<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN>
<div id="cover" class="fig">>
<ANTIMG id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Birds and Nature, Volume IX Number 2" width-obs="500" height-obs="740" /></div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div>
<div class="issue">
<table>
<tr><td colspan="3"><h1>BIRDS AND NATURE.</h1></td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="3">ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY.<hr /></th></tr>
<tr><td class="l"><span class="sc">Vol. IX.</span></td><td class="c">FEBRUARY, 1901.</td><td class="r"><span class="sc">No. 2</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><hr /></td></tr>
</table></div>
<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
<br/><SPAN href="#c1">FEBRUARY.</SPAN> 49
<br/><SPAN href="#c2">FROST-WORK.</SPAN> 49
<br/><SPAN href="#c3">THE HAWKS.</SPAN> 50
<br/><SPAN href="#c4">INTERESTING STONE HOUSES.</SPAN> 55
<br/><SPAN href="#c5">THE ALASKAN SPARROW.</SPAN> 56
<br/><SPAN href="#c6">THE DOWITCHER. (<i>Macrorhamphus griseus.</i>)</SPAN> 59
<br/><SPAN href="#c7">All the beautiful stars of the sky</SPAN> 59
<br/><SPAN href="#c8">SOME THINGS WE MIGHT LEARN FROM THE LOWER ANIMALS.</SPAN> 60
<br/><SPAN href="#c9">THE GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. (<i>Quiscalus macrourus.</i>)</SPAN> 62
<br/><SPAN href="#c10">THE EAGLE.</SPAN> 62
<br/><SPAN href="#c11">THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS.</SPAN> 65
<br/><SPAN href="#c12">THE HOODED WARBLER (<i>Sylvania mitrata.</i>)</SPAN> 71
<br/><SPAN href="#c13">MRS. JANE’S EXPERIMENT.</SPAN> 72
<br/><SPAN href="#c14">A STROLL IN THE FROST KING’S REALM.</SPAN> 73
<br/><SPAN href="#c15">SNAILS OF THE FOREST AND FIELD.</SPAN> 74
<br/><SPAN href="#c16">THE GILA MONSTER. (<i>Heloderma suspectum.</i>)</SPAN> 80
<br/><SPAN href="#c17">BIRD NOTES.</SPAN> 85
<br/><SPAN href="#c18">THE POMEGRANATE. (<i>Punica granatum.</i>)</SPAN> 86
<br/><SPAN href="#c19">FISHES AND FISH-CULTURE AMONG THE GREEKS AND ROMANS.</SPAN> 89
<br/><SPAN href="#c20">CINNAMON. (<i>Cinnamomum cassia blume.</i>)</SPAN> 95
<br/><SPAN href="#c21">AT DUSK.</SPAN> 96
<h2 id="c1">FEBRUARY.</h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Still lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white;</p>
<p class="t0">And reigns the winter’s pregnant silence still;</p>
<p class="t0">No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill,</p>
<p class="t0">And willow stems grow daily red and bright.</p>
<p class="t0">These are the days when ancients held a rite</p>
<p class="t0">Of expiation for the old year’s ill,</p>
<p class="t0">And prayer to purify the new year’s will;</p>
<p class="t0">Fit days, ere yet the spring rains blur the sight,</p>
<p class="t0">Ere yet the bounding blood grows hot with haste,</p>
<p class="t0">And dreaming thoughts grow heavy with a greed</p>
<p class="t0">The ardent summer’s joy to have and taste;</p>
<p class="t0">Fit days, to give to last year’s losses heed,</p>
<p class="t0">To reckon clear the new life’s sterner need;</p>
<p class="t0">Fit days, for Feast of Expiation placed!</p>
<p class="lr">—Helen Hunt Jackson.</p>
</div>
<h2 id="c2">FROST-WORK.</h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">These winter nights, against my window-pane</p>
<p class="t0">Nature with busy pencil draws designs</p>
<p class="t0">Of ferns and blossoms and fine spray of pines,</p>
<p class="t0">Oak-leaf and acorn and fantastic vines,</p>
<p class="t0">Which she will make when summer comes again—</p>
<p class="t0">Quaint arabesques in argent, flat and cold,</p>
<p class="t0">Like curious Chinese etchings.... By and by,</p>
<p class="t0">Walking my leafy garden as of old,</p>
<p class="t0">These frosty fantasies shall charm my eye</p>
<p class="t0">In azure, damask, emerald, and gold.</p>
<p class="lr">—Thomas Bailey Aldrich.</p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div>
<h2 id="c3">THE HAWKS.</h2>
<p>Among the birds that are most useful
to man may be classed the Hawks. They,
with the vultures, the eagles and the
owls, belong to the bird order Raptores,
or birds of prey. Unlike the vultures the
Hawks feed upon living prey while the
former seek the dead or dying animal.
The vultures are often called “Nature’s
Scavengers,” and in many localities they
have been so carefully protected that
they will frequent the streets of towns,
seeking food in the gutters.</p>
<p>The family Falconidae, which includes
the Hawks, the falcons, the vultures, the
kites, and the eagles—all diurnal birds
of prey—numbers about three hundred
and fifty species, of which between forty
and fifty are found in North America.
The remainder are distributed throughout
the world.</p>
<p>The flight of the Hawks is more
than beautiful, it is majestic. Even
when perched high in the air on the top
of a dead monarch of the forest, there is
a silent dignity in their pose. It is from
these perches that some of the species
watch the surrounding country for their
prey, swooping down upon it when observed
and seizing it in their long, sharp
and curved claws. Their food is almost
invariably captured while on the wing.
The bill, which is short, hooked and with
sinuate cutting edges, is used for tearing
the flesh of its victim into shreds.</p>
<p>Among our more common hawks
there are but five or six that may truthfully
be classed among the birds that are
injurious to the interests of man. Among
these, the Cooper’s hawk and the sharp-shinned
hawk deserve the most attention,
as they feed almost entirely upon
other birds and poultry. To these two
the name chicken hawk may be aptly
applied. The domestic pigeon is a dainty
morsel for these ravagers of the barnyard.
