232 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[June, 
grain of sand or a mountain, to a drop of water or an 
NUMEItICAL ENIGMAS. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE APRIL NUMBER. 
ocean. These are called 
THE GENERAL PROPERTIES OF MATTER, 
and before we go much further we must understand what 
theseare. The first of these is size or magnitude. Every 
body—here I must stop, because we have come across a 
new word, i. e., new to this Talk, and used in a definite 
manner. A Body is a definite portion of matter, without 
regard to its kind. A dew-drop is a body of water—so is 
Lake Superior. A marble is a body of stone, and so is 
Bunker Hill Monument. So a body is a portion small or 
large, of matter of any kind. Every body, then, occupies 
some space—it has length, breadth, and thickness. The 
smallest body that we can see with our microscopes, has 
these—indeed we cannot think of a body so small that it 
has not some size. You will have no difficulty in under¬ 
standing that one of the properties of matter is size. Do 
you find this dry, and begin to want some experiments ? 
Well, here is one. When you get up to-morrow morn¬ 
ing, put on your right boot first—well. Then put your 
left foot into the same boot. — “ You will not try it.”— 
“ Why not f ”—“ Because you know you cannot do it.”— 
You then have learned one more of the properties of 
matter, without knowing that it was called 
impenetrability. 
Your right boot stands upon the floor, put your left boot 
in just the same place without 
taking the other away. “ What 
nonsense to try,” you will say; 
and it will be useless, for no pow¬ 
er on earth can do it, for it is one 
of the properties of matter that 
no two portions of matter can 
occupy the same space at the 
same time. Take a small-necked 
bottle and hold it under a stream 
of water, or try to pour water into 
it from a large-nosed pitcher, or 
put into the neck of the bottle a 
close-fitting funnel and try to fill 
it by pouring water into the fun¬ 
nel. Your bottle will fill very 
slowly. Why ?—because the space 
is already occupied by one body— 
air, and the other body, water, 
can not occupy that space until 
the other is removed, and the fuss 
and gurgling that the air makes 
in getting out of the way of the 
water, tell the story that two 
bodies can not occupy the same 
space at the same time. Impene¬ 
trability is the name fixed upon 
to express this fact... If you would share your apple 
with another, you would cut it in two—I recollect when 
we used to do it by bites. Well, biting or cutting an 
apple only illustrates one of the properties of matter—a 
law of nature. Philosophers have fixed upon the word 
DIVISIBILITY, 
to express the fact that matter can be divided. You would 
think that this, as the French say, is something which 
“goes without saying.” But how far can this division 
be carried ? In this you touch upon a question that in 
former years philosophers quarreled over at a great rate. 
If there is but one apple and many boys, they can all be 
served, but the pieces will be small. If a whole army of 
boys, you could put the apple in a chopping tray, and 
make it fine enough to give a piece to each. If you take 
a bit of the apple the size of a pin’s head and put it under 
the microscope, you can see that it is made up of cells too 
small to he seen by the naked eye; you know that had 
you a delicate instrument, and ability to use it, you 
could cut each cell in half, each half into other 
halves. How far could this go ? So long as you could 
see a particle with the most powerful Microscope, that 
particle can be divided—you can not see a particle that 
can not be halved, or think of one so small that it can 
not be smaller.—But we are getting to very small things. 
It is one of the properties of matter that it can be divided. 
now far the division can go 
is not yet determined. To illustrate the extent to which 
matter has been divided, require figures that make one’s 
head swim, for they take us into the trillions. 
1. I am composed of 27 letters : 
My 17, 16, 6, 14, 8, ' external appearance. 
My 21, 15, 11. is a tch measure of liquids. 
My 24, 4, 12, 5, is a covering. 
My 11, 25, 13, 27, is a medley or mixture. 
My 22, 23, 19, 20, is often very 3, 18, 2, 26, 10, 
and amusing. 
My 1, 21, 11, 9, 6, 7, pertains to certain poetic feet. 
My whole is the name of a book and its author. 
Louise J. Speed. 
9. I am a word of 44 letters: 
My 34. 23, 7, 31, is a fish. 
My 1, 10, 26, 37, 6, 18, is a bird. 
My 18, 2, 32, 20, 35, is to peddle. 
My 19, 33, 21. is a Mexican tree. 
My 44, 3, 29, 30, is to throw with violence. 
My 5. 16, 34, 8, 25, is a river in Europe. 
My 14, 13, 22, 35, is to delay, suspend. 
My 15, 28, 39, is a kind of tree. 
My 41, 38, 11, 35, is a plant, an herb. 
