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- THE SCORPION.
-
L —
A Hot-Tempered and Belligerent
" Mexican Reptile.
He Will Commit Suicide on the
Slightest Provocation.
“If you should ever happen to go
down into lower Mexico,” said L. T.’
Stanley, the electrician, *‘and should
notice that your bed wus set up on in
‘verted tin pans, as you have scen the
four corners of corn cribs fixed to keep
out the rats, and that the bed had a|
sheet stretched above if, running toa
peak at the top like the roof of a house,
don’t say a word but go right in and go
to sleep. 1f you shouldn’t go to sleep
a 8 soon as you get in, and should hear
something drop on the sheet roof above
you and roll down and tumble on the
floor at the side of the bed, lie still. By
and by you will hear the same drop and
roll and tumble, and it won’t be long
before it’ll be drop, drop, drop, and
roll, roll, roll, and plink, plink, plink
on the floor. Don’t get up. If you do
you might think you were struck by
lightning as soon as you put your foot
on the floor, for the chances
are that you would step
on a scorpion the first thing, and the
scorpion has a stinger that he carries for
instant and effective use. Scorpions are
just about as plenty there as flies are up
home. They hide by day and attend to
business at night. The scorpion isa
crab with a snake’s tail, with a spur on
the end of it. It likes to get in bed
with folks, and if it wasn’t for the fin
pans on the bedposts it would climb up
and get in with you that way, and if the
bed wasn't roofed with the sheet it
would drop on you from the ceiling.
‘When you get up in the morning you
will be apt to find a few quarts of dead
scorpions lying on the floor in front of
the bed. They all committed suicide.
After trying to get into the bed with
you a few times, and being tumbled off
the sheet every time, or stopped by the
tin pans, they got mad, and stuck their
stingers in their heads and killed them
gelves. A scorpion will commit suicide
on the slightest provocation. It has a
temper as hot and as quick as kerosene
Jon a kitchen fire. If one scorpion is
passing by another one and happens to
touch it there’s a fight at once, and two
dead scorpions are the result. Put a
‘l‘lundrcd scorpions in an enclosure, and
throw a stick or piece of dirt among
them, and the sgorpion that is nearest
to where the stick or dirt falls will turn
and dip his spur into his nearest neigh
bor, and in less than two seconds the
entire hundred will be mixed up in the
fight. The way their stingers and
claws and legs will fly is a sight to see.
As long as there is one scorpion alive
the fight goes on, for if one happens to
survive the other ninety-nine he will
pitch in and have it out with himself,
and the first thing he knows he is dead.
«Itisa fact that scorpions, or al-'
carans, as the Mexicans call them, arel
at certain seasons of the year as
numerous, almost, as flies. They are
within the cracks of the walls, between
the bricks of the tiles on the floor, hid
ing inside your garments, darting every
where with inconceivable rapidity, their
tails, which hold the sting, ready to fly
up with dangerous effect upon the
slightest provocation. Turn a corner of
a rug or table spread and you disturb a
flourishing colony of them. Shake you
shoes in the morning and out they flop.
Throw your bath sponge into the water
and half a dozen of them dart out of its
cool depths, into which they had lain
themselves away during the night. It
is not often that you see one of
the mahogany-hued reptiles that
is more than two inches long,
but they sometimes show wup with
the formidable proportions of a five-inch
length and all that it implies. There is
a smaller variety than the mahogany
scorpion. This one is yellow, and he is
ten times more vicious and dangerous,
1t is at midday that the bite or sting of
these venomous little pests ismost feared
a 5 the natives say itis then the most
_poisonous. The deserted old mines of
~ Durango are simply scerpion hives, they
- having bred and increased there undis.
b for sefrien. ;A Loy gears ue
ety o gWi
pressed over the wound, on which
it acts hke the bleeding eup
of the surgeon and draws the poisoned
blood .out. A hollow key has been used
suocessfully in the same way., Victims
of the yellow scorpion’s bite have been
known to lie for days in convulsions,
foaming at the mouth, and with stom
ach and limbs swollen as in dropsy.
Others suffer no worse consequences than
they might from an ordinary bee sting.
Brandy taken until stupefaction follows
is a favorite remedy for scorpion bites
in Mexico, and ammonia is also given
with good wesults. ' There is nothing
the Mexican or Texan fears more than
the yellow or black scorpion of Duran
go except the bloating rattlesnake of the
Staked Plains, and that is probably the
most deadly reptile of the American
oontinent.
Annimals That Sleep all Summer.
