Part 5

This genus, _Primula_, is the type of the family and contains about one hundred and fifty species from which have been produced, both in nature and under cultivation, many hybrid forms, one investigator claiming to have found more than twenty in the Alps alone. The species are found distributed throughout the cooler regions of Europe and Asia and a few are natives of North America.

The common or English primrose (_Primula vulgaris_), by careful culture, produces a wonderful number of variations. The wild forms produce only yellow single flowers while from those under cultivation are developed numerous varieties, both single and double, which vary greatly in color--red, pink, white, purple, and many shades of each.

The cowslip primrose (_Primula veris_) is also a native of England. The flowers are yellow and nodding, and the plants emit a strong odor of anise.

The Himalaya Mountains are probably more rich in beautiful and interesting species and varieties than any other locality. Here is found the most beautiful of all the primroses, the delicate rose-colored form (_Primula rosea._)

This species of primrose should not be confounded with the evening primrose, of which there are about twenty species, all American. The yellow flowers of the latter appear in the summer, opening at night, the thin and delicate petals withering the next day.

THE EGRET'S YOUNG.

ELIZA WOODWORTH.

Beside a quiet stream the egrets build, And, friendly, crowd their nests of wattled sticks In clustered trees, then patient keep unchilled Their sea-blue eggs, and hear the first faint pricks

Against the shells; and soon each wistful brood Beneath the mother's breast will doze or wake; And soon each parent pair will wing with food From waded shallows brown, and marsh and brake.

Between the flights they rest and tranquil look Far down the glade from boughs or dusky nests, And see the deer that wend beside the brook, And partridge coveys, with their freckled breasts.

Oh, lives like sunny hours! Oh, peaceful glade, Where glow the early flowers! What hunters steal Along the stream, with rifles softly laid At hand, while slips the skiff on noiseless keel?

The shots half-blind the air with curling haze, And from his lookout perch the watcher falls; The nested mother lifts her head to gaze, And wounded, flutters down with hollow calls.

And, bleeding prone, perchance she mourns her young, And hears, as far away, their startled cries, And longs for pleasant haunts she lived among, While in an anguished dream she slowly dies.

From off the gentle head they cut the crest, They loose the wedding[1] plumes which veil the wings And rend the beauty-tuft from out the breast-- Then each a mangled body downward flings.

The dimmed white forms strew all the blossomed ground, While clustered trees but bear the wailing young; Their plaintive little voices shrilling, sound From swiftly chilling nests, once gayly swung.

Unfathered broods! In vain with hunger-calls They grieve through woeful hours the helpless air; Unmothered nests! How cold the darkness falls On harmless, tender heads, uncovered there.

They live the painful night and feebly stir At dawn; with famine shine the golden eyes; They gape their mouths and seem to hear the whir Of mother-wings speed past through empty skies.

And no more piteous sight the sun may see Than where those parent birds lie dead; nor wakes A sadder tone than the forsaken plea Of famished broods that o'er their silence breaks.

Fainter and fainter sink the whispered cries, As wanes the life and creeps the deadly chill, Till wings are numb, and closed the hungry eyes, While droop the downy heads, _and all is still_.

Footnote:

[1] The wedding plumes, which are esteemed the most valuable of all, are worn by the birds only during brooding time. Hence the special reason for hunting egrets at that season.

SPONGES.

A sponge when brought to the surface by the diver is a fleshy-looking substance covered with a firm skin whose openings appear and disappear at intervals. When the diver cuts it the interior looks like raw meat with numerous canals and cavities. The first thing they do is to remove the flesh, and this must be done at once, since otherwise putrefaction would set in, which would destroy the elasticity. This leaves merely the skeleton of the animal which has to be further cleansed before it is ready for the market.

The skeleton is nearly related in structure to silk, and this helped to settle the ancient dispute as to whether sponges were animal or vegetable. Their stationary life gave reason to the belief in their vegetable nature, while they multiply, like plants, by overgrowth and budding. They puzzled scientists for centuries, and one authority regarded them as worms' nests. In reality the sponge is a colony of little animals called polyps which occupy a sort of apartment house together, rearing families just as other animals do.

The surface of a sponge is covered with little holes, as you have observed, that are larger at the top than at the bottom, while the whole mass contains a system of channels. When the animal is alive water is kept flowing constantly through these channels by means of minute, hair-like appendages, which the little polyps agitate. The water thus drawn in brings with it the food.

