^l|c ^. ^. ^iU %ibrnw SCorlli Carolina ^iatt CHoIlegc OH&l ^i% *' 'Q,H31 G4 »)244 Gibson Eye spy Jt^r'40n irji'40 '28Apr'5j ISSUED TO A LlDrar, Bureau Cat. NO. 1152.2 5U244 This BOOK may be kept out TWO WEEKS ONLY, and is subject to a fine of ^/0/^ CENTS a day thereafter. It is due on tho day indicated below: AU6 3 1977 EYE SPY AFIELD WITH NATURE AMONG FLOWERS AND ANIMATE THINGS WILLIAM HAMILTON GIBSON ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS WILLIAM HAMILTON GIBSONS WORKS. ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR. OUR F.nini.F. TOADSTOOLS AND MUSHROOMS, and How to Distinguish Them. Thiriy Colored Plates, and Kitty-seven other Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Uncut Edges and Gilt Top, $3.50- SHARP EYKS. A Rambler's Calendar. Nnu Edition. 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, #2 50. STKOI.l.S \\\ STARLIGHT AND SUNSHINE. Royal 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Kdges, $3 50. HAPPY HUNTING-GROUNDS. A Tribute to the Woods and hiclds. 4to, Cloth, Gilt Edges, ^2.50. HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS; or, Saunterings in New England. Nni' EJitiojt. 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, fz 50. PASTORAL DAYS; or, Memories of a New England Year. 4to, Cloth, Gilt Edges, ^2 50. CAMP LIFE IN IHK WOODS, and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap-making. i6mo. Cloth, $1 00. MV .STUDIO NEIGHBORS. 8vo, Cloth Ornamental, 12 50. Publisher bv HARPER & BROTHERS, New Y( Copyriglil, 1897, by II.\kpkk & I5rotiif.rs. rED STATES B-X A Nahiralist s Boyhood The Story of the Floundering Beetle j Fox-fire J A Homely Weed 7vith Interesting Fhm An Adventurous Baby ^ The Adopted Home q Initial. Fox-fire and Fungus // A Luminous Fragment /-, Three Specimens by Day jc Three Specimens by Alight jc A Fox-fire Bugaboo jy The Bugaboo by Daylight 21 Initial. The Figwort 24 A Flower with Three Welcomes 2g Sipping the Nectar. Fig. i j,/ In Flight with Pollen. Fig. 3 j./ Transferring the Pollen to Stigma. Fig. j j2 Fifth Day — Pod Enlarging j2 Sitigular Method of Branching and Flowering jj Initial •, Vi LIST OF DESIGNS Pag,- The Rose Mischief-maker 35 The Fairy Using Her Magic Wand 3(> The Elfin Sponge of the Oak 39 The Real Fairy of the Oak Sponge 40 The Elfin Sponge of the Brier Rose 4^ The Inhabited Rose Sponge 43 Initial. Pansies 44 The Materials 47 Making a Whole Plant Green J/ A Tumbler Concealed Near By 32 Initial. The Sacred Scarabceus 53 Mr. and Mrs. Tumble-bug Rolling the Ball j/ Sinking the Ball 6r Young Tumble-bug Digging out from His Dintgeon ... 6j Initial 64 Amos 66 Dangerous Ground for Grasshoppers and Crickets . ... 6g Busy Grasshoppers 7^ Initial. Lilacs 72 "Professor Wiggler" at Home 74 The Lilac Twig in June 7^ Tunnelling the Twig 80 "Professor Wiggler" Moth Si Initial. Grasses and Weeds Sj The Home of the "Spume-bearer" S7 The Real Culprits 90 Initial. A Nest of the Paper Wasp gi A Wolf in the Fold pj He was Hanging Head Downward gg Off for the Paper Nest iot Initial. Brooklyn Bridge 104 Bridging the Brook 107 From Tree to Tree log Initial. Preparing for Flight 112 LIST OF DESIGNS vii Page Draped in the Glittering Meshes /y^ Spider-egg Cocoon ; j-,^ Initial. The Lace-wing Fly j,^ The Wolf in the Fold , ,^ A Tempting Aphis Brood J27 Where the Aphides Swarm j^s Initial. A Woodland Path jjq The Perfumed Beetles y-,-, Initial. A Spore-pri7it y-,^ Spore Surface of a Polyportis /-,p Spore Surface of a Polygaric /-.o Method of Making Spore-pri7its z^y Spore-print of a Boletus y^. Initial. A Nocturnal Bird y^^ From a Correspondent y ._ 77;!^ Contents of the Cocoon j^q Where the Cocoon Came From jr^ " The Owl on Mtiffled Wing " y ., Initial. Nettles ^ Leaf-tents of the " Comma" Caterpillar jjy A Design for a feweller y^^ Initial. The Evening Primrose j^:. Two Kinds of Buds ^^^ The Evening Primrose ,x_ " The Worm i' the Bud" y^j> The Chrysalis and its Moth y^^ The Substitute for the Bud y-,^ Initial. Dandelions ^» The Nest-builder ^ Initial. A Fly Model j^g An Interrupted Toilet y-„ An Episode of Fly-time . . . 1S2 A Victim of Fly Fungus jg Initial. Sweet-teas j^r viii LIST OF DESIGNS Pag,- yhi Iiiipossihle and Real Tendril i86 Grape Tendrils Evolved from Blossoms iSS The Star Cucumber and its Compound Tendrils .... igo The Prank of a Tendril I93 Initial. An Impaled " Quaker " 195 The Haunt of the Grasshopper J97 The liirth of the Parasites 200 The Two-formed Flowers 202 Puzzling Forms and Faces 20J A. Fertilization of a F louver, as Bclie7'cd by Greiv and Linnceus 206 B. Linnaus's Idea was IVrong 206 C. and D. What Sprcngel did not Explain 207 1 he Way in which the Flower is Fertilized 210 Initial. Chnwr Leaves 2tj A Rowen Field 21J A Five-Leaved Specimen 219 Sleeping Clover. 220 Initial. A Barberry Branch 221 "In Arching Bowers" 22^ Barberry Blossoms, Showing Sepals and Petals Open. Fig. i 226 Barberry Blossoms. Sho7uing the Approach of the Bee. Fig. 2 22S Initial. A Woolly Flock 2jo One of the Flock Magnified ............ 2jj A Winged Aphis 2j^ Initial. Woodbine Branch a)id Sphinx Caterpillar . . . 2jS What Happened the Next Day 241 What He Should Have Become 244 The Mischief Maker 245 Initial. Bearing Off the Prey 246 A Section of the Sand-bank . 2^2 In the Dungeon . i>jj EYE SPY A Natttralist's BoyJiood AM enjoying a book, a picture, a statue, or, say, a piece of music. I know these to be the finished works of the man or the woman, but I invariably hark back to the boy or the girl. What I want to discover is the precise time, in the Hves of cer- tain boys and girls, when the steel first struck the flint, the spark flew, and out streamed that jet of fire which never afterwards was extinguished. I was reading an article entitled " Professor Wrig- gler," written by Mr. William Hamilton Gibson, which appeared in " Harper's Young People," in the number of October 31, 1893. I need not tell you that both old and young, at home and abroad, delight in reading what Mr. Hamilton Gibson has written, because he was not alone the most observant of naturalists, but a distin- guished artist and a sympathetic author. He thus filled a peculiar position in the literary and artistic world which is seldom given to any one man to fill. Besides being a naturalist from his boyhood, he was able to write better than most people what he wished to write, and to illustrate his articles in a way that was unique. Mr. Gibson's death a few days ago. College \II A natukai.ist's royhood therefore, has closed the career of a man who had the abihty to interest a large number of people not only in natural history, but in art and literature. Tile news of Mr. Gibson's death came to me suddenly, ami as I was reading it I recalled an interesting talk I hatl w ith him less than a year ago about his work early in life and tiic way he got his start. I had been read- ing one of his articles to a lady, who, when she heard the name of the author, said : " \\'h\-, I knew Mr. Hamilton Gibson long ago. When he was a lad he painted a lovely drop-curtain for us. He could not have been more than fifteen or sixteen then." The next time I met Mr. Hamilton Gibson I asked him about this drop-curtain. " Do you remember it?" "Certainly I do. We had a temperance society at Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and we gave a grand enter- tainment. I made the drop-curtain. It represented a wood. There was a rock in the foreground, and a Vir- ginia-creeper was climbing over it." " Was it an original composition?" I asked. " I made many studies of the rock and the Virginia- creeper from nature. On the other side of the curtain I painted a drawing-room. There were a marble mantel- piece, a clock, and lace curtains, I don't think I enjoyed painting the clock as much as the Virginia-creeper." "To paint a drop-curtain at fifteen or sixteen means that you had then a certain facility. Rut that could nr)t have been your beginning. When did you break your shell.