JUNE

These events occupied so much time, that June had numbered more than half its days

Winter arrived with the month of June

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Chapter XX here Chapter XX The winter season set in with the month of June, which corresponds with the month of December in the Northern Hemisphere. It began with showers and squalls, which succeeded each other without intermission. The tenants of Granite House could appreciate the advantages of a dwelling which sheltered them from the inclement weather. The Chimneys would have been quite insufficient to protect them against the rigor of winter, and it was to be feared that the high tides would make another irruption. Cyrus Harding had taken precautions against this contingency, so as to preserve as much as possible the forge and furnace which were established there. During the whole of the month of June the time was employed in different occupations, which excluded neither hunting nor fishing, the larder being, therefore, abundantly supplied. Pencroft, so soon as he had leisure, proposed to set some traps, from which he expected great results. He soon made some snares with creepers, by the aid of which the warren henceforth every day furnished its quota of rodents. Neb employed nearly all his time in salting or smoking meat, which insured their always having plenty of provisions. The question of clothes was now seriously discussed, the settlers having no other garments than those they wore when the balloon threw them on the island. These clothes were warm and good; they had taken great care of them as well as of their linen, and they were perfectly whole, but they would soon need to be replaced. Moreover, if the winter was severe, the settlers would suffer greatly from cold. On this subject the ingenuity of Harding was at fault. They must provide for their most pressing wants, settle their dwelling, and lay in a store of food; thus the cold might come upon them before the question of clothes had been settled. They must therefore make up their minds to pass this first winter without additional clothing. When the fine season came round again, they would regularly hunt those musmons which had been seen on the expedition to Mount Franklin, and the wool once collected, the engineer would know how to make it into strong warm stuff.... How? He would consider. “Well, we are free to roast ourselves at Granite House!” said Pencroft. “There are heaps of fuel, and no reason for sparing it.” “Besides,” added Gideon Spilett, “Lincoln Island is not situated under a very high latitude, and probably the winters here are not severe. Did you not say, Cyrus, that this thirty-fifth parallel corresponded to that of Spain in the other hemisphere?” “Doubtless,” replied the engineer, “but some winters in Spain are very cold! No want of snow and ice; and perhaps Lincoln Island is just as rigorously tried. However, it is an island, and as such, I hope that the temperature will be more moderate.” “Why, captain?” asked Herbert. “Because the sea, my boy, may be considered as an immense reservoir, in which is stored the heat of the summer. When winter comes, it restores this heat, which insures for the regions near the ocean a medium temperature, less high in summer, but less low in winter.” “We shall prove that,” replied Pencroft. “But I don’t want to bother myself about whether it will be cold or not. One thing is certain, that is that the days are already short, and the evenings long. Suppose we talk about the question of light.” “Nothing is easier,” replied Harding. “To talk about?” asked the sailor. “To settle.” “And when shall we begin?” “To-morrow, by having a seal hunt.” “To make candles?” “Yes.” Such was the engineer’s project; and it was quite feasible, since he had lime and sulphuric acid, while the amphibians of the islet would furnish the fat necessary for the manufacture. They were now at the 4th of June. It was Whit Sunday and they agreed to observe this feast. All work was suspended, and prayers were offered to Heaven. But these prayers were now thanksgivings. The settlers in Lincoln Island were no longer the miserable castaways thrown on the islet. They asked for nothing more—they gave thanks. The next day, the 5th of June, in rather uncertain weather, they set out for the islet. They had to profit by the low tide to cross the Channel, and it was agreed that they would construct, for this purpose, as well as they could, a boat which would render communication so much easier, and would also permit them to ascend the Mercy, at the time of their grand exploration of the southwest of the island, which was put off till the first fine days. The seals were numerous, and the hunters, armed with their iron-tipped spears, easily killed half-a-dozen. Neb and Pencroft skinned them, and only brought back to Granite House their fat and skin, this skin being intended for the manufacture of boots. The result of the hunt was this: nearly three hundred pounds of fat, all to be employed in the fabrication of candles. The operation was extremely simple, and if it did not yield absolutely perfect results, they were at least very useful. Cyrus Harding would only have had at his disposal sulphuric acid, but by heating this acid with the neutral fatty bodies he could separate the glycerine; then from this new combination, he easily separated the olein, the margarin, and the stearin, by employing boiling water. But to simplify the operation, he preferred to saponify the fat by means of lime. By this he obtained a calcareous soap, easy to decompose by sulphuric acid, which precipitated the lime into the state of sulphate, and liberated the fatty acids. From these three acids-oleic, margaric, and stearic-the first, being liquid, was driven out by a sufficient