1873 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
27 
MDTO <k mm®’ (SdDWMWgo 
Our Guessing School. WIia,t Is It 
No. 2. 
The engraving given in November for you to study over 
was of such a rarely seen object that only a few hoys and 
girls tried to make it out, and some of these came very 
far from the mark. Two or three were so nearly alike in 
merit that it was difficult to choose between them, as one 
mentioned some pcints that others omitted. The one 
that seemed to be on the whole the best description, is 
by Miss Abbie Adams, of Absecom, Atlantic Co., N. J. 
Good answers, though not so full as hers, were sent by 
Christopher I). Chandler, Pair Haven, N. J., Harriet J. 
Fisk, Sag Harbor, L. I., Rollo Shopheit, Niantic, Ct., 
shell of peri wink le. 
Willie Calvert, Culpepper, Va., Townsend Wolcott, S. 
Norwalk, Ct., John B. Price, Stamford, Ct., Clarence E. 
Penniman, Cromwell, Ct., Robert B. Albertson, Hert¬ 
ford, N. C. Miss Abbie says: “ It is the spawn of a shell¬ 
fish, called Winkle by many. Some might call it a conk, 
but it is known here by baymen and oystermcn by the 
name of Winkle. The whole length of this curious thing 
(the spawn) is usually about two feet long, and when 
found in the bays in a perfect state, has one end imbedded 
in the sand or mud from 2 to 4 inches deep; this secures 
it to the bottom, but sometimes by the force ofthe waves 
and tide it is broken loose from its place and cast upon 
the shore, and the embryo Winkle is destroyed by being 
exposed to the hot rays of the sun in summer or the cold 
freezing of winter. The pods or receptacles, when taken 
from the water, are filled with a jelly-like substance; then 
again they are found in a more advanced state, containing 
the young winkles in their complete form, though quite 
small, about the size of duck shot, and a large number in 
each pod. I have seen them and handled them after my 
father has brought them from the bay, they being quite a 
curiosity to us, and I have also heard him tell how he 
pulled them loose from the bottom of the bay. I don’t 
know what you will think of the name I have given the 
shell-fish that produces the article your engraving repre¬ 
sents, but it is known in all these parts by the name of 
Winkle. I have seen numbers of them ; they live in a 
shell, but can turn almost entirely out of it, andean suck 
fast to a board or other surface, and hold on quite strong. 
I have looked in Webster’s Pictorial Dictionary for an en¬ 
graving of this kind of shell-fish, but can not find any to 
represent it, neither do I find in it the word Winkle.” 
As Miss Abbie could not find an engraving of the, shell, 
we give one here. Had she looked for Periwinkle, she 
would have found that word, which is also used for the 
same animal, though fishermen and marketmen generally 
call it Winkle. There arc several species found upon 
our coast, the most common of which wo have figured. 
It is from three to six inches long, and of a dark olive 
color. The animal that lives in this shell is very tough 
and coarse, but notwithstanding that, it is eaten, and is 
sometimes offered for sale in the markets. The shell is 
used by sailors and botit-builders to pour tar and pitch 
into the seams of boats, the long portion answering as 
a convenient spout. The English Periwinkle is an entirely 
dift’erent animal from ours. The conchologists call the 
one figured Pyrulacancdiculata. The word Pyrula means 
a little pear, and was given because the shell is some¬ 
what pear-shaped, and canaliculata means channeled, or 
like a pipe or gutter. You can see that the drawn-out 
part of the shell is channeled, and I have just said that 
the sailors have found out its usefulness as a gutter. 
These strange-looking names that scientific people give 
to shells, plants, insects, and the like, are generally de¬ 
scriptive. The Doctor. 
'JTJte — Alixuit ss, 
D»aa«5.1e. 
Perhaps you will wonder wdiat there is to say about a 
candle that you do not know, and will be surprised when 
I tell you that I think that a candle is one of the most 
interesting things, and that to explain all about its burn¬ 
ing would require a great many pages like the one you 
are reading. Many years ago one of the most eminent 
scientific men who ever lived, Sir Michael Faraday, gave 
a whole course of lectures just upon a candle. I do not 
expect to tell you so much as he did, for you would not 
be able to understand it all, but I think I can say some¬ 
thing about a candle that will interest you. I wonder 
when candles were invented 1 It must have been a great 
while ago, for we read about candlesticks in the Old 
Testament. Perhaps torches were used before candles. 
Some of you have probably seen light-wood torches, 
which are often used in pine regions, especially in 
the Southern States. A dead pine will be found to have 
its wood full of turpentine, and when this is cut up into 
torches, it will burn with a bright though rather smoky 
flame. In this case the wood serves for a wick, and 
the turpentine that is dried in the pores of the wood cor¬ 
responds to the tallow or other matter that we make can¬ 
dles of. There are several kinds of candles, but all agree 
in having a wick, and some solid material that will melt 
readily, and will burn when melted. We have all read 
of rush-lights, which in early times were in common use 
in England, and I believe that some of the poorer people 
still use them. They were made by peeling the stems of 
rushes so as to leave the light pith. A little strip of 
the outer portion of the rush was left to strengthen the 
pith, which, being very delicate, would break without 
this support. The rush-piths were then dipped in tallow 
or other fat, and formed a very poor, flickering kind of 
candle, for which the pith served as a wick. Our com¬ 
monest candles are tallow-dips, and are made by dipping 
the wicks in melted tallow, the dipping being repeated 
after the tallow has hardened, until the candle is large 
enough. Tallow candles are now generally made in a 
mold. The wick being fastened in the center of a tin 
tube, the melted tallow is poured in, and when cold 
the candle is easily removed from the mold. Tallow 
candles are soft; mutton suet makes harder ones. Then 
they are made of spermaceti; paraffine, which is a curious 
product of coal; vegetable wax from Japan, and also 
from a vegetable wax yielded by our native Bayberry. 
