but in less than fifteen days they gain considerable growth and activity, and disperse to seek their own food. ians of youth but take hold of this magazine as its merits deserve, such a mental and moral revolution would soon be achieved, as is most devoutly to be desired. This abundant multiplication is turned As an author it is superfluous to speak to good account under some circumstances. of our subject. In this character "his The keepers of reptiles in menageries own works praise him in the gates.' As sometimes raise these mice in great numa tourist let his recently published letters, bers, as food for those creatures which refrom the European continent, testify of his fuse dead prey. It is known that many wide-awake look-out, his Yankee inquisi- serpents of this kind only require food at tiveness, acuteness of observation, keen-long intervals, and the white mouse serves ness of discrimination, historical knowl- them admirably. edge, political information, ecclesiastical lore, facility in writing, and felicity of description. In the language of the Celestials, may Abel Stevens "live a thousand years." CURIOUS ANIMALS. This creature is found not only in our temperate climates, but also in the north and south of the two continents. Some authors pretend that they came originally from the north of Europe, but no facts yet stated seem to confirm this opinion. The Zerda is a small and very rare carnivorous animal, principally found in Don THE white mouse, sometimes called the gola, Sennaar, Libya, and sometimes at in color of the common gray mouse, (Urus muscolus.) Its fur is a brilliant white, its eyes a rosy red. These colors are transmitted by generation. All its characteristics, except color, are the same as those of the little troublesome nibbler that often swarms in our habitations and annoys us by its ravages. It has the same instincts and the same temperament. Notice its habitual bearing: it is timid by nature, and only becomes familiar by necessity: mark with what peaceful hesitation it puts out its head from its narrow dwelling, whence it only issues to seek its food; but it does not go far, and runs back on the slightest alarm. It may be tamed to a certain degree, but it never becomes seriously attached to its keeper. The white mouse does not inspire that sort of horror which many feel at the sight of the common gray mouse, a sentiment which, we think, is only inspired by the little surprises and annoyances which he occasions. In many places in Europe, but still more commonly in China, the white mouse is raised in a kind of domesticity. They are easily kept on bread, cheese, lard, butter, and green salad, of which they are very fond, and generally all the aliments which man prepares for himself satisfy their appetite. They multiply in a manner truly prodigious. A litter, usually numbering five or six, is produced in twenty-five days. The little ones are at first naked and blind, English traveler of the last century, first advised zoologists of the existence of this animal, and he has a cut of it in his fine work containing an account of his Abyssinian and Nubian journey in 1768 to 1772. The Zerda is only about two thirds the height of an ordinary fox, and its length, from the end of the nose to the root of the tail, is about ten inches. Its general physiognomy is also that of the fox, but it has one peculiarity, its ears are disproportionately large, and the inside filled with long and fine hairs, tufted at the border, but more scattered in the center. Its color is a fine russet dun, verging on the white beneath, tail nearly black, a tawny spot under each eye, the pupil very large and very black, the iris a deep blue; head small compared with the rest of the body; the nose slender, the end pointed, black, and very smooth; teeth long and very sharp; legs slender; toes long, black, and crooked; claws not retractile. Few animals have given rise to so many doubts and discussions relative to the real place which it should occupy in the scale of mammifers. Bruce did not venture to pronounce upon its affinities; Buffon, who received from Bruce a description of the new genus, partly designated it as anonymous, and found it related to both the hare and the squirrel. Other naturalists have allied it to the dog. At last the more intelligent study of its zoological characters, particularly those of its skeleton, has proved that the awake, but on the approach of night they become exceedingly restless and try to escape. They do not gnaw the wire of their cage, but if it were in the woods it would soon yield to their sharp teeth. Its habits are similar to animals which spend part of their time underground, and only come out by night to seek their food. It does not, as Bruce and other naturalists have thought, live upon great trees, the palm, the date, and other gigantic monocotyledons of the African forests; it does not there construct its nest, but it may climb them to seek the fruit it loves, or more likely to catch the little birds, of which it is very fond. In the museum it is fed with fresh and tender flesh and very small rats and birds. The Guepard, or Indian Hunting-tiger, belongs to the numerous and varied feline race, into which it comes to claim a place beside the tiger, the lion, the leopard, the jaguar, and the panther. An interesting family! The guepard is distinguished from each of these by well-defined characteristics, which the sight of the living creature presents at once to the eye. The nails are feeble, sharp at the point, and retractile; it is evident that they are much better suited THE ZERDA OF SENNAAR. for the chase than for holding or tearing prey, and in these respects the animal much more resembles a dog than a cat. The toes are longer than in the true cats, and the foot is oval in front instead of being round, as with the latter. The character of the dentition resembles that of the hyena. On the other hand, the tail, longer than that of the other great felines, the more slender figure, the straighter vertebral column, the longer legs, the shorter, smaller, and rounder head, sufficiently distinguish the guepard