On the other hand, by far the larger
number of the Hawks are of great value
to man. They are gluttonous whenever
the food supply is unlimited, and, as their
powers of digestion are wonderfully developed,
it takes but a short time for the
food to be absorbed and they are then
ready for more. With their keen eyesight
they readily detect the rodents and
other small mammals that are so destructive
to crops and with a remarkable
swiftness of flight they pounce upon
them. Dr. Fisher says, “Of the rapacious
birds with which our country is so
well furnished, there are but few which
deserve to be put on the black list and
pursued without mercy. The greater
number either pass their whole lives in
the constant performance of acts of direct
benefit to man or else more than
make good the harm they do in the destruction
of insectivorous birds and poultry
by destroying a much greater number
of mammals well known to be hostile
to the farmer.”</p>
<p>Dr. Fisher obtained the following results
from the examination of the stomachs
of two thousand, two hundred and
twelve birds of prey. This number does
not include any of those that feed extensively
upon game and poultry. In three
and one-half per centum the remains of
poultry or game birds were found; eleven
per centum contained remains of other
birds; forty-two and one-half per centum
contained the remains of mice; in fourteen
per centum other mammals were
found and twenty-seven per centum contained
insect remains. This summary
includes not only the Hawks but also the
owls, eagles and related birds. It is evident
from these results that man has a
friend in these birds that is of inestimable
value to him.</p>
<div class="fig"> id="fig1"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9200.jpg" alt="" width-obs="500" height-obs="665" /> <p class="caption">YOUNG RED-TAILED HAWK HOLDING A QUAIL. <br/>(Buteo borealis.) <br/>AMERICAN ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.
<br/>(Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis.)
<br/>About <sup class="fr">1</sup>/<sub>7</sub> Life-size.
<br/><span class="small">FROM COL. JOSEPH STEPPAN.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_53">53</div>
<p>The use of falcons and Hawks in the
chase dates far back in the history of the
Old World. For ages it was one of the
principal sports of mankind and especially
of the nobility. Hawks may be
trained to a high degree of efficiency in
the capturing of other birds. It is said
that the Chinese knew of this characteristic
of the Hawks at least two thousand
years before the time of Christ. In Japan
the art of falconry was practiced about
six or seven hundred years before Christ.</p>
<p>The art is also believed to be represented
in a bas-relief found in the Khorsahad
ruins in which a falconer is apparently
bearing a hawk on his wrist. Thus
these ancient ruins of Nineveh show that
the art must have been known at least
seventeen hundred years before Christ.</p>
<p>That falconry was known to the ancient
races of Africa is highly probable,
though there is but little in the earlier
written history of that continent regarding
it. Egyptian carvings and drawings,
however, indicate without a doubt that
the art was there known centuries ago.
Falconry is still practiced to some extent
in Africa.</p>
<p>The art, though not obsolete in those
countries of Europe where, in the middle
ages, it was regarded as the greatest
and most noble of all sports, is not national
in its character. During the reign
of William the Conqueror laws were enacted
in England which were most stringent
regarding falconry. At one time
“falcons and hawks were allotted to degrees
and orders of men according to
rank and station, to royalty the jerfalcon,
to an earl the peregrine, to a yeoman the
goshawk, to a priest the sparrow-hawk,
and to a knave or servant the useless kestrel.”</p>
<p>To train a hawk for this sport requires
great skill and patience. The temper,
disposition and, in fact, every peculiarity
of each individual bird must be carefully
studied. In these respects it may be said
that no two birds are exactly alike. Technically
the name falcon, as used by the
falconer, is applied only to the female of
the various species used in the conducting
of this sport.</p>
<p>The peregrine falcon or hawk is usually
accepted as the type falcon of falconry.
The name peregrine, from the
Latin peregrinus, means wandering, and
refers to the fact that this species is almost
cosmopolitan, though the geographical
races are given varietal names.
The duck hawk (Falco peregrinus anatum)
is one of the representatives in
America. “The food of this hawk consists
almost exclusively of birds, of which
water-fowl and shore birds form the
greater part.”</p>
<p>The Hawks of our illustration are natives
of North America ranging from
Mexico northward. The American
Rough-legged Hawk (Archibuteo lagopus
sancti-johannis) is a geographical
variety of a rough-legged form that is
found in northern Europe and Asia. It
is also known by the names of Black
Rough-legged and Black Hawk.</p>
<p>This Hawk is one of the largest and
most attractive of all the species of North
America. Dr. Fisher tells us that “it is
mild and gentle in disposition, and even
when adult may be tamed in the course
of a few days so that it will take food
from the hand and allow its head and
back to be stroked. When caged with
other species of hawks, it does not as a
rule fight for the food, but waits until
the others have finished, before it begins
to eat.”</p>
<p>In spite of its large size and apparent
strength it does not exhibit the spirit that
is so characteristic of the falcons. It preys
almost entirely on field mice and other
rodents, frogs and probably, at times
and in certain localities, upon insects
especially the grasshoppers. It is said
that they will feed upon lizards, snakes
and toads. They do not molest the poultry
of the farmer or the game birds of the
field, forest or of our water courses, at
least not to any extent. Their size and
their slow and heavy flight would nearly
always give sufficient warning to permit
the ordinary fowls to seek cover.</p>
<p>No better evidence as to the character
of its food can be furnished than the results
of the examination of forty-nine
stomachs as related by Dr. Fisher. Of
these forty contained mice; five, other
mammals; one, lizards; one, the remains
of seventy insects (this specimen was
killed in Nebraska); and four, were
empty. It is interesting to note “that the
southern limit of its wanderings in winter
is nearly coincident with the southern
boundary of the region inhabited by
meadow mice.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div>
<p>Sir John Richardson says, “In the softness
and fullness of its plumage, its feathered
legs and habits, this bird bears some
resemblance to the owls. It flies slowly,
sits for a long time on the bough of a
tree, watching for mice, frogs, etc., and
is often seen sailing over swampy pieces
of ground, and hunting for its prey by
the subdued daylight, which illuminates
even the midnight hours in the high parallels
of latitude.” Mr. Ridgway says,
“for noble presence and piercing eye this
bird has few equals among our Falconidae.”</p>
<p>The eggs of this species vary from two
to five and are usually somewhat blotched
or irregularly marked with chocolate
brown on a dull white background.</p>
<p>The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis)
of our illustration is young and shows
the plumage of the immature form.</p>
<p>This species may be called our winter
hawk and for this reason the name borealis
is most appropriate. “The coldest
days of January serve to give this hawk
a keener eye and a deeper zest for the
chase.” The best locality to seek the
Red-tail may be found at the wooded
borders of pastures and streams, where
it can easily perceive and swoop down
upon its prey. It seldom visits a barnyard,
but will occasionally catch a fowl
that has strayed away from the protection
of buildings. Its food consists to a
great extent of meadow and other species
of mice, rabbits and other rodents. The
remains of toads, frogs and snakes have
also been found in its stomach. One
writer says, “The Red-tailed Hawk is
a powerful bird and I once saw one
strike a full-grown muskrat, which it tore
to pieces and devoured the greater part.”</p>
<p>Dr. Fisher gives an interesting summary
of the examination of five hundred
and sixty-two stomachs. Fifty-four contained
poultry or game birds; fifty-one,
other birds; two hundred and seventy-eight
contained mice; one hundred and
thirty-one, other mammals; thirty-seven,
frogs and related animals or reptiles; forty-seven,
insects; eight, crawfish; one,
centipedes; thirteen, offal, and eighty-nine
were empty. This surely is not a
bad showing for this bird, so often maligned
by being called “hen” or “chicken-hawk.”
