ISGT.'i 
AMKRIC^AN AGRICULTURIST. 
Fig. 1. 
iBDYiS (Q'Dvnmm. 
TIte l>ootor Tulkw lo tlic Hoys anti 
liilrlK. 
W hen yon rrad about the trirko of magicians, who show 
a human hea<l noating in tho air, and who take out of a 
man h hat articles enough to fill a hand-eart, your yoting 
eyes ojH-n wide with astonishment. These things arc im 
di'cd wonderfld as showing what ingenuity can do, but 
they are only tricks, and a person as ingenious ns tho 
»iue who invented them can easily find out how they are 
done. Itiglit around yon arc things morti wonderftil than 
any thing the conjuror can show, and if you wiii only 
open your eyes at l/iU, and learn how to use them, you 
need not regret that you can not sec tho magician display 
hi.s skill. Some of tho things that I shall talk to you 
about Imvc been carcfiilly watched by tho most learned 
men, who have told ns very plainly wlmt they liavo seen 
in egg and seed, in bud and flower; but hoio the seed be¬ 
comes a plant or the egg brings forth a living animal— 
these have never been found out. 
\Visc heads—philosophers ns they 
are often called—arc not, as many 
8upi)osc, always engaged in look¬ 
ing at the stars, and measuring 
mountains; many of the most 
learned poke around mud holes 
and ponds and find animals and 
other objects for their study; 
many think that curious things 
are only to be found by travelers in distant countries— 
but you need not go out of your own neighborhood nor 
off of your own farm to search for curious objects, or to 
sec more wonders than all the showmen can display. 
Kvery Isiy and girl in tho country knows frog-spawn. 
It is a mass of clear jelly, to be found in early spring in 
almost every pool of water. If you can find some of this 
frog-spav»-n—and you can readily do so by a little search- 
take home a little 
of it and place it 
in a saucer or 
bowl of rain wa¬ 
ter, and look care¬ 
fully nt it. It is a 
ma.s8 of clear jel¬ 
ly, with some dark 
^ 3. Fig. 3. spots distributed 
through it. It is really a collection of transparent eggs 
surrounded and held together by a jelly-like substance, 
and the spots arc the yolks of the eggs (fig. 1). Keep 
the vessel containing tho s|>awn and vv-ater in a warm 
wimlow, and look at it carefully every day and change 
the water every day or two. The round sjKits, or yolk, 
soon cease to be round, and will liave this outline, fig. 
2, and later like this, fig. .3; but unless one has a micros¬ 
cope and knows how to use it, all the minute changes 
that take place can not be follow¬ 
ed. Still a great change may be 
seen without any help but your 
own eyes. The spots will rapidly 
increase in size, and yon will soon 
see them of the shai)c of fig. 4, and 
you will be able to make out that 
F!^. 4. the little animal lias a head and a 
tall. Which is the head, is made more certain by the ap- 
p«’arancc of eyes, and the tail shows its character by hav¬ 
ing a tendency to wiggle, and growing longer. Fig. 5 
shows aikolder and larger animal than fig. 4,and as the little 
fellow has been growing all the while, you will wonder 
what he has fed on. Tho transparent Jelly of the egg 
has thus far contributed to his growth, but he has done 
no feeding propter, as he has no mouth. As a month is 
the next thing needed, a little opening appears in tho 
head, and the internal arrangements of the animal having 
been completed, he jerks himself out of the cavity of tho 
egg that has hereto¬ 
fore been his prison, 
and when strong 
enough goes forth to 
Bcc tho little world 
you have made for 
him In a bowl. Tho 
Fig. 5. 
figures given here¬ 
with »re all more or less larger than the natural size. 
But. you will say, this is not a frog. It is only a tadpole 
or pf)llywog. True, but Is It not a wonderful change. A 
mass of jelly into living animals; and Is it not also curious 
that the frog is not bom a frog, but that he is at first an 
animal quite unlike a frog. It is equally interesting to 
watch the change of the ta<lpolc on his way to frog-hood, 
but we can not do so now. Put some of the tadpoles 
wtiere they can take care of themselves, and keep a few 
b) study They will do best in a glass jar. In which you 
must change the water every day or two. Any fniit-can 
will do, and you can avoid tho trouble of changing the 
ater by putting in some plants. Place an Inch or so of 
gravel in tho bottom of tho jar, and then place In It any 
of tho pfiants that arc found growing entirely under water. 
