These plants will make an interesting addition to the cabinet of a Chapter that will take the trouble to look for them and preserve them properly. They ought to be gathered in two states,—just before they open to discharge their spores, and when perfectly ripe. They must not be handled so as to rub off the mealy or warty covering that some have, and should be carefully taken home in a basket and laid in a good warm place to dry. Some of the larger species soften and become so offensive when first beginning to ripen that they may appear to be spoiled; but if put in an out-of-the-way place, where they will annoy nobody, they usually come out all right. When fully dry they should be laid in pasteboard trays or boxes, properly labeled, and put into the cabinet.
I shall be very glad to name puff-balls for members of the Agassiz Association as far as I can. Specimens sent for identification must be dried, carefully wrapped in tissue-paper, and packed with cotton or soft paper in a tin or wooden box, addressed to me as below. Each specimen sent should be marked with a number corresponding to that of the duplicate kept for the Chapter cabinet, so that my names may be given with reference to the numbers. If any specimens are to be returned, this should be indicated in the letter accompanying them, and the proper amount of return postage included.
William Trelease,
Shaw School of Botany, St. Louis, Mo.
Notes.
Frogs' Eggs. I think I can tell Mrs. N. B. Jones (see April number) what her "jelly-like mass" was. Last spring our boys brought home similar masses, some globular, some in strings. We put them in water in a sunny place. In less than a week we had tiny tadpoles swimming about. Unfortunately the curiosity concerning them was so great that they were continually lifted from the water, and after a few weeks all died. We thought the eggs must have been frogs' eggs, but we had two or three varieties. I hope to repeat the experiment, and continue it long enough to see exactly what animal will develop.—Mrs. J. C. Kinear, Sec. Ch. 598.
Mocking-bird. One or two subscribers have stated through "Jack-in-the-Pulpit," that the mocking-bird, (mimus polyglottus) is not guilty of poisoning its young; but I have positively seen it done. The birds will feed their young for a while and when they find that it is impossible to get at them through the wires of the cage, they bring a poisonous red berry, which the young eat. I can furnish the signatures of six or eight persons who have seen this with their own eyes.—P. L. Benedict, Sec. 331.
[This establishes the fact that mocking-birds have brought berries believed to be poisonous, to their young. But it is unsafe, as I have before shown, to infer the bird's motives from its acts. We can not know that the bird changed the diet of its young "because it could not get at them," nor do we know that it knew the deadly nature of the berries. A jury could not convict of murder.]
Devil-fish.—And Ostriches. Last summer we saw a devil-fish of the ray family, genus Cephaloptera. It had something like great wings on its sides. These were called pectorals. From tip to tip across these it was sixteen feet, four inches, and from head to junction of tail, eight feet six inches. Its tail was about two feet long, and not more than an inch in thickness. A flour-barrel was put in its mouth.
We had also, fortunately, an opportunity of seeing thirty-six live ostriches. They belonged to Dr. Sketcherly, who bought them in Port Natal, and was taking them to his ostrich farm in Los Angeles, California. We noticed that the males were all black, with white tail and wing-feathers, and pink bills; while the females were gray, with white tail and wings like the males, and black bills, which were triangular, with one end rounded off, and not duck-bill shaped, as I have read. Their legs resemble those of a horse, only they have two toes. Their eyes were large, dark, and mild. Two males were said to be very dangerous. A whole turnip was picked up and swallowed by one of them, and it was quite surprising to see it gradually turning from the front of his neck around to the back portion of it, and finally disappear suddenly into his back between the wings, where the craw was said to be situated. Five natives were in attendance. Their features were regular, and their complexion dark brown; they had straight, black hair. One of them spoke English.—Mrs. E. E. Walden, Galveston, Texas.
Buttercups. I have noticed that buttercups often make a mistake and grow six petals, instead of five.—C.