-' What chipped or cracked your egg so that your particular bird emerged, chirped, and finally took flight? That was what I wanted to know." "Is that what you are after?" asked Mr. Hamilton A NATURALISTS BOYHOOD XIII Gibson, " From my baby days I was curious about flowers and insects. The two were always united in my mind. What could not have been more than a child- ish guess was confirmed in my later days." Then Mr. Hamilton Gibson paused. I could see he was recalling, not without emotion, some memories of the long past. " I was very young, and playing in the woods. I tossed over the fallen leaves, when I came across a chrysalis. There was nothing remarkable in that, for I knew what it was. But, wonderful to relate — providen- tially I deem it — as I held the object in my hand a but- terfly slowly emerged, then fluttered in my fingers." " You were pleased with its beauty," I said. " Oh ! It was more than that. I do not know whether I was or was not a youngster with an imagina- tion, but suddenly the spiritual view of a new or of an- other life struck me. I saw in this jewel born from an unadorned casket some inkling of immortality. Yes, that butterfly breaking from its chrysalis in my hand shaped my future career." " But some young people may feel passing impulses, but how account for your artistic skill and literary powers?" "As to the art side, at least deftness of hand came early. I had the most methodical of grandmothers. Every day I had a certain task. I made a square of patch-work for a quilt. I learned how to sew, and I can sew neatly to-day. I knew how to use my fingers." "Did you like patch- work?" I inquired. " I simply despised it. Sewing must have helped me, for it was eye-training, and when I went to work with a pencil and a paint-brush I really had no trouble. I read a great deal. I devoured Cooper's novels and the Rollo series ; but there was one special volume, " Harris on XIV A \All'RAl.Isr"s noVIIOOD Insects," I never tired of. 1 studied that over and over again. It was the illustrations of Marsh which fas- cinated me. I never found a bug, caterpillar, or butter- fly that I did not compare my specimens with the Marsh pictures. I learned this way much which I have never forgotten." " Had you any particular advantages?" "Yes; my brother was a doctor, and he let me use his microscope, and so I acquired a knowledge of the details of flowers and insects that escape the naked eye. I pulled flowers to pieces, but not in the spirit of de- struction, but so that I might better understand their structure. When I was ten I had a long illness. When I was getting better I was permitted to take an hour's or so turn in the garden. That hour I devoted to col- lecting insects and flowers. On my return to my room, what I had collected amused me until I could get out again next day or the day after." " It was pleasure and study combined," I said. " I was not conscious that I was studying. Then in my sick-room I began to draw and paint the insects. I think I was conscientious about it, and careful — per- haps minutely so. I tried to put on paper exactly what I saw, and nothing else. You say you like ' Professor Wriggler.' I drew him when I was ten or eleven, and I could not make him any more accurate to-day than I did thirty years ago." "Were you encouraged at your work?" I inquired. " Yes ; once I was much pleased. I came across a curious insect. I could not find it in the books. I made a drawing of it and sent it to a professor of the Smithsonian, asking him to give me its scientific name. Back came by return mail my sketch, and under it the A NATURALISTS liUVllOOI) XV Latin name. The professor wrote me that if the peo- ple who were always annoying him with pictures of im- possible bugs would only send him as accurate a picture as was mine, he never would have any more bother." " Did you have any setbacks ?" "Yes; and I haven't forgotten it up to to-day. I was always collecting, and I had brought together every insect I had found in my neighborhood. As I took them home I pinned them in the drawers of an old- fashioned bureau. In time the whole of the drawers, bottom and sides, were full of pinned specimens, and there was room for no more. I had saved enough money to buy a cabinet, and I went to New York and purchased one. When I returned home the first thing I did was to look at my precious collection. When I opened a drawer there was a confused mass of wings only. One single wretch of a black ant had got in, and had passed the word to 10,000 other black ants. They had eaten the bodies of my insects in all the drawers. That quite broke my heart." "But your writing. How did that come about?" I asked. " I don't think that you can develop in one direction only. You must unbosom yourself. You are forced to tell or to write about the things you have most at heart. When I was a small boy I wrote a book for myself, and called it ' Botany on the Half-shell.' The first thing I ever wrote which was printed was an article for one of Messrs. Harper's publications, and I made the pictures for it. That was my debut." " Then your work went hand in hand?" " Certainly. The one was the stimulant of the other. We all grew up together. The days spent in my room XVI A NAIL-RALIST'S HOVIIOOD when I was ill hcl[)cd me. I think I studied flowers then, so that their forms and colors were indelibl\- im- pressed on ni)- mind. When I was older I made a small bunch of tlowers in wax. Not a detail escaped me. I made moulds of all kinds of leaves. Once I put together a rose, some sprigs of mignonette and helio- trope in wax, and gave them to my dear old friend, Henry Ward Beecher. He was delighted with my flow- ers, and put them on his study table. Presently Mrs. Beecher came in. She ran to the flowers and broke the rose all to pieces." " How could she have done that?" I asked. " It must have been with her nose. She wanted to smell the rose." Then Mr. Hamilton Gibson showed me some monster drawings of flowers — Brobdingnagian ones. The flow- ers opened and closed when you pulled a string, show- ing their interior structure. Here were bees or other insects, and they flew into the flowers, collected the honey, and, above all, the pollen, and buzzed out again. He explained to me how plant life would perish if it were not for certain insects, which bring a new exist- ence to flowers ; for without these winged helpers there would be no longer any varieties of flowers or