THE LETTER-BOX. 3 PLOWDEN BUILDINGS, TEMPLE, LONDON, Feb. 2d, 1884. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Just a little letter to tell you I like you very much; I have taken you since 1881, and I have you bound every year. My papa buys you for me each month, because I work hard at my studies. Bessie L. wants to know how to use her Christmas cards; she can make a very pretty folding door-screen about 5 feet high; if the canvas is painted black and varnished, the cards look very well upon it. She can also make fans, and tables for the drawing-room which look very pretty. I am eleven years of age, and when I am twelve, Mamma wants me to make her a screen for her dining-room with my Christmas and birthday cards. I have seen some, and they look very pretty. I hope you will publish this letter from your little English friend, FLORRIE B. NEW YORK CITY, March 3d, 1884. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am very much interested in "The Land of Fire," by Captain Reid, and also in the Spinning-wheel Stories." I like all Miss Alcott's works, and I hope she will write a good many stories for this book. I have taken you for three or four years, and I like you very much better than any other magazine I have ever read. I am so sorry "Girl-Noblesse is to be concluded in the next number. I like it very much. Your constant reader, Miss Alcott will contribute a number of ST. NICHOLAS for 1884. Spinning-Wheel" JOSIE V. story to each 114 WARREN AVE. MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Your jolly good magazine for March has come, and we enjoy it very much. My little sister, five years old, is singing around the house about "The Amiable Ape who Lived on the African Cape." I go to school where there are twenty-four hundred (2400) children, but there are only sixty in our room, so we don't realize that there are so many in the school. I am eight years old, and Mamma is writing for me because I make such a mess when I write, as I do to my Grandma, who is the dearest, sweetest Grandma in the world. Please give my love to Miss Louisa Alcott and the "Amiable Ape" lady. Your little friend, N. CLINTON T. HARTFORD, CONN., March 3d, 1884. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I write you this letter to-day, in hopes it will be in the "Letter-Box" in a little while. It is the first one I ever wrote, but I have thought of doing it many times. I have taken the ST. NICHOLAS four years, and so has a little girl that lives across the street from me. We have nice times together in the summer, and often take our ST. NICHOLASES out and read them under the trees. I am very much pleased with the ST NICHOLAS. I must not make my letter any longer, although I would like to. Your loving reader, MABEL B. D. HARPER'S FERRY, W. VA., February 29th. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I live in Harper's Ferry. I don't know but one little girl here, so I am always glad to get you every month. I think you are the nicest book I ever saw. I have no sisters, only three brothers. I am ten years old. I certainly did like that story in the March number called" Wong Ning's Ideas"; it was so funny. We have beautiful scenery here; there are mountains all around us, and John Brown's Fort is here, too. I spend the summer out in the country at my aunt's; in the winter I stay at home. We have a governess to teach us. We look forward with great pleasure to your coming every month. Your constant reader, ANNA LOVE R. GERMANTOWN, COLUSA CO., CAL., February 1, 1884. DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: Our public school has been taking you just a month; we all enjoy reading the nice stories and letters in In our school there are thirty-six scholars; we have a nice large play-ground, and we play different games at recesses. I live two miles from our school. you. We have had a great deal of rain, and it snowed very hard in the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada Mountains; it is a perfectly beautiful sight in the morning to see the clear blue mountains covered with