THE YOUNG 
CHEAP FILTEKS. 
The water in even the most picturesque 
well is sometimes anything but wliole- 
some to drink. Filters are now recog- 
nized as among the necessaries of life. 
Host filters, however, of any reasonable 
size are rather expensive. In India a very 
cheap filter is used, which is practically 
as good as can be made, holds a large 
supply of pure water and cools it almost 
to freezing point— at any rate to a very re- 
freshing degree of coldness, without the 
danger in it that lurks in ice water. It is 
made of bamboo, in the shape of a scaf- 
fold^ with three or four large chatties, or 
bulbous porous earthenware vessels, one 
above the other. The upper ones have 
holes at the bottom stuffed with rags, 
through which the cleansed water drips. 
The top one is half-flUed with layers of 
coarse charcoal and pebbles, those next 
with the same, only finer. The bottom 
receptacle is usually surrounded with wet 
straw, and a straw mat to keep the spher- 
ical bottoms steady is supplied to each. 
SCIENTIST. 333 
All are thickly covered with a dew ex- 
uding through the sides, and by the evap- 
oration cooling the contents. Sacli a fil- 
ter in India costs about twenty-five cents. 
A good imitation, with very large un- 
glazed flower-pots, instead of the chaUies, 
could be niade here, at a not very alarm- 
ing advance on that sum. A corner of 
the cellar or woodshed might well be 
spared for such a filter. 
Our Guessing Column. 
BY A. W. ROBERTS. 
K»^y|UMBER 1. -Who would ever im- 
agine that money could be 
Bilvy iii^^^' by the sale of such a look- 
rt^^^.tyil ing creature as the one referred 
to in this guess. 
Nevertheless, I know of a young man" 
who raises these insects by the thousand 
every year, and by the sale of them earns 
sufficient money to buy all his clothing. 
These creatures are to be had only in cer- 
tain stores, andcost fifty cents a hundred. 
They are raised on bread, crackers, In- 
dian and oat meals. To keep them warm 
and clean, they are placed between layers 
of blanketing. The parents have wings, 
and fiy from [)lace to place in search of 
food. 
Now, my Yankee guessers, what can 
this insect be ? 
No. 2. — Once upon a time I met an old 
and very talkative German. In a large 
basket he carried a number of small glass 
jars, and in each jar was a pretty lit- 
tle wooden ladder, and on each ladder 
sat a quaint and very wise-looking ani- 
mal in a gray suit. The expression of his 
eyes was particularly mild and soft. I 
knew this animal the moment I saw him, 
for when a boy I liad caught many of 
them as they sat on the branches of trees, 
trilling their soft voices to one another. 
Now comes a curious fact about these 
creatures, which is, that when there is 
going to be a storm they climb to the to]v 
most step of their ladders and send forth 
trill after trill— for they seem to delight 
in niiny weather. 
The German charged two dollars for 
each jar and its contents. He informed 
me that for many years he had done 
nothing else, and that he had sold a great 
many. Now, my merry puzzlers, jnizzle 
this out if you can. 
No. 3.~Passing along Fourteenth street 
one clear and sunny dn,y, I met a man 
who had for sale a number of "tame yel- 
low birds," as he called them. It is true 
they were yellow birds, and would perch 
on his fingers or on his head, and would 
not attempt to fly away. Yet they were 
