FOREST AND STREAM. 



WHY' THE BAROMETER RISES AND 

 FALLS. 



FIRST of all, what is a barometer ? It is a tube or pipe,_ 

 dosed at one end and open at the other, and made of 

 some transparent material, such as glass, so that it may be 

 seen tohrdugti. This tube is filled with the fluid metal called 

 mercury* and When quite full, the thumb is placed over the 

 open end (SO as to keep the mercury from falling out) and the 

 tube is turned upside down. So the. closed end is at the top; 

 the open end at the bottom, and if the thumb were removed 

 the mercury would, of course, run out. But now suppose you 

 wished not to waste any, and so put the open end into a 

 basin, with some more mercury in it, and then remove your 

 thumb— what would happen ? "Why the mercury would all 

 run out into the basin," some one will say. But this is a 

 mistake, as the Italian philosopher, T. Torricelli, found out ; 

 and whatever size or length of tube be. taken, the whole of 

 the mercury will not run out, but a length of about thirty 

 inches of the tube will remain full of mercury, and you can- 1 

 alie it runout Into the basin unless you either pull the 

 open end of the tube out of the mercury, or make a hole in 

 the closed end of the tube. This puzzled Torricelli for a 

 lpUg time, until at last the thought struck him that the only 

 thing which was on the mercury in the basin was the air, 

 and that it was probably the weight of the air pressing on 

 the metal whicb prevented its running out, into the basin. 

 " If so." thought Torricelli, " then if" J take my tube and 

 basin of mercury up a mountain, less and lejss of the tube 

 will remain full, for there is evidently less air above the 

 basin at the top of the mountain than at the bottom." You 

 may be sure he did not wait long to test the experiment, 

 and, to his great delight, he found the mercury gettiug lower 

 and lower in the tube, thus proving that it really was the. 

 weight of the air that kept it in the tube at all. And so the 

 instrument was called a barometer, which is derived from the 

 Greek, and means a weight measurer. But if th,e barometer 

 is watched it will be found to contain different quantities of 

 mercury on different days. Ou a fine day the mercury will, 

 as a rule, stand higher in the tube than on a wet clay, or 

 just before rain ; and now for the reason of this. Why 

 does the barometer rise (o" rather the mercury in it) in fine 

 weather, and fall when it is going to be wet? Now, dry ait- 

 is much heavier than wet air, or air containing steam. The 

 consecpience is that when the air gets moist it becomes lighter, 

 and presses less on the mercury in the barometer, so more 

 mercury flows out into the basin, and consequently less re- 

 mains iu the tube, or, as we express it, the barometer falls. 

 Now, when the air is very wet, there is, of course, more 

 chance of rain than when it is dry ; for rain is formed by the 

 cooling of the steam contained in moist air.—" Little Folks " 

 for Jul}/. 



THE ARCTIC WOODLAND. 



POPULAR impressions arc often far from the truth, and 

 in regard to the Arctic regions they are undoubtedly so. 

 A treeless laud would be, iu the opinion of most people, the 

 idea which would suggest itself in regard to the regions in 

 question. Yet this, though true, is not all the truth. Within 

 the arctic circle are found trees, often forming considerable, 

 though stunted, forests. In Eastern Siberia pines and other 

 trees come down almost to the waters edge, while over all 

 Western Siberia, Artie Russia and Lapland the tree limits run 

 within the Artie circle ; trees extend even to the North Cape. 

 In Greenland we find, even in the most southerly parts of it, 

 no herbage more worthy of the name of tree than the stunted 

 birch, which in the more sheltered valleys of that country — 

 equally inappropriatcl5 r named with Iceland— attain the pro- 

 portion of little shrubs ; and it is not until we come to the 

 milder latitudes of the Pacific that the tree line, which had de- 

 scribed a southerly curve in the cold regions of Central North 

 America, again rises to the north, and until we reach the shores 

 of Behring Straits, we find nothing that we can dignify by the 

 name of trees. 



