbs. Its great leaves, whose 

 form is well shown in our photograph, are thick and hard, and their edges are liberally armed with 

 spiny teeth which make them look like a coarse-toothed saw. They form a huge rosette, the older 

 leaves bending their tips to the ground, and the flower stem rising from the heart of the rosette 

 to a height of thirty feet, branching like a candelabrum and bearing thousands of flowers. 



Just before the flowering stem is due to make its appearance, the Mexicans cut out the heart 

 of the plant in such a manner that it leaves a cup-shaped hollow into which exudes the sap that 

 should have gone to nourish the flowering stem. This, the natives draw up into gourd-bottles 

 and transfer to great skin-bottles, as shown on the donkey's back. This juice, which is described 

 as having " a very agreeable sour taste," contains both sugar and mucilage, and the Mexicans long 

 ago found that by fermenting it they could convert it into a sort of intoxicating wine, something like 

 cider, to which they gave the name of Pulque. They also prepare from it a very strong brandy which 

 they distinguish as mexical, or aguardiente de maguey. Pulque, however, has a very unpleasant odour 

 — that of putrid meat — so that the newly-arrived European who wishes to get intoxicated by it has 

 first to overcome his aversion to such odours. If he succeeds in that, he is said to prefer pulque to 

 any other liquor. The Mexican Government draws a big revenue from pulque. 