Its preferred food is evidently
the smaller mammals, and as it is
common or even abundant it must be of
great value to agricultural interests. The
younger birds are more apt to take poultry
because of “a lack of skill in procuring
a sufficient quantity of the more usual
prey.”</p>
<p>Mr. P. M. Silloway says, “None of the
Hawks has suffered more undeserved
persecution than has the Red-tailed Buzzard
or Hawk, whose characteristics
place it among the ignoble falcons, or
hawks, of feudal times. Lacking the
swiftness and impetuosity of attack peculiar
to the true falcons, it depends on
its ability to surprise its prey and drop
upon it when unable to escape.”</p>
<p>During the summer months it retires
to the forests to breed, where it builds a
large and bulky though shallow nest in
trees, often at a height of from fifty to
seventy-five feet from the ground. The
nest is constructed of sticks and small
twigs and lined with grass, moss, feathers
or other soft materials. The number
of eggs is usually three, though there
may be two or four. They are a little
over two inches long and less than two
inches in diameter. They are dull
whitish in color and usually somewhat
marked with various shades of brown.</p>
<p>The full plumage of the adult is not
acquired for some time and the bird has
been long full grown before the characteristic
red color of the tail appears.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Seth Mindwell.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_55">55</div>
<h2 id="c4">INTERESTING STONE HOUSES.</h2>
<p>While the children were playing in a
small brook, they found something entirely
new to them, and as usual, came
with hands full, shouting, “We have found
something new! Do you know what
these are?”</p>
<p>These new treasures proved to be the
larvae of the caddis fly in their stone
houses. This little creature is noted for
its complete metamorphosis. The female
fly often descends to the depth of a foot
or more in water to deposit her eggs. As
the eggs hatch the habits of their larvae
are exceedingly interesting.</p>
<p>They are aquatic, being long, softish
grubs, with six feet. The fish are very
fond of them, for which reason they are
in great demand for bait. The angler
looks for “cad-bait” along the edges of
streams, under stones, or on the stalks of
aquatic plants. One can easily see that
their lives are not free from care and danger,
and so to protect themselves, they
are very wise in building cylindrical
cases in which they live during this dangerous
period. The different species, of
which there are many, seem to have their
individual preference as to the substance
which they employ in building these
houses, some using bits of wood, others
shells, pebbles, or straws. They readily
disregard these preferences when there is
a lack of the material which they usually
prefer.</p>
<p>Those brought to me were made of
different colored pebbles and were very
pretty homes. We counted the pebbles
in one of them and found there were
eighty-nine used, and built so securely
that it could not be easily crushed by our
fingers. They were all about an inch in
length, a quarter of an inch in diameter
and were perfect cylinders with a large
pebble fastening one end; so no fish could
catch them unawares. We placed them in
water, where we could watch their development.
They never willingly left their
homes, only thrusting the head and a portion
of the body out in search of food.</p>
<p>When about to pass into the torpid
pupa state, they fastened their houses to
some sticks and stones in the water, and
then closed the end with a strong silken
grating, which allowed the water to pass
freely through their houses, keeping them
sweet and fresh. We are told that this
fresh water is necessary for the respiration
of the pupa. Thus they remain quiet
for a time until they are ready to assume
the imago form. When that important
period arrives they make an opening in
the silken grating with a pair of hooked
jaws, which seem to have developed while
resting in the pupa state. They also have
become efficient swimmers, using their
long hind legs to assist them. After enjoying
this new exercise of swimming for
a short time they evidently become
anxious for a wider experience, and coming
to the surface of the water, usually
climbing up some plant, the skin of the
swimmer gapes open and out flies the perfect
insect. Sometimes this final change
takes place on the surface of the water,
when they use their deserted skin as a
sort of raft, from which to rise into the
air, and away they go to new fields and
new experiences. These insects are
known as the caddis-fly of the order
Neuroptera, having four wings, measuring
about an inch when full spread, with
branched nervures, of which the anterior
pair are clothed with hairs; the posterior
pair are folded in repose. The head is
furnished with a pair of large eyes, with
three ocelli, and the antennae are generally
very long.</p>
<p>If you know the haunts of this interesting
house builder, scatter some bright
sand and tiny pebbles in the water, and
when they are deserted, gather the houses
for your collection.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Rest H. Metcalf.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div>
<h2 id="c5">THE ALASKAN SPARROW.</h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">There’s a far-away country, a wonderful land</p>
<p class="t">That the twilight loves best, where the finger of God</p>
<p class="t0">Touched the land into shadows; unlighted they stand</p>
<p class="t">As they stood at the first over-ocean and sod,</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">And the cloud and the mountain are one; all unheard</p>
<p class="t">Is the murmur of traffic, the sigh of unrest,</p>
<p class="t0">And the King of the land is a golden-crowned bird</p>
<p class="t">With a robe of plain brown and an ashy-gray vest.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Where the shadows are deepest a musical sound</p>
<p class="t">Cleaves their darkness, the song of the golden-crowned King.</p>
<p class="t0">Never day is so dark but the sweet notes are heard,</p>
<p class="t">Never forest so dense but the melodies ring.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Sing on, little King of the twilight land, sing,</p>
<p class="t">Thy kingdom extend through the oncoming days,</p>
<p class="t0">Till the spaces between us with music shall ring,</p>
<p class="t">And the world hush its breath but to listen and praise.</p>
<p class="lr">—Nelly Hart Woodworth.</p>
</div>
<div class="fig"> id="fig2"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9201.jpg" alt="" width-obs="693" height-obs="500" /> <p class="caption">DOWITCHER. <br/>(Macrorhamphus griseus.) <br/>Nearly ⅔ Life-size.
