m U8RARY SAN DIEGO TOPSFIELD TOWN LIBRARY 1875 THE WALKS ABROAD TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS FROM THE FRENCH OF % CHARLES BEAUGRAND DAVID SHARP, M.B., F.L.S., F.Z.S. PRESIDENT OF THK ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; HONORARY MEMBKH OF HISTORY SOCIETY; AND MKMBICR OF THK ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF FRANCE, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, ETC., ETC. NEW YORK THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 13 ASTOK Pl,ACK PEEFACE. THOUGH the majority of mankind are firmly convinced that " The proper study of mankind is man," yet they are also generally disposed to admit that some devia- tion from the various beaten tracks of existence is advantageous. Not very long ago one of the most accomplished of our medical men, Sir James Paget, in opening a session of the Working Men's College, delivered an address on " Eecreation." In eloquent words he declared this to be an absolute necessity for our system, and he laid stress on the great value, in this capacity, of hunting fishing, shooting, and even of games of chance. There is probably no change more recreative to the mind and body, fatigued by long continuance of daily routine, than natural history. In its pursuit, physical exertion in the fresh air vies with change of mental pabulum, and the wonderful variety of inexhaustible nature brings to the mind a feeling compounded of astonishment and satisfaction that is highly recreative. IV PREFA CE Unfortunately, few can undertake the pursuit of natural history without some kind of assistance. A certain amount of book-knowledge is found to be indispensable, and yet, to the mind not accustomed to them, preliminary definitions and statements about unfamiliar objects are apt to prove so dry as to smother the nascent interest instead of stimulating and encouraging it. The author of this book has endeavoured to meet this difficulty and to give a certain amount of intro- ductory information in an attractive manner. Calling to his aid the interest we always feel in human character, he has attempted, by intertwining this with a certain amount of more or less authentic information on natural history subjects, to produce a book that shall foster an interest in zoology. Without pretending that his dramatis personce are equal to those of Shakespeare, or that his scientific attainments are on a par with those of Owen and Huxley, we think it will be admitted that he has succeeded, at any rate "indifferently well," in his task ; and his book, which it appears has had a con- siderable success in France, has therefore been thought worthy of an introduction to the English reading public by means of a translation. The " science " in the book is but slight, but it is hoped that it will be found sufficiently interesting to induce the reader to look for himself or herself at PREFACE. some of the objects alluded to, to test by observation the truth of some of the statements, and to seek in other less elementary works additional and more precise information. The classifications mentioned in the book are chiefly those of Cuvier, and though now somewhat old are still valuable, for the work of this renowned, savant, though necessarily incomplete, was rarely erroneous. The translator has occasionally introduced information of a more recent date, and he has also ventured to alter a few passages that, in the original, appeared to him, for one reason or another, to be defective. For so doing he hopes he may receive pardon from the author and approval from the ever-gentle reader. D. S. CONTENTS. The reader is introduced to several persons whom he will frequently meet with in this narrative — Doctor Bob and his son — Mutual anxieties — Leon and Reue ; dissimilar but affectionate — The arri- val— Black — The cottage— The new comer promises to completely belie certain unpleasant anticipations IL Disenchantment— What one can do at Villers when there is nothing better — A new and peculiar definition of zoology — The labora- tory—Chestnuts without chestnut-trees — A new arrangement in teeth— An individual with 3,840 feet— How to fish for the launce or sand-eel — A sea-worm and its mode of breathing — Animal plants — A very badly educated creature — The way one should adopt to grow — The four branches of the animal kingdom III. The beginning of conversion — The star-fish — A curious invasion — A way of eating and a way of running, by no means proper — Absorption, and afterwards — Numerous posterity — Animals that double them- selves by division — What may be seen on a shell — An aquarium in miniature— fairyland in a glass of water — What may be found in oyster- water — Uncle Bob himself asks to see — Excursion in a new world — A fantastic waltz — By what means the infinitely small manage to play an infinitely large part — A good thing from Michelet — The conversion becomes decided viii CONTENTS. IV. PAOB A new character— How a man sometimes looks like a Muter— Father Lucas— His start in life— He bad been several times round tbe world, without thinking much of it — Return to the native land — What Father Lucas calls his shepherd's round— Why Leon enter- tained so high an opinion of the old fisherman — Unexpected news —Uncle Bob does not say all he thinks 40 A varied harvest— The sea-mouse— A microscopic array— Tricks of the chase and of war — Crustaceans and Kabyles — Changing armour — The danger of disarmament— Science disconcerted — Sacculina and its wonderful transformations — Ophiura — Holothuria — Chinese cookery— A suicide— The hermit-crab— An unedifying biography — An invitation . ........ 48 VI. •t for the fishing — The surprise of Black — A chameleon of the waters— Two lines from Deroulede — The cuttle-fish's gift of tears — A strange locomotive apparatus— Black dyed afresh— -An ink used for writing by the ancients--How Cuvier wrote and drew the figures of his "Memoir on Cephalopoda"— The cuttle-fish bone — classification of the Mollusca — The spoils of the net ; sea-scorpion, fishing-frog — Stomach fishing — Twice eaten — A singularly placed carpenter's tool— Progressive wryneck— A demented one — Sad accident — Kene wouniled 61 vn. Symptoms that may arise from th« wound of the weever-fish— The poisonous structures of the weever — ClHSsificntion of fishes — A fanci- ful etymology— A shark's breakfast, according to Muller— More strange names— Why fishes that live near the surface in the water cannot penetrate to great depths— Life in the abysses of the ocean —How a simple thread sufficed to overturn the theories of scientific men— Researches made by the English, Swedish, and Americans Explorations of the Travaillwr and Talisman — Surprising results — Remarks by Kene— The invalid's nightmare ... 78 CONTENTS. ix VIII. PAOB An uninviting form of cookery — Light talking and good working — A constant sign — Curious anatomical point — An eye consisting of many thousand eyes— A magnificent preparation — Three stomachs to a single individual —The classification of insects — Queer names again — Aptera — A flea's jump — Unexpected maternal instinct — The reputation of the flea restored — Diptera— Number of strokes of a gnat's wing in a second — The bot-flies and Helophili — Trans- formations of a gnat — Hemiptera — Lepidoptera — Butterflies have feathers — Depredators — Neuroptera — Devastating hosts — White ants — Coleoptera — Our friends and enemies 110 IX. Congratulations are the order of the day — Ineffectual strategy — Some respectable insects — Ants and their flocks — Dairy-farms of blight — Men, women, and workers — To be an ant is no sinecure — Destruction of a home — An eastern legend — Tamerlane — In what way a mere ant may sometimes decide the fate of an empire — Hew Mr. Leon increased his collection on this occasion . 127 X. More Hymenoptera — Republic and monarchy — Bees — Expulsion of the swarm — A swarm in a letter-box— Preparatory measures — House-cleaning and repairs— Propolis — Wax, honey— Saint Bartho- lomew's day in a hive — Egg-laying, larvae — Regal food — A mortal duel— Orthoptera— Cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, &c. — Ear- wigs—Undeserved censure — Extraordinary increase of locusts and Blattse — A supposed omission — Out of the ranks of insects— The Epeira diadema — How the spider spins his web — The trap-door spider, navvy, mason, and upholsterer— Argyroneta— A tent under water — The struggle for existence 138 XI. A sailor's marriage at Villers— Titles of nobility— A strange vessel — Good folk— An acceptable gift— The Albatross . . . .157 XII. A letter — Logical inferences — Pietro Franceschini — The Odysseus of a gendarme — An account of the acquaintance of Franceschini and Uncle Bob — The two barometers — A false prophet .... 163 CONTENTS. XIII. PAOB The Road to Touques on a fair-day— Reptiles— An example to be imitated by the market-gardeners of France— Doubtful forms— A reptile with a strong anatomical resemblance to a bird— Birds provided with teeth— Uses of reptiles— Barometer No. 2 seems likely to be right 170 XIY. A village inn at Touques in the year of grace, 1884— At the fair— The g.r.r.r-rand menagerie— A trade truly requiring a natural calling- Two anecdotes of tamers 182 XV. Return to the cottage — Two or three words about mammalia — The stomach of a chewer of the cud — A well-applied mythological name — Terror of Dame Theresa — Disgusting ! but a benefactor — Uncle Bob releases a criminal condemned to death . . . .192 XVI. Continuance of bad weather— Mother Goose, loto, or dominoes — A took of wonders — Rotifers — Artificial death and revival — Tardigrades, Kolpodes, Monads, and Vorticella — How to obtain a desired infusorian — Mineral, vegetable, or animal? — Diatomacese — To what the colour of some seas is due — Foraminifera — Polypes, Hydra — Experiments of du Tremblay — How a single animal may be made into several, and several into one — A naturalist never wearies 211 XVII. With Franceschini— Another barometer—" Good-day, Major ! "—A mysterious voice— Uncle Bob begins to fancy the keeper's house must be haunted— Jacob— A fable of La Fontaine realised— The Norman character makes itself evident even in birds — Rene's classification— Honest men and brigands— Day thieves and noc- turnal prowlers— The waders and web-feet— Climbers— Gallina- ceous birds— Passerine birds — Jacob sadly out of place— Frances- chini insists on a new classification 222 CONTENTS. xi XVIII. Three great categories of birds— Injurious birds — Birds of mixed quali- ties— Useful birds— Certain birds not to bo proscribed at first glance — Some conclusive facts— Frederick the Great and his cher- ries—Curious observation made in Paris — Those that eat insects — Some figures — An unjust and odious persecution — The worst enemy of rats, field-mice, and other rodents — Birds as protectors of sailors —An English law — Cormorant-fishing in China — A possible cure for the Phylloxera — A proposal from Franceschini XIX. In the wood — Interment of a field-mouse— The population of an oak- tree— Gall-fly — The origin of gall-nuts —Parasites ot parasites— The surprise prepared by the keeper — A park for insects — New treasures for the collection of Leon — Arrest of an assassin — Ocypus olens — A little-known way of butterfly hunting — Wedded couples should be well-matched — Saint Francis of Sales might have become an excel- lent entomologist — The grebe — A difficult problem solved by a bird — The return — A conjugal drama . 253 XX. On board the cutter Albatross— At sea — Medusae — Rene is again a "martyr of science" — Physalia— An old tale by Father Lucas — A Bailor's fancy that cost its author dear — Phosphorescence of the sea — How the Medusae grow — Alternation of generations — Arrival at Etretat 275 XXI. Villers and Etretat — The cliffs of Normandy— The power of a drop of water — How shingle beaches are formed — A "water-cat" — Way of getting rid of an octopus — Every nook occupied — The popula- tion of a rock — A new fauna — The various zones of the tidal region 283 xii CONTENTS. XXII. PAOB The return from Etretat— Inventory — A serious culprit — The worst foe of the Dutchman— A selfish rascal — The sponges of the Channel — Homeric combat between a negro and a sponge — Clams — A China- man in a shell — Signs of bad weather- — A recollection of some martyrs of duty — Old mariner and true sailors .... 291 XXIII. Epilogue 300 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE " AN ANIMAL ! THIS LITTLE BALL OP SPINES AX ANIMAL ? " . .14 SAND-EEL (Ammodytes tobianm, Guv.) 17 LUG OR Lou- WORM (Arenicola piscatontm) 18 "THE SPINES OF THE SEA-URCHIN HAD FALLEN OFF " ... 21 SPIDER CRAB (Maia squinado, Lat.); PKAWN (Palcemon serratus, Penn.); SHRIMP (Crangon vulgar is, Fab.); HEHMIT-CRAB (Pagurus bernar- dus, L.) 23 STAR-FISH (Astenas) 29 RADIATES (Serpulce, Ophiura, Rhizostomn, Star-fish, Sea-urchin) . . 31 ZOOPHYTES (Stony Coral, Sertularia, CeUularia) 33 BRYOZOA (Mois-animals) 34 SKRPULA 36 ANIMALCULE IN WATER 37 ' ' QUITE A WORLD OF POLYPES ON THEIR CARAPACE " . . . .50 DROMIA (Dromia vulgaris, Edw.) 51 SKA- CUCUMBER (Holothuria) 55 "A HYPOCRITICAL OLD FELLOW ". . 59 GASTEROPOD MOLLUSCA (Murex, Haliotii) . . ... .68 ACEPHALOUS MOLLUSC. RAZOR-FISH (Solen ensis) .... 69 FISHING-FROG (Lophius piscatorius, Lin.) 70 THE PHAWN (Palamon serratus) 72 COMMON CUTTLE-FISH (Sepia officinalis, Lin.) ..... 73 COMMON SHRIMP (Crangon vulyaris) 75 WKEVER-FISH (Trachimw draco, Lin.) 76 GURNARD (Trigla, Guv.) 77 HEAD OF THE WBEVER 80 SECTION THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE SPINE 80 SECTION OF SPINE AT THE BASE 80 COMMON STURGEON (Acipenser sturio, Lin.) ...... 81 SEA-LAMPREY (Petromyzon marinus, Lin.) 83 SHARP-NOSED RAY (Raja oxyrhynchus, Lin.) 84 SWORD-FISH (Kiphias gladius, Lin.) ....... 85 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. THE TUNNY (Scomber thynnus, Lin.) 86_ THE RUFFE (Perca cernua, Cuv.) COMMON CARP (Oyprinus carpio, Lin.) SOL« (Pleuronectes solea, Lin.) SEA-HORSES (Hippocampus gut/atus, Cnv.) PIPE-FISH (Syngnathus asquoreus, Lin.) TUHBOT (Pleuronectes maximus, Burbo.) SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. SPONGE (Holtenia) SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. SPONGE (Adeonema) . 93 SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. Eustomias obscwtis, DIS- . COVERED AT A DEPTH OF 8,800 FEET 94 SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. (Macrurus australis) . 95 SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. (Macrurus globiceps), FISHED FROM A DEPTH BETWEEN 4,500 AND 10,000 FEET . . 96 SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. (Euripharynx pelecan- oides). COAST OF MOROCCO, AT A DEPTH OF 8,000 FEET . . 97 SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE Talisman. (Melanocetus johnsoiii). BETWEEN THE AZORES AND EUROPE. DEPTH, 16,000 FEET . . 98 FOUR FACETS FROM THE P/TE OF A COCKCHAFER . . . 105 DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF A CARNIVOROUS INSECT (Carabus) . . . 106 HEAD-LOUSE, MUCH MAGNIFIED 107 THE FLEA : NYMPH, PERFECT INSECT, AND LARVA .... 109 TWO-WINGED FLY (Musca) 112 RAT-TAILED WORMS (LARVAE OF Helophilm). AND THE SAME INSECT IN THE PERFECT STATE 113 METAMORPHOSES OF A GNAT ..114 UNDER SURFACE OF THE PHYLLOXERA OF THE VINE. WINGED FORM. MAGNIFIED ABOUT SIXTY TIMES . ... . . ... 116 PEACOCK BUTTERFLY 118 SCALES FROM BUTTERFLIES' WINGS, GREATLY MAGNIFIED . . .119 DRAGON-FLY (Libellula) 121 MAY-FLY (Ephemera) : NYMPH, PERFECT INSECT 120 WHITE ANTS (Termites) : DIFFERENT FORMS 122 COLEOPTERA: THE BROAD DYTISCUS (Dytiscus latissimus), THE GREAT HYDROPHTLUS (Hydrophilus piceus) 123 EGYPTIAN SACRED BEETLE (Scarabceus) 124 TURNIP-FLY: NATURAL SIZE AND MUCH MAGNIFIED . . . .125 CORN-WEEVIL, MUCH MAGNIFIED ........ 126 WIRE-WORM: LARVA AND PERFECT INSECT 126 DERMESTES LARDARIUS 126 ANT-LION IN ITS PIT: THE BORN ENEMY OF ANTS . . . .130 RED ANT (Formica rufa, Latr.) 131 ANTS AND APHIDES 133 WASPS' NEST, WITH PART OF THE EXTERNAL COVERING REMOVED TO SHOW THE CELLS 13G LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XV PAGB SWARM OF BEES 139 FRAGMENT or COMB, WITH BEES AT WOBK ON IT . . . .141 DRONE, OK MALE op THE HONEY BEE 142 COMMON EARWIG 143 FIELD-CRICKET (Gryllus campetHs) 144 A MIGRATION OF LOCUSTS. BENEATH ARE IMMATURE LOCUSTS . . 147 BLATT^E (COCKROACHES), COMMONLY CALLED BLACK-BEETLES . . 148 TRAP-DOOR SPIDER (Cteniza fodiens) AND ITS NEST . . . .151 ARGYRONETA AND ITS AQUATIC BALLOON 152 WATER-SPIDER 153 COBWEBS AND SPIDERS 154 A CHEAP BAROMETER 167 TORTOISE 173 FROGS' EGGS AND TADPOLES PARTIALLY DEVELOPED . . ... 175 MEXICAN AXOLOTL (Siredon m>iculatus) . . . . . . . 177 CAPILLARY NETWORK. OF THE FROG'S FOOT 179 AFRICAN LION 185 POLAR BEAR 189 QUADHUMANA: CAPUCHIN MONKEY 193 CHIROPTEKA : LONG-EARED BATS 195 CARNIVORA: PANTHER OB, LEOPARD . 196 RODENTIA: SQUIRREL 196 MARSUPIALIA : TASMANIAN KANGAROO (Macropus bennetti) . . . 197 SKULL OF A RODENT 199 TEETH OF AN INSECTIVOROUS ANIMAL 199 INSECTIVORA: SHREW-MICE - 199 INSECTIVOKA: HEDGEHOG 200 STOMACH OF RUMINANT 200 RUMINANTIA: ONE AND TWO-HUMPED CAMELS 201 BEAVERS AND THEIR DWELLINGS 203 PACHYDERMATA : ELEPHANT 204 EDENTATA : TATOU, OR ARMADILLO 205 CETACEA : GREENLAND, OR RIGHT WHALE 205 MONOTREMATA: SPINY ECHIDNA 206 EDENTATA: THE GREAT ANT-EATER 207 ORNITHORHYNCHUS ANATINUS. AUSTRALIA 209 THE TOAD. " SCARCELY VENOMOUS EVEN WHEN TOUCHED " . . 210 ROTII'ER VULGAKIS 213 KOLPODA CUCULLUS 214 BELL VORTICELLA (V. convalaria) 214 GROUP OF MONADS (Manas crepusculum) ...... 215 Enchelys pupa 215 VEGETABLE INFUSORIAN ( Volvox globator) 216 DIATOM, GREATLY MAGNIFIED . . . . . . . .216 xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PACK FORAMINIFBRi, GREATLY MAGNIFIED 218 FRESH-WATER HYDRA ... 219 WADERS: WHITE STORK (Ciconia alba, Briss.), HERON (Ardea einerea, Latr.), BARE HERON (Ardea lineata, Latr.}, RED FLAMINGO (Pheeni- copterus ruber, Lin.) 227 " THESE HOOKED BEAKS AND RAPACIOUS FIGURES " 230 WOODCOCK (Scolopax rustieola, Lin.) 231 GALLING : REEVE'S PHEASANT, CURASSOW, SILVER PHEASANT, PEACOCK, GOLDEN PHEASANT 233 WADING BIRD : AVOCET (Recurvirostra avoeetta, Lin.) .... 235 A DESTROYER DESTROYED 239 COAST BIRDS 242 STORK 243 PALMIPEDES : COMMON CORMORANT, PELICAN 245 LONG-EARED OWL (Asia otus, Lin.) 247 A TIT FAMILY 249 NECROPHOBI 256 HEMIPTBROX (Pentatoma ornatula) 257 THE PROCESSIONARY MOTH AND ITS LARVJE, THE LATTER ATTACKED BY A BEETLE, Calosoma sycophanta, AND ITS LARVA . . . 259 CYNIPS AND GALL-NUTS, OR OAK-APPLES 262 STAG-BEETLE (Lwanus eervus] : LARVA, PUPA, AND MALE AND FEMALE OF THE PERFECT INSECT 263 CARNIVOROUS BEETLES 267 TIGER-BEETLES 270 COCKTAIL-BEETLE (Ocypus olens) [271 CICADA ^ 273 JELLY-FISH (Ehizostoma cceruiea) 280 OCTOPUS OR POULPB (Octopus vulgar**} 285 LIMPET ( Patella vulgata, Lamarck) ' 287 SEA-SNAIL (Purpura lapillus, Lamarck) 288 SUBMARINE FORMS OF LIFE FROM THE TROPICAL SEAS . . . 293 PIECE OP WOOD PERFORATED BY SHIP-WORMS . .THE WALKS ABROAD OF TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. -o I. The reader is introduced to several persons whom he will frequently meet with in this narrative — Doctor Bob and his son— Mutual anxieties — Leon and Rene ; dissimilar but affectionate — Thearrival — Black — Thecottag-e — The new comer promises to completely belie certain unpleasant anticipa- tions. " Is the train from Trouville signalled ? " " Not yet, Doctor, but the Paris express has reached Trouville, and in a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes at most, your travellers will be here." " That will give me time to look at the cuttings you have just made, and perhaps I shall be able to find in them some interesting fossils neglected by the navvies ; supposing, sir, that you have no objection," said a young man who accompanied the doctor, and judging from the resemblance between them, evidently his son. This conversation took place on the 18th of August. B THE WALKS ABROAD OF 1884, at six o'clock in the evening, close to the station, then in course of construction, of Villers-sur- Mer. The station-master, smiling, made a bow of acquies- cence, and returned to the duties of his office. The young man was on the point of availing himself of the permission he had obtained, but looking at his father he stopped at once. The doctor appeared to be suffer- ing from some scarcely concealed anxiety, and under- standing immediately the unspoken question conveyed by the eyes of his son, decided he would no longer restrain himself. "You can scarcely understand, dear Leon, how impatient I am to see if what I have heard about your cousin Eene be not exaggerated. The attacks of intermittent fever have caused him to cease his studies abruptly some weeks before the holidays, and his unusual delay this year in coming to our sea- side abode causes me a good deal of anxiety about him." And as Leon was about to reply he continued : " I know what you are going to say to me, and it is true that I examined him before I came away and found nothing seriously wrong. But then, unfortunately, a doctor's prognosis is by no means infallible, and in the weeks that have passed since then he may have got worse. However, in ten minutes we shall know what to think," he added, as if desirous of concluding, and TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. at the same time played with his walking-stick amongst the gravel where they were pacing. Doctor Boberral, shortened to Uncle Bob by his family, and to "the Doctor" by the people of Villers, although there were at least eight doctors in the neighbourhood, is a fine specimen of an old gentleman : pale, with long white hair, scrupulously shaven chin, and a kindly but somewhat bantering expression. His very restless grey eyes sometimes gleamed with remarkable force through his bushy eyebrows, as if to interpret the soul of his patient and penetrate to the very seat of his malady, and sometimes by a sudden change melted into an expression of extreme sweetness. With a toilet always unexceptionable, he wears a hat with wide border, the usual white cravat wound three times round the neck before being tied, and in his button-hole the rosette of the Legion of Honour. In fact he is the best and most benevolent man I know. His visit to Villers for a short time every year, was looked upon in the neighbourhood as a real blessing. Having been left a widower while still young, the doctor had devoted himself more entirely than ever to the cultivation of science and to the education of his son, and had by these means been able gradually to assuage his grief, though not to quite forget it. Considered one of the first practitioners in Paris, he now carried THE WALKS ABROAD OF on only a small practice so that he might be able to leave to his sou a few select patients, whose number the latter might himself increase when sufficiently experienced to succeed him. At the same time Dr. Boberral did not stint his devotion when it was required. It is a matter of history that during the dreadful period of the siege of Paris in 1870, he arranged an ambulance for the wounded and also maintained a separate hospital for cases of fever. This charitable inclination had cost him much, but it had also procured for him the well-deserved distinction of the red ribbon, and contributed more than a little to the renown and confidence with which this really learned man was regarded. Leon, who had withdrawn a few steps, in reality less to look for fossils than to compose his countenance, could not help sharing to some extent the fears expressed by the good doctor. He too had conceived a very great love for his cousin, perhaps because of the law of contrasts, for it would be difficult to imagine a greater difference than that which existed between these two young people. Leon was dark, thick-set, proud of his tender moustache. An unwearied worker, he had inherited the scientific tastes of his father, and was devoting to the study of natural history the few hours of repose that he could obtain from the serious studies required during the last year of preparation for his decree. TIW YOUNG NATURALISTS. Eene, whom we shall soon see, fair and tall, and excessively slender, apparently only maintaining his upright position by some sort of permanent gymnastic feat, — Parisian to the soul, playing the sceptic, and careless by nature, was never so pleased as when " masters " and professors would allow him to work or dream in his own fashion, according to the caprice of the moment. He was quite unattracted by the study of either the exact or the natural sciences. According to a favourite expression of his own, he could not understand how any one could seek con- verse with plants, animals, or stones ; and he pre- ferred the boulevard to the country, a scene at the theatre to a beautiful view, and could disconcert with a single word his dear cousin, Leon, who had often tried in vain to convert him to his own ideas. In the midst of the reflections of our two friends there was heard the long metallic note sounded by the horn of the distant signalman, repeated nearer and nearer like a reversed echo. Leon, the doctor, and others who had scattered themselves while waiting for the train, now gathered together with eagerness. Soon a prolonged rumbling was heard, a cloud of smoke appeared in the cutting, spreading its broad grey flakes over the blue sky, the whistle sounded twice, and the train was in the station. " Here I am at last," cried a gay voice, and at the THE WALKS ABROAD OF same time two arms embraced the doctor. "This confounded train was delayed— an accident on the line near Lisieux — three-quarters of aD hour's waiting in the middle of the fields. Are you really quite well, Uncle Bob ?— by the bye, I have brought Black with me. And you, Leon, how are you ? Are you always collecting and dissecting?" It is unnecessary to say that this human hurricane, incessantly talking and gesticulating, was none other than our Mend Kene, who was thus making up for his time of compulsory quiet and prolonged dumb- An old-fashioned omnibus with high wheels, and on its yellow and dusty exterior bearing, like so many others of its sort, as if it were the maker's name, this inscription : " Correspondance du chemin de fer," was waiting. Three places were reserved in this ancient vehicle; but the new comer having declared that he was " tired of being seated," the conductor, a colossus with rubicund visage, wearing, in spite of the season, a thick otter-skin cap, placed with a single effort the luggage under its cover, and the three friends quitted the station preceded by Black, a superb spaniel, who profited by his newly regained liberty to inspect as they went along the stock- grounds at the barriers, to run after and yelp at the fowls in the back yards, and to roll himself in the grass with thorough enjoyment. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. The road from the railway station at Tillers has fine trees on each side and forms a magnificent avenue extending as far as the commencement of the village. All three sauntered leisurely along it under the in- fluence of that indefinable feeling of satisfaction that one experiences in the country on a fine evening, speaking of the absent friends in Paris that Kene had quitted only that morning. As they went by, the peasants leaning against their door-posts respectfully greeted them by lifting their hats. When they came to the houses Black went ahead like a dog who knows his whereabouts, and a few minutes afterwards they followed him into the cottage on the sea-shore. "At last!" was the greeting of the old housekeeper Theresa, who knew from long experience, that a dinner kept warm is never enjoyed. The table had long been spread, and showed an inviting display of bril- liant crystal, and plates with blue flowers, while conspicuous in its centre was a capacious soup-dish of most appetizing appearance. uNow," said the doctor, addressing his nephew, " take off your bag, and to table, young men, if you please." Eene wanted little pressing, and drew one after the other from his game-bag, a book, three papers, and (mothers are the same all the world over) the remains of a cake, which must have been of very respectable proportions when he started; and although it had greatly diminished this did not TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. prevent the young Parisian saying as he unfolded his serviette — " I don't know whether it is the country air, but I feel already most immensely hungry." "Ah ! ah!" thought the old savant, as he rubbed his hands together, u he certainly is not so ill as I feared he might be." II. Disenchantment — What one can do at Villers when there is nothing better— A new arid peculiar definition of zoology — The laboratory — Chestnuts without chestnut- trees — A new arrangement in teeth — An individual with 3,840 feet — How to fish for the launce or sand-eel— A sea-worm and its mode of breathing — Animal-plants — A very badly educated creature — The way one should adopt to grow — The four branches of the animal kingdom. THE following morning before Rene awoke the sun had long since cast its beams through the curtains of his apartment, but he soon arose with the contented air of one who has slept well, opened his window, and took a look at the sea. There was already a considerable stir near the house and on the beach. An old sailor had fastened a net to some nails on a wall, and was mending its torn meshes with great strokes of a shuttle. Beyond was the immense expanse of blue water, infringed on near its edge by the fishers for shrimps, who went back- wards and forwards in the water up to the middle of their bodies. Some fishing-boats, locally called "plates," were returning with difficulty, and with much assist- ance by oars and sails, to the port of Trouville. In THE WALKS ABROAD OF the far-off distance Cape Heve was seen, looming vaguely as if half-effaced by a purple mist. The young man from Paris, half-dressed, gazed on the scene and breathed freely the air impregnated with the saline odours wafted by the morning breeze. After a few minutes of speechless admiration, " Upon my word," said he, "I could almost believe one breathes more freely here than in Eichelieu Street," After a quarter of an hour he went downstairs to the breakfast-room. His uncle and Leon were there before him. Naturally the question under discussion was, what is the best thing to do for the day ? " Suppose we make out our programme at once ? " said Eene to his cousin. " First there is the casino, entertainments and farces, players from Paris. By the way, is the orchestra as alarming as it was last year?" " The casino, or rather the wooden shanty you saw last year, is gone : it was demolished by a hurricane during winter. They are building another, which is intended to be superb, and will be opened in three years." Eene's face grew serious. " I hope our companions and the friends we knew last summer remain ? Colonel D , the unwearied maker of pigeon-shooting matches and of rally-papers ; Count T , the patron of polo and lawn-tennis ; our TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. friends L , with the ' three charming young daughters,' as we used to hear repeated regularly every Saturday by an ' echo of the shore.' " "No, all gone," replied Leon. "The three charm- ing young daughters are passing the season at Biarritz; Count T is detained in Paris by a domestic calamity and will not appear this year ; and as for Colonel D , we shall not see him again : he has been promoted and is gone to Tunis." The Parisian's face became more and more serious. "But your Villers is really a country of Hurons and Apaches, then ! " But immediately aware of his rudeness he added : " Never mind that ; we two are together- — all three together," he said, looking at his uncle. " We shall be sure to find something to do. Come now, make a proposal, you the elder. Mr. Le*on," added he with comic gravity, " I call on you ! " "Well, to tell the truth, I don't see much, unless we occupy ourselves with natural history, zoology." On hearing this word