The winter sleepers are all pretty well
known. But owing to the estivators
being, for the most part, inhabitants of
tropical countries far removed from the
path of trained observers, we are less
acquainted with the species practicing
that means of shunning the heat and
drought of summer. Indeed, at pres
ent only one mammal is known which
does so, This is the tenrec, a hedge
hog-like beast of Madagascar, which re
tires to its burrow and sleeps during the
three hottest months of the year—these
months, it must be remembered, corre
sponding to the northern winter. How
ever, it i 3 believed that a West African
dormouse is a summer sleeper, though
this species, when brought to England,
hibernates, like its northern cousin.
No doubt, also, some of the sub-Antar
tic mammals sleep during the coldest
portion of winter, though as yet the
tuco-tuco of Patagonia and a gray rat
native to the Kermedec Islandsare about
the only two species of which this can
be affirmed with certainty.
In not a few respects, the suspended
animation of these creatures during the
intense heat of summer is even more re
markable than that which obtains when
frost dulls every function of life. Some 1
m'croscopical animals—the wheel ani
: |
malcules for example—can be dried up
into a dust-like substance, and yet re- :
vive as soon as they get access to water,
the germ on which their vitality de- ;
pends being evidently protected in some
manner, not yet clearly understood. In
South America and Africa various rep
tiles mstivate, if not in the manner de
scribed, at least so perfectly that their
summer somnolence is quite comparable
with the winter sleep of the northern |
forms. In the llanos or plains of Ve
nezuela, the alligator, the land and
fresh water tortoise, the huge boa con
trictor, and several of the smaller kind
of serpents lie motionless in the indu
rated mud during the hottest period of
the tropical summer. But their dor
mancy is by no means so perfect as that
of some hibernators. A marmot or a
hedgehog when in the depth of its win
ter torpidity, may be kicked about like
a ball, and yet, except for a few feeble
respirations, exhibit scarcely any sign
that it is conscious of being despitefully
used.
In Brazil, Australia and the Cape
Colony, lizards, frogs, tortoises and in
sects pass months of the rainless season
enclosed in hard earth, and in India,
many species of fishes, during the dry
season and long-continued droughts, live
in a torpid condition, embedded in the
indurated clay. Dr. Day has, indeed,
put on record instances in which fishes
have survived in this condition for more
than one season, ponds known to have
been dry for several months having
swarmed with scaly inhabitants as soon
as the accumulation of water released
them from their hardened beds.—2 New
York Sun. :
e i
Housetops as ‘Summer Resorts.
In a paper entitled ¢‘Wasted Sun
beams,” some >ne asks why the all-year
residents of our large cities do not take
a hint from an Oriental eustom and
transform their housetops into summer
resorts. Roofing suitable to our climate
can be made as enduring as pavement.
Flowers and shrubs would make a house
top a summer garden, and awnings
would afford shelter from the direct
rays of the sun or from showers.
o e ks 1 Dleiis ey
FOR FARM AND GARDEN,
CURE FOR POTATO ROT. ‘
The following formula is the best
known preventative of potato rot, ac
cording to Professor Peck, State Botan
ist of New York: Dissolve four pounds
of sulphate of copper in sixteen gallons
-of water; in another vessel slack four
pounds of lime in six gallons of water.
‘When the latter solution is cool pour it
into. the copper solution, stir thorough
ly, apply to the potato plants when in
bloom by means of a spraying apparatus,
80 as to moisten thoroughly, but not
drench them,
CUTTING AND CURING CLOVER.
Clover hay should also be cut early,
or when the last sets are in blossom and
the first ones a little turned. As to the
best mode for curing clover hay, an ex
perienced farmer says there are two ex
tremes to be avoided, viz.—drying rap
idly and too longin the sun, and at.
tempting to cure wholly in the shade.
It should be cut while dry and free |
from the dew and exposed to the sun
long enough to dry it partly. Then
place it in small cocks, where some ad
ditional drying will take place, and it
becomes fit for the barn or stack. Some
experience and judgment are required
to know just how dry it must be to keep
without heating or molding. If made
too dry it loses part of its value. The
relative amount of drying in the sun
and in shade will vary with weather,
ripeness and other influences; but as an
average about two-thirds of the drying
should be performed in the sun and one
third in the shade, although practical
men differ on this point.—New York
Observer,
| SUNLIGHT AND TREES.
~ The latest report of the United States
Forestry Department gives some inter
esting particulars as to the influence of
light on trees. Light is necessary for
the development of the chlorophyll, or
green coloring matter, and for the life
of all- green plants, especially trees.