<br/><span class="small">FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div>
<h2 id="c6">THE DOWITCHER. <br/><span class="small">(<i>Macrorhamphus griseus.</i>)</span></h2>
<p>The range of the Dowitcher is limited
to the eastern part of North America. It
has been reported as far west as the Mississippi
river. It breeds in the far north,
usually within the Arctic Circle. Its migration
is extensive for it winters in Florida,
the West Indies and in the northern
portion of South America.</p>
<p>The Dowitcher is one of the best
known of our coast birds. It bears many
popular names, such as Gray Snipe,
Gray-back, Dowitch, Driver, Brown-back
and Bay Bird. The generic name Macrorhamphus
is derived from two Greek
words, makros, meaning large, and
rhamphos, meaning bill. The specific
name griseus means gray, and probably
has reference to the grayish color of the
winter plumage.</p>
<p>The Dowitchers are the most numerous
of the seaside snipes. Inland it is replaced
by the Long-billed Dowitcher
(Macrorhamphus scolopaceus), which has
a longer bill and is a little larger. Mr.
Wilson, in his Ornithology, gives the
following interesting account of their
habits: “They frequent the sandbars and
mud of flats at low water in search of
food and, being less suspicious of a boat
than of a person on shore, they are easily
approached by this medium and shot down
in great numbers. I have frequently
amused myself with the various actions
of these birds. They fly rapidly, sometimes
wheeling, coursing and doubling
along the surface of the marshes; then
shooting high in the air, there separating
and forming in various bodies, uttering a
kind of quivering whistle.” At the retreat
of the tide flocks will frequently settle
on the shore in such large numbers
and so close together that several dozen
have been killed at a single shot.</p>
<p>Mr. Chapman tells us that “they migrate
in compact flocks, which are easily
attracted to decoys by an imitation of
their call. Mud-flats and bars exposed by
the falling tide are their chosen feeding
grounds. On the Gulf coast of Florida I
have seen several hundred gathered in
such close rank that they entirely concealed
the sandbar on which they were
resting.”</p>
<p>In summer the general color of these
birds is dark-brown and the feathers are
more or less edged with a reddish tinge.
Underneath, the general color is light
cinnamon, with white on the belly. In the
winter the plumage is more gray and the
under parts are much lighter in color.</p>
<p>This bird usually lays four eggs of a
buffy olive color, which are marked by
brown, especially near the larger end.</p>
<hr class="h2" id="c7" />
<!--
<h3>All the beautiful stars of the sky</h3>
-->
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">All the beautiful stars of the sky,</p>
<p class="t">The silver doves of the forest of Night,</p>
<p class="t0">Over the dull earth swarm and fly,</p>
<p class="t">Companions of our flight.</p>
<p class="lr">—James Thomson.</p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div>
<h2 id="c8">SOME THINGS WE MIGHT LEARN FROM THE LOWER ANIMALS.</h2>
<p>Man has been instructed in many
things by lower animals, but there is yet
much to be learned. It is said that the
first suspension bridge across the Niagara
was constructed after the plainest
sort of hint from a spider. Yet we have
never found the name of Mr. Spider cut
upon the buttresses of a bridge. Who
knows but that the builders of the pyramids
of ancient Egypt copied their engineering
plans from the ants who for generations
had pursued similar methods in
the architecture of their cities? Spiders
had been ballooning for many centuries
before man swung his first parachute to
the breeze. In fact, there is a species of
spider, which, although they have no
wings, are able to spin for themselves a
sort of apparatus by means of which they
navigate the air; yet man, with all his
boasted intelligence, has not accomplished
this, even with the most complicated
machinery. So I might go on to
suggest many mechanical and economic
contrivances used by lower animals, some
of which man has copied but many of
which he has as yet been unable to equal.</p>
<p>Before the first potter of old had fashioned
a vase or a jug the Eumenes fraterna
had constructed his dainty little
jugs of mud. But the making of jugs is
not the only art man might learn from
this little wasp. Upon examination we
find the jug filled with small green caterpillars.
After depositing her egg Mrs.
Wasp thus provides for her baby when it
shall appear upon the field of action. Now
the peculiar part of this proceeding to
which I wish to call attention is that the
worm is not dead, but is merely in a comatose
state. If it had been killed it would
have putrified and entirely disappeared
before the young wasp was hatched.
Furthermore, the young wasp is fond of
fresh caterpillar steak, preferably from
the living animal. So Mrs. Wasp must
have a method of preserving the fresh living
victim for her rapacious progeny next
spring, while he is too young to hunt for
himself, and while the caterpillars are still
securely hiding in their mummy cases,
Mrs. Wasp finds the venturesome young
caterpillar crawling somewhere, and
pouncing upon him, carefully inserts her
sting into the nerve ganglia that are located
in a line along his dorsal surface.
We don’t know how she learned the exact
location of the ganglia and that a few
well-directed stabs will produce more effect
than hundreds of misdirected thrusts
in other parts of the body, but it is certainly
true that she selects the very segments
in which the ganglia are located to
inflict the wound. And she had the location
of these nerve centers for a long time
before biologists made the discovery.
