1878.) - Recent Literature. 313 
The Navajoes dislike pork, but they beg for it to soften leather. 
They do not eat bear’s meat, and to call a man a bear is a term 
of great reproach. They do not eat eggs for fear that they will 
hatch in their stomachs. Turkeys also are rejected because they 
think that bad white men, after death, are changed into that bird. 
The transformation occurring beneath the water, the white mark- 
ings in the feathers of the turkeys is due to the white foam. 
These Indians capture the turkeys and sell them to the whites. 
While staying at the Navajo Agency I poisoned a number of 
mice for specimens and laid them away until an opportunity 
offered for skinning them; but hardly was my back turned, before 
they were stolen and socked: 
Prairie dogs are a favorite article of diet with the Navajoes. 
The animals are caught thus: A piece of glass is fixed in the 
split end of a stick which is so placed as to throw the light into 
the hole. The animal as he amuses himself at the glass is a good 
mark for the Indian. Another method is to place a large stone 
above the hole with a string attached ; when the prairie dog goes 
off to feed, the string is pulled and the stone dropped over the 
mouth of the den. The dog returning and finding his door 
blocked up, commences to dig around the stone, when he is 
quickly pinioned by the hunter's arrow. The Navajoes mix their 
meal or flour with water, and pour the batter into a hole made in 
hot ashes where it is left to bake. 
a 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
A VALUABLE WORK ON THE Howney-BEE.\W—This little French 
work before us is worthy of translation, so as to make its con- 
tents accessible to that large and growing class of bee-keepers 
who have mastered the technology of bee-keeping as practiced in — 
this country. While it is eminently scientific, it is not above the © 
comprehension of an ordinary reader. We notice particularly 
the full discussion of the embryology and anatomy of the drones, 
queens and workers, a subject not usually treated as fully as it 
deserves. The enemies and diseases to which. this wonderful 
insect is subject are also described and the former also figured. 
The geographical distribution of the three domestic forms of the 
1 Les Abeilles, Organes et Fonctions Education et Produits Miel et Cire. Par 
em ICE GIRARD, ancien President de la Société a de France, etc. 
vec une planche coloriée et trente rasa dans le texte. 1I2mo, VIII, pp. 280. 
Pats, 1878. J. B. Bailliére et fils. ee 
