1876 .] 
AMERICAN AGKRIC(JLTURIST 
■467 
Concealed Bikds, Animals, Fisk and Fecit.— 1. Shad. 
2. Wren. 3. Lark. 4. Dog. 5. Apple. G. Trout. 7. Pear. 
8. Cantelope, antelope. 9. Condor. 10. Cat. 11. Orange. 
12. Lime. 
Drop-letter Puzzle.— 
Soft ring the bells in the evening air. 
Calling the resting land to prayer; 
The mist bends down to the river's flow, 
And along the sky a dying glow— 
Thus e’en life’s day lies down in the West, 
When the bells shall ring us forever to rest. 
Answer to Frank Nichol’s Puzzle Picture, No. 457.— 
1. Stop—post. 2. Sear—ears. 3. Settler—letters. 4. Calf;— 
face. 5. Nape-pane. 6. Flea—leaf (of table). 7. Ills—sill 
Cof window). 8. Top—pot (on range). 9. Words—sword. 
10. Ones—nose. 11. Pace—cape. 12. Sloop—spool (by cat). 
13. Odor—door (of range). 14. Save—vase. 15 . Petal—plate. 
16. Gnu—gun. 17. Act—cat. 18. Blow—howl. 19- Sing- 
sign. 20. Mars—arms. 21. Palm—lamp. 22. Anger—range. 
23. Hose—shoe. 24. Bleat—table. 25. Tools-stool. 
Thanks for letters, puzzles, answers, etc., to J. F. Secor, 
Fannie M. S„ Alba, Theo., Pinkie, Nellie K„ Jennie'& 
Susie, Martha J. W„ Charlie, Ricardo, andN. D. D. 
Aunt Sue’s Chats. 
Minnie F.—Why should you be troubling your little 
head about “ Mason and Dixon’s line ” f Charles Mason 
and Jeremiah Dixon were the names of the two English 
surveyors employed between 17C3 and 1707 to run the 
southern boundary line between the free State of Penn¬ 
sylvania and the then slave States of Delaware and Vir¬ 
ginia. John Randolph, in the heated debate in Congress 
in 1829, about excluding slavery from Missouri, made use 
of the phrase “Mason and Dixon’s line” so often, that 
it became current in all the newspapers, and hence in 
common conversation. 
C. M. D.—I can “give you a recipe for taking out 
mildew,” but I get it from the books and not from ex¬ 
perience. So if same one will try it and let us know how 
it works, I shall be glad. “ Soap the stains and rub them 
well. Then scrape some fine chalk and rub that into the 
linen. Next lay the stained article on the grass, and, as 
it dries, wet the spot a little. Repeat this operation, and 
the mildew will disappear.” (See page 105 of the March 
American Agriculturist for further directions as to stains.) 
Emily W. S.—“The Vatican” is the regular palace 
and residence, at Rome, of the Popes. It was begun in 
the sixth century by the Bishop of Rome. In the 12th 
century Pope Ettgenius added some magnificent buildings 
to it. In the 16th century it was again enlarged, and the 
Popes, one after the other, have added to it, until now it 
is a collection of buildings, covering a space 1,200 feet in 
length and 1,000 feet in breadth. The buildings are filled 
with statues, paintings, medals, and antiquities of almost 
every description. More than 70,000 ancient statues that 
have been dug up are now there. 
The Passengers by the May Flower.— Sometime 
ago one of my young friends asked for a list of the per¬ 
sons who sailed in the May Flower, and landed at Ply¬ 
mouth, Mass., Dec. 11th, 1620. I was at some trouble to 
find the record and make out the list, but the editors, 
who have their own notions about such matters, did not 
think it would be of interest to hoys and girls generally, 
and thought I had better send the names to the one who 
asked for them. If the boy or girl, I have now forgotten 
which it was, who asked for the list, will drop a note to 
the Editor of the American Agriculturist , 245 Broadway, 
New York, he will forward it. 
TTSae doctor’s 'ITalEcs—Ahout I*iants 
and Seeds that Move. 
It is several years since I told the boys and girls about 
the Sensitive-plant, which a man was selling on the city 
streets, calling out “ Here they are, all alive.” We know 
that ail plants are alive, but few are quite so lively as this 
Sensitive-plant, which shuts up and droops its leaves 
suddenly when touched. I also a long while ago told you 
about climbing plants, such as Beans and Morning-glories, 
and said that if you watched them carefully, you could 
see that they very slowly went sweeping around, as if 
trying to get hold of something upon which to climb. 