My 7, 42, 31. is a little pot. 
My 43, 34, 38, 36, is a mixture, a medley. 
My 41, 38, 17, 40. is a reptile. 
My 27, 4. 9. 32, 12, 21, is to bespatter. 
My 24, 33, 19, 11. is to soil, to sully. 
My whole is a good proverb. Jacob Hales. 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. O wise mare. 
2. Coined, beside. 
3. Eject a Saul. 
4. Cased ape. 
5. Mrs. Nip on time. 
6. Singes deer. 
7. Trip Laura C. 
8. Sly chairs. 
9. I tie bold man. 
10. Lament love. 
Our Puzzle-lEox, 
drop-letter puzzle. 
(Every other letter is omitted.) 
1. —y—m—d—n. A rough soldier. 
2. —u—i—a—u—e. A court of justice. 
3. —a—e—s—c—. A sort of bag or receptacle. 
4. —e—p—n—i—e. Crooked. 
5. —r—a—h—r—n—. Faithless. 
6. —r—n—i—c—n—e. A substance produced by the 
Norway Spruce. 
PI. 
Celerygin si a nncsbeast indecanto ni bet aft fo smalain, 
dan soal ni mose gavebleet cansetbuss, morf chiwh ti si 
tradeapes yb micelach escreposs. 
A METAGRAM PUZZLE. 
METAGRAM. 
(The puzzle called a metagram is made by selecting a 
certain word and making as many small words from it as 
possible. For instance, take the word “ creamfrom it 
may be made the words a, arc, are, arm, ace, acme, acre, 
mace, mar, mare, me, etc., etc.) 
Find a word of only four letters from which may be 
made two prepositions, a weight, a number, gained, two 
negatives, to possess, to draw, to know, to be used, and 
—in present circumstances. 
CROSS-WORDS. 
1. My first is in lion but not in bear. 
My next is in trees but not in hair, 
My third is in flower but not in fruit, 
My fourth is in army but not in recruit, 
My fifth is in orange but not in plum, 
My sixth is in finger hut not in thumb, 
My seventh is in lark but not in bird : 
My whole is a name you’ve often heard. H. S. F. 
2. First in time but not in tune, 
Second in May but not in June, 
Third in come but not in stay, 
Fourth in preach but not in pray, 
Fifth in top but not in tall, 
Sixth in whole but not in all, 
Seventh in hill but not in mound. 
Eighth in square but not in round, 
Ninth in bought but not in sold, 
Whole a famous cave of old. Isola. 
EASY RHYMES. 
(Fill the blanks with suitable words which rhyme.) 
Once there was a little-, 
In nice clean clothes the child was-, 
Some tricks, he had, were pretty-. 
He used to call his lather “-,” 
Which sometimes made his mother- 
When he was naughty she was -—, 
And when not naughty she was-. 
One time lie scratched her with a-. 
His sister oft would shop and-. 
CHARADE. 
See my first, a pretty little thing, 
Led by my second with a string, 
She would not trust it to a minion, 
My whole, you’ll find, is an opinion. 
SCATTERED SQUARE. 
(In the following verse you will find, in the first line, 
the first letters of the four words required for the square ; 
the second letters in the second line, and so on ; e. g., by 
taking one letter from each line, you may make such 
words as case, hart, tat ye, hide , mays', fear, etc., etc.) 
Come home, dear father, 
We are waiting for you, 
Supper is ready, 
And mother is, too. 
Equivocal Words.— l. Account. 2. Back. 3. Cabin. 4. 
Face. 5. Grasp. 6. Fast. 7. Impress. 8. Jar. 
Puzzle.—V irginia (V—i—l'g—in—ia). 
Pictorial Puzzle.—C entral word “ landscape,” from 
which may he made sea, cans, caps, peas, asp, dance, spade, 
lace, lads, candle, panes, and ace. 
Verbal Distinctions.—1. 
Adds. adze. 2. Ark, arc. 3. 
Bawled, bald. 4. Blew, blue. 
5. Ail, ale. 6. Ayr, ere. 
Numerical Enigmas. — 1. 
Light gains make heavy 
purses. 2. Edgar Allan Poe. 
Hidden Coins.— 1. Dollar. 
2. Rouble. 3. Franc. 4. Lira. 
5. Mark. 6. Sol. 7. Eagle. 8. 
Dime. 9. Yen. 10. Thaler. 
11. Peso. 
Historical Acrostic. 
B—unker Hill. 
L—incoln. 
A—lert. 
C—arver. 
K—idd. 
H—enry. 
A—mold. 