What a fine thing it would be for the
biologist if he could learn the secret of
thus preserving living animals instead of
the stiff, discolored and uninteresting alcoholic
specimens. Then think of the
economic value of such a discovery. Animals
could be fattened in summer at
much smaller expense and then injected
and set away until needed. We would
have no more difficulty in providing our
armies with beef on the hoof, and fresh
meat could be shipped at much less expense
over long distances, as no ice
would be necessary. We would have no
more complaint of embalmed beef and
putrid canned goods.</p>
<p>The common mud wasp that builds in
old garrets fills his nest with a species of
spider much relished by the young wasp
and exhibits much judgment in supplying
exactly the right number to provide for
the growing wasp until he is able to sally
forth and seize prey for himself. These
spiders—often seventeen or eighteen of
them—are stupefied in the same manner
as in the case of the potter wasp, and are
living when the young wasp begins his
repast. This habit is peculiar to many
<span class="pb" id="Page_61">61</span>
species of wasp and is, I think, worthy of
careful study. I wish I had space to tell
of the almost fiendish ingenuity that certain
parasites show in maintaining themselves
at the expense of their hosts.</p>
<p>The ground hog has a knack of spending
his winter in a way that is at once economical
and pleasant. They generally
hibernate in pairs, rolling themselves up
into balls. They do not seem to breathe
or to perform any of the life functions
during their long six months’ sleep.
There is, I fear, no foundation of fact for
the ancient fiction of the ground hog appearing
and making weather prognostications
on the second of February. A
gentleman writing in the New York Sun
of some years since says: “I took the
trouble once to dig into a woodchuck’s
burrow on Candlemas day, and a warm,
cloudy day it was; just such a day when
the ground hog is said to come out of his
hole and stay out. I found two woodchucks
in the burrow, with no more signs
of life about them than if they had been
shot and killed. From all outward appearances
I could have taken them out
and had a game of football with them
without their knowing it.”</p>
<p>Nor is it true that hibernating animals
live upon their accumulated fat, for digestion,
as well as other active life processes,
ceases. Hibernating animals always
begin their long sleep upon an
empty stomach, and food injected into
their stomach is not digested. The fat
disappears, it is true, but it is not in any
strict sense digested. Any experienced
hunter is aware that unless the entrails
are removed from the shot rabbit the fat
will disappear from about the kidneys.
The fat may, and no doubt does, assist in
some way in the long sleep. It may act
as fuel to keep up the right living temperature.
At any rate, it is true that hibernating
animals eat voraciously and grow
very fat just before they go to sleep. It
is a peculiar fact that many hibernating
animals bring forth their young during
this period. This is especially true of
woodchucks and bears. It is a common
experience with hunters that only male
bears are killed during the winter season.</p>
<p>Mr. Andrew Fuller of Ridgewood,
New Jersey, according to the article
above quoted, had an interesting experience
with a pair of Rocky Mountain
ground squirrels. After missing them
for a month he accidentally found them
curled up under some straw, apparently
frozen stiff. He brought them to the
house to show his wife the misfortune that
had befallen his pets. Soon they seemed
to thaw out and scampered about as lively
as ever. No sooner were they put out
in the cold than they resumed their sleep,
which continued all winter, their bodies
maintaining a fairly constant temperature,
seldom falling below three degrees
above the freezing point of water. They
came out in the spring as chipper as if
they had been asleep but one night. Many
hibernating animals will if wakened by
being placed in a warm room, eat eagerly,
but they soon show a desire to resume
their nap.</p>
<p>The Loir, a peculiar little native of
Senegal, never hibernates in its native
clime, but every specimen brought to Europe
becomes torpid when exposed to
cold. The common land tortoise—wherever
he may be and he is a voracious eater
of almost anything—always goes to sleep
in November, and wakes some time in
May.</p>
<p>Just as in the north numerous animals
hibernate upon approach of cold, so in
the south there are species that may be
said to estivate during the hottest
weather. While the northern animals
curl up so as to retain heat, his southern
cousin straightens out as much as possible
to allow the heat to escape from all
parts of the body.</p>
<p>But it was not my intention to write an
essay upon hibernation and allied phenomena,
but merely to speak of it as a
subject that should be investigated.
What a splendid arrangement it would
be for the poor, the sick, and the melancholy
folk if they could just hibernate for
six months occasionally.</p>
<p>I will merely speak of the light of the
so called lightning bug, with its over
ninety per centum efficiency and no heat
and no consumption of fuel to speak of.
Why doesn’t some genius learn her language
and find out how she does it? She
has been trying for centuries to demonstrate
it but we are too stupid to learn her
secret.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Rowland Watts.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div>
<h2 id="c9">THE GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. <br/><span class="small">(<i>Quiscalus macrourus.</i>)</span></h2>
<p>The Great-tailed Grackle belongs to a
family of birds that is “eminently characteristic
of the New World, all the species
being peculiar to America.” It is the
family of the blackbird and oriole, of the
bobolink and the meadowlark. It is called
the Icteridae, from a Greek word ikteros,
meaning a yellow bird. The majority of
the one hundred and fifty or more species
that are grouped in this family make their
home in the tropics where their brilliant
colors are emphasized by the ever green
foliage and the bright sunshine.</p>
<p>The family is interesting because the
species, though closely related, vary so
widely in their habits. They “are found
living in ground of every nature, from
dry plains and wet marshes to the densest
forest growth.” Here are classed some
of the birds which are among the most
beautiful of our songsters. Here, too, are
classed some species that never utter a
musical sound, and whose voices are
harsh and rough. The sexes are usually
dissimilar, the female being the smaller
and generally much duller in color.</p>
<p>The Great-tailed Grackle is a native of
Eastern Texas, and the country southward
into Central America. The Grackles
are sometimes called Crow Blackbirds.
There are five species, all found in the
United States, The Bronzed and the Purple
Grackles are the most generally distributed
and best known.</p>
<p>The Great-tailed Grackle, as well as the
other species, usually builds rude and
bulky nests in trees, sometimes at quite a
height from the ground. It will also nest
in shrubs and it is said that it will occasionally
select holes in large trees. The
males are an iridescent black in color and
the females are brown and much smaller.
