- Young Specimen of an African River Crab
- Woodpecker drilling a hole for a nest
The woodpeckers are carpenters; they not only bore holes in trees in search of food, but they also chisel out deep holes in which to deposit their eggs and rear their young. They generally build their nest in May, selecting an old apple tree in the orchard; the boring is first done by the male, who pecks out a circular hole; as the work progresses, he is occasionally relieved by the female. They both work with great diligence, and as the hole deepens they carry out the chips, sometimes taking them some distance to prevent discovery or suspicion. The nest usually requires a week to build, and when the female is quite satisfied she deposits her eggs, generally six in number and of a pure white color. - Wire Railway at the Harwood Coal mines, British Colombia
A novelty in the way of carrying coal may be seen at the Harewood coal mine, at Nanaimo, British Columbia. The mines are situated at a considerable elevation above the sea-level, and the intermediate ground is covered with trees and rocks, while several deep ravines intercept the grounds. Under such circumstances, the construction of a railway would be costly and require much time, as several viaducts would be required, and the road at some places would have to make considerable curves. The proprietor of the mines therefore decided to avoid all these difficulties, on putting up a wire tramway in a direct line from the mine to the port, by means of which the ravines could be spanned without expense, and the timber on the ground could be converted into the necessary posts. There are in all ninety-seven posts, put up to such a height that the wire spanned over them forms a softly inclining plane. The distance between them is from 150 to 250 feet. The wire rope is of the best crucible steel, specially made for the purpose, and is 6-1/2 miles in length; each post having a pair of groove-pulleys two feet in diameter, over which the wire moves. The rope is driven at the lower end by an engine of 20 horse-power, which is sufficient to drive the line when carrying 12 tons per hour. - Two Species of Caprellidæ
- The Zoëa Larva of a Species of Sergestes
- The Tasmanian 'Mountain Shrimp'
- The Sea-slater (Ligia oceanica)
- The Phyllosoma Larva of the Common Spiny Lobster
- The Norwegian Deep-water Prawn (Pandalus borealis), Female
- The Nauplius Larva of a Species of Barnacle of the Family Lepadidæ, showing greatly-developed Spines
- The Gribble (Limnoria lignorum)
- The Common Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris)
- The Common Sand-hopper (Talitrus saltator), Male, from the Side
- The Common Lobster (Homarus gammarus,) Female, from the Side
- The Brine Shrimp (Artemia salina)
- The 'Fairy Shrimp' (Chirocephalus diaphanus)
- Thaumastocheles zaleucus
- Stages in the Life-history of Hæmocera danæ, One of the Monstrillidæ
- Sections of an English Coal Mine
In some English and Scotch mines, and also in some of the French mines, where the seams of coal are thin, boys, who are called “putters,” are employed to draw small carts along a railway. They fasten themselves to the cart with belts around their waists, and draw it along, going sometimes on their hands and feet where the road is wet and rough. Sometimes one of them pulls the cart while the other pushes it. In some of the Scotch mines girls formerly performed this work; but of late the laws do not allow women to work under ground. Girls used to carry on their backs a basket fastened to a leather strap which passed around their foreheads. A lamp was attached to the strap, and in this way they carried their loads up the long ladders and through the inclines, sometimes a distance of several hundred feet. If a strap broke, a block of coal fell, or a bearer missed her footing, those below were seriously hurt, and many fatal accidents occurred. This primitive mode of raising coal was abolished by law. The owners of the mines had become so careless in regard to the management of their laborers that the government was obliged to interfere. - Ruffs ( Machetes pugnax )
The Ruff ( Machetes or Pavoncella pugnax ) may be regarded as a long-legged Strandlooper, the only representative of his family. The beak is as long as the head (but shorter than the barrel), straight, at the tip slightly lowered and not broadened, soft all along its length, the foot is high and slender, the lower leg naked well above the hocks; of the three fronts, the middle one is connected to the outer by a tension fleece; the short, high back toe does not touch the ground; the wings are of medium length and pointed; the tail is short, composed of 12 feathers, slightly rounded at the tip. - Restoration of a Trilobite (Triarthrus becki), showing the Appendages
- Pylocheles miersii, a Symmetrical Hermit Crab
- Præanaspides præcursor, One of the Fossil Syncarida, from the Coal-measures of Derbyshire
- Polycheles phosphorus, One of the Eryonidea, Female, from the Indian Seas
- Phronima colletti, Male. From a Specimen taken in Deep Water near the Canary Islands
- One of the Abdominal Somites of the Lobster, with its Appendages, separated and viewed from in Front
- Newly-hatched Young of a Crayfish
- Nests of the Bottle bird
Nests of the Bottle bird - Nests of Social Weavers
The social weaver is found in the south of Africa. Hundreds of these birds, in one community, join to form a structure of interwoven grass containing various apartments, all covered by a sloping roof impenetrable to the heaviest rain, and increased year after year as the population of the little community may require. - Nebalia bipes
- Mysis relicta, One of the Mysidacea
- Munidopsis regia, a Deep-sea Galatheid from the Bay of Bengal
- Miners Descending a Shaft