pressure. As to the two others, they formed the very substance of which the candles were to be molded. This operation did not last more than four and twenty hours. The wicks, after several trials, were made of vegetable fibers, and dipped in the liquefied substance, they formed regular stearic candles, molded by the hand, which only wanted whiteness and polish. They would not doubtless have the advantages of the wicks which are impregnated with boracic acid, and which vitrify as they burn and are entirely consumed, but Cyrus Harding having manufactured a beautiful pair of snuffers, these candles would be greatly appreciated during the long evenings in Granite House. During this month there was no want of work in the interior of their new dwelling. The joiners had plenty to do. They improved their tools, which were very rough, and added others also. Scissors were made among other things, and the settlers were at last able to cut their hair, and also to shave, or at least trim their beards. Herbert had none, Neb but little, but their companions were bristling in a way which justified the making of the said scissors. The manufacture of a hand-saw cost infinite trouble, but at last an instrument was obtained which, when vigorously handled, could divide the ligneous fibers of the wood. They then made tables, seats, cupboards, to furnish the principal rooms, and bedsteads, of which all the bedding consisted of grass mattresses. The kitchen, with its shelves, on which rested the cooking utensils, its brick stove, looked very well, and Neb worked away there as earnestly as if he was in a chemist’s laboratory. But the joiners had soon to be replaced by carpenters. In fact, the waterfall created by the explosion rendered the construction of two bridges necessary, one on Prospect Heights, the other on the shore. Now the plateau and the shore were transversely divided by a watercourse, which had to be crossed to reach the northern part of the island. To avoid it the colonists had been obliged to make a considerable detour, by climbing up to the source of the Red Creek. The simplest thing was to establish on the plateau, and on the shore, two bridges from twenty to five and twenty feet in length. All the carpenter’s work that was needed was to clear some trees of their branches: this was a business of some days. Directly the bridges were established, Neb and Pencroft profited by them to go to the oyster-bed which had been discovered near the downs. They dragged with them a sort of rough cart, which replaced the former inconvenient hurdle, and brought back some thousands of oysters, which soon increased among the rocks and formed a bed at the mouth of the Mercy. These molluscs were of excellent quality, and the colonists consumed some daily. It has been seen that Lincoln Island, although its inhabitants had as yet only explored a small portion of it, already contributed to almost all their wants. It was probable that if they hunted into its most secret recesses, in all the wooded part between the Mercy and Reptile Point, they would find new treasures. The settlers in Lincoln Island had still one privation. There was no want of meat, nor of vegetable products; those ligneous roots which they had found, when subjected to fermentation, gave them an acid drink, which was preferable to cold water; they also made sugar, without canes or beet-roots, by collecting the liquor which distils from the “acer saceharinum,” a sort of maple-tree, which flourishes in all the temperate zones, and of which the island possessed a great number; they made a very agreeable tea by employing the herbs brought from the warren; lastly, they had an abundance of salt, the only mineral which is used in food... but bread was wanting. Perhaps in time the settlers could replace this want by some equivalent, it was possible that they might find the sago or the breadfruit tree among the forests of the south, but they had not as yet met with these precious trees. However, Providence came directly to their aid, in an infinitesimal proportion it is true, but Cyrus Harding, with all his intelligence, all his ingenuity, would never have been able to produce that which, by the greatest chance, Herbert one day found in the lining of his waistcoat, which he was occupied in setting to rights. On this day, as it was raining in torrents, the settlers were assembled in the great hall in Granite House, when the lad cried out all at once,— “Look here, captain—A grain of corn!” And he showed his companions a grain—a single grain—which from a hole in his pocket had got into the lining of his waistcoat. The presence of this grain was explained by the fact that Herbert, when at Richmond, used to feed some pigeons, of which Pencroft had made him a present. “A grain of corn?” said the engineer quickly. “Yes, captain; but one, only one!” “Well, my boy,” said Pencroft, laughing, “we’re getting on capitally, upon my word! What shall we make with one grain of corn?” “We will make bread of it,” replied Cyrus Harding. “Bread, cakes, tarts!” replied the sailor. “Come, the bread that this grain of corn will make won’t choke us very soon!” Herbert, not attaching much importance to his discovery, was going to throw away the grain in question; but Harding took it, examined it, found that it was in good condition, and looking the sailor full in the face—“Pencroft,” he asked quietly, “do you know how many ears one grain of corn can produce?” “One, I suppose!” replied the sailor, surprised at the question. “Ten, Pencroft! And do you know how many grains one ear bears?” “No, upon my word.” “About eighty!” said Cyrus Harding. “Then, if we plant this grain, at the first crop we shall reap eight hundred grains which at the second will produce six hundred and forty thousand; at the third, five