There are many other ways in which plants show move¬ 
ments, some made by the plant itself, and others due to 
something besides the plant. At present I wish to tell 
you of two cases in which parts of a plant show life-like 
motions, which depend upon something besides the 
plant itself. One of these is a kind of oat, which, when 
a youngster, 1 used to cultivate in my little garden for the 
fun it made among my play-fellows. It is called the 
ANIMATED OAT, 
and is occasionally now grown in gardens as a curiosity. 
It is much like a common oat, though larger ; but I don’t 
suppose you ever examined a common oat very closely, 
so I give you in figure 2 a picture of this of the life size. 
There are usually two grains, or oats, wrapped up in a 
very hairy chaff, and these are placed inside of two other 
pieces of long-pointed chaff, the outermost parts that you 
see in the engraving. The chaff that is around the grain 
in the common oat, is a little hairy, but not heavy hoard¬ 
ed like this, and has a small bristle attached to it, but 
here the bristle is very large, bent at about half its 
length, with the lower half twisted. If you puli away 
the outer chaff so as to leave the two grains, they look 
much like a hairy long-legged insect. Dip this “ insect ” 
into water and lay it on the table and watch it. It at 
once behaves as if it were alive, the legs (or bristles) 
move in various ways, mixing themselves up and un¬ 
tangling them, all the while throwing the thing about, 
often with a jump of several inches. You cannot imagine 
anything more life-like and comical. You will wonder 
what makes this motion. If you watch, you will see that 
the bristles twist and untwist, as they are moist or dry; 
you know that moisture makes a rope twist hard, and 
that it will untwist so much when dry as to he slack. 
You know that hair will not curl well in damp weather, 
and many other things are affected by moisture. It is the 
untwisting and twisting again of the lower part of these 
bristles that throws the bent portion around, and causes 
all the movements. By fastening some little artificial 
wings of paper or other material, to the oats, as in figure 
1, the resemblance to an insect is still greater. The seed 
stores sell these oats, but the bristles are usually much 
broken in packing, and by sowing these you can raise 
very perfect ones. It is very easy to see that the motion 
is of great use to the plant in distributing the seeds. It 
is very interesting to notice the various ways provided 
for the scattering of seeds ; some are taken by the wind, 
others are shot off by the bursting of the pod, and others 
have hooks by which they hold fast to the legs of ani¬ 
mals, and are carried a long distance ; but this oat has to 
travel without such help. When the grain falls, the first 
rain sets the bristles i-n motion, and when dry weather 
comes they begin to twist again ; so they go on moving 
with every change of moisture and dryness, and in time 
the seeds travel quite a distance from the place where 
they grow... .1 suppose some of you have seen a notice 
in the papers about the 
CALIFORNIAN “ JUMPING SEEDS.” 
Generally the newspaper accounts of such things are 
far from correct, and I was curious to see what kind of 
a seed it could be, about which such stories were told. 
Quito unexpectedly a young friend, who is fond of col¬ 
lecting seeds of all kinds, brought me one of the jumpers 
that had been given him by a lady from California. In¬ 
stead of being a seed , it is, properly speaking, a part of a 
seed-vessel, or capsule, and of the size and shape shown 
in the engravings, figs. 3 and 4; it is somewhat three- 
sided ; the part uppermost in figure 4 shows where it was 
joined to two other portions, just like this, to make what 
botanists call a three-celled capsule. The name of the 
shrub that produces it is not yet known, but it is evident¬ 
ly a relative of the Castor-oil plant. It is found in the 
southern-most part of California, and in Northern Mexico, 
and they are known in California as the “Mexican Jump¬ 
ing Seeds.” Laid upon a 
smooth surface, or upon the 
hand, this seed (which wc will 
call it) starts off, going along 
by little jerks, and soon moves 
several inches in a most sur- 
prising manner. While examin- 3, 4, 
ed ever so closely, there is no- jumping seeds. 
