Elk City, Kansas.
My paper comes on Saturday, and I read all the letters in the Post-office Box first. I have a pet. It is a very funny one. It is a horny toad. I found it near Pocket Creek. I would like to know what to feed it with. Papa found a little bug this morning on the sweet-potato vines. It changes its color very often. Sometimes it is gold, sometimes green, sometimes red. Can any one tell me the name of it?
Mary W. (11 years old).
Your bug is probably one of the small iridescent beetles, of which there are many varieties. As they move about in the light, the color appears to change, like the color of the head and throat of a South American humming-bird. If the appetite of your horny toad is like that of a common toad, it will prefer an insect diet. But it will live weeks without eating anything, and unless you allow it to hunt for itself, it will probably die of starvation some day.
George H. M.—A neat black walnut box, about five inches deep, will make a good case for butterflies. Glue pieces of cork in the bottom, on which to mount your specimens, and have a tightly fitting glass cover. You must scatter bits of camphor in your case, to keep away moths, as they destroy dried insects, and when your case is full, paste thin paper over the cracks to make it as air-tight as possible.
L. B. Post.—See Post-office Box No. 18.