hundred and twelve millions; at the fourth, more than four hundred thousands of millions! There is the proportion.” Harding’s companions listened without answering. These numbers astonished them. They were exact, however. “Yes, my friends,” continued the engineer, “such are the arithmetical progressions of prolific nature; and yet what is this multiplication of the grain of corn, of which the ear only bears eight hundred grains, compared to the poppy-plant, which bears thirty-two thousand seeds; to the tobacco-plant, which produces three hundred and sixty thousand? In a few years, without the numerous causes of destruction, which arrests their fecundity, these plants would overrun the earth.” But the engineer had not finished his lecture. “And now, Pencroft,” he continued, “do you know how many bushels four hundred thousand millions of grains would make?” “No,” replied the sailor; “but what I do know is, that I am nothing better than a fool!” “Well, they would make more than three millions, at a hundred and thirty thousand a bushel, Pencroft.” “Three millions!” cried Pencroft. “Three millions.” “In four years?” “In four years,” replied Cyrus Harding, “and even in two years, if, as I hope, in this latitude we can obtain two crops a year.” At that, according to his usual custom, Pencroft could not reply otherwise than by a tremendous hurrah. “So, Herbert,” added the engineer, “you have made a discovery of great importance to us. Everything, my friends, everything can serve us in the condition in which we are. Do not forget that, I beg of you.” “No, captain, no, we shan’t forget it,” replied Pencroft; “and if ever I find one of those tobacco-seeds, which multiply by three hundred and sixty thousand, I assure you I won’t throw it away! And now, what must we do?” “We must plant this grain,” replied Herbert. “Yes,” added Gideon Spilett, “and with every possible care, for it bears in itself our future harvests.” “Provided it grows!” cried the sailor. “It will grow,” replied Cyrus Harding. This was the 20th of June. The time was then propitious for sowing this single precious grain of corn. It was first proposed to plant it in a pot, but upon reflection it was decided to leave it to nature, and confide it to the earth. This was done that very day, and it is needless to add, that every precaution was taken that the experiment might succeed. The weather having cleared, the settlers climbed the height above Granite House. There, on the plateau, they chose a spot, well sheltered from the wind, and exposed to all the heat of the midday sun. The place was cleared, carefully weeded, and searched for insects and worms; then a bed of good earth, improved with a little lime, was made; it was surrounded by a railing; and the grain was buried in the damp earth. Did it not seem as if the settlers were laying the first stone of some edifice? It recalled to Pencroft the day on which he lighted his only match, and all the anxiety of the operation. But this time the thing was more serious. In fact, the castaways would have been always able to procure fire, in some mode or other, but no human power could supply another grain of corn, if unfortunately this should be lost! About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jules Verne (1998). The Mysterious Island. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1268/1268-h/1268-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

The winter season set in with the month of June

Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . A June Evening Chapter XXVIII - A June Evening “I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June,” said Anne, as she came through the spice and bloom of the twilit orchard to the front door steps, where Marilla and Mrs. Rachel were sitting, talking over Mrs. Samson Coates’ funeral, which they had attended that day. Dora sat between them, diligently studying her lessons; but Davy was sitting tailor-fashion on the grass, looking as gloomy and depressed as his single dimple would let him. “You’d get tired of it,” said Marilla, with a sigh. “I daresay; but just now I feel that it would take me a long time to get tired of it, if it were all as charming as today. Everything loves June. Davy-boy, why this melancholy November face in blossom-time?” “I’m just sick and tired of living,” said the youthful pessimist. “At ten years? Dear me, how sad!” “I’m not making fun,” said Davy with dignity. “I’m dis—dis—discouraged”—bringing out the big word with a valiant effort. “Why and wherefore?” asked Anne, sitting down beside him. “’Cause the new teacher that come when Mr. Holmes got sick give me ten sums to do for Monday. It’ll take me all day tomorrow to do them. It isn’t fair to have to work Saturdays. Milty Boulter said he wouldn’t do them, but Marilla says I’ve got to. I don’t like Miss Carson a bit.” “Don’t talk like that about your teacher, Davy Keith,” said Mrs. Rachel severely. “Miss Carson is a very fine girl. There is no nonsense about her.” “That doesn’t sound very attractive,” laughed Anne. “I like people to have a little nonsense about them. But I’m inclined to have a better opinion of Miss Carson than you have. I saw her in prayer-meeting last night, and she has a pair of eyes that can’t always look sensible. Now, Davy-boy, take heart of grace. ‘Tomorrow will bring another day’ and I’ll help you with the sums as far as in me lies. Don’t waste this lovely hour ’twixt light and dark worrying over arithmetic.” “Well, I won’t,” said Davy, brightening up. “If you help me with the sums I’ll have ’em done in time to go fishing with Milty. I wish old Aunt Atossa’s funeral was tomorrow instead of today. I wanted to go to it ’cause Milty said his mother said Aunt Atossa would be sure to rise up in her coffin and say sarcastic things to