266 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
c, in figure 1, there is the very thin plate, E , figure 3, 
which is fastened at its edges. When one speaks at the 
mouth piece, the motion of the air caused by the voice, 
sets this thin iron plate in motion, just as the parchment 
of the “ Street Telephone,” described in May, is made to 
vibrate by the voice. Of course these movements of 
this iron plate, or diaphragm, are very minute, but it 
does move, and at every motion or vibration, it disturbs 
the magnetism in the steel-bar, a, which in turn, sets 
up a current of electricity in the coil of wire, 71, and we 
have just what was described in figure 1, over again, only 
in a vastly more delicate manner. But with one Tele¬ 
phone we can do nothing; to be of use the instrument 
Must not only Hear, but Talk, 
and to complete the afi'air, the instrument (figs. 3 and 4) 
is joined by means of wires attached by the binding 
screws, to another instrument precisely like it. These 
wires may be a few feet or a few miles long. Now you 
see there will be just such an arrangement as was shown 
in a coarse way in figure 2. A person speaks at the 
mouth-piece of one telephone, while another person 
holds the other telephone to his car. The voice causes 
the iron plate to vibrate, that disturbs the magnet, which 
in turn starts a current of electricity along the wire; this 
current passes around the magnet in the other telephone, 
and affects that magnet, and that sets the thin iron plate 
in that instrument to vibrating. And here comes the 
curious part of the whole affair. The iron plate, or dia¬ 
phragm, in the second telephone, will repeat exactly the 
motions of the first, and as the first is set in motion by 
the vibrations of the air made by the voice, the diaphragm 
in the second instrument will, by its vibrations, set the 
air near it in motion, and produce a precisely similar 
sound. If you atone telephone say, “Ah,” the vibra¬ 
tions that this sound causes in the diaphragm, will be re¬ 
peated by the diaphragm in the other telephone, which 
will set the air in motion to produce “ Ah.” What hap¬ 
pens with this simple sound, takes place with all other 
sounds, and so exactly are the vibrations at one tele¬ 
phone repeated by the other—the very tones of the voice, 
whether of speaking or singing—are reproduced, 
Even Though Miles Away. 
The Telephone is already coming into use, and has the 
great advantage over the telegraph in rapidity, and in 
not needing a skilled operator. Any one who can talk, 
can use it. Many are put up between offices and fac¬ 
tories, and between the dwellings of merchants and their 
offices... .Just as I write this, news comes of another 
wonderful invention, 
The Mlcrojihone, 
which is a contrivance that magnifies small sounds, just 
as the microscope magnifies small things. It is said to 
enable one to hear even the step of a fly, and to magnify 
a whisper to a loud tone, while ordinary speech is a roar. 
This will help the Telephone wonderfully. 
neighbors’farms. —This is not the kind of pigeon-keep¬ 
ing we would encourage, but there is a kind which 
the older boys may undertake with profit. Pigeons on a 
farm are generally, and justly, regarded as a nuisance. 
They are great feeders, and unless food is supplied to 
them, they will get it where they can, and in the garden 
and grain-field they are 
about as bad as so many 
crows, for they will go for 
the sown peas and grain. 
On the other hand, they 
are of such a quiet dis¬ 
position, that, if food be 
furnished them close at 
home,they will not wander 
for it. A friend who raises 
pigeons largely, to supply 
his own table, and who is 
also a good gardener, and 
values the products ot his 
gardens, informs us that, 
he has no trouble with his 
pigeons, as he keeps food 
where they can always get 
it, and they do not stray 
away. Those boys who 
live near watering-places, 
or where there are hotels 
or good markets, may 
no doubt make pigeons 
profitable by supplying the demand for squabs, which 
always bring a good price at such places. 
The pigeon-house is generally a make-shift affair, but 
those who go into pigeon-raising as a matter of profit, 
should make proper arrangements for the birds, and not' 
only provide them with a suitable house, but see to their 
proper feeding, and what is quite important, provide 
protection from cats, rats, and all other enemies. Our 
correspondent. Mr. L. D. Snook, Yates Co., N. Y., sends 
drawings of a house of this kind, which seems to pro¬ 
vide properly for all re¬ 
quirements. The outside 
(fig. 2) is 10 by 16 feet, 8 
feet high at the eaves; it 
has a tight, shingled roof. 
Lighting-boards are pro¬ 
vided, as shown in the en¬ 
graving, are four inches 
wide, and supported by 
brackets at a distance of 
six inches from the side of 
the building. The engrav¬ 
ing shows a door in the 
end with a window at each 
side; the matter of win¬ 
dows may be arranged ac¬ 
cording to convenience, 
all that is necessary being 
to have the inside fairly 
lighted. Figure 1 shows 
one side of the interior, 
where there are platforms, 
K , K, upon which the 
birds enter, and which 
hold three nesting and 
hatching boxes, P, P. 