thing to be seen to cause the 
motion. “ Why not cut it open ? ” yon will say.—That is 
what I should have done, had not my friend, Prof. Riley, 
of St. Louis, already done so with some. He found in¬ 
side a small white “ worm,” or caterpillar, very much 
like the common apple-worm. “ How did it get there ? ” 
—The parent moth laid the egg in the flower, or when 
the pod was young and tender, and when the egg hatch¬ 
ed. the little worm from it gnawed its way into the yonng 
pod, and fed upon the growing seeds it found there. The 
pod went on ripening, the small hole the worm made in 
going in having closed up. When the larva, which is the 
proper name for an insect in this caterpillar or “ worm” 
stage, gets full grown, and has eaten up all but the shell 
of the pod, it spins a silken web with which it lines its 
prison. Most larvae, when they get their growth, go to 
rest as pupas, and in time come out as the perfect insect; 
this fellow is of a more active kind, and before going to 
rest, spends some weeks, or even months, after it is 
grown up, in traveling. The pod falls from the bush, 
breaking into its three parts, and those containing worms 
start off on a journey. According to Mr. Riley, the in¬ 
sect holds last to the web with its hind legs, draws itself 
back, and buts the wall of its prison with its head, which 
sends it along with a jerk. When the pod is held in the 
hand, these blows can be very distinctly felt. It is a very 
curious affair altogether ; it is not easy to see what the 
larva gains by traveling, as when it comes out as a moth 
it can go much further and faster on the wing than it can 
now by butting its way along. There is no doubt a good 
reason for this, and some day it may be found out. The 
seed-pod that my young friend gave me has been away 
from the bush for over two months, hut as I write it is 
having a regular “circus” by going around and around 
on the bottom of a little bottle which stands on my table. 
MaSctssg- Frieaads with the flS5r«ls. 
Snow, birds, children, and their mother are in the 
picture, given on the next page—yes, there is some¬ 
thing more — the little evergreen tree. No doubt that was 
the Christmas tree that had given the children much 
pleasure, and after it had borne its fruit of love-ripened 
gifts, it was put out in the same loving spirit, in the hope 
that it might please the little birds. The birds in winter, 
poor things! what a hard time they must have when a 
heavy snow covers everything 1 In some winters thous¬ 
ands of them starve because all their food is covered by 
the snow. At such times some crumbs, or a few seeds, 
may save the life of a little bird. When the deep snows 
come, think of the birds and how hungry they may be. 
There are few families in which a little can not he spared 
to feed them. It will be a good act, and like other good 
acts, will bring its own reward, for you will be abundant¬ 
ly paid for your trouble, in seeing how regularly the birds 
will come for their food, and in watching their pleasing 
ways. Our winter birds are not much at singing, but they 
will do the best they can by their chirp and twitterto tell 
you that they are very thankful. No doubt if we could 
understand what they say in their bird talk, it would be 
something like this. — •“ Thank you big birds—we don’t 
know what kind of birds you are, you have two legs, hut 
don’t eat with yonr beak, and have no feathers. You look 
like good birds, and though your eyes are bigger than 
owl’s eyes, and your claws are larger than hawk’s claws, 
yet you feed us, and we think you are good. We shall 
come again to-morrow, and if you wish to make friends 
with us let us come towards you, hut don’t you try to 
touch us, because we can’t bear to bo handled. Feed us, 
and let us alone, and you will “ see-e e-weedlum-ee. Chip- 
chip, gargoogle —good by. Weedlum , seecllum, zip /’’—If 
the birds don’t say this, they act it. By keeping quiet, 
and not trying to be too familiar, the birds will soon find 
out that you are their friends. We know a lady who is 
on such good terms with the birds, that in summer-time 
she will go out, and call them to her. In winter it is a 
much easier matter, as the birds are hungry, and that 
makes them very tame. The picture gives you an idea 
of the best way of making friends with the birds in win¬ 
ter. A balcony, or the roof of a porch just under an up¬ 
per window, is one of the best places for feeding them ; 
it is above the’reach of cats, and they feel safer than they 
do lower down. Still, if no such place is handy, you had 
better feed them on the ground around the kitchen door, 
than not at all. After every snow, whether on the ground 
or above, sweep a place clear, before the snow gets hard 
and icy. Then every morning, at the same hour, throw 
out your crumbs and seeds, and mind, do not forget to 
always have water there in something that will allow the 
birds to get at it easily. Recollect that the bird must 
stand where it can reach the water, so do not tantalize 
the poor things, by putting it where they can see it, but 
not get it. If you don’t know bow to manage this, ask 
father, or an older brother or sister to help. It is said by 
those who know that, in severe winters, when the streams 
all freeze up, birds die as much from thirst, as they do 
do from hunger. See that your water is not ice ; thin ice 
may be broken, but it will be best to take in the water- 
dish every night. The birds, so long as they can find 
plenty of food, will not come very near the house, but 
after a heavy snow, the little things seem to know where 
they will find help, and come around as if they expected 
us to take care of them. Don’t let them be disappointed. 
They may be a little shy when they first see you, hut if 
you keep still until they learn that you will not hurt 
them, and do not make any sudden motions to startle 
them, you can soon get on very pleasant terms with the 
Snowbirds, Chickadees, and other winter visitors. 
