Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/375
Often Mistaken for a Humming-bird.
Most Common Humming-bird Moth
daytime, on the phlox and verbenas, They never light on the flowers, but keep their wings going like a humming bird.
Yours truly,
Yours tMorris H. Merritt.
Several sphinx-moths, from their habit of hovering over flowers with wings in rapid motion, are frequently mistaken for humming-birds. Perhaps the variety most entitled to the name humming-bird moth is the Hemaris thysbe or “clear-wing” sphinx. The accompanying illustration shows the specimen sent with this letter.
Do Fish Sleep?
Ossining, N. Y.
Dear St. Nicholas: I have an aquarium which I keep in my room. Several times when I have gone to bed, upon lighting my gas I have noticed that for a few moments the fish lie perfectly still almost on the bottom, with the fins under their gills and their tails rigid on the bottom. What I wish to know is, if they are asleep or only dazed by the sudden light.
Your faithful reader,
Yours tJohn T. Gouray (age 14).
This question has been asked a great many times, but has never been exactly settled by any scientific investigation. What is probably true is that while fishes do not have a distinct period of unconsciousness, sharply defined, as in the higher animals, their resting on the bottom serves the same purpose as sleep. Perhaps we may say that fishes are sleepy at some times and at other times they are wide awake, I suggest that your correspondent investigate this matter more fully for himself. He may be able to tell something which the naturalists do not know.
LelandDavid Starr Jordan, President.
Leland Stanford Junior University.
Queer Growth from a Hickory-nut
Albany, Mo.
Dear St. Nicholas: This peculiar specimen we chanced to come across in a secluded and not used cellar. The rats had carried the hickory-nuts in the cellar, and had, I believe, eaten the greater part of the nut. I don’t know what made the hair, and I became real interested to find out. We found almost a quart of nuts with this apparent hair growing from them. Can you tell me what this is and the cause for it? Your interested friend,, Opal Cranor.
This very interesting growth is a fungus known scientifically as Phycomyces nitens, It belongs to the fungi which are known as the mucors or bread molds. You can easily obtain mucor by putting a piece of bread or other starchy substance in a moist place. This Phy-
The Fungus Growths from the Hickory Nuts.