snow. I have no sisters nor brothers, so I have a little friend staying with HERE comes another young contributor-Almeda H. Curtiswith a little novelette: THE LITTLE GIRL WHO DID NOT MIND PICKING OVER THE RAISINS. GRACIE HALL was eleven years old. She was a real nice little girl, only she did love raisins. Now, you want to know what that had to do with her being a nice little girl; well, I will tell you. Her mamma was making a cake for her to take to a surprise party the next day, and Gracie was reading a very interesting story-book she got last Christmas. Gracie, want to pick over some raisins for mamma, like a good little girl?" "I don't mind," said Gracie. When she was through, she handed them to her mamma to put in the cake. "Are these all there are," said mamma. "Yes, ma'am," said Gracie. "Did you eat any of them, Gracie?" "Only a few, Mamma; only a few." "How often did Gracie said: "I ate only one out of you eat them?" five. every Mamma said no more; but when she asked Gracie to pick over raisins after that, Gracie did not say, "I don't mind," but did them without saying anything. AND here is a juvenile bard who sends us some rhymes about THE SWALLOW AND HER NEST. THE rain is gone, the sun shines here, But some small part is still brown and sere. The swallow, from her nest in the wall, Doth tweet and chirp and say to all, "This is my nest, look here, look here, But you must not touch the eggs you see, For they are my pride and property.' Four slender eggs: all which are spotted, Partly with brown specks-they all are dotted. The swallow is a bird that is ever on the wing, And, like all happy birds, they sometimes sing; But not on the ground, for that is not their way, Though they do, more or less, I have heard people say. Their nest is made up of mud or clay, THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION-THIRTY-SEVENTH REPORT. VERY gratifying is it to report a larger number of new Chapters this month than in any previous month in the history of the "A. A.” There has been, on an average, one new Chapter every day but Sundays. Why should we not have a branch in every city and village in the United States? All are invited, young and old. Prof. G. Howard Parker's report on the class in Entomology is given this month, and further particulars regarding the general meeting in Nashua next September. It has been decided to print a new edition of the hand-book, in cloth; but it can hardly be ready before June, and we defer any description of it for the present. The following kind letter will delight our young bird-students: W. B. J. We fear that W. B. J. got a little tired of his song toward the ead of it. 585 Buffalo, N. Y. (I).. 586 Lowell, Mass. (C) 587 588 Concord, N. H. (A). Chicago, Ill. (S).. 589 Cleveland, Ohio (B). 590 CHEBOYGAN, MICH., February 14th, 1884. MY DEAR ST. NICHOLAS: I am a little girl twelve years old, and I have taken ST. NICHOLAS for four years; I love it very much. My mamma died last Spring, so my aunty keeps house for us. I have a very dear teacher that comes to our house to teach us, and I love her much. very I have a little brother and sister. Arthur is nine and Effie is six years old. You remember the Fan Brigade in ST. NICHOLAS two or three years ago; we had it last fall with the operetta of Red Riding Hood. It was very nice, and we made about one hundred dollars. I have a pet pony whose name is Daisy. She is jet black. I taught her to canter. In the summer I ride her I have a side-saddle, and a riding-habit which a very dear very often. friend made for me. I wish you would print this letter, as it is the first one I have written. Your little friend, MINA H. 591 592 Pomfret Centre, Conn. (A). Tioga, Tioga Co., Pa. (A). New York, N. Y. (P)... རྟ་ ་ .... 593 Brookline, Mass. (A). 6. Geo. L. Briggs. 594 No. Granville, N. Y. (A).. 6.. James E. Rice. 595 Oneonta, N. Y. (A). 4.. Miss Jessie E. Jenks. 