2861 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
153 
He is furnished with sharp strong claws, with 
which he makes his underground burrow, like the 
fox, or woodchuck. It is said he can dig so rapidly 
as to hide himself when pursued, if he have but a 
little the start. He lives on worms, ants, and flesh 
of dead animals which he may find. He has no front 
teeth, and his back teeth are so separated that 
when the jaws are closed, they fit together like the 
teeth of a steel trap. He is perfectly harmless, and 
never even attempts defence when attacked, but 
tries to escape by running or digging. He is very 
useful in destroying ants. Being protected from 
their bites by his armor, he digs boldly into the side 
of their hills, and makes such havoc that they soon 
disappear from the neighborhood where he lives. 
A Knowing SJog. 
A correspondent of the American Agriculturist at 
Union Springs, Ind., rekites a “tough story” of a 
dog at that place. A large number of sheep had 
been killed in the neighborhood, and an apparently 
worthless cur, kept at a grocery, was suspected of 
the crime, though for a long time no proof could 
be brought against him. But “murderwill out,” 
and one day a farmer and his neighbor saw the dog 
besmeared with blood, in the act of tearing a sheep, 
which was still alive. As soon as the dog saw he 
was discovered, he ran to a wood lot about fitly 
rods north of the spot, and the men at once pro¬ 
ceeded to the grocery, which stood half a mile 
distant in a south-west direction, to inform the 
owner. To their suprise, on entering the store, 
they saw there the very animal they had come 
to complain of, lying on the floor, apparently 
asleep, as though nothing had happened, and as 
clean as though just washed. But on examination 
they found him very warm, and very wet, he hav¬ 
ing undoubtedly washed hijgiselt in a hurry, and 
run for life to his master. But the evidence was too 
strong against him. Pity that a dog of such intelli¬ 
gence could not have met a better fate. 
Look before you run—Snakes. 
When you hear a strange noise, or see some un¬ 
expected object, make it a rule to find out what it 
is, instead of giving way to fear and running as if 
for life. All sorts of “ ghost ” stories have started 
from the silly fright of some coward who had not 
the courage to examine the cause of his fear. A 
ludicrous anecdote is related of a man who was mor¬ 
tally afraid of snakes. He had moved into a new 
country where these reptiles were rather plenty, 
and for a long tine he would scarcely venture into 
his fields. One fine day he went to examine some 
oats that were nearly ripe, and took with him an 
old scythe snath, which he carried over his shoul¬ 
der, to have it ready for defence if he should meet 
a snake. Presently, on casting a glance behind 
him, there appeared a monstrous black snake wind¬ 
ing after him. One look was enough, and away he 
ran, dodging and bounding through the oats, the 
snake after him, until he was almost dead with fear. 
As he climbed the fence on the opposite side of the 
field, he discovered that the supposed snake was 
only the shadow of his scythe snath. One careful 
look would have saved him all his fright. 
Rocking Babies to Sleep—A little Girl 
Out-argues tbe Editor. 
A little girl in Sheboygan Co., Wis., Mimmie B. 
by name, writes us a little letter on a little sheet, 
which proves to be a large-hearted. letter, and one 
which takes us quite aback. Her father receives 
the Agriculturist , and she forwards us a dollar from 
their German girl, who wishes the German edition 
sent to her father. Mimmie asks as a premium the 
“Farm of four Acres,” or any other book suitable 
for a little girl of her age (8 years old). So much 
for the business part—but here is the part of the 
letter which troubles us. Referring to the article 
on page 53, Feb. No., in which we advised not to 
rock babies to sleep, she says: “ I do not think you 
would let a little baby lie and cry all day, if you 
had one as sweet as ours. He has curly hair, blue 
eyes, and rosy lips, flud will kiss me so sweetly. 
Ton don’t know what a nice timq I have rocking 
^jin ft fsjegp 5 j)p will nestle cjpwn beside 
me so prettily. Do you think, he ought to cry 
himself to sleep, when he looks so pretty ? Be¬ 
sides, we have no place that he will stay. If we put 
him in the bed, he will roll off; and if we put him 
in the crib, he will climb up on the sides, and 
tumble out. I like the Agriculturist very much, but 
do not like to have little babies abused. Do you 
not want babies to have any friends, that makes 
you put them on the bed alone ?—I prayed every 
day for most two years, for God to send me a little 
brother, and He has sent him; do you think He will 
be pleased, if I do not love him, and take good care 
of him ? I am afraid, if we treat babies so, that 
they will not treat us well, when they are grown 
up. Please tell me, what I shall do.”-Well, 
Mimmie, we can’t answer you. Perhaps you are 
right; but after all, we think the little ones will be 
just as happy, and love us just as much, if we let 
them learn to go to sleep without rocking. Swing¬ 
ing them in the cradle or in the arms, disturbs the 
circulation of the blood—makes it go the wrong 
way—and although this produces a kind of dizzi¬ 
ness that makes them sleepy, it is not good for the 
brain. Love your little brother by all means, and 
make him as happy as you can, but do not teach 
him to lie awake until put to sleep by being made 
dizzy, for though it maj' make him happy, it is al¬ 
most as bad as to make him happy with laudanum. 
We have more than one sweet little one—as sweet as 
yours, Mimmie, we think—but we would not give 
them any laudauum, nor let any one have a cradle 
to swing or fthake them to sleep in. 
Uncle John’s Study.V. 
BY RALEIGH TRUMAN. 