VV—asp. 
K—ane. 
Black Hawk. 
Metagram. —The word is thread, out of which may be 
made the different parts of speech, thus—A. the, Ah! ha I 
art, ear, earth, era, hat, hate, hart, hater, hatred, hare, herd, 
heart, heat, head, date, dart, death, dearth, rat, rate, tar, 
tare, tea, tear, thread, trade ; are, ate, eat; had, hated, hear, 
dare, read, tread; dear, red, he, her; at. 
Blank Decapitations.—1. Grumble, rumble. 2. Keel, 
eel. 3. Glad, lad. 4. Fuse, use. 5. Grow, row. 6. Haunt 
(or taunt), aunt. 
Cross-word.— Weeping willow. 
Anagrams.— 1 . Irrigation. 2. Obstacles. 3. Distinguish. 
4. Enemies. 5. Destroyed. 6. Political. 7. Sovereigns. S. 
Afterwards. 9. Attractive. 10. Reasonable. 
Drop-Letter Puzzle.— 1. Uprightness. 2. Disconcerted. 
3. Sacrilegious. 4. Importance. 5. Inebriated. G. Legisla¬ 
ture. 7. Meddlesome. 8. Correspondent. 
Pi.—M hen all the blandishments of life are gone, 
The coward 6neaks to death, the brave live on. 
“Wants a Microscope Itatily,” 
An Ohio boy writes: “I rend the description of the 
new Compound Microscope, and I want one very badly. 
I have used the Simple Microscope y.ou sent last year, a 
great many times, and most of the'boys and girls here 
have been delighted with wtiat it shows. Now we must 
have the grand'Compound Microscope, but how shall we 
get it? We tried to collect money enough, but all our 
pocket money put together don’t make quite $2. I have 
a piece of potatoes, all my owu, which I think will bring 
me more than $10. next fail, but I can’t wait until then. 
We want the microscope this summer. How shall we 
get it?—Can't you give it as a premium, if we get you 
some subscribers ?_” 
[We would like to help our young friend, and a great 
many others who want the Microscope, for we know it 
would be very interesting and valuable: but it costs a 
good deal to make so complete an instrument. One little 
glass in it, not so large as a pea, requires a great many 
hours of careful grinding by a most skillful workman. 
The Publishers say it costs too much yet to give it as 
a general premium. But they allow us to say that if 
“ Ohio Boy ” or any other young reader of the American 
Agriculturist, will hunt up ten entirely new subscribers 
for the paper at $1.50 a year, and send the names and 
money to the Publishers, one of these new Microscopes 
will be presented to tiie boy who does so; or several can 
join in getting the club and own the Microscope together. 
If you can borrow ten dollars, the cost of the instrument, 
you can send that on and get it now, and then get the 
subscribers afterwards, and deduct the $10 from the last 
names sent in. Remember that the ten subscribers must 
be new ones,and must be obtained afterJuue 1,1879.— Eds.] 
The Doctor’s Correspondence. 
I am glad that the letters which come now, at the open¬ 
ing of spring, show that the awakening of the buds and 
blossoms lias aroused the boys and girls, and nearly all 
tiie letters of late, are as generally about plants as those 
of a few months ago were about insects. Not that I do 
not like to have you ask about insects, but one does not 
want all insects. Where would the insects be if they did 
not have the plants to feed upon ? Some of you think 
that I am caught this time, and will write to tell the Doc¬ 
tor that “ the 
CLOTHES-MOTH AND THE CAIIPET-MOTH 
do not feed upon plants.” Let us see about this. The 
Carpet-Moth—as many of your mothers know to their 
sorrow—feeds upon tiie carpet; the carpet is made of 
wool; wool grows upon the back of tiie sheep, and the 
sheep—what does that feed upon Plants’’—you will 
all say. So you see that it amounts to the same thing. 
The Carpet-Moths and many other insects, are a little 
particular about their food; they do not take tiie raw ma¬ 
terial in the form of grass and other plants, but they let 
the sheep and other animals do the rough work; prepare 
the food for them, so to speak. These had rather dine 
off of a few little tiireads of wool than to have a pasture 
full of the finest grass and the sweetest clover. Now let 
us stick a pin here—for it is something to think of. 
ALL FOOD OF ANIMALS IS PRODUCED BY PLANTS. 
You may not always be able to trace every kind of food 
that animals of all kinds eat, back to the plant that pro¬ 
duces it, but when you find that you can not, you must 
ask me to help you. The above statement covers so 
much that it is quite as long a lesson as you need for the 
month, but some who have written to ask questions will 
