1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
107 
Whenever you come across one who has learned all that 
there Is to be known, you will And a very ignorant per¬ 
son It has come in my way to know, first and last, 
some of the most learned persons the country has pro¬ 
duced, and I have always found them very modest as to 
their own knowledge; finding that there was so much 
that they did not know, they were always students. So 
when I get a question from “ Aunt Sue,” I do not won¬ 
der that she does not know about the mutter, but am 
only glad that she tries to learn about it. Don’t you see 
what I am trying to impress upon you youngsters ?—If 
“Aunt Sue ” can ask when she does not know, do not 
any of you be ashamed to ask. That is my lesson. Now, 
as to what “ Aunt Sue ” would know about; as no one 
can state it so well, I give her letter, dated from Wood- 
cliff, Oct. 15th last. Woodcliff is a place on the Connecti¬ 
cut shore of Long Island Sound, a sort of rocky promon¬ 
tory, with enough soil for a garden, and any quantity of 
rocks and sea. Here she passes the summer months cul¬ 
tivating her vegetables and 
flowers, and in hunting and 
fishing. Aunt Sue writes : 
“Dear Doctor—Our fisher¬ 
man has just called; he sets 
his net in our neighborhood 
(in the Sound). Along with, 
his bass, flounders, etc., was 
the queerest, not to say, 
hideous-est fish I ever saw. 
‘What is that?’ lasted.— 
‘Well,they call it a “squid,” 
he replied.—Now I have 
gone fishing for blue-fish 
with a ‘squid’—a leaden 
one, with a hook at the end 
—but it bore no resemblance 
to this thing. The fish was 
about eight inches long, its 
body was of the shape of a 
candy cornucopia, the tail 
end finishing off a little 
rounding instead of pointed. 
The top part of the “ cornu¬ 
copia ” formed a socket out 
of which came the head and 
neck of the creature, and 
from the head there hung 
six or eight long tentacles or 
feelers (as long as its body), 
and on each one of these are 
from fifty to a hundred 
sucker-like feet. I filled a 
preserve jar with alcohol, 
and popped the monster into 
it. It has no fins, but has 
two side flappers from the 
center to the stern. I think 
it must be a species of Cut¬ 
tle-fish. I enclose you a 
rough sketch of him. Will 
you tell us something about 
the curious and hideous creature, and oblige Aunt Sue ? ” 
I do not wonder that Aunt Sue was surprised at the ap¬ 
pearance of the animal—for it is about as unpleasant a 
looking creature as one can meet with. It is of a dead, 
dull white throughout, and its long arms have an unpleas¬ 
ant crawly look. The fisherman gave her the right name, 
IT IS A SQUID. 
It is often used for bait in fishing, and the leaden outfit 
that she speaks of as a “ Squid,” is so called as it lias 
some resemblance to, or is used 
for the same purpose as the real 
Squid. The general appearance 
of the Squids, of which there 
are several, is given in fig. 1— 
and you will see that “Aunt 
Sue ” well describes it. It has 
a long body, with two fins near 
the rear end; within the body 
is a long plate, to strengthen it. 
The head is provided with 
arms, which serve as both arms 
and feet; hence naturalists 
class such animals as cephalo- 
pods , which means animals that 
have feet upon their heads. The 
Squids of our coast are related 
to the Cuttle-fish, described and 
figured in March, 1877. The 
small plate which the Squid 
has to strengthen its body, is 
in the Cuttle-fish very large, 
and is known as “ Cuttle-fish 
A “ SQUID.” bone.” On the other hand 
ing of ships by this “Devil Pish,” there is no doubt 
about its great size and power to do mischief. There 
are well known cases in which these monsters have 
attacked boats, and those in them have only got clear by 
cutting off the arms by the use of an axe. Aunt Sue’s 
Squid is a useful creature, serving the fishermen for 
valuable bait. It is known to naturalists as Loligo , of 
which there are several species on our coast. If we im¬ 
agine a creature a great deal like it, with arms 20 or 30 
feet long, and its body of a size in proportion to the arms, 
we can understand why it is fortunate for our fishermen 
that these larger cephalopods, though they are sometimes 
met with on the far Eastern Coast, are quite rare. 