the folks that come to see her buried. But Marilla said she didn’t.” “Poor Atossa laid in her coffin peaceful enough,” said Mrs. Lynde solemnly. “I never saw her look so pleasant before, that’s what. Well, there weren’t many tears shed over her, poor old soul. The Elisha Wrights are thankful to be rid of her, and I can’t say I blame them a mite.” “It seems to me a most dreadful thing to go out of the world and not leave one person behind you who is sorry you are gone,” said Anne, shuddering. “Nobody except her parents ever loved poor Atossa, that’s certain, not even her husband,” averred Mrs. Lynde. “She was his fourth wife. He’d sort of got into the habit of marrying. He only lived a few years after he married her. The doctor said he died of dyspepsia, but I shall always maintain that he died of Atossa’s tongue, that’s what. Poor soul, she always knew everything about her neighbors, but she never was very well acquainted with herself. Well, she’s gone anyhow; and I suppose the next excitement will be Diana’s wedding.” “It seems funny and horrible to think of Diana’s being married,” sighed Anne, hugging her knees and looking through the gap in the Haunted Wood to the light that was shining in Diana’s room. “I don’t see what’s horrible about it, when she’s doing so well,” said Mrs. Lynde emphatically. “Fred Wright has a fine farm and he is a model young man.” “He certainly isn’t the wild, dashing, wicked, young man Diana once wanted to marry,” smiled Anne. “Fred is extremely good.” “That’s just what he ought to be. Would you want Diana to marry a wicked man? Or marry one yourself?” “Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to marry anybody who was wicked, but I think I’d like it if he could be wicked and wouldn’t. Now, Fred is hopelessly good.” “You’ll have more sense some day, I hope,” said Marilla. Marilla spoke rather bitterly. She was grievously disappointed. She knew Anne had refused Gilbert Blythe. Avonlea gossip buzzed over the fact, which had leaked out, nobody knew how. Perhaps Charlie Sloane had guessed and told his guesses for truth. Perhaps Diana had betrayed it to Fred and Fred had been indiscreet. At all events it was known; Mrs. Blythe no longer asked Anne, in public or private, if she had heard lately from Gilbert, but passed her by with a frosty bow. Anne, who had always liked Gilbert’s merry, young-hearted mother, was grieved in secret over this. Marilla said nothing; but Mrs. Lynde gave Anne many exasperated digs about it, until fresh gossip reached that worthy lady, through the medium of Moody Spurgeon MacPherson’s mother, that Anne had another “beau” at college, who was rich and handsome and good all in one. After that Mrs. Rachel held her tongue, though she still wished in her inmost heart that Anne had accepted Gilbert. Riches were all very well; but even Mrs. Rachel, practical soul though she was, did not consider them the one essential. If Anne “liked” the Handsome Unknown better than Gilbert there was nothing more to be said; but Mrs. Rachel was dreadfully afraid that Anne was going to make the mistake of marrying for money. Marilla knew Anne too well to fear this; but she felt that something in the universal scheme of things had gone sadly awry. “What is to be, will be,” said Mrs. Rachel gloomily, “and what isn’t to be happens sometimes. I can’t help believing it’s going to happen in Anne’s case, if Providence doesn’t interfere, that’s what.” Mrs. Rachel sighed. She was afraid Providence wouldn’t interfere; and she didn’t dare to. Anne had wandered down to the Dryad’s Bubble and was curled up among the ferns at the root of the big white birch where she and Gilbert had so often sat in summers gone by. He had gone into the newspaper office again when college closed, and Avonlea seemed very dull without him. He never wrote to her, and Anne missed the letters that never came. To be sure, Roy wrote twice a week; his letters were exquisite compositions which would have read beautifully in a memoir or biography. Anne felt herself more deeply in love with him than ever when she read them; but her heart never gave the queer, quick, painful bound at sight of his letters which it had given one day when Mrs. Hiram Sloane had handed her out an envelope addressed in Gilbert’s black, upright handwriting. Anne had hurried home to the east gable and opened it eagerly—to find a typewritten copy of some college society report—“only that and nothing more.” Anne flung the harmless screed across her room and sat down to write an especially nice epistle to Roy. Diana was to be married in five more days. The gray house at Orchard Slope was in a turmoil of baking and brewing and boiling and stewing, for there was to be a big, old-timey wedding. Anne, of course, was to be bridesmaid, as had been arranged when they were twelve years old, and Gilbert was coming from Kingsport to be best man. Anne was enjoying the excitement of the various preparations, but under it all she carried a little heartache. She was, in a sense, losing her dear old chum; Diana’s new home would be two miles from Green Gables, and the old constant companionship could never be theirs again. Anne looked up at Diana’s light and thought how it had beaconed to her for many years; but soon it would shine through the summer twilights no more. Two big, painful tears welled up in her gray eyes. “Oh,” she thought, “how horrible it is that people have to grow up—and marry—and change!” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. L. M. Montgomery (2006). Anne of the Island. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/51/pg51-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html. The lead image was generated using HackerNoon's Stable Disffusion Al Image Generator feature, via the prompt "Anne of the Island".