Mb. Editor. —I was quite well satisfied that you 
should leave out from the .April No. the report of 
what Uncle John told us about the “Magic Plate,” 
in order to make room for that beautiful song. If 
I could only set my remarks to music, I am sure 
they would be more acceptable ; for singing is to 
words, wbi; sugar is in cooking, it makes almost 
any thing good to take. But I must pass to the 
explanation of the working of the magic plate, a 
description of which was published in the March 
Agriculturist , page 89. 
Uncle John told us at first, that sight is the ef¬ 
fect of light on the eye. We do not know exactly 
what light is; but we know something of what it 
can do, and of the ways in which it operates. Thus 
it is certain that it is reflected from objects to the 
eye, where it passes through the transparent parts 
of that organ, and strikes upon the nerves which 
are spread over its inner and back part, and which 
form what is called the retina. These nerves, which 
resemble fine threads, all unite into one larger 
thread, called the optic nerve, which passes from 
the eye to the brain. When light affects the retina, 
the sensation is carried by this nerve directly to the 
brain, or thinking organ, and the mind perceives 
the object from which the light was reflected ; that 
is, we see the object. Now, an impression made by 
light on the nerve, remains a short time, usually a 
tenth of a second, so that we appear to see an ob¬ 
ject for that length of time, even after it has been 
removed, or the eye has been closed. For this rea¬ 
son there is no interruption of sight when a person 
winks; the eyelid falls and rises quickly, in less 
than the tenth of a second, and the impression re¬ 
ceived from an object, continues unchanged. You 
know that when a coal of fire is whirled round 
rapidly, it appears to mitke a ring of light—this is 
because the fire returns to every part of the circle 
in less than about the tenth of a second, and before 
the impression which was made on the eye at 
any one point, has passed away. 
If we were looking at a figure, and it were 
possible to snatch it away, and put in its place a 
similar figure, but with its position changed, and 
this were done in less than a tenth of a second, the 
last impression would be so mingled with the first, 
that the mind could not separate them, and it would 
look as if the figure had of itself moved from one 
position to the other, This is done with the magic 
plate, (See page 89, March No.) When the card 
is twirled rapidly before the looking glass, the 
figures are seen one after the other, each succeed¬ 
ing one in a slightly different position from the one 
before it, so quickly that the impressions from the 
different objects form one continuous impression, 
and thus the boy appears to rise over the head ot 
his companion, as though playing at leap frog. 
Uncle John told us many other interesting facts 
about seeing, and also about the other senses, but I 
must not take up too much of your space, and will 
therefore write no more at present. 
New Problems. 
No. 8 . Illustrated Eehus .—It contains a sentiment 
well worth remembering, and which will bd likely 
to make an impression from the difficulty of read¬ 
ing it. Don’t give up easily—it is somewhat dif 
ficult. 
No. 9.— Arithmetical Question. —This is not new, 
but it may puzzle some who have not seen it before. 
A nan buys a pair of three-dollar boots, and hands 
the shoemaker a ten dollar bill. Not having 
change, the shoemaker takes the bill to a neighbor, 
gets ten one dollar bills for it, and gives the pur¬ 
chaser seven of them, with the boots. The next 
day the ten dollar bill is returned, being counter¬ 
feit, and the shoemaker lias to pay for it in good 
money. How much does he lose by the transaction? 
No. 10. Anagrams, from Aunt Sue’s “Complete 
Puzzler.” 
I get dinners. I attend in pomps. 
Ten coons in tar. Find lies. 
Tom’s nine hats. Sin is content. 
The letters of each short sentence, if rightly 
placed, compose a single word. To make out the 
words, write each letter on a separate slip of pa¬ 
per, and then try to arrange them properly. 
No. 11.— Enigma. —By George D. B. Kirk, Beaver 
Co., Pa. A scripture proper name of 17 letters, re¬ 
presenting the darkest shade of iniquity : 
My 1, 14, 8,16, 4,10, is not yet, but will he univer¬ 
sally known. 
My 4,11, 3,13, 5, 12, 7, an ancient city. 
My 7,12,10, 5,15, 7, was a person noted for great 
moral courage. 
My 17,13, 7, is the most important farm animaL 
My 12, 9,17, is essential to successful warfare. 
My 10, 2, 6 , 17, represent the Humbug “ prizes ” 
of the present day. 
Answers to Problems. 
The list of names is unusually small this month 
as we expected; for the Illustrated Rebus, No 
8, was very difficult. Only three , viz. A. C. Siewers 
C. L. Siewers, and John G. Forrest have come neat 
it, up to April 18th. The first two omitted but one 
word. Try again, boys and girls; we will give you 
more time before publishing the solution. 
The following sent in correct answers to previous 
problems, too late to publish their names in April. 
J. B. Andrews, 6; Theodore R. Smith, 5; Emmie and 
Elbe, 5; Samuel Fleming, 5; H. R. Bishoff, 6 ; P. Worth, 
5 ; Susan Hal t, 5, 6 ; J. L. Cambridge, 5 ; W. W. W., 5 ; 
Annie E. Littell, 5 ; (Other answers quite philosophical;) 
Mary C. Dean, 5 ; C. L. Siewers, 6. 
The Simple Seeret. 
Twenty clerks in a store ; twenty hands in a printing 
office ; twenty young men in a village. All want to get 
along in the world, and all expect to do so. One of the 
clerks will rise to be a partner and make a fortune. One 
of the compositors will own a newspaper and become an 
influential and prosperous citizen. One of the apprentices 
will become a master-builder. One of the villagers will 
get a handsome farm, and live like a patriarch. But which 
is destined to be the lucky individual? Lucky? There 
is no luck about it. The thing is almost as certain as the 
Rule of Three. The young fellow who will distance his 
competitors is fie who masters lus business, who preserve;} 