The wooded bauks of the Yuken touch the Arctic Circle, and 

 forests of white spruce are lound on the Noatak, a river which 

 falls into Eschscholtz Bay, which infringes on the Arctic Cir- 

 cle. In Lapland the spruce ceases at about the sixty -eighth 

 parallel, and the Scotch fir at the sixty-ninth ; but in .Norway, 

 owing probably to the presence of the warm Gulf Stream, 

 which sweeps along the coast and into the Arctic Sea— at least 

 as far east as Novai Zernlai — we find forests of Scotch firs 60 

 feet in height as far north as Altenf jord, and birches about 45 

 feet high, in an equally northern latitude. In latitude 70 deg. 

 28 rain, the hardy Scotch fir still maintains its ground, though 

 the spruce fails a degree or so further south. In the vicinity 

 of Hammerfest, a well known Lapland town, in latitude 70f 

 deg. north, there are dwarf Alders and Aspens, Bird Cherries, 

 Rasps and Currants. In the Scandinavian Peninsula, probably 

 also owing to the warmth which a sea, unencumbered, and in 

 addition laved by a current of a higher temperature affords, 

 barley is cultivated as far north as the seventieth parallel, the 

 latitude of Disco Island, on the Greenland coast, and oats up 

 to the sixty-fifth " in sheltered valleys where rocks and cliffs 

 reffect the sun's rays with much power."— The Countries of the 

 World. 



T. P. Robinson, Phila. — There are so many of the Bamboos 

 natives of India, that it is hard to say what the Calcutta Bam- 

 boo may be. Seeds of Bambusa spinosa, which attains a 

 large size, were distributed freely last season here by Lieut. 

 Gen, Strackey (British Army). This variety coming from 

 up in the mountains, promises better for our Southern States 

 .than any from Calcutta. We do not find any of the varieties 

 quoted in any of our seedsmen's catalogues, but will try to get 

 some for you. Quite a number of the more hardy Chinese 

 and Japanese varieties are cultivated for decorative purposes 

 in England and the South of Europe. We remember seeing a 

 fine collection at James Veitch & Son's Coombe Wood Nursery 

 some five years ago, all perfectly hardy and very beautiful in- 



deed, planted as they were along a rivulet, the sloping banks 

 being planted with the finer evergreens. Letter by mail. —Ed. ] 



IT. S-, Boston.— The spots on your Ivy leaves are the white 

 scale insect, one rather difficult to eradicate when once it gets 

 a firm hold ; probably the best method is to pick off and burn 

 the leaves most infested, and sponge clean those left with a 

 strong solution of carbolic soap and water. Your plant will 

 soon make new leaves, which keep clean by frequent syring- 

 ing or sponging'. 



j. vV. — Your plant is Euphorbia marginata, a native of the 

 valley of the. Mississippi, a very beautiful annual, often culti- 

 vated for ornament. As the seeds are quite hardy, it will grow 

 again next season, from those that drop off, as they ripen. 

 Another beautiful native variety is Euphorbia corrallata. It is 

 also perfectly hardy, and is herbaceous as well ; the flowers 

 have conspicuous white bracts, like a five cleft corrolla, the 

 whole plant very much resembling a large flowered Gypsophi- 

 la, or Infant's breath, and well worthy of more general cultiva- 

 tion.— Ed.] 