A June Evening

Field, Forest and Farm by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE JUNE-BUG CHAPTER XLVII. THE JUNE-BUG “It is a discovery of no small importance in your eyes, my young friends, when you find the first June-bug of the season on the young foliage. In the evening you get together in a corner and talk about it, you make plans for the morrow, and all your conversation is about the June-bug that has just arrived. You arrange to get up early the next day and shake the trees in order to bring down the sleeping insects; you get ready a box, pierced with holes, to receive the captives, and put in a handful of fresh leaves for them to feed on. June-bug “At the first streak of dawn you are up; you visit the willows, the poplars, the hawthorn hedges wet with dew. It is a fruitful hunt: the June-bugs, benumbed by the chill of night, fall like hail when you shake the branches. Soon you have a half a score of them, then a dozen, then twenty. It is enough. You go back to the house with your prisoners fluttering and struggling in the foot of an old stocking, in your [ ]handkerchief, or in your cap. You bring a supply of green leaves. 243 “And now for your experiments! You tie a long string to the leg of one of the beetles and put the insect in the sun. It inflates and deflates its belly, raises its wing-sheaths, and expands its wings. There it goes, into the air. Your experiment has succeeded. These delights of the June-bug season, my children—enjoy them as long as you can. Other pleasures pale beside them. In view of the amusement it affords you I gladly welcome the June-bug. But turn now to a less pleasing aspect of the matter. “Like every other insect, the June-bug is at first a grub. In that form it lives three years in the ground, whereas in its final state, when it is found on trees and bushes, it lives but two or three weeks. This grub or larva is commonly called the white grub, also the fish-worm, and sometimes the ground-hog. Look at it carefully for a moment and tell me what you see.” “I see,” answered Louis, “a fat, big-bellied worm, slow in its movements, and fond of lying curled up on its side. It is of a whitish color with a yellowish head.” “Yes, and what else?” “It has six legs, not made for running on the surface of the ground, but for crawling underneath; and it has strong jaws for biting the roots of plants. Its head is capped with horn to help it in boring through the soil.” “Very good,” was Uncle Paul’s approving comment; [ ]“and you see how the stomach is distended with food, which shows in a darker tint through the white skin of the paunch. So gorged is the worm, in fact, that it cannot stand on its legs, but lies lazily on its side. 244 “For three years this fat grub lives under ground, always under ground, tunneling like a mole in all directions, and living on roots. Then it makes for itself a little chamber out of earth, very smooth inside, and shuts itself up there; after which it proceeds to transform itself into a nymph, and then into a June-bug. Everything serves it for food: the roots of grass and of trees, of cereals and of fodder, of vegetables and of flowers. In winter it buries itself deep in the ground and becomes torpid; at the approach of spring it returns to the upper layers of the soil, installs itself among the roots, and goes from plant to plant, leaving devastation in its path. You have, let us suppose, a fine bed of lettuce in your garden. From no apparent cause, some morning, you find it all withered. You pull up one of the plants, and it proves to have no root; the white grub has cut it away. Or you have a nursery of young fruit trees for your orchard. The terrible worm passes that way, and your nursery is good for nothing but fire-wood. Or you have sown several acres with wheat or rape, you have made a considerable outlay for fertilizer and labor; but there is promise of a handsome harvest with large profit to you. The larva of the June-bug works its way up from the depths, and then good-bye to your harvest; the stalks [ ]dry up as they stand, having no roots left to sustain them. When this formidable worm invades a country, famine would surely follow were it not that traffic facilities make possible the speedy importation of provisions from other lands. We live in a progressive age and, thanks to the means of transport and to the briskness of trade, people do not die of hunger in a province whose fields have been devastated by the white grub. They do not die of hunger, but what woe follows in the wake of the devouring larva! Year in and year out, it destroys millions of francs’ worth of crops in France alone. 245 “The multitude of these little insects is truly terrifying. When they invade a field, the earth, undermined in all directions, loses its firmness and yields under the pressure of the foot. One year, in the department of the Sarthe, the ravages became so serious that it was necessary to undertake a systematic destruction of the pest. The June-bug was hunted on a large scale, and sixty thousand decaliters were gathered in, each decaliter containing about five thousand insects. Thus the total number taken amounted to three hundred millions. To give you some idea of the immensity of this number I will add that if you should try to count those three hundred million insects, one by one, it would take you more than twenty years, working ten hours a day. “In the department of the Lower Seine there was at one time found to be an average of twenty-three larvæ of the June-bug to the square meter, or two hundred and thirty thousand devourers to each hectare. [ ]A hectare will raise a crop of one hundred thousand beets. Thus each beet was gnawed by at least two worms. Allowing eighty thousand rape-stalks to the hectare, we find each stalk feeding three worms, or very nearly. It is clear that under these desperate conditions no rape-seed oil or beet-root sugar can be produced. Every plant perishes. In the single year 1866 the Lower Seine lost from this cause about twenty-five million francs. 