O qih* 1*iizz1c-1Sox. 
PI. 
Het Flacironia etonticlntonia toncinoven sha dodpate 
a nocites vigdinrop hatt ether-tfaofurs i’o a rnjy yam 
redren a crevdit ni lal ceass pectex lyfouc. 
Illustrated Rebus.— No. 465. — Here we are once more with a story written 
in picture language somewhat after the manner of that used by the Indians and the An¬ 
cients. It is called an “ Illustrated Rebus.” Let's see: it contains a lot of eyes, one 
ear, two whole worlds and a house ; figures, a few letters, a barrel, an egg and a boat; a 
box, a horse, a hat, a woman, a tree and an ass. And what does it all mean? 
CONCEALED VERBS. 
1. Pride may be good or bad, false or manly. (Five 
verbs hidden.) 
2. It is well to have a proper understanding of the fact. 
(Seven.) 
3. The top layer was a yard and a half long over t"he 
door. (Five.) 
4. If lying is a sin, get rid of the liar: drop, utterly, 
his company. (Eight.) 
5. I dread employing that boy to grind my coffee: I 
should like an extra certificate of good behavior. (Nine.) 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
The initials name an epic poem, the finals give the 
name of the author.—1. A measure. 2. An exclamation. 
3. A figure or representation. 4. Rough, stern. 5. A 
physician. John W. Wheatley. 
GEOGRAPHICAL PUZZLE. 
(Fill the blanks with geographical names.) 
As- 1 and- 2 were hunting one day, they se¬ 
parated, when- 3 shot a -- 3 , which he threw 
across the- 4 of his saddle, when- 1 came upon 
a- 5 which he shot, and- 2 pronounced it- 6 
to anything he ever saw; when they started for home, 
because it was so- — 1 . 
(1. A river in Idaho. 2. A sound north of North Amer¬ 
ica. 3. A river in Wisconsin. 4. A cape of S. America. 
5. Part of Michigan. 6. A lake in North America. 7. A 
lake in British America.) B. A. 
ALPHABETICAL ARITHMETIC. 
ORTYJANRA I L E ( Y G E N 
Y N A T 
E Y E I 
G A O N 
E G A L 
E A I T 
N I I E 
N O N G 
T A O 
ANAGRAMS. 
DROP-LETTER PUZZLE. 
(Every other letter is omitted.) 
1. — a — a — a — s — r —, a heuse for travellers. 
2. — r — m — 1 — i —, an old cat. 
3. — e — u — c — a — o — y, containing a threat. 
4. — p —c — y — li — 1, doubtful. 
5. — m — y — e — n, the highest heaven. 
6. — i — t — r — r — e —. a plant. 
7. — r — d — c — o — s, living by plunder. 
8. — r — g — a — i — a —, officious. 
SQUARE WORD. 
1. My first names a sea found in Europe, 
2. My next is a belt, I confess, 
3. My third is both weighty and irksome, 
4. My fourth is a portion of dress. Sphinx. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
1. I am composed of 12 letters : 
My 4, 5, 6, 9, is an imported article of food. 
My 8, 5, 1, is part of the body. 
My 1, 9, 10, is an enclosure. 
My 7, 9. 12, is a protection. 
My 3, 11, 2. 12, is a household article. 
My whole was the name of a great statesman. 
Alice S. P. 
2. I am a word of ten letters: 
My 1, 10, 3, 6, inhabits tiie sea. 
My 5, 3, 10, 7, is a bird. 
My 8, 4, 7, 2, are domestic animals. 
My 9, 2, 1, 10, 3, is an ancient outcast. 
My whole is found on the seashore. E. S. M. 
3. I am composed of 14 letters: 
My 2, 9, 7, is a number. 
