1882.] 
AMERICAS' AGRICULTURIST. 
501 
we will suppose D, to have been taken. The first 
player says to the second, “ Cupid is coming.”— 
“ How is he coming ? ” asks the second.—“ Danc¬ 
ing,” rejoins the first.—The second then says to the 
third, “ Cupid is coming.”—“How?”—“ Drink¬ 
ing,” and so the question and answer go round, 
through all the words beginning with D, and end¬ 
ing with “ing.” Those who cannot answer the 
question on the spur of the moment, must pay a 
forfeit. Another capital game that will tax the 
memory and gravity of the youngsters, is 
“One Old Ox Opening Oysters.” 
The leader commences by saying, “ One old ox 
opening oysters ,” which each one must repeat in 
turn, with a sober face. When the first round is 
finished, the leader begins again : “ Two toads totally 
tired , trying to trot to Troy," and the others repeat 
in turn, each separately. — “ One old ox opening oys¬ 
ters. Two toads totally tired," etc. The third is, 
“ Three tawny tigers tickling trout," which must be 
added to the first two, and so on to the fourth, and 
up to the twelfth and last round, each given by the 
leader successively, and repeated by the other .play¬ 
ers. They are as follows:— “■Four fat friars fanning 
a fainting fly. Five fair flirts flying to Fance for fash¬ 
ions. Mix Scotch salmon selling six sacks of sour-kraut. 
Seven small soldiers successfully shooting snipe. Eight 
elegant elephants embarking for Europe. Nine nimble 
noblemen nibbling nonpareils. Ten tipsy tailors teasing 
a titmouse. Eleven ea> ly earwigs eagerly eating eggs, 
and Twelve twittering tomtits on the top of a tall totter¬ 
ing tree." —Any mistake in repeating this legend, or 
departure from gravity—is punished by a forfeit. 
Our Puzzle Box. 
GEOGRAPHICAL PUZZLE. 
A cluster of islands in the Pacific Ocean went 
shopping one day : She bought a peak of the Rocky 
Mountains to wear on her head—a string of is¬ 
lands in the Pacific, for her neck—a cloak of 
some islands in the northern part of Lake Michigan 
—shoes made of a country in Africa—and some 
furs of a cape in Florida. When she came out of 
the store, a cape on the coast of Virginia asked her 
to ride home with him. The air was a country in 
South America, so he wrapped her up in a city of 
New York—and they rode on through a lake 
in British America. As they were going along, a 
river in Illinois peeped out at them from its hole 
—a country in Europe flew over their heads—a 
river in Wisconsin howled at them—a big black 
lake in British America ran after them and growled 
—and they thought they heard the bay in France 
roar. They were in a great cape of North Carolina 
—to add to their terror, the island off the coast of 
Scotland grew cloudy—and they heard a clap of a 
bay in Michigan. Soon, however, they came out 
of the lake in British America — the island oil the 
coast of Scotland became a cape south of 
Ireland — the mountains of Africa shone — and 
they reached home, and said a cape south 
of Greenland, without any other adventure. 
RIDDLE. 
Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it, 
Five in the middle is seen, 
The first of all figures. 
The first of all letters, 
Take up their station between. 
Join these together, a word they will bring, 
It will give you the name of an ancient king. 
CHARADE. 
With sighs in every breeze that murmers, 
And peace in every shade that falls, 
My first with slowly fading moments, 
Brings sweet forgetfulness to all. 
Mv next with final letter doubled, 
Gives sweet repose to those who rove, 
And shields them from my third, that wildly 
Moans o’er the sea and sky above. 
The full notes of my whole seem floating 
In cadence sweet on every breeze, 
And care-worn souls are soothed in slumber, 
And wild wiuds sleep among the trees. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA, 1. 
My first is in milk, but not in butter. 
My second is in flirt, but not in flutter. 
My third’s not in mitten, though found in glove. 
My fourth’s in devotion, but not in love. 
My fifth is in hope, but not in despair. 
My Sixth is in bruin, but not in bear. 
I know the world cries, “ O, what’s in a name ? ” 
But my whole was surely a poet of fame. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA, 2. 
I had just retired to my 5, 6, 3, when my 5, 2, 3, 
whom we call 3, 4, 8, jumped on my dressing table, 
and caused my 1, 6, 7, 8, to fall upon the 7, 2, 3. 
I visited my whole in Rome. Aunt Ida. 
A Family of “Silk” Worms. 
