OWING to the space required for the prize compositions and the report of the Committee, we are compelled this month to omit the Very Little Folk Department.

WE commend to all our readers Mr Leland's interesting article on "Brass-Work for Boys and Girls," in this month's Work and Play department, and, in connection with it, we are glad to announce that the author probably will contribute to our pages some other papers dealing with similar kinds of Work and Play, such as "Leather-Work," "Wood-Carving," and " 'Modeling."

That studies in these arts form both useful and enjoyable recreations for young folks has been amply proven by the success of the industrial schools in our large cities. And, indeed, the New York Society of Decorative Art lately solicited aid in extending instruction in these branches, in a circular, from which we quote the following:

"The Managers of the Society of Decorative Art are very desirous to extend their educational work in the direction of free instruction in the minor industrial arts. They wish to form large classes in plain sewing, embroidery, wood-carving, hammered brass, mosaic work, and in the rudiments of modeling and design. The experience of the past five years proves to the Managers that a broad field of usefulness lies in the training of children of both sexes, from nine to fifteen years of age, in industries which may, at the same time, be both useful and pleasant to them.

"The Managers feel that these are years when the fingers may lecome most expert and the perceptions quickened, as well as the brain developed; and that this teaching need not interfere, but go hand in hand-rather as recreation than otherwise-with regular school duties."

HERE is a letter, proving that The Schuyler mansion at Albany (pictured on page 666 of this number) is not the only old house in New York State which bears the marks of Indian tomahawks upon its stairway: JOHNSTOWN, N. Y.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I live in the country, two miles from Johnstown.

More than a hundred years ago, Sir William Johnson lived here, and the town was named for him. The house where he lived is standing. The banisters are all hacked up by the Indians' tomahawks.

There is an old bell in the school-house which Queen Anne sent here for a church.

There are a great many glove and mitten shops here.

My brothers and I take ST. NICHOLAS. We like it so much we are going to have the numbers bound to save them. I am_eleven years old. From your admiring friend, HANNAH E. C.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I send you a conundrum that I hope you will be able to find a place for.

What garden flower does a man name who has paid half his debts?
Answer-Glad-i-o-lus (Glad-i-owe-less).
L. D. H.

SCRANTON, PA., January 3, 1883. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: My Uncle George, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn., sends me the ST. NICHOLAS every year as a Christmas present. I think it is splendid. I can hardly wait for it from one month to another. As you publish letters from the little folks, I want to tell you something my aunt, who is living at our house, told me. She is seventy-five years old. Her name is Mrs. Jane A. Winton. Her maiden name was Jane A. Pabodie. The story she told me is about George Washington. It is true, and has never been published, so far as I know. Here it is: When her father, Ephraim Pabodie, was a small lad, his father took him to see Washington, who was then visiting Providence, R. I., where they lived. When they came into the presence of Washington, the boy said, "Why, father, he is nothing but a man.' Washington heard the

"

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I've had such a time this morning with my black-and-tan pup. He is only three months old. He bites my hands all the time, and I can not do a thing with him. Will not somebody give me a few rules for training him?

Please put this in the Letter-Box. I like you ever so much; please remember that, and my name is NANNIE D.

Anoint your hands well with a strong tea of bitter aloes. Then after the little darling has bitten them a few times, he will lose his appetite for you.

GARRISON, N. Y.

DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am going to tell you about a little kitten that was given to me by the housekeeper at Fort Monroe. It was white all over, with a little black tail and a black crown on its head. It was born on Easter, and when I got it it was a week old. It would lie on its back and drink milk out of a bottle. It would hold the bottle with i's hind legs, and put both its fore paws around it. Yours truly, K. T. D.

I will send, to all of the A. A. members who will send me their addresses and postage to prepay the same, samples of various flowers, ferns, etc., found on or near this snow-belt of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I will also send, to all members of the A. A. who may desire them, specimens of minerals for the simple cost of postage and packing Any information on minerals that I can render, I will cheerfully give to the extent of my knowledge. With me this study has a great attraction, and here I find endless fields for research.

Some of the most beautiful flowers, highly colored and delicate, new to your botanists, are found in rocky gorges and steep cañons. I can aid you, I think, in very many ways, and also the others in all the States. You are at liberty to use this letter in part or entire. Yours truly, in the cause of education,

WM. H. BRIGGS.

After this large-hearted offer, Mr. Briggs, perhaps better known by his nom de plume, "Willie Fern," may look to see the Sierras prematurely whitened by a snow-fall of responsive letters.