*-♦ 



Sandwich Islands Sukf Batiiixg.— It is very exciting, but 

 the sea was not very rough. The surf board is a rough plank, 

 shaped like a coffin lid, about two feet, broad and from six to 

 nine feet long. The men, dressed ouly in malos, carrying 

 their boards under their arms, waded out from the rocks oil 

 which the snrf was breaking, and, pushing their boards before 

 them, swam out to the first line of breakers, and then, diving 

 down, were seen no more till they reappeared as a number of 

 black heads, bobbing about like corks in the water. What 

 they seek is a very high roller, on the top of which they leap 

 from behind, lying face downward on their boards. As the 

 waves speed on and the bottom strikes the ground the top 

 breaks in a huge comber. The swimmers appeared posing 

 themselves on "its highest edge by dexterous movements 

 of their hands and feet/keeping just at the top of the curl, 

 but always coming down hill with a slanting motion. So they 

 rode in majestically, always just ahead of the breaker, carried 

 shoreward 'by its mighty impulse at the rate of forty miles an 

 hour, yet seeming to have a volition of their own, as the more 

 daring riders knelt and even stood on their surf boards, wav- 

 ing their arms and uttering exultant cries. They were always 

 apparently on the verge of engulfmcnt by the fierce breakers, 

 whose towering white crest was ever above and just behind 

 him ; but just as one expected to see them dashed to pieces, 

 they either waded quietly ashore, or, sliding off their boards, 

 dived under the surf, taking advantage of the undertow, and 

 were next seen far out at" sea, preparing for fresh exploits. 

 The great art seems to be to mount the roller precisely at the 

 right time, and 10 keep exactly on its crest just before it 

 breaks. 



Eating Fkuit.— While few articles of food are more or less 

 injurious than unripe fruit, still it is almost impossible to take 

 too many of those that are ripe, fresh and perfect when eaten 

 in their natural state. The earlier in the day fruits are eaten 

 the better. Their healthful qualities depend on their ripe 

 acidity, but it sweetened with sugar not only is this acidity 

 neutralized, but the stomach is tempted to receive more than 

 it can digest, and if cream be taken with them the labor of di- 

 gestion is increased. No liquid of any description should be 

 drank within an hour after eating fruits, nor should anything 

 else be eaten within two or three hours after. Thus, time be- 

 ing allowed for them to pass out of the stomach, the system 

 derives from them all their enlivening, cooling and aperient 

 influences. The great rule is, eat fruits and berries while 

 fresh, ripe and perfect in their natural state, without eating or 

 drinking anything for at least two hours afterward. With 

 these restrictions, fruits may be eaten in moderation during 

 any hour of the day, and without getting tired of them, or 

 ceasing to be benefited by them during the whole season. 



The Origin of the Gkeat Lakes.— At the late meeting of 

 the Scientific Association in Buffalo, a paper was read by 

 Prof. Newberry, attempting to explain the origin of the great 

 lakes of this country. He asserts the sequence of events in 

 the formation of the great lakes to have been as follows : 



1. The Laurentian belt $orth of the great lakes, which ha, 

 been a land surface since the beginning of the Palaeozoic eras 

 was formerly a high mountain range, the degradation of 

 which has supplied the mechanical materials which compose 

 the sheets of Palaeozoic rock that surround it. The erosion of 

 these highlands has continued uninterruptedly till the present 

 day, and was specially rapid during the period. 



2. Previous to the glacial period, the elevation of this por- 

 tion of the continent was considerably greater than now, aud 

 it was drained by a river system which flowed at a much 

 lower level than at present. At that time our chain of lakes — 

 Ontario, Erie and Huron — apparently formed portions of the 

 valley of a river which subsequently became the St. Law- 

 rence, but wincn then flowed between the Adirondacks aud 

 Appalachians, in the line of the deeply-buried channel of the 

 Mohawk, passing through the trough of the Hudson, aud 

 emptying into the ocean, eighty miles southeast of New York. 

 Lake Michigan was apparently (hen a part of a river course 

 which drained Lake Superior and emptied into the Mississippi, 

 the Straits of Mackinaw being not yet opened. 



3. With the approach of the cold period, local glaciers 

 ormed on the Laurentian Mountains, and, as they increased 



in size, gradually crept down on to, and began to excavare, 

 the plateau which bordered on the west and south. The ex- 

 cavation of our lake-basins was begun, and perhaps in large 

 part effected in this epoch. 