seeds. You will see, then, that in tracing the beginning of Mr. Hamilton Gibson's career what I mean by harking backward. I am certain, too, that in every boy and girl there is something good and excellent. Like the flower visited by the bee, all it wants is impulse. Then, as Mr. Ham- ilton Gibson explained it to me, will come the blossom- ing, and lastly perfect fruitage. Barnet Phillips. MONG my somewhat numerous corre- spondence from 3'oung people, I recall several wondering inquiries about a certain fat, floundering "beetle," as "blue as indigo"; and when we consider how many other observino- youngsters, including youngsters of larger growth, have looked upon this uncouth shape in the path, lawn, or pasture, will speculate as to its life his- tory, it is perhaps well to make this floundering blue beetle better acquainted with his unappre- ciative neighbors. What are the lazy blue insects doino- down there in the grass, for there are usually a small family of them. With the exception of their tin- selled indigo -blue coat, there is certainly very little to admire in them. But what they lack in beauty they make up for in other ways. There are many of their handsomer cousins whose his- Library N. C, State College FYK srv tor\- is not half as interesting as that of this poor beetle that we tread upon in the grass. His neighbor insect, the tiger- beetle, running hither and thither with legs of wonderful speed, and with the agility of a l1y on the w^ing, readily es- capes our approach ; but this clumsy, helpless blue beetle must needs plead for mercy by his color alone, because he has no means to avert our crushing step. A little girl who met me on the country road re- cently summed up the characteristics of the blue beetle pretty well. The portrait was unmistak- able. " I've got a fun- ny blue bug at home in a box that I want to show you," said she ; " he's blue and awful fat, and hasn't got any wings, but wdien you touch him, he just turns over on his back, and trembles his toes and leaks big yellow drops out of his elbows." I have shown her beetle — three views of him, in fact — about the natural size, one of them on his back and " leak- ing " at his elbows, for such is the infallible habit of the insect when disturbed — a trick which has also Qjiven him the name of the "oil beetle." He is also known as the indigo beetle. Hut of what use can such a queer beetle be to himself or any one else — a beetle that is not only without wings, but is so fat and floundering that he can hardly lift his unwieldy body from the ground, and which, upon being surprised, can only "play possum," and exude great drops of oil (?) upon our palm as we examine him ? But as he pours the vials of his wrath upon us he would ^n; ^\^ ^{ 4 EVK SI'V doubtless fain have us understand that lie was not always thus unable to take care of himself, that he was not always the clumsy, crawling creature that he now is. As he lies there on his back, the yellow, oily globules of surplus " elbow grease " swelling larger and larger at his leaky elbows, and one by one falling on the paper beneath him, we may almost fancy the monologue which might be going on in that blue head of his. "Yes, I am indeed a clumsy creature," he might be saying, as he stares upward into our faces with fixed indigo eyes, " and my cumbersome body is a burden. Hut I was not always what you now see. Ah, you should have seen me as a baby ! Was there ever such a lively, acrobatic, venture- some, pluck)' baby as I, even when I was a day old ? Shall I tell you some of my feats ? Every- body knows me as I am now; but I have taken care that few shall learn my earlier history. It takes a sharp eye to follow my pranks of baby- hood, and no one has been smart enough to do it yet, but I will at least let you into the secret of my life as far as it has been found out. I am little over a year old. I was born under a stone in a meadow last April, when I crept out of a golden-yellow case so small that you could hardly see it. I believe your books say I was about a sixteenth of an inch long at that time. Ah ! when I think of what I zvas and what I coii/d do then. THE STORY OF THE FLOUNDERINc; IIEKTI.K 5 and look at what I am noiv, I sometimes wonder whether that lively babyhood of mine has not all been a mocking dream. " Do you wonder that I am as blue as indigo, and am occasionally forced to resort to my oil- tank to still the troubled waters of my later expe- rience ? Well, as I was saying (pardon this fresh display of tears), when I crept out of that filmy egg-sac I was just ready for anything, and spoil- ing for adventure. I found myself with a slender, agile body of thirteen joints, and three pairs of the sprightliest, spider-like legs you ever saw, each tipped with three little sharp claws. Now I knew that these long legs and claws were not given to me at this early babyhood for nothing, so I looked about for something to try them on. I had not a great while to wait, for as I crept along through the grass roots beneath the edge of the stone, I heard a welcome sound, which is music to all babies of my kind. I remembered having heard the same music in my dreams while inside the little yellow case, but now it seemed louder than ever, and in another minute I was almost blown off my feet by the breeze which the noise made, and a great black, hairy giant, as big as a house, pounced down just outside the stone. He had a great black head, and six enormous legs as big round as trees. Think how a bumblebee would look to a wee baby not half as big as a 6 EYE SPY hyjiluii in (inc of your books! Did I run when I saw him coming? Not a bit of it. I just waited until he came close to me, and then I jumi)ed on his back, and put those eighteen little claws of mine to good use as I crept over his great spiny body, and finally found a snug rest- ing-place beneath it. And then I waited, cling- ing tightly with my clutching feet. In another moment I had begun to take my first outing; and did ever baby have such a ride, and to such music! After the bumblebee had remained un- der the stone a little while he turned and went THE STORY OF THE IT.OUNDERIXC. UEETI.E 7 out again. No sooner did lie get to tlic edge than he spread his great buzzing wings, and away we went over the world, higher and iiigher, miles high, over big oceans and mountains. I could see them all beneath me as I clung to the under- side of the bee. I believe I must finally have got dizzy and faint, for I remember at last finding myself at rest in a queer thicket of greenish poles with big yellow balls at the top of them, and great giant leaves fringed with long, glistening hairs. They told me afterwards it was a w^illow blossom. " It seemed a very good place to rest, so I dropped off from my bee and remained. Every- where about me, as I looked, the air was yellow with these blossoms, and full of the wing -music of the bees. But, as I have said, I was a restless baby, and having had a taste of travel I soon tired of this idle life, and began to get ready for another ride. My chance soon came. This time it was a honey-bee. She alighted in the flower next to mine, but I quietly piled over and clutched upon her leg, and was soon snugly tucked away under her body, with my flat head between its segments. And now for the first time I began to feel hun- gry; and what was more natural than to take a bite from the tender flesh of this bee, so easily available.'