I offer my services to the A. A. in the determination of conchological specimens. BRUCE RICHARDS, 1726 N. 18th st., Philadelphia, Pa.

I will correspond with any one on shells. THOMAS MORGAN, Somerville, N. J.

A COURSE OF ORIGINAL STUDY FOR OUR ENTOMOLOGISTS. We propose for an experiment to offer a short course in the observation of insects, to extend through several months. All who successfully complete this course shall receive certificates, and be qualified to enter upon a higher one next year. In order that as many as possible may enter upon the work, it has been made quite simple, and is as follows:

All members of this class will be expected to write, each month, a paper on the subject assigned, which paper is to be a record of original field observations on any one species of the order announced for the month. To make the matter perfectly clear, the subjects for the next six months follow:

be prepared as follows:

1. Give a brief but clear description of the order.

2. Give a careful report of your own observations on any one species of the order. In this report should be included:

a. Description of the insect, accurate as may be, and, if possible, accompanied by drawings, however rude; difference in coloration of the sexes; varieties observed; probable causes of such variation, such as differences of food, location, and time of year.

b. Habits-Date of appearance and disappearance of the perfect insect number of annual broods; localities most favorable, etc.

c. Transformations.-1. The egg: description, sketch, duration of this stage; where and how deposited by the female. 2. Larva: number of molts, and changes noticed in these molts; duration of each molt, and entire time consumed in this stage; food-plants of the larva; drawings. 3. Chrysalis: description; methods of protection and fastening; duration of this stage; special observations. 4. Parasites observed during these stages (ichneumons, chalcids, etc.). d. Concluding remarks, with notes drawn from various works on the subject, and a list of such references.

It will be seen that this work can be done by the youngest members, as well as the eldest, and in the award of certificates regard will be had to age as well as merit.

Prof. G. Howard Parker, of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, has very kindly consented to receive and examine these papers, and to his address (corner Nineteenth and Race streets) all wishing to enter the class should send their names immediately, as also to the President of the A. A.

On the completion of the course, a list of the successful students will be printed in ST. NICHOLAS.

There are no charges for entrance to any of our classes.

class will collect all possible forms and carefully press them, and send drawings of them, arranged according to the schemes to be monthly given in ST. NICHOLAS; or in case of inability to draw, send the specimens themselves, arranged according to the same schemes.

Plants can be said to have five parts: I. ROOTS; II. STEMS; III LEAVES; IV. FLOWERS (including fruit); V. HAIRS (Trichomes in general).

The collection of these several parts may be made simultaneously and as the season requires; but the drawings and specimens must be sent to Prof. Jones in such monthly installments as the printed schemes call for. The subject for this month is Roots, and the specimens must be arranged as follows:

I. ROOTS* are divided into
PRIMARY. The kinds are

Tap; the shapes are (they are found in evergreens,
vegetables, etc.),

Philadelphia, Pa. (N). Georgetown, D. C. (D).. E. Orange, N. J. (A).... N. Haven, Conn. (A)....

Foster's Crossing, O. (A). Saco, Maine (C).

470. W. De Pere, Wis. (B) 471. Germantown, Pa. (D)....

472.

473

474

475

Hazleton, Pa. (A)
Washington, D. C. (H).
Greeley, Col. (B)
Dundee, Scotland (A).....

Aurora, N. Y. (A).
New York, N. Y. (M)
Comstocks, N. Y. (A)..
Durhamville, N. V. (A)..
Baltimore, Md. (F).
Newton, Mass. (A).

Address. 5.. W. C. Langdon, Jr. 5..Ovington Ross, 584 W. Washington.

ton.

6.. W. L. Martin, 240 Clinton ave. 7. H. W. Spaulding, lock box 171. 4. Harry Colby, 1520 Wellington. 4..F. A. Reynolds, 159 Washing13.. Miss S. L. Hook, Brick Church P. O., Essex Co. 15.. Fred. Post, 34 Edwards. 5..Jos. H. Jones, 233 Commercial street.

.30.Miss Kitty A. Gage. 6..C. W. Spencer.

6.. Clarence E. Kimball. 4.. Miss Katherine M. Bridge. 20. Miss L. F. Bradbury, box 606. 16. Miss Annie Tracy.

25 Samuel Willard.

1o.. Miss A. E. Brobson, 106 Past

12

8.. Miss Anne McNair.

orius.

