546 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 


Philadelphia, his trainer foolishly undertook to put his 
head into the animal’s mouth, but the brute, not liking the 
sport, refused to open his mouth wide enough, when the 
trainer slapped him in the face. Julius, at this, grew angry, 
and closing his ponderous jaws upon the man’s skull, crushed 
it as if it had been an eggshell. It is said that this is the 
only instance of a man being killed by a lion in this country. 
Julius was a magnificent brute, and his long, shaggy 
mane was coal-black. After this last exhibition of his tem- 
per he was used only as a cage animal. Many stories are 
told of this lion, the most singular one being his fondness 
for small animals, and a keeper who was with him for sev- 
eral years speaks with pride of the kindness Julius used to 
show to a little black and tan dog that took a notion to oc- 
casionally pay a visit to the cage of his highness. It may 
be remembered that Julius was blind of an eye, caused by 
an accident that happened to him upon an occasion some 
.years ago in Nashville, Tenn., where he escaped from his 
cage, and, after killing a camel and injuring some other ani- 
mals, he made a charge upon the cage of a leopard, who 
struck him with his paw, completely ruining the sight of 
one eye. Mr. W. A. Conklin, the Superintendent of the 
Central Park Zoological Garden, tells many other interest- 
ing anecdotes of the sagacity of the lion, and especially of 
the great brute Park, now among his collection, and at pres- 
ent the oldest lion in America, his age being twenty-six 
years. The immediate cause of the death of Julius was lung 
fever, a disease to which lions in confinement are most sub- 
ject, though he had been ailing for some time. Travelling 
through the country not being considered beneficial, he was 
carefully caged and sent on his return trip to New York, for 
the purpose of being put in the hospital; but his day of use- 
fulness had passed, and, while passing through the State of 
New Jersey, Azrael spread his wings, and the noble brute 
passed to his ancestors. It may be truly said of him that he 
was a lion with a single virtue linked to a thousand crimes. 
When the taxidermist has prepared his skin, it will adorn 
the museum of the Central Park. Julius cost $4500.— New 
York Herald. 

Dr. La Conte, the distinguished naturalist, of this city, 
has read a paper before the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, in which he recounts the experi- 
ence of Philadelphia in its efforts to get rid of ‘‘ measuring 
worms ’’ by the introduction of town sparrows. A descrip- 
tion of this worm, and of the white moth into which it de- 
velops, is scarcely necessary here, as. its appearance and 
characteristics are well known. The town sparrows brought 
from England soon put an end to the ‘‘ measuring worm,”’ 
and restored to the trees the power to retain the green leaves 
put forth in the spring. But soon after this had been done 
another pest appeared, which is becoming, in its turn, a 
great nuisance, although it is not as annoying and disgust- 
ing to pedestrians as its gymnastic predecessor. This is a 
slender caterpillar, covered. with stiff yellow and black hair, 
with tufts of much longer hair. The sparrows decline to eat 
it, not because their tastes have been pampered by other food, 
but because they cannot, on account of the worm’s hairy 
covering. Fortunately, however, the structure and habits 
of the caterpillar and the ‘‘ measuring worm ” are so differ- 
ent that the means which failed to exterminate the latter 
will be found efficient if used against the new pest. The 
wings of the female moth of the caterpillar remain abortive, 
and she is obliged to crawl up the trees to deposit her eggs. 


If the cocoons in which the larve are developed into moths 
be destroyed, and girdles of tar or some similar substance be 
put around the trees, the propagation of the caterpillar will 
be prevented. The same remedy failed against the female 
moth of the ‘‘measuring worm,” because its wings were fit- 
ted for flight, but with the sparrows to prevent the continu- 
ance of ‘‘ measuring worms,’’ and some such means as above 
described used against the caterpillars, both pests may be re- 
moved from city shrubbery and shade trees.— Public Ledger. 




yi 

ana eID: 
Pouttry Department: 
THE HEN AND THE HONEY-BEE. 
(AN APOLOGUE—FROM THE GERMAN OF GELLETT.) 


BY JOHN G. SAXE. 
A LAZY Hen—the story goes— 
Loquacious, pert, and self-conceited, 
Espied a Bee upon a rose, 
And thus the busy insect greeted : 
“Say, what’s the use of such as you, 
(Excuse the freedom of a neighbor !) 
Who gad about, and never do 
A single act of useful labor? 
‘«T’ye marked you well for many a day, 
In garden blooms and meadow-clover ; 
Now here, now there, in wanton play ; 
From morn to night an idle rover. 
‘¢ While I discreetly bide at home ; 
A faithful wife—the best of mothers ; 
About the fields you idly roam, 
Without the least regard for others. 
“ While I lay eggs, or hatch them out, 
- You seek the flowers most sweet and fragrant, 
And, sipping honey, stroll about, 
At best a good-for-nothing vagrant!” 
‘( Nay,’’ said the Bee, ‘‘ you do me wrong; 
I’m useful too; perhaps you doubt it, 
Because—though toiling all day long— 
I scorn to make a fuss about it! 
‘‘ While you, with every egg that cheers 
Your daily task, must stop and hammer 
The news in other peoples’ ears, 
Till they are deafened with the clamor ! 
‘‘ Come now with me, and see my hive, 
And note how folks may work in quiet ; 
To useful arts much more alive 
Than you with all your cackling riot!” 
L’ENVOI. 
The Poet, one may plainly see 
Who reads this fable at his leisure, 
Is represented by the Bee, 
Who joins utility to pleasure ; 
While in this self-conceited Hen 
We note the Poet’s silly neighbor, 
Who thinks the noisy ‘* working-men ”’ 
Are doing all the useful labor! 