Both sexes spend most of their time on
the ground. Their feet are strong and
large, and, when upon the ground, they
walk or run and never hop.</p>
<h2 id="c10">THE EAGLE.</h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">He clasps the crag with hooked hands;</p>
<p class="t0">Close to the sun in lonely lands,</p>
<p class="t0">Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;</p>
<p class="t0">He watches from his mountain walls,</p>
<p class="t0">And like a thunderbolt he falls.</p>
<p class="lr">—Alfred Tennyson.</p>
</div>
<div class="fig"> id="fig3"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9202.jpg" alt="" width-obs="791" height-obs="500" /> <p class="caption">GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. <br/>(Quiscalus macrourus.) <br/>½ Life-size.
<br/><span class="small">FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES</span></p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_65">65</div>
<h2 id="c11">THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS.</h2>
<p>What do we mean by the “Geographical
Distribution” of birds? Are not
birds to be found everywhere, over both
land and sea? Are they not, then, universally
distributed? As a class they certainly
are, but not as species nor even orders.
Parrots are not found in frigid regions,
nor are snowflakes and snowy owls
found in the tropical regions. Our Wood
Warblers and Vireos are not found outside
of America, while there are no birds
of Paradise anywhere in America. We
shall see that most of the birds found in
the eastern hemisphere differ from those
found in the western, speaking broadly,
but that many of the island birds are different
from birds of continents.</p>
<p>Since most birds migrate shorter or
longer distances in search of a place to
rear their young, and return again to
warmer regions to pass the winter
months, the question at once arises,
What is the geographical distribution of
such migratory birds? That is not so
difficult as it may seem at first glance. We
have only to inquire what governs the
movements of the species in question in
such a way that its appearance at certain
places at certain known times may be
confidently expected. The study of migration
and breeding has shown that the
impulse to move northward in the spring
to the old nesting-places where the young
are reared is more reliable than the impulse
to move southward on the approach
of cold. The birds are more certain to
appear at their old summer homes in
spring than they are to be found at any
particular place during the winter. But if
there be any objection to this view it will
yet remain true that where a bird rears its
young should more properly be called its
home than the place to which it is forced
by the approach of cold or the lack of
food. In either case, therefore, we may
regard the home of the bird, and therefore
treat its distribution geographically
as the place where it habitually rears its
young. Having settled the question as
to what shall determine the distribution
of the separate species, it remains to
study the physical conditions of the earth
for the sake of finding what it is that determines
the limits to which the different
species may go.</p>
<p>We know that the distribution of land
and water over the earth has not always
been the same as it is now, but that many
places that are now covered with water
were once dry land, and that in many
places where there is now land there used
to be water. Now, America is wholly
separated from Uro-Asia-Africa, but
once they were connected together by a
broad neck of land where Bering Sea now
lies, and there may have been another
neck of land connecting Europe with Iceland
and Greenland and so with North
America. Now Australia and New Zealand
are wholly separated from all other
lands, but they were not so long ago. So
of the larger islands in general, they have
not always been isolated as now, but
connected with great land masses, sharing
with them the animals which roamed
over the whole vast regions. For in the
earlier times before Man had appeared
upon the earth, before the great Glacial
Period, the whole earth was tropical
in climate, making it possible for plants
as well as animals to live anywhere upon
the earth, as they cannot now. Then extensive
migrations north and south were
not necessary, but instead there were
roamings about in all directions, or great
invasions of new regions by hosts of animals
of one kind.</p>
<p>As the land sank away here and there,
and the sea covered it, barriers were thus
formed to further roamings, except by
the birds of strong flight or animals that
could swim long distances, and there
could no longer be an intermingling of
the animals of the whole land surface of
the world. Since all animals are inclined
to change somewhat to meet or keep
pace with the changes that are going on
in vegetation and the general physical
<span class="pb" id="Page_66">66</span>
conditions of the earth, those that have
been separated in this way will grow
more and more unlike. In some such
isolated regions there may not be much
change in their environment and so they
will change but little, if at all, and so
will not keep pace with those in other
regions where life is a constant struggle
with others for supremacy. It is just as
true in the natural world as in the commercial,
that competition is necessary
for the highest development. It is probably
true that the disturbances which
caused the land to sink in places and so
disconnect what had been connected
lands, possibly a splitting up of one great
flat land mass, also brought about the
changes which made out of one great
tropical world the one that we know with
its frigid, temperate and tropical zones.
So that just at the time when the animals
of the different regions were separated
from each other forever there came these
changes in physical conditions which
would make them change to meet the
new conditions. But that is a long story
for the geologist to tell. Of course the
sinking of the land in different regions
occurred at different times, probably
thousands of years apart in many cases.
And the changes from tropical to temperate
and frigid must have been very
gradual also, or there would have been
no animals left alive in the northern and
southern regions. Only those near the
equator could have lived.</p>
<p>Probably New Zealand was the first
considerable land mass to be separated
absolutely and for all time from all other
land, because here we find the lowest
type of birds and lower animals. There
are no terrestrial indigenous mammals
even. Such birds as were not able to fly
across the now wide stretches of ocean
did not continue to develop rapidly because
there was little change in their environment
and because there was little
or no competition with other similar
forms. So to-day we find them either
very similar to what they were when their
island home was made an island home, or
else even degenerated into flightless
creatures. Australia seems to have been
the next tract of land cut off, for here,
too, we meet with the lower forms which
show the lack of the keen competition
which their relatives further north had to
sustain. When North America was cut
off from Siberia, marking the close of
more or less extensive interchange of
communication of the animals of both
regions, there was little difference in their
animal life; but following this separation
there came about a more rapid change
in the Orient than in the Occident. It
may not be quite clear why this was so,
but that it was cannot be doubted, for
some of the lower forms of animals which
still inhabit America have been completely
destroyed in the Orient. At the
time of their separation these forms were
found in both places. What seems a
probable explanation of this more rapid
change in the Orient may be briefly
stated. The configuration of the Orient
is such that animals would have a far
greater range east and west than north
and south. A great mountain range and
a great desert are thrown as barriers
across the way of the northward and
southward movement. In America there
is a continuous gateway to the north and
south, but barriers to an eastward or
westward movement. With such creatures
as the birds freedom to move
north and south would always lessen
competition, while the crowding of one
group or race upon another eastward or
westward would increase the competition.