4 C. Buchanan, 43 Myrtle street. Miss Flora Ecker. 6.. Miss A. G. Keiller, Temple House, Longforgan.

27.. E. L. Wilson.

5..A C. P. Opdyke, 200 W. 57th. 4.. Geo. C. Baker. 5.. Arthur Fox.

8.. Miss R. Jones, 222 McCulloch. .10 Fred. H. Hitchcock.

The uses of every kind of roots should be carefully observed.

Perfect spirifers and other fossils, for perfect trilobites. Correspondence in S. and W. on entomology and oölogy.-H. P. Taber, East Aurora, N. Y.

Bog ore, for tin, zinc, and nickel ore.-G. T. McGee, Jackson, Mich.

Petrified sycamore, for insects, and graphite, for rose quartz.- F. P. Stockbridge, Sec. Chap. 239.

H. L. Clark writes that he has not seen hair-snakes come out of a cricket, but has found them in a cricket, and his address is Amherst, Mass., instead of Providence, R. I.

Mocking-birds' eggs.-J. B. Russell, 95 Belleville av., Newark, N. J.

A vireo's nest and a sparrow's nest, for a tailor-bird's nest.- H. Montgomery, Saco, Maine.

Correspondence.-W. D. Shaw, Sec. 395, 34 St. Peter street, Montreal, Canada.

Cocoons. Leo. Austin, La Porte, Ind.

Labeled minerals and fossils, for fossil cephalopods.-W. R. Lighton, Ottumwa, Iowa.

Correspondence.-R. E. Coe, Durham, N. Y.

Sand from Gulf of Mexico, for feldspar, geodes, or quartz crystals.-J. C. Winne, Carthage, N. Y.

Minerals. Geo. C. Baker, Comstocks, N. Y.

All sorts, for geological, botanical, or ornithological specimens.Clarence O. Kimball, Sec. 466, Golconda, Ill.

Marine, land, or fresh-water shells.- Send list to Thomas Morgan, Somerville, N. J.

Calcite crystal, dogtooth spar, and named fossils of Lower and Upper Silurian for offers.- Elmer H. Fauver, 50 Hess street, Dayton, Ohio. (P. S.—I should like to correspond with some one acquainted with paleontology, especially if he lives among Devonian rocks.-E. H. F.)

AWARD OF THE PRIZE OFFERED IN DECEMBER.

In response to the offer of a prize for the best essay on the life of one of the world's famous naturalists, the competition has been unusually close, and the prize has been adjudged with unexpected difficulty. Indeed, between an essay on Louis Agassiz, by Miss Mary Rhoads Garrett, of the Bryn Mawr Chapter. No. 300, and one on John James Audubon, by Miss Josie Mulford, of Madison, N. J., there is so nearly an equality of merit that we have decided to give two prizes instead of one. Honorable mention must also be made of Miss Zoa Goodwin, of Waverly, Iowa; Richard D. Bancroft, of Philadelphia; C. L. Snowdon, Oskaloosa, Iowa; and E. B. Miller, A. C. Rudischhauser, A. B. Conrad, Wm. T. Frohwein, and A. Nehrbas, all of the Manhattan Chapter, of New York City; F. E. Cocks, Secretary of Brooklyn, E, and Miss Bessie Deland Williams, who is only eleven years old. We print one of the prize essays, which, from its subject, is of especial interest to members of the A. A.

ESSAY ON AGASSIZ.

"He prayeth best who loveth best all things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all." Coleridge.

LOUIS JOHN RUDOLPH AGASSIZ was born at Motiers, near Neufchatel, May 28, 1807, when Humboldt, Cuvier, and Napoleon were thirty-eight years old. His father was a Protestant minister; and his mother, an intelligent and cultivated woman, taught Louis till he was eleven years old, when he was sent to the gymnasium of Bienne. From thence he went to the college at Lausanne, where he spent his spare time in watching insects and fishing, and then studied medicine at Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich. During his vacations he traveled in different parts of Europe in search of fossil and fresh-water fishes, and while an undergraduate described in Latin the Spix Collection of Brazil fish, which gave him distinction as a naturalist. He graduated at Munich when twenty-three years old, and staid for some time in the family of his friend M. Cuvier. At the request of the citizens of his native place, he accepted the Professorship of Natural History at Neufchatel. About 1833, he

went to Paris and worked in the laboratory of the Jardin des Plantes. As he said afterward in America, he had no time to become rich; if he had a few spare pennies, he bought a book at some second-hand stall; but he copied, as closely as possible, many volumes which he needed but could not buy.

