106 
AMERICAN AG-RICURTURIST 
[March, 
gether. The parents will feed them. I presume there 
are books on the subject which would give you more ela¬ 
borate information, but perhaps the above will suffice. 
A Home-Made Frame, for imperial photographs, (or 
other small pictures,) has been contrived by some clever 
person. It is made of white perforated card-board, and 
appears as in figure 1, on p. 105. Cut the card about 9!4 
inches long, by 7 inches wide. Cut out the center 5 in. 
long by 3 in. wide. Figure 2, which shows a corner of 
the frame, will give you an idea of how many holes to 
leave around the different squares. After cutting out the 
frame, overhand the edges (as shown in fig. 1; with floss- 
silk, of any color you choose. I prefer brown or maroon. 
The figures are all worked with the same shade of silk. 
Of course you can vary the pattern of embroidery to suit 
your taste, and you can use split zephyr if preferred. 
When finished, fasten your picture securely to the frame 
by a few sly stitches of the silk, hidden in the embroidered 
figures, and sew ribbon, of the same color as the silk, at 
the upper corners, by which to hang it, as shown in fig. 1. 
Jos. H. B.—No one sent me an answer to the “ more 
difficult puzzle.” Thanks for your excellent charades. 
Thanks for letters, puzzles, etc., to Fanny Bond, Nemo, 
Bob O’Link, Gus, Ettie Newbury, A.Sinclair, J.Bellis, and 
others,whose favors I hope to answer at some future time. 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Box. 
[The Microscope crowds the Puzzle Box this time, but 
we have something quite new and good for next month.] 
We have not had any arithmorem puzzle in a long time, 
and as they sharpen the wits both in their construction 
and in their solution, I propose to introduce them again. 
They are based upon the Roman numerals, which are 
represented by letters, and as they are not mentioned in 
ail dictionaries, I will give a list of them here. You all 
know that M stands for one thousand, D for five hundred, 
C for one hundred, L for fifty, X for ten, Y for five, and I 
for one, but many of yon do not know that A also stands 
for 500 ; so I will give you the list alphabetically; 
A=500. 
G=400. 
N=900 
T=160. 
B=300. 
H=200. 
0=11 & 0. 
V=5. 
C=100. 
1 =1. 
P=100. 
W=55. 
D=500. 
K=250. 
Q=500. 
X=10. 
o 
o 
ct 
1 ! 
td 
L=50. 
R=80. 
Y=150. 
F=40. 
M=1000. 
S=7. 
Z=2000. 
All the above letters were used by the Romans, to 
represent the figures attached, except W, which we have 
credited with 55, because it is two Vs. 
Now let us write the word YEX with the numerals— 
525010. That is simple enough, but 10 does not always 
stand for X— e. g., 1000801604005010 ends with 10 and 
stands for portfolio. Then you may put in an 8 to stand 
for “ate,” and 4 for “for,” 2 for “to,” etc.; thus— 
429008=“ fortunate.” With these instructions, I think, 
you will have no difficulty in solving the following simple 
ARITHMOREMS. 
1. 10050090050050250. 
2. 10000S016050050. 
3. 1750500900500. 
4. 71100010050250. 
5. 50016010500. 
6 . 100111900160. 
7. 1010715250. 
8 . 100002507. 
9. 10015150. 
10. 20000100. 
alphabetical arithmetic. 
DEAD)ANDBRANDED(EVILAR 
A A R A T 
IE R A 
DEAD 
DTNIN 
N R V L A 
D V L V D 
D T B V R 
V V L I E 
L T D I 
A L N B D 
A B V D D 
A A N T 
Doesticks’ Friend. 
DROP LETTBR PUZZLE. 
Add six letters (in the blanks) and make one word of 
the following: 
-O-N-E-P-I-E. 
CROSS-WORD. 
My first is in treasure but not in gold, 
My next is in ancient but not in old, 
My third is in beauty but not in form, 
My fourth is in thunder but not in storm, 
My fifth is in feature but not in face, 
My sixth is in kindred but not in .race, 
My seventh is in glare but not in sun, 
My eighth is in play but not in Inn: 
The letters you’ll discover— 
If properly you seek— 
That give the name of something 
We mention every week. 