^ I did it, and liked it so well that I adopted this bee for my mother for quite a long 8 EVK SPV wliilc, taking many, many Umo- rides every day, and always coming back to the prettiest little house on a bench under the trees. This was a sort of bee hotel, with many hundreds of guests. It was all partitioned off inside into little six-sided rooms, and the walls were so thin that you could see through them. Indeed, I soon came to like this little home so well that one morning I de- cided that I would not leave it again. I had begun to get tired of my roving life. I saw a lot of little white fat babies tucked away in some of these little rooms, and this very bee which I had adopted as my mother was engaged in bringing food to some of these babies and sealing them up in their nests. This was enough for me. I con- cluded to bring my roving habit to a close, and become a bee baby in truth ; so watching for my opportunity, I loosened my clutch upon the moth- er bee, and dropped into one of the little rooms. " Then I became sleepy, and can tell you noth- ing more than that when I woke up I didn't know^ who or what I was. My six spider legs had gone, and I had a half-dozen little short feet instead ; and instead of the sprightly ideas of my baby days, the thought of such a thing as even moving was a bore. But I was hungrier than ever, and tlie first thing I did was to fall upon another fat youngster who disputed the room with me, and make short work of him. That was breakfast. '^N- t tu %>^% When dinner- time came, I found it right at my mouth. \;h^^ That busy mother of mine had fully supplied my wants, and packed my room full to the ceiling with the most delicious, fragrant bread of flowers made of pollen and honey. " Oh, those were good old times, with all I wanted to eat all the time, and everything I ate KVK SPY turning' to appetite! Too soon, too soon I found myself getting drowsy again, and, I can only re- member awakening from a queer dream, to find even my six tinv legs gone, and, what is worse, my nioutJi also. While wondering and hoping that this was but a troubled vision, I was plunged into sleep again, and dreamed that I was locked up in a mummy-case for over a week. And now comes the end, the cycle of my story. From this night- mare mummy-case I finally awoke — awoke, and emerged as you now see me. Do you wonder that I have had the blues ever since at the memo- ry of those honeyed days, now forever fied ? In- stead of sporting aloft in airy skyward flights, I am now a miserable groundling. Instead of sweet, fragrant bread of flowers, I am now forced to break my fast on acrid buttercup leaves. Hut I shall live again, with joys several hundred times multiplied, live again in my children, for whose jolly time in the autumn I shall soon lay my plans — golden promises — here in the ground be- neath the buttercup leaves, close to a burrow where lives a burly bumblebee. " But I have not told you all of my history,' and will leave you to fill in the blank spaces, even as some of the scientists have to do." HE most recent experience of m)^ own with the mysterious fox-fire oc- curred a short time ao^o in a home- ward drive with a companion from a botanizing expedition about twelve miles dis- tant. It was near ten o'clock. The sky was overcast, only a stray star of the first magnitude now and then peeping out from between the rifts of hazy floating clouds. The new moon, " wi' th' auld moon i' her arm," had sunk below the western hills, and so dark had it become that the road ahead, at best but a faint suggestion, was occasionally lost for minutes together in the deepened gloom of the overhanging trees, only the keener nocturnal vision of the trusted horse affording the slightest hope of keeping in the wheel-tracks. In one of these dark passages we were suddenly surprised by a gleam of light a few rods ahead to 12 EVK SI'V tlic left, and in a moment more we were directly abreast of it. On many })revioiis night-journeys I had been on the lookout for some such surprise as this, as yet only rewarded by the tiny sparkle of the glowworm in the grass. But here, at last, it came in a shape that I could not have antici- pated— an upright column of phosphorescence, brilliant at the upper extremity, and more broken below for a space of several feet. The brilliancy of the light may be inferred from the following query and its answer: "What is that light yonder.?" I asked my com- panion. " A lantern reflected in water," was his reply. The mass of light shone verily like a lantern, and the present interpretation was somewhat rem- iniscent of a previous flickering lantern which we had seen, with its accompaniment of great mag- nified moving shadows on barn and hay-stack, as it assisted in the tardy chores of a whistling farmer lad. But this light was of a greenish, ghostly hue, and perfectly motionless, and had withal a certain weird, uncanny glare, which belongs alone to fox- fire. It was impossible to locate its distance from us. It might as easily be one rod as five. I con- cluded to investigate its source, and, groping my way through the dewy bushes, soon confronted it. It seemed to glow with added brilliancy as I ap- FOX-FIRE 13 proached it, and as I stood face to face within a few inches of it no vestige of material surface ap- peared to sustain it; it seemed hanging motion- less in mid-air. I reached out my hand, wliich momentarily intervened like a black silhouette against the glow, with which it soon came in contact. Upon further investigation, this proved to be the contact of a mere prosaic fence -post, which, for some mysterious reason, had been sin- gled out for glorification among the ten thousand others of its neighbors and transformed into a pil- lar of fire. The post was about six inches in diam- eter, its summit an unbroken mass of light, which extended in more or less broken patches below for a distance of six feet, thus suggesting the effect of the rippling elongated reflection of a lantern in water noticed by my companion, and which would 14 EVE SPY doubtless have been so accepted by the average passing observer without further thought. Tlie most luminous upper portions were free from bark, the exposed patches of wood below being equally brilliant. Clutching at the more available part of the post, I was enabled to sink my fingers deep into its decayed fibre, and suc- ceeded in tearing off a long fragment. The outer surface of this particular piece had been covered with bark and not especially brilliant, but the cav- ity of yielding moist fibre thus exposed, as well as the inner surface of the dislodged piece, poured forth a perfect flood of greenish light, indicating that the damp uncanny fire extended to the very core of the post, which was saturated with the phosphorescent essence. I laid this and other fragments in the back of the carriage, where its glare met our eyes whenever we turned to look upon it. Taking it beneath the lamp-light