His glacial theory, published in "Études sur les Glaciers," and Systèmes Glacières," was the result of long vacations spent among the Alps. He was noted, even by the Alpine guides, for his powers of walking, and still kept up this habit when he took the Harvard students on geological excursions.

In 1846, Agassiz came to America, on a visit; but he staid here because he liked a country where he could think and speak as he pleased, and where his activity would be appreciated. He was appointed Professor of Zoology and Geology at Harvard University, and his lectures in Boston gave an added interest to those studies on our continent. He became a master of English composition, and spoke the language with fluency and eloquence.

Professor Agassiz was an excellent and severe critic of a zcölogical drawing, and his quick brown eye detected the slightest fault. If the artist was careful, he would reward him with, "Try it once more. 'Tis all wrong, but don't get out of patience." As a student said, When the Professor took a class out walking, he saw more than all of us put together; for he looked, but we only stared.'

A pupil, wishing to make a specialty of insects, was started by Professor Agassiz to watch a fish of the Hæmulon genus, without any instruments, and was told to keep the specimen wet. He soon grew disgusted with its "ancient fishy smell." The fish became dry, and he left for lunch. When he returned, he counted the scales for a variety, then took out a pencil and began to draw. The Professor came in and said: “ That is right! The pencil is one of the best of eyes!" The next time he asked, “Well, what is it like?" The student told him. "You have n't yet seen one of the most conspicuous features of the animal. Look again." It was now afternoon. Agassiz said, on returning: "Do you see it yet?" "I see how little I saw before." "Go home, now. Think it over; before you look at it in the morning, I'll examine you." restless night, he was greeted cordially by the Professor, who said, "Well, what is the conspicuous feature? "Do you mean symmet rical sides with paired organs?" "Of course! and the Professor was happy on that important point. "What next? the student asked. Oh, look at your fish! That's not all. Go on!" He did so for three days - looked at that fish! He says that the study of the Hamulon for eight months, under Agassiz, was of greater value than years of later investigation in his favorite branch.

After a

Agassiz had great powers of attraction. Old Valenciennes, at the Jardin des Plantes, called him "Ce cher Agassiz," and the Nahant fishermen would pull miles to bring him a rare fish, and see his delight on receiving it.

Since describing the Brazilian fish, it had been a desire of Louis Agassiz to see them in their native waters. Mr. Thayer, on hearing of his intended visit, said: "Take six assistants with you, and I will be responsible for their expenses, both personal and scientific." This offer was accepted and fully carried out till the last specimen was in the Museum. In 1868, Agassiz became non-resident Professor of Cornell University. His was a busy life: giving lectures, corresponding in three languages, superintending his assistants, and contributing to scientific literature. In his last summer school, Agassiz asked his pupils to join him in silent prayer for a blessing on their labors. He had no sympathy whatever with atheistic sciertists, and his opposition to Darwinism was greatly owing to his fear that it would lead away from God. While holding to evolution in nature, he taught that types do not change. Darwin called him his most courteous opponent and most formidable.

His faith was strong in the hour of death, which came to him suddenly on December 14, 1873. He was buried at Cambridge from the chapel among the college elms. He was simple in his manners, not minding in the least carrying specimens in his handkerchief through the streets of London, and was not desirous of fame, refusing, at the height of Napoleon's power, a seat as Senator of the Empire and the Directorship of the Jardin des Plantes. While

his was one of the most active and powerful minds, he was always glad to teach farmers and mechanics, and ready to learn himself as long as he lived.

[The following works were consulted by the author before writing the foregoing essay: Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary: Recollections of Agassiz, by Theodore Lyman, Atlantic Monthly; Nature, October, 1872; The Net Result, Work of U. S. Fish Commission, W. C. Wyckoff: Character and Characteristic Men, by Whipple: Every Saturday, April, 1874; Popular Science Monthly, vol. iv., 495: Christian Union; Dr. Peabody's Funeral Sermon; Cruise through the Galapagos, Agassiz; Evolution and Fermanency of Type, by L. Agassiz (probably his last essay); A Journey in Brazil, by Prof. and Mrs. Agassiz; Christian Weekly, January, 1874.]

All who write to the scientific gentlemen who are assisting us, or to the President, will bear in mind the rules given in a late report -stamped envelope directed. The address of the President is:

HARLAN H. BALLARD,

Principal of Lenox Academy, Lenox, Mass.

