.NATURAL SCIENCE NEWB. 



our old sigillaria, burning upon 

 our hearths tonight, send forth a 

 quiet, kindly look, befitting their 

 great age and long buried in the 

 earth. And the happy hearts that 

 gather around the Christinas fire- 

 side may thank God that we have 

 had these great stores prepared 

 for us in the times of old, and that 

 we have hearts and minds fitted to 

 enter somewhat into that great 

 plan which stored them up, and 

 for the eujoyment in a measure, 

 even of the beauty of the plants 

 that lived so long ago. — Reported 

 for the Scientific American. 



The First Spring Flower. 



Different writers have named dif- 

 ferent wild flowers as first to ap- 

 pear in the Northern states. John 

 Burroughs says that the hepatica 

 is the earliest, and Bryant, in one 

 of his poems has immortalized the 

 yellow violet, Viola rotundifolia, as 

 first, while other writers have giv- 

 en the honor to the beautiful little 

 trailing arbutus — New England's 

 own Mayflower. All of course ex- 

 clude the skunk-cabbage, and such 

 blossoms as the pussy-willows and 

 the hazel and silver-maple blooms, 

 which are not in the general ac- 

 ceptance of the term, true "wild 

 flowers." 



In the latitude of southern New 

 Hampshire, where all my botaniz- 

 ing has been done, the Mayflower 

 is certainly the earliest beginning 

 to show its blooms the first of 

 April (I have gathered flowers the 

 gth of the month ) and lasting un- 

 til the middle of May, and some 

 seasons I have found flowers in 

 cool, shady woods as late as June. 

 Farther south it appears earlier, 

 and Bryant in writing of southern 

 New England in his poem "The 

 Twenty-seventh of March" speaks 

 of "tufts of ground laurel" which 

 is another very pretty and expres- 

 sive name for the flower. 



Its generic name, Epigaa, is 

 composed of two Greek words sig- 

 nifying "upon" and "earth" de- 

 scribing the habit of trailing along 

 the ground. Its specific name,Jrc- 

 pens, also refers to the same char- 

 acteristic. Trailing arbutus, its 

 commonest name, was probably ap- 

 plied to it from some resemblance 

 to the arbutus tree, a tropical mem- 

 bar of the Heath family to this al- 

 so belongs. As 1 have already 

 said, ground laure' is a name by 

 which it is known in some parts of 

 the country, and surely the "crown 

 of laurel" bestowed on the victor 

 in the ancient games of Appollo 



was no more beautiful than is a 

 garland of the tufts and stems of 

 this, our loved herald of the flower 

 procession. But of all our names 

 for it none is so dear as Mayflower, 

 although April-flower might be 

 more appropriate to its time of 

 blooming. 



"How thrilled thy smile when on the 

 rockbpund coast 

 The wearied Pilgrims found thee blos- 

 soming " 



Yes, ever since the first A/ay- 

 flowers were plucked by our fore- 

 fathers at Plymouth, we have 

 known and loved it by that name — 

 the most beautiful, the most ex- 

 pressive of them all. 



Its habitat cannot be set down 

 with surety, except that it seems 

 to delight in a sandy soil beneath 

 the shade of pines. But one may 

 look for it there and look in vain, 

 for it cannot be depended upon, 

 appearing as it does, now in open 

 fields and pastures, and then in 

 dark cool woods, now on the sandy 

 hilltop, and again ®n the very edge 

 of the meadow bog. Throughout 

 its range may be found large areas, 

 even whole townships, where it 

 does not grow at all, while in oth- 

 er regions it is very abundant, 

 growing in all sorts of places, 

 woods, fields, pastures, and road- 

 sides occupying all available space. 



None of our flowers have been 

 noticed so much by our poets, and 

 none is so universally loved as this. 

 Perhaps its earliness may be re- 

 sponsible, in part, for its popular- 

 ity, but I am inclined to believe 

 that its delicate, retiring, faintly 

 pink-tined flowers, and its soothing 

 perfune would make it a general 

 favorite, whether it opened its eyes 

 in the sunny springtime, the balmy 

 summer, or the hazy autumn. 



C. H. Chksley, 

 South Barrington, N. H. 



An Intelligent Parrot. 



The following parrot yarn is go- 

 ing the rounds, which if only true, 

 would add new testimony to Pol- 

 ly's intelligence: 



A man whose niece had coaxed 

 him to buy a parrot succeeded in 

 getting a bird that was warranted 

 a good talker. He brought it 

 home, and, after putting it in a 

 cage, stood before it and said: 

 "Say uncle, Polly!" The bird did 

 not respond and after repeating it 

 a dozen times or more with no bet- 

 ter success, the uncle put his hand 

 into the cage and, grabbing the 

 bird by the neck, shook him until 

 his head wabbled around, all the 



time yelling to him: "Say uncle, 

 goll darn you, say uncle!" The 

 bird looked limp and lifeless, and 

 disgusted with his purchase the 

 old fellow took the parrot out into 

 the yard where he. had a coop of 

 thirty chickens. Thrusting the half 

 dead bird in with the chickens, he 

 exclaimed: "There, by gosh! 

 You'll say uncle before you get 

 out!" The next morning the uncle 

 went out to see how the parrot was 

 getting on. Looking into the coop 

 he counted twenty-nine dead chick- 

 ens, and in the centre of the coop 

 stood the parrot on one foot, hold- 

 ing the thirtieth chicken by the 

 neck, and shaking it till its head 

 wabbled, and screaming: "Say 

 uncle, goll darn yer, say uncle!" 



The Mineral Production of 

 Canada. 



Dr. Dawson, Director of the Ge- 

 ological Survey of Canada, has 

 completed his annual statement 

 of the values of the mineral pro- 

 ductions of Canada for 1895. The 

 total value of the production as 

 closely as could be arrived at, was 

 $22,500,000, or an increase of $1, 

 700,000 over that of 1894. From 

 1886 to 1893 the respective value 

 of each year was: — 1886, $12,000,- 

 000; 1887, $12,500,000; 1888. $13, 

 500,000; 1889, $14,500,000; 1890, 

 $18,000,000; 1891, $20,000,000; 

 1892, $19,500,000; 1893, $19,250,- 

 000. 



#** A very interesting collec- 

 tion of ore has been received at the 

 Geological Survey by Dr. Dawson, 

 Director. It is a sample of auri- 

 ferous ore from Johannesburg, 

 having been taken from the Fer- 

 riera mine at that place. The ore 

 differs from all other that is work- 

 ed for gold and will be of special 

 value to the geologists in their sur- 

 vey for the purpose of comparison. 

 It is a conglomerate formation 

 highly solidified. 



J. W. Miller, 

 Rimouski, Que. 



The Nebraska City Naturalists' 

 Association announce a course of 

 lectures on the natural sciences. 

 The faculty of the University of 

 Nebraska and surrounding states 

 will furnish the speakers. These 

 lectures will be practically free 

 and are not only for the benefit of 

 the Association but all who may 

 desire to attend. The first lecture 

 will be given shortly by Prof. Er- 

 win H. Barbour of the Nebraska 

 University. 