DIAMOND PUZZLE. 
1. The end of a thief. 2. An epoch. 3. A color. 4. 
Contests. 5. Timorously. 6. A disagreeable trait. 7. 
Splendid. 8. Foreign. 9. A crevice. 10. A viper. 11. 
Part of a house.—The center letters, perpendicular and 
horizontal, name that which is the cause of many an 
unhappy household. 
pi. 
Diper si na gravexatant iponino fo rounow thinrowses: 
nativy si na direnation seerid hatt thoser hudlos hares 
ahtt onionpi. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE JANUARY NUMBER. 
Pi. -The soul that suffers is stronger than the soul that 
rejoices. 
Addition of Fraction.— Take the necessary letters from 
the words (1) attire, (2) bayberry, (3) communicate, (4) con ¬ 
fiscatory, (5) likely, and (6) illustrate, and make “ Try your 
skill.” 
Numerical Enigmas. — 1. For wisdom is better than 
rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be 
compared to it. 2. Bacchus is the god of wine and Venus is 
the goddess of love. 3. Grindstone. 4. Androscoggin. 
rubber—with a small hole through it. When you first 
get the Microscope, turn this to one side, and learn the 
use of the glasses without this. It is very useful when 
you are examining the very smallest objects, but at first 
it bothers persons who have not yet learned the use of 
it, which is to make the field smaller, and allow you to 
see more distinctly very small things. At first you 
should try the upper or weakest glass, and then the 
others as advised in that circular. After a while, when 
the Microscope is as familiar to you as your scissors or 
jack-knife, you will then get the hang of it, and find the 
diaphragm verv useful. Now here is another matter 
to be considered. You must know that whether in 
A MICROSCOPE or a telescope, 
the important part is the glasses. We could have sent 
at a cost of $3, or §5, a microscope with several mechani¬ 
cal features which this has not, but the object was to 
send, at a low cost, a useful instrument that every one 
could afford. I have been, from a boy, in the way of 
using microscopes of various kinds, and I know that I 
could not get a single good glass at the price at which 
this, with three glasses mounted on a stand, comes to 
you. In the sheet of description that goes with the 
Microscope, there is pointed out a fault.—That is, 
THE UPRIGHT OR WIRE STANDARD 
on which the glasses slide, is in the way. This was seen 
at first, but to remedy it in the making, we should be 
obliged to about double the cost , and this we chose to 
avoid, preferring to give the Microscope at a low price, 
and point out this difficulty—which can be easily avoided 
by care. I had thought of a plan of overcoming this 
trouble of having the wire standard always in the way, 
but a correspondent at Springfield, Mass., “Mr. O’Ray,” 
sends us a better one, and one which any person with a 
little ingenuity can adopt. Indeed, having these glasses 
—which, after all, are the important and the costly part 
—you can make various improvements, as I shall show 
from time to time. This improvement, which I will call 
AN EXE PIECE FOR THE MICROSCOPE, 
Alphabetical Arithmetic.— Key—" Golden Harp.” 
Conundrum.— It became a stauette (statue—wet). 
Cross-word.— IV asliington. 
Transpositions.—N ame. mean. mane. amen. 
Hidden Rivers.—1. Po. 2. 
5. Ohio. C. Pearl. 
Square Puzzle. 
(Diagonal—Bridget. 
Blanche 
ERastus 
Phillis 
ObaDiali 
BeniGua 
EzekiEl 
HarrieT 
Rhomboid Puzzle. 
(M, at, cap, apes, wines, rite, 
lop, no, Y.) 
Thames. 3. Obe. 4. Red. 
Diamond Puzzle. 
A 
S IT N 
N A N D IT 
AUNTSUE 
TOSSY 
SUE 
MACAW 
TAP I R 
PENAL 
S E T O N 
SEPOY 
Send communications intended for Aunt Sue. to Box 111, 
P. O., Broo/dyn, JV. Y., and not to 245 Broadway. 
- m * ■ ■M O- ** - » o- 
Our l T ousig Microscopists’ €lub. 
