58 



NATUEAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



eat minnows. Other observers 

 have fed their Eutaniae mice and 

 sparrows, but I could never induce 

 one of mine to eat either a mouse 

 or a bird. Another snake that 

 sometimes eats mice is the Ophibo- 

 lus getulus, though my captives of 

 this species would eat nothing but 

 snakes. Almost all water snakes, 

 Matrix sipedon will take food read- 

 ily in captivity, though they are 

 fierce and bold and do not yield to 

 good treatment, now and then, 

 however, I find one that obstinate- 

 ly refuses to eat and which must be 

 liberated to keep it from perishing. 

 All the members of the Heterodon 

 family will usually take food but 

 now and then you will find an in- 

 dividual that refuses to do so and 

 will starve rather than submit to 

 captivity. 



No matter what kind of snakes I 

 have, I always keep them supplied 

 with milk and eggs hoping against 

 hope that some day I will find a 

 serpent who will act like those in 

 books. Thus far I have been 

 doomed to disappointment, for I 

 have never yet seen a snake eat 

 either milk or eggs. Snakes tastes 

 are varied, as I remarked before 

 and I do not mean to say such a 

 thing would be impossible, but I 

 do say emphatically that I have 

 not seen it myself. 



Angus Gaines, 

 Vincennes, Indiana. 



Sea Beans. 



We would like to ask any of your 

 readers who have been in Florida 

 whether the so-called "sea beans" 

 employed in jewelry grow there? 

 We have brought them from Cuba 

 where they are "at home" and have 

 heard that the common name was 

 given from their being found at 

 sea. The}? might easily drift to the 

 main coast but have they found the 

 soil and climate suited to their de- 

 velopment in Florida? 



The yellow bean "Bromis spino- 

 sus" is commonly known in Cuba 

 by its Mexico-Indian name Guaca- 

 lote; its old aboriginal name was 

 Guanana. The boys of the Veult- 

 arriba {veutta de arriba), or eastern 

 part of the island use these yellow 

 guacalotes as a kind of money, play- 

 ing their cards and various games 

 of chance for them, and even pass- 

 ing them as money for some articles. 

 The roundness and smoothness of 

 the smaller yellow ones cause them 

 to be much employed in games sim- 

 ilar to our marbles, which they call 

 "horyitos" or little holes, "unate, " 

 and. ' 'pila. " In one game of ' 'pila" 



four of these beans are used, three 

 being placed together and the fourth 

 piled above them; in another they 

 strive to overturn a "little house" 

 and call the game from this ' 'casilla" 

 from what they build up of the 

 beans. The small, perfectly round- 

 ed ones are known as "teritoes" or 

 "mingoes," while a large, flat, var- 

 iety is called "catatas. " Among 

 the yellow-onea a gray bean is often 

 mixed which is the Guilandina bon- 

 duc scientifically. 



As the boys of the eastern end of 

 the island favor the guacalote, what 

 is more natural than the hostility 

 shown by the boys of the western 

 end? So in the Vueltabajo (vnelta 

 dc abajo) where the fine cigars come 

 from, the red beans are employed 

 and the yellow ones scorned. The 

 red ones are commonly called mates, 

 and we have been unable to find its 

 scientific name in a very minute 

 work on Cuban natural history. 

 Was the author a Vueltarriban boy ? 



The boys of Bayame name the 

 last bean left in playing their games 

 the gaubino.— H. M. K. B. — Ran- 

 dom Notes. 



Cultivating Sponges. 



Sponge farming has been found 

 to be a very profitable industry, 

 and at present there are hundreds 

 of acres in the Gulf of Mexico, a- 

 long the Florida coast, devoted to 

 this novel purpose. The attempt 

 to grow sponges was first made 

 when it was discovered that the 

 sponge fisheries of the Bahamas 

 and the gulf coast of Florida show- 

 ed signs of becoming exhausted. 

 It has since been found that under 

 proper cultivation sponges may be 

 raised which are superior in quality 

 and command higher prices than 

 those found at sea. The site for a 

 sponge farm is usually some arm of 

 the sea where the salt water flows 

 in freely. The only preparation 

 necessary is to drop in rocks, stones, 

 and other substances for the spong- 

 es to fasten themselves to and dam 

 up the lagoon so that the sponge 

 seeds cannot be blown out to sea. 

 The farms at first obtained their 

 supplies of sponge seeds from the 

 Fish Commissioners, but latterly 

 they obtain them directly from the 

 sponge fisheries. In the autumn 

 of the year the various varieties of 

 sponges are purchased by the 

 sponge farmer, care being taken to 

 secure both the male and female 

 cells. The sponge seeds are gen- 

 erally kept in small "pounds" dur- 

 ing the winter months, and here 

 the masses of protoplasm develop 



and grow. The spores are liberat- 

 ed early in the spring. They swim 

 about, the eggs grow rapidly and 

 soon attach themselves to the rocks 

 or coral at the bottom of the water. 

 The sponge farm requires little at- 

 tention after it is once started. 

 The sponges grow slowly, and, as 

 a rule, none are pulled up till the 

 end of the third year. The largest 

 sponges are then gathered and the 

 smaller ones are left to produce 

 new seeds and grow to a larger size. 

 The sponges may be readily gath- 

 ered on sponge farms, since the 

 water is usually shallow and smooth, 

 and the dangers of ordinary deep 

 sea sponge fishing are not encount- 

 ered. The finest sponges raised in 

 this way are said to sell for from 

 $1.50 to $3.00 per pound. If no 

 diseases or enemies get into the 

 sponge beds, the sponges yield 

 large crops year after year. The 

 yearly income from the sponge 

 farm is said to range from $1,000 

 to $10,000 according to its size, 

 location, and age. — Set. Am. 



What Has Become of the Blue- 

 birds? 



"What," indeed, "lias become of 

 the Bluebirds?" 



They are more than late in this 

 locality for on this 5th day of May 

 not one has been seen here as yet. j 

 B. S. Bowdish, 

 Phelps, N. Y. 



Bluebirds are usually abundant 

 here. This year the first was seen 

 April 6 but although I have spent 

 from one to five hours a day in the 

 field this spring, I have not seen to 

 exceed four Bluebirds. 



H. C. Higgins, 



Cincinnatus, N. Y. 



Mr. E. B. Webster of Cresco, 

 Iowa reports an entire absence of 

 Bluebirds this spring — and says: — 

 An abundant migrant, arriving in 

 advance of the robins, and a com- 

 mon summer resident, as a usual 

 thing, but this year the Robins are 

 nesting, and no Bluebirds. Were 

 they all frozen? 



This spring the birds as a rule 

 are much later than usual in arriv- 

 ing from the south, although I have 

 seen two or three species on earlier 

 dates than I first saw them last 

 year. Although nearly all the 

 birds which, up to date might be 

 expected, have arrived, yet in num- 