But Geology tells us that in the
Orient such westward invasions have actually
occurred, causing the death of the
less hardy forms and the modification of
all forms of animal life.</p>
<p>It must not be understood, from what
has been said, that all the animals, especially
the birds, found in any one country
or island, are different from the birds
found in all others, for that is not true.
There are many species of birds that are
found practically all over the earth. But
what is true is that each country or region
of any considerable extent, or group
of oceanic islands has some species which
are not found anywhere else in the world.</p>
<p>From what has already been said it
will be clear that the world may be divided
into several different regions, according
to the animals which are peculiar to
the different ones. Following Newton’s
system, because it seems the most logical,
<span class="pb" id="Page_67">67</span>
at least so far as the birds are concerned,
we have first</p>
<h3 class="generic">THE NEW ZEALAND REGION.</h3>
<p>Here we find the flightless Apteryx and
a flightless goose now extinct, also the extinct
Moa. There, are also peculiar forms
among the shore-birds, the birds of prey,
the parrots, and some rather curiously
constituted passerine birds. There have
been several species introduced in relatively
recent times, some of which already
show signs of change.</p>
<h3 class="generic">THE AUSTRALIAN REGION</h3>
<p>is but slightly connected with the preceding.
The line separating this region from
the Indian passes between the islands of
Bali and Lombok, through the Strait of
Macassar, between Borneo and Celebes,
thence northward between the Philippines
and Sanguir and Pelew; including, further
on, the Ladrones, Hawaiians, all of Polynesia
except the northern outliers of the
New Zealand group, and finally sweeping
back to encompass Australia. Here we
find the curious egg-laying mammal,
Ornithorhynchus. But to pass at once
to the birds. Here we find such peculiar
forms as the megapodes, cassowaries,
sun-bitterns, birds-of-paradise, lyre-birds,
and many not so familiar. Of the
higher birds there are but few compared
with Europe or America. It is evidently
a continent which has long been separated
from the rest of the world.</p>
<h3 class="generic">THE NEOTROPICAL REGION</h3>
<p>includes, broadly, tropical America. The
forms found here bear certain resemblances
to those found in the two regions already
discussed; but this resemblance is probably
rather because they are low in the
scale of development than that there has
ever been any direct land connection between
them. Much the same conditions
of life must have prevailed for all, thus
making the rate of development nearly
equal. Here we find the rhea, tinamou
and hoactzin, which show low grade; but
mingling freely with them the higher
forms which seem to have come down
from the north later and all but crowded
out these lower ones. There is abundant
evidence that the struggle for existence in
South America has been far less severe
than in North America.</p>
<h3 class="generic">THE HOLARCTIC REGION,</h3>
<p>as the name implies, includes all of
North America, Europe, Asia north
of India, and the Himalaya mountains,
northern Africa where the
great Sahara forms the natural boundary,
and all islands belonging to the
north temperate and north frigid zones.
Many have divided this great belt into
Palearctic and Nearctic, but the intermingling
of species between northeast
Siberia and Alaska seems to make such a
distinction impracticable. But these distinctions
should be and are retained in
the divisions of the Holarctic. When we
understand that at least one-third of the
species found in the Nearctic are also
found in the Palearctic, we shall understand
why these two are grouped under
one region. There are no orders, and
there seem to be no families which are
found in the Holarctic and nowhere else.
Indeed, it is difficult to find even genera
which do not have some species ranging
into the Neotropical, Ethiopian or Indian.
But among the species we find
many. Indeed, there are few species
which nest in both the Holarctic and in
the regions bounding it on the south, and
many of these are found only on the
southern boundaries of the Holarctic. In
our part of the Holarctic, that is, the Nearctic,
the familiar birds about us do not
nest also in the tropical regions.</p>
<h3 class="generic">THE ETHIOPIAN REGION,</h3>
<p>as the name suggests, includes the whole
of Africa except that portion north of
the Sahara desert, and Arabia and
Egypt, with Madagascar and other
islands in the immediate vicinity.
It seems hardly necessary to even
mention the forms that are peculiar
to this peculiar region. Even the
word Africa brings trooping to our
minds a whole continent of peculiarities
in more realms than one. Here we find
the Ostrich, the plantain eaters, the colies
and several, other families—nine in all.
Of the lower groups there are the rollers,
bee-eaters, horn-bills, the curious secretary-bird
and many others. It is significant
that among the Passerine birds there
are but three families that are peculiar.
So on the whole, this region has not developed
so rapidly as the Holarctic.
<span class="pb" id="Page_68">68</span>
There has not been the intense struggle
for supremacy here which we see in the
north temperate and higher regions.</p>
<h3 class="generic">THE INDIAN REGION</h3>
<p>completes the list. Broadly speaking,
this region comprises that part
of Asia which lies east of the Indus
river south of the Himalaya mountains
except the eastern half of the drainage
basin of the Yang-tse-kiang river,
reaching the coast just south of Shanghai,
including the island of Formosa, the
Philippines, Borneo, Java, Sumatra and
Ceylon. This is the Oriental Region of
Wallace. There are, apparently, but two
families of birds peculiar to this region:
the bulbuls and the broad-bills; but there
are very many genera and species found
nowhere else in the world. The king-crows,
sun-birds, swallow-shrikes, argus
pheasant, jungle fowl and the well-known
peacocks belong here. Very many of
the birds of this region are gaudily colored
and striking in appearance.</p>
<p>Each of these great regions, except
possibly New Zealand, are readily divisible
into sub-regions, and these again into
areas of lesser extent, until each fauna
may be assigned its proper place. Thus
in the Holarctic Region we recognize the
Nearctic, which comprises about all of
North America, and a Palearctic sub-region,
the outlines of which have already
been sketched. Within the Nearctic three
minor regions are recognized. The Arctic
“includes that part of the continent
and its adjacent islands north of about
the limit of forest vegetation” (Allen).