upon our re- turn home, it resolved itself into a very ordinary piece of yellowish rotten wood. In a more shaded corner of the room it appeared as though white- washed, and upon taking it into a closet or out into the night again its flame gradually rekindled, as though feeding upon the darkness, until it ap- peared precisely as when we found it. By enclosing the specimen in a tin box with moist moss I was enabled to prolong the efful- 15 FOX-FIRE gence until the next even- ing, but it had entirely dis- appeared by the following night, at which time its original haunt, the post, was also doubtless lost in the darkness. A week later I again passed its neighbor- hood in the late hours without -- the slightest hint of its presence. This is the mysterious "fox-fire" or "ghost- fire" which has so imposed upon the imagina- tions of credulous country folk the world over, doubtless a conspicuous factor in many a har- rowing tale in the legendary or traditional lore of spooks and goblins, I remember the breathless interest with which as a boy I listened to the weird story, whose scene was located not far from my na- tive town, of a l6 EVE SPY ghostly light that HickLTcd about the eaves of a certain old ruin of a house in the neighborhood, and also above the well close by in the weedy waste of the former door-yard. The light was seen by many for several con- secutive nights. It fairly glowed into a halo up from the wooden curb which surmounted the well, where it was \iewed at a safe distance with bated breath by a curious crowd of villagers, not one of whom would have dared to steal up and surprise the innocent spook in its haunt— doubtless a mass of fox-fire which had found its brief, congenial home in the decaying boards within the tottering well-curb. Of course the house was "haunted" for evermore, and rustic tradition for a whole generation was rich in fabulous tales of the "haunted well," and 'there was serious talk of unearthing the nameless mystery which lay at the bottom of it. A certain saw-mill was also tenanted by a simi- lar luminous ghost one night after a heavy rain, but the shape of the spook in this case was so peculiar, and so exactly corresponded with the parallel cross-boxes of the old broken water-wheel, that it was considered harmless. Rut it is scarcely to be wondered at that a phe- nomenon so startling and inexplicable to the rustic mind should be associated with the supernatural. One's first experience with fox-fire, especially if I 8 EVE SPY lie clianccs upon a specimen of some size, is apt to be a memorable incident. My own first encounter dates back to the age of about eight years. While walking through a wood at night I chanced upon what I supposed to be a large glowworm in my path. I picked it up, only to find in my hand a hard piece of dead twig. A later experience, which, while quite startling for a moment, was robbed of its full terrors by the reminiscence of the first. As in the former case, I was returning home at night through a dark, damp wood. I was skirting the border of a small runnel, when I was suddenly brought to a breath- less standstill, apparently confronted by the glar- ing eyes of a panther, or perhaps a tiger; certainly no cat or fox or owl was possessed of eyes of such dimensions or wide interspace as those which glared at me from the dark shadow of yonder copse. But in a moment my quickened pulse had subsided, and I calmly returned the greenish phos- phorescent gaze, observing that a singular acci- dent had re-enforced the first illusion by a won- derful semblance to ears and outline of body, in keeping with the formidable eyes. In a moment I was attacking the foe, my hands stroking his rough barky forehead, and my fingers penetrating his eyes, which proved to be two holes in the bark of a fallen log, the farther side of which disclosed a brilliant, luminous patch which. FOX-FIRE ,Q as I invaded it with my hand, proved to be bare, exposed wood. Taking hold of the loose bark, a vigorous pull dislodged a great piece some three feet long, at the same time liberating a glare of greenish light from the exposed surface of the log, which was responded to in sympathy by the inner surface of the slab of bark in my hands, in all representing about six square feet of brilliant phosphorescence. I carried a fragment home, and upon inspect- ing it by lamp-light, found it white with thready mould, resembling the so-called "dry-rot" of mouldy timber — doubtless the mother of some well-known fungus, or "toadstool," which might have been discerned upon the log the following day had I chanced thither. Hawthorne in one of his books records a re- markable personal encounter with this weird fox- fire, and one which cost him dearly. He was on a journey by canal -boat, which had stopped en route for a brief period at midnight. During the interval he had stepped ashore, and was decoyed into a neighboring w^ood by the bright glow, which proved to be a fallen tree ablaze with phosphores- cence. In his surprise and interest he lost all ac- count of time, and thus missed his boat, and was obliged to "foot it" for miles on the mid- night tow-path, which he was enabled to do by 20 EVK srv the aid of a big brand of the tree which he used as a flambeau. Ahiiost any damp wood, especially after a rain, is likely to disclose its fox-fire, but it occasionally appears under circumstances where we little ex- pect it. A few weeks since, having occasion to go to my refrigerator after dark, I noticed a brill- iant glowing object upon the floor beneath it, which I found upon inspection to be merely a piece of damp bread. Can it be that the yeast fungus too may give off effulgence with its car- bonic acid at its whim ? or was the light traceable to the perceptible odor of lobster with which it had evidently been previously in contact ? Dead fish are frequently thus luminous, and brilliant phosphorescence is often an accompani- ment of decomposition of both animal and vege- table matter. A few decaying potatoes will often light up a corner of a cellar which is dim by day- light, and an instance is on record of a certain cellar full of these vegetables giving off such a flood of light as to lead observers to suppose that the premises were on fire. Many animals, and especially fishes and insects, possess luminous properties. The familiar exam- ples of the glowworm and fire-fly hardly need be mentioned. Then there are the big lantern-flies, with their luminous heads; and brilliant snapping beetles of the South, with their two glowing head- FOX-FIRE lights, so effectively employed as ornaments for the hair and otherwise in the toilet of the Cuban belle. From But the sea is the home of luminous life, the diminutive myriads of the noctiluca, which sets the sea aflame, to the nu- merous larger finny tribes, «^.