Well! “The Doctor” is now fairly set up in business 1 
Here is a lot of letters all about microscopic matters. I 
wish there were ten times as many, for if you tlnnk you 
are all to learn something from me. and I get nothing in 
return, you are mistaken. Every letter from boy or 
girl, that tells me of some difficulty, or asks me a.ques¬ 
tion, is very likely to teach me something, and though 
they call mean “old man,” I am not yet too old to learn. 
So come on with your letters. But first I will attend to 
those letters that relate to 
THE MICROSCOPE ITSELF. 
In sending this instrument to tens of thousands, and I 
should not be surprised to know that, by the time you get 
this, a hundred thousand had been sent out, it will go 
into many hands that had never seen anything of the 
kind before, have no idea of its uses, and how to use it. 
At the request of the Publishers I wrote the circular or 
description that goes with each Microscope, and in that 
stated that “ patience ” was needed on the part of those 
who should get it. Now let me give you all one bit of 
advice. In all the thousands who have bad the Micro¬ 
scope, a few—and, considering the number, a very few— 
as it is only 3 or 5, in the whole, found that they could 
not see anything with it. On examining into the mat¬ 
ter, we found they had not read the directions and that 
THE TROUBLE WAS WITH THE DIAPHRAGM. 
You know that there are three lenses or glasses, one 
above another, each a stronger magnifier than the one 
above it. Between the second and the third, or lowest 
glass, is what is called a diaphragm , i. e., a piece of the 
same material in which the glasses are mounted—hard 
2. —CORK. 1. —TUBE. 3. —EYE PIECE. 
can be made by any one who has the least ingenuity. 
The materials needed are: a piece of brown paper, paste, 
a bottle cork, and some ink. The tools are; scissors, 
a sharp pen knife, a piece of strong thread, an awl, and 
a stick. In the first place whittle your stick smooth, 
half an inch through. Cut your brown paper, according 
to its thickness, into a strip one inch wide and 18 inches 
or two feet long. You wish to make a tube of this paper, 
so you will paste it well—good stiff flour paste is best, but 
mucilage or gum will answer—and wind it round and 
evenly on your stick. It should be about '/ie of an inch 
thick, and when thoroughly dry, you will find it very stiff 
and firm. Figure 
1 shows this 
tube. To mount 
it, cut from your 
bottle cork a 
slice about half 
an inch thick, 
and shape it 
to fit your paper tube, as in __ figure 2. Our friend 
“ O’Ray ” uses a piece of wood, but I think cork is better. 
Make a hole with an awl, to allow it to go upon the wire 
standard of your Microscope, paste (or gum) the concave 
surface, and put it on your paper tube, as in figure 3, tie 
it fast with the piece of thread, and let it dry. Now try 
it on the Microscope, as in figure 4, and if an inch, as here 
directed, is too long, cut it down 
by the use of a sharp knife, until 
the things you have seen without 
it appear as plain as with it. Most 
eyes will be suited at an inch from 
the glass. Having it all right, 
then blacken the whole with ink, 
and it you have no brush to use 
for the purpose—recollect that 
young microscopists must learn 
to use make-shifts; wind a bit of 
small twine, or strip of rag, on the 
end of a match, or other stick, and 
use this swab to paint it inside and 
out. If after drying it is not black 
enough, swab the ink over it again. 
Fig.4. MICROSCOPE 
WITH EYE-PIECE. 
Boys and girls, let’s 
give Mr. O’Ray our thanks_Here is another matter 
ABOUT THE MICROSCOPE 
that I am sure will interest a great many of you. You saw 
in the paper that goes with the Microscope, that I told 
you how to mount it. for convenient working, upon a 
cigar-box. Now comes Mr. R. M. Bailey, of Middlebury, 
Yt.—who is editor of the “Middlebury Register,” and 
who knows all about microscopes, has a very powerful 
one, and who finds the American Agriculturist Microscope 
of great use in preparing objects for his fine costly in¬ 
strument—who tells us something that many of yon will 
like to know and copy. You know that with onr Micro¬ 
scope as it is, you must, to see transparent objects, hold 
it up to the light. Mr. B. mounts his microscope upon a 
cigar-box as there advised (fig. 5), but just under where 