It was a -wonderful discovery that, by which the solid 
part can be taken out of lard and other fats. This is 
called stearine, and is what the nice, white, hard candles 
of the stores are mostly made olV The most expensive 
SNUFF. SELF-SNUFFING. SECTION. 
candles are wax, and these are not made by dipping, nor 
are they molded, but melted wax is poured over the wicks, 
which are hung on a frame, and the pouring is repeated 
until the candles are large enough, when they are finished 
and the surface made smooth by rolling on a table of 
hard wood. The wick in the common candle is of very 
loosely spun cotton, and after it has been lighted awhile 
we notice in the flame a black, unburned piece of wick 
(fig. 1), the “ snuff,” as it is called, which has to be re¬ 
moved by the use of snuffers. It was a very clever person 
that invented the self-snuffing wick. The reason that a 
snuff forms in the candle is because the wick, being in 
the interior of the flame, is, as I shall show you at another 
time, quite shutout from the air, and can no.t burn. The 
invention consisted in so braiding or plaiting a wick that 
it would curve over and thus bring the end of it outside 
of the flame, where the air could reach it and it could 
gradially burn away (fig. 2), and thus save the trouble of 
snuffing. When wo first light a candle, we do not get a 
very bright light, and we must wait until enough of the 
tallow is melted to supply the flame. Just watch a burn¬ 
ing candle, and see how beautifully everything goes on. 
The tallow remains solid until it is needed for burning, 
and then just enough is kept melted to supply the wick. 
Then the candle itself forms a cup to hold the melted 
tallow. If the candle burns where there is no current of 
air, just see what a nice little cup is formed. The tallow 
melts just close to the flame, but the air keeps the edge 
of the cup cool, so that it does not melt fora while. If you 
were to make a cut right down through a burning candle, 
it would look like figure 3. So the candle is all the time 
turning the solid tallow into a liquid, taking it up in the 
wick, where in burning it gives us a beautiful flame. But 
what makes the melted tallow rise in the wick ? That is 
an interesting point, which I will try to say something 
about another time. The Doctor, 
Aimt Sue’s Puzzle-Kos. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
1. I am composed of 11 letters. 
My 8, 10, 9 is a fish. 
My 9, 5, 6, 11, 7 is an adjective which may b« 
transposed into a verb and into a noun. 
My 1, 4, 3, 2, 10 is a reptile. 
My whole is a village in Central New York. 
E. L. C. 
2 I am composed of 24 letters. 
My 12, 5, 3, 21, S, 10, 12 is a continent. 
My 23,10, 5, 20, 0, 18 is a man’s name. 
My 3, 10, 13, 18, 0 is a bird of prey. 
My 11,15,13, 2,1, 15, 11,13, 4, IS, G is a bird. 
My 19,17,14, 7, 3,24, 23 were used as engine* 
of war by the Romans. 
My 9, 2, 22,11, 4 is a country in Asia. 
My whole is before you. Virginia E. S. 
SQUARE WORDS. 
1. Square the word “MERIT.” 
Star and Crescent. 
2. 4 A number. 2 Corroded. 3 A term in music, mean¬ 
ing “ time.” 4 To preclude. 6 Used in carts. Iowa. 
PROVERB PI. 
With the following forty-seven words make eight well- 
known proverbs: 
A good counsel freely gives a judge his price. 
Necessity never makes a misfortune of wit. 
He who all day gives every dog the go-by, must have 
brevity of soul. 
Twice beginning is to make good ending. 
Virtue, above appearances, is never good; meet half-way. 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. Rebel in mince-shop. 
2. Agile rust. 
3. Pieced love. 
4. Angel Ziva. 
5. I haul time. 
6. Notes ran. 
7. Sung Lot out. 
8. I class them. 
9. Die lying. 
10. Rats put. 
CROSS-WORD. 
My first is in peach but not in plum. 
My next is in hand but not in thumb. 
My third is in rat but not in mouse. 
My fourth is in room but not in house. 
My fifth is in Bill but not in Sam. 
My sixth is in sheep but not in lamb. 
And now, if the letters you rightly take. 
The name of a little girl they’ll make. 
Mart Jacobs. 
DOUBLE ACROSTIC. 
The initials name a certain kind of stone used in 
jewelry, and which derived its name from the river in 
Sicily near which it was first found. 
The finals name that which we have been taught to shun. 
1. One of the signs of the Zodiac. 
2. A Southern State. 4. A plant. 
3. An insect. 5. Evasion. 
R. T. Isbester. 
PUZZLE. 
An R, an L, an A, and a D, 
Two Ns, three Os, and only one V. 
Now take an M, and add three Ts. 
Four still are left, and they are Es. 
By putting these together right, 
A well-known proverb comes to light. Annie. 