^ the ocean is peopled 22 EYE SPY with animal life, which, though dwelling in depths scarce reached by the faintest gleam from the sun, swim about enveloped in their self-illumined halo. While all these phenomena come under the general term of phosphorescence, the inference of the presence of phosphorus is incorrect ; many substances without a trace of phosphorus in their constitution emit light with equal brilliancy. The well-known commercial article called "lu- minous paint" is an apt example, which, while containing no trace of phosphorus, glows like fox- fire at night, especially after having been exposed to the sun's rays during the day, giving forth in the dark hours the light which it has thus ab- sorbed, and being thus of utility in its application to clock faces and match-boxes. Calcined lime and burnt oyster-shells, in com- bination with certain acids, become luminous at night by the similar power of absorption and transmission of light vibration which is supposed to be the secret of much of the so-called phos- phorescence. But fox-fire is believed to be of a different nature, more chemical in its character, and usu- ally emanates from a fungus, either visible in the form of mould or toadstool, or existing as an al- most invisible essence which saturates the decaying wood, a species known as T/ielaphora cerulea being credited with most of the luminous manifestations. FOX-FIRE 23 Fox-fire is occasionally put to a cruel utility by hunters in association with the "salt-lick" for deer. Salt is scattered in a selected spot, and a piece of fox-fire adjusted beyond it in direct line of the aim of the rifle, which is securely fixed in place. The sudden obscuration of the light is a sufficient signal for the still-hunter, who has only to pull the trigger to secure the game, even though the latter be entirely hid in the darkness. The more common examples of fox-fire are small bits of decayed wood, but most astonishing specimens have been observed. In addition to the fine example mentioned by Hawthorne, there is an authentic record of a single log twenty-four feet in length and a foot in diameter which was one mass of brilliant phosphorescence. A Homely I Teed 7i. is packed full of w '^ ^ \^ Uiy ..■«H»,. TWO FAIRY SPONGES 43 cells, at first each with its tiny egg, and then with its plump larva, followed by the chrysalis, and at length by the emergence of the full - fledged Cynips roscc. This sponge -gall of the rose is commonly known as the Bedegnar, and, like all other mem- bers of its tribe, as with the familiar oak-apple, was long supposed to be a regular accessory fruit of its parent stalk. Among early students were many superstitions connected with the Bedegnar, the nature of which may readily be inferred from its other common name of " Robin's Pin-cushion." /^HE casual observer may perhaps have noticed that interesting law of nature which governs the color- ing of flowers, and which confines the hues of a given flower, or per- haps a botanical group of flowers, to two colors and the combination of these col- ors. The three primary colors — red, yellow, and blue — are rarely to be seen in the blossoms of the same botanical group. Thus we observe roses, hollyhocks, chrysanthemums, and tulips in all shades of white, yellow, pink, red, and crimson, even almost approaching black, and numberless combinations of these colors, but never blue. The same is true with dahlias, zinnias, lilies, gladioli, pinks, and portulacas. On the other hand, flowers which are notably blue — as in the bellworts, or " Canterbury -bells," GREEN PANSIES 45 and larkspur, which vary from white, through all shades of blue, to purple, pink, and even reds — never show any trace of yellow. This color limi- tation of blossoms was noted by De CandoUe early in the present century, who classified flowers in two series as to their hues. The first, which in- cluded the yellow, was called the Xanthic ; the second, which omitted the yellow, the Cymiic. World - wide fame and a comfortable fortune await the florist who shall produce a variety of blue rose, tulip, hollyhock, or dahlia, or a yellow geranium or larkspur, which all persist in their fidelity to their particular color series. And yet nature gives us occasional exceptions which, how- ever, only serve by their contrast to emphasize the universal law. Thus we see the water-lily group — if we include the two separate orders Nymphcsa and Nelumbo — with blossoms of pink, yellow, and blue. The water-lilies of this latter color, allied to the Egyptian yellow lotus, which were to be seen in the Union Square fountain, New York, last summer, were almost lost in the azure of the sky which their surrounding waters reflected, and yet they clearly had no right to include blue in their gamut; purple or red possibly, but not blue. But this is not so remarkable an exception as we find in the hyacinth, in which the three pri- mary colors are to be seen with notable purity — blues, yellows, and reds — and thus with possibili- 46 EYE SPY ties of almost any conceivable color, under culti- vation and careful selection. Another striking exception, and one which would have puzzled De Candolle for its color classification, is the columbine. One common species of the Eastern United States, Aquilegia canadensis, is of a pure deep scarlet color, as every country boy knows. If we seek for our colum- bines in the far West we shall miss this familiar type, and find it replaced by another species, A. chrysantha, of a fine clear yellow, or perhaps by its near relative, the A. ccerulea, with its sky-blue corolla, a common species in the region of the Rocky Mountains. Columbines, red, yellow, and blue, are thus to be found in a state of nature, and we thus find other cultivated forms which ex- tend from a pure white through all shades of purple. The pansy, that protean offspring from lowly "johnny -jumper," occasionally comes very near embracing the entire gamut of color to which its name, Viola tricolor', would seem to entitle it. Blue pansies and yellow pansies we certainly have, but the ruddiest of its rich wine tints, when laid beside the red, red rose, at once confesses its pur- ple, the remnant of blue which it cannot absolutely eliminate. The blue rose, blue tulip, blue dahlia, and blue carnation have as yet refused to respond to the coaxing arts of tlic florist, but he has at least suc- ceeded in imposing upon our credulity in a carna- tion pink of white, streaked with peacock blue. Bou- quets of these uncanny- looking blossoms are fre- quently to be seen in our city flower-booths, but they smack of trickery, and the vendor is rarely seen to look you in the eye as he responds " new variety " to your inquiry as to the pe- culiar color. ^Z _ ~^~^'~ - "Are those natural.?" I --4 f -^ heard a lady ask at a flower- stall recently, referring to these pinks. " Sure, madam," he replied, this time with easy conscience. " They were picked in the conserv- atory this morning." But as he folded the paper carefully about her generous purchase, he didn't trouble her with the details of the subsequent aniline bath to which they were subjected, and of which they bore plain evidence upon close scrutiny. But if we are to resort to hocus-pocus in the 48 EYE SPY tinting of flowers, there is an artificial method available which leaves this clumsy artifice of the blue-green pinks far behind, and which, withal, affords a very pretty experiment in chemistry, albeit presumably more enjoyed by the operator than the victim. A gentleman of the writer's acquaintance, while visiting