596 Chicago, Ill. (T) 5. Leonard Sparrow, Emma H., Grace M. Hall, Alice M. H., May A., Willie D. Sanders, Cora Haseltine, Katy Sage, P. B., J. Allen Montgomery, L. B., Mary Halvern, Ettie Cohen, Mabel M. Reed, Corena L. Abbott, J. Edward Gifford, Alonzo L. Ware, Ella S. Gould, H. L. Smith, Annie Ward, Gwennie Ward, Mabel G. Thelwall, Margaret G. Anderson, E. J. S., Nellie S. T. W., Nina B. and Flaine M., Annah E. Jacobs, Archie V. Thomson, Mabel Kellogg, F. S. Arnold, Wynford K. Steele, Albert Pearson, George H. Palmer, George Pulaski, Bessie Rhodes, Miss Katie C. Chamberlain, Florence Montgomery, Mary E. Evans, Edna S. Rockwell, Lizzie Baker, Bertha T., A Friend, Flora Derwent, Florence H., Marian Pyott, Annie A. C., Moina M. Sandford, Bessie MacDougal, Mabel Cholwell-Miller, Lillie H., Agnes Thorne, A. L. T., C. A. Elsberg, Bessi: R., Grace H., Lulu Lindsay, Marion Bush, B. B. P., Willie Thomas, Maude O., Edith C., Irene Hanson, Aubrey G. Maguire, F. H., Guendoline O'Brien, Gustavus Pauls, Ed. V. Shipsey, Edward S. Wilson, George Bullard, Mabel Palmer, Bentra M. Shelley, Edgar S. Banta, Margaret W. Leighton: We must thank you all, dear boys and girls, for your hearty letters, and say how much we should like to print every one of them; but there is not room for even the briefest. . Byron W. Peck, 334 Indiana. 5.. Albert Garrett. .17.. 4.. E. Mrs. Mary B. Kinear, Reister town P. O., Maryland. Eric Doolittle. 5.. Philip C. Tucker, Jr. EXCHANGES. Birch bark, magnetic sand, gypsum, pressed ferns, and autumn leaves, for sea-sheils, foreign coins, and ores.- Harvey Sawyer, Ludington, Mich. 2000 silk-worms, for Polyphemus cocoons.- Florence Maynard, Northampton, Mass. Minerals and eggs, for eggs and skins.- Geo. H. Lorimer, 2246 Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. Minerals, insects, and cocoons, for birds' skins, eggs, insects, and cocoons. Carleton Gilbert, 116 Wildwood Ave., Jackson, Mich. Correspondence with distant chapters wanted by Frank H. Foote, Keene, N. H. Gypsum, chalcedony, meteorite, and mica, for fossils and rare minerals. Frank U. Jay, 2510 Indiana Ave., Chicago, Ill. Pacific shells and sea-weeds, for ocean curiosities, and correspondence with Texas chapters wished for by H. C. Howe, of Fulton, N. Y. Rare butterflies, for New England butterflies.- Chas. C. Beale, Faulkner, Mass. Fossils and minerals, for fossils. Correspondence wanted in every State, with reference to exchanging.-E. P. Boynton, Third Ave and 5th St., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Feldspar, mica rock, eggs, and cocoons, for cocoons.- Percival C. Pyle, Wilmington, Del. Lepidoptera. Jas. P. Curtiss, 57 Seward Ave., Auburn, N. Y. I can not furnish any more trilobites for exchange.- Wm. E. Loy, Eaton, Ohio. Minerals for exchange, and correspondence.-E. Y. Gibson, 723 Washington Ave., Jackson, Mich. Retinite, pink, yellow, and white, calcite, malachite, specularite, serpentine, auriferous iron, pyrites, and others, for either lepid — coleo- or hymenoptera. E. R. Larned, 2546 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill. Zeolite, stilobite, heulandite, feldspar, etc., for cinnabar and other minerals.- Franklin Bache, 123 Price St., Germantown, Phila., Pa. Large amount of natural history material, and many consecutive numbers of Appleton's Journal (weekly), for works of Agassiz, Mivart, Darwin, and Huxley, upon Evolution.-W. R. Lighton, Ottumwa, Iowa. Craw-fish, orange-blossoms, Mississippi sand in bottles, for birdskins, ocean shells, and star-fish.- Percy L. Benedict, 1243 Great Charles St., New Orleans, La. REPORT OF CLASS IN ENTOMOLOGY. NOTES. 86. Attacus Cynthia.