Trees nearly always develop best in the
full enjoyment of light, but their
capacity for growing in shade varies
considerably. Yew will thrive in the
densest shade, whereas a few years of
overtopping Wwill kill larch. The beech |
will grow in partial shade where the
oak would languish and the birch die.
‘When planted in moist places all species
are less sensitive to the withdrawal of
light. Inthe open maples, elms and
sycamores grow well and make a good
shade, while in a dense forest they thin
out and show a scanty foliage.
Conifers, such as spruces and firs,
have the greatest capacity for growing
in the shade, and preserve their foliage
in spite of the withdrawal of light. It
has been found that those leaves which
; develop under the full influence of sun
light are larger and tougher, besides
“having a larger number of stomata, or
breathing pores, than those less exposed
to light. Experiments are to be carried
“out on this subject in the United States.
“We may also mention here a novel way
~of studying timber, which has been in
- troduced by Mr. R. B. Hough of Low
ville, N. Y. He employs frames of
cardboard containing three thin slices of
~wood, each two inches wide by five
“inches long and from one-eightieth to
~one two-hundredth inch thick. These
show the wood along the grain, across
it to the heart and tangentially. The
effect of light coming through the thin
slip is to show the structure and quality
of the timber, even better than if one
were looking at a mass of it.— Cassell’s
Magazine.
! 80-CALLED BUTTER AROMA.
' There seems to be a great deal of mis
i understanding in regard to matters per
| taining to dairy work, even among
' experts, and these misunderstandings
' produce confusion and uncertainty
among the practical dairymen who look
to these experts as guides and counsel
ors. One of the leading Western dairy
writers, in an article recently published,
gives as a rteason why butter should be
packed as soon as possible that other
~ wise “the aroma will escape.” This
shows an entire ignorance of the nature
of the flavor and odor—the so-called
| aroma—of butter. This is not a volatile
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aroma of butter is seveloped by time,
and gradually increases by an interna
change and decompuosition by which the
volatile acids—chicfly butyric acid—are
produced. And as this acid rapidly be
comes too pungent to be pleasant, it is
necessary to protect the butter from
change by immediate packing and se
clusion from the atmosphere.
TOMATOES BY THE ACRE.
Tomatoes yield the best cropsin heavy
loam that will not pack or bake. The
plants, except for early planting, can
be rased better out-of-doors, in garden
beds. Theground should have a dress
ing broadcast of 800 bushels to the acre
of good, well-rotted barn-yard or hog
pen manure, well and thoroughly
ploughed in and harrowed down. When
the season is well settled, harrow the
ground and furrow out five feet each
~way and put in plenty of fine, well-rot
ted manure at the crossing of the fur
rows, using about 800 bushels to the
acre in the hills. Tread down well and
cover with soil about three inches deep.
Set the plants well down in the ground,
pressing the soil well up to them. It is
best to wet the roots when setting, as
the soil adheres better. Keep the ground
clean and loose with the cultivator and
the hoe drawing the soil or hilling them
at each dressing.
Tomatoes are marketed by packing in
crates holding a strick or Winchester
bushel, made of two ends and one mid
dle piece, each three-quarters of an inch
thick, eight inches wide and fourteen
inches long; with slats nailed on three
inches wide, twenty-two inches long,
and three-quarters of an inch thick.
Good heavy masons’ lath will answer for
slats, leaving a space of ‘one inch for
ventillation between them. For a long
distance from market they should be
picked just as they begin to show a red
tinge at the blossom end; but for near
by they must be riper or so they will be
well ripened when they arrive in market.
Care should be taken not to pack any
cracked or wormy ones, as they spoil the
rest and injure the sale of the whole.
For Philadelphia market they are usu.
ally shipped in five—eighths stave peach
baskets, covered with cloth, which are
returned to the shipper. —American
Agriculturist. .
FARM AXD GARDEN NOTES. b
Raise plenty of roots this season.
‘Haste makes waste” in securing
Crops.
Guard fowls against hawks, owls,
rats, ete.
Keep a sharp lookout for vermin on
the young chicks at this season.
It is much better to plant a seasonable
crop than to plant what we have planned
to plant out of season.
A practical way of destroying the cur
rant borer, isto cut off the infected
wood in the Spring and burn it.
An experienced foreign horticulturist
claims that canker in fruit trees always
arises from defective nourishment.
Every farmer ought to plant a small
acreage of millet for the variety it
affords in the winter feeding of stock.
If the weather is dry keep the culti
vator going in the corn. Weeds will
draw moisture that ought to go to the
corn.