the other started as if he had received an electric shock. " Is that all .you can think of? " cried he. " Zoo- logy, natural history — that is you all over ; and you think that is amusement ! tardigrades, plantigrades, digitigrades, and other grades that I have forgotten. Now see, and I will give you once for all a definition of your science : Zoology is just like botany, which a THE WALKS ABROAD OF great writer, I forget who " (and as Leon could not help smiling), "yes, a great writer" (measuring his syllables with emphasis), "has defined botany as the ' art of calling plants names in Greek ! ' " u Come, come ! " said Leon, now laughing openly. " This is a regular philippic, a denouncement, an impeachment of us by the public prosecutor." Eene was not disconcerted, on the contrary, he continued more confidently — "I will allow you as much as this: suppose we were living in one of those far-off countries where extraordinary plants and wonderful animals are met with wherever one goes, then I would be your faith- ful companion, your Friday ; but here we are only four hours from Paris — four hours, when the train is not delayed at Lisieux, be it understood. I really do not see what sort of studies you can even pretend to make here : I suppose you do not intend to demonstrate that at Yillers there may be seen oxen, horses, dogs and cats, as specimens of domesti- cated animals, and as ferce naturce, partridges, hares, and rabbits, until the shooting season commences, of course. You may add that the natives wear ear- rings and cotton hats, and I believe then your work is exhausted." " And suppose I prove to you exactly the opposite," said Leon. " Suppose I show you that at only four hours' distance from Paris, yes, even at Paris itself, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 13 there are things of much interest in natural history to see and to study ? " And as Eene made a gesture of thorough incredu- lity he added, " Meanwhile we will take a turn on the shore. I take possession of you by authority, and we shall see who is right, who wrong. Allow me a couple of minutes to go to my laboratory and get my botanical box and some bottles." "I go under compulsion," said Eene, in a tone worthy of a martyr on the way to the stake. Leon's workshop, to which he gave the imposing name of laboratory, was a small square apartment, whitewashed and facing the garden ; on some tables various kinds of chemical and physiological apparatus, retorts, bottles, glass tubes of various sizes and dimen- sions glittered gaily in the rays of the sun. Farther on there were books, a series of carefully-labelled phials, specimens of the minerals and fossils of the district, and hanging on the wall here and there, boxes and bags, with quite an array of fishing-lines and butterfly-nets. In the middle of the room stood a large working-table with a microscope covered by its shade. A variety of nets were drying in front of the door, and Leon took possession of the first that was handy. " We shall not see much to-day ; the tide has been coming in for an hour already. However, we shall have been, shall have made a beginning." THE WALKS ABROAD OF Two minutes brought them to the sands. " Stop a minute, what is this?" Rene" called all at once, as he was stooping down to pick up from the sand a little ball of the size of a sweet chestnut, and covered, like that fruit, with green spines. " So chestnuts grow in the sand at Villers ! " "AN AXIMAL! THIS LITTLE BALL OF SPIXES AX AXIMAL?" "Yes, chestnuts, but not chestnut-trees," said Leon. " And in fact you are not the first who has noticed the resemblance ; almost everywhere this curious animal is called a sea-chestnut, though natu- ralists call it a sea-urchin." "An animal! that an animal ! a little ball covered with spines ? Perhaps it* is a fish. It might possibly TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. be so on the first of April, but this is not the time of year for such jokes. Moreover, if it be an animal, show me its mouth." "Here it is," said Le*on, pointing out in the middle of the flattened part of the urchin, a cavity closed by five little pointed bones interlocked in one another. "The jolly creature has good teeth, as you may see. It has indeed in this an advantage over ourselves, for its teeth, like those of the rodents, never wear out; or rather, they grow up from the root just in proportion as they wear away at the top." " And so they have no need for dentists. Wonder- ful ! And yet their lot does not appear to me an enviable one. To begin with, they cannot do much in the way of making excursions, as they have neither fins, nor legs, nor feet." " Completely wrong again ! Sea-urchins do have legs and feet, not quite after the same fashion as our- selves, certainly, for they have several hundred, dis- tributed over all the surface of the body. On a moderate-sized urchin 3,840 feet have been counted by a patient naturalist, or rather3 to use the scientific term 3,840 ambulacral feet." * "Not more than that! But I sincerely pity the creature, for if I may judge from myself, who possess only a single pair, it must be impossible for it to remain quiet a single minute anywhere." * The sea-urchins possess, moreover, " ambulacral brains.'' THE WALKS ABROAD OF " Their arrangement permits the urchin to progress in any direction. If it were still alive you would be able to see a multitude of contractile tubes terminated by a sucker. At the base of each tube there is a sac acting as a reservoir of water. If our urchin wishes to march, this sac contracts, the ambulacral foot is distended with water, something like the fingers of a glove if you blow into it ; the sucker at the end is fixed on to the ground, the other ambulacral feet repeat the operation, and the urchin is out for a walk. " I must not forget to add that this creature, so fragile in appearance, is nevertheless able, on rocky coasts where the surf is very violent, to pierce the hardest stones, and to excavate a lodging for itself even in granite." Bene" had, without thinking, put the urchin in his pocket and was no longer listening. His attention for the last minute or two was directed to two fishers. One of them, armed with a fork hav- ing slender teeth, was walking backwards tracing a deep furrow in the sand, while the second, attentive, followed him step by step, then suddenly stooped down, and, capturing something, put it in a box. " What a singular occupation ! What can they be doing?" said Kene*. Then drawing a little nearer he saw that the box was filled with small fish of elongated form, like eels. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. Directly one of these eels was brought to the surface, it again buried itself in the sand with incredible rapidity. " These are sand-eels," said Leon. " Their muzzle acts as a spade and digs for them retreats in the sand SAXD-EEL (Ammodytes tobianus, Cuv.). where they are perfectly safe, supposing no fishermen come to dislodge them." "And is it edible?" " Yes, you gourmand, it is edible when you can get enough of it. The fishers, however, prefer to use it as a bait for their lines." "And that old man yonder, making holes in the sand with a spade, surely he cannot get very much all alone ? Ah, what a nasty worm ! Perhaps that too is for fishing." A score or so of worms were wriggling in the old c lg THE WALKS ABROAD OF man's receptacle. It was singular to notice that each one had a constriction near the middle of the body, and the second part was not so thick by one-half as the first part was. In fact, it looked like two worms, a large one and a small one, fastened together end to end. " And what in your scientific jargon may be the name of this monster ? " asked Kene. " Arenicola piscatorum." "A fine name, certainly— euphonious, and easily understood: arenicola, an inhabitant of the sand; pisca- LTJG OE LOB-WORM (Afeiilcoli pueatonun). torum, sent into the world for the special benefit of fishers. You see that at the proper moment I can be an etymologist. But tell me what are these tufts of small hairs disseminated over their bodies ? It can scarcely be to prevent them from taking colds." " Xo, the tufts of hairs are not the furs of the lob- worms ; they are really their branchiss, or respiratory organs, if you prefer that term." " How droll ! So that, according to you, these sea TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 19 worms breathe through the sides of their bodies and by means of their hairs ! " Le*on might have replied that in many creatures, especially in worms and gasteropod mollusca, the respiratory organs are placed in most peculiar posi- tions— in Tritonia, Glaucus, and ScyllaBa, on the sides, in Aplysia on the back, and in Doris on the end oppo- site to the head. He would probably have made this learned dissertation, but was deterred by the fear of some ironical or sarcastic reply from his cousin. But the latter was at the moment occupied with an interesting experiment. He had taken a worm from the fisherman and had placed it on the damp sand. The worm, extending its proboscis, rapidly buried it in the sand, then, by contracting the proboscis at the bottom of the hole, the rest of the body followed, and in a few seconds the worm had entirely disap- peared. " A pleasant journey to you ! " said Bene*. Then in a lower voice and with a sententious air he added, "And, really, it seems appropriate that an animal that buries itself by means of its proboscis should breathe through its sides." The rising tide was gradually covering the sands, driving the fishers before it. From under every stone little crabs made their appearance, directing their side- long courses towards their special element. Bene\ THE WALKS ABROAD OF while walking, stooped from time to time to look at them, and, his curiosity being sharpened, he plied his cousin with questions. " Are star-fishes animals ? " " Yes, of course." " And how do they live ? " " Come along, I will tell you afterwards." "And this pretty plant, without any stalk, with coloured petals, blossoming in this pool of water? " " This plant is an animal, and the animal is called a sea anemone. But come along, or you will see that we shall be caught by the tide." "Really, really? Well, now, I have a great mind to pluck it." " Well, pluck it and see ! " But as he stretched out his hand to take it the anemone quickly closed itself, leaving externally only the appearance of a gelatinous shapeless mass, not, however, without having first squirted a jet of liquid into the face of the young inquirer. " Not polite, dear beast, not at all polite ! " And laughing at his misfortune, the two young men quickly made their way towards home. Uncle Bob was waiting for them at the door. " Eh, well, have you had a successful fishing to begin with ? " he asked. "A very poor one," said Rene, "three crabs, one star-fish. Ah! but I was forgetting; we have also TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. captured a sea-urchin, a beast which possesses on its own account almost as many feet as a whole squadron of cavalry, horses included. Where the deuce have I put it ? Oh, here it is, but the feet are left behind on the road." And indeed, owing to the friction of the pocket, the •"V. "THE SPINES OF THE SEA-URCHIN HAD FALLEN OFF." spines had fallen off. At their point of attachment series of tubercles were left like lines radiating from the summit to the base of the creature. The sea-urchin being itself a little smashed, some parts of its interior could be seen, formed of small pieces arranged side by side. "It is an ill- wind that blows nobody good," said TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. the doctor. "This fracture will enable us to learn how sea-urchins are able to grow." The two young men drew near with an air of curiosity. " All these plates," said the old doctor, " are main- tained, as you may see, by a very thin pellicle ; this skin constantly secretes a calcareous substance round the plates, which on this account alt increase in size together. It is by a similar, though much more complicated process, that the growth of animals and man is carried on. A small quantity is unceasingly being added to the existing material, and the young animal, or the young man, as the case may be, grows from one year to another without being aware of it." " In my own case, I may frankly admit," said Kene", "I have hitherto grown somewhat after the same fashion as that in which M. Jourdain wrote prose — without knowing how." Le'on, for some moments, had been meditating. " What are you thinking of? " asked his cousin. " Nothing of importance ; a strange coincidence : we have seen in our short excursion the principal types of the animal kingdom." "How, then?" " You shall hear : the fishes, ourselves, and the sand-eel are representatives of the branch Yerte- brata." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 25 " Are the representatives ! " cried Rene. " I really think you do the sand-eel a great honour." " We have seen the Annulosa in two of their chief forms: crabs (Crustacea), marine worms (Annelida). "The shells on which we walked, and which make up a large portion of the sands, belong to the Mol- lusca. "Finally, the star-fish, the sea-urchin, and sea- anemone are clearly and unmistakably radiates. So that you see the collection is complete." * " I see that I do not yet see. How are the radiates distinguished ? " "By the fact that their organs, instead of being arranged on either side of the body in pairs, are grouped round a central axis, so as to give rise to a radiate or globular form." "Very good. And the Annulosa?" u The Annulosa have a higher structure : their organs are arranged in pairs, they have no internal skeleton, but their body is made up of a series of rings placed one behind another, sometimes soft, as in the case of the worms, but more often hard (in insects), even shelly (in most of the Crustacea)." * The four branches here indicated as composing the animal kingdom are those proposed by Cuvier, the great French naturalist. Modern zoologists have divided some of these groups, considering them not to be sufficiently natural, and nine primary divisions of the animal kingdom are now accepted, viz., Protozoa, Coalenterata, Echinodermata, Vennes, Arthropoda, Mol- luscoidea, Mollusca, Tunicata, and Vertebrata. Some, however, do not adopt the division of the Mollusca into three groups, and accept only seven sub -kingdoms. — TEANSLATOB'S NOTE. 26 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 11 The vertebrates, to which we ourselves have the honour to belong," added Kene" himself, not wishing to pass for a complete ignoramus, "possess all of them an internal skeleton, of which the most important part is the vertebral column, or spine." "All, or nearly all/' " What ! are there then vertebrates that have no vertebras?" " Only one kind : an unfortunate little fish, the Amphioxus, is in this anomalous condition, as if to prove that all classifications are artificial — made, in fact, by learned men for their own convenience, and that in nature the transition from one type to another is never abrupt, but occurs in a gradual manner." " As to Mollusca — But I am afraid we must not attempt to study them to-day, for want of examples." " On the contrary, here are some splendid speci- mens," said Uncle Bob, opening the door of the din- ing-room, and pointing to a pyramid of oysters, with their ponderous shells, heaped upon the table. III. The beginning of conversion — The star-fish — A curious invasion — A way oi eating and a way of running, by no means proper — Absorption and afterwards— Numerous posterity — Animals that double themselves by division — What may be seen on a shell — An aquarium in miniature — Fairyland in a glass of water — What may be found in oyster-water — Uncle Bob himself asks to see— Excursion in a new world— A fantastic waltz — By what means the infinitely small manage to play an infinitely large part — A good thing from Michelet — The conversion become decided. the repast Kene* spoke but little. This strange world, of which he had just caught a glimpse, could not but more or less disturb his mind. A little ashamed of having hitherto scarcely even suspected its existence, he felt his usual carelessness opposed by the desire of knowing, and of being himself able to explain. That unseen enigma, that insoluble problem — life, in its wondrous manifestations, was already attract- ing him with its mysterious power. There was then after all in natural history something more than a mere glossary of queer words, and it might be possi- ble to inquire into the lives of the beings that surround us with the same sort of interest that one feels in following the plot of a play at the theatre. 28 THE WALKS ABROAD OF " At any rate," he mentally concluded, "as there is nothing better to do I can but try it, and if it should prove that I have not in me the stuff of which a naturalist is made, I can forget it all when I enter the express train on my way back to Paris." In this state of mind he went out into the garden, accompanied by his friend Leon. Almost directly his foot touched the star-fish that they had recently brought from the shore, and that now lay motionless near the door of the workroom. " You told me that this what-do-you-call-it was a radiate animal. Cannot you tell me something more about it?" " Why trouble yourself about it ? " said Leon, smil- ing. " You have already learned that it is not for eating." " We do not eat it, I understand well, but I should suppose it must eat for itself." " Undoubtedly, and in a most curious fashion." "As if there could be fifty ways of eating. I am myself only acquainted with one — the true, the only way, as in point of fact we have just exemplified : putting food into the stomach by introducing it to the mouth, and if you are greedy or in a hurry, doing it by two mouthfuls at a time. " " The star-fishes know better. The stomach itself adopts the plan of coming to the food. Notice in the centre of the fish, in the white part, an opening. Press TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 29 a little. Good ; there is the stomach. At first sight it has the appearance of a transparent mass divided into five equal parts; and yet I am not acquainted with a gizzard of greater power than it. Last year I had an opportunity of observing the devastation committed on a bed of mussels by star-fishes. They had settled on them by millions ; all the rocks were covered with them, and from a little way off appeared quite STAB-FISH (Asterias). red. When an Asterias wanted its breakfast, it came dragging along by the aid of its ambulacral feet and rested its stomach on the hinge-joint of the shells of a mussel. In a few minutes, by the action of the gastric juices, the muscles of the hinge were dissolved, the stomach penetrated between the shells of the mussel and carried on there a suction so powerful that in a brief time nothing remained of the mussel. The foot itself, although so difficult to detach, shared the same 3o TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. fate as the other parts. The stomach of the ogre then returned to its normal situation and the Asterias made a fresh move to satisfy its appetite. So thoroughly was this done, that in the course of a few days all the mussels in the locality were exterminated. " " What an appetite! This suggests to me another question, not a very delicate "one. I understand now how they eat, but — what happens afterwards ? " " The sequel is of primitive simplicity. The stomach having come out to take its meal, comes out again, when digestion is completed, to free itself from the residue. In this way it is never troubled by dyspepsia or digestive pains. The star-fishes, I may say in passing, have not taken out a patent for their diges- tive process, or the sea-anemones do the same thing. Another peculiarity I must show you: each star- fish is a real Mother Gigogne. Look," and with a stroke of his knife Leon opened one of the rays of the star-fish. The inside was filled with eggs, not larger than a pin's head. " How many eggs do you think there are in this one ray ? " asked Leon. " At least two or three thousand." " About that ; there are ten or fifteen thousand in the whole animal. But all the creatures of this kind have another and still more curious way of increasing their numbers. Sometimes one of the rays of the /%"-,,. r JS *%,V1 . pml * ^i Jli'ao TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 33 Asterias becomes detached, or a portion of a sea-ane- Stony Coral. Cel/ularia. mone is broken off. At the end of a short time the D 34- THE WALKS ABROAD OF wound heals, a new ray is formed, and no trace of the accident remains. In due course the amputated part, instead of drying up, throws out buds, and completes itself so well that the end of the injured BBYOZOA ( Moss-animals) . Asterias is that it is replaced by two whole and healthy individuals. " From this you may guess something of the prodi- gality of life in the bosom of the ocean. Do you wish another example of it ? Here, then, is an entire aquarium formed by a simple shell." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 35 In a small glass vessel, the bottom of which was covered with sand, there was to be seen one of the valves of a St. James's shell. On its rough surface this shell bore a strange population: some Escharae, like stony concretions of rounded form, projected their almost innumerable arms on every side, and these moved themselves in all directions in order to seize their unseen prey ; sertularians and cellularians, with finely divided branches, erected their miniature fronds in the water, covered with polypes like little flowers ; while fixed to the shell some of the tube-dwelling worms, twisted Spirorbis, Serpulae of whimsical lorms, displayed their many- coloured branchiae at the extrem- ities of their calcareous coverings. Some other more fragile annelids were lodged in the sand — Terebellee, Sabellse ; these had no calcareous covering, but grains of sand and fragments of shells agglutinated round their bodies formed a mosaic cloth- ing that almost entirely concealed them. Kene*, as- sisted by a powerful lens, examined all these details minutely. " Do you know what I shall call that," said he. 11 It is really fairyland in a glass of water." " Would you like to see now fairyland in a drop of water ? Here is some water from the oysters that you found so good. Let us look for a little at what it contains after it has been kept a few days." The microscope was brought out, and placed in a 3 6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF properly lighted spot. Leon put a drop of water on a glass slide and arranged it under the object- glass. "I also should like to see/' said the doctor, " for this is among the sights of which one never tires." It was indeed a marvellous exhibition. In this drop of water, scarcely larger than a pin's head, there was quite a world of animalculse, in a state of activity like a Parisian crowd on the boulevards during a holiday. Owing to their transparent bodies, the organs of these singular animals could be seen, and these microscopic beings, veritable protei, constantly changed their shapes, sometimes elongating themselves extremely, and sometimes becoming as round as a ball, and the whole twisted and whirled about, with- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 37 out apparent object, and as if engaged in a fantastic waltz. "The infinitely small," said the doctor, "perhaps more bewildering than the infinitely great. These are among the largest of the beings invisible to the naked eye ; and what lies beyond them ? However much our optical instruments are improved, however much the field of our investigations is extended, always and ANISLAXCUL33 IX WATEE. always new beings are discovered whose existence was before scarcely suspected, and we find ourselves still on the threshold of a world that we know not yet. " And none the less this unknown universe surrounds us closely, penetrates into ourselves, and develops itself even within us. It sometimes forms the very ground we tread on. I was reading only to-day that 38 THE WALKS ABROAD OF at Bilin, in Germany, they have discovered a bank of tripoli more than forty feet thick and extending over a considerable distance. Well, this tripoli is almost entirely made up of diatoms. Ehrenberg, the micro- scopist, has succeeded in measuring them, and calcu- lates their number to be about forty millions in a cubic inch. " That is something striking, is it not, my friends ? Does it not almost make you dizzy, and affect your imagination with a sort of awe — the sentiment, in fact, expressed in this profound saying of Michelet : ' In fathoming so profoundly the depths of life I expected to meet with physical necessities, but what I do find is justice, immortality, hope ! ' ' "While speaking, the countenance of the doctor was gradually transfigured ; his eyes beaming, his head slightly thrown back with the effort of thought, he was standing leaning on the table, not like a scientific man making an investigation, but rather a poet in- spired. Justice, hope, immortality ! These, then, are the supreme lessons of nature. This sayant, who had so often contemplated the implacable working of death, still spoke of immortality ; this aged man still spoke of hope ! The two youths listened meditating, deeply affected by his tremulous voice. A complete silence Drevailed. Leon was the first to break it. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 39 " And are you always longing for the casino or some pigeon-shooting ? " said he to Bene. " How soon shall we make our next excursion ? " was the only reply. Le"on was on the point of speaking, when a vio- lent ringing of the bell was heard at the garden gate. A new character— How a man sometimes looks like a Mister — Father Lucas — His start in life — He had been several times round the world, without thinking much of it — Return to the native land — What Father Lucas calls his shepherd's round — Why Leon entertained so high an opinion of the old fisherman — Unexpected news — Uncle Bob does not say all he thinks. . A MAN past middle age, stout, and notwithstanding his years still hale, of serious aspect, and somewhat embarrassed in his movements, owing to his best Sun- day costume, presented himself at the door. The country folk, who are sometimes as apt as the professors themselves in distinguishing genera and species, are well aware of a profound distinction exist- ing between a man and a sir or mister. The latter, who may be at once identified, even by an unskilled eye, usually wears a suit of cloth of more or less elegant cut, and is invariably crowned with a hat. The equipment of the man, on the other hand, is made up of a blouse or stuff jacket, a cap flat or peaked, or a wideawake hat, wooden shoes or nailed boots, more or less thick according to his occupation. Our new acquaintance might have been denned as " a man dressed like a mister." His trousers of blue TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. cloth, far too large, flapped about his legs, which were kept wide apart from the habit of accommodating him- self to the rolling of the ship, and under his dress coat, the large tails of which commenced almost at the shoulders, there could be seen a thick vest of brown wool. He wore a felt hat pushed down as far as his ears, as if to guard against the wind, and his thick grey hair was coarse and rigid, like the coat of the wild boar. Add to this, that, as a curious bit of vanity, he wore in his ears small gold rings, from each of which there was suspended a little anchor, and that his countenance, tanned by constant exposure to the sun, was sur- rounded by whiskers and a beard almost completely white, and you will have a tolerably faithful portrait of the new arrival. The doctor took some steps towards him. lt Father Lucas ! " he said, and gave his hand to the old sailor as if to encourage him. " But you are rigged out in your best and got up in grand style ! Something unusual and important must be going on." " Yes, Mister Doctor," replied the old man, turning his hat round by twisting it between the fingers in which he now held it. "I would even venture to say, sir, by your permission, something very serious." " Let me hear about it," and Uncle Bob opened the door of his study. 42 THE WALKS ABROAD OF " Well, what I wanted to say— The door then closed. "Who is this old sea- wolf?" asked Eene, some- what surprised at seeing his uncle receive a common sailor with so much familiarity. " A brave and noble-hearted man," replied Leon. This old sailor was indeed a brave man : on great occasions he wore on his breast several medals, dearly bought by his courageous acts. A cabin-boy from his cradle, like the other sailors of this coast, and apprenticed amongst his father's crew, his earliest memories were those of a fisher's boat, where he slept amid the damp nets, the spare sails, or the empty hampers. At sixteen years he was per- fectly familiar with the navigation of his native coasts, and when a little later he entered his country's navy, the bluejacket had soon become a thorough sailor. Such countries as Australia and China, seemingly most likely to cause astonishment, had been seen by the young sailor with an uninterested eye and without any feeling of surprise. The old sailors, during their yarns in port on Sundays, or on evenings at sea, while the nets dragged slowly through the depths, had spoken of such things and many others. His educa- tion had begun and ended in the year of his con- firmation. Naturally he had but little imagination. Thus the many nations, black, yellow, or bronzed, he TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 43 became acquainted with during his voyages interested him, but little. "Skin, more or less dark, clothes of a little different fashion : except that, people like you and me," these were all his ethnographical ideas. And yet, notwithstanding his apparently unemo- tional disposition, the love of his native soil had gradually made itself felt, and had ended, as is so frequently the case with sentiments of a painful nature, by becoming a fixed idea by which he was completely possessed. He continually remarked, " All that is not worth Trouville." In his childhood his curiosity made excursions into strange lands ; now that he had the lands themselves before his eyes he saw them almost without notice. His thoughts went to and fro continually between Courseulles and the bay of the Seine, the two spots that he knew so well but should perhaps never revisit. Often and often, when he sailed amidst the verdant isles of the interior sea of Japan, some touch of landscape, some tree, some trifle, would lead him back to his favourite idea. If some pagoda reared in the distance the outline of its quaintly sculptured roof against the azure blue, it recalled to him the great tower of Ouistreham or the twin steeples of Delivrande, and instinctively his ear would endeavour to catch the sounds of the evening hymn that the land breeze wafts to the sailor's ear. And often of a night, during the long hours of his 44 THE WALKS ABROAD OF watch, while the vessel, with lights aloft, cleaved with its prow the phosphorescent waves, and was followed in its wake by a track of fire, Quartermaster Lucas, his elbow resting on the stern, his eye losing itself in the distance, would seek the two white lights of Heve> that gleam each night sweet and clear like the looks of a friend. With such ideas, it will be understood that our acquaintance would prolong his time in the navy na more than necessary, and in fact he hastened, when his dismissal was obtained, to cast off the blue jacket and the lettered cap, to take up as in the past his interrupted fishing, to marry and found a family of sailors : it would be strange to see a sailor's son who was not himself a sailor. His prayers, however, were not at first all granted. Lucas had to begin with five daughters, and only after ten years had he the great satisfaction of seeing at last a son and heir. At the time our narrative commences the five daughters are all married to fishermen. The wily Norman has them all established in different localities, so that almost wherever the chances of his seafaring may take him he is sure to find a good lodging and supper, besides the pleasure of seeing his child. This he calls his " shepherd's round." His son had terminated this very year his service to the State. Leon sketched in a few words these details for his TWO YOUNG NATURALISES. cousin. He had certainly the best of reasons for holding the old fisherman in high esteem, having been himself brought back by Father Lucas one day when a treacherous current had carried him too far from shore. Although an excellent swimmer, Leon could no longer struggle, and was hastening, or rather floating, to a certain death, when Lucas in his clothes, just as he was, leaped into the water and brought him safely back, with considerable danger to himself. All the efforts of the doctor had not availed to induce the old sailor to accept any reward for " so natural a deed," but from this day forward the saviour of Leon had the free run of the cottage. When the interview was over the doctor opened the door and Father Lucas said to Le"on — " By the bye, 1 have stranded my boat between the baths and the cliff, and I think you will find some- thing to collect there. I was obliged to do it, for it is my last trip." The young naturalist looking at him with an air of astonishment, he added, half closing his eyes : " Yes, it is settled. I am to part with my busi- ness." "Is it possible ! And who is to be your suc- cessor ? " " My son, thank heaven ! " In this "thank heaven," there was an accent of fatherly pride as well as a touch of regret. 