- Some one in the Agassiz March report asks, "What is the Attacus Cynthia? It is a large moth from the "Ailanthus Silkworm," a native of Japan, and introduced in 1858 into France, where it is now said to be "as much at home as in its native habitat. I have had two cocoons which opened and produced handsome moths about the size of the Cecropia Moth. The wings have a narrow band of white, which, as spread, form a sort of collar, and are extended by a crescent of a rich brown, edged with satiny white. There are crescents on both front and hinder wings. There is, outside the white line, a rose-purple border, which edges the collar, and the heavy inner edge of the broad border, which, like the whole ground-work is a sort of brown olive-green. The body is covered with rows of white cottony tufts, three parallel rows down the back, six in each row, about the size of a small pin's head. On the front edge of the fore-wings is a small oval black spot, bordered with an edge of white above. The cocoon resembles that of Attacus PromeThese came to me from Brooklyn, N. Y. thia. CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Feb. 16th, 1884. Of the twenty members of the Entomological Class, five have completed the full number of papers with credit, and are therefore entitled to full honors. They are: 1. Bashford Dean, New York City, N. Y. 2. Helen Montgomery, Wakefield, Mass. 3. Mrs. Rachel H. Mellon, Pittsburg, Pa. 4 Daisy G. Dame, West Medford, Mass. 5. Isabel G. Dame, West Medford, Mass. Of the remainder who have passed with credit on a part of the assigned subjects, are: H. A. Stewart, Gettysburg, Pa., in Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Fred Clearwater, Brazil, Ind. Lepidoptera. H. E. Deats, of Pittstown, N. J., sends the following interesting anecdote of Prof. Agassiz, which he copied from the Home Circle: "His father destined him for a commercial life, and was impatient at his devotion to frogs, snakes, and fishes. The last, especially, were the objects of the boy's attention. He came to London with letters to Sir Roderick Murchison. "You have been studying nature,' said the great man, bluntly. 'What have you learned?" "The lad was timid, not sure at that moment that he had learned anything. 'I think,' he said at last, I know a little about fishes.' "Very well. There will be a meeting of the Royal Society tonight. I will take you with me there.' "All of the great scientific savants of England belonged to this society. That evening, toward its close, Sir Roderick rose and said: "I have a young friend here from Switzerland, who thinks he knows something about fishes; how much, I have a fancy to try. There is, under this cloth, a perfect skeleton of a fish which existed long before man.' He then gave the precise locality in which it had been found, with one or two other facts concerning it. The species to which the specimen belonged was, of course, extinct. 'Can you sketch for me on the blackboard your idea of this fish?' said Sir Roderick. Agassiz took the chalk, and rapidly sketched a skeleton fish. Sir Roderick held up the specimen. The portrait was correct in every bone and line. The grave old doctors burst into loud applause. 'Sir,' Agassiz said, on telling the story, that was the proudest moment of my life no, the happiest, for I knew now my father would consent that I should give my life to science.' The caterpillar, (which I have not seen) and the cocoon and eggs (but not the moth) are figured in Figure's Insect World, p. 248, where," when full grown," it is described as "emerald-green, with the head, the feet, and the last segment of a beautiful golden. yellow." J. P. B. 87. Snow Crystals. While walking in a meadow I came to a small hillock between two evergreen trees. In ascending this knoll, I was suddenly transfixed by the beautiful colors of the snow; the crystals of which the slant rays of the February sun lighted up brightly. Below are the prominent colors, the pure beauty of which can not be described: Green. With a sort of liquid luster. Blue. -Very clear, and merging into the green. 88. Trenton, B.