G UNCLE SIDNEY'S CONVERSATIONS.-No. III. OOD MORNING, children; so you Jane. Yes, uncle, and I wish you would tell us something about Puna Winds, before you talk of the Trade. Winds, and Monsoons. Sidney. I am glad you spoke of the Puna Winds; I thought of those during our last conversation, but omitted to tell you about them from want of time. George. How many kinds of winds there are! I do not think I can remember the names of all of them. Henry. O, I can remember them very well. The last time we came, uncle talked about whirlwinds, hurricanes, simooms, and siroccos. Now he is going to tell us of the Puna winds, trade winds, and monsoons. Sidney. In Peru, South America, between the Andes and the Cordilleras mountains, there is a barren tract of table-land, situated about twelve thousand feet above the sea. Over these regions there blows a piercing, cold wind during four months each year. It comes from the snowy peaks of the Cordilleras. This wind is so extremely dry that if an animal dies on these plains it is converted into a kind of mummy, by being dried up. It is said that the ancient inhabitants of Peru used to preserve the bodies of their dead, for years, by exposing them to this dry, cold wind. Henry. Why were these called Puna winds, uncle? Sidney. Because Puna is the name of the place where these winds occur. George. Now, uncle, please to tell us about the trade winds. Sidney. Trade winds are found in the torrid zone, always blowing over the oceans in one direction. On the north side of the equator their course is from the north-east toward the south-west; and on the south side, from the south-east to the north-west. Henry. Why are these called trade winds, uncle? Sidney. Because they are of such great service to the merchants' ships in their voyages. So uniform is the course of these winds, that a voyage may be performed from the Canary Islands to the northern coast of South America with very few occasions for touching the sails. Henry. I would like to know the cause of these winds. Can they be made by heat? Sidney. Yes, Henry, these winds are caused by heat, as well as all others. I will try to explain how they are produced. the east, the wind will appear to you to come from the north-east. In the regions of the equator the atmosphere becomes intensely heated by the sun's rays, and rises rapidly. The colder air, from the north and the south, flowing in to fill its place, becomes heated in turn, rises and flows back toward the colder climes. The heat of the sun near the equator is so uniform and constant, that these currents are kept continually in motion; thus, circuits of air are maintained, the upper current flow-ber what I tell you. ing in an opposite direction to the lower one. Henry. I see how it is now; and I will talk about it to the other children when we go home, and I think they can understand it, too. Mary. Yes, uncle, Henry is very kind to tell us what we forget of your conversations, and to explain what is hard for us. Henry. That is curious; but I do not understand why these winds have a direction toward the west. Why do they not blow toward the south on the north side of the equator, and toward the north on the south side? Sidney. That will be difficult for you to understand, but I will try to make it plain. The cause of the westerly direction of these winds is the rotation of the earth on its axis. Everything on the surface of the earth, at the equator, is carried toward the east at the rate of about fifteen miles in one minute; but as we leave the equator, and go either north or south from it, this eastern velocity becomes less. When we have gone sixty degrees from the equator, on either side, this motion toward the east is only about seven miles in a minute. Now, a wind blowing from the north, or the south, toward the equator, would be constantly passing into regions where all the objects have a greater easterly velocity than itself, hence the wind will appear to have a westerly direction. Perhaps you can understand this better from an illustration. Suppose the wind is blowing from the north, and you are running rapidly toward Sidney. I am pleased to hear that, Henry; such a practice will do you much good, and help you to remem George. Now, uncle, I should like to hear something about monsoons. Sidney. Monsoons occur on the northern portions of the Indian Ocean. They blow, from April to October, from the south-west, and from October to April, from the north-east. The cause of the monsoon is owing to the position of the southern portion of the continent of Asia. The heat of the sun on this land in the summer, causes a change in the course of the trade winds on the northern part of the Indian Ocean. Henry. But why do they call them monsoons? Sidney. The name is derived from a Malay word which signifies seasons, or winds that follow the sun. You will observe that they change their course, as the sun changes from one side of the equator to the other. Henry. I thank you, uncle, very kindly, for telling us so much about winds. I will try to remember all that you have said about them. Jane. Uncle, will you not tell us about something else that is interesting, if we will come again in two weeks? Sidney. Yes, my dear, I shall be quite happy to do so; and I will think of something that will please you; but good-by, now. Children. Good-by, uncle. O'ri THE HONEY BEE. THE DRONE, AND THE QUEEN. NE of the most interesting and curious little creatures in the insect world is the Honey Bee. For many hundred years the habits of these wonderful insects have been carefully studied. Some persons have spent their days in observing these busy little animals. Every association of bees has three kinds the queen, the drones, and the workers. It is estimated that a hive usually contains from six to twelve thousand bees. In some small hives, however, the number is much less than six thousand, while large ones have been known to have as many as twenty thousand. There is only one queen bee in each swarm, whether large or small. The average proportion of drones is about fifty to each thousand workingbees. Hence, about nineteen twentieths of the bees in every hive are workers. THE DRONE. The drones are the largest bees in the family. Their bodies are thick, short, and clumsy, and they are about the size of two working bees. Their wings are large and long, and they make a loud, buzzing noise when flying. They have no sting, and may be handled without harm. The drones are the male bees. They live a life of idleness, taking no part in the labor of the hive. Indeed, they have not the power to