46 THE WALKS ABROAD OF To give up after half a century of efforts his unceasing wanderings on the ocean, no more to leave the dry land, was a trying change of habits for the old sailor, and a sacrifice rather than a relief. The poor old man seemed already to foresee that while his son would be afar off, and himself fixed at home like a useless being, he should often feel a long- ing for the sea, and would miss the waves with then- spray striking his face and seasoning and hardening his countenance. Again, and this not the least of his regrets, he must give up seeing so frequently the numerous descendants who loved to clamber on his knees, for paid voyages cost much, and by a strange anomaly there is no one in the world more stay-at-home than a sailor compelled to give up seafaring. As soon as father Lucas was gone, the doctor made his way to the railway station at Trouville, while the young folks, following the advice of the fisherman, went on board the Emily, stranded on the shore, to obtain a supply of molluscs and crustaceans. When the doctor returned in the evening, the two cousins were not a little surprised at hearing him make a long dissertation on the subject of fishing- boats, and at his explaining the differences between " a tub " and " a plate," a clincher-built yawl and a plain yawl, with the thoroughness of one to the manner born. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 47 What can Uncle Bob be thinking of? Is it possi- ble that the doctor has somewhat tardily decided, now that Father Lucas has retired from the sea, him- self to leave the hospitals of Paris and drift along without any special occupation ? V. A varied harvest— The sea-mouse — A microscopic prray — Trick* of the chase and of war — Crustaceans and Kabyles— Clanging armour— The danger of disarmament— Science disconcerted— Sacculina and its wonderful transformations — Ophiura — Holothuria — Chinese cookery — A suicide — The hermit-crah — An unedif ying biography — An invitation. THE collection made on board the boat had been superb, and in the receptacles that the cousins had taken care to provide themselves with, there accumu- lated one after another sea-mice with brilliant and silky fleeces, Chitons with imbricated carapaces, that is, coverings formed by scales arranged after the fashion of the tiles on a roof. Then various kinds of shell-fish : Oxyrhynchi with delicate bodies and spider- like legs; hermit crabs of greedy movements, only half covered by their shells ; Dromiae with grey and velvety shell and rosy claws; spider-crabs, whose curious carapace contains amongst the inequalities of its surface quite a world of seaweeds, of polypes, and of moss-animals — a marvellous sight when well exam- ined with the aid of a glass; and in addition a strange collection of the lower animals. Holothurians, called by the fishermen sea-cucumbers, because of TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 49 their elongate shape ; radiates* masquerading in the form of molluscs ; ophiurians with long slender arms radiating from a central disc ; Solasters, great star-fishes with twelve broad rays, and of a yellow colour, thus looking like so many suns. In less than a quarter of an hour their receptacles were filled, and, well- contented, they retraced their road to the laboratory. A sea-mouse was the first specimen that found its way on to the table. As Rene was examining its varied tints with much delight — "Look," said Ldon, "how formidably this annelid is armed ! " And with a pair of curved scissors he cut off some hairs from the Aphrodita, and placed them under the object-glass of the microscope. Everything in the way of harpoons, of pointed instruments, of straight and curved sabres, of cutting and perforating arms, that an armourer could imagine, was there represented — a microscopic panoply. "Your annelid is quite a walking arsenal," cried Rene. " But what a singular mania for a villainous grey crab " (this far from flattering epithet related to the Dromia) " to make himself an overcoat with sea- weeds." * The sea-cucumbers belong to the Echinodermata, and are now, therefore, removed from the Radiata by naturalists, though they were united therewith by Cuvier. E THE WALKS ABROAD OF And in point of fact the Dromia, like the spider-crab, in "QUITE A WORLD OF POLYPES ON THEIR CARAPACE." is frequently covered with living animals and seaweed that it carries about on its shell. There is, how- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 51 ever, this difference between the two : the Dromia is said to be provided with special claws for planting the creatures on its own back, where they grow and some- times completely cover it, while in the spider-crab the growth may be due to natural causes. The result, however, is the same, and enables stratagem to supply the place of agility, for thus covered they are able to remain concealed and motionless until some prey shall venture within reach of their claws. In connection with this it will be recollected that during the conquest of Algeria the natives on several occasions made use of a similar stratagem, and that 'walking bushes' glided unharmed during the night into the midst of the advanced guard. These children of the desert were no doubt proud of their invention, and had no idea that they were merely imitators of the miserable crabs. There is nothing new under the sun ! THE WALKS ABROAD OF Kene* had been reflecting for a few minutes, and now made up his mind to speak. " I was thinking— Ah ! but you know I am only a stupid fellow, and know nothing of these things. You won't laugh at me ? " " Speak out, and you Avill see." " Very well. Uncle Bob explained to us the other day the mode of growth of animals — of everybody, in fact, But how do the Crustacea, as you call them, all this series of creatures with rigid carapace, clothed as it were in armour, manage about this. It strikes me they must feel remarkably uncomfortable when their costume becomes too small for them." "And it so happens that these armour-bearers do not grow in the same manner as other animals. The metamorphoses of insects with their unyielding inte- guments, and of the crustaceans with their rigid cara- paces, are in fact a peculiar mode of growth : they grow by stages. " Thus the lobster before it becomes large enough to grace our tables, and to undergo the posthumous honour of la mayonnaise, has had to pass through about a score of moults. This is the reason why you have never met with a really infant lobster. Their appear- ance quite changes as they grow up ; indeed, this occurs to so great an extent, that up to the fourth moult they swim by whirling about, and they are thirty or forty days old when they first fall to the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 53 bottom and become walk-about animals for the rest of their days. Other crustaceans, before attaining their final form, pass through analogous metamorphoses. "The moulting time must be, I should think, a most disagreeable moment in the existence of these creatures. As a rule, the crustacean with his armour, like a knight of the Middle Ages, fears, so to say, no thing nor person. It sometimes happens that he leaves a claw or a leg on the field of battle, but he accepts his loss like a Stoic ; it grows again, and he knows it. But as soon as he has shed his armour the position is quite different ; while awaiting for his new cuirass to attain the necessary solidity, this creature, who was himself quite recently an insatiable Gar- gantua, becomes a dainty mouthful for all sorts of creatures, including occasionally some of his own kindred. Crustaceans have not the conscientious scruples of wolves, who, so they say, do not eat one another. It is worth seeing, at the moment of moult- ing, hoAv carefully they conceal themselves for fear of having to submit to the same fate as that to which they have submitted so many others." "A fair requital, as things go here below,;> said Bene" philosophically. " If it were not for that the lot of a crustacean would be a too happy one. " While saying this he was amusing himself by turn- ing over on the table a great crab, whose hind-body was covered to a considerable extent by a sort of 54 THE WALKS ABROAD OF transparent moss, something like agglomerated soap- bubbles. " Sacculina," said Le*on; "a singular parasite of the crab, and one that has for a long time defied the perspicacity of the learned. Indeed, it was only last year that its exact history was discovered." " Something new, and yet true ! Let me hear it." " With pleasure. The Sacculina, whose entire body is not represented by this moss that you see, com- mences by being a microscopic crustacean, a Cypris, who comes quietly, and as if meaning no ill, and fixes itself by one antenna to the still tender hind-body of the quite young crab." " Capital ! And what next ? " " Then it undergoes a change. As the habitation seems to suit it, and it has no desire to seek its fortune elsewhere, it establishes itself in this position, casts off its legs, no longer of any use to it, and replaces them by a hollow needle of peculiar structure. And it is by the aid of this organ, which is a perforator, though itself pliable, that the heretofore Cypris, turn- ing its outside inside, like a glove or stocking, glides gradually into the interior of the crab. " After this it can give up active life and live like a lord. It finds in the interior of its host both bed and breakfast, and this new arrangement suits it so well that you may almost see it waxing fat. This it does so thoroughly that its apartment soon becomes too TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 55 small for it, and it is obliged to leave some part of its person out of doors ; this part you see, and this is what the learned term Sacculina. I must not omit to mention that this discovery is due to a French pro- SEA-CUCUMBEE fessor, M. Delaage, and that it cost him three years of observation and experiment. "Let us now pass to another;" but as he was taking out of the box a magnificent Ophiura, the creature unfortunately all at once became broken. " Confound the animal ! Would you believe," added he, addressing his cousin, "that I have collected at least thirty specimens of this creature, and that I 56 THE WALKS ABROAD OF have not yet secured an unbroken one. Sometimes a ray detaches itself, sometimes the disc breaks up. Ophiura fragilis is a well-applied name. Let us hope I shall do better with the Holothuria. " This is another extraordinary being, with retrac- tile feet and a mouth armed with tentacles disposed in star-like fashion. But the internal organisation is the most curious feature in this creature. For example, the digestive canal, in which the stomach is represented by a very slight swelling, ends in the Holothuria in a small bladder containing — you will never guess what — the breathing organs. " In this country bolothurians, or sea-cucumbers, are known only to fishermen and naturalists, and no one suspects that they are the objects of a considerable commerce in the far East." "Do you mean to say any one buys such a thing as that ? And, gracious heavens, what for? " " For the manufacture of confectionery that sells at improbable prices in China and Japan. It is a special feast of the yellow-faced mortals. But, between our- selves, even I must admit that, all things considered, I should prefer something else.'3 While he was speaking, the cucumber, possibly disgusted at the depreciatory remarks that were being made about it, suddenly expelled with violence all the fluid it contained, as well as a portion of its ali- mentary canal. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 57 " Alas, another suicide ! " said LeVm, " and I believe it was our last remaining specimen." But as he turned his botanical box over, a large hermit-crab concealed in a corner fell out of it on to the table. "The last is the best," said the young naturalist ; and, taking hold of his captive by the shell, he con- tinued : " Here we have the most depraved, the most immoral, the most cynical, of all the banditti and corsairs of the sea." " And yet bearing a venerated designation," said Kene* timidly. "Yes, but very inapplicable, unless you are willing to imagine that the stolen shell it bears upon its back is a hermitage." " Stolen ! Is the shell, then, not its own making ? " "It is completely incapable of making anything whatever. This hermit is the personification of lazi- ness, and a shameless parasite, living at the expense of all about him. However, we must not forget (for justice is a good thing even in the case of shell-fish) that nature has been a little unkind to it. Its body is, in opposition to that of all its allies, soft and undefended by armour, except on the head, legs, and claws. Now look." And lighting a match he slightly warmed the shell. The effect of this proceeding was soon apparent : annoyed by the heat, the hermit hurriedly left its 5 8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF abode and shuffled about on the table in a most awkward fashion. " That is the best way of forcing it to give up possession," said Le*on. " Treated in any other way it is so obstinate that it would allow itself to be torn in pieces rather than quit. Obstinacy, however, is one of the least of its faults. " It makes its debut, when still young, by an assassination. Scarcely out of its cradle, it seeks a shell of fitting size and instals itself therein, after having as a fit preliminary devoured the owner. Then, undeterred by any remorse, it starts to seek its fortune, pillaging on all sides after the manner of the troopers and freebooters of the good old times." " A hermit certainly very like a vagabond ; but, when his shelter becomes too small, what happens ? " " He settles the matter at once by stealing another. Probably at first he took possession of a Turbo shell ; now that he is stronger it is probably the shell of a whelk or Buccinum that he seizes. The hermit does not allow himself to be embarrassed by so trifling a matter. I am acquainted with a collection in which there is a hermit that was found in the tropics, and has taken up his abode in a great helmet shell, such as you may see in the window of a natural history dealer. The claws of this hermit measured more than eight inches. " The animal is by no means one of restricted tastes, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. and if you place at its disposal in an aquarium some snail- shells of suitable size, it will take advantage of the opportunity and instal itself in one of them with- out the least bashfulness. In the soundings made at great depths in the Atlantic, hermits were met with that, probably because they could do no better, had " A HYPOCRITICAL OLD FELLOW." excavated lairs for themselves in the bodies of sea anemones. " Now you have an account of these hypocritical old fellows, and you will admit it is far from edifying. So we will change the subject. To-morrow I propose that we make a party for some shrimp-fishing at low 60 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. water, and if Neptune and the west wind favour us, we shall have a harvest. I say no more at present." Meanwhile Uncle Bob had entered, and with a happy face. " All is going well," said he, as if talking to himself. "By the way, do you know what Father Lucas told me a little while ago ? His son is to be married next Wednesday, and requests us in due and proper fashion to be present at the nuptial ceremony. You may be sure I have accepted for myself and for you too." VI. Start for the fishing — The surprise of Black — A chameleon of the waters — Two lines from Deroulede — The cuttle-fish's gift of tears — A strange locomotive apparatus— Black dyed afresh — An ink used for writing by the ancients — How Cuvier wrote and drew the figures of his "Memoir on Cephalopoda "—The cuttle-fish bone.— Classification of the mollnsca — The spoils of the net : sea-scorpion, fishing-frog — Stomach-fishing — Twice eaten — A singularly placed carpenter's tool— Progressive wry- neck— A demented one— Sad accident — Rene wounded. PUTTING into execution his project of the previous day, Le'on, carrying a net, and taking with him his cousin who, like himself, carried a basket slung over the shoulder, gave the word for an early start. As they left the cottage, Black, without waiting to ask for leave, raced on in front and appeared to thoroughly approve of this morning- walk. The two young men were dressed nearly alike : flat woollen cap, jacket closed in front, knickerbocker trousers — equipments showing, in fact, that their fishing intentions were of a serious nature. A keen observer would not, however, have failed to notice an evident difference between them. Le'on, looking browner than ever in his well-set-on red bonnet, was provided with a basket of refreshments, 62 THE WALKS ABROAD OF and in addition, like a true naturalist, had not forgotten to take some large flasks, whose necks stuck out from the pockets of his jacket. His somewhat heavy net was well constructed, "a net for a true fisherman," said Father Lucas, who had been entrusted with its manufacture ; but our young enthusiast did not appear in the least encumbered by its weight. Bene* somewhat pale, in a blue bonnet, gave the idea of an operatic Masaniello, and to complete the resemblance, he carried by his side a very miniature fishing basket suspended by a red ribbon, and flourished about with grand gestures a net with long handle, but itself only about the size of one's hand, the smallest, in fact, that he could find. The Parisian liked fishing but detested fatigue. Suddenly Black who, as we have said, was somewhat in advance began to run round a small lake left by the ebbing tide, and to bark vehemently. "What can the dog be doing?" said Bene", "can he too be making discoveries in natural history ? " They approached, and what they saw might well astonish any dog, or even one who was, like the owner of Black, in search of strange fish. In this novel aquarium there was an animal of strange form swim- ming about, and vainly endeavouring to find an exit to the open sea. Figure to yourself a bag about three inches long, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 63 surrounded by a broad border ; from this grey and gelatinous body a short tube came out, and above this a head of a shape defying definition, but recalling somewhat the head of an elephant, with two square eyes, whose iris gleamed like molten gold. The trunk (if we may so call the curious appendage at the end of the animal) was abruptly divided, form- ing eight short elastic arms, furnished with suckers. Two other processes, longer and more slender than the rest of the arms, each terminated in a swelling or dilatation covered with suckers. The animal was no doubt greatly disturbed by the evolutions and barking of Black, for it continually changed its colour in an abrupt manner, at once remind- ing Kene* of the two well-known lines of Deroulede — " II devint tout bleu, de bleu devint rouge, De rouge violet, et de violet, mort ! " * "This introduces you to the cuttle-fish or Sepia," said Le'on. u It is, like its cousin the Octopus, a great destroyer of crabs and small fish. These it seizes with its suckers as they pass, or perhaps destroys them by the stroke of its two clubs. Its beak you cannot see at present, as it is concealed behind its arms, but it is very hard and cutting (I speak from experience), and in shape is not very different from the beak of a parrot." * ' ' He turned quite blue, from blue became red. From red, violet, and from violet, dead ! " 64 THE WALKS ABROAD OF " Very good ; but that does not explain by what means the Sepia can so change its colour." " The method is very simple. In the interstices of the skin there are globules of different colours. And in accordance with the impressions made on the animal, these globules are expanded or contracted, and so produce the strangest effects. " But the most curious point is that not only can the Sepia become pale and change its colour, but it appears also to have the gift of tears. At any rate, their eyes, like our own, are well supplied with lachrymal glands ; but as for telling you what sort of event would be likely to bring tears from the eye of a cuttle- fish, I must admit I cannot, for I have no trustworthy information. " The tube which ends at the edges of the sac serves — But wait a minute, the creature itself is going to show us its use." The Sepia was just then close to the edge, and Ldon stooped as if to take it up, and seeing this the cephalopod contracted the tube and ejected the water it contained, and the rebound caused by this was sufficient to take it to the middle of the pool. " A most singular way of walking backwards," said Kene", and then going roundabout he adroitly caught the Sepia in his net and laid it on the sand. Black, who had watched all his movements, at once ran two or three times round the quiescent creature, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 65 then suddenly stretching his legs, he leaped forward in order to seize it. But the Sepia, too quick for him, ejected by its tube a thick black ink, that completely inundated the un- fortunate Black. The dog fled howling away, and without looking to right or left, made straight as an arrow for home. The two cousins were ready to die with laughing. " Ah, ah ! " cried Kene, " a useful lesson. That shows what one may get by quarrelling with those one does not know ! Poor Black, discomfited and dyed by a cuttle-fish. However, come here, doggy, and I will console you. Black, Black ! " But the dog did not hear him. Continuing his head- long course, he was already disappearing amongst the first houses. "I must not say much about it," added his master, " for I must admit I might have been similarly taken in myself. Who could have guessed that such a crea- ture contained in its inside a syringe full of ink, ready for use against any rash person ? There must have been at least a shilling's-worth. But I should like to know whether one could write with it." u So well," replied Leon, "that in point of fact, the ancients scarcely knew of any other ink. It is only since their time that the progress of chemistry has enabled us to obtain other means of a more accessible and less costly nature for use on paper. Cuvier, I F 66 THE WALKS ABROAD OF believe, was the last to put the sepia ink to an impor- tant use. As a fit whim for a scientific man, he made use of it to write his memoir on Cephalopoda, and to make the drawings. But I say, we are not making a bad bag to-day. I had already some calamaries and squids, cuttle-fish allied to the Sepia, in my collection, and this specimen, after it has been prepared so as to render the organs visible, and placed in alcohol, will make a splendid specimen. The only portion of a Sepia I previously possessed was their flat bone, with which you are no doubt acquainted." " What ! do you mean to tell me that the flat biscuits given to birds to sharpen their beaks on are obtained from these fish?" " The Sepia is not a fish." " And yet it is not a radiate ; still less an annelid; nor a mollusc." "Why not?" "Well, because the Sepia is far too knowing a creature, and far too complicated in structure, to take a place in the family of oysters and mussels ; as I am sure Black would confirm if he could speak. And besides, as you know, the cuttle-fish have no shells." " That is true, but their near relatives, the argo- nauts, have. Moreover, on such grounds the great slugs would also not be mollusca." " Quite so, although I admit that it did not occur to me before. But then you neglected to tell me the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 67 other day how the mollusca may be recognised and into what categories they are divided." "The mollusca are, as their name indicates, creatures with soft bodies and without either external or internal skeleton, for it would be going too far to call the one bone of the Cephalopoda a skeleton. Some of them are uncovered, others are protected by a shell. They are divided into four classes : first, the Cephalopoda, which have the feet placed around the head. To these belong the Octopus, the Sepia, the squid." "These certainly ought to be the most fleet of animals," interrupted Bene. u o 9 9 9 » " Because they have always their legs on their neck." * " Is it impossible to induce you to be serious ? The second class is that of Pteropoda, a not very numerous group of animals inhabiting the great seas, having a fin placed on each side of the mouth : examples, Clio and Hyale. We shall not meet with any of them in the waters of the Channel, so I pass them by. " Finally, the last two classes are named respectively the Gasteropoda, from the mode of progression of the animals that compose the group, the lower part of the body forming a sort of sucker or fleshy foot, by the aid of which they drag themselves hither and thither. * Rene's joke is lost in translation. To " have the legs on the neck " is in English to take to one's heels. Thus the Cephalopoda are, in French, always taking to their heels, but in English this is not the case. 68 THE WALKS ABROAD OF To this belong snails, top -shells or trochi, the cowries, the helmet-shells, and the buccini or Triton's shells. It is in this group that we find the mollusca of greatest beauty and most varied forms. Lastly, the Murex. JIaliotis. GASTEEOPOD MOLIAJSCA. Acephala,* or if you prefer it, the molluscs that have no head." " Animals without a head ! How absurd." " I am not joking. Have you ever seen the head of a mussel or of an oyster ? " " You are right," said the Parisian, a little abashed at his own boldness, "but I admit this did not occur * The name Acephala has suffered many -vicissitudes since the time of Cuvier, and the group of mollusca without heads is now usually termed Lamellibranchiata, or by some Conchifera. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 69 to my mind before. For this reason the Acephala may really be the most molluscous, the most stupid of all the mollusca. And indeed to pass one's entire existence in a closed box can scarcely be productive of much intelligence. But we have lost a good quarter of an hour between our mollusca and the Sepia, and the shrimps await. Advance, and let us try the fortune of the net." And the two young men, up to their waists in the water, plied their nets on the bottom. The first attempt was successful ; Eene brought up from the ACEPHALOUS MOLLUSC. RAZOR-FISH (Solen ensis). bottom, besides a handful of lively, leaping shrimps, a fish with broad, spiny fins, and body covered with thorns. An enormous mouth was the accompaniment of an extremely broad head. It was a bull-head, or sea- scorpion (Cottus scorpius), a veritable Quasimodo in the watery world. This fish is rejected by the French fishermen on account of its small size and very oily flesh. But in some parts of Norway, where the Cottus is very abundant, an oil is extracted from its liver, and is probably credited to the cod and sold as such. Both in France and Norway the sea-scorpion, as 7° THE WALKS ABROAD OF depraved in morals as it is unprepossessing in appear- ance, belongs to the detestable fraternity of loiterers and prowlers. Lying in ambush behind some bunch of seaweed, like the parties in question concealed in a doorway, it throws itself suddenly on some fish who may be passing near unsuspicious of any danger ; and FISHING -FKoa (Loph'ws piscatorius, Lin.). its multitudinous misdeeds have earned for it the cognomen of sea-devil, a name which it shares, how- ever, with the fishing-frog (Lophius piscatorius, L.). " This again is another wily and knowing fellow. You must often have seen this large fish in the markets ; it has a repulsive appearance, a very broad TWO FOUNG NATURALISTS. body with an enormous mouth surmounted by two long filaments terminating above in bright, shining surfaces. Possibly even you may have asked yourself what means a fish of such awkward form and appear- ance could adopt to satisfy its hunger. " Well, it is done by counting on the faults of other fish, in the same way as man himself only too often takes advantage of the vices of his kind. The fishing-frog spreads its snare, relying with good reason on the greediness and inquisitiveness of its neighbours. Buried in the mud, it vibrates the fila- ments above its head, until some fish thoughtlessly comes loitering around this novel bait. Then — you may guess the sequel. The capacious maw opens, entombs the victim, and the game is recommenced. "The market-women sometimes speculate on the voracity of the fishing-frogs, and purchase them at a low price, on the strength of what they may contain. The fishing-frog swallows its prey in a gluttonous fashion without any mastication, and they often find in its stomach fish but little damaged, and sell them to customers who are not very observant." "And is this done frequently ?" asked Kene*, for the idea that he might have eaten a sole fished from the stomach of one of these rascals did not at all please him. " Possibly oftener than you think," replied his cousin. "But let us now see what my luck has been. 72 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. Xo doubt the bottom not far from here is rocky, for I have found a rock-shrimp, or as it is commonly called prawn, the scientific name being Palcemon serratus, the saw-bearing palaemon. " You would never guess where the prawn carries his carpenter's tool ; it is, if you please, on its head, and does not use it as an instrument to work with, but as a defensive weapon. The saw is so placed that I THE PKA'WX (Palcemon serratus). a fish cannot swallow the prawn head-first without running the risk of being choked. The Palsemon is well aware of this, and thus from fear he keeps his face to the enemy." Leon was on the point of dipping his net into the water again, when Bene* stopped him by a gesture. "Wretch, that you are; why, you are throwing away a whole dish of fish ! I suppose, however, it would TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 75 not be right to kill these little plaice and liliputian dab-fish, for a little fish grows to be a great one." And he pointed with his finger to five or six little Pleuronectes, about half an inch long. " Look at them, well," said Le*on, holding them in his hand, " and tell me how their eyes are placed," " Like the eyes of other land-plaice — I beg pardon, I should say, other plaice from the sea. I fancy, COMMON SHRIMP (Cmngon vulgaris). however, that these have their eyes placed in not quite so straight a line as their larger relatives. .To what is that due ?" "To their peculiar habits. When born, they are symmetrical in shape, like other fish ; then gradually the habit of resting on the sand compels the fish to carry the head on one side, which thus becomes deformed and then quite fixed." "A sort of permanent wryneck, then! It is cer- tainly very strange. But now it is my turn. Another 76 THE WALKS ABROAD Of fish ! It has a rather mischievous appearance, with its black spines, and its eyes on the top of its forehead. Is it also a devil of a third sort ? " " Let it go, let it go ! " cried Le'on. " It is a crazy fish." (The fishermen of the Boulogne region fre- quently designate the Trachinus vipera, or lesser wee- ver. by this name.) Rene", however, put his hand to the bottom of the •tt-EEVEB FISH (Ti-Ucli'niHx ilfiin,. Lin.). net, but as soon as he touched the fish he rapidly withdrew it, uttering a cry of pain. "Wounded! and I had warned you," said Leon. " Fortunately I have brought with me some ammonia., as I usually do." And after rubbing the wound, he took his hand- kerchief and bound up the injured hand. " It is of no importance," said Rene", making, how- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 77 ever, a grimace that completely belied his words. "It is nothing." But the pain, which was very acute, soon extended to his arm, and a nervous shivering caused his teeth to chatter, almost as if with intense cold. GUBNARD (Trigla, Cuv.). "Let us get back as quickly as possible," said Le"on ; " it is the best thing we can do now." And taking the two nets, with the wounded arm resting on his shoulder, and feeling seriously grieved, he followed the road that Black had traversed a little while before. VII. •Symptoms that may arise from the wound of the -weever-fish— The poison- ous structures of the weever — Classification of fishes — A fanciful etymovogy — A shark's breakfast, according to Muller — More strange names — Why fishes that live near the surface in the water cannot pene- trate to great depths — L/ife in the abysses of the ocean — How a simple thread sufficed to overturn the theories of scientific men — Researches made by the English, Swedish, and Ameri-jans. Explorations of the Travailleur and Talisman — Surprising results — Remarks by Rene — The invalid's nightmare. THE prick of the smaller weever-fish is not danger- ous if cauterised at once. Nevertheless the doctor thought it advisable to slightly open the wound, and then, having dressed it, prescribed two or three days' rest for the patient. The seaside excursions were therefore for a time postponed. " You may congratulate yourself on having escaped so easily," said the doctor, as he placed the last bandage in its position. "I have seen some cases, where the wound was deeper and not attended to in time, in which erysipelas and mortification ensued, and the injured finger required amputation. " The new naturalist made a rather awkward grimace. " I suppose you are quite sure, Uncle Bob, that it will not come to that, this time ? " TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 79 " Egad ! If I were at all uneasy, do you think 1 should have said anything to you about it ? " Kene' was soothed by this argument. " Is it then a real poison, like that of the viper, that exists in the sting of this horrid creature, the Trachi- nus viper a ? " said he. u I know nothing on the subject," said Le'on. " A good deal of inquiry has been devoted to it, but up to the present time, without very much result, I believe." " But I know," said the doctor. " The poisonous instrument of the weever is now understood, but it is only quite recently ; * for until now its delicate structure had caused it to escape the researches of investigators." The worthy gentleman then placed his glasses in position on his nose, took up a pencil and a large sheet of white paper, so as to be able to complete his demonstration by an off-hand sketch, and commenced as follows : — uThe apparatus in question consists of a very strong spine, divided internally into two channels, and covered at its extremity by a membrane. This membrane is apparently arranged in such a manner as to prevent the escape of the poison under ordinary * " Recherches faites au Laboratoire de Physiologic maritime du Havre," par M. A. Bottard, presentees, comme these inaugurale, par M. A. Gressin, et editees sous le titre : Contribution a T etude de Fappareil a venin chez lea poisson* du genre Vive. A. Daw editeur. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. circumstances. Each of these channels terminates at its base in a sort of conical cavity, filled by a whitish sub- HKAT) OF THE WEEVKB. o. Sheath of the spine. E, Spine, c, Follicle wi SECTION THBOTTGH THE MIDDLE OF THE SPINE. v, Blood-vessels, p, Skin and connective tissue. 0, Prolongation of gland. SECTION OF SriXE AT THE BASE. P, Skin. E, Cartilage. c, Gland-cells, or, Granular part, a, Gland with epithelial contents and connective envelope, in the cartilage. stance — a sort of gland formed by cells. Some of these are very large, and some have the appearance of having TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. been ruptured by the pressure of the liquid within them. "This liquid is the poison. If one touches the extremity of the spine with the finger" (Eene here made a gesture indicating that to have done it once was quite sufficient) " one soon sees exude at the tip SEA-LAMPEEY (Petromyzon marinus, Lin.). a limpid drop, of a bluish colour when the animal is living, but opalescent after it has been dead some hours. As to the nature of the poison, there is reason for believing that it produces nervous spasms." "How annoying ! And I, too, who was taking so well to zoology ! However, I have now the right to consider myself a martyr to science ; and meanwhile 84 THE WALKS ABROAD OF I request that I may be instructed in the method of the classification and determination of fishes, that a similar misfortune shall not happen to me again." " "With pleasure," said Leon. " Fishes are divided into two great classes, the bony fishes, and the carti- laginous fishes." " So that in order to recognise them one must first SHABP-NOSED BAY (Raja oxyrhyndtHs, Lin.). dissect them ? Not a convenient method at all. How- ever, let us continue." "The cartilaginous fishes are themselves divided into three orders: — " 1. The sturgeons. " 2. The Cyclostomi, or suckers, in which the mouth is suctorial. Type, the lamprey. " 3. The selachian fishes (rays, sharks, sea-hounds): a family essentially voracious, and great feeders." TWO YOUNG ATATURALISTS. "By the way, do you know what is the etymology of the word requin ?" (the French for shark). "Well, it is from the Latin word requiem, because when a man falls into the sea near a shark, the requiem or office for the dead may be said for him. These fishes are not epicures, and their voracity, as SWOKD-FISH (Xiphiax gladiiis, Lin.). everybody knows, induces them to seize on all kinds of food. And as may be supposed, many tales, more or less improbable, have arisen from this. For instance, the Danish naturalist, Miiller, gravely states that in the Mediterranean, near St. Margaret's Isle, a shark was captured weighing more than fifteen hun- 86 THE WALKS ABROAD OF dred pounds, and in the body of the said shark there was the corpse of a horse quite entire." " With the four shoes on the feet ? That appears to me rather difficult of digestion." " However that may be, the cartilaginous fishes comprise the sharks, sturgeons, and lampreys." THE TUNNY (Scomber thijuitus, Lin.). "And how do you distinguish the bony fishes ?" " By the position of the fins and of the gills, and the form of the jaws. And it is from these that their uncouth names are derived, almost enough to make you shudder : to begin with, the Acanthopterygii, the dorsal fin of which is furnished with spiny rays : ex- amples, the gurnard, the tunny, the sword-fish. Next TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. the Malacopterygii, which, according as their ventral fins are placed more or less backwards, are called abdomi- nales (carp, pike, salmon, herrings), subbranchii (cod, whiting, flat-fish) ; if these fins are altogether absent, as in the eels, they are called Apodes. Finally we come to the Lophobranchii, with the gills placed in THE BUFF (Perca cerntia, Cuv.). tufts (Hippocampus, or sea-horses), and the Plectog- nathi, a small family of fish with the maxillary and intermaxillary bones united : examples, the Diodon, or porcupine fish. That is the end of the puzzle." " Eeally, you are not too exacting. But the jargon is not merely Greek, it is Ivirghise or Cossack — such TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. words as acanthopt . . , and malacopt . . ; and as in the matter of all foreign languages my education has been COMMON CAEP (Cijpiinus carpio, Lin.). equally neglected, please talk to me of marine animals for the future in my own tongue. Happy fishes ! " SOLE (Pleuronectes solea, Lin.). added he with a sigh of envy, " they have indeed plenty of elbow-room, and must be able to make magnificent excursions in their immense domain." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. "Much less than you suppose/' said Uncle Bob. " Each kind of fish, like the terrestrial animals, has its area of distribution, beyond which it cannot pass. In the case of many species the great currents of the ocean form an impassable barrier. Here is an instance of it. Formerly the shoals of. herring came by way TUEBOT (PJeiironectes max t mm, Burbo.). of the North Sea, along the coasts as far as the mouth of the Seine, but at present they scarcely come beyond Etretat. Some imperceptible change in the condition of the bottom, in the composition of the water, or perhaps in the direction of the currents, and these innumerable hosts at once quit their old habits and change their route." THE WALKS ABROAD OF " But probably they obtain their compensation by making some fresh excursions at greater depths. There must be scattered over the ocean some im- mensely deep places ; and when a fish is tired of the surface, I imagine there is nothing to prevent his SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF TILE ' ' TALISMAN. ' ' SPONGE (Holtmid). going lower down and ruralising at a depth of say eight or ten thousand feet." '* No, no ! This very year some curious observations have been made on this subject. Without being a great physicist, you may be aware that the pressure increases in proportion to the depth. Well, it was desired to find out how fish behave at pressures of TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 93 two hundred, three hundred, and even five hundred atmospheres. The result of the experiments proved that fish that live near the surface can only descend to a comparatively slight depth; under an increased pressure they die ; and — this is very remarkable — the water being forced into their tissues, their body SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE " TALISMAN." SPONGE ( becomes rigid and brittle as glass. Naturally, the simpler the organisation of the creatures, the greater is their power of resistance, and a pressure that is sufficiently great to kill a fish only stuns a crab, and apparently does not produce much effect on a radiate or a mollusc." 94 THE WALKS ABROAD OF "Under such conditions life must be fearfully monotonous at these great depths. A dreadful dark- ness, a solemn silence, and the only inhabitants two pallid star -fish and three colourless anemones. Pheugh ! it makes me shudder only to think of it." " Until the last few years every one would have agreed with you, including even the most accomplished STJKStAEIXE EXPLORATIONS OF THE " TALISMAN." Eltsto DISCOVERED AT A DEPTH OF 8,800 FEET. naturalists. Judging from what they could see, they had decided that life was impossible at great depths, and had anyone ventured to say the contrary, they would, in a professional and mathematical manner, have proved that he knew nothing about it and was a fool." " Ignorant men of knowledge ! But who, then, demonstrated their error?" TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 95 " A thread. In 1861 the submarine cable laid between Sardinia and Algeria broke, at a depth of more than 6,500 feet. It was fished up, and you may imagine the astonishment of naturalists when there was found adhering to this cable a whole colony of polypes, of annelids, and of shells. Some of the species thus discovered were unknown in the Mediter- STTBMAKINE EXPLOBATION S OF THE "TALISMAN. ranean waters, and others had been met with pre- viously only in the state of fossils. So that this was greeted as a happy revelation, and Milne-Edwards,* feo whom the pieces of the cable had been confided, went so far as to say that ' such discoveries were well * Milne-Edwards, one of the chief of the naturalists of France, has recently died, and the author of the original work has inserted a note announcing the fact, and expressing the respect and esteem in which he was held, as well as the regret felt at his loss. <)6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF worth a cable broken, and that it was to be hoped that similar accidents would occur again.' u Since this occurrence the English, Swedish, and American peoples have fitted out ships for sounding and dredging, with the object of revealing the won- derful secrets of the ocean depths. " The Government of France has held it a point of SUBMARINE EXPLORATION o Ui' XHii ' XAi.ls.MAN.' Miid'H i'l/.<, f/lobu'Cps. FISHED FBOM A DEPTH BETWEEN' 4,500 AND 10,000 FEET. honour not to be left behind, and in 1880 a despatch- boat, the Travailleur, made its first voyage for this purpose in the Bay of Biscay. The results obtained were so satisfactory that it was decided to make a second campaign in the Mediterranean Sea, and then' a third in the neighbourhood of the Canary Islands. And quite recently the Travailleur and the Talisman TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 97 made an exploration in the Atlantic, and the spoils they obtained were exhibited in one of the galleries of the Museum of Natural History at Paris. "No doubt you, who though so mocking are yet of an inquiring turn of mind, visited this exhibition. It was the fashion in Paris to go there. "There were some true marvels, and the species that had been previously known only in a fossil state, SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE "TALISMAN." Eurlplifli-1/n COAST OF MAROCCO, AT A DEPTH OF 8,000 FEET. were in variety of form and beauty of colouring not a whit behind those that were already familiar to naturalists. " There were siliceous sponges, Holtenia, that might have been taken for birds' -nests, or cups made with braided threads of glass. Other sponges, by the H q8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF strange shape of their skeletons, recalled the comb made by bees. And farther on, side by side with dense copses of corals, there were Echinodermata, star-fishes, radiates of all sizes, forms, and colours, such as naturalist had never seen even in dreams before. And no doubt among the numerous horde of crustaceans, you noticed a collection of shrimps of a SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS OF THE "TALISMAN." MeldHeoCetHfl joltnsoni. BETWEEN THE AZORES AND EUROPE. DEPTH, 16,000 FEET. to carmine colour, some of which measured no less than eight inches in length ? " "Certainly," said Kene, "and I can admit freely that it was these shrimps that most impressed me, for I could not help thinking of the splendid effect they would produce in the window of one of the restaurants of the Palais Koval." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 99 " And the savants of the expedition, rumour says, did not think it necessary to abstain from tasting them. Whether this was actually the case or not, the collection did not suffer from it, and the materials brought back by the expedition will require at least ten years of study to work them out. " You remarked a little while since that the depths of the sea must be absolutely dark. Well, the fish overcome this difficulty by lighting it themselves, and by carrying their lamps about with them. Many fish are furnished with luminous plates, and almost all the inferior forms are phosphorescent : for instance, the Brisingia, a magnificent star-fish which derives its name from the favourite darling of a Scandinavian divinity." " What a strange world ! Is the Trachinus viper a found among these fishes ? I mean, are the fishes like those we are acquainted with ? " " Not altogether so," said the doctor. " Indeed this was one of the things that caused some surprise to the naturalists of the expedition. The fishes found at great depths are soft, without rigidity. To obtain the necessary firmness they require to be submitted to a pressure of several hundred atmospheres. When re- lieved of this pressure, they decompose and pass into the condition of a gelatinous mass." u It is certainly a great pity," said Kene, "that we cannot actually study these things for ourselves on TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. the spot, like the Captain Nemo of Jules Verne. How- ever, seeing the constant progress made by science, I shall not be surprised if we succeed in doing this some day." The following day, a feverish attack, induced to some extent by the venom of the Trachinus vipera brought a singular dream to the young Parisian. Having been shot violently into space, he was revolv- ing through unknown abysses. In the midst of phosphorescent monsters great star-fishes vibrated their arms, lighted up as if by some electric light ; strange Echinodermata were seen, 'scattered here and there, as if portions of heraldic designs belonging to another world ; while, partly concealed in shado\r, gigantic lobsters awaited his passing with open claws and menacing antennae ! VIII. AJO. uninviting- form of cookery — Light talking and good working — A constant sign — Curious anatomical point— An. eye consisting of many thousand eyes — A magnificent preparation —Three stomachs to a single individual — The classification of insects — Queer names again — -Aptera — A flea's jump — Unexpected maternal instinct — The reputation of the flea restored Diptera — Number of strokes of a gnat's wing in a second — The bot-flies and Helophili — Transformations of a gnat— Hemiptera — Lepidoptera — Butterflies have feathers — Depredators — Neuroptera — Devastating hosts — White ants — Coleoptera — Our friends and enemies. RENE'S prejudices against zoology had gradually, and without he himself being aware of it, been dissipated. Certainly he would have been very surprised if any one had told him that since his arrival at Yillers science had gained an additional devotee ; but it was nevertheless the case, and Uncle Bob noted it each day with pleasure. Rene, at first an uninterested listener, now gave to these interesting demonstrations a more sustained attention than might have been anticipated from his natural disposition, and he not only listened but actually inquired. He had, in fact, become a valuable assistant, almost a true disciple, to Leon. And the doctor's son derived THE WALKS ABROAD OF a feeling of genuine satisfaction from this change, for he had good reason for believing that it was largely due to his own influence. But something of the careless scholar of former days still survived in the young disciple of the present time, and as a proof of this, Bene* took advan- tage of the excellent excuse afforded by his wounded hand for sleeping through the best part of the morn- ing, and coming down very late to breakfast. As he was taking his place in the breakfast room, Le*on entered, diffusing around him a strong odour of essence of turpentine and of benzine, and wearing a large white apron over his clothes. " Good day, lazy man ! " he laughingly said. " Good hail, you dreadful poisoner ! " replied Bene*, offering his sound hand to his cousin. " But what calling are you engaged in this morning ? Have you become apprentice to a dyer, or are you only practising the art of painting in oil ? " " Neither one nor the other. I am arranging my collection and endeavouring to protect it from becom- ing greasy." The Parisian now looked at him with an air of unaffected surprise. Evidently he did not at all understand. "Becoming greasy?" he repeated. "Then it is neither dyeing nor painting, but it must be cooking. And what are you getting ready ? " TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 103 " My collection of insects. I am preventing it from spoiling. Perhaps you would like to help me." " With pleasure, if my wounded hand will allow me. But, as fair exchange is no robbery, you must tell me about your insects and give me some know- ledge concerning them, and I shall assist you in your efforts to prevent their becoming fat." So, after having breakfasted very heartily for a sick man, he went to his cousin's workroom. "To begin with," said he, looking at the boxes opened and displayed on the tables, " I see quite a bewildering series of different forms, although the little creatures have a certain air of family likeness that I can perceive without being able to define. Tell me, if you please, what are the characters that constitute an insect?" "Insects are characterised by having the body divided into three parts — head, thorax, and abdomen, the latter being formed by several rings or segments placed one behind another. All, when they have arrived at their perfect state, have three pairs of legs, and undergo one or more, more or less abrupt, trans- formations, passing the greater part of the period of their existence in the condition of larvae, then becom- ing nymphs or chrysalides, and then in the form of perfect insects reproducing their kind. " There is nothing more wonderful than the anatomy of these liliputian beings. Thus they breathe by THE WALKS ABROAD OF means of tubes opening on the sides of their bodies, and called tracheaB ; these tubes terminate externally in orifices called stigmata." " And are these organs numerous ? " " Very numerous. A patient entomologist has counted one thousand five hundred and sixty-four on the caterpillar of the willow.* But this is only one of the remarkable peculiarities of insects : many have compound eyes divided into facets." " Perhaps - like diamonds after they have been cut ? " "Yes, but with the difference that the facets are much more numerous. They have counted, I believe, four thousand in the house-fly." it \ j? "About six thousand, two hundred in the silkworm moth." i< T T» " Twelve thousand, five hundred and forty-four in a dragon-fly."t " What you are telling me sounds almost incredi- ble ! I shall become a St. Thomas, and ask you to show me that I may believe." * There is here some error of memory or of pen. The stigmata in insects are never more than twenty in number ; on the other hand, the tracheae are so numerous, distributed as they are to all paits of the body, and ramifying in a fine network around and amongst all the organs, as to defy counting. Tossibly he refers to the number of muscles, of which Lyonnet counted 4,061 in the caterpillar of Cossus ligniperda.— T--inslator. t And twenty-five thousand and eighty-eight in a beetle (Mordella). — Translator. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 105 ki Nothing is easier; here is a large grasshopper, and here is an excellent glass ; see then, and believe." "Indeed it is true!" said Rene, who had laid aside his brush in order to take the lens that his cousin offered to him. " One ought to look at every- thing in an insect, for all is remarkable, not only the eyes, but the jaws, the antennae, the legs," and as lie was speaking he passed the glass over the various parts of the body of the grasshopper. " Eeally, you should have made me acquainted with all this before." " Tt is never too late to mend. Take a good lens, FOUR FACETS FROM THE EYE OF A COCKCHAFER. a, b, Retina, c, Crystalline cone, d, Curneal facet. or a microscope, and any insect whatever, and you find in it a field of study almost unlimited, especially if you are of a mind to examine its anatomy and dissect it. I happen to have, on this glass slide, a splendid specimen : it is the digestive system of a Carabus, that my father has been occupying himself with preparing." This beautiful preparation had demanded for its execution the utmost patience and all the skill of a practised and accomplished hand. The three dilata- io6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF tions that form, as it were, three different stomachs, the resophagus, the gizzard, and the true stomach, were DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF A CARNIVOROUS INSECT perfectly distinct; and around the canal were still attached the fine tubes that are called malpighian vessels, whose function is not yet very definitely J TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 107 ascertained, but which have been supposed to be biliary vessels. " This is really superb," said the Parisian, as he shifted the preparation from place to place under the object glass, so as to seize all its details. "But before commencing the study of the internal anatomy of insects, I think it will be advisable to learn to dis- tinguish them from one another ; for without some sort of classification this must be, as you say, by no HEAD-LOUSE, MUCH MAGNIFIED. means an easy affair, seeing how numerous are their kinds." "Numerous indeed. Of all animals they are by far the most numerous ; of ants alone there are known about fifteen hundred different kinds. And so, in order to keep from being lost in such a labyrinth, several divisions have been adopted, and eight diffe- rent orders are recognised, based on the number and nature of the wings. They are — "1. Aptera, destitute of wings. 108 THE WALKS ABROAD OF 11 2. Diptera, having two wings. " All the other orders have four ; they are — ''3. Lepidoptera, whose wings are covered with scales. " 4. Hymenoptera, the veins of whose wings form large meshes. U5. Neuroptera, the meshes of whose wings are numerous and small., " 6. Hemiptera, suctorial insects having usually one pair of wings, in part harder than the other. "7. Orthoptera, with somewhat thickened upper wings, and with the under wings folding in longitu- dinal plaits. " 8. Coleoptera, with hard wings called elytra, usually united along the back by a straight suture, and with the under wings folding transversely.* " With these summary indications you will readily be able to find your way for a little in the intricacies of entomological classification." Kene* made rather a wry face ; and clearly Coleop- tera, Orthoptera, and the rest had as much difficulty in making themselves at home in his mind as had the Acanthopterygii and Malacopterygii of the fishes. * The number of orders of insects is still a matter of discussion and not unfrequently a larger number than the above are adopted. The Neuroptera are by some naturalists divided into two or three orders ; some separate the Thysanura as distinct ; and others so treat the fleas, giving them the name of Aphaniptera. The order Aptera, on the other hand, is now usually abandoned, the true lice being placed in the Rhynchota or Hemiptera, and the bird lice in the Orthoptera. — Translator. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 109 "It is easy, very easy," he muttered; "probably quite easy when you have seized the clue, and this clue — Stop ! as you have already done so much, point out to me an example of each of these eight orders." " Very well," said Le'on, laying down his brushes and forceps ; "I can see that we shall not do much at the preservation of my collection to-day. But I do THE FLEA: NYMPH, PERFECT INSECT, AND LARVA. OF THE STIGMATA. INDICATES THE POSITION not regret it, as I am glad you are overcoming your prepossessions. " The principal components of the order Aptera are the lice and the fleas." " A most disagreeable and villainous set, to com- mence with ! You do not keep any in your collec- tion, I hope ? " " One must have them represented, and I make my collection as complete as possible. Only in the case THE WALKS ABROAD OF of these infamous creatures, I keep them separately, mounted between two glass plates, and we will look at them under the microscope. Here, to begin with, is the common louse." " Oh, horror ! And well it justifies the common saying : ' As ugly as a louse ! ' u And here now, on this other slide, is quite a collec- tion of fleas : the human flea, the cat flea, the dog flea, the flea of the chicken, and that of the pigeon, with the complete arrangement of lances that. serves as their stock in trade. You see that the lord of the crea- tion, man, has by no means a monopoly of these pests." "Do not let me look 1 nger at these disgusting creatures, the mere sight of them makes me itch. They are all of them, if animals at all, destitute of physical and mental powers." " This is certainly not true in the case of the fleas. For instance, they have remarkable physical powers, extraordinary strength and agility, so that they make leaps of one thousand or fifteen hundred times their own length. If a man could perform a proportional feat he would be able to clear Mont Blanc with two or three bounds." " Then, according to you, the most hyperbolic of compliments to an athlete would be to say to him, ' You are as capable as a flea.' And their moral qualities ? " "They certainly possess one — maternal affection." Kene* now looked at his cousin with an expression TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. that seemed to ask if he were joking or had become crazy. " I am speaking quite seriously," he affirmed in reply to this unspoken interrogatory, which he per- fectly understood; "fleas have a tender and provident affection for their young. Their eggs are frequently placed in the cracks of floors or amongst old furniture, and almost always, side by side with the eggs, there are found small black granulations that, when ex- amined with the microscope, are seen to be specks of desiccated blood; so that the young flea on its entry into the world finds provisions ready for its use. " This first stock being exhausted (and this soon happens, for the flea from its very birth is endowed with a voracious appetite), the mother flea brings to her offspring the blood with which she has gorged herself, somewhat in the same way as birds give beakfuls of food to their little ones. So that you see these degraded insects are not so bad as uninstructed people suppose." "Kind fleas, honourable fleas!" cried Kene*, parti- ally convinced; "nothing less than this could have made me respect them. I make my bow, and out of respect for their good feelings I pardon them the injuries they have inflicted on me." "Now let us turn to some of the others. After the fleas that have no wings, tell me about the insects that have two." THE WALKS ABROAD OF " In the insects that have two wings, Diptera, the mouth forms a proboscis composed of four parts — a sheath, a suctorial apparatus, and two palpi. If you examine, even with a slight magnifying power, the head of a fly, you will be able to recognise these different pieces. Moreover, as they have only two wings, and as it would not be right that they should have fair grounds for being jealous of the better endowed insects, they have instead of the second pair TWO- WINGED FLY of wings — what do you suppose ? Balancers or halter es." " Like the rope-dancers at a circus. And what is the use of these organs to them ?" "Exactly the same;* and these little instruments are even of more service to them than those of the performers you have mentioned. Have you any idea of the number of strokes a common fly makes with its wings in a second ?'; " No doubt many ; here is one on the table, suppose we ask it? "and stretching out his hand * This is not established.