That is, extreme northern and northwestern
Alaska, sweeping southeasterly
through British America to and including
Hudson Bay, northern and northeastern
Labrador and northern Newfoundland.
The Cold Temperate, which
lies next south, begins in the east near
Quebec, then sweeps westward past the
Great Lakes almost to Winnipeg, thence
in a northwesterly direction just west of
Lake Winnipeg; from there in a more
westerly direction to the mountains, which
it follows even into northern Mexico as a
narrow line; from the west coast at the
north end of Vancouver Island it runs
east to the mountains. Maine and Nova
Scotia are a part of the Allegheny belt
which reaches to Alabama. Below this
southern limit of the Cold Temperate lies
the Warm Temperate, extending almost
to Central America. But this is again
subdivided into an eastern Humid Province
which ends at the Plains, and a western
Arid Province. These are again
subdivided into an Appalachian Subprovince
and an Austroriparian Subprovince
for the Humid Province, and a
Sonoran and Campestrian Subprovince
for the Arid Province. But the boundaries
of these minor subdivisions are not
yet definitely settled, nor are the characteristic
species in each finally decided upon,
so it will not be profitable to carry
our investigation further at this time.</p>
<p>We learn from this that when we find
that one region, be it large or small, is
unlike every other region in some particulars
of climate or vegetation or temperature,
or when it is not easily accessible
from other regions, we may expect
to find the animals somewhat different according
to the conditions which prevail.
From this it is a clear step to the truth
that an animal’s environment exerts a
considerable influence upon its life and
through its life upon its form; changing
the form in some particulars that make
it different from all other animals. It is
also true of plants. Since, then, there
are different physical conditions in every
country of any considerable size, these
changes in plants and animals are going
on now, but so slowly that we are not
able to see them. At the end of another
thousand years or longer, the species of
birds which we now know may be so
changed that we should not know them
if we could see them. But that need not
worry us!</p>
<p><span class="lr">Lynds Jones.</span></p>
<div class="fig"> id="fig4"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9203.jpg" alt="" width-obs="500" height-obs="725" /> <p class="caption">HOODED WARBLER. <br/>(Silvania mitrata.) <br/>Life-size.
<br/><span class="small">FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div>
<h2 id="c12">THE HOODED WARBLER <br/><span class="small">(<i>Sylvania mitrata.</i>)</span></h2>
<p class="bq">“He was recognizable at once by the bright yellow hood he wore, bordered all around
with deep black. A bright, flitting blossom of the bird
world!”—<i>Leander S. Keyser, in
Bird Land.</i></p>
<p>This beautiful little warbler is a resident
of the eastern United States. It is
more common in the southern portion of
this district and throughout the Mississippi
Valley. Its breeding range extends
from the Gulf of Mexico as far to
the northward as southern Michigan. It
winters in the West Indies, in Mexico,
and in Central America. Though a wood
warbler it prefers the shrubby growths
in low and well-watered places rather
than the forest. It is said to be abundant
among the canes of the Southern States.
Many other names have been given this
warbler, all having reference to the arrangement
of the black and yellow colors
on the head. It is called the Black-headed
Warbler, the Hooded Flycatching
Warbler, the Mitred Warbler, and the
Black-cap Warbler.</p>
<p>Activity seems to be the keynote of its
life. It is in constant pursuit of insects,
which it catches while they are on the
wing. Unlike the flycatchers it seldom
returns to the same perch from which it
flew to catch its prey.</p>
<p>The words of Mr. Keyser most aptly
describe the habits of the Hooded Warbler.
He says, speaking of an hour spent
in observing the bird’s behavior, “He was
not in the least shy or nervous, but
seemed rather to court my presence. Almost
every moment was spent in capturing
insects on the wing or in sitting on a
perch watching for them to flash into
view. Like a genuine flycatcher, as soon
as a buzzing insect hove in sight, he
would dart out after it, and never once
failed to secure his prize. Sometimes he
would plunge swiftly downward after a
gnat or miller, and once, having caught
a miller that was large and inclined to be
refractory, he flew to the ground, beat it
awhile on the clods, and then swallowed
it with a consequential air which seemed
to say, ‘That is my way of disposing of
such cases!’ Several times he mounted
almost straight up from his perch, and
twice he almost turned a somersault in
pursuit of an insect. Once he clung like
a titmouse to the hole of a sapling.”</p>
<p>To some its notes, which are quite musical,
lively, sweet and happy, seem to resemble
twee, twee, twitchie. Mr. Chapman
says the song “is subject to much
variation, but as a rule consists of eight
or nine notes. To my ear the bird seems
to say, ‘You must come to the woods, or
you won’t see me.’”</p>
<p>The nest of the Hooded Warbler is usually
built in low shrubs, sometimes but
a few inches from the ground and seldom
higher than two feet. It is constructed
of fine rootlets, and fibers of bark compactly
interwoven with leaves, fine grass
and hair. It is lined with grass, hair and
feathers. The eggs, which are usually
five in number, are white, or nearly white,
in color, with red or brownish spots near
the larger end. They are nearly three-fourths
of an inch in length, and a little
over one-half of an inch in their greatest
diameter.</p>
<p>Three years or more are required for
the development of the fully adult plumage.
The throat of the female, though
black, is not as pure a black as that of
the male, and it is not so extensive or as
well defined.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div>
<h2 id="c13">MRS. JANE’S EXPERIMENT.</h2>
<p>One is surprised at the wonderful vitality
to be found in an egg. The following
incident, almost incredible as it seems, is
an absolute fact.</p>
<p>Mrs. Jane, very fond of raising select
breeds of chickens, put a setting of fine
Brahma eggs under what she considered
an absolutely trustworthy Biddy,—but,
alas! Biddy proved unstable, like many
another biped, and went off in a few days,
leaving her nest and rather costly contents
to the mercy of the elements.</p>
<p>Mrs. Jane, in three or four days, discovered
the abandoned domicile, and, determined
not to be outdone by any such
maneuver on the part of Biddy, proposed
to show her that Brahma chickens could
be developed without the assistance of
any old hen.</p>
<p>So, not having an incubator of any approved
manufacture, she proceeded to
make one. She secured a large bread pan
to hold the water, a small wooden