collect honey, or to provide themselves with food. They have neither honey-bags, such as the workers have, to contain collected sweets, nor cavities upon their legs for the pollen. Were a drone deprived of the privilege of feeding on the stores of the hive it would die. In one respect they have more liberty than the workers, for they are permitted to enter any hive, and live in the same manner as in their own. The drones appear in the hives during the latter part of May, and are usually killed or driven out to starve in the month of July. Sometimes a few are permitted to remain much later in the season. The queen bee is the mother of the family, and governs the hive. She is longer and more slender than the drone, but not as large, and is larger in every respect than the worker. Her legs are longer, but her wings are shorter in proportion than those of the drone or worker. The queen is very seldom seen. Sometimes she may be observed during the time of swarming. She may occasionally be found in her royal cell, when the bees have been destroyed with smoke for the purpose of obtaining their honey. The queen is majestic in her movements, and is accompanied by a guard composed of twelve workers. This attendance is taken in turn, and never neglected. Wherever she goes the guards clear her path, always turn ing their faces toward her with the greatest respect. She is armed with a sting, but seldom uses it, except against rival queens. She may be taken in the bare hand, and will seldom sting when handled carefully. A worker, taken in the same manner, would be dropped like a piece of hot iron. The chief office of the queen is to lay eggs, one of which she deposits in each cell. These eggs are of two kinds-drone-eggs and worker-eggs. When a worker-egg is deposited in a royal cell it becomes a queen bee. There are seldom more than five or ten of these cells in one hive. ROYAL CELL. The queen usually commences laying as soon as the genial warmth of spring comes on. About the first of May her "great laying" takes place, when she deposites from one to two hundred eggs per day. In warm climates this period may take place earlier. At first she deposites only workereggs, then she lays drone-eggs for a few days, and after this again produces worker-eggs. During the time of laying the drone-eggs the royal cells are built; and when the queen commences laying worker-eggs for the second time, she deposites, every few days, one of these eggs in a royal cell, and from these the queens are produced. The drones are produced from the eggs in twenty-four days, the workers in twenty days, and the queens in sixteen days. Though a young queen bee has attained its growth, the workers will not allow it to come out of the cell as long as the old queen remains in the hive. Should the young queen effect her escape from the cell, the old one would seize and kill her immediately. When the young queen has attained her growth, and begins to say "peep peep," the old one, knowing it to be the cry of a rival for liberty, is aroused, and attempts to get at the royal cell to destroy its inmate. But the workers prevent her from doing this; and now, finding that she no longer has absolute authority in the family, she commences a sudden vibration of her wings, runs over every part of the combs, followed by her subjects, and a great commotion en sues. When notice has thus been fairly communicated to the whole family, the queen rushes toward the outlet, the word is given to swarm, and away go the workers, as if pursued by ten thousand foes. While swarming they cluster around the queen, and wherever she alights, there the whole company immediately settle. The old queen always flies off with the first swarm. After the old queen has thus left the hive the workers release the young one. She comes forth strong and full of energy, and at once assumes the government of the colony. If there be yet enough of workers left so that another swarm can be spared, the royal cells are still guarded by the workers. When this queen hears the peep of a young rival just ready to escape from her cell, she attempts its destruction, and if prevented by the workers, follows the example of her predecessor, and leaves the hive with another swarm. After this the second young queen is released, and takes the government of the family. These scenes occur at every swarm. If, however, the workers decide, after a swarm has left, that no more can be spared from their colony, the young queen is permitted to visit all the royal cells and destroy the inmates, thus preventing any rivals. A most extraordinary fact in the history of the bee is, that if deprived of a queen, when there are no young queens or eggs in the royal cells, they take the larva of a worker, place it in a royal cell, or build one of these cells around it, where, by being fed on royal-jelly, it becomes a queen. This is truly a wonderful provision of nature, and probably has no parallel. Without such a remarkable arrangement, this interesting insect might soon become extinct; for, if irreparably deprived of their royal member, the whole family forsake their toils, give up their young, roam about in alarm, refusing to eat, and in a few days they all die. THE RETURN OF SPRING. DEAR as the dove, whose wafting wing The green leaf ransomed from the main, Thy genial glow, returning Spring, Comes to our shore again: For thou hast been a wanderer long, On many a fair and foreign strand, In balm and beauty, sun and song, Passing from land to land. Thou bring'st the blossoms to the bee, And rainbow in the sky; The pulses of my youth restore; I will not people thy green bowers To wake regret from pleasures gone; Then, while the groves thy garlands twine, And worship God in thee. While listening to thy choral strain, Selected. GRAMMAR IN RHYME. 1. Three little words you often see Are Articles-a, an, and the. 2. A Noun's the name of any thing, As school, or garden, hoop, or swing. 3. Adjectives tell the kind of noun ; As great, small, pretty, white, or brown. 4. Instead of Nouns the Pronouns standHer head, his face, your arm, my hand. 5. Verbs tell of something being doneTo read, write, count, sing, jump, or run. 6. How things are done the Adverbs tell; As, slowly, quickly, ill, or well. 7. Conjunctions join the words together; As, men and women, wind or weather. 8. The Preposition stands before A Noun; as, in or through a door. 9. The interjection shows surprise; As, oh! how pretty; ah! how wise. The whole are called Nine Parts of Speech, Which Reading, Writing, Speaking, teach. Selected. "My son, be this thy simple plan: |