120 
The Naturalists’ Companion. 
ability that he understood that aetion 
and reaction were equal ; or he demon¬ 
strated fully that he knew that two 
opposite equal forces would nuteralize 
each other, for he would vary the 
amount of water forced from his gills- 
from their full capacity to the least per¬ 
ceptive mite, thereb}^ varying its reach¬ 
ing force to move him forward, at the 
same time varying the amount of back¬ 
ward pull by his tail to exactly equal 
the varying forward push b}" breathing. 
He would cease all voluntary motion 
and settle slowly to the bottom; then 
as quick as a hash of light, he would 
go to the top, take in an excess of air, 
and return to exactly the same place 
he had just acquitted, and would take 
precisely the same position as before. 
When perfect quiet would be resumed 
he would buoy himself gently towards 
the top, and when his dorsal fin reach¬ 
ed the surface of the water, he would 
emit from his mouth a large bulible of 
air and immediately commence sinking 
but when near the centre would dart 
to the top, take a draught of air and 
at once commence sinking, but when 
near the centre would again dart to 
the top, take in more air, and re¬ 
turn again direct to the centre where he 
would remain quiet for a short time; 
but finally again buoy himself upwards, 
but this time he would emit but little 
air when he would rise more slowdy; 
then a little less air would escape his 
mouth, and so on, less aud less, as he 
rose more slowly, until the volume of 
air expelled would be less than half 
the diameter of this period. But if he 
failed to establish a perfect equili¬ 
brium between himself and the water 
he displaced before he reached the 
top, so that his dorsal fin would not 
rise above the surface of the water, he 
would expell sufficient air so as to allow 
himself to settle; he would rise,take in 
more air and go through the operation 
until he succeeded in establishing a 
perfect equilibrium between himself 
and the water. These evolutions of my 
“3"oung Archimedes”—for that is what 
I called him—w’as often and repeated¬ 
ly witnessed by many besides my own j 
famil}^, all of whom were compelled | 
to admit that my little aquatic pet 
kuew the difference between air and 
water as well as did Galileo’s proud de- 
ciple, Torricelli, who in 1643 dem¬ 
onstrated the weight of the air. Also, 
that he as fully and clearly demonstrat¬ 
ed from knowledge the laws of equili¬ 
brium and specific giavity as did the 
immortal philosopher Archimedes 2116 
years ago. Archimedes discovered the 
law of levers and specific gravity while 
taking a bath, out of which he si)rang 
and ran naked into the street, crying : 
‘‘Eureka! Eureka 1 ” (1 have found it ! 
I have found it 1 ) 
0 UR WIJVTER BIRDS. 
There are a great many more birds to 
be found here in winter than is gener¬ 
ally supposed. Except to the student 
of nature only the Cb'ow and Snowbird 
are to be seen. Most of the birds that 
remain with us the year around are more 
common about the houses in winter 
than in summer. 
One of the most ])lentiful of these i e^ - 
ident birds is the common Crow (cor- 
VUS FRUCiNlVOUS). 
Another quite common bird is the 
Horned Lark, which is often found feed¬ 
ing in company with Snowbirds. 
The Meadow Lark (sturnella mao- 
na), is occasionally seen. 
A few White-lumped Shrikes (r.ANiu.s 