The shaft is frequently called the miners’ tomb; and it is said that the Belgians have intentionally named it The Grave La Fosse). In some mines, so many accidents have occurred in the shaft, that the men never enter it without fear. Great improvements have been made in the mode of ascending or descending, and at the present day the apparatus is considered nearly perfect. The first improvement for the protection of men ascending and descending, was to cover the tubs with a roof, or bonnet, so that falling materials would injure nobody. Besides this, the heads of the men are shielded by hats made of sheet iron or stout leather. An indicator is kept in front of the engine man, so that he knows precisely the position of the tub; and if there are two tubs in the shaft, one ascending and the other descending, he may know when they pass on their way. In some coal mines the tubs or cages are double-decked, and some of them have four tiers or decks. - Mimonectes loveni. A Female Specimen seen from the Side and from Below
- Meganyctiphanes norvegica, One of the Euphausiacea
- Last Larval Stage of the Common Porcelain Crab
- Larval Stages of the Common Shore Crab
- Larval Stages of the Common Rock Barnacle (Balanus balanoides
- Lapwing ( Vanellus cristatus )
The Lapwing is recognizable by the weakly flask-shaped swollen bill, on the four-toed feet, on the blunt wings, whose point is formed by the third pin and by the crest that adorns the head. The upper head, the front neck, the upper breast and the rear half of the tail are glossy dark black, the feathers of the mantle dark green with blue or purple highlights, the sides of the neck, the under breast, the belly and the root half of the tail feathers white, some upper and all lower cover feathers of the tail dark rusty yellow; the crest consists of long, narrow feathers, which form a double point. The eye is brown, the beak black, the foot dirty dark red. Total length 34, tail length 10 cm. [Translaed from the Dutch by online translator] - Interior of a Silver mine in Mexico
Rich mines of silver existed in the new world, particularly in Mexico and Peru. The conquest of Mexico by Cortes in 1519 was speedily followed by the development of the rich silver mines of that country. From a very early period the Aztecs had been familiar with silver, and wrought it into many ornamental and useful articles. The mines were opened and extensively worked by the Peruvians in Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and other districts, and their production was greatly increased by the abundance of quicksilver, and its employment in the reduction of ores. Quicksilver is used for this purpose to a greater extent in Mexico and Peru than in other countries. - Indian Burial Ground
Among some of our western tribes of Indians the bodies of the dead are placed on scaffoldings of poles several feet high, and there left to the action of the elements. This practice had its origin in the absence of all tools suitable for digging in the earth, and possibly from a vague theory that the body of the deceased should be raised towards the home of the Great Spirit beyond the skies. - Hyperia galba, Female
- Gnathophausia willemoesii, One of the Deep-sea Mysidacea
- Gills of the Lobster, exposed by cutting away the Side-flap of the Carapace
- Front Part of Body of a Prawn infected, parasites
- Front Part of Body of a Prawn infected, parasites
- First Larval Stage of the Common Lobster
- First Larval Stage of Munida rugosa
- Estheria obliqua, One of the Conchostraca
- Eryon propinquus, One of the Fossil Eryonidea, from the Jurassic Rocks of Solenhofen
- Egyptian Plover (Crocodile Keeper or Crocodile Watcher)
The Crocodile Keeper, whose image often appears in Ancient Egyptian memorials, as it represents the sound in the hieroglyphic alphabet, is manifold throughout the Nile region. From Cairo upstream, he is not missing in any place suitable for him on the River Nile. Preferably, he selects a sandbank as his base for the purpose of staying there until the washing of the current drives him away. - Dissection of Male Lobster, from the Side
- Discovery of loaves of bread baked 1800 years ago, at Pompeii
Pompeii was preserved, and not destroyed. To its inhabitant, on the day of the eruption it was destroyed; but for us who now look upon it, and study its history, it has been preserved. ... There was one oven which remained uninjured. It had two openings; the loaves went into one of these, in the shape of dough, and were taken out at the other opening baked. Everything seemed to be in a fine state of preservation, and the oven could be made use of again for a repetition of its work of eighteen centuries ago. The oven when found was full of bread. Some of the loaves were stamped to indicate that they were of wheat flour, and others to indicate that they were of bran flour. The oven had been carefully sealed, and there were no ashes in it. Eighty-one loaves were found in it, a little stale, to be sure, and very hard and black, but lying in the same order in which they were placed on the 23d of November in the year 79. - Diastylis goodsiri, One of the Cumacea
- Diaptomus cœruleus, Female
- Daphnia pulex, a Common Species of Water-flea.- Female carrying eggs in the brood-chamber
- Cyclops albidus, a Species of Copepod found in Fresh Water
- Curlew ( Numenius arquatus )
Numenius are slender-built Birds with very long, weakly curved downward, high at the root, gradually thinning beak forward; with the exception of the horn-like spire, it is covered with a soft skin; the upper jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw and slightly curved over it. The legs are slender and high, without feathering well above the hock; all three prongs are joined together by clear webbing. In the large, pointed wings the first flight is the longest; the medium-long tail composed of twelve feathers is rounded at the tip. The hard, close-fitting plumage is reminiscent of that of the Lark by its color, and is similar in males and females to each other and in the different seasons. [Translated from the Dutch by online translator ] - Copilia quadrata (Female), a Copepod of the Family Corycæidæ
- Cirolana borealis