Don't cultivate too deep; the time is
past when ‘‘root pruning” is considered
the best way to help corn make a good
crop.
But few farmers have their ground in
proper order to plant corn. Many of
them wonder why they havea “poor
stand.”” How was yours put in?
Millet will be mature enough for hay
in about ninety days after sowing, so
that the soil it occupies can be seeded
‘to winter wheat or rye in the fall.
The cherry and pear slug can be de
stroyed by the exterminator or by pyre
thrum powder, an ounce to three gal
lons of water, applied with a force
pump. '
Brine salting is strongly advocated by
Mr. Nuttall, a noted English maker of
butter. He claims that grinding dry
salt into butter and leaving it to dis
solve is a direct injury.
A California fruit-grower is quoted as
authority for the statement that the to
mato, in proximity to fruit trees or
other plants affected with insects, will
overcome tho pedte. =ll o 0
Creameries are only valusblo to the
| daleymen whomthiey sarve when, they
| Bolug ke e b b Hphdls el
Pt e s e e e
! SCIEKTIFIC SCRAPS.
' Men are usually one-twelfth larger
than women. :
Steam firo engines operated by elec
tricity are suggested. :
A novel use of electricity is about to
be tested in sharpening the shoes of car
horses in icy weather.
The piercings of the new Cabres tun
nel met with remarkable precision, the:
length being 12, 350 feet.
Bronze cents are most numerous and
are made of an alloy of copper and tin,
but those of earlier date contain a small
proportion of nickel, which gives them
a whiter, silvery color.
It has been determinel that the
North sea contains two distinct kinds of
sea water. The re ation between chlo
rine and density is not in either case due
to river water flowing into the sea.
From calculations made by the coal
department of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company it 1s found that the weight
per cubic foot of coal varies according
to the size to which it is broken. .
Dr. William A. Hammond says that
some maniacs retain possession of their
reasoning powers, and thatitis a com
mon thing to find a reasoning maniac
setting himself up as a reformer. Nine
times out of ten a reformer is a crank.
M. Lombard supports the theory ad
vanced by Signor Sporta that vegetable
forms which now cover our continents.
have spread slowly and continuously
from north to south, receat species fore
ing back or obliterating those of more
ancient origin.
M. Beauregard, an eminent Egyptolo
list, believes that Egypt at the time of
the Pharaohs exhibited the mixed con
dition of combining the use of flint
implements with acquaintance with the
means of extracting copper and blend
ing it with other metals.
The evil effects of an atmosphere sur
charged with dust in factories have
been attracting so much attention in
England that the factory acts are about
to be amended, and a bill is to be
brought before the House of Commons
compassing an effectual means of pre
venting injury from the inhalation of
dust. ~
Professor E. Wollny, of Munich,
Germany, has experimented on the
effect of electric currents of different in
tensities and characters on the growth
of plants. Specimens of grain, pota
toes, carrots, &c., were planted and
subjected to the action of electric cur
rents until they reached maturity. Com
pared with plants grown under ordinary
circumstances, the result showed that
the electric, current exerted no influ
ence.
In M. Berthelot’s paper, read before
the Paris Academy of Sciences, he
speaks of a statuette and a portion of
the sceptre of the Egyptian King Pepi
1., both dating 4000 B. C. Portions
were analyzed and found to be pure
copper. From this he argues that, as
in the New World, the stone age was
followed by the copper in the Eastern
Hemisphere and that the bronze period
cannot be more than fifty or sixty centu
ries old.
The Vienna News says: ‘The practi
cal stamping out of small pox in Ger
many, according to Dr. Heryieux of the
Paris academy of medicine, has only
peen accomplished through re-vaccina
tion. Vaccination lessens the frequency
and severity of epidemics, and re-vacei
nation tends to make them disappear
completely. Re-vaccination should be
| practiced every ten years, and should be
performed at once when an epidemic ig
threatened, even though but a short
time has elapsed since the last opera
tion. Human or heifer vaccine nay be
used.” .
e e )
An Accomplished Millionaire, v
Eckley Brinnto Coxe, of Philadel
phia, is the most accomplished million~
aire in America. He climbs to the top
of his highest breakers and descends ta.
the lowest depths of his numerous mines.
He is a graduate of half a domwl,
leges and universities and converses fre
quently in English, German French and
| Italian. His fad is bibliomanis, aud he
possemos Khe taint *ejuable sollsellE
| 40inss and, Eiiavies s 6 oERRE
|da jochatof Bem By & e
| Xork. A ‘monograph on Gerome's
| atiting, ePotine Yot il
PR i e B S