his sister at her country home, noted her fondness for pansies, as indicated by the numer- ous beds and borders of the flowers there. After expressing his appreciation and surprise at the endless shades of color in the bouquet which she was gathering for the library table, he stooped, and apparently plucked one of the blossoms from a bed. " Your pansies are certainly the most remark- able that I have ever seen. Here is one which is truly most astonishing in color,'' he remarked, as he handed the blossom to her. It was received with an exclamation of amaze- ment, and with eager glances at the neighborhood of the bed from which she presumed it had been taken. " Where did you find it .?" exclaimed his sister, in complete demoralization. " Which plant was it on ? Why, I never sazv such a pansy! It's wonderful ! There must be more. I never heard of such a pansy ! Do show me where you picked it." " I got it from this plant here, I think," replied GREEN PANSIES 49 the young man, as soon as he could be heard ; and, stooping carelessly, he plucked another, which proved even more of a surprise than the first, so vividly intense was its color. The first specimen was a dark pansy. The two usually deep purple upper petals now appeared of a deep velvety peacock blue. The remaining three petals were pale emerald - green, bordered with deeper green. In the second blossom the upper pair of petals were now transfigured in vivid emerald-green, the rest of the flower being of paler but almost equally dazzling brilliancy. The demoralization was more and more com- plete as another and another of the remarkable blossoms was rescued from its obscurity, always by the accommodating young man, and added to the growing bouquet. Neighbors on right and left were quickly acquainted with the remarkable discovery, and a gathering of excited natives soon assembled in the parlor to view the new floral sensation. The pansy-beds were soon the scene of busy commotion, but in the eager search for the rare blooms fortune seemed still to favor the young man, to the exasperation of several of the bright-eyed young ladies, who, of course, did not happen to know of the young man's occasional sly recourse to a certain tumbler concealed near by- But the secret soon leaked out, and the victim 50 EYE SPY confessed and did penance. Had he realized what a commotion his innocent prank was destined to create, he would not have yielded to temptation. But his sister was primarily to blame. Why had she placed that bottle so conspicuously upon his wash-stand ? He had noted her fondness for pan- sies, and a minute later had read " Ammonia " on the label of the bottle, and association of ideas and mischief did the rest. In a casual stroll about the pansy-beds he had then gathered a dozen or so of the several varieties and taken them to his room. Laying a piece of crumpled paper in a saucer, he then poured about a teaspoonful of the ammonia upon it, afterwards gently laying the pan- sies in a pile upon the paper, and thus free from actual contact with the liquid, and covering the whole with a tumbler. In two or three minutes the fumes of the ammoniacal gas had done their work, and lo ! w^hen he removed the tumbler his pansies had doffed their blues and purples, and were transfigured in velvets of all imaginable em- erald and peacock and mineral greens, though still retaining their perfect shape and petal texture. To more completely confound the innocent with this experiment, the "operator" should suddenly discover an entire plant with all its flowers thus tinted in emerald — a feat which may be accom- plished by submitting the whole plant to similar treatment beneath a bell glass or other air-ti^ht GREEN PANSTES 51 vessel or box, in which case the amount of ammo- nia used should be pro- portionately increased. If the concentrated am- monia is employed, a very small quantity will be sufficient. Flowers thus treated will last in an unal- tered condi- tion for several hours, thougli the treatment is really injurious, even de- structive, to the tissues of flower as well as plant. 52 EYE SPY Various other blossoms respond in their own particular virescent hues to the vapors of ammo- nia, as the reader will discover upon experiment. The fumes of sulphur confined beneath a glass, as from a few common, old-fashioned matches, will play all sorts of similar pranks with the colors of petals. A little experimenting in this direction will afford many surprises. all the insects which occasionally claim our attention in our country rambles, there is probably no ex- ample more entitled to our distin- guished consideration than the ple- beian, commonly despised, but ad- mittedly amusing beetle known the country over as the funny " turablc- buo-." As we see him now, so he has always been — the same in appearance, the same in habits ; yet how has he fallen from grace! how humbled in the eyes of man from that original high estate when, in ancient Egypt, he enjoyed the prestige above all insects — where, as the sacred " scarabasus," he was dignified as the emblem of immortality, and wor- shipped as a god ! The arch^ological history of Egypt is rich in reminders of his former emi- nence. Not only do we see his familiar shape (as shown in our initial design) everywhere among 54 EYE SPY those ancient hieroglyphs engraved in the rock or pictured on the crumbHng papyrus ; but it is es- pecially in association with death and the tomb that his important significance is emphasized. The dark mortuary passages and chambers hewn in solid rock, often hundreds of feet below the sur- face, where still sleep the mummied remains of an entire ancient people, and which honeycomb the earth beneath the feet of the traveller in certain parts of Egypt, are still eloquent in tribute to the sacred scarab. The lantern of the antiquarian explorer in those dark dungeons of death dis- closes the suggestive figure of this beetle every- where engraved in high relief upon the walls, per- haps enlivened with brilliant color still as fresh as when painted three thousand years ago, em- blazoned in gold and gorgeous hues upon the sarcophagus and the mummy -case within, and again upon the outer covers of the winding-sheet; finally, in the form of small ornaments the size of nature, beautifully carved on precious stones en- closed within the wrappings of the mummy itself. What other insect has been thus glorified and immortalized.? For the sake of its proud lineage, if nothing else, is not our poor tumble-bug deserv- ing of our more than passing attention ? An in- sect which has thus been distinguished by an entire great people of antiquity has some claims on our respect and consideration. MR. AND MRS. TUMP.LE-RUG 55 But aside from his historical fame, he will well repay our careful study, and serve to while away a pleasant hour in the observance of his queer hab- its. He is now no longer the awe-inspirino- sacred scarab, but Mr. Tumble-bug, or, rather, " Mr. and Mrs. Tumble-bug," for a tumble-bug always pictured in the ancient hieroglyph is rarely to be seen in its natural haunts. Mr. and Mrs. Tum- ble-bug are devoted and inseparable, and, as a rule, vie with each other in the solicitude