Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, September 1899: Vol. LV, May to October, 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
Standing one day beside an old tumble-down rail fence that ran along
between the woods and salt marshes, half hidden in the brambles and
tall grass, I caught the merest glimpse of a mink slipping along
between the bottom rails. As he was evidently unaware of my presence,
I determined to see more of him, and squeaked in as mouselike a manner
as possible, and quickly had the satisfaction of seeing him make his
appearance on a projecting stake much nearer than when I had first
seen him. Stretching himself along the stake, he appeared to listen
and look in my direction, but although I was standing in plain sight
on the edge of the marsh hardly a rod away, the fact that he was
obliged to look directly into the sun made it quite impossible for him
to clearly distinguish what he saw. At the end of a few moments he
dropped into the grass and started in my direction, the trembling
grass blades clearly indicating his progress as he approached nearer
and nearer, until almost at my feet he vanished, and, in spite of the
most patient waiting on my part, absolutely refused to show himself
again.
The last instance of the kind that has come under my notice happened
on a clear moonlight night as I was wheeling along a lonely road
between old apple orchards. Some part of the machine squeaked at
intervals in a way that might possibly have been mistaken for a mouse.
At all events, an owl appeared to have been deceived thereby, for he
came flapping out of the orchard and flew alongside, at times coming
quite close and again swinging off into the shadow, till at last,
convinced that his supper lay not in that direction, he put on fresh
speed and left me far behind. Perhaps he would have done as he did if
the bicycle had not squeaked, but, judging from his behavior, I am
inclined to think otherwise.
THE MILK SUPPLY OF CITIES.
BY PROF. H. W. CONN.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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