place themselves over whatever they mean to feed upon, as a cockle-shell, for instance, the back gradually rising as they arch themselves above it; they then turn the digestive sac, or stomach, inside out, so as to enclose their prey completely, and proceed leisurely to suck out the animal from its shell."

When nothing more within the shell remains to be eaten, the stomach is turned back again, and, gifted with a constant and insatiable appetite, the Starfish is ready to recommence its filthy feeding upon the first oyster within its reach. The countless suckers on the underside of this animal are used only for locomotion, just as the fly walks upon the ceiling by means of a similar contrivance on the feet. The general belief that the Starfish takes its nourishment in some mysterious way by means of these suckers is consequently an erroneous one, as they have no openings at the ends, and do not connect in any way with the stomach.

The Drill is a troublesome and destructive intruder upon the oyster-bed, the more so that, from its small size and rapid multiplication, it is difficult to eradicate from a locality when it has once colonized in force. Whole beds are sometimes taken up and transplanted, to avoid this detestable little thief. A slightly different species of the Drill forms no small item of cheap food for the French peasants. They call it the Bigorneau (Murex tarentinus), and, when boiled, the meat is picked out with a large needle. Its flavor is excellent, though it is repulsive in appearance, being of a dark green color, and having a decided spiral tail, which renders it anything but inviting to a person about to eat it for the first time.

The Drill has a dark, ridgy, conical shell, about an inch long, and by the help of a broad, flat, fleshy foot, with

which it is provided, fixes itself exactly over what is commonly called the eye of the oyster, and by means of a rough file-like tongue, which it moves forward and back, over the chosen spot, soon drills a round hole through the shell, and sucks out the life and juices of the oyster at its leisure.

The Winkles are a much larger species of the same tribe, and destroy the oyster in a similar manner, only not being so numerous, they cause less damage, and are not so much dreaded by the oyster planter as the little Drill.

The oysters to be found on the carte of any good restaurant in Paris are, the common oyster, price fiftecn cents per dozen; the Ostend, price thirty-five cents per dozen; the Marennes, or green, price thirty-five cents per dozen; and the Imperial, price forty cents per dozen.

Each variety has a peculiarity, and its special admirers. The last three, during the winter months, are fat and fullflavored, though small; the Ostend and Imperial being English born, but cultivated and manipulated in France. The French oyster-shell is more round and flat than our own, the body lying in a sudden deep depression close up to the hinge, while a considerable space of the interior of the shell is unoccupied by anything except the mantle. A dozen of either of the last three varieties is a better appetizer to commence a dinner with, than any kind known in this country; while for cooking in every form, the much larger size of the American oyster renders it by far superior.

The French lay great stress upon having the shell of this oyster extremely clean (bien nettoyé). A gentleman at Marennes, who cultivates the green oyster, has recently erected a tide-mill-for which he has a patent-for the

double purpose of smoothing the roughness and perfectly cleansing the outside, and of wearing off enough weight of shell by trituration to save a dollar freight on the railway carriage to Paris, of a panier containing a thousand.

SCORPION OF TEXAS.

BY G. LINCECUM, M. D.

THE Scorpions of Middle Texas, so far as I have investigated the subject, do not extend beyond a single species. There may be others, but I have not observed them. The species we have is viviparous, carrying its young, eight in number, on its back, until they are three-fourths of an inch in length. When first seen, clinging on the back of the mother scorpion, they are so small that it requires a microscope to examine them satisfactorily. They are white, and look as if they were very tender. They cling tenaciously, and when by violence they are separated from

the mother, she shows manifest signs of distress, running about till she comes in contact with the lost ones, when they immediately climb up and cling again closer than before. At this early period, they seem already to be well versed in scorpion tactics, wielding their nimble tail, and its recurved weapon, with dexterity and swiftness.

Scorpions pass the winter in close quarters, and gen

erally in a torpid state. They are seen early in warm weather coming out at nights, and sometimes during warm damp periods in winter. They are altogether noc

turnal in their habits, and are carnivorous, subsisting on insects of various kinds, and even small lizards. As a speciality, they prey largely on crickets. They dwell under old logs, rocks, in old stumps, under the bark of dead trees, under old fences, between the shingles on house-tops, and particularly about the jambs and hearths of fire-places. In temper they are hasty, and will employ their weapons on slight occasions. The pain occasioned by their venom, when injected into one's flesh, is very quickly felt, and quite severe, giving the idea of a burning-hot fluid thrown into the system. It does not last long, nor does it swell much, and is not so painful, nor does it produce so much inconvenience as the sting of the honey-bee. In countries where they abound, people do not regard them with much terror. Chickens are very fond of them, and voraciously devour every one they can find.

I once found a mocking-bird (Mimus polyglottus) which by some awkward stroke in his rapid flight, had fractured his right wing. It was running on the ground, and had become quite hungry and light. After dressing and securing the little songster's wing, I turned over some old rails in search of something for him to eat. There were plenty of crickets and scorpions concealed under the rails, for the latter of which he showed the greatest prefHe would peck at them, and by bruising and thus stunning them a little, readily swallow them whole. After he had swallowed seven of them, I thought, as I had volunteered my services as surgeon and physician for him, it would not be prudent for me to suffer him to in

erence.

dulge farther at this time; so I placed him in a large cage with some canary birds, where he remained feasting on nine scorpions a day, until he had recovered the use of his wing, when I set him free.

Scorpions are generally found two or three together, sometimes in larger numbers. They shed their skins without a rent, coming out at the mouth, like the snakes. They moult when they are about half-grown, and again when they come to maturity, and I do not know that they ever again cast their skin during the remainder of their life. They live through two winters, as I can testify, and may exist many years. They are not possessed of much intelligence, making no nests or preparation for winter, beyond crawling under rocks and other dry and sheltered places. Their principal cerebral developments are amativeness, alimentiveness, and cautiousness.

A NOTE FROM THE FAR NORTH.

BY J. T. ROTHROCK.

EARLY in the year 1865, the writer of this scrap eagerly embraced an opportunity afforded him of visiting the less known parts of North-western North America. The region travelled over lay between the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains, and from latitude 50° north to 61° north.

From latitude 56°, as far north as Fort Youkon (a post belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, exact position undetermined), a distance of at least 1,500 miles, the country was, and still is, in part, a terra incognita. It is to be hoped that erelong much of the uncertainty hanging over it will have been cleared up. Geographers, it is