MAZE.

TRACE a path to the flag in the center without entering any of the four circles.

S. A. R.

NOVEL ACROSTIC.

THE length of the words described varies from five to ten letters. When rightly guessed and placed one below the other, in the order here given, the second line of letters (reading downward) will spell the Christian name and the fourth line the surname of an American general upon whose tomb is inscribed, "He dared to lead where any dared to follow."

I. Not given to artifice. 2. The god of the healing art. 3. A mouth. 4.. A species of clove-pink, having very beautiful flowers, and a rich, spicy scent. 5. A kind of evergreen remarkable for the durability of its wood, which has a fragrant odor. 6. A handsome feather, worn upon helmets.

H. B. S.

COMBINATION PUZZLE.

THE diagonals (reading downward) from left to right name a general famous in American history; the diagonals from right to left name a general who surrendered to him.

The letters represented by the larger dots spell the name of the place of the surrender.

LEFT-HAND SIDE OF PERPENDICULAR LINE (words of five letters each): 1. Facetious. 2. A claw. 3. Homes of birds. 4. The people who invaded the Roman empire and defeated the Emperior Decius in 251 A. D. 5. A French word meaning listlessness. 6. A country residence. 7. Winds about. 8. Compact. 9. To compare. 10. A glossy fabric.

RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF PERPENDICULAR LINE (still reading from left to right): 1. A caper. 2. To bend. 3. Pertaining to a wall. 4. To strike. 5. Erroneous. 6. At no time. 7. A deputy. 8. A time-piece. 9. Bravery. 10. A celebrated law-maker of Athens.

I. 1. Behead inscribed, and leave mere repetition. 2. Behead to expiate, and leave a single sound. 3. Behead to upbraid, and leave frigid. 4. Behead a thicket of bushes, and leave margin. 5. Behead imaginary, and leave to distribute. 6. Behead a Latin word meaning "name," and leave an augury. 7. Behead to rub harshly, and leave a fixed price. 8. Behead to tantalize, and leave repose. 9. Behead to suppose, and leave to waste away. 10. Behead the present occasion, and leave at one time. The beheaded letters are the same as the diagonals reading from left to right.

II. 1. Syncopate a kind of nut, and leave a song of praise and triumph. 2. Syncopate to be buoyed up, and leave insipid. 3. Syncopate to tear into small pieces, and leave a rude hut. 4. Syncopate slender cords, and leave falsehoods. 5. Syncopate young animals, and leave articles much used in warm weather. 6. Syncopate locates, and leave assortments. 7. Syncopate skins of ani

mals, and leave fondles. 8. Syncopate heaps, and leave a kind of pastry. 9. Syncopate to raise, and leave a multitude. ro. Syncopate to besiege, and leave a vegetable. The syncopated letters are the same as the diagonals reading from right to left.

III. 1. Curtail foolish, and leave the threshold. 2. Curtail a real or imaginary place of restraint, and leave a member. 3. Curtail one who is conveyed, and leave to drive. 4. Curtail a sharp, ringing sound, and leave a tribe. 5. Curtail weak, and leave disposed. 6. Curtail a peculiar language, and leave a marine fish, something like the cod. 7. Curtail to moisten with dew, and leave the surname of the hero of a novel by George Eliot. 8. Curtail increased in size, and leave to cultivate. The curtailed letters are the same as those represented by the heavier dots in the first diagram.

THE initials of the beheaded words will name what our forefathers struggled for.

I. Behead a story, and leave a beverage. 2. Behead "so be it," and leave what Dryden says are "but children of a larger growth." 3. Behead part of a ship, and leave a fish. 4. Behead a snare, and leave a knock. 5. Behead part of a wheel, and leave anger. 6. Behead a disfigurement, and leave a conveyance. 7. Behead to breathe hard, and leave an insect. 8. Behead to spring, and leave a short sleep. 9. Behead the product of a warm country, and leave the product of a cold country. 10. Behead the subject of many poems, and leave at once. 11. Behead a paradise, and leave a cave. 12. Behead a fruit, and leave part of the body. 13. Behead to revolve, and leave to fasten. 14. Behead to repair, and leave to finish. 15. Behead to cut, and leave to bite. 16. Behead a man's name, and leave an obstruction. 17. Behead part of a boat, and leave a tree. 18. Behead was aware of, and leave recent. 19. Behead to scrutinize, and leave a cup. 20. Behead an exploit, and leave to