The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1896-11-06
Csylon.s Little oxen.

Coylon's Little Oxen.
One of the greatest curiosities among
the domesticated animals of Ceylon is
breed Of cattle known to the oologist
ss the sacred running oxen" They
are the dwarfs of the whole OK family,
the largest specimens of the species
never exceeding 80 inches in height.
One sent IN the Marquis of Canterbury
in the year 1891, which is still living
and is believed to be somewhere near
ten years OF age, is only % inches high,
and weighs but 1924 pounds. In Cey-
Ion they are used for quick trips across
country with express matter and other
light loads; and 1t is said that four OF
them can pull the driver Of two
wheeled cart and 200 pound load Of
miscellaneous matter sixty or seventy
miles day. They keep up a constant
swinging trot or run, and have been
known to travel 100 miles in day and
night without either food or water. No
one knows anything concerning the
origin of this peculiar breed of minia-
ture cattle. They have been known on
the island of Ceylon and other Bud
dhistic countries for more than a thou
sand years. One story told to account
for their origin Is to the effect that
they were originally cattle of the ordi-
nary. height and bulk; that a Buddhist
priest was once imprisoned in a stone
building one-half of which was used
as cattle stable. During the night
he managed to dislodge one of the
stones in his prison walls. The stone
In question was exactly ~ feet square.
It was almost daylight when this apos-
tie Of Buddha felt the air rush through
the opening he had made, and realized
that he was all but free. He knew that
he would be unable to get out OF the
enemy's country on foot, so he prayed
that he might be provided with beast
of burden that would safely carry him
to the homes Of the followers Of Bud
dha. No sooner had he done this than
one of the large oxen which had been
quietly feeding in stall at his side
walked leisurely to the 30-inch square
opening and miraculously passed
through 1t. The priest followed and
oxen.-Indian Agriculturist.
| Longevity of Bees
G. Davenport says in Gleanings:
| "One summer I had strong second
swarm issue from large box hive.
do not remember the date, but 1t was
just before Eastwood blossomed. The
| queen Of this swarm was lost. on her
mating trip, or in some other way, for
am certain that they did not have a
laying queen at any time during the
summer. I thought would let them
do without one, to see what they would
do. They were hived on combs that
contained considerable honey, so they
did not have much room to store below;
| but they filled up what room there was,
and then, instead of working much in
the sections, they took the world easy
In the fall thought would unite what
few Of them were left with some other
colony; but on coming to examine them
l was surprised at the amount of bees
there was left. There seemed to be
nearly as many as when hived them;
~ - NANSA W SAPOi ibiChI Iuty
were put in the cellar where the rest
were. They came out in good shape in
the spring. A queen was given them;
and although they dwindled away very
fast, they pulled through all right.
Now, In this case the workers lived
at least ten or eleven months, not only
a few. but thousands of them. If the
same thing had been tried the past
summer I do not think there would
have been live bee left after they had
been in the cellar month"
Why Bees Work In tho Dark.
Bees go out all day gathering honey
and work at night in the hive, building
their combs as perfectly as If an cleo
trio light were there all the time. Why
do they prefer to work in the dark? is
often asked. Every one knows that
honey is a liquid with no solid sugar
in 1t. After standing, 1t gradually as
sumes a crystalline appearance, or
graduates, and ultimately becomes a
solid mass. Honey has been expert
mentally enclosed in we'll corked TASKS,
some of which were kept in perfect
darkness, while the others were ex-
posed to the light. The result was that