My 11, 4, (i, is another number. 
My 1, 5, 10, 6, is a water-fowl. 
My 12, 8, 3, 14, 13, is a French town. 
My whole is a Divine command. Bessie. 
CROSS-WORD. 
My first is in blame but not in condemn, 
My next is in flower but not in the stem. 
My third is in offer but not in give, 
My fourth is in riddle but not in sieve, 
My fifth is in wicked but not in bad, 
My sixtli is in crazy but not in mad, 
My seventh is in bottle but not in jar, 
My eighth is in carriage but not in car. 
My ninth is in lovely but not in sweet. 
My tenth is in town but not in street, 
My whole is said to benefit, many, 
But for my part I never want any. Jamie. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE JANUARY NUMBER. 
Syncopations— 1. Rose, roe. 2. Coat, cat. S. Colt, cot. 
4. Carp, cap. 5. Aunt, ant. fl. Plea. pea. 7. Aloe, ale. 8. 
Reed, red. 9. Tome, toe. 10. Lead, lad. 
Hidden Literary Celebrities.— 1 . Pope. 2. Gray. 3. 
Scott. 4. Keats. 5. Poe. 6. Willis. 7. Cowper. 8. Dante. 
Alphabetical Arithmetic.— 7041)9805236(1392. 
(Key .—He is my colt.) 
Numerical Enigmas.— 1. Agriculture. 2. Rio de la Plata. 
3. No being acts more rigidly from rule than the Indian. 
Cross-word.— Lafayette. 
IT.—Whalebone is no bone at all; nor does it possess any 
properties of bone. It is a substance attached to the lower 
jaw of the whale, and seems to strain the water which the 
creature takes up in large mouthfuls. 
Double Acrostic. 
SARATOGA.—MONMOUTH. 
S—ache —M 
A— rg —O 
R—obbi-N 
A— r — M 
T—omnt—O 
O—rmol —U 
G— oa —T 
A— s —H 
Blank Anagrams. 
1. Adventures. 
2. Insubordinate. 
3. Oleaginous. 
4. Poulterers, 
5. Adversaries. 
C. Tomahawks. 
7. Earliest. 
8. Rapacity. 
9. Mistletoe. 
Puzzles, answers, and such matters as were formerly 
directed to "Aunt Sue,” may hereafter be sent to “The 
Doctor,” No. 245 Broadway, New York. 
A Shawl-Strap l*cii-Wiper. 
In examining the conveniences of a new writing-desk 
which a friend was showing with much satisfaction, we 
came across a new pen-wiper—new to us at least—which 
we learned was a Christmas present from a daughter. 
Thinking that other daughters might be glad of the hint, 
we give an engraving of it. Pen-wipers being useful, and 
capable of being made ornamental, are favorite articles 
for presents and for sale at fairs, and those who are tired 
SHAWL-STRAP pen-wiper. 
of the old styles, ranging all the way from cats and mice 
to much dressed young ladies, will be glad of a neat and 
pretty one. The body of the pen-wiper is a strip of 
broadcloth or other suitable material, cut at the edges, 
to represent the fringe of the shawl, but not too fine, and 
made into a roll. The shawl cover is a bit of scarlet or 
the Squid is related to that 
monster, the Octopus, or “ Devil-fish,” an enormous crea¬ 
ture of a similar structure, with arms 20 or 30 feet long. 
While ridiculous stories have been told about the sink- 
1. Riot airing. 
2. Mitt, a Sachem. 
3. O wise mare ! 
4. A vast. code. 
5. Mad Mr. Troy. 
6. Vain concerts. 
7. Tussel, Dan. 
8. Use a blinder. 
9. Pure trade. 
10. Song, verse. 
other bright colored fabric, worked with chain stitch in 
white silk, and provided with a miniature shawl-strap of 
very thin leather, and made to resemble a real strap by 
stitching, and the use of tiny buckles, if obtainable. 