The finest sponges come from Tripoli, and along the shores of the Mediterranean, the possessions of Turkey being the best field, the Spanish, French, and Italian coasts being, strange to say, devoid of them. The coarser kinds of sponges are found in the West Indies and off the Florida coast, none of the finest grade existing in American waters. The average value of Florida sponges is 80 cents a pound, while those from the Turkey coast are often worth as much as $50 a pound. There are many sponge beds along the coast of Florida, at well-protected places fenced in with natural fortifications and dams. They are carefully watched until reaching maturity, and are finer than those living wild in the sea.

After three years the sponges are ready for harvest. The choicest then, the full-grown ones, are pulled up, the others being left to reproduce until of larger size. Every year the value of a sponge farm increases, and enormous crops are yielded. It is easy to gather sponges here, for the water is clear and they are easily raised with a pole or tongs.

It is not so in Tripoli, however. There the work has to be done by divers, and as the fisheries have been so well worked, it is necessary for the divers to go deeper and deeper for them every year. Only the most desperate men are willing to undertake the task, notwithstanding they are paid ten times the usual wage paid to men in that country. Out of 600 divers employed, 150 to 200 die each season, either from asphyxiation, paralysis, or cuts from their knives. The diver in Tripoli seldom has diving-bells or suits such as are used in Europe and America. He goes down into the ocean, sometimes to the depth of 100 fathoms, taking with him a flat piece of stone of a triangular shape, with a hole drilled through one of its corners. A cord from the boat is attached to this stone and he uses it to guide him. Upon reaching the growing sponges he tears them off the rocks or cuts them with a sharp knife, places them under his arms, and then pulls at the rope, which gives the signal to the men in the boat to haul him up. The work is said to be done not so well by means of a diving-bell, the utmost care being necessary that the delicate organisms should not be torn. Sponges obtained by dragging are torn and sell for low prices. Those secured at such risk are the best and are used by surgeons in delicate operations. They do not grow as rapidly in the Mediterranean as in our water, an ordinary bath sponge, measuring about a foot in diameter, being ten years old.--_E. K. M._

COMMON MINERALS AND VALUABLE ORES.

IV.--COPPER AND LEAD ORES.

THEO. F. BROOKINS, B. S.

The first metal that was employed by man is copper. It is probable that prehistoric man made use of the metal in its native condition only, as no knowledge of metallurgy would be essential in preparing it for use from that condition. Copper implements have been found in the lake dwellings of Switzerland, and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, is mentioned in the writings of Homeric times.

Cuprum, the origin of our English word copper, is derived from cyprium, which refers to the occurrence of the metal in especial abundance on the island of Cyprus, the main source of the metal during the epochs of early alchemy. In the Hebrew scriptures copper is termed Nehósheth (from nahásh, meaning to glisten) which is translated by Χαλκος and by Aes in the Vulgate. Later _Aes cyprium_ was the special designation, which was finally shortened to _cyprium_, as indicated above. Thus we see that our present term represents in no sense the characteristic of the metal at first so noticeable.

Native copper scarcely needs a description. Its occurrence in the free state provides an interesting subject of conjecture. Briefly stated, the question of origin is whether the copper was set free by the decomposition of silicates or was in the form of a sulphide in the rock. The chief region of occurrence of native copper is the Lake Superior district. Here are found occasionally large masses of copper, which, strange as it seems, are practically valueless if too heavy to transport, since they cannot be divided without great difficulty. Of the world's total output of copper in 1897, 399,250 long tons[2], a single mine of the Lake Superior region, the famous Calumet and Hecla, produced 40,350 long tons.

Montana is now the first copper producing state in the United States. The state contains the largest mining camp in the world, located in the town of Butte. In 1897 the mines of Montana produced 102,800 long tons of copper. The ore chalcocite, sometimes called copper glance, has a metallic luster, often tarnished green or blue. It is commonly lead-gray and rather soft. Its streak is a blackish lead-gray, Chalcopyrite, a sulphide of copper and iron combined, has already been mentioned under "Iron Minerals" (November issue of BIRDS AND ALL NATURE.) When copper is much in predominance the color of the ore is golden yellow. The streak is dark green. The mineral is harder than chalcocite, but less hard than pyrite, being easily scratched with a knife. Both chalcocite and chalcopyrite frequently occur in silver-bearing rocks.