246 “In 1868, in different parts of France, notably in Normandy, the multiplication of June-bugs was so great as to spread alarm throughout the rural districts. Trees were completely stripped of their foliage, and in the evening, when the insects fly abroad, such clouds of them encumbered the atmosphere as to make it difficult to walk about. Almost everywhere there were June-bug hunts organized, and those who gathered the insects received from the public treasury from four to six francs per hundred liters. In one place alone, Fontaine-Mallet, near Havre, there were gathered four thousand and fifty-nine kilograms of the insects in four days. The school-master sent his pupils out after June-bugs, and four hundred and forty kilograms was the result of one day’s collecting. All these insects were carted to Havre by the wagon-load and drowned in the sea. In certain communes they were brought to the town hall in such quantities that there was no way of disposing of them. The air reeked with the stench they made. “It is said that in 1668 the June-bugs destroyed all [ ]the vegetation in one county of Ireland, so that the country presented the dead appearance of winter. The sound made by the insects’ mandibles in browsing the foliage of the trees was like that of a carpenter’s saw, and the hum of wings resembled the distant beating of drums. Enveloped in clouds of insects and blinded by the living hail, the inhabitants could hardly see to go about. The famine was horrible: the poor Irish people were even obliged to eat the June-bugs to keep from starving.” 247 “Oh, how awful that must have been!” exclaimed the group of listeners. “Yes, awful, indeed,” assented Uncle Paul, “and I have a few more instances to relate, less lamentable than the Irish famine, it is true, but still of a nature to show us how prodigious were the legions of June-bugs in certain years. In 1832, in the neighborhood of Gisors, a stage-coach became enveloped at nightfall in a cloud of these insects. Blinded and terrified, the horses obstinately refused to go on. Finally there was nothing to do but turn about and go back, so completely did the humming swarm bar the way. Forty years ago the June-bugs descended upon Mâcon after ravaging the vineyards in its vicinity. They were scooped up in the streets by the shovelful, and to make one’s way through the cloud of beetles one had to clear a passage by the energetic brandishing of a stick. “Since the June-bug is so redoubtable a scourge to agriculture, since it is a foe with which one must reckon most seriously, how, you will ask, is it to be [ ]got rid of? There is one way, and only one: collecting and destroying both grubs and beetles. We can count to a certain extent on the help of moles, hedge-hogs, ravens, crows, and magpies, all of which hunt the larvæ, especially in newly ploughed fields; and we can also count on the aid of a host of birds such as shrikes, sparrows, and others, which devour the beetles; but the number of the enemy is so great that this destruction by natural means does not always suffice. We must then lend an energetic hand ourselves. Which of the two is to enjoy the fruits of the earth, man or June-bug? Man, if he will but bestir himself and wage unceasing war on both the insect and its larva. 248 “The white grub, as I told you, bores into the earth more or less deeply according to the season. In winter it goes down half a meter, a depth at which it is protected from the frost. Upon the return of milder weather it comes up again, to be within reach of the roots; and from the first of April it can be found by digging down twenty centimeters. A favorable time, therefore, is chosen for turning up the earth and bringing the larvæ to the surface, whereupon women and children, following after the plough, gather up the white grubs in the furrows. A single hectare has been known to yield in this way from two hundred to three hundred kilograms of worms. The vermin are pressed down into the earth with lime, the whole making an excellent manure, and the enemy of harvests thus serves to accelerate their growth.” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jean-Henri Fabre (2022). Field, Forest and Farm. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67813/pg67813-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

THE JUNE-BUG

Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June 1930, by Astounding Stories is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . Vol. II, No. 3: Murder Madness "As the madness grew, the two men fought. They were murder mad. The local sub-deputy gave his guests the thrill of watching maniacs battling to the death." Murder Madness PART TWO OF A FOUR-PART NOVEL By Murray Leinster Seven United States Secret Service men have disappeared in South America. Another is found—a screaming homicidal maniac. It is rumored that they are victims of a diabolical poison which produces "murder madness." Bell, of the secret "Trade," strikes into the South American jungle to find the hidden stronghold of The Master—the unknown monster whose diabolical poison swiftly and surely is enslaving the whole continent. Charley Bell, of the "Trade"—a secret service organization that does not officially exist—discovers that a sinister system of slavery is flourishing in