from the other species of its congeners; and, finally, the shoulder-blade is evidently, from its peculiar form, that of an animal destined for the chase. The guepard is less wild, less ferocious than the other great felines, and he can be more readily tamed. He then becomes attached to his master, answers to his call, follows him, caresses him, permits himself to be trained by him, and shows as much intelligence as gentleness. The museum at Paris has already, at different times, possessed live animals of this species. One of them from Senegal became so familiar that he was set at liberty in a park, from which he never undertook to escape. He obeyed the keeper of the menagerie, and became much attached to the dogs, with whom he would play all day without seeking to do them any harm. One day he recognized among the curious visitors of the menagerie a little negro, who had made the voyage from Senegal in the same vessel with himself, and he caressed him as tenderly as a dog caresses his master whom he meets again after a long absence. The guepard is celebrated as having been for a long time employed in the chase in the southern countries of Asia, under the name of hunting-tiger, which has been given him by the Indians. In these warm climates hunting dogs are rare, which is partly owing to the pitiless and cruel war continually made upon them by the leopards and panthers; besides, it is remarkable that there they do not long retain their voice, their smell, nor, consequently, their hunting instincts. The guepard replaces them to a certain degree; not that this animal has the scent of the dog; it does not use this sense in the chase, it only follows by sight, and bounds upon its prey; it leaps so lightly that it easily clears a ditch or a wall of several feet at a bound. Guepard hunts have often been described by hunters and naturalists. It is principally at Surat, in Malabar, and in Persia that the animal is trained to this exercise. The hunters are usually on horseback, and carry the guepard behind them on the crupper. Sometimes they have several, and then they are placed on a crupper made oxpressly for that purpose. In both cases the animal is chained and blindfolded. The hunters set out thus, and scour the country trying to discover the gazelles in the wild valleys where they have to pas ture. As soon as they perceive one they let loose the guepard, and point out the game to him with the finger. The guepard jumps down, he glides carefully behind the bushes, he creeps under the tall herbs, he approaches sidewise and noiselessly, always keeping behind knolls, rocks, and other objects, stopping suddenly when afraid of being seen, and crouching very low, then renewing his slow and insidious approach. Finally, when he considers himself near enough, he calculates his distance, springs out suddenly, and in five or six prodigious leaps of incredible agility he reaches, seizes, and strangles his victim. In some parts of Hindostan this hunting is such a lively pastime to the rich that a well-trained guepard, which has the reputation of seldom missing its prey, brings an exorbitant price. In Persia the hunting is done in a similar manner, only the hunter with the guepard on his crupper waylays the game. The Emperor Leopold I. had two guepards, as well trained as dogs. When they went on a hunt one of these animals leaped upon the crupper behind him, the other behind one of his courtiers. As soon as any kind of game came in sight both of them leaped down, surprised and strangled it, and returned to their places quietly and without being called. The specimen now in the menagerie at Paris is about the size of a small mastiff, three and a half feet long, exclusive of the tail, and about two feet high. Its fur is a clear russet above and whitish beneath, with small, well-defined black spots sprinkled upon the tawny part. Alternate rings of black and white encircle the lower half of the tail. The long rough hairs behind the head and along the back form a sort of mane. This individual is from Africa, but it is known to be of the same species as those used in India. НЕ GARDEN NOVELTIES. ERE are two curiosities of the pea tribe to which we call the attention of every lover of a garden. The first is a pretty ornament of very curious growth, the second a valuable addition to our list of esculents, the history of which is truly wonderful. The Winged Pea is known to botanists as Tetragonolobus purpureus; it is an annual of low, shrubby habit, does not require sticking or training, and is destitute of tendrils. It is very hardy, and may be sown at any time from March to May. In its early stages of growth it is of a pleasant glaucous green; but as soon as its season of blooming arrives it becomes literally covered with butterfly blossoms of the richest tints of crimson and maroon, the wings having a soft velvety look, similar to the petals of a well-grown pansy. It continues to bloom profusely for about four months; and if the pods are removed as fast as they appear, it will continue gay till the frost of autumn cuts it off. But to remove the pods would be to sacrifice one of its most interesting features, for these, unlike other peas, are winged; that is, each pod has four membranous fringes extending its whole length, and though the pericarp is tubular in shape, the wings give the seed-vessel, while it remains green, the appearance of being four-sided. We grew a large patch of this last summer, and it was admired by all who saw it for its gay profusion of richly-colored flowers, no less than for its very curiouslyformed seed-vessel. It thrives in any ordinary soil, but prefers a generous depth of well-manured loam; like other peas, a moist climate brings it to greatest perfection. It should be sown in a four-inch trench drawn with a hoe, the seeds at least four inches apart alternately, thus, . ` . . . As it gets above the trench, the earth should be drawn to its stems, and the trench filled up by degrees. It has some characteristics which seem favorable to its use as a bedding plant; but as we have never used it in masses we cannot speak positively on that |