Harper's Young People, January 27, 1880 Part 10

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE ELEPHANT PUZZLE.

The puzzle is, with two cuts of the scissors to make this elephant stand on all fours.

INSTRUCTIONS.--Trace or copy the accompanying figure on a piece of Bristol-board or thick writing paper, and then go to work with your scissors and see what you can do.

The solution will be given in our next.

=Ants that Bite.=--Foraging ants by countless thousands are met with everywhere on the banks of the Amazons. Some of them are dwarfs not more than one-fifth of an inch long, while others are giants ten times as long, with monstrous heads and jaws. When the pedestrian falls in with a train of these ants, the first signal given him is a twittering and restless movement of small flocks of plain-colored birds (ant-thrushes) in the jungle. If this be disregarded until he advances a few steps further, he is sure to fall into trouble, and find himself suddenly attacked by numbers of the ferocious little creatures. They swarm up his legs with incredible rapidity, each one driving its pincer-like jaws into his skin, and with the purchase thus obtained doubling in its tail, and stinging with all its might. There is no course left but to run for it; if he is accompanied by natives, they will be sure to give the alarm, crying, "Tanoca!" and scampering at full speed to the other end of the column of ants. The tenacious insects that have secured themselves to his legs then have to be plucked off one by one--a task which is generally not accomplished without pulling them in twain, and leaving heads and jaws sticking in the wounds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "WHAR IS YER GWINE TO, MELINDY?"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BLISSFULLY UNCONSCIOUS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PAINFULLY CONSCIOUS.]