South America, headed by a mysterious man known only as The Master. This slavery is accomplished by means of a poison which causes its victims to experience a horrible writhing of the hands, followed by a madness to do murder, two weeks after the poison is taken. The victims get relief only with an antidote supplied through Ribiera, The Master's Chief Deputy; but in the antidote there is more of the poison which again in two weeks will take effect. And so it is that a person who once receives the poison is forever enslaved. Bell learns that Ribiera has kidnapped Paula Canalejas, daughter of a Brazilian cabinet minister—himself a victim—who has killed himself on feeling the "murder madness," caused by the poison, coming over him. Bell corners Ribiera in his home, buries the muzzles of two six-guns in his stomach, and demands that he set Paula free. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Astounding Stories. 2009. Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June 1930. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved May 2022 from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29848/29848-h/29848-h.htm#Page_310 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June 1930: Vol. II, No. 3 - Murder Madness

As staunch capitalists, we have unironically quoted Lenin before, and will again, because the quote is so apt for crypto markets: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen”. In June we witnessed another crypto price crash. This should not surprise long-term HODL-ers, as Bitcoin has had many crashes of 50-80% in its 13-year history (these sharp drops are often historically followed by 600-1000% gains). What is surprising, is how many crypto analysts, investors, and institutions got it wrong. Most of these casualties borrowed too much money, forgot about diversification, and were unprepared for the inevitable crypto drop. In June alone: Singaporean crypto fund manager Three Arrows Capital (3AC) imploded, due to a mix of bad investments (Terra/LUNA) and massive debt DeFi darling Celsius paused withdrawals pending its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (another victim of bad investing and high debts) BlockFi lost hundreds of millions of dollars in bad debts Blockchain.com announced it may lose $270 million lent to 3AC Fund manager Voyager Capital lost half a billion (bad debts at 3AC) Babel Finance lost a billion (bad debts, much to 3AC) CoinBase sacked almost 20% of its workforce, COIN stock dropped by 80% But it seems that some people had been sitting on “dry powder”, waiting for the drop, so that they could invest more funds at lower prices. MicroStrategy (Michael Saylor) bought another $10 million in Bitcoin; making them the largest holder of BTC on the planet, and having twice as much BTC as Tesla FTX offered to buy the struggling Voyager Capital Binance advertised for 2000 new job openings, and raised $500M in new VC funding for Binance Labs Paypal allows for the purchase and transfer of several cryptocurrencies to external wallets for the first time Solana Labs announced the development of a SOL crypto smartphone Someone transferred US$42 333 777 in and paid a fee of $4.61. That’s a transaction fee of 0.00001088%! No government bank or third party had to verify the transaction, nor could they have stopped it. #Bitcoin After the flash crash, many larger cap coins have staged small recoveries, including BTC jumping from under US$19 000 to over US$21 000, and Ethereum bouncing up from under US$900 to over US$1400 What is also interesting, is that prior to, and immediately during the big drop, crypto was behaving like the stock market. Cryptocurrency movements were highly correlated with movements of tech stocks (remember that 50- 80% June 2022 drops were not just in crypto; we also saw 50-80% drops in stocks such as ). Zoom, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Tesla and PayPal As we enter a small recovery, it seems that crypto markets have decoupled from tech stocks, and are recovering independently and faster than their Wall Street peers. Interesting times indeed. Whether you dollar-cost-averaged (DCA) by buying every day, week or month, whether you bought at the absolute bottom or bought at the top, it is claimed that nobody has ever lost money if they held Bitcoin for four years. The same cannot be said for the stock market. By the way, if you want to have an idea of where crypto is heading next year, check the historical patterns. The chart below shows a big dip in 2014, 2018, and 2022, followed by a massive rise. Past performance is no guarantee of the future, however, it does bring a sense of optimism that the next few years may be good for crypto. Weathering the storms As Bitcoin and crypto consolidate after a large drop, a few companies are trying to pick up the pieces. The entire crypto market capitalization was down 33% for June, and Bitcoin funds such as Digital X and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust are down around 34-35%. Bostoncoin has weathered the storms as well as possible, with large drops in some token prices presenting opportunities. Key Takeaways It seems that Three Arrows Capital (3AC) were not only irresponsibly bullish (“price always goes up, right?”) but they also forgot about diversification. Considering there are around 15 000-20 000 crypto projects, it seems crazy that someone would put 40-50% of their available capital into a brand-new and untested coin (Terra/LUNA). The US$1 billion that 3AC put into LUNA is now worth under $700.00, representing a massive 99.99% loss. Even though crypto is the “new kid on the block” and can sometimes seem like a shiny new