-- Translator. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 1*3 Now he captured the fly with his finger and thumb, we can see: say thirty, perhaps forty." " You are very far out. The number of strokes of the wings of a fly is about six hundred per second, and may reach as many as three thousand six hundred during rapid flight; is not that surprising?" VOEMS (LAKV.K OF UetipMttU), A.M. INSECT IX THE PERFECT STATE. 1 ' Here are some other kinds of Diptera : Yolucella, a wild creature resembling a humble-bee, and who moreover takes advantage of this to obtain entrance into the nest of the bee, where it deposits its eggs, which when hatched devour those of its host; the Helophili, whose larvae were named by Keaumur 'rat- r THE WALKS ABROAD OF tailed worms,' because of a singular appendage, arranged after the fashion of the tubes of a telescope, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 115 so that the creature is able, when at the bottom of the water, to breathe the air at the surface. Gastro- philus, belonging to the (Estridae ; these lay their eggs amongst the hairs of horses, and the animal, when licking the spot, detaches them and swallows them, and the larvae, developing in the stomach, are well known under the name of bots. And here are the gnats, with whose annoying bites you have been long familiar. " Here, too, is a preparation exhibiting the very complicated instruments they use for this purpose. But still more wonderful are the metamorphoses of these creatures. " Before becoming an aerial animal, the gnat, or rather its larva, is a little worm of strange form, with a complex arrangement of bristles, and inhabit- ing pools and stagnant waters. "When undergoing its final transformation the pupa rises to the surface of the water, and remains there until the swollen part of its outer skin dries and splits ; the perfect insect then raises itself into an erect position by gradually dragging itself out of the skin, which meanwhile floats and serves as a boat, the erect insect being like a little mast and its wings like sails : truly a wonderful and fragile skiff. " In addition to great skill the creature requires good fortune to bring this delicate operation to a n6 THE WALKS ABROAD OF successful conclusion. At this moment when it is ceasing to be an inhabitant of the water, contact with the water that has hitherto been its proper element is fatal to it, by preventing it from taking flight, so that in rough weather many of these living barks are shipwrecked, and the unfortunate insect perishes without having been able to fly at all." TINDER SURFACE OF THE PHYLLOXERA OF THE VINE, WINGED FORM. MAGNIFIED ABOUT SIXTY TIMES. "I must admit," said Eene, "that the examples of the two orders you have told me about are wonderful. Indeed, I suspect you made a judicious choice on purpose to interest me. Was it not so?" " Certainly not ; the choice of these two instances was entirely unpremeditated, and in point of fact, any insect taken by itself affords astonishment to one ' TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 117 who studies it. What is already known about insects would fill large volumes, and to these every day, as new observations are made, new chapters must be added. But I promised to introduce you to a few examples of each of the orders of insects. We have interviewed the Aptera and Diptera, and will now continue the series. "To the Hemiptera or Ehynchota belong the Pen- tatomse, some of which may be met with in great quantities in autumn on the raspberries and the flowers of the mullein, and may be recognised by their very strong and disagreeable odour. " This order also includes bugs ; the Eeduvii, who disguise themselves with a covering of dirt, so as to approach, without being perceived, the little creatures they feed on, a proceeding analogous to that of the spider-crabs that I have already told you about ; the Cicada, the Aphides or green-fly, the pest of our gardens and trees ; and the Phylloxera, the ravager ol the vines, called vastatrix by the men of science (these latter, by the way, have not succeeded in doing it any other harm) ; and finally many aquatic forms — the Notonecta, or water boatman, the Corixa, NepaB, or water- scorpions, and the Ranatrse. "Now we come to the representatives of an order with which you are well acquainted — the butterflies, in the naturalist's language, Lepidoptera, or scaled- wings, a name that is perfectly well selected." u8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF And taking a preparation on a glass lie placed it under the microscope. " What ! these wonderful petals, these delicate flowers, they are only the feathers of the butterfly ? You would never have supposed it." Then, noticing that his cousin was admiringly con- templating this iridescent display, where all colours, from the delicate tints of the pearl to the fervid i'EACOCK BUTTERFLY. brilliancy of the ruby, were represented, Le"on added : "It is a great pity that these beautiful creatures should be so injurious. There is scarcely a plant that is not subject to the depredations of one or more species, from the humble and prosaic cabbage, whose leaves are consumed to the very ribs by the white butterfly or Pieris, to the oak, whose leaves serve as the nourishment of several species. The vegetable world TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 119 has no more determined enemies, even among the hordes of insects, than the Lepidoptera. It is true that it is not the butterflies themselves that do the harm, but the caterpillars ; however, as the butter- flies produce the caterpillars, and the caterpillars SCALES FROM BUTTERFLIES' WINGS, GREATLY MAGNIFIED. the butterflies, it is much the same thing to the vegetables." " And I, who thought them incapable of the slightest misdeed," said Kene', " confiding in their beautiful adornments and their innocent movements ! You THE WALKS ABROAD OF will, however, I hope, make an exception in favour of the silkworm. Though I admit that at present insects inspire me only with a most limited confidence ; including even this beautiful dragon-fly with trans- parent wings, that belongs, I presume, to the same order." "Not at all: it belongs to the order Keuroptera, among which we have also many enemies ; and DRAGOX-FLT (LibeUuluj . though the dragon-tiies and the may -flies do us no harm, though the ant-lion destroys only ants, there are other species that are not so scrupulous in respect to us. The white ants, or Termites, especially have a deplorable habit of excavating their habitations or concealed galleries in furniture and other articles con- structed of wood. So well do they accomplish this, that sometimes they leave only a thin crust of wood, and directly this is touched " TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. " Crack ! it goes. It must be funny to see the face of the owner under such circumstances. These des- troying and annoying insects must, however, be very rare, for I do not recollect ever to have met with any of them." "Certainly they are rare with us,* though very MAY-FLY (Ephemera}. 1'erffci, Insect. common in some maritime towns, where they do an immense amount of damage. This is especially the case at Eochefort, where the insect has been introduced, * In Britain there are no white ants, and they only occur in a few spots in France, in the south ; but in North America they are more common. — Translator THE WALKS ABROAD OF though it is not quite known at what date, and by whom." "Probably by some furniture maker, or carpenter, by virtue of the maxim : ' Is fecit cui prodest.' It WHITE ANTS (Termites) : DIFFERENT FORMS. seems, then, we may conclude that such insects as are not valuable friends are dangerous enemies. And this long series of Coleoptera, are they friends or enemies ? " " Some are the one, some the other, as in most of TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 123 the remaining orders that are numerous in species. Amongst the Coleoptera we have many allies; the carnivorous beetles are especially useful, as they destroy many injurious insects. I have placed them all together." And opening a large box: "Here THE BEOAD DYTISCTT3 (Dytiscus latissimus) . COLEOPTEEA. THE GEEAT HYDBOPHILUS ( Hydroph i I us piccus) . are our friends," added Leon; "in the first place the numerous family of the Carabidae : Carabus with metallic colours ; Procrustes, with a skin like leather in appearance; the Cicindelse, called tiger- beetles by LinnaBus ; the Feronise and the Harpali. Then the glow-worm tribe, that destroy snails and perhaps caterpillars ; the Telephori, with silky appear- THE WALKS ABROAD OF ance; and also the Coccinellac, called in France betes a bon Dieu, great destroyers of the Aphides or green- fly- " The burying beetles are also useful to us, their office being to dispose of offensive remains; the Staphylinida3, one species being said to destroy the EGYPTIAN' SACKED BEETLE (Scar(lb(?1is). larvee of flies ; the Silphge, some of which wage war against snails ; the dung-beetles, with their disgusting food. This, by the way, did not prevent the ancient Egyptians from treating them as sacred ; » the Ne- crophori, already mentioned, which have the habit of interring the bodies of smaller animals, possibly with TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 125 the intention of preserving them till they become 'high,' but more probably to provide a store for their future offspring. Some day we shall see them at their work, and then I can assure you that you will not regret the time spent in watching them. And now, shall we look at the injurious beetles ? " With this he opened a box, in which were to be seen transfixed by long pins many Coleoptera, as if condemned and expiating their sins. First of all the TURNIP-FLY : NATURAL SIZE AND MUCH MAGNIFIED. chafers, who perhaps died regretting their juicy leaves ; the Dermestidee, which frequently cause serious injury to the finest furs; the weevils, and the corn- weevils, dreadful scourges to our stores of grain in barns and granaries ; Halticidse, so small that it had been necessary to gum them on pieces of cardboard ; and in addition a rear-guard of the destroyers that devour roots, wither the young shoots, or perforate the leaves. "All these sorts," said Le*on, "I abandon to you ; 126 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. wherever you meet with them you may destroy, smash, kill, or massacre, I absolve you in advance." CORN-WEEVIL, MTJCH WIRE WORM : LARVA DERMESTES LARDAR1US. MAGNIFIED. AND PERFECT INSECT. The dinner bell, violently rung by an impatient ser- vant, brought to an end the instructive conversation of the young friends. IX. Congratulations are the order of the day — Ineffectual strategy — Some respectable insects — Ants and their flocks — Dairy-farms of blight — Men, women, and workers — To be an ant is no sinecure — Destruction, of a home — An eastern legend — Tamerlane — In what way a mere ant may sometimes decide the fate of an empire — How Mr. Leon increased his collection on this occasion. As the meal was concluding, " Suppose we take our coffee in the garden?" said the doctor. "Nothing is better than the open air for promoting and facilitating digestion." Uncle Bob's proposal was cheerfully and unani- mously accepted, and our three friends, having installed themselves comfortably under the arbour, the aromatic mocha was brought thither to them. " Now, my dear nephew," said the kind savant as he dispensed the pleasant refreshment, "can you imagine what rumour is saying abroad ? I have heard that one of the greatest traducers of natural history has recently been led into the right path on the shore at Yillers ; that the aforesaid traducer, having already passed the grade of martyr, thanks to the wound of a certain Trachinus viper a, has none the less been seen, ia8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF this very day, in the flagrant misdemeanour of ento- mology, and this too under the fallacious pretext of giving to the insects a necessary cleansing — which they still await." Kene*, reddened at this direct attack, but he met it thus — " It is not my fault ; Le*on is in the habit of study- ing animals in our native.tongue. He makes as little use as possible of those long words that seem to have been invented on purpose to provoke. It is he, and he alone, that should be reproached." " Or rather congratulated, and this I do most heartily. Pass me the sugar-basin, if you please." Uncle Bob selected a lump, but as he was putting it in his cup he suddenly made a gesture of annoyance. "These detestable creatures again," he muttered. " My instructions have been neglected." The kitchen and dining-room of the cottage were, in fact, infested by ants — by those large red ants that intrude themselves wherever provisions are to be found — active, and apparently countless, coming one knows not whence, and returning, eagerly occupied, incessantly seeking supplies. If a bowl of milk were left for only ten minutes on the kitchen table, one might have been sure of finding at least three or four of these adventurers struggling half-drowned in the useful liquid, like the famous Duke of Clarence in his butt of Malmsey wine. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 129 The sugar-basin, to them a precipitous fortress, was a special object for repeated assaults from these nungry little creatures. Unfortunately for them, the doctor, who much preferred sugar to formic acid, had resolved to make an energetic defence of his goods, and as the ants, in spite of all his precautions, always found some way of slipping under the cover, he had surrounded the fortress with a large moat filled with water. This strategic moat was nothing less than a plate. Uncle Bob was as proud of his invention as a gene- ral would be of a successful, unexpected manoeuvre. Ants, it must be admitted, have no aquatic capacities, so that when he discovered that his precautions had been frustrated, he did not attempt to disguise his surprise and annoyance, and his first impulse was to lay the blame on the cook. " So you have neglected my instructions ! " Dame Theresa, however, would not admit this, and made the most solemn asseverations that the sugar- basin had, like a true fortification, never for a single moment been without its surrounding zone of water. " I am unable to understand it," said the savant. " I think I can explain it," said Eene. u The sugar- basin was, I believe, in the middle of the dumb-waiter on the second shelf?" "Yes, well?" " Well, this morning, I observed two or three ants walking about on the under side of the third shelf, K 130 THE WALKS ABROAD OF just above the basin. The place being invincible from below, ' they attacked it from above ; then, having entered the basin, and not being able to get out again, they have calmly awaited the turn of events." The good doctor laughed most heartily. ANT-LION IN ITS PIT : THE BORN ENEMY OF ANTS. " So that it is I that am out-generaled ; it is I, an educated, certificated medallist, that am duped by these impertinent Hymenoptera ! After this, one may well boast of being a man, and of passing as a learned one ! However," he added, with an air of consoling TWO YO UNG NA TURALISTS. 1 3 1 himself, lt since it was destined that I was to receive a lesson in strategy from some insects, it was well that it should be from some of good reputation, known to be clever, keeping a house of their own." " And herds besides," added Le'on. His cousin looked at him with an expression of in- credulity. "Herds!'1 he repeated; "have you then another history to narrate?" " Yes, and a true one. You have had an illustration BED ANT (Formica rufa, Latr.). of the great love ants have for sugar. Now, as perhaps you are aware, it is a curious fact that the aphides, of which we have already spoken, have the faculty of exuding a sugary substance. The watchful ants, always busy, long since discovered the existence of this natural source of sweetness, and as timidity is one of the last of their defects, they calmly go and milk the aphides, without, however, doing them any harm. Naturally the latter, good-natured and feeble creatures, allow them to do it, not being able, in fact, to prevent it, so that the aphides in question become actually the milch cows of the ants. J32 THE WALKS ABROAD OF " There is still more; the ants have made a further development quite as knowing in its way. l We lose an enormous amount of time,' they said, ' in going about here and there to milk our cattle, and, for busy ants, time is money.' You will guess the sequel : aphides established in, dwelling in, the nests of the ants, where they are well taken care of, fed, fattened, kept clean, petted, and so on, with the result that there is always a supply of sugar at hand. Without doing ourselves any injustice, can you suggest any way by which we ourselves could have improved on this?" "No, indeed. But why should they be included in the order Hymenoptera, seeing that these, as you told me, are characterised by the possession of four mem- branous wings with large meshes ? Ants, so far as I know, have no wings at all." "Yes, they have; but in most cases they are only provided with them "for a short time at the period when they are occupied with laying their eggs, and even then not all of them, but only the males and females." " Your ' only ' is very strange. Are there then ants that are neither male nor female? Are there Auvergnats among them ? " " Exactly, and these Auvergnats are the most interesting of all the members of the ant tribe. They are the workers, and on them devolve all the house- TIW YOUNG NATURALISTS. '33 hold operations. The males live like landlords ; the females lay the eggs, and nothing more is asked of them. As for the workers, their occupations are ANTS AND APHIDES. much more varied ; in the first place it is they who construct the house." " In fact, they are at once architects, bricklayers, labourers, and miners. What next?" " They take care of and milk the aphides." " Dairymen." 134 THE WALKS ABROAD OF " On them also falls the duty of feeding the males and females, and what is even more essential, the Iarva3. These they fatten with truly maternal solicitude." " Foster-mothers." "And of carrying the latter into the sun when it is warm, or moving them from one chamber to another warmer when it is cold." "Nursemaids." "And also of keeping watch over all the inlets and exits, and of defending the community in case of attack." " And soldiers. Eeally to be an ant is by no means a sinecure." "It is an occupation that few men would be equal to. But, without going far, we can see for ourselves some ants in their home. I noticed yesterday at the bottom of the garden a large stone, and many ants were assembled there. Probably by lifting it " And without waiting for the end of the sentence, the three friends directed their way to a distant part of the garden. The stone was raised. Leon had not been deceived. There was at once apparent a confused multitude of tawny bodies, and a great interlacement of feet, as well as a moving and running about in all directions. Then gradually order was seen to be prevailing in the midst of this disorde.-. The soil forming the floor of TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 135 the ants' nest was pierced by many little orifices ; one by one the ants entered into these and disappeared from sight. The larvse and pupoe (frequently called ant-eggs) being unable to walk, were carried by their guardians, three or four of whom sometimes joined in a common effort in order to carry these precious burdens out of the way of danger as speedily as possible. " These little creatures are really wanting in nothing, :' murmured the doctor. "Intelligence, devotion— to say nothing of the fact that their per- severance is celebrated in one of the best anecdotes I know as coming from the East, though whether it be Persian, Tartar, or Mongol I do not now recollect ; but this, however, is of little importance." The word anecdote nearly always rouses the atten- tion and excites the expectations of an audience. On this occasion Uncle Bob did not wait to be pressed, but continued — "It was at the time when Tamerlane was about to commence his career as a conqueror. One day, his forces having been overwhelmed, almost annihilated by a disastrous defeat, he had been obliged to beat a retreat, which, as you may well suppose, had put him into a very bad humour. " The next day, secluded in his tent, he was asking himself what was now to be done, when he noticed an ant climbing with much effort the canvas of the '30 THE WALKS ABROAD OF tent. With a fillip he made the intrusive creature fall to the ground. " The ant again ascended ; a second fillip from Tamerlane, followed by a third and a fourth, and WASPS NEST ; WITH PART OF THE EXTERNAL COVERING REMOVED TO SHOW THE CELLS. each time the ant again mounted the canvas, not appearing in any way discouraged. "History is silent as to the number of times this was repeated. But all at once, Tamerlane, striking his forehead, a gesture which among all nations signifies that an idea has occurred to a man : l This example should be followed,' cried he ; 'the future TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 137 belongs to the persevering.' And leaving the ant to continue its career, Tamerlane went out, and became — Tamerlane. And thus a little ant once decided the fate of a great empire." While the doctor was telling this, the last of the ants had disappeared, and the three observers had already turned away from the nest, when they noticed, a few paces away in the alley, a child approaching them, carrying a large parcel. At the sight of the doctor he stopped short as if dumbfounded. "What do you want, my little one?" said Uncle Bob, patting him kindly on the cheek. "It is a bumble-bee's nest that I have found and brought to you, sir," said he, offering the parcel to Le'on. X. More Hymenoptera — Republic and monarchy — Bees — Expulsion of the swarm — A swarm in a letter-box — Preparatory measures — House- cleaning and repairs— Propolis — Wax, honey— Saint Bartholomew's day in a hive— Egg-laying, larvae — Regal food — A mortal duel — Orthoptera — Cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, &c. — Earwigs — Un- deserved censure — Extraordinary increase of locusts and Blattae — A supposed omission — Out of the ranks of insects — The Epeira diadema — How the spider spins his web — The trap-door spider, navvy, mason, and upholsterer— Argyroneta — A tent under water — The struggle for LEON took a shining new silver coin from his purse, and gave it to the child, who ran gambolling away. " This is an opportune purchase," said the young naturalist, as he located the great nest in his work- room. "Next to the ants among the Hymenoptera, we shall study the bees, for bees, humble-bees, wasps, and hornets are all of one kindred, or nearly allied." "They are first cousins, and the ants their second cousins," said Ke'ne. "Well done ! I like families so well arranged. I have no doubt we shall find the bee-republic another model." "A republic! But it is not one. The ants are democrats ; the bees live under a monarchy, and moreover, appear neither better nor worse off for so doing. " The hive is made up of a queen, of five hundred TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. '39 to twelve hundred males, and of fifty to thirty thou- sand sterile workers. In this little world each one SWARM OF BEES. has his appointed place. If we follow the movements of a young swarm from the moment when, being sufficiently strong to shift for itself, it is expelled i4o THE WALKS ABROAD OF from the paternal abode, we shall see the bees, like a little buzzing cloud, wandering about from tree to tree, sometimes stopping and clustering together in a dense mass, until a new home is found, or one is provided by some bee-keeper. "When they escape being thus appropriated, the new home is usually in a hollow tree trunk, an old wall, or some similar shelter. I have known bees to take up their abode at the top of a steeple. Quite recently, in some village of the Lower Seine whose name I have forgot- ten, an inexperienced swarm found no better course than to install itself in the letter-box of the post-office. " The dwelling place being selected, the bees cleanse and prepare it ; they close accurately all its openings except one, and they cement the interior by means of a varnish called propolis. This substance is also used for another purpose. If, by some chance, an intruder should find its way into the habitation, they expel it, either living or dead, when it is not of too great a size for their powers. But sometimes it proves to be too heavy to be ejected, and what then is to be done ? "With such a carcass within it the dwelling would not be habitable. " The bees are not embarrassed by such an affair. They procure a supply of propolis, make use of it to enshroud the body, and so, by this novel mode of embalming prevent the access of air to it, after which there is no further reason for apprehension : a sort of TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 141 mausoleum or monument, standing in the middle of the hive, remains the sole vestige of the deceased enemy." " Certainly very ingenious. But now, about wax and honey ? " "I am coming to that. As soon as the abode is made habitable the workers in wax begin to fabricate the hexagonal cells with which you are familiar, and FRAGMENT OF COMB, WITH BEES AT WOKE ON IT. which serve the double purpose of storehouses for provisions and of cradles for the future posterity. " This wax is secreted by the bees. Formerly it was supposed to be gathered from flowers, but it is now known that it is secreted by means of a special struc- ture on the hinder part of the body, and that it is not pollen, kneaded or altered by working. "With regard to honey, it appears that they in 1 42 THE WALKS ABROAD OF the first place obtain it from flowers, from which they abstract it by suction, and disgorge it into the cells of the comb. When everything is prepared, the queen leaves the hive, takes a flight in the air, and returns to lay her eggs. After this moment all the males are massacred without any mercy." " Without sparing any ? I think this detracts much from the idyl of the bee. I was inclined to fancy them models of all the virtues ! You were say- ing that the queen returns to lay — " An egg in each cell ; but, like a prudent manager, DBOXE, OB MALE OF THE HONEY BEE. she proceeds in a recognised order : first the eggs of workers, then the eggs that are to produce males, and lastly, in much larger cells, eggs from which queens are to arise, these latter at intervals of some days, in order that several queens shall not be born together, for this would probably give rise to fatal disturbances." "Such a proceeding may be called the perfection of foresight. Offspring, and the future tranquillity of the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 143 society are definitely assured, supposing, as you say, that the eggs for queens do not fail." "This latter contingency has been provided for as well as the others. The larvae appear after two or three days, and are fed by the attendants of the hive for five or six days. Then they cease to eat, spin a cocoon, and in this temporary shroud await the moment when they also shall become perfect bees. u One of the most curious facts is that the eggs and COMMON EARWIG. larvse that are to become queens are the same as the eggs to produce the larvae of workers. It is the nutriment given to them that differs : while the workers receive only a rather thin paste, the future queens are nourished by means of a much more sub- stantial jelly. So that if, as the result of some unfor- tunate event, they should be deprived of their queen, they select a well-to-do larva of a worker, and this, THE WALKS ABROAD OF by virtue of the more substantial and efficacious food, becomes a queen capable of affording eggs. Besides being nourished with this superior food, the queens also are reared in royal cells, of a larger size and different form. " Sometimes it happens that, in spite of all the pre- cautions that have been taken, two queens attain at the same time their complete development in the FIELD-CRICKET. (Gnjllm campesi hive. Then there arises a fatal duel, and only one of the two may remain in the domain. The bees, though such industrious little creatures, are very jealous and intolerant. But suppose we return to the garden for a little ? " It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon, and the crickets and grasshoppers concealed in the herbage commenced their deafening noise. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 145 " These belong to the order Orthoptera," said Le*on ; " the only one we have not discussed. They are in- jurious and destructive creatures, both those that run, like the Blattse, Mantides, and Forficulee (earwigs), and those that leap, as the grasshoppers, the locusts, the crickets, and the mole-crickets." " How, then ! Is the familiar cricket an injurious creature ? If so, there is another belief the less, and Lamartine was not correct when he wrote the verse that you no doubt are acquainted with — " ' Solitary cricket, A voice from underground, Arouse thyself and sing A song for me.'* ' "As we are speaking of Orthoptera, can you tell me if earwigs really have the habit popularly attributed to them of entering the ears of people and making their lodging there ? " " Certainly not ; they have never been known to do such a thing. It is a mistake that is probably con- nected with their name. This is perhaps derived from the form of the appendages that terminate the body, or from the shape of the wings when they are unfolded. Their pincers are said to somewhat resemble in form the instrument that jewellers formerly made use of * " Grillon solitaire, Voix qui sors de terre, Ah ! reveille-toi Pour moi." 146 THE WALKS ABROAD OF to pierce the ears of young people. The popular error has perhaps arisen from some misconception thus suggested. " The statements made to the effect that in Algeria the attacks of locusts are a most serious scourge to the inhabitants are, however, no error, but unfortu- nately are only too true. The whole of the vegeta- tion, even to the last leaf, is destroyed and every green blade has disappeared after the visit of one of these immense clouds. They are so dense and consist of such enormous numbers that in 1874 the railway in the province of Algeria was blocked by them. " Indeed, the greater part of the insects of this order are very prolific. Ships have been infested with BlattaB to such an extent that it has been found necessary to have recourse to organised fumigations to destroy them, and they were afterwards taken away by bushels.* " We have now, I believe, passed in review all the orders of insects." " All, all ? " asked Bene*, with a mysterious intona- tion, something like that which the sphinx of Thebes must have adopted when, according to legend, he proposed his charades to those passing by. * In Cyprus, during the autumn and winter of 1881, 1,330 tons of the eggs of locusts were destroyed at the instigation of the British Government. — Translator. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. H7 A MIGRATION OF LOCUSTS. BENEATH AEE IMMATURE LOCUSTS. " Yes each one, all. Are you not yet satisfied ? " " Well," said the Parisian, who in point of fact was not at all sorry that he was able to catch his cousin 148 THE WALKS ABROAD OF tripping in connection with his favourite science, "by some curious inadvertence you have forgotten BLATTJE (COCKBOACHES), COMMONLY CALLED BLACK-BEETLES. an important group — one, too, that is not the least interesting of them." " What can that be ?" " Look there ! " TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 149 Held by a thread between two branches of some bushes there was a large spider, Epeira diadema, which, quite unaffected by being the subject of con- versation, was calmly taking the preliminary steps towards the formation of its net. " You are both right and wrong," said Le*on. u You are right, for I had no recollection of the spiders ; but you are wrong, inasmuch as spiders are not insects. They are out of the category, as they possess eight legs, and also lungs. The Myriapoda (centipedes and thousand legs) also form a sepa- rate class. The first of these two classes is named Arachnida. The ordinary equivalent of this scien- tific term may be given as the ' class of spiders ' ; the second, Myriapoda, which means, 'myriad feet.' Now we shall see how the spinning spiders construct their web." * The spider, at the moment when the young men arrived, -had already fastened the end of its thread to a twig, then letting itself fall, it attached the other end a little lower down. This preliminary part of the work being accomplished, it several times re- * Those who dislike the spiders found in our houses should not on that account allow themselves to be prejuduced against those that live in our fields and gardens. These latter are in reality valuable friends to us because of the little insects they devour as food. A friend of ours, who lives in Mauritius, has furnished us with the following striking example of this : " In some portions of the island the plantations were formerly surrounded by large trees, where numerous spiders made their webs. In every place where these trees have been felled and the spiders destroyed, little insects, chiefly Diptera, have directly appeared in unexampled abundance." i5o THE WALKS ABROAD OF traced its steps, making use of this slender thread as a bridge, and adding a new thread as required. Then when this portion appeared to it to be sufficiently strong, it prepared the other radiating lines in a similar manner, adding finally the concentric threads. There then only remained for construction the hiding- place in which the proprietor of the web lies in ambush to await the course of events. This den, made out of a leaf that the spider is able, by means of its silk, to roll into the form of a cylinder, is arranged in such a manner that the creature in it is made aware of the slightest shock that may be communicated to the web, and also so that it can run out at the first indication and pierce with its veno- mous jaws any unfortunate insect that has allowed itself to be captured. The spider's web is not in reality formed by weav- ing : it is simply gummed, and Le*on did not fail to point this out. " The substance of which the silk is formed is," he said, " a sort of viscous gum, secreted by a gland, and issuing by four mammilla, pierced by a multitude of little holes. Each thread, although it appears single to the naked eye, is in fact a bunch of threads soldered or gummed together, and drying on contact with the air, after having been secured to the other threads forming the structure of the web. " Each species, moreover, has its own way of work- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. ing, and constructs its web, as well as forms its den, in its special manner. The trap-door spider, very common in the south of France, excavates in the earth a well, or pit, of about one or two feet in TRAP-DOOE SPIDER (Ctenlza fodiens) AND ITS NEST. depth, and carefully lined. Like a wise animal, it closes its dwelling by a lid, a true door, kept in place by a hinge, and closed with a latch, the latch being the spider itself. The inner side of the door has '52 THE WALKS ABROAD OF attached to it some strong threads, by means of which the spider, holding on to the sides and the lid, at the same time lock and lock-maker, keeps its house safely shut up, and without having any fear of losing the door-key. " But of all the spiders, the most extraordinary is perhaps the Argyroneta, which has the excessively ABGYBOXETA AXD ITS AQTTATIC BALLOON. odd peculiarity of contructing its house under the water. " It is perhaps even more curious that this water- spider does not possess any special organs, that would enable it to breathe and live at large in the midst of the liquid element ; the Argyroneta, in fact, breathes air like other spiders. When it is on the point of establishing a home, it begins by choosing a leaf at TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 153 the surface of the water, in order to form with this a protection for the edifice. The Argyroneta being covered with hairs and pubescence, air adheres to its body, giving it a silvery appearance when in the water, and it is thus enabled to live for some time beneath the surface. Being thus provided with a temporary supply of air, it constructs a web some- thing like in size and shape to a thimble, secured by threads to neighbouring plants. It then ascends to WATER- SPIDER. the surface, and again descending carries with it a supply of air, which it discharges into the silken web, and repeats this operation until this novel kind of balloon is sufficiently inflated, when it takes up its abode therein and makes excursions in search of prey, which when captured it carries back to its subaquatic balloon and devours at leisure. " Father de Lignac states, moreover, that he was acquainted with a case that appears almost incredible, 154 THE WALKS ABROAD OF namely that two Argyronetee of different sexes, having their nests placed at some little distance from one another, had actually established a silken gallery of communication between them. " I think you will admit that, however, extraor- COBWEBS AND SPIDERS. dinary may be the natural history of the ants and bees, that of the spiders is also not without its interest, and may induce us to try to overcome the feeling of repugnance that is entertained for these creatures by many people. I might add that it is TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 155 said that spiders are not insensible to the charms of music. Although it is so well known, I may remind you that Pellisson, when he was in the Bas- tille " Leon suddenly stopped. Another spider, with enormous legs and hungry aspect, ' had suddenly descended on the newly stretched threads. Possibly his web had been destroyed, and he had not at the time the material in his possession that would en- able him to construct another, so that no resource remained to him except to establish himself, by the right of the strongest, on the territory of the other. The legitimate proprietor fled in alarm. At first it endeavoured for a few moments to resist, but soon perceiving that the struggle was an unequal one, it pitiably retired and left the place. Rene, who had watched in an attentive manner all the phases of this drama, wished to crush the usurper, but Leon prevented him. "Why destroy it?" said he. "It is but obeying the mandate of its nature. Everyone must live, and if the first spider retired so promptly it was probably that it felt itself able to construct a new web. More- over, have we men the right to show ourselves so severe ? " The face of the Parisian grew serious, and his memory carrying him back several years, Eene" re- i£6 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. called the fact that if spiders impelled by hunger sometimes usurp the place of others in order to live, there were also men who had allowed to escape from their lips these words whose shamefulness should not permit them to be forgotten — " Might is greater than right." XL A sailor's marriage at Villers — Titles of nobility — A strange vessel — Good folk— An acceptable gift— The Albatross. IT will be recollected that Father Lucas had given an invitation for a certain Wednesday, and this had now come. This very day the fisherman's daughter was to be married, and the doctor had promised to be present with his friends at the ceremony. Uncle Bob's young guest, who was not himself attached to the old fisher by any tie, was delighted with the prospect of being present — he, a Parisian ! — at a ceremony so different from one of the kind at Paris. " A sailor's wedding, fancy that ! No doubt it will be a funny affair," but the mocking remarks and ironical commentaries at the tip of his tongue were arrested beforehand by a rather stern glance from the doctor. It must not, however, be supposed that Bene was of a malicious disposition ; it was rather that he was very young, and a little rash and hare-brained. And it was somewhat in this state of mind that he entered the church, and awaited with some curiosity the arrival of the affianced pair and their friends. iS8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF He had not long to wait. Soon the noise of measured steps was heard on the pavement, and gravely and slowly the parents and friends advanced. Father Lucas was superb. On his ample breast were displayed, glistening in the sun, two tiers of medals, all earned by saving the lives of his fellows at the risk of his own. And yet in point of fact the number of rescues he had made far exceeded that of the rewards obtained. Amongst the surrounding group of relatives, of friends, and of the companions of his toils, there were also many bearing these tokens of courage and devotion, which on the breast of a common sailor figure as true proofs of undoubted deeds of courage, not as the baubles of a puerile vanity. The Parisian could not but be impressed and he smiled no more. The ceremony was performed in the presence of a considerable assembly of the rough and simple natives of the locality, who are too familar with the perils of the deep to neglect the prayers of the church. After- wards the wedded pair again crossed the threshold of the church, and Father Lucas was on the point of again entering his home, when he felt a friendly hand placed on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was the doctor. " Can you speak with me for two minutes ?" said the latter. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 159 " Willingly," and the pair receded a few steps in the direction of the beach. As the two cousins remained behind at a discreet distance, " You may come with us," called Uncle Bob ; "you will not be in the way." The two young people followed with some eager- ness, for their curiosity was now aroused. Those invited to the wedding were for the most part now gone home to get themselves ready for the festivity usual in such cases, so that no one else noticed the incident. The little group' had reached the strand, when all at once the fisherman placed his open hand above his eyes, so that he might see better when not inconvenienced by the jays of the sun. "Do not know it," he muttered as if speaking to himself. " It is very strange. Don't know it." Uncle Bob laughed in his sleeve. " You don't know it ! What is it, then?" he remarked. " Good gracious ! Do you not see yon white bark, cutter-rigged, stranded below there on the sand, and with a quite new flag flying at the top of the mast ? I know every vessel of this coast — know them all, but that I don't know at all. I cannot recollect it — unless it is some pleasure-boat. But no, that is out of the question: it is in too good a state and then it is rigged for fishing." They went a few steps nearer, the sailor keeping his eyes steadily fixed on it. Then, his surprise may i6o THE WALKS ABROAD OF be guessed when he saw the boat salute by lowering its flag. " It must be some decent people — very polite folk," cried the good man. " I don't know them, but it's all the same ; I shall go and have a look at their boat and tell them what an old sailor thinks about them." "This boat is for you," said the doctor. "It is my wedding-present. You will be able to go about with it, take friends for excursions, go and see your children, make your shepherd's round according to your own desire. How do you like the rigging ?" The sailor was standing open-mouthed and quite dumb-founded — stupefied, in fact, by such a piece of good fortune, which it would never have occurred to him even to hope for. " Is it true — is it really true, what you are telling me? You are not joking? It is really for me, this fine boat, and all its rigging and tools ? Well, well, and I accept it on two conditions. One is, that Mr. Leon shall be its godfather, and that we make the first voyage together. And if you ever want to make a journey to Caen, to Courseuilles, to Etretat, or any- where else, say the word, give only a sign, and old Lucas will take the tiller for you." And then, to emphasize the sincerity of his words, he seized the doctor's hands with his own. The fiDgers of the scholar almost cracked beneath his hearty grasp, but he made no sign of complaint. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 161 Then the boat must be examined. Lucas poked it about and investigated it with the thorough attention of a craftsman. It was in fact quite new, and had been brought from a building-yard at Trouville by some sailors according to a plan arranged beforehand. It was large enough to carry five or six persons, but at the same time was so fitted out as to be capable of being handled by one man. An orlop extending to the stern both increased its stability and assisted in keeping out the seas, and in case of severe weather was capable even of protecting the passengers. As fittings there were a table, some folding chairs, and two berths arranged on each side. The storage- place for the sails and ropes was covered by the planking. "Everything is as it should be," said the sailor after a minute inspection. u In fair weather I could cross the Channel in it." Then suddenly recollecting the business of the moment, he added, "And my mates, I was forgetting them. "Won't they be sur- prised when I show them your present after we have done breakfast ! " After having again pressed the hand of the doctor, he hurried away as fast as his old legs would carry him. The two young men were thoroughly pleased without any pretence. Uncle Bob had in fact made three happy by one stroke, for if Father Lucas was M 1 62 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. the owner of the boat, it was quite evident, that they would get the use of it. So the doctor's nephew was able to say with reason — " What name shall we give to our vessel ?" "That, my dear boys," interrupted the donor, "I have been obliged to attend to myself already. I am sorry for it, for I should have preferred the pleasure left to you. But our law in France is as imperative in demanding a recognised name for a boat taking the sea as for a child who has come into the world. I have therefore brought our new acquisition into har- mony with the official regulations by giving it a name of my own choice. Eead and confirm." On the stern of the vessel the young men saw, on inspection, a carved figure of a white bird standing out in bold relief, with its wings unfolded, while above it in gilded letters, and just then brilliant in the rays of the sun was the name — THE ALBATEOSS. XII. A letter — Logical inferences. — Pietro Franceschini — The Odysseus of a gendarme — An account of the acquaintance of Franceschini and Uncle Bob— The two barometers— A false prophet. "MB,. LEON — " DEAR SIR, " My labels are completed, my collection of forest birds and animals is mounted and varnished. You kindly promised to classify them for me. Thank- ing you again for your consideration, I have the honour to inform you that you will find me at home Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from two till four in the afternoon. If any of my duplicates should be of use to you, it will give me great pleasure to place them at your disposal. " I am, Sir, " Your very true and obedient servant, " PIETRO FRANCESCHINI. "Keeper. " P.S. My obedient compliments, if you please, to your father, Dr. Boberral." A correct logician, or even a police magistrate, (happily the two are sometimes combined in one i64- THE WALKS ABROAD OF person) into whose hands this letter might have come, would undoubtedly have drawn certain inferences from it, such as — 1. That the writer of this letter was a gamekeeper. Not a difficult inference this, seeing that he announced it himself. 2. That the keeper was a Corsican. At least his name, which was very Italian, pointed to this. 3. That this Corsican gamekeeper was a retired gendarme. This might be gathered from the style of his letter, which while striving to be as polite as possible, still retained an official smack, and some- thing of the formal and precise manner of a legal document. 4. That the aforesaid Corsican, keeper, ex-gendarme, employed his spare time in the formation of a collec- tion of the animals of the locality, and that he had not, from lack of the requisite knowledge, been able to arrange it himself. 5. Lastly, if he were acquainted with the good reputation of Uncle Bob, that this Corsican, ex-gen- darme, presently gamekeeper and natural history col- lector, had been the recipient of kind offices from the learned doctor. A logician who should have made all these infer- ences would not have been in error. Pietro Franceschini, after having patrolled on horse- back various parts of France under the insignia of the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 165 well-known cocked hat, had just attained the some- what fabulous position of non-commissioned officer, when the war between France and Germany was declared in 1870. Slightly wounded at Wissemburg, he had been able, thanks to his thorough knowledge of the district, to escape the clutches of the Prussians, and after a multi- tude of wanderings, a veritable Odysseus, he had suc- ceeded in reaching Paris a few days before the siege, just in time to be enlisted as non-commissioned officer in a company of pioneers. This hazardous and adventurous life was exactly to his taste. Frequently at night-fall with his men he quitted the besieged city, and came into contact with the advanced guard of the Germans, harassing them, and letting them see, as he said, some of the dodges of a gendarme. As hardy as a real Corsican, and cun- ning as a fox, he invariably brought these nocturnal expeditions to a satisfactory conclusion, and when he returned at daybreak within the line of the fortifications, he contrived to bring with him one or more prisoners, as he did not wish " to get rid of a good habit." But, as says an old proverb, " The pitcher goes often to the well." As the result of taking so many others by surprise, he had one night been taken by surprise himself. In the skirmish he had received a formidable slash across the face, and at the same mo- ment a huge demon of a Uhlan pierced his shoulder by 1 66 THE WALKS ABROAD OF a thrust with his lance. In this pitiable condition he was rescued with difficulty by his comrades, and brought, they said mortally wounded, to the ambulance of Uncle Bob. Interested by the difficulty of the case, the surgeon set himself, whether or no, to save him from his des- perate state. He spared none of his skill or pains in dressing his wounds, and rendering him a whole man. Franceschini, too, performed his part of the task by deciding with the obstinacy peculiar to a man of his nature and calling, that he would not die as long as there was the slightest chance of living. It is scarcely necessary to add that he vowed eternal thanks to the good surgeon for his almost miraculous cure. Two or three years afterwards, a keeper's place in the forest of Touques being vacant, the gendarme, who, in spite of his wounds, was still whole of eye and of foot, easily obtained it on the recommendation of his kind saviour. At the moment when our acquaintance with him commences Franceschini is a man of about fifty years, thin, of nervous temperament and military bearing, with hair closely cropped in conformity with the regu- lation cut, and heavy, white, hanging moustache. His wound, usually not very conspicuous on his parchment- like skin, sometimes becomes, in certain states of the weather, more conspicuous, and then appears in the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 167 form of a violet line extending from the left eye to the upper lip. The day after the receipt of his letter, the doctor pleased with the prospect of again seeing "the old lion," engaged a phaeton for the afternoon, it being four good leagues from Villers to the keeper's house, A CHKAP BAEOMETEE. and the doctor having left his horses and carriage in Paris, in order to oblige himself to take walking exercise. The day was ushered in with every appearance of becoming very warm. " We shall want sunshades rather than umbrellas," 1 68 THE WALKS ABROAD OF said Kene", as they were getting themselves ready for a start. "Let us see what our barometers say," replied Leon ; and he entered his workroom. " First let us look at No. 1." No. 1 was a dial-faced aneroid barometer hanging on the wall. Leon gently tapped it with his finger. The needle did not move. " The barometer is not rising," said he. "But it is not falling," answered Kene, " and why should you expect it to rise ? It is already standing nearly at fine weather." " Let us look at No. 2." No. 2 was a very different instrument. The case of a barometer was replaced by a vase three-parts filled with water and covered with a piece of muslin, the graduated scale by a genuine ladder of wood, and the needle by a green frog with brilliant reflections, and which at this moment had chosen to locate itself at the bottom of the receptacle. " Hum ! " said Leon, " this barometer is very low ; which seems to show — " That your frog is silly enough to like the water," replied Kene, who was determined to start, come what might. A lively cracking of whips interrupted the conver- sation. It was the doctor, who, as he was not going to walk, was determined at any rate to have the pleasure of driving the party himself. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 169 There was no further expectation of a disappoint- ment, for the carriage was at the door. Kene turned to the vase, saying with an air of most withering contempt — " Adieu, false prophet." The frog did not see any necessity for a reply. He contented himself with crouching more determinedly than ever at the bottom of his receptacle, Tvhile Kene agilely mounted next to his cousin. Black, nose in the air, installed himself between the legs of his master. The carriage disappeared. XIII. The Eoad to Touques on a fair-day — Reptiles — An example to be imitated by the market-gardeners of France — Doubtful forms — A reptile with a strong anatomical resemblance to a bird — Birds provided with teeth — Uses of reptiles — Barometer No. 2 seems likely to be right. AT Touques it was the day of the fair, and the road to the town, though usually rather deserted, was on this occasion traversed by many of the country people. Milk-carts quite covered with mud, their usual complement of tin cans replaced for the time being by children rolling about in the straw ; tilburys driven by heavy brazen-faced farmers, wearing blouses and silk hats ; cabriolets, whose leathern hood, reddened by long exposure to the storms, tottered and groaned, the iron springs supporting it being old and rusty ; in short all sorts and sizes of vehicles, known and un- known, probable and improbable, had apparently been brought into use, and raised thick clouds of dust which almost blinded the travellers on foot. Occasionally there might be seen groups of lasses in their Sunday best, going in little parties together, hand in hand, their important business being to select TIW YOUNG NATURALISTS. 171 from the wares of the hawkers at the fair a few gaudy ribbons and perhaps some jewellery of brass or gilt. Here and there, in the distance, might be distin- guished some rather denser cloud of dust, and as it was approached it proved to be a herd of oxen, driven probably by a boy in a serge blouse and wooden shoes, and armed with a large stick. Now and again the weapon would fall with a dull thud on one of the tawny rumps, and the enormous beast, shaking his head and neck, would break for a few seconds into a lumber- ing trot and again relapse into his lazy progress. The heat was stifling ; occasionally the horse would shake its mane and neck with impatience, hoping to get rid of some of the flies that harassed it; and under the burning rays of the sun the varnish of the vehicle cracked and melted, burning and staining the fingers that touched it. Under such conditions conversation was not likely to be very animated ; the travellers wiped their brows, the dog panted and hung out its tongue. Eene was the first to break the silence. Turning round to Leon : "Do you still believe in your " Eeptile," replied his cousin who was dropping off to sleep. " Eeptile ! So be it. I thought, however, that reptiles had no legs. Probably you will tell me that there are. several classes of them?" 1 72 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. Just then the carriage was passing through an avenue of large trees ; and the cool shade a little refreshed the young naturalist, who thereupon decided that he would give the information asked from him. " Here, in a few words, is a summary of it. There are four distinct orders of reptiles — * " The Ophidia, or serpents. " The Saurians, or lizards. " The Batrachians, or frogs. " The Chelonians, or tortoises. " With the possible exception of the viper (and in Normandy the bite of the viper is not usually very dangerous), all our reptiles are valuable friends to the agriculturist. Although we are destitute of tortoises in the north of France, yet the lizards and frogs des- troy a great quantity of slugs and little insects. The toad himself, the hideous and repulsive toad, is of such real utility that the English market-gardeners, who in this respect, it would appear, are better informed than our own, are said to purchase them every year, in Paris, in enormous quantities, and pay as much as a penny apiece for them. On the other hand, it must be admitted that in several other countries the * At the present time the frogs or Batrachia, are not classed with reptiles, but are considered to belong to another class called Amphibia. As, however, the crocodiles are, by many naturalists, separated from the Sauria as a distinct order, the number of orders of reptiles may still be said to be four. — Translator. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 175 reptile world is represented by crocodiles, alligators, FBOGS EGGS A>'D TADPOLES PARTIALLY DEVELOPED. snakes, and other creatures of very bad reputation. In a certain sense reptiles may be termed hybrids, 176 THE WALKS ABROAD OF or rather animals of transition. Frogs, toads, and salamanders undergo metamorphoses, something like insects, and serpents change their skins in a similar way to the Crustacea. " By the conformation of their legs and of their skeleton, the Batrachians, the Saurians, and the Tor- toises approach the mammalia, while the cloaca of the intestine, and their mode of reproduction by eggs, are points of relationship with hirds. On the other hand, serpents and eels (members of the fish tribe) have an air of resemblance or kindred that cannot be ignored. By the way," added Leon, who had become quite wide-awake, " do you know which of the reptiles it is that anatomically most resembles a bird ? " " No." " Well, it is the tortoise : the mandibles, the conso- lidated breastbones — " * " A bird and a tortoise ! What a pair of anatomical relatives ! However much the sternum may be soldered, I shall wait to admit the resemblance until chickens have teeth." " At present they have not teeth," said the doctor ; " but they have had them ; certainly not chickens exactly, but some fossil birds discovered a few years ago by the American geologists. And it may be mentioned as a coincidence that tortoises with teeth » The breast or plastron of the tortoise is not now considered homologous with the breastbone of birds. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 179 have been discovered in the formations of the Tertiary epoch. But to return to our native reptiles : I shall remind you of the lizards, literally our friends, for they are easily tamed." " I should think so ! " exclaimed Eene ; "I kept a whole tribe of them in my desk at school." " The so-called salamanders, to which in old days wonderful properties were attributed, amongst others CAPILLARY NETWORK OF THE FROo's FOOT : A, AKTERY ; C, CAPILLARY J V, VEIN. that they could withstand fire. Speaking of that, I often wonder what fables the ancients might have manufactured about the axolotls, the strange reptiles that are imported here from Mexico, and are beginning to replace in aquariums the gold-fish now become rather too commonplace. Finally come the frogs, already alluded to. They supply us also with a ready means of observing the circulation of the blood. This 1 80 THE WALKS ABROAD OF can be seen with a good magnifying power in the transparent web or membrane uniting their toes. And we must not forget the green frogs, whose duty it is to act as cheap barometers." "And who are worth about as little as they cost," ejaculated Kene* who still entertained a malicious feel- ing towards barometer JS"o. 2. Just then a prolonged rumbling was heard in the distance ; and while the doctor and Leon were listen- ing with eagerness, " It is some heavily laden vehicle going by," added the Parisian. There was, however, no further possibility of mistake : a few minutes after- wards the first gleams of lightning, precursors of an approaching storm, were seen behind the great trees. "Look, obstinate man!" said Leon. "These, I presume, are the lamps of your vehicle ! " The storm rapidly increased; the cloud, at first distant and almost imperceptible in the blue sky, increased, and soon the azure firmament was covered as if with an immense dark veil of slatey grey. For a moment the little caravan stopped discomfited. But as they were less than a mile from Touques, it was decided to push on to there, and take shelter in the meantime. The doctor drove on the equipage with a heavy stroke or two of the whip, and a few minutes afterwards they reached one of the first houses. It was an inn, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 181 placed at the beginning of the village, as is usual in country places. Feeling thankful for this usage, our four travellers, Black being included, hurried to enter the shelter that so opportunely presented itself. xrv. A village inn at Touques in the year of grace, 1884 — At the fair — The g-r-r-r-rand menagerie — A trade truly requiring a natural calling — Two anecdotes of tamers. IT was none too soon. Just as our travellers entered the tap-room, the storm burst forth with fury, accom- panied by torrents of rain and hail, which rattled like a fusillade and rebounded from the windows. Leon, Rend, and the doctor took up a position in a corner, while the ostler took charge of the horse and carriage, and placed them under shelter. The room into which our friends had just entered was a large square apartment. The walls were covered with a flowered paper, and on them were displayed three framed engravings, one representing some Arabs overthrown by a sort of lion ; another some Indians in process of being devoured by an animal that was supposed to be a tiger. The third was the capture of, probably, Sebastopol. Interspersed between these three artistic efforts were portraits, one halfpenny each, of distinguished persons and celebrated criminals, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 183 alternating with bills, blue, yellow, red, announcing the wonderful properties of divers new elixirs and little known liquors, with the names and addresses of the makers in letters of gold. At the end, a gigantic yellow bill announcing the times of departure and arrival of the trains of the Western Kailway Co., served in lieu of a curtain. Such was the establishment, and many like it may be found quite near to some fashionable bathing-places — a village alehouse endeavouring to assume the appear- ance of a town hotel, on account of the wandering tourists who occasionally find their way to it. The peasants, excited by the native cider, the intoxicating beverage made from the apples of the district, and possibly also by the unusual incidents of the day, smoked, vociferated, and shouted, each at the top of his voice, and rattled down their dominoes on the marble tables with noisy emphasis. The doctor, as well as his two companions, found himself ill at ease in so numerous and boisterous an assembly, so that as the first violence of the storm had passed, the downpour of thunder- showers and hail being succeeded by a steady rain, he hastened to get out and find some other shelter. A few paces farther on there was the outskirts of the fair, with its rifle-shooting at a target of pipes, its peripatetic pastrycooks, whose small establishments diffused for some distance around them odours of the i84 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. dripping-pan and burning fat ; its bowling-places with their grotesque announcements ; the dealers in sweets, arrayed in the guise of Turks, and continually tintin- abulating their little bells ; lotteries where children always gain prizes of indigestible gingerbread, and their parents, occasionally, of glassware and knicknacks of a nature supposed to be artistic, that might well arouse the cupidity of the negroes in Africa. Still farther on, side by side with the caravans painted in yellow, and doing double duty as dwelling- places and as temples of the travelling fortune-tellers, conjurors, intelligent mesmerics, all sorts of other exhibitions were drawn up : deformed dwarfs, very ugly giants, with huge painted canvases, explanatory announcements, and occasionally a chained monkey, rickety, angry, and grimacing at the door. Uncle Bob cast glances right and left in search of some respectable entertainment where they could decently await the cessation of the rain, and soon per- ceived a large canvas structure. On the front of this edifice appeared an inscription some twenty feet in length — " GKAKD ASIATIC MENAGEEIE." They entered immediately, the only delay being caused by Black, to whom the odour of lions appeared to be but doubtfully attractive. The menagerie was arranged, like others of the sort, AFRICAN LIoN. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 187 with the cages placed side by side. Behind the thick iron bars were some lanky panthers and rheumatic lions, dozing, or looking with a stupid air at the visi- tors who were waiting the " description." Occasionally a lion or other beast of prey, would give utterance to a dull growling, and the blue long- tailed parrots, the yellow-crested cockatoos, hanging to their perches like trapezes, replied by discordant shrieks. A somewhat good-looking young woman, in a green velvet bodice with silver embroidery, skin tights and riding-boots, commenced the descriptive speech. " Ladies and gentlemen, this is the terrible lion of Nubia. His thick mane, his enormous strength, his majestic gait, the echoing thunder of his voice, have rightly procured for him the title of king of the animals. "With a single stroke of his tail he prostrates the strongest and most powerful man, and by the strength of his terrible jaw he conquers the largest animals." All this was said in one note, with a shrill and gab- bling utterance, something after the fashion of a child rapidly repeating a lesson. Then changing her tone and striking the bars of the cage with her pointing-stick," Get up, Sultan ! " The awkward animal raised itself in a reluctant manner, and the tamer continued. " Here is the crocodile" (she pronounced it crrro- i88 THE WALKS ABROAD OF cccodille), "also called the alligator, of the river Nile, whose proverbial ferocity has been related by many travellers." "Another mistake," muttered Leon; "crocodile and alligator are two very distinct creatures." " In these distant countries, woe to whoever allows himself to be surprised by this terrible amphibian ! For the crocodile of the Nile seizes its prey between its fearful jaws, and dives to the depths of the waters to devour it." Then, in the same voice with which she had addressed the lion, " Come now, give us a laugh," she said, and struck the terrific jaws with her stick. The saurian moved a little in its bath, opened its eyes, and commenced to yawn, making a noise some- thing like a steam-engine letting off steam. This was all that the most persevering scholastic efforts of the tamers had been able to teach it. The girl rapidly covered up the bath with some planks, and turning her back to this not very fascin- ating subject, continued her description. " After the animals of the torrid zone, we come to the bear of the polar regions. Captured on an ice- berg." " Come away," said the doctor. They made their exit, leaving the tamer to celebrate in hyperbolic fashion the proverbial ferocity of the polar bear. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 189 The rain was nearly over. " What an occupation ! " said Leon; " What a life, to be a tamer of wild beasts ! " "Truly," his cousin replied, "to have before one every morning the prospect of finishing the day as a snack in the stomach of a lion or the bowels of a tiger, and never be able for five minutes to feel sure that one POLAE BEAK. is not partly eaten ! Faugh ! I should want to be well paid if I were to accept such a position." " But they probably would not be anxious to take you," said the doctor. u The very danger must have some sort of fascination for these people, and keep them to their wild beasts ; and the proof of this is that many of them are quite able, if they wished it, to pursue a less dangerous calling. iqo THE WALKS ABROAD OF " Indeed, there is more than this. If they have the good luck to possess enough to retire on when they are getting old, it is only with the greatest reluctance that they will consent to forsake their beasts. I knew a very rich, retired tamer, who kept most of his mena- gerie at his own private residence. He himself took care of the wild beasts, and never failed each morning to go and smoke his pipe and read his paper in the society of ' his lions.' And when his neighbours, who could not reconcile themselves to his friends, com- pelled him to part with them, the unfortunate old fellow was ready to die of grief. " Moreover, danger is among the things to which one grows quite accustomed, as you may learn by inquiring from soldiers and sailors, or doctors and the officials of hospitals. To return to the tamers, once when I was house-surgeon at the hospital, they brought under my care an unfortunate devil who had been mauled by a tiger. His body was simply a mass of wounds ; it was something horrible ! He survived it, however, though how I can scarcely imagine. A little time afterwards, as I was crossing the court- yard of the hospital, my patient came up to me, still enveloped in his bandages, almost like an Egyptian mummy, and said, ' Do you think I shall be in a condition to make my reappearance at the fair at Rouen, in three weeks' time ? ' " He was positively wearying to be at it again; TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 191 and as I expressed my astonishment, ' This accident was entirely owing to my own stupidity,' he added. ' A tamer who keeps a sharp look-out is never bitten by his animals.' And, heaven pardon me ! but I believe he added, 'Besides, you see, we never die of it; " XY. Return to the cottage — Two or three words about mammalia — The stomach of a chewer of the cud — A well-applied mythological name — Terror of Dame Theresa — Disgusting ! but a benefactor — Uncle Bob releases a criminal condemned to death. OUR friends had returned to the itm. Although the clouds were still very threatening, they nevertheless promised to leave an hour or two of fine weather, and the doctor took advantage of this to order the horse to be put to, pay the score, and start again, with a smart trot, on the road back to Yillers. The rain had not produced a deep mud, though it had drenched the ground and laid the dust. And the road now displayed itself in an ochreous-red colour, while the foliage, washed and refreshed by the mois- ture, had regained a greener tint. A few breezy gusts from time to time shook the branches of the trees over the heads of our tourists, sprinkling them as they passed with some drops of cool water, and in the neighbouring marshes the frogs, rejoicing in the renewed humidity, intoned a triumphal croaking. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 193 " If we are ever to discuss the Mammalia, this is our chance," said Eene to his cousin at the very spot where, on going, they had talked about the reptiles. " What do you suppose I can tell you about them that you do not already know ? " asked Leon. " It QUADKUKAXA 1 CAPTTCHIX MONKEY. is now recognised that there are, at least twelve orders * of Mammalia, viz. — " 1. The Bimana, to which we ourselves have the honour to belong. "2. The Quadrumana (monkeys). * The number of orders of Mammalia is still a matter of some uncertainty. Cuvier recognised only nine, while Glaus, one of the latest authorities adopts fourteen, without including man. —Translator. 194 THE WALKS ABROAD OF "3. The Chiroptera (bats). These in our country live on insects, and help us to get rid of many injurious creatures. " 4. The Insectivora (hedgehogs, shrews, moles, &c.). " 5. The Carnivora (types: the bear, dog, cat, lion, hysena, seal). "6. The Eodentia (beaver, squirrel, rabbit, rats, mice). " 7. The Edentata, none of which are found in Europe (armadillos, ant-eaters, pangolins). " 8. The Pachydermata (elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, tapir, horse, pig). "9. The Buminantia (oxen, deer, sheep). "10. The Cetacea (whales, dolphins, narwhal). " Lastly, llth, the Marsupialia (kangaroos and opossums) ; and 12th, the Monotremata (Echidna and Ornithorhynchus), peculiar to Australia. " I only give you this list as a reminder, and the few mammalia of our own country are so well known that it seems almost unnecessary to allude to them. Still, there is always something of interest to relate about them, and we can, if you please, chat in a familiar manner concerning a few of them. il Take, for instance, the bats and the hedgehogs, which you probably have an objection to. Well, both of them are insectivorous, and in this capacity are useful to us and claim our respect, although the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 195 second of them is suspected by many, rightly or wrongly, of having a too great fondness for apples. Squirrels, on the other hand, you probably think CHIEOPTEEA: LONG-EASED BATS. charming. And yet they are injurious animals, like almost all the rodents. But they may be pardoned, if as some say, they are made into delicious pies in New igb TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. York. Another rodent, one too that is amongst the worst of our enemies, has been utilised in another CAENIVOEA : PANTHER OR LKOPAED fashion and while alive, a certain manufacturer in England, an ingenious engineer, having invented a machine for winding, turned by an apparatus kept in EODEXTIA : SQUIRREL. motion by mice. I have not heard, however, whether this curious attempt has proved successful. II ^ ill? 1 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 199 "Speaking of apparatus, no doubt you are acquainted with the arrangement of the stomach of the ruminants, SKULL OF A KODENT. TEETH OF AN IXSECTIVOKOUS ANIMAL. or animals that chew the cud. This stomach consists of four separate parts: 1, the rumen, or paunch; 2, INHECTIVORA : SHHEW-MICE. the reticulum, or honeycomb bag ; 3, the psalterium, or manyplies ; 4, the abonasum, or rennet-stomach. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. " The paunch and the manyplies each communicate directly with the oesophagus, which is provided with a deep groove running from the first to the third stomach. INSECTIVORA : HEDGEHOG. When the food is in a solid condition, it is passed from the paunch into the honeycomb bag, where it is formed into a ball and regurgitated. After being again chewed it is swallowed, but being soft does not open the tube STOMACH OF RUMINANT. «, (ESOPHAGUS ; pa, PAUNCH ; b. HONEYCOMB BAG ; /, MANYPLIES : C, RENNET ; p, PYLORUS. going to the honeycomb bag, but passes on into the third and fourth stomachs, and so into the intestinal canal. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 203 " You already knew this, so that, as I said, I have really not much to teach you about the mam- malia." They now reached Yillers, and the horse and car- riage, pretty well bespattered with mud, were returned BEAVERS AND THEIE DWELLINGS. to their owner, and our friends at once went back to the cottage. Through the open window of the workroom they perceived barometer Xo. 2, which, it will be recol- lected, had been an object of mockery and vituperation to Eene when they were starting. 204 THE WALKS ABROAD OP " I have found a name for jour Batrachian," said the latter to Le"on — "a mythological name, suited to its sinister and alas ! only too true pre- dictions. By your permission we will in future call it Cassandra." "We will hope that Cassandra will not be always a prophet of ill, and that to-morrow we may be able to complete our interrupted excursion." The servant was just then at the bottom of the garden, occupied in picking some vegetables for the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS 205 evening meal, and suddenly she gave utterance to a piercing scream. The doctor and the young men, in alarm, ran as fast as they could. 11 There, there, sir ! " and with a trembling finger EDENTATA : TATOU, OK ARMADILLO. she pointed out a small dark object motionless in the middle of the path. CETACEA : GREENLAND, OR EIGHT WHALE. It was an enormous toad, warty and horrible, which, by the rain and cool air, had been brought into a mood for wandering through the damp grass, and so was composedly taking his turn round the garden. 206 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. Alarmed by the piercing cry, it had come to a stand- still, and remained there calmly, as if contemplating the terrified domestic. "Oh, sir, you do not see it," added Dame Theresa. •: The beast, the venomous beast ! " * "No, no, you cockney, no," the doctor said in a MOXOTKEJIATA : SPINY ECHIDNA. paternal manner; "toads are only slightly venomous, even when handled, and when not actually touched are * According to the experiments of Professor Vulpian, the poison of the toad, secreted by certain cutaneous glands, can only be active when it is inoculated. This inoculation may induce death in animals of small size, especially in rats and guinea-pigs. Death in such cases seems due to stoppage of the action of the heart. — Author's note. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 209 no degree injurious; and if this one has given you a good fright, it is clear you have done the same to it." " But it is horrible ! these creatures are frightful. Kill it, smash it at once, Mr. Le*on." "Where should we stop, if we were to kill OENITHOKHY.NCHUS AXATINTJS. AUSTRALIA. everything that is ugly and repulsive ? " said the old doctor. And pushing it out of the way with the end of his stick into a row of raspberry canes : "Go your way, little creature; it is not yet dusk enough for you to be about. The world," he added with a kindly smile, " is quite large enough for all three of us." p TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. From this time forward Dame Theresa always avoided going into this part of the garden after sunset. THE TOAD. " SCARCELY YEXOMOUS EVEN WHEX TOUCHED." XVI. Continuance of bad weather — Mother Goose, loto, or dominoes — A book of wonders — Rotifers — Artificial death and revival — Tardigrades, Kolpodes, Monads, and Vorticella — How to obtain a desired infusorian — Mineral, vegetable, or animal ? — Diatomaceae — To what the colour of some seas is due— Foraminif era —Polypes, Hydra — Experiments of du Tremblay — How a single animal may be made into several, and several into one — A naturalist never wearies. WHEN they awoke the next morning the friends at the cottage had no need to open the windows in order to convince themselves that their proposed visit to the keeper was again to be put off. The sullen sky did not, as yesterday, send joyous rays into their rooms ; rain was falling thickly and steadily against the dripping panes, and these, lashed at intervals by squalls, gave forth dull sounds like muffled drums. " It will go on till evening," said Father Lucas, who had come to have a conference with the doctor. Every sailor is a meteorologist whether he knows it or not, and his weather forecasts are but rarely deceptive. The friends were obliged therefore to resign themselves to the idea of keeping the house all day. Though this had scarcely begun, the two young THE WALKS ABROAD OF men were already, by glances, inquiring from one another what was to be done. From time to time Rene went into the workroom to consult Cassandra. Cassandra gave no indication of. rising. "Mother Goose, loto, or dominoes?" said Le*on, without preface, to his cousin. " A truce to unpleasant joking," said the Parisian. " Certainly it is not worth while being a learned man if you have nothing to amuse your friends with on wet days, except some games borrowed from the ancient Greeks, and by the Greeks very probably from the Boeotians. I am suprised you do not make the absurd proposal of showing me some toys or picture books." " Exactly ! Why not ? " cried Leon, pretending that an idea had all at once occurred to him, though the sly fellow had been thinking of it for at least ten minutes. "Fortunately I have quite handy a book very curious to read, and all the more amusing inasmuch as both text and illustrations can be con- stantly varied. "Here it is : the microscope. With a good micro- scope and appliances, and some knowledge of their use, one may ensure never being lonely, even were one in an out-of-the-way place in the country, and rain should fall during forty days successively, as in the time of the Deluge." The microscope was taken out of its case. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 2I3 " Here is the first chapter," said Le'on, taking up with a pipette a drop of water, which he placed under the object-glass of the instrument. " I offer you the book ; read for yourself." In the middle of the liquid some apparently great ROTIFER VTTLGARIS. A, THE ANIMAL IN WATER ; B, THE SAME DRIED. creatures were rolling about their fusiform bodies : they were some rotifers that Le'on had found without difficulty in the water-gutter of the cottage. " All very well when there is water in the gutter, as there is to-day," said Eene, with an air of opposi- tion ; " but supposing it were dry weather ? " 214 THE WALKS ABROAD OF "Then the rotifers, too, dry up, and await with resignation better times. Should a little rain come they will revive — they or their posterity. This time I ZOLPODA CTTCTTLLU3. have played the part of Nature, by the help of a few drops of water, and the rotifers have returned to activity." Then they viewed in succession : Tardigrades, BELL VOETICELLA. ( r. convalario). degraded, creeping, repulsive creatures ; Kolpoda, in form like a little leech ; and Monads, the most micro- scopic of microscopic beings, and to be found by TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 215 myriads in filthy water ; VorticellaB, posing their globose bodies and open mouth, at the end of a long twisted stalk, something after the fashion of a spiral spring. For each demonstration, Le'on had recourse to a a » GBOUP OF MONADS Enchcli/s pupa. (Monas crepitsculum). new receptacle for his drop of water, and this was noticed by his cousin who remarked — "Do you, then, keep all these kinds separately? " " It is easier to study them when they are so. Different sorts of infusions or decoctions are more B VEGETABLE INFTTSOBIAN ( VoloX A, THE OBGANISM J B, DETACHED ZOOSPORE8. specially resorted to by certain animalcules. For instance, one finds more particularly — " Volvox and Yorticellee in infusions of hemp-seed. " The species of Enchelys in infusions of hay or 216 THE WALKS ABROAD OF " The Kolpodse also in infusions of grass or hemp- seed that have been kept for a long time. " The species of Gonium in infusion of pears. "Kotifers and some Vorticellae in little shells in fresh water, and about the remains of aquatic insects. " Monads in infusions of mushrooms. DIATOM, GREATLY MAGNIFIED. " Anguillulidse, paste or vinegar eels, in the sub- stances denoted by their names. " But many of the species may be found in abun- dance in pools of water. So that sometimes a single drop of stagnant water is inhabited by quite a minia- ture menagerie. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 217 " Moreover one finds other things besides animals in pools of water. Here, for instance, is something else." There was then displayed to the eyes of the as- tonished pupil a whole collection of beings that can scarcely be defined, of regular and geometric forms : discs piled one on the other ; cubes, sometimes united end to end, sometimes soldered by one of their angles; spindles, fans, wheels — what more shall I say ! " " Well, this is really too extraordinary ! Animal, vegetable, or mineral, I cannot for the life of me say which I suppose them to be. Is it possible that it is an assemblage of the three kingdoms, bound together in one volume ? " " These," said Leon, " are diatoms. They have treated them as algse, not being able to do anything better ; but the truth is that in the case of these curious productions, the words vegetable and animal have no longer their peculiar meaning. "These beings with their silicious skeletons, which are apparently nearly indestructible, increase them- selves by segmentation and division. They are met with everywhere — in the water, in the air ; in fresh- water, and in the ocean. Sometimes these infinitely small atoms, massed in millions and billions, even alter the colour of the sea : hence the names, Eed Sea, Yellow Sea, Vermilion Bay. Be sure to recollect that the largest of these diatoms measures only some 2i 8 THE WALKS ABROAD OF few hundredths of a millimetre in diameter, there being 2,500 one-hundredths of a millimetre in a single inch. "Many live after the fashion of parasites ; almost all, if not actually all, aquatic plants are covered FORAMINIFERA, GREATLY MAGNIFIED. with them. A simple washing with sulphuric acid is generally sufficient to detach them. And, just as if they were nevertheless in difficulty to find room, these microscopic beings actually take lodgings in the stomachs and on the scales of fishes. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 219 " In the seas, there is another class of creatures scarcely less numerous and ubiquitous, though often of somewhat larger bulk, that form as it were a sort of complement to the diatoms : the Foraminifera, whose forms are varied almost to infinity, are found in large accumulations on the floors of the ocean, and their skeleton is pierced in all directions by little FBEsHWATEB HYDEA. holes, from which project great numbers of vibratile cilia3. Thus, besides infinitely small diatoms, there are other infinitely small beings, and these also help to make up the structure of worlds." To assist him in his microscopic work, Leon had established in a glass globe a sort of small artificial pond with some mud, several plants and insects, and on its surface some pieces of duckweed. Tired of THE WALKS ABROAD OF looking through the microscope, Rene was engaged in examining this. " There are cuttle-fish in your pond," said he all at once, pointing out a mass of gelatinous arms in constant movement near the surface of the liquid. What he mistook for cuttle-fish was merely a colony of hydras, freshwater polypes — creatures which may vie with any others in tenacity of life, according to the celebrated experiments made by du Tremblay. Du Tremblay, when he made these observations, was a schoolmaster in some little town, I have forgotten which, in Holland, Jost in the midst of marshes. These marshes were peopled by many of the freshwater polyps called hydras, and, in the absence of other amusements, this naturalist found a pleasure in study- ing them. He first noticed that these animals can be multiplied by division, and that to obtain two hydras, it was sufficient to cut one Hydra into two pieces. Having settled this point, he examined their organ- isation. It is certainly not very complicated. The body of a Hydra consists simply of a bag, the inside of which forms the stomach. By exercising skill and patience du Tremblay managed to turn one of these polyps inside out, somewhat like a glove, so that what was stomach became outside and vice versa. The experiment was a success: the polyp seemed quite comfortable notwithstanding this remarkable change in his personality. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. Du Tremblay did not with this end his interesting discoveries. " Since out of one Hydra you can make two," he sagely reasoned, "out of two probably one can be made." This was both said and done, and the patient naturalist, after some unsuccessful efforts, succeeded in fastening together several hydras, end to end, in such a way as to merge their several indi- vidualities in one. And thus we see that in the most unfavourable localities the naturalist need never weary. XYII. With Franceschini — Another barometer — "Good-day, Major!" — A mysteri- ous voice— Uncle Bob begins to fancy the keeper's house must be haunted — Jacob — A fable of La Fontaine realised — The Norman character makes itself evident even in birds - Rene's classification — Honest men and brigands — Day thieves and nocturnal prowlers — The waders and web- feet— Climbers— Gallinaceous birds — Passerine birds— Jacob sadly out of place — Franceschini insists on a new classification. AT last the clouds were scattered, and the barometer, the Cassandra-barometer as well, indicated " set fair." Again they put to, started, and arrived at Touques, this time without any noteworthy incident. The keeper, with a very short clay pipe between his teeth, was quietly taking his ease on a bench outside the door, when the rumbling of the vehicle roused him from his quiescence. He rose, laid down the pipe on his seat, advanced in military style, and in a superb bass voice saluted with the words — " Good day, Major ! " Uncle Bob certainly had never been major ; but no doubt, in the opinion of the ex-gendarme, the rosette of the legion of honour in his buttonhole was a sufficient justification for the nattering title, which TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 223 conferred on him the dignity, certainly well merited, of a position in the permanent army of duty's volunteers. "Tush!" he said, but nevertheless with an evi- dent air of satisfaction ; "no usurpation of rank, if you please. I have at least never been more than a simple soldier in the ranks of duty, and it ought to be I that should present arms to you, Mr. Sergeant. As, however, I do not carry any, I can only offer you my apologies for not having come before this. We started the day before yesterday, but we beat a cowardly retreat, being conquered by the rain." " I am to blame," cried Franceschini. " Triple blockhead that I am ! I might have foreseen that change of weather. When I wrote my letter to you everything indicated that we should have a storm : everything, even my scar, which became violet, like a bishop's cassock. I ought to have observed this, but somehow or other when one has as villainous a phiz as mine, one does not waste much time at the looking- glass." They entered the house, and found there was already set out for them a snack prepared on the spur of the moment by Madame Franceschini, the wife of the keeper — he having, as we ought previously to have explained, taken a wife very soon after coming to the district, in order that he might take better root. 224 THE WALKS ABROAD OF There is one thing that country people have never been able to understand, and that probably they never will understand. It is that others cannot have such good appetites as themselves. On this occasion the fruits were superb, the bread excellent, the butter and the cider such as are only to be found in Normandy. The three guests did honour in their best style to this impromptu collation, discussing at the same time the object of their visit. " All the birds are ticketed with the names given to them in the district," said the keeper, as he was uncorking in a most careful manner a bottle of the wine of the district. " But it still remains to classify them according to their regiments, in proper battle array. That you will be able to do, and I have the most complete confidence in your ability." " Must see," replied, from behind the door of the next room, a sharp voice seeming to come almost from beneath the ground. The two young men looked quite astonished. Some- one, then, was listening to their conversation ! Fran- ceschini bit and twisted his moustache. The doctor also heard it, but thinking it was the trick of some ill-bred child, paid no attention. Leon thought it well to do the same as his father. " Yery well, we will classify the collection," said he, " and if I cannot do it all myself, I am sure my cousin will not refuse to lend me a hand." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 225 " Certainly, cerrr-tainly," replied the voice. " Yes certainly," said Bene, in a way to be heard by the mysterious interlocutor. " I must admit I am no ornithologist ; I know that well, but I can at any rate give a piece of good advice when necessary. It is not well to mock me." " Per-haps, well, must see ! " replied the voice, drawling in an unmerciful manner. This time Uncle Bob no longer kept silence. " One of two things : either I am getting silly or some ill-mannered person is mocking us ; unless, in- deed, we may be in some haunted house," he added, in the tone of a man who is very sceptical about such kinds of witchcraft. "Neither one nor the other, Major," said the keeper by way of excuse. " I had put Jacob out of the way, and now he is taking his revenge. The best thing I can do is to introduce the culprit to you." He opened the door. "Now then, come along, Jacob ; come in, come in," and through the half-open door there hopped in a magnificent raven, of a deep blue-black colour. A triple burst of laughter greeted his entrance. "But it is really a learned bird, a phenomenal creature, and worth more than all the menagerie at Touques ! Come here, Jacob, come here, then ! " And each " come here " was accompanied by a Q 226 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. shower of crumbs and scraps. Jacob, who never in his bird's memory recollected such a feast, came and picked them up without fear, even at the feet of the visitors. Then, when his appetite was satisfied, he hopped familiarly on to the shoulder of his master. "He is a foundling," said this latter. " It was during some most fearful weather that I discovered Jacob in the forest. A gale had dislodged him from the nest ; he was half-frozen, and three-parts drowned by the rain — quite moribund, in fact. Instinctively I picked him up, without intending to keep him, possi- bly thinking he might have a more gentle death. When I reached home I placed him near the fire in a blanket. "'You would have done better to have left him where he was,' my wife said to me, 'for he was past suffering.' " And indeed I thought I was only prolonging his agony. The next morning, to my great surprise, he still lived. ' Suppose he should recover ! ' said I, still without believing it. "He did, however, recover; and in spite of our predictions I believe the rascal is now likely to out- live us all." "And how did you teach him?" asked Rene. "Until now I have not seen any talking ravens except in the fables of La Fontaine." ' His learning was done almost entirely by him- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 229 self. He hears the country people talk, and amuses himself by imitating them. It is because of this that hesitating expressions such as, ' Well !' 