These boxes are 4 feet 
long, 9 inches wide, 6 
inches high in front, and 
10 inches high in the rear, 
and are provided with a 
sloping hinged cover. Each 
of these is divided into five 
compartments, with an entrance to each in front, which 
opening is 3 inches wide by 4)4 inches high. Roosts, B, 
B. are provided, which are hinged to the platform, AT, and 
held in place by the upright, E; these roosts may be 
let down when it is desirable to examine the nests by 
means of a step-ladder placed against the platform. On 
the lower tier, on each side, are but two hatching boxes, 
to allow of a number of roosts, of strips a foot long, to 
be placed between them. At T , is shown a box for stor¬ 
ing feed, which should be given to the birds within the 
house, in stormy weather. A building of this kind should 
be placed where it can be shaded by trees in the heat of 
the day, and in a quiet place, where the nesting birds 
will not be disturbed by noises. Besides abundant feed, 
the birds should be constantly supplied with water, 
and have a mixture of salt, sulphur, and gravel, placed 
where they can always get at it. 
Aunt Sue’s fl*iizzlc-lSox. 
ENIGMATICAL BOUQUET. 
1. Part of the rainbow. 2. What some of us love to 
kiss. 3. A sugared letter. 4. What children love, and a 
bunch of hair. 5. A trap and its victim. 6. A crystal of 
water and a tear. 7. Went up. 
PUZZLE. 
My fifth is one-half of my first, 
My -whole is divided by two, 
My second’s the same as my fourth, 
Now guess it you surely can do. 
To aid you more hints I will give : 
Twice my third is a tenth of my first, 
My whole of five letters is seen, 
Which all should be, even the worst. 
JUVENIS. 
SQUARE WORD. 
1. Apt. 2. A vegetable. 3. A direction. 4. A girl’s 
name.* Nip. 
cross-word. 
My first is in butter but. not in milk. 
My next is in satin but not in silk. 
My third is in rain but not in snow, 
My fourth is in fast but not in slow. 
My fifth is in ache but not in pain. 
My sixth is in snow but not in rain, 
My seventh is in light but not in heat, 
My eighth is in sofa but not in seat, 
My ninth is in Autumn but not in Fall, 
My tenth is in whole but not in all. 
My eleventh is in word but not in rhyme, 
My whole names a man of ancient time. Isola. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
(S. W. W. offers the following enigma as a stumper.) 
1. I am composed of 39 letters : 
My 15, 2, 28, 11, 37, means time and pains. 
My 26,1. 20, 13, 39, to be acquitted. 
My 10, 18, 3, 33. is a blemish. 
My 29, 17, 5, 24. to polish. 
My 3S, 30, 32, 12, 4, 9, 20, 36, 34, to pass. 
My 23, 6, 21, 14, a side-piece. 
My 7. 27, 8, 22, 19, 30, 25, a butcher. 
My 31, 16, 35, 14, is a kind of cloth. 
My whole is a familiar quotation from 
Young’s “Night Thoughts.” S. W. W. 
2. I am composed of 12 letters: 
My 4,11, 5, sometimes goes with a kiss. 
My 12, 8, 7, 3, is a planet. 
My 12, 10, 9, 6, is to sap. 
My 1, 2, 9, is a propeller. 
My whole is a common flower. Frank Kennedy. 
A VERY EASY ENIGMAS. 
3. I am composed of 9 letters : 
My 5, 8. 3, 4, is something that you are sure to find in 
the woods. 
My 6, 7, 2, is an animal. 
My 1, 9, 7, 2, is what you see in winter. 
My whole is a very nice vegetable. P. T. Yibert. 
4. I am composed of 11 letters : 
My 8, 2, 11, is the shepherd’s deity. 
My 9, 5, 8, is the name of a vine. 
My 1, 7, 4, Is a pronoun. 
My 1. 10, 3, 6, is what most cows have. 
My whole is a musical instrument. 
Myra A. IIanlon. 
Answers to the Puzzles in May number will be given 
next month. 
ABOUT THE PRIZE ENIGMA. 
One letter received on the subject, will make a very 
good introduction : 
“ Bear Aunt Sue:—l send you with this, the answer to 
February prize enigma. You are the one that should get 
a premium for getting up such a puzzle; it superseded 
the Eastern question and the silver wrangle at our house. 
Geography and political economy were put aside, and 
etymology came to the front. We don’t think that Miss 
Clara Josephine will have a very heavy contract in mak¬ 
ing the drawings next May.—Rspctfly Yours, G. M. T.” 
Miss C. J.’s aid was not called into requisition, for 
only seven answers were sent. Very pleasant letters ac¬ 
companied most of them, telling the process by which 
the desired end was attained. 
The answer to the enigma is, “ Pnngled ; said especial¬ 
ly of grain which has lost its juice.” 
The names ot the patient and persevering solvers are : 
Lyman Stedman, Jeddo, Jefferson Co., Ohio; H. A. 
Pigeons and Pig;eon.IIoHScs. 
Pigeons are usually the first pets the country boy has ; 
a pair is given him, or he trades with another boy for 
them, fits up some kind of a pigeon-house in the peak of 
a barn, or in a shed, and his pigeons, while very interest¬ 
ing to him, soon become a pest on his father’s and the 
- — -— 
A Rag Show. —An English magazine called “ Little 
Folks,” holds a yearly show of Rag Babies, Rag Animals, 
and groups of these, for which it offers prizes in books. 
The best of it all is that the articles offered are after¬ 
wards sent to the sick little ones in the children’s hos¬ 
pitals, so that those who get no prizes know that they 
have given pleasure to some poor sick child. 
Fig. 1.—INTERIOR OF PIGEON-HOUSE. 
Fig. 2 .—A NEAT PIGEON-HOUSE. 
