H. L. Wells, F. M. Chapman, Edward F. Bigelow, W. F. G.

“ Fire, as we usually see it, is the action of air upon hot substances that can burn. It is only one ingredient or part of the air which does this, the oxygen. Usually when things burn, there are hot gases and vapors formed which make the flame. Fire is not a substance, therefore, but an action, or its appearance. ”

“ The parent tree bore a heavy crop of nuts, but the nut on the sucker was smaller and less perfectly developed than those on the parent tree.
In order to make a perfect proof I should have cut a
A tiny beech growth from a root bearing nut burs. small piece from the surface of the root to which the twig was attached, but I did not think of doing so until too late.
This unusual growth may possibly be of interest to the nature lovers who read the “Nature and Science” department of St. Nicholas. ”

“ Hence, when immersed, the water cannot touch the leaf and drive off the air surrounding it, and a thin layer of air remains between the leaf and the water. It is the reflection and refraction of light from this layer of air that give the silvery appearance. It has been supposed by some authorities that the presence of this non-wettable layer has the advantage of preventing the raindrops which fall on the leaf from remaining there, and thus blocking up the stomata, or breathing-pores.—W. F. G.
A very small beech-tree bearing a nut
(From one of our adult readers)
Chicago, Ill. ”