dil
Reading Circle, of which I am the president. We meet at the
different girls' houses every week. I subscribe for THE
GREAT ROUND WORLD. It is one of the principal things we
read, and we all enjoy it very much. We were very much
interested in the article about the cuttlefish or octopus found
on the coast of Florida, in Number 16. I am surprised to hear
to-day that it has been examined by some scientific men, who say
that it is not an octopus at all, but only the head of a
deformed whale. I am very anxious to hear what the truth is
about it.

Your interested reader,
FLORENCE C.R.

JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 20, 1897.

DEAR FLORENCE:

We have written to the Smithsonian Institution about the cuttlefish. The
reply has not reached us in time for this number, but next week we hope to
be able to tell you what the scientific men have decided about it. That
the monster found was the head of a whale was only the opinion of some of
the gentlemen who examined it. We believe that no absolute decision was
arrived at.

THE EDITOR.

We were very much pleased to get an account of a gold mine published in a
recent number, for we want our boys and girls to write letters describing
the different industries of the United States. A number of New York boys a
few days since went to Waterbury, Conn., and visited various factories; we
publish two of their letters, and hope that we may receive similar letters
from boys and girls in different parts of the country. In almost every
town there is something which can be written about.

OUR EXCURSION TO WATERBURY.

On Thursday last the three upper classes visited Waterbury, Conn., to
inspect some of the numerous industries for which the town is so famous,
and returned Friday night, filled with great thoughts of the wonders of
Yankee inventive genius.

While there we had the good fortune to be admitted to a pin-factory, an
iron-foundry, a watch-factory, and the most extensive brass-works in the
world.

I shall here limit myself to a brief description of the last.

Brass is made by melting together in large crucibles certain proportions
of copper and zinc. The heat applied must be considerable, for during the
fusion of the two metals a white flame from the zinc and a green one from
the copper flash from the mouth of the cruc