-I found the nest of a wood-pewee (Contopus virens). It had two cream-colored eggs, speckled with black near the larger end. I climbed the tree, but did not touch the eggs. While I was looking at them, one egg cracked open in the middle, and a little wood-pewee came out. Herbert Westwood, Pres. [We have never known of another instance in which any one has seen a wild bird leave the egg. Has any one?] A CONVENTION PROPOSED BY CHAPTER 21. We are the more inclined to publish the following communication from Chapter 21, because the Nashua branch is one of our oldest and most energetic; because the plan is entirely spontaneous with them, and especially, because they assure us that the proposed "convention is for the discussion of scientific subjects, comparison of methods, exchange of specimens, etc., but not politics." We should add as one of the chief advantages, the opportunity of becoming personally acquainted. After long and pleasant intercourse by letter, it is worth much to meet each other face to face. Let us all go to Nashua next September, if possible, and have a good and profitable time. TO THE CHAPTERS OF THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION. Believing that nothing can promote the welfare of the Association so much as annual meetings of the chapters, Chapter 21 proposes to try the experiment of inviting the A. A. to meet at Nashua, N. H., September third and fourth, 1884. The exercises will consist of the discussion of scientific subjects and questions that relate to the welfare of the Association. Ďelegates are requested to make short reports of their several Chapters. Please forward to the Nashua Chapter any important subject you would like the Convention to consider. An opportunity will be given to the delegates to visit the finest private mineralogical collection in the State. Chapters intending to send delegates will please inform us immediately in regard to the number; for if there is not a sufficient number intending to come, the Convention will not be held. The President of the A. A. has consented to attend, and other scientists are expected. Good hotel accommodations can be obtained at two dollars per day. Chapters are reminded that the Convention will afford an excellent opportunity to effect an exchange of specimens. If other information is desired, apply, with stamps, to [N. B. Chapters which think favorably of sending delegates to this Convention will kindly advise the President of the A. A. as well as the Secretary of Chapter 21.] HARLAN H. BALLARD, A CREMATION-CHARADE. TO BURN my first, with heat would fill; To burn my whole, if such were fate, Would destroy a town in the Keystone State. "S. M. ARTY." BEHEADINGS. THE beheaded letters, read in the order here given, will spell the name of the President of the United States who said, "Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time." CROSS-WORDS: 1. Behead partly open and leave a receptacle. 2. Behead a musical company and leave a conjunction. 3. Behead to tear and leave termination. 4. Behead dry and leave to free from. 5. Behead a space of time and leave a pronoun. 6. Behead "so be it" and leave mankind. 7. Behead a ditch and leave a kind of grain. 8. Behead a bird and leave a famous vessel. 9. Behead a familiar contraction of a Latin word meaning "in the same place" and leave to command. 10. Behead two and a quarter inches and leave to be ill. 11. Behead a hood and leave a bird. 12. Behead a sign and leave adults. 13. Behead the name of a famous but improvident king and leave the perception of sounds. 14. Behead nice and leave to consume. NUMERICAL ENIGMA. KANSAS BOY. I AM composed of seventy-six letters, and am two lines from one of Thomson's poems. My 57-33-16-26 are heavy vapors. My 21-58-17-66-8-63 name the "melancholy Dane." My 2-59-41-48-75-53 is a cover for the hand. My 30-55-19 is tumult. My 40-18-5-61 is the chief magistrate of FIRST read the above as a rebus. The answer will be a four-line stanza. Then select the eight letters inclosed in eight similar circles. When these letters are rightly placed, they will spell the name of the writer of the stanza. DOUBLE ACROSTIC. I. UPPER LEFT-HAND DIAMOND: 1. In candle. 2. A large vessel or cistern. 3. A gentleman's servant. 4. A mild chloride of mercury, much used as a medicine. 5. A grain-measure of Tripoli, containing nearly six gallons. 6. A number. 7. In candle. II. UPPER RIGHT-HAND DIAMOND: 1. In candle. 2. A wager. 3. To weave or entwine together. 4. Gained knowledge of. 5. Resembling tin. 6. The governor of Algiers. 7. In candle. III. CENTRAL DIAMOND: 1. In candle. 2. The egg of an insect. 3. Bare. 4. Compared. 5. Rigid. 