292 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July 
AN OLD CANNON MUZZLE SERVING AS A HOME FOR A FAMILY OF BIRDS. 
tribes vary considerably in shape, as the engravings 
of two of the most unlike forms show. The boome¬ 
rang is made from some very hard wood, and is 
about two feet long, two and a half inches wide, 
and about a third of an inch thick. Those that I 
have seen have been cut from a piece where the 
branches join in order to give the needed curve. 
In Throwing the Boomerang 
it is held by one end and thrown as if to hit an ob¬ 
ject about 30 feet in front of the thrower; instead 
•of going forward, the boomerang rises in the air, 
changes its course, and finally reaches the ground 
or an object at some distance behind the thrower. 
So skillful are the natives of Australia said to be 
with this curious arm, that they will hit birds and 
small quadrupeds that are at some distance behind 
them. It is not likely that the boomerang can 
ever become with civilized people anything more 
than a curiosity.... Miss Lizzie has 
Trouble with her Aquarium, 
and writes that whether soft or hard water be used 
“it quickly assumes a greenish or muddy tinge.” 
I think if Miss Lizzie examines closely she will find 
that the water itself is as clear as ever, but that the 
appearance is owing to a film that gathers upon the 
glass. This substance a powerful microscope would 
show to be made up of vast numbers of exceeding¬ 
ly minute simple plants. While it greatly injures 
the appearance of the aquarium, and prevents 
seeing what is going on inside, it does no hurt to 
the water or the contents. Snails will generally 
remove the film, and are kept in aquariums for this 
use, or the inside of the glass may be occasionally 
rubbed with a sponge tied to a stick. I will add 
that Miss Lizzie can do nothing about the grape 
vines now. Ask next September_Fred. W. J. 
writes, that there has been among his schoolmates 
A Discussion About Ghosts. 
And asks, “what causes that light in boggy places 
called 1 Will o’ the Wisp,’ and which some believe 
to be Ghosts?” Whatever the light may be, we 
may be very sure that it is not made by ghosts. 
But did Master Fred ever see the light ? It is some¬ 
thing that I have all my life wished to see, but I 
never saw it, and more than that, I never met with 
any one who ever did see it. European books 
speak of it, but I have seen no account by a per¬ 
son who had witnessed it himself. One story 
states that a century or more ago a person lighted 
a piece of paper at one of these flames. The usual 
.explanation is, that the light is caused by some 
gas containing phosphorus, but chemists have not 
succeeded in producing the “Will o’ the Wisp ” ar¬ 
tificially, and the whole matter is surrounded by 
doubt. It is most frequently called in the books 
ignis fatuus, the Latin for a “vain” or “foolish 
fire,” as persons are said to have been lost by fol¬ 
lowing it, and being led into bogs, etc. 
'i'lae CaiiBJoai itt TTiisie <>fi‘ Peace. 
What is more sad to see than a fort destroyed ! I 
hope you may not be called upon to look at such a 
sight; and still more-, I trust that the boys that 
read these lines may not find a time in the future 
when duty calls them to form in straight lines and 
under the leadership of some chosen man, march 
to war. It is sincerely hoped that the girls of to¬ 
day may not be the w-ives and mothers of those 
who must go out to fight for their homes and for 
their liberty. We have had severe wars in the past, 
and your fathers and grandfathers can tell you 
thrilling events that have occurred less than twenty 
years ago, when all this land, bright and beautiful 
as it is to-day, was covered with a dark cloud of a 
long aud bloody civil war. 
The engraving here given, is one which teaches 
the lesson of the beauty of peace in contrast with 
the terrible strength and ruggedness of things that 
are made for the purposes of war. There is the 
side of the earth works thrown up for the pro¬ 
tection of men, armed and ready to take the lives 
of their contending foe. The cannon is still in 
place, but has long been unheard through the 
laud as a terrible instrument of v y ar. Its loud 
voice is still, and shot and shell are no longer 
hurled on messages of death. Instead of all this, 
a pair of little birds have found a home within 
the great iron muzzle, and there are raising a^ 
nest full of little ones. All the noise of the old 
gun is now the music of the peace-loving birds, 
and the protection which it gives is not for the 
lives and homes of contending men, but it simply 
serves as the safe habitation of a happy house¬ 
hold of harmless birds. All will enjoy the pic¬ 
ture. To the old, it will call up sad and touch¬ 
ing memories, and happy thoughts of our present 
peaceful state. To the young, for which it is 
especially designed, the picture will tell a pleasing 
6tory of how great things can serve a good pur¬ 
pose for small uses; how, in times of peace, the 
instruments of war aud devastation can promote 
the well-being of even little birds, by providing 
for them a comfortable home. Uncle Hal. 
