ece of catgut and a straw. The
catgut, twisted, is put through a hole in a dial, in which a straw is
also placed. In dry weather the catgut curls up; in damp, it relaxes;
and so the straw is turned either to the one side or the other. Straws
do something more than "show which way the wind blows," you see.

Another simple weather-gauge may be made by stretching whip-cord or
catgut over five pulleys. To the lower end of the string a small weight
is attached, and this rises and falls by the side of a graduated scale
as the moisture or dryness of the air shortens or lengthens the string.

Again, whip-cord, well-dried, may be hung against a wainscot, a small
plummet affixed to it, and a line drawn at the precise spot it falls to.
The plummet will be found to rise before rain, and fall when the
prospect brightens.

Another device is to take a clean, unpainted strip of pine--say, twenty
inches long, one wide, and a quarter of an inch thick--cut _across the
grain_; then have a piece of cedar of the same size, but cut _along the
grain_. Let these be glued together and set upright in a stand.

Before a rain-fall the pores of the pine will absorb moisture, and swell
until the whole forms a bow; this will gradually straighten on the
approach of fine weather.

There are two forms in which a balance is used that are interesting from
the natural laws that govern their motions. In one a dry sponge that has
been saturated in salt and water is nicely balanced against a small
weight at the opposite end. The sponge becomes heavier or lighter
according to the presence or absence of moisture, and any variation in
this respect may be noted on the gauge above, to which the index finger
on a dial points.

The simplest plan of all, and as good as any, is to place in an accurate
pair of scales on one side a one-pound weight; on the other, one pound
of well-dried salt. This swells and grows heavier on the approach of
rain; when brighter skies return, the one-pound weight asserts itself
once more.

[Illustration: VACATION DAYS--THE REASON WHY BOB COULD NOT GO
A-FISHING.]

[Illustration: OUR POST-OFFICE BOX.]

So many of our correspondents are collecting birds' eggs and nests that
we wish to call their attention to some important points. Never take all
the eggs in a nest, because if you do you will leave the poor mother
bird very desolate. You can always take some from each nest, and still
leave enough to make a pretty littl