6. A river of Scotland. 7. In candle. IV. LOWER LEFT-HAND DIAMOND: 1. In candle. 2. Was seated. 3. A convention or council. 4. Exhausted. haul. 6. To expire. 7. In candle. 5. To pull or V. LOWER RIGHT-HAND DIAMOND: 1. In candle. 2. A period of time. 3. A species of antelope in South Africa. 4. A soldier who is taught and armed to serve either on horseback or on foot. The positive pole of an electric battery. 6. The female of the fallowdeer. 7. In candle. ZIGZAG. DEL. 5. EACH of the words described contains three letters. The zigzag, beginning at the upper right-hand corner, will spell the name of a great engineering enterprise recently completed. CROSS-WORDS: 1. A large wooden vessel. 2. A sphere. 3. A nocturnal bird. 4. A lad. 5. A place of safety. 6. Advanced in ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE APRIL NUMBER. CORKSCREW PUZZLE. Welcome showers. Cross-words: 1. eWer. 2. oven. 3. plan. 4. rock. 5. cOat. 6. doMe. 7. bEnt. 8. noSe. 9. tHin. 10. prOp. 11. OWls. 12. tiEs. 13. tRap. 14. roSe. CHARADE. Breakfast. EASY BEHEADINGS. 1. G-oat. 2. G-one. 3. S-cream. 4. G-old. 5. T-omsk. ENIGMA. Smoother, smother, mother, other, her, he, eh. Most. DOUBLE ACROSTIC. Primals, Benjamin; finals, Franklin. Crosswords: 1. BlufF. 2. ErroR. 3. NevA. 4. JoiN. 5. ArK. 6. ModeL. 7. IcenI. 8. NatioN. DIAMOND. 1. S. 2. Sad. 3. Mated. 4. Satiric. 5. Satirical. 6. Derived. 7. Dicer. 8. Cad. 9. L. CUBE. From 1 to 2, rascal; 2 to 6, linnet; 5 to 6, escort; 1 to 5, relate; 3 to 4, Tabard; 4 to 8, doctor; 7 to 8, tartar; 3 to 7, target; 1 to 3, rout; 2 to 4, lord; 6 to 8, tier; 5 to 7, exit. 2. Acid. 3. Time. Cross-words: 1. EntaiL. 2. AbassI. 3. SequeL. 4. TahitI. THE names of those who send solutions are printed in the second number after that in which the puzzles appear. addressed to ST. NICHOLAS " Riddle-box," care of THE CENTURY CO., 33 East Seventeenth street, New York City. Answers should be ANSWERS TO FEBRUARY PUZZLES received, too late for acknowledgment in April number, from Hester M. F. Powell, 13. ANSWERS TO ALL THE PUZZLES IN THE MARCH NUMBER were received, before March 20, from Cyril Deane - Madeleine VultecMaggie T. Tur ill-Jessie A. Platt- Mamma, Hattie, and Clara. ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE MARCH NUMBER were received, before March 20, from J. D. W., 1- Willie Mossman, 5-E. N., 1 Helen Ballantine, 2-- Edith M. Van Dusen, 2-Bessie Grise, 1-Grace H. Frisbie, 2-Maude Bugbee, 9-"Young Martin' "Merry Pecksniff," 7- Paul Reese, 11- Viola Percy Conklin, 2- R. McKean Barry, I-Carrie Howard, 2-Ida Paine, 1- May H. Munroe, 1- Laura Churchill, 1-J. V., 1-S. R. T., 11- -Julia Vauk and Mamie Rogers, 3-De and Ish, 1- Olive B. Worden, 1Eben M. Willis, 1-Uncle Mo and Cousin Mamie, 2- Nellie B. Kempton, 1-Moses W., 4-Jessie Doig, 1- Maggie B. Hoffman, 1 -Will R. Rowe, 2- Birdie Alberger, 2- Amy M. Thunder, 1- Ed, 9-Louie, 1- Nellie K., 2-Frank T. Pope, 5- Clara, 1"Fin. I. S.," 3- Shumway Hen and Chickens," 11-M. E. K., 2-Henry Amsden, 1- Bessie Evanston, I- - Reginald H. Murphy, Jr., Wm. H. Clark, 11-Edna Seaman, 1-S. S., 3-Sallie Viles, 9- Buttercup, 3-Carrie Rothschild, 1-H. C. White, Jennie and Birdie K., 4- Alex. H. Laidlaw, 3-Geo. P. Miller, 8- Harry and Kittie, 1- Agnes Griffen, 1-H. I. D., 1 — John C. Winne and Geo. C. Beebe, 1- Effie K. Talboys, 4-Edward J. Shipsey, 2- Edward S. Oliver, 2- Bettie S. Latham and Mrs. B., 5 -F. B. Bonesteele, 1-Josie Buchanan, 2- Russell K. Miller, 2-Lizzie and Papa, 7-L. C. B., 4- Mamma and Adelaide, 6Edith Helen Moss. 2-"The Cottage," 3- Geo. James Bristol, 4- Minnie B. Murray, 11-Julia T. Nelson, 2-" March Wind," 4Alice V. Westwood, 7- W. B. Angell, 8- George Lyman Waterhouse, 11- Bessie B. Anderson, 8- Willie Sheraton, 3-Laura and Willie Rice, 9- Charlotte Evans, 2- Blake and Ellison H., 6- Appleton H., 5-Chas. H. Kyte, 10-Marguerite Kyte, 2-M. White and V. Westover, 5- Bessie Rogers and Co., 10- Lucy M. Bradley, I. S. Palmer, 7 -Geo. Habenicht, 1-E. Westervelt, 1Margaret, Muriel, and Edith Grundy, 5-B. T. B., 3- Hugh and Cis, 11-Francis W. Islip, 11. 2 |