8 
THE JSTATUKALISTS’ COMPANION. 
We can furnish data blanks,three 
by four inches in size, to collectors 
for 25 cents per hundred,or a smaller 
size at 15 cents. 
The brilliancy in the eyes of cats 
is caused by a carpet of glittering 
fibers called the tapeum, which lies 
behind the retina, and is a jpowerful 
reflector. In perfect darkness, no 
light is observed in their eyes,—a 
fact which has been established by 
very careful experiments. Never¬ 
theless, a very small amount ot light 
is sufilcient to produce the luminous 
appearance in them. 
A new and curious plant has re¬ 
cently been discovered which is de¬ 
scribed as the traveling plant. It is 
stated to be of the lily-of-the-valley 
species, and has a root formed of 
knots, by which it annually advances 
about an inch distant from the place 
where it was first rooted. Every 
year another knot is added, which 
drags the plant farther on, so that 
in twenty years’ time the plant has 
traveled about twenty inches from 
its original place.— Golden Hays. 
A miniature gold mine w^as recent¬ 
ly discover on the teeth of a bullock 
killed near San Francisco. The 
jaw^s, with the teeth attached, were 
boiled, and when exposed to view 
the entire row' of teeth was found to 
be thickly covered with pure gold, 
and considerable gold was also found 
in the pot in which the head was boil¬ 
ed. The coating was submitted to 
a chemical test, and was found pure. 
It is supposed that the animal must 
have drank from some stream 
abounding with the precious metal, 
wdiich became attached, grain by 
grain, to the animal’s teeth. 
Subscribe for the Natukaltsts’ 
Companion, only 50 cents per year. 
A complete collection of the na¬ 
tive woods of the United States is 
being prepared for the New York 
Museum of Natural History. It wi 11 
comprise 26 varieties ot oak, 34 ot 
pine, 9 of fir, 5 of spruce, 4 of hem¬ 
lock, 12 of ash, 3 of hickory, 18 of 
willow, 3 of cherry, 9 of popular, 4 
of maple, 2 of persimmon and 3 of 
cedar. Each specimen wdll display 
both longitudinal and traverse grain- 
ings of the wood, as well as the log 
in its natural condition, with the 
bark attached. 
Mr. S. E. Ganestrini has found 
that butterflies may use their wings 
eighteen days after being beheaded, 
crickets may leap on the thirteenth 
day after their heads have been cut 
ofi', and signs of life may be given 
by the body of the preying mantilla 
on the fourteenth day after decapi¬ 
tation. This experimenter has made 
still more striking observations 
wEich tends to prove that the head 
in insects has much less to do wuth 
guiding the motions of the body 
than the hr;ad in mammals. 
If any of our readers desire any 
articles, wEether specimens of natur¬ 
al history or otherwuse, including 
pistols, shot-guns, balloons, sail or 
row boats, microscopes, telescopes, 
batteries, printing presses, type, or 
any other articles he or she may de¬ 
sire, all it is necessary for them to do 
will be to write us, stating exactly 
the article desired, and w^e will state 
the lowest possible figure they can 
be procured at. Therefore,dealers, 
please send in your circulars. 
I^WE WISH TO EXCHANGE 
papers with publishers in all parts 
of the world. 
Please notice the ad., of “The 
Collector” in another column. 