As soon as the cold of autumn disrobes the trees 
and shrubs of their foliage, it had been the custom 
of my family to gather the cocoons of several va¬ 
rieties of moths. One year, in removing the little 
dry eggs of one of the most beautiful of our moths 
that had been deposited about, it occurred to 
me that, by taking care, early caterpillars might be 
raised. So the following fall I gathered one hun¬ 
dred cocoons. They were placed in a drawer in a 
cool room, and the last week in May removed from 
the drawer and arranged in various places. Hav¬ 
ing theu only the limited space of a sitting-room 
and bedroom, I placed them on mantel shelves and 
tables, and those that had been gatnered on twigs, 
over pictures and in vases. During the next ten 
fed upon the elder leaves were larger and more- 
vigorous than the rest, all were fed ou these 
leaves and became large and strong. 
Two weeks after placing the caterpillars on the 
branches, (outside my window,) a severe showei 
of hail stones fell and the caterpillars curled up 
into ball shape, and seemed unable to move. They 
remained in this condition for two hours, and fear¬ 
ing they would die, I made a fire in my sitting- 
room and brought them in. As soon as they felt 
the warm atmosphere, they began to creep about 
and eat as usual. They ate iucessantly, and so 
loud a noise do they make with their horny jaws 
that they can be heard all over a room. They be¬ 
gin at the margin of a leaf and cut transversly. 
On Sept. 1st, I had over 100 full-grown caterpil¬ 
lars, measuring from 3 to4 inches in length. I sent 
A MOTH, CATERPILLAR, AND COCOON OF THE 
WORM. 
days seventy-five perfect moths appeared. The 
moths were quiet during the day, but at night they 
often awakened me by beating against my face. 
They deposited eggs every where, in masses gen¬ 
erally, but here and there two or three were found 
together. They were about as large as the head of 
a toilet pin, slightl^ oblong in shape, and of yellow- 
white color, tinted with pink. When first deposit¬ 
ed, they could be pierced with a. needle, but after 
two or three hours they became hard. A great 
number of eggs were attached to two wooden knit¬ 
ting-needles, some to a curtain tassel, more to a 
dried “ Sea-fan ”( Oorgonio ,) that ornamented the 
mantel, and great numbers to parts of furniture, etc. 
The “Sea-fan,” knitting-needles, and tassel, I 
placed in a wooden box, and that the eggs might 
have sun and dew, deposited the whole on a ledge 
outside my window. On several warm days I 
sprinkled them with water, and at the end of about 
twelve days, hundreds of tiny black caterpillars 
appeared. They were about one-eighth inch long, 
and wriggled and twisted continually. Wishing 
to experiment, I had gathered currant, maple, elder 
and grape-vine leaves. A carpenter had made for 
me four wooden boxes, about twenty-four inches 
long, twelve inches wide, and twelve inches deep, 
with a little door in the back of each. I tacked 
fine gauze over the tops, placed fresh earth in the 
bottoms, and covered it in bach box with one vari¬ 
ety of leaves. I then gathered the little caterpil¬ 
lars very carefully with a turkey feather, and placed 
about forty in a box. At the end of two weeks 
they were 1% inch long, and as large round as a 
slate pencil. At this stage, the caterpillars had 
changed in color to a light green. As those that 
several specimens to friends by mail, in a perforated 
tin spice box, with green elder leaves, and they all 
arrived in good condition, and spun perfect cocoons. 
The first week in September, they began to move 
restlessly about, and I knew they were looking for 
a place to spin. They wound themselves round and 
round with a white silken thread, and after a few 
hours were hidden from view. The outer portion of 
the casing is made first, so that the after arrange¬ 
ment of the soft inside filling is not to be seen. 
When the outside of one particular cocoon was 
finished, I cut a hole in it about the size of a pea 
with scissors. I was much surprised to see the cat¬ 
erpillar cease his work inside and spin over the aper¬ 
ture until it was completely sealed up. I repeated 
this operation six times, and six times did it patient¬ 
ly repair the damages. At first the cocoons are pure 
white and of beautiful silken texture, but after a 
few days they assume a delicate light-brown color. 
Those exposed to the weather become very dark- 
brown,and are rough and stiff,like parchment. Some 
of the caterpillars spun upon the elder twigs I had 
placed for them, others in the corners of the boxes, 
two under a table, one in a slipper, and another in 
the sleeve of a dress that was hanging in a closet. 
Two of the caterpillars strayed from me and 
spun their cocoons on the branch of a shrub that 
grew near my window. I left them there for 
the winter, and took them in in May, brown and 
weather beaten. The engraving represents one of 
them, with the moth, soon after emerging. They 
creep about the outside of the cocoon for a time, 
with damp, drooping wings, and their beautiful 
bronze coloring, with the red and white markings, 
are then seen to the best advantage. Aunt Ida. 
