454 



RECREA TION. 



mystery would have made possible the re- 

 union of some long-lost and thought-to-be- 

 dead lovers. Nothing of the like. No, far 

 removed from the possibility of such ro- 

 mantic happenings, the boy rested content 

 in hauling out wee sun-fish and rock bass. 



Not too fast. Don't condemn him. He 

 had a purpose — a brilliant idea. 



They would have some fish to show when 

 they returned to the city, after all. And 

 this is how the miracle was accomplished. 



Taking 8 of the smallest of this miniature 

 catch, selecting each one a trifle larger than 

 the one before, the young man strung the 

 lot on a thread and fastened them up, by 

 pins, before a small piece of cloth at the 

 sides of which he had pinnecl some weeds 

 a Varbe. The success of the scheme was as- 

 sured then, and all it needed was an appli- 

 cation of the camera. By this time Kent 

 had finished his book and had sauntered 

 down to view the arrangement. 



He laughed when he saw the fish, and 

 grinned when he was told what they were 

 there for. 



" Here," said Kent, " I'll run and get the 

 camera; " and he was soon back with it. 



" Now we will have something to show," 

 said he; and standing so as to get as close 

 a focus as possible, thereby magnifying the 

 fish greatly, and casting what afterward 

 proved a very useful shadow — he made 2 

 shots; " For," said he, " it will never do to 

 run the chance of one not coming out clear. 

 Our reputation depends on the success of 

 the picture." 



"Whew!" they exclaimed, at home — 

 and there were several fishermen present 

 who should have known better. " What! 

 All these black bass in 16 minutes? If you 

 boys were not ' cherry-treers ' we'd call it 

 a whopper; but maybe you are telling the 

 truth. At any rate it's plain to see you got 

 the fish, and we will not quarrel as to how 

 long it took to get them, or the weight of 

 each." And they took another admiring 

 glance at the photograph. And well they 

 might admire it; for it showed a string of 

 fish that, to all but an expert, seemed veri- 

 table black bass, of enormous size. And 

 the fellows' mouths watered as they gazed 

 — and continued to gaze — on the " magnifi- 

 cent catch." 



WHISKERS. 



JAS. WEIR, JR., M.D. 



When quite a small lad, one of the first 

 lessons set down in my copy-book, after I 

 had graduated in " pot-hooks and hangers " 

 was the trite old saw " Cleanliness is next 

 to godliness." My Yankee governess, a 

 tall, angular spinster, from Maine, made 

 the meaning of this copy clear to my infant 

 mind, pointing her remarks by calling at- 

 tention to the Kentucky real estate which 

 had found a resting-place beneath my finger 

 nails, and which seemed to decorate them 

 with perpetual badges of mourning. I have 

 never forgotten that lesson and firmly be- 

 lieve in its truth. 



The love of cleanliness seems to be in- 

 herent in the lower animals, with but few 

 exceptions. We have all noticed the cat, 

 the dog, the squirrel, the monkey, and 

 the birds at toilet-making; and we know 

 they spend a large portion of their time in 

 cleansing and beautifying their bodies. 

 Some of them are dependent on their own 

 ministrations, while others are greatly as- 

 sisted by humble little servants, whose only 

 remuneration is domicile, the cast-off cloth- 

 ing, or the garbage and refuse from their 

 host's table. 



For instance, the common domestic fowl 

 is greatly assisted in its toilet by certain lit- 

 tle animals belonging to the family Lithoe. 

 These little creatures carefully scrape away 

 and eat the scarf-skin, and other epidermal 

 debris that would otherwise impair the 

 health of their hosts. Some of the fish 

 family are entirely dependent on the minis- 

 trations of mutualists, as these little hy- 

 gienic servitors are called, in matters of the 

 toilet. Notably, the gilt cat-fish, which 

 would undoubtedly die if deprived of its 

 mutualist — the Gyropeltes. This remarkable 

 little creature does not live on the body of 

 its host, but swims free in the water, and 

 only seeks him when it is hungry. The skin 

 of the gilt cat-fish secretes a thick, glairy 

 mucous exudate, which, if left to itself 

 would imperil the health of the fish. The 

 Gyropeltes, however, regard ttris exudate as 

 delici6us food and rapidly remove and de- 

 vour it. All insects devote some of their 

 time to the toilet, and there is probably no 

 one who has not, at some time or other, 

 noticed the fly, or some other insect, at its 

 toilet. 



The greatest lover of bodily cleanliness, 