'Perhaps so ! ' and ' Must see ! ' are his favourite phrases. On the other hand, I never recollect hearing him say ' Yes ' or 'No,' these words being very little used in Nor- mandy." They rose from table and entered the room in which the keeper had arranged his museum, as he called it. The furnishings were of military simplicity : a desk made of deal, covered with papers and books, three chairs, and the arms and accoutrements of the soldier's military period, arranged as a sort of trophy between the white muslin curtains of the two windows. The rest of the apartment was devoted to the birds. These were to be seen in all directions — on the desk, on shelves, under glass shades. The beams of the ceiling served as supports for some scutcheons of varnished wood, bearing branches of trees, on which were placed the larger birds, with spread-out wings, as if about to take flight. "We must proceed in due order," said Leon; and turning to Kene", "You were just saying that we ought not to despise you. Let us see, then ; how would you commence ? " " I should begin by leaving all the respectable kinds together, and by putting in one corner all these 230 THE WALKS ABROAD OF hooked beaks and rapacious figures." And Rene with his finger pointed out a large owl and a kestrel falcon, which in truth had very much the appearance of two brigands. The rapacious forms were placed together on one side. "We will call them Raptatores," said Le*on, "the •THESE HOOKED BEAKS AND RAPACIOUS FIGURES." name used in our system of classification. Now that we have them all together, do you not think they may be made into two groups ? " " Undoubtedly. There are evidently two distinct classes — first the brigands that carry on their opera- tions in daylight, and next the owls and other prowlers who do their work at night." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 231 " In other words, then, diurnal and nocturnal Eaptatores." " Very good. But now let us turn our attention to the honest kinds." The classification was now a more difficult matter, for the honest kinds are so numerous, amongst birds at any rate. However, Kene* was not discouraged. "First we will use two or three shelves for those with very long beaks, most of them, too, having also WOODCOCK (Scolopax rusticola, Lin.). long necks. At any rate, that will be some out of the way." And speedily, the bustards, plovers, peewits, snipe, curlews, sandpipers, cranes, herons, storks, rails, water-hens — all the waders in fact — were brought together, forming one group of allied kinds. " Let us now make a finish of the water birds," said Lie* on. " Side by side with their long-legged friends, let us place the web-footed kinds." TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. And so the web-feet were next arranged. As they were very numerous, and as, if the feet were left out of consideration, they were not very similar to one another, it was necessary to make several subdivisions of them, the most important being, the grebes, the sea-gulls, the cormorants, and the ducks. " Now for the fourth order," said Le*on. But seeing that his cousin was now in difficulties he concluded the classification himself. " First the climbers, the born protectors of our forests, frequenting the trunks of the trees in search of insects : woodpeckers, wrynecks, cuckoos, and creepers. " Then the Gallinse or game birds, the edible order par excellence, created, one might suppose, for the particular satisfaction of the lovers of the table: partridges, quail, pigeons, grouse, pheasants, &c., to say nothing of our domestic fowls. " We have progressed by a process of elimination," continued the young naturalist ; " and now nothing remains for our consideration but the perchers or Passeres" " Now then," cried Ke*ne, " about Jacob, the mag- niloquent and voluminous Jacob. Would you place him in the same order as the wrens, the finches, or the tits ? If I were him and had so clever a tongue I should protest against this." fl ft- — - -™ -- -^ m EEEVE'S PHEASANT. CUEASSOW. SILVEB PHEASANT. PEACOCK. GOLDEN PHEASANT. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. "Certainly, cerrr-tainly ! " hissed the bird, who ap- peared to know that they were talking about him, and to wish to assume a part in this protest. " Where would you enrol him ? The order of perchers is a negative one, without any real distinctive BD : AVOCET (Rccurvirostra acocetta, Lin.). character of its own, a sort of naturalist's chaos, where everything that is not web -foot, wader, rapa- cious, climber, nor game-bird, is thrown into the general mass. Some subdivisions of it have been formed, which are chiefly based on the form of the 236 THE WALKS ABROAD OF beak and the arrangement of the toes. This is all that has been accomplished. * "And now," he added, addressing himself to the keeper, " I must compliment you on your collection, of which you have indeed every right to be proud, for there are many amateurs who would plume themselves on it. I hope the classification of it, now that it is finished, will meet with approval." Franceschini rubbed his ear with the air of a man who does not think "Yes," but does not like to say "No." "Perhaps yeu had thought of some other way of arranging it," said the doctor, who apparently divined his thoughts. " Well, yes ! I should like to have it settled what are the injurious species we ought to destroy, and which are useful, so that we should protect them. If this were only indicated by some mark or word on the label by the side of the name of the species, it would be sufficient. Perhaps, Major, you would kindly undertake this ? " The "Major" smiled at this new proof of con- fidence. " Yes, but, yes, but — but that is extremely difficult. The question is a very complicated one ; and appa- * Since the time of Cuvier, several fresh classifications of birds have been made ; but naturalists are not at all agreed on the subject, and the Passeres are always a great difficulty. — Translator. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 237 rently all the more intricate because torrents of ink have been poured out with a view of settling it. However, as you seem to desire it, and as I am now in the saddle, I will give you my own opinion." Here follows, very carefully reported, the opinion of Uncle Bob on this subject. xvm. Three great categories of birds — Injurious birds — Birds of mixed qualities — Useful birds — Certain birds not to be proscribed at first glance — Some conclusive facts — Frederick the Great and his cherries — Curious obser- vation made in Paris— Those that eat insects — Some figures — An unjust and odious persecution — -The worst enemy of rats, field-mice, and other rodents— Birds as protectors of sailors — An English law— Cormorant- fishing in China — A possible cure for the Phylloxera — A proposal from Franceschini. " THREE classes may be distinguished amongst birds : injurious birds, birds of mixed qualities who do both good and harm, and useful birds. " Some birds are injurious by destroying game and useful animals. As instances, the eagles and falcons, and also the jays and magpies, who are constantly on the look-out for the eggs and young of other birds. Others, like the kingfisher, affect the fish and fry of our rivers. To the injurious class also belong certain birds that eat the fruit or other parts of plants — the grosbeaks, the bullfinches, the thrushes, and even, though we say it with regret, the pigeons. These do harm by their depredations on our fruit-trees and in our gardens. " Thus it is fair that these destroyers should be themselves destroyed, though it will be well under- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 239 stood that some at any rate should not be exter- minated : pigeons, for instance, that are domesticated and used as food. " As for the birds of mixed qualities, it is difficult to give any decided opinion as to how they should be A. DESTROYER DESTROYED. treated. For instance, the buzzards and the shrikes destroy an enormous quantity of small rodents ; but they also wage war against the birds that destroy insects. " The blackbirds, warblers, sparrows, and redbreasts 24o THE WALKS ABROAD OF are also great insect-hunters, though their well-known weakness for cherries and other sweet fruits makes us sometimes look upon them as very troublesome friends. '' The same may be said of crows, partridges, gold- finches and other finches, though there is a difference, as these birds attack grains or seeds rather than fruits. " To sum up, we must conclude that in the case of these birds of mixed qualities it is as dangerous to acquit them entirely as it is to condemn them without appeal. And it is all the more difficult to decide, as many of these gramnivorous birds not only eat insects themselves but also feed their young ones with them. " Here are some conclusive proofs. " In Prussia, Frederick the Great observing one day that the sparrows were far too familiar with his cherry-trees at Potsdam, resolved to exact a full penalty for their wrongdoing — high treason I pre- sume we ought to call it. A price was set on the heads of the pilferers. Two years afterwards not a sparrow remained in the country, but on the other hand there also remained no cherries in the royal gardens, the whole region being devastated by cater- pillars and other insects. Complaints arriving from all quarters, the king himself recognised his mistake, and the sparrows were reinstated at a very great expense. A little more, indeed, and apologies would have been offered to them. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 241 " In Hungary, and in the Grand Duchy of Baden, the destruction of birds produced similar results.* " Even in Normandy, at Montville, in the depart- ment of the Seine Infe'rieure the idea of destroying the crows was adopted, and it was found by experi- ence that their ravages were not to be compared with the evils they prevented, and the crow was rehabilitated, t " A last instance. In the middle of Paris, in the Rue Vivienne, there was one day discovered round a nest of sparrows one thousand four hundred wings of cock- chafers. So that at the very least seven hundred chafers, each one an enemy, were destroyed for a single brood. " To the aid of these kinds, whose services we, on the whole, pay for pretty cheaply, come some powerful assistants whom we are not required to pay at all, and whom therefore we ought at all times and in all places to protect. In the realm of nature there exists only one serious enemy of the insect, only one capable of efficiently opposing its ravages. This is the bird — an implacable enemy, pursuing the insect at all times and in all its stages. Each insectivorous bird has, too, its speciality. The woodpeckers and the climbers, guided by some mysterious instinct or unknown signs, seek * Baron Dumast, quoted in " Bulletin de la Societe d'Acclimatation de Nancy," 1857, pp. 10, 11. t Address read to the Senate, 24th June, 1861, by President Bon jean, on the preservation of birds. 242 THE WALKS ABROAD OF insects under the bark and in the wood of trees, where they are carrying on their ravages unseen. The cuckoo attacks hairy caterpillars that other birds refuse to swallow ; the European rollers, grasshoppers and COAST BIED&. locusts ; the hedge-sparrows, snails and larvee, as- sisted in this task on the banks of the rivers by the godwits, sandpipers, snipe, and indeed by the waders generally. "Pursuing another system of tactics, the swallow, TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 243 the martin, and the goatsucker hunt on the wing. In the stomachs of eighteen martins killed at different times, the naturalist Florent Prevost, who set himself to make a systematic study of the food of birds, found the remains of six thousand eight hundred and ninety one insects, being about an average of four hundred insects for each bird, and that for a single meal. Such figures require no comment. "It is difficult to form an idea of the enormous amount of larvae of insects destroyed by small birds such as tits, wrens, warblers, wagtails, fly-catchers, pipits. It. has been calculated that the wren, the tiny 244 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. wren, in the course of a year causes three millions of eggs of butterflies and other insects to disappear ; the blue tit about six millions and a half. As each pair of tits produces about six young ones, we may consider that each family of this little bird destroys at least twenty -four millions of insects. " * " Poor little birds, so frequently and ruthlessly mas- sacred, when they are actually occupied in working for us ! " " The screech-owl, and other owls — in fact, all the nocturnal raptatores — should be protected, for a single one exterminates more little rodents than a whole regiment of cats would. " The cat, supposed to be a great ' ridder,' is a con- summate sycophant, and knows that he can always depend on the larder in case of necessity. He hunts, in fact, in amateur fashion. Hunting is in reality for him a pastime and amusement, a healthful sport, that gives him a good appetite after the long hours passed lazily in the sun or on the hearthrug. But as for the owl, it hunts to live, and to procure food for a whole brood of hungry beaks, who cry famine if they have to pass only a short time without being gorged with nutriment. A large quantity of bodies of rats and voles are required for the support of such a family. " The sea-birds, guillemots and others, that nest in * See on this subject an excellent work, "Useful and Injurious Birds," by H. de la Blanchere. PALMIPEDES. COMMON COEMOEAXT. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 247 the cliffs, and in hazy weather by their cries and screams warn the sailors of their proximity to the coast, must on this account be also considered as among our allies. LOXG-EABBD OWL (Asia otits, Lin.). In England severe penalties are inflicted on destroyers of guillemots ; and heaven only knows how many ship- wrecks have been prevented by the agency of these 248 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. birds. In France, the race of guillemots has been nearly destroyed, the birds having been shot without any mercy by sportsmen desirous of proving their own skill and the excellence of their weapons by bringing down their game, which though inedible, offers a difficult mark to the gun." "Brave bravery, in truth ! " " The Chinese (we always return to the Chinese) hunt the cormorant, but with a more practical object in view. They train them for fishing, in a manner simi- lar to that in which falcons were trained in the middle ages for hunting birds. " It appears that these palmipedes, after their train- ing has been completed, bring a great profit to their owners, and are sold for a high price in the markets of the Celestial Empire. " I am surprised that no ingenious sportsman should have yet entertained the idea of introducing this method of fishing among ourselves ; its success would be certain. And, as we are now touching on subjects that closely concern agricultural economy (for there is no greater economy in agriculture than to protect our friends and destroy our foes), perhaps you would like to know my true opinion on a pest, a veritable Egyptian plague, that costs many millions to France every year — the phylloxera. With a view to arresting its ravages, considerable sums are expended on chemicals and complicated apparatus, only an inade- TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 251 quate result being, however, usually derived from their use. In some cases, indeed, the best that can be said is that these heroic remedies only destroy the disease by killing the patient. According to my ideas, there is but one preservative whose action is likely to be really efficacious, and of which no one apparently dreams : it is the bird. " There should exist, probably there actually exists, in the countries from which the phylloxera came to us, some bird the born enemy, the patent destroyer, of this insect ; a bird that searches for it without truce round the roots where it lurks among the leaves it attacks, and hinders it from multiplying itself indefinitely. Let this foe of the phylloxera be sought for, and an attempt made to acclimatise it in France. On the day when it shall have been discovered and set to work at its duty, more will have been done towards the destruction of this dreadful insect than all the chemicals in the world could do in fifty years." After the collection was fully arranged Franceschini contemplated it with pride. He could now, without blushing, do the honours of it, when occasion should arise, even to " the scientific men of Paris. " The good man never pronounced these five words without an accent of profound respect. To him it was a supreme ideal. Fancy it ! " Men of science of Paris ! " The great heat of the day was now gone by. Close z 52 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. at hand were the outskirts of the forest of Touques, with its lofty trees, which apparently extended their waves of foliage without interruption as far as the horizon. The keeper proposed a stroll in the wood. " Are you still making a collection of insects ? " he added, turning to Leon. And as the latter signified an affirmative — " Ah, well, I know a spot. I have in fact made certain arrangements. But come along, I think you will not be disappointed." XIX. In the wood — Interment of a field-mouse — The population of an oak-tree- Gall-fly — The origin of gall-nuts — Parasites of parasites — The surprise prepared by the keeper — A park for insects— New treasures for the col- lection of Leon — Arrest of an assassin — Ocypus olens — A little-known way of butterfly-hunting— "Wedded couples should be well-matched — Saint Francis of Sales might have become an excellent entomologist — The grebe — A difficult problem solved by a bird — The return — A conjugal drama. OUR friends asked themselves with some curiosity what could be the keeper's meaning, and how he intended to secure for them the rich harvest of insects he alluded to in such enigmatical fashion. But Franceschim, in spite of their inquiring glances, thought proper in a roguish manner to keep the secret of his surprise. They provided themselves with the implements neces- sary for the purpose of catching and preserving insects, some of which Leon always carried with him during his excursions : boxes, butterfly-nets, and of course the umbrella that is held inverted under the trees to catch the insects that are made to fall by beating or tapping the foliage with a stick. Then the little party proceeded along a path in the wood, headed by Franceschim, proud of doing the honours of his 254 THE WALKS ABROAD OF domain, as he pompously called it, to his friends. With legs covered by long gaiters of yellow leather, he led the way and directed the little expedition. They advanced slowly, the path being bordered at the sides by the deep ruts left by the waggons of the woodmen, filled in places by muddy water which had stagnated there since the last rains, while between the ruts the horses had deeply imprinted their footmarks in the soft earth. The light was becoming more slanting, and across the leaves of the hazels scattered golden spots on the foliage, and striped rays of glittering beauty on the sombre turf that bordered the path. At the first turning in the road a bird flew away •with heavy flight only two paces from the tourists, and at the same moment Kene* cried out : "Gentlemen, I announce the decease of a field- mouse." I do not know whether the reader may share my impression, but in the country I never see without a certain feeling of melancholy the body of a tiny rodent. In vain I reason with myself, recalling that during its little life it was an injurious beast,- and that the carcase of a foe smells always sweet, if we may believe a Eoman emperor of gloomy reputation (and in the matters of foes and carcases this emperor might well have been an authority). But fruitlessly ! The shrivelled legs, with their extremities pale and TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 255 naked, like the hands of infants, and appearing to stretch themselves out in a supplicating manner ; the delicate moustache of bristles ; the lips drawn out as if by a last agony ; in short, this despised creature, a body of the size of the finger, now the sport of the infinite, death ! all this gives me a feeling of sad- ness, and I find myself murmuring some words of pity, if not of regret, for the defunct little animal. Our promenaders possibly experienced something of this feeling but did not dwell on it ; and Le*on, who in fact did not like to lose anything that could be of assistance to him in his favourite studies, at once proposed to carry off the little corpse. "Take it away? You must surely be joking," replied his cousin. "It is already in full process of decomposition. A very little longer, and it will walk without any assistance." As if to prove the truth of what Kene" had just said, the little carcase, to his great astonishment, commenced to shift its position. "Attention ! " called the doctor, " the funeral ceremonies have already commenced." Five large beetles, of a black colour, as is befitting to every respectable undertaker, with some yellow bands like belts of leather on their elytra, had thrust themselves beneath the body of the rodent, and had commenced their sinister duty. They had already, in fact, disappeared from sight, and it was only by a 256 THE WALKS ABROAD OF somewhat penetrating odour, like that of musk, that NECROPHORI : 3, N. germanicus ; 4, N. fossator ; 4', T.A-RVA ; 4", PUPA. SILPHA : 1, S. thoracica ; 2, quadr \punctata. their presence was revealed. A few paces from the TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 257 spot, the earth, being there lighter, could be more easily stirred. The Necrophori having discovered this beforehand had chosen this position, and their burden had to be removed to it. There, with their front legs, which supplied the place of pick and shovel, they commenced to dig the grave, throwing the earth on either side as they carried on their work. Little by little the body was seen to get lower. When it had descended to the required depth the (Pentaiomd ornatula). Necrophori commenced to cover it with earth. After this it only remained for them to wait till it was in a fit state for them to deposit their eggs there. "Not badly done. A very good sort of funeral for beings of that sort," said Keue". " But this is not filling our boxes." And as he spoke, with a sudden access of industry, he began with his beating-stick to beat in an unmer- ciful manner the branches of a young oak-tree. s 258 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. The leaves fell around as thick as hail, bringing down with them an abundant supply of spiders, caterpillars, earwigs, and insects of all sorts, which rapidly took to flight in various directions, being fortunate if the young collector did not arrest them in their night, and place them in his box as if in a prison. It is surprising what a world may be found on an oak-tree; and each species and variety of the tree has on its various parts its special guests, to give the list of whose names would, however, carry us too far. But in the first place there is the numerous host of beetles or Coleoptera ; the stag-beetles whose larvae live in the old wood of large trees ; and the Anobia ; also Orchestes, which, less ambitious, contents itself with the twigs and leaves ; Balaninus glandium, to which the acorns serve as food and abode ; some Chrysomelidae, that attack the young shoots ; while nearer to the ground and on the underwood, Silphse and Calosomatae carry on a war of extermination against the processionary caterpillars. In the world of Lepidoptera the frequenters of the oak may be said to be legion. Many amongst them are so intimately connected with this tree, and belong so entirely to it, as to receive their names from it : Thecla quercus, Botnbyx quercus, Tortrix qucrcus, and others. But of all these denizens the most surprising in its KY MOTH AND ITS LAKV^i, THE LATTER ATTACKED BY A ri/E, Calosoiiui xi/<-»j//t/!>it(t, AND ITS LAEVA. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 261 way of working is without doubt the Cynips, although it is little known to the ordinary observer. This Hymenopteron is completely associated with the tree, and locates itself thereon at a fixed spot that it has itself selected, and there causes a habitation to grow up in which it establishes its posterity. You have no doubt often noticed on the leaves, along the ribs, or at the base of the stalk, some peculiar objects, some fleshy excrescences, that resemble aborted apples. These are the productions of the Cynips or gall-fly. Its piercing apparatus, by penetrating into the plant, sets up some peculiar affluence of sap, and thus is formed an excrescence that gradually increases in size. In this the offspring is produced, and hidden in it, after the manner of La Fontaine's rat retired from the world in the cheese, it grows up to its full size as a grub or maggot, and comes out in the winged form to carry on the continuance of the species. It is to a Cynips of an oak of the forests of the East, the Quercus infectoria, that we owe the gall-nuts whose use is so widely diffused by commerce, and which form one of the ingredients of writing ink ; so that large numbers of people devote their industry to, and obtain the means of existence from, this tiny creature. And, wonderful fact ! this pigmy living on a giant tree has its own pigmies devoted to it ; this guest is itself the host of parasites. The little habita- tion of the Cynips frequently gives shelter to a num- 262 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. ber of tiny Chalcidiens, insects so small that many of them can scarcely be perceived, and these devour the Cynips, having discovered some means of entering CYNIPS, AXD GALL-XUT8, OE OAK-APPLES. its abode and of there depositing their eggs. Some of these tiny parasites live within the bodies, or even in the eggs, of other insects. And it is indeed possible STAG-BEETLE (LuC(lHUS CCmts) : LAEVA, PtJPA, AXD MALE THE PEEFECT INSECT. ID FEMALE OF TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 265 that this is not the last of the parasitism : these Chalcidiens may be themselves attacked by other still more minute insects ! Each creature is a means of livelihood to others, and the smallest is a microcosm, quite a universe in miniature. Such were the meditations that Dr. Boberral for a while abandoned himself to. All at once he seemed to awake from his dream : " Come," said he, " this is strange sort of speculation for a doctor ! But we must attribute it to the oak-tree itself, the weird tree with which the Greeks and Druids long, long before my time associated their mythical conceptions. My nephew, better advised, contents himself with utilising it as a means for obtaining the objects of his naturalist's desire." Just then Franceschini, thinking it time to satisfy the ardour of the young man, invited him to come on a little farther. " Come along," said he, with a mysterious smile, " my insect park is only a few steps from here, and without taking so much trouble as this we shall find many more there. Come ! " An insect park ! What could he mean by that ? Neither Kene*, Le'on, nor the doctor himself could guess ; but they started oif with fresh enthusiasm, and soon reached a clearing. In the middle of it might still be seen the remains of a wooden hut, erected there by a workman some years before as a temporary 266 THE WALKS ABROAD OF shelter during the period of summer. The grass and moss were now regaining the ground from which they had been banished for awhile, and were reappear- ing on the trodden soil that had formed the floor of the habitation. Outside the ruined hut were some disconnected boards, covered with moss ; formerly they had probably formed part of the door of the cabin but were now overthrown and scattered hither and thither. " This is my park," said the keeper ; " and it is here that I have placed my baits : some earthworms, some portions of snails, and a spoonful or two of molasses spread on the boards. We shall see if my devices have proved successful." The planks were turned over, and a crowd of insects of several kinds were immediately discovered — ants, Carabidse with brilliant armour, and sunshine beetles, or Amaraee. It was a sort of miniature Noah's ark ; each kind had attracted others. In the same way as, on the foliage they consume, caterpillars are pursued by their ferocious enemies, the Calosomata, the Feroniee, the tiger- beetles, so the woodlice and little snails that had come there in the hope of quietly awaiting the arrival of the freshness of evening, had not failed to attract the unwelcome visits of Procrustes, SilphaB, and Staphylinidse. The arrival of our friends produced a general stampede among both the slaughterers and their victims. TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 267 Le'on had scarcely ever before met with so grand a chance. The boxes and receptacles at once began to CARNIVOBOUS ABOVE, Calosoma sycophanta ; TO THE EIGHT, Carabtis -auratus AND LAKVA; BELOW, Carabm purpurascens. fill. By this one stroke his modest collection of insects would be increased by many specimens, perhaps by some of fresh sorts. And he collected and collected, 268 THE WALKS ABROAD OF almost by handfuls, without discrimination, without remorse. At last, wearied of the slaughter, the boxes were put away, and our four friends prepared to con- tinue their ramble. " Shall we not take this one ? " said Bene*, pointing with his finger to a superb granulated Carabus. " It is no good ; we have already ten or a dozen of it, and it is a useful insect. We shall acclimatise some of his brethren in our garden at the cottage, and as for this one we may leave it in peace." But fate had decided otherwise. A great Staphy- linus concealed behind a root suddenly made a sortie from its ambush and bore down on the unhappy carabe. With a stroke of its mandibles the insect was almost decapitated. All this was done in less time than it takes to tell it ; a flash of lightning would have been almost sufficient to have, illuminated the transactions of this little tragedy. "But you, my good fellow, you shall perish miser- ably." And stooping down Bene" seized the Staphy- linus, and unflinchingly detained it, notwithstanding the disagreeable odour of nitrous ether that the insect spread around it — an odour which has procured for it the name of Ocypus olens. As the Parisian was on the point of shutting it up with the others — "Mind what you are about," said the doctor; " before night all our captives will be massacred and TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 269 torn to pieces. Here is a tube containing already a male Ocypus ; yours is, I think, a female : it will be better to keep them by themselves." He offered the tube to Kene", who hastened to avail himself of the good advice, humming a well-known song— " H faut des epoux assortis, Dans les liens du mariage."* " You see my plan is a very simple one," said the keeper, who, however, was none the less proud of the find. " Lepidoptera may be captured by a similar method. You place on the trunks of the trees a mixture of sugar or molasses with some beer, and these gay ones come and cannot forsake it. You know the proverb that says you may capture more flies with a drop of honey than with a pint of vinegar." ;