4. As the cold increased and reached its maximum degree, 

 a great ice-sheel was formed by the enormously increased and 

 partially coalescing local glaciers of the former epoch. _ This 

 many-lobed ice-sheet or compound glacier moved radiantly 

 from the south, southwest, and western slopes of the Canadi- 

 an highlands, its Ohio lobe reaching as far south as Cincin- 

 nati. The effect of this glacier upon Lake Erie and Lake 

 Ontario would be to broaden their basins by impinging against 

 and grinding away with inconceivable power their southern 

 margins. 



5. With the amelioration of the climate the widespread ice- 

 sheet of the period of iutensest cold became again local glaziers, 

 which completed the already begun work of cutting out the 

 lake basins, At first, the glacier Which had before flowed 

 over the watershed in Ohio was so far reduced as to be unable 

 to overtop its summit, but, deflected by it, it flowed along its 

 base, spending its energies in cutting the shallow basin in 

 ■which. Lake Erie now lies, 



6. The melting of the glaciers was accompanied, perha, 

 occasioned, by a sinking of the continent, which progress 

 until the waters of the Atlantic flowed up the valley of the 

 St. Lawrence to Kingston, and up the Ottawa to Arnprior 

 The valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Hudson were con 

 nected byway of Lake Champlaiti, and thus the highlands of 

 New England were left as an island. It is also possible that, 

 the sea-water penetrated to the lake basin through the valley 

 of the Mohawk and through that of the Mississippi, but of 

 this We have no evidence in the presence of mr.rinc fossils in the 

 surface deposits. The great area of excavation in which the 

 lakes lie was probably at this time filled to the brim with 

 ice cold fresh water. 



FISH IN SEASON IN SEPTEMBER. 



F11E8H WATWR. 



Trout, Salmc f nttnalit 

 Salmon, ■ ' 

 Sal mou '1 rent. . 

 J,antl-lo<'kf<l Salmon, .- 

 Griivlintr, Thpmiilh<s I, 

 Slack Bass, MieropUru 



M. nigricans. 

 Masoalonge, Msox nal fifi < . 

 pike or PlcKerel, h'n<>x tw-ivs. 

 Yellow I'orcli, Percaijlamcem, 



SALT WATER. 



■ , eia nopm 



Call, Arrlwnur'jus prvbato- 



sitfas/Wealsfis] 



Oero, cuhriim regale, 



]'. !'.■■,' .S'artJa priitniifs. 



KmgtiBll, Mentifirrus nebulosus. 



Fish in Makket.— Fish continue plenty, and prices are still 

 down, as will be seen from our quotations for the week which 

 are as follows : 



Striped bass, IS to 20 cents per pound ; smelts, 20 cents ; 

 bluefish, 8 to 10 cents; salmon, frozen, 80 cents; mack- 

 erel, 15 to 25 cents; wcakfish, 10 cents; Spanish mackerel, 

 18 cents; green turtle, 15 cents; terrapin, $18; halibut,15 cents; ' 

 haddock, 6 cents; king-fish, 25 cents; codfish, 8 cents; black- 

 fish, 15 cents ; flounders, 8 cents ; sea bass, 18 cents ; 

 eels, 18 cents; lobsters, 8 cents; soft clams, 30 to 60 

 cents per 100 ; Salmon trout, 12.^ cents ; sheepshead, 25 

 cents; white-fish, 15 cents; sunfish, 10 cents; yellow perch, 

 10 cents ; hard shell crabs, $3.50 per 100 ; soft crabs, 

 $1.50 per dozen. 



Massachusetts— East TemplMon, Aug 20.— Occasional 

 Strings of trout are caught, but they run rather small. A friend 

 recently caught seventy, ranging from fingerlings to three- 

 quarters of a pound. Black bass, which were introduced into 

 the ponds in this section from three to live years ago, are now 

 affording fine sport. O. E. G. 



Neiolmry2VJ7't.—A. live seal, wei rhing 15 pounds, was cap- 

 tured in a seine at Plumlslano fpint recently. 