A method of extracting copper from its ores, equally useful with regard to any of the ores, is known as the English process. The details of this are too elaborate and technical for consideration here. In brief, the process consists of six distinct parts--roasting the mixed ores, fusion of the roasted ores to produce coarse metal, roasting the coarse metal, fusion of the wasted coarse metal to produce what is known as white metal, roasting of the white metal to produce blister copper, i. e., copper filled with cavities, and finally the refining and toughening of the blister copper until marketable copper is yielded. The English method of copper smelting is classed among the so-called "dry" processes, in contradistinction from "wet" processes, or methods involving the use of solutions.

It may be of interest to know the importance of copper in that curious problem of ancient alchemy, the transmutation of metals. Metallic iron placed in certain solutions of unknown composition possessed the power to precipitate metallic copper. With all the wondrous faith in the problems of alchemy the phenomenon was interpreted as one of transmutation and the statement made that iron had been transformed into copper.

Within the last few years a remarkable increase in the output of the copper mines of the world has been recorded. This is due mainly to the demand for copper on account of the great strides in electrical achievements during recent years. Yet there is no doubt that the world's supply is wholly adequate to meet demands on it for a long period to come. The high conductivity of copper renders it especially useful for conveying electric currents and its most important use at present is in electricity. However, it is also a common convenience in many arts. Its alloys are numerous, bronze and brass being the most common. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin and brass of copper and zinc. The manufacturer of bronze bells finds opportunity for an interesting study of the alloy used in his product. The varying tones of bells are due to the different percentages of copper and tin used in the bell metal.

In locality and mode of occurrence lead is somewhat closely allied with copper, and the ores of lead and zinc are almost invariably associated. Hence a description of lead naturally follows that of copper and may also be understood as typical, so far as occurrence and mining methods are concerned, for that of zinc.

Lead occurs in nature chiefly in the forms of the sulphide, galenite or galena, the sulphate, anglesite and the carbonate, cerussite. Galena is lead-gray, quite soft, and frequently occurs in a coarsely crystalline condition, the crystals often being cubical. The luster is metallic, hence a superficial examination of a specimen might result in mistaking the mineral for the copper ore, chalcopyrite, already described. The streak will serve to identify any specimen, however, it being a lead-gray of much lighter shade than that of chalcocite. Anglesite and cerussite are far less abundant than galena. The former varies from white through gray to yellow and has a resinous luster. Cerussite is white or gray, resembling anglesite, and has a brilliant, vitreous luster. Both minerals, like galena, are soft and easily scratched with a knife.

The ores of lead are widely distributed throughout the United States and it is difficult to assign boundaries to special districts. Galena occurs in small quantities--too small for profitable working--throughout the Appalachian region, and is found in paying quantities in what is known as the Missouri lead district. In the Colorado and other western mines the ore is found in silver-bearing veins. Were it not for the presence of silver in those veins the production of lead from them would probably practically cease, as the anglesite, the principal lead ore of the veins, does not occur in amount to pay for working the mines for that product alone.

White lead, used in paints, is the most important use of the metal. Painters prefer the product to zinc-white chiefly because it is much more opaque and possesses a much greater covering power. Much lead is made into pipes for conveying water. Pure lead is not used for the making of shot, but instead an alloy of lead and arsenic. Unlike pure lead, the alloy assumes a spherical form when dropped through the air. "Shot towers" are constructed to make use of this property in the manufacture of shot. The demands for lead have not been increased by recent extraordinary development of any of the arts employing the metal, hence the world's output of lead during the past decade has had a normal increase. For the year 1897 the total production of lead was 725,200 metric tons.

Footnote:

[2] The common short ton is 2,000 pounds; the long ton contains 2,240 pounds; the metric ton equals 2,204 pounds. It will be noted that statistics of the production of different metals frequently employ different tons as units.

THE YOUNG NATURALIST.

BEES.--Honey is made from many substances. Not only do the flowers give up their nectar to the honey bees, but various other sources of sweets are visited by bees with profit. Clover honey is one of the most common kind, although it is all white clover honey, for the honey bee has too short a tongue to reach into the long tubes of the red clover which the bumble-bees are so fond of. Sweet-clover yields nectar which makes good honey. A dark variety of honey comes from the flowers of buckwheat, and the basswood tree which the German poets sing about, calling it by the name of linden, bears such a wealth of flowers which the honey bees like that it is swarmed day after day by so many bees that the tree seems to hum with pleasure. You can often hear the bees in a basswood tree before the tree itself is in view in the forest. Orange trees are also favorites with the honey-makers.