Every deep brook or pond will furnish a number of these 
and It docs not make much difference which Is taken 
only those with tho finest leaves arc tho best Tlo tho 
plants to a hit of stouo to hold them down, flU tho jar 
l*iizxlcM to l»c Answered., 
No. 258. A Clock Problem, suggested by David Rue, Jr.— 
Suppose the striking part of a clock to he out of order so 
that at one o clock it strikes three, at the next hour it 
strikes five, thus gaining two strokes each hour, in how 
many hours from one o’clock will it strike the time cor¬ 
rectly, and how many strokes will it have given in all, 
counting tlio tlirec made at the beginning ? Of course it 
never strikes more strokes than twelve at one time. 
Fig. 0. 
with rain or river water, and pat in the tadpoles. If this 
is kcpit in full light, tho water will not need changing. 
A Acw and IJsioi'itl Toy. 
One of the Imst toys for children we have ever seen is a 
set of improved builders’ blocks, invented and patented 
by a subscriber to the Agriculturist, Mr. diaries M. 
Crandall, Montrose, Pa. They arc so really pileasiug and 
useful, tliat we publish an engraving, showing how they 
work. Tlioy arc jilain bass-wood iileccs, most of them 
of the sbaiMJ shown in the figure, notched to fit each other 
firmly, so that when a 
building is put together 
it can be taken uji whole 
and moved about with¬ 
out falling to piicces. 
They can be joined in 
almost endless combina¬ 
tions. IVe have seen 
chnrchcs.factories, wind¬ 
mills, fences, cradles, 
and other furniture made 
with them. Tho little 
house shown in tlie pic¬ 
ture was put up by a hoy 
in a few minutes. Be¬ 
sides the many hours’ 
amusement they will afford, playing with these blocks 
will develop skill and teste in planning and executing, 
and wc think Mr. Crandall has done the children a real 
scn icc in bringing out so capfital a plaything. Tlie blocks 
arc very durable, but if any split, they arc still service¬ 
able in making new designs. All information about 
prices, etc., can be had by addressing the inventor. 
Plant Soinctliiii”:, a grape-vine, strawberry plant, 
a rose-bush, or even a beet or a carrot—something to care 
for and watch and study day by day. It will give more 
pleasure tlian any toy, besides adding something to your 
knowledge. It may perhaps he the beginning of a suc¬ 
cessful career as a fruit grower, a gardener, or a botanist. 
Xlic Hoy who kept “ Itlowiiigf.” 
Those who read the story of Timid Timothy in the 
March Agriculturist, page 107, will readily see the mean¬ 
ing of the similar picture given here. Boys who brag or 
No. 259. Illustrated Pebus .—A very obvious truth. 
No. 260. Mathematical Problem, by J. S. Chandler.— 
Two wheels, one four (4) feet and the other four feet and 
one inch (4 feet 1 inch) in diameter, were put on an axlc- 
trcc, which brought them just fcfnr (1) feet apart; both 
were then started at tflc same rate of tpced, but as ono 
wlicel was larger than the other, they soon came back to 
the point from which they started, describing a perfect 
circle in their course. What was the diameter of tho 
smaller and what the diameter of the larger circle ? 
Answers lo I*rol>lcnis and I*nzzles. 
The following arc answers to the puzzles, etc., in the 
March numbe, page 107. No. 253. lUustraied Eebus .—Tho 
last rose of summer_No. 254. Illustrated The 
proper study of mankind is man_No. 255. Wo^'d 
Square . — The proper definitions are: Pica, leap, ease, 
apes_No. 250. Elustraied Eebus .—To tho wise, noth¬ 
ing is accidental_No. 257. Anagrams. —1, Afterward; 
2, Mourned ; 3, Prepared; 4, Hypocrisy; 6, Astonished. 
The following have sent in correct answers, up to 
March 1st. R. L. Wells, C. II. Cannon, Oliver Coombs, 
“blow” a great deal may here see themselves as others 
SCO them, on tho way to become mere porpoises in society, 
amusing perhaps to those about tliem, but not counted as 
valuable fish. “ Lctauother praise thee and not thyself.” 
Willie Lesher, George Kemper, “J. G. S.,” Chs. E. 
McLenegan, E. Van Syckcl, Jr., A. A. Boyden, Charles 
A. Farmer, “ II,” Wm. A. Fulton, A. J. Walling, James 
and Libbic Bartlett, Owen B. Brumbaugh, Irvin Clark. 