for that pre- cious rolling ball with which the insects are al- ways associated. From June to autumn we may find our tumble -bugs. There are a number of species included in the group of Scaraba^us to which they belong. Two species are particularly familiar, one of a lustrous bronzy hue, with a very rounded back, usually found at work on the coun- try highway in the track of the horse, and the other, the true typical tumble -bug, a flat- backed, jet-black lustrous species which we naturally as- sociate with the barn-yard and cow-pasture. The latter may be taken as an illustrative example of his class, and his ways are identical with those of his ancient sacred congener and present inhabi- tant of Egypt. When we first see them they are generally ma- nipulating the ball — a small mass of manure in which an egg has been laid, and which by rolling in the dust has now become round and firmly in- $6 EYE srv crusted and smooth. Let us follow the couple iii their apparently aimless though no less expedi- tious and vehement labors. They have now brought their globular charge through the grassy stubble, and have reached a clear spot of earth with scattered weeds. Of course we all know from the books that their intention is to find a suitable spot in which to bury this ball, and such being the case, with what astonishing stupidity do they urge on that labor! Here certainly is just the right spot for you, Mrs. Tumble-bug! Stop rolling and dig! But no, she will not listen to reason. She mounts the top of the ball, and, creeping far out upon it, pulls it over forward with her back feet, while Mr. Tumble -bug helps her in a most singular fashion. Does he stand up on his hind legs on the opposite side, and push with his powerful front feet ? Oh no ; he stands on his head, and pushes with his hind legs. As he pushes, and as the ball rolls merrily on, Mrs. Tumble -bug is continually rolled around with it, and must needs climb backward at a live- ly rate to keep her place. A foot or two is thus travelled without special incident, when a slight trouble occurs. The ball has struck an obstacle which neither Mrs. Tumble -bug's pull nor Mr. Tumble-bug's push can overcome. Then follow an apparent council and interchange of Tumble- bug talk, until at length both put their shovel- ^i; ^^,r^-^ ; nil ;->v , ; ■'cte ^* TA :.Cr V 58 EYE SPY shaped heads together beneath the sphere, and over it goes among the weeds. It is soon out again upon the open. Now, Mrs. Tumble -bug, everything is plain-sailing for you ; here is a long down grade over the smooth clean dirt! Why, the ball would roll down itself if you would only let it ; but, no, she will not let it. She pauses, and the ball rests, and both beetles now creep about, shovelling up the dirt here and there with their very queer little flat heads. Ah, perhaps they are going to start that hole which all the books tell us about. But no ; the place is evidently not quite satisfactory, both of them seem so to conclude, like two souls with but a single thought. Mrs. T. is up on the bridge in a jiffy, and Mr. T. takes his place at the helm ; and now what an easy time they will have of it down this little slope ; but, no, again; tumble -bugs don't seem to care for an easy time. A hundred times on their travels will they pass the very best possible spot for that bur- row, a hundred times will they persist in guiding that little world of theirs over an obstruction, when a clear path lies an inch to the right or left of them. And here, when their labors might be so easily lightened by a downward grade, what do they do ? they deliberately turn the ball about and hustle it along 2Lp hill, and that, too, over dirt that is not half as promising. Tip they go! Mrs. T. now seems to have the best of it, and I MR. AND MRS, TUMBLE-BUG 59 sometimes have my suspicions whether she is not playing a prank on that unsuspecting spouse working so hard at her back, for he now has not only the ball, but Mrs. T. as well, to shove along, for the most that she can do is to throw the weight of her body forward, which in a steep up grade amounts to nothing as a help. But if she is imposing on Mr. T. in thus guid- ing the ball up hill, she soon gets the Roland for her Oliver. Mr. T. is put to great extra labor by this whimsical decision of hers, and woe to Mrs. T. when that little chance valley or inequality of surface is reached. Even though she can see it coming and holds the wheel, she rarely seems to take advantage of it to save herself or her ship, while Mr. T., going backward in the rear, of course cannot be expected to know what is com- ing, nor be blamed for the consequences. With kick after kick from his powerful hind feet, united with the push of his mighty pair in front, the ball speeds up the slope. Now, for some reason, he gives a backward shove of more than usual force when it was least necessary. The ball had chanced upon the crest of a slope, when, kick ! over it goes with a pitch and a bound, and Mrs. T. with it, though this time not on top. Happy is she if the ball simply rolls upon her and pins her down. Such, indeed, is a frequent episode in her experience of keeping the ball a-rolling, but 60 EYE SPY occasionally the tumble-ball thus started, and out of the control of her spouse at the rear, may roll over and over for a long distance, but never alone. No amount of demoralization of this sort ever surprises her into losing her grip on her precious globular bundle. When at last it fetches up against a stone or stick, and she assures herself that she and her charge are safe and sound, no doubt she immediately mounts to its crest to sig- nal the lone Mr. T. afar off, who is quickly back of her again, and both are promptly off on a fresh journey. And so they keep it up, apparently for sport, perhaps for an hour. At length, when they have played long enough — for there is no other reason apparent to homo sapiens — they decide to plant their big, dirty pel- let. The place which they have chosen is not half as promising as many they have passed, but that doesn't seem to matter. Mrs. T. has said, " It shall go here," and that ends it. Then follows a most singular exhibition of ex- cavation and burial. The ball is now resting qui- etly on the dirt, and the two beetles are appar- ently rummaging around beneath it, trying the ground with the sharp edge of their shovel-shaped faces. And now, to avoid confusion, we will dis- miss Mr. T., and confine our observation strictly to the female, who usually (in my experience) con- ducts the rest of the work alone. MR. AND MRS. Tr MIU.K-l'.rc 6i m ^W^ WWS^s She lias evidently found a sjDot that suits her, and we e.xpect her to fulfil the directions of the books and entomological authorities. She •'t'lSr #' S"- """"^^ ""^^^^ ''^ ^^^"^'^^ '^^^'^ ^'^^' '^'^^ >^ J^, 1 /rt^>. ^^'^'' ^'^^^ ^^^^' ^''''^ "'^^' ^^' '^""^ ^^■*'^'^'-'^ Ar- .V j^lj j|- ^p again." liut we will look in vain for such o b e d i e n c e. Instead of this she per- s i s t s in ploughing around be- >''^- ^'^'^^^i^lt^i »Ql V ball, which '''-^w!T^r^-^r^^^^^^l^^y^^-:^. seems at tunes al- ^^ly^C'H^^^^^^^'-"''t '^ most balanced on i her back, until all ^^r'"^' - the earth at this .