Broken fruits are often sucked by bees to get material for honey, and cider left in a dish where they can get at it will be visited by them. A mixture of almost any sweet liquid will attract honey bees, and they are so careless of its exact nature that they have been known to store up and make into honey substances that are not good for human beings to eat. One of the favorite forms of adulteration among those who keep bees for profit is to place glucose and water where they can get at it. They will readily fill their combs with this cheap material and seem to do very much more work in the course of a season by having placed within easy reach a mass of material that they do not have to work for.

Margaret Warner Morley, in her charming little book, "The Bee People," which has just come from the press of A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, tells how bees frequently make honey from "honey dew." This is a sweet and sticky substance that is found upon the upper side of all sorts of leaves in some localities and has caused a great deal of wonder as to where it comes from. The writer tells of the mountain children she saw in the Carolinas plucking these leaves and licking the honey-dew from them, enjoying their treat much as city children enjoy what they get at the candy store. She says the honey-dew is made by the little insects called ants' cows or aphides. The sweet liquid is thrown out from their bodies, and ants are so fond of it that some of them have been said to keep "cows" and take great care of them in order to enjoy the sweet they get from their bodies.

The aphides eat the juice of the leaves they rest on and change it into honey-dew. Resting on the under side of a leaf and feasting royally, they become so full that the honey-dew spurts from their bodies and showers the upper sides of the leaves below. Sometimes the insects are so thick upon the leaves of a magnolia tree that a shower of sweets comes down upon its lower leaves and the grass below. Trees and bushes shine with the dew, and when dust settles upon the sticky surfaces it is decidedly disagreeable.

Pliny, the first great naturalist, said he thought honey-dew was "the perspiration of the sky, the saliva of the stars, or the moisture deposited by the atmosphere while purging itself, corrupted by its admixture with the mists of the earth." Bees gather it and make it up into honey. Squirrels are fond of it, and gather the leaves one at a time, hold them up in their paws, and lick them with apparent relish.

There are so many truly wonderful things about bees which this talented writer has collected and told in simple language that her book is one of the most valuable of recent contributions to the libraries of those who enjoy the wonders of nature. Although written evidently for children it is of absorbing interest to adults, and furnishes a fund of material for conversation and observation which will make it very much in demand among teachers and parents.

The growth of the bee, the drones, the workers, and the queens, with all the details of their structure as revealed by the microscope, the making of their curious homes, their odd customs and habits, their strange enemies, and a thousand other interesting features, make the subject one of great interest, and we cannot sufficiently honor the memory of the blind naturalist, Huber, who found out more things about bees after he lost his sight than all the world ever knew of them before his time.

BAD GERMS.--In our bodies is constantly going on a great fight between germs of various sorts, if we are to believe those who know most on the subject. Microbes are all about within us, some of them apparently striving to do us good and others trying to kill us. In a few cases men of science have been able to find one kind of germ that will destroy another that is hurtful to the human system. By cultivating many sorts of germs together and separately they have come to know a great deal about what microbes like and what they cannot bear. The so-called poisons of diphtheria and typhoid fever have been recognized as having certain forms and characteristics, and a way of killing them off at wholesale has been found, and so we are not so much afraid of these diseases as we were before these discoveries were made. The germs of cholera and yellow fever are now well enough known to be controlled by sanitary measures, and the doctors are hot on the track of the bacillus of consumption. What relief the world will have when these germs are killed before they have had time to do their deadly work!

A DESERT LIGHT.--In Arizona there is an important well which stands in the desert where its presence would not readily be known, but for the fact that a light now swings from a tall cotton-wood pole so as to light travelers who are within several miles of it in the night. Before the lantern used to be hung there many people died when they might have reached its waters if they had only known how near and in which direction the well really was. Some have died horrible deaths of thirst when only a short distance from its refreshing waters. In order to pass that point travelers have to carry large loads of water to quench their thirst until they reach this well. The number of gallons a company has means either life or death to all. Some time ago a German boy staggered up to the tanks shortly after dark. He had lain down expecting to die with thirst in despair of getting to water, when he saw the light of the cabin of the keeper of the well. So Joe Drew keeps his lantern up at night that others may see the signal from afar and come without delay to the waters.