toy that makes all other investments obsolete, it is wise to look back at history and the lessons investors have learned over millennia. Whether investing into old technology such as timber forestry, or new tech such as Tesla, one must always remember to diversify (“eggs in different baskets”) and keep your debts manageable. The truth may soon come out in the bankruptcy courts, but rumors currently abound that some of the crypto platforms mentioned above may have carried debt that was up to twenty times their assets. Bostoncoin has managed to avoid becoming a casualty of the 3AC crisis by diversifying into 30-40 different projects and having debts from 0-10% maximum. Other crypto funds that held debts that were between 40% and 120% are now casualties. Around the globe as we enter the last half of 2022, investors see interest rates rising again, stimulus packages drying up, ongoing war and supply chain issues, and possible downturns in housing as well as stock markets. Those who borrowed too much, or diversified too little, may be forced to sell at a loss. Those who stayed sane may be able to snap up some bargains. We trust you are in the latter camp. If you feel any sense of overwhelm or upset over your personal financial situation, or the greater economy at this time of rising interest rates and falling investments, please for a confidential chat. All members of our team have a minimum of 10+ years experience; we have seen a few market cycles and we know how to assist. contact us In other news: Inflation has (allegedly) topped out at 9.1%, and the Fed plans to raise interest rates by another 0.75% just to ensure the dreaded beast is truly defeated. When you are forced to choose between inflation and a recession, be careful. Bitcoin prices are up around 20% from June lows, whilst Ethereum is up almost 60% on the announcement that it will (allegedly) finally have a completion date for its long-delayed merger. One of our favorite coins, Polygon (MATIC) signed a deal with Disney and was up 100% on the news. Polygon (MATIC) has also announced they will sell a web3 MATIC phone, similar to how Solana (SOL) is building a web3 Solana phone. Only time will tell if diehard Apple or Android fans will make the switch to a crypto phone. With everyone talking about crypto, it is easy to forget that there are other applications for distributed ledger technology, aka the blockchain. US logistics and transport company UPS has invested heavily into blockchain technology for managing supply chain logistics. Basically, they are using a public ledger to ensure that the right things get to the right places. If any variations or substitutions are made along the way, the blockchain will be able to pinpoint exactly what went wrong and where. There will be almost zero chance that your organic avocadoes will be swapped out for cheaper ones half a mile from the farm. IBM, the old typewriter-slash-computer company continues to evolve, and has adopted blockchain technology into its business communications. Companies new and old are discovering the advantages of blockchain for security, identity protection, so we expect more advances and more uses for this technology to emerge in the coming months and years. Individual crypto tokens may ebb and flow, but blockchain seems here to stay forever. Back to the main story Crypto markets are starting to recover from their dips, the stock market seems to have stopped falling, and life may just continue into the “new normal”. Yes, there is still a war in Europe, COVID is still a risk, the property market may slide back 10% to more realistic levels and we may yet face some supply issues moving forward, but things are getting better. Most upcoming news is factored into pricing, so we see that when the Fed puts up interest rates, the market does not plunge, because investors were expecting the rate rises anyway. Pending any unforeseen news (alien invasions, assassinations, the second coming of ), we foresee a slow upward trend for most markets over the next 2-3 years. Cthulhu How did BOS go this month? After a brutal first quarter, crypto markets have started their climb back up from the pit. Not everything has recovered, and it is doubtful that the companies that were irresponsible or overleveraged will ever recover, but good projects always seem to rise to the top. Kadena KDA          up 557% for the year Gala GALA             up 222% for the year Sandbox                up 206% XYO                       up 194% Digibyte                up 180% Secret                   up 115% Bitcoin and Ethereum both enjoyed 30-60% recovery during the month but are still behind for the calendar year.

Crypto: The Markets as at June 2022

Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June 1931, by Astounding Stories is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series . Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June 1931 Title: Astounding Stories Author: April 5, 2010 [EBook #31893] Release Date: English Language: TABLE OF LINKS VOLUME VI, NO. 3 1. The Man From 2071 2. Manape the Mighty Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 3. Holocaust 4. The Earthman's Burden 5. The Exile of Time Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 6. The Readers' Corner About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Astounding Stories. (2010). ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE, JUNE 1931. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved MAY 2022, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31893/31893-h/31893-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

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