Connecticut— Ni antic, Aug. 19.— Is there any law in this 

 State regulating the size of meshes in nets used along the 

 coast ? I should think that the Pish Commissioners might do 

 something to prevent the wholesale slaughter of fish too small 

 for use. Sport here is most miserably dull, all owing to the 

 abominable nets that stretch across the harbor, taking every- 

 thing that comes along. Occasionally, by singular good 

 fortune, a bass manages to get as far as the bridge and bless 

 us with a bite ; even this is a relief, and if one fishermen loses 

 his bait, immediately a rush is made for our rods, each being 

 anxious to capture 1 ho striped beauty. The best luck so far 

 has faflen to the lot of Mr. J. J. Le Count, he landing four 

 one day, smallest 4 lbs., largest 7 lbs. Your humble eorrei- 

 pondent has caught but one, weight too small to mention. 

 At Konomac good sport is had with the black bass and pick- 

 erel. I am glad to see the boys of New London are repenting 

 of their evil ways, and some of them having taken to reading 

 your valuable and emeriaiuing paper, I feel sure they will 

 abandon their poaching and piratical practices. Scales. 



[There is no law regulating the size of mesh ; but the law 

 forbids any bass, pike, pickerel or muscalonge being taken 

 otherwise than by hook and line — Ed.] 



] New Yoke— WaicniUe, Aug. 28.— I have just returned 

 'from a campaign expedition ou Chatauqua Lake, N. Y T . The 

 fishing in Chatauqua Lake at this season of the year is not 

 good. Even the professional fishermen would not average 

 more than one pickerel a da}'. It is too late for bass, and I 

 only know of two bass being caught during my two-weeks' 

 slay. Nothing as yet has been seen of the salmon trout with 

 WhicbSeth Green stocked the lake three years ago. I could 

 not find any one who had ever seen one. Perch in Chatau 

 qua, seldom if ever, grow to be more than half a pound, in 

 weight. All in all I don't know a poorer place for fish iu 

 August than Chatauqua Lake, Haeet N. 



JS r eio JlocheUt; Aug'. 31.— A live dolphin six feet long 

 and weighing over five hundred pounds was caught off New 

 Rochelle on Tuesday last and has been added to the Aquarium 

 collection. 



Pennsylvania — Sharon, Aug. 27. — James Roy succeeded 

 iu capturing nine black bass with the fly last Saturday even- 

 ing between sunset and dark, lie had on two Hies, a red ibis 

 and a gray one, made from a drake's wing. He hooked two 

 at one cast, and lauded them safely. This was done right in 

 town, where the river (the Shcuango) is "fished to death.' 1 



TOMMV. 



1 Sharon., Pa. Aug. 30, -In your issue of last week (Aug. 16), 

 A. TV. P., Orangeville, Ohio, says he cap see bushels of black 

 bass in the Pymatuning, when the water is low, and has tried 

 to lake them with minnows, artificial Hies, soft shell crabs and 

 red flannel after night, but in vain. Perhaps A. W. P., does 

 not understand the way to fish with the fly, and perhaps the 

 bushels of bass that he sees are suckers. 



Orangeville, Ohio, is only eight miles from here, I have 

 caught a great many bass in the Pymatuning, with the fly, 

 but I have not been up there this season yet" It was only 

 last Saturday evening that ] craghl seven bass with a red fly — ■ 

 not flannel- the largest weighing 1] pound. If A. W. P. 

 would put on two tli. . and a white one, and com- 



mence fishing at sundown, Lw ill warrant he will take bass, pro- 

 vided there is bass where he fishes, and lie uses the Hies right. 

 i remember two years ago a friend of mine, Mr. H., asked me 

 lor a couple of flies, as he wanted to try that kind of fishing. 

 I gave him my casting line, and the s»me flies that the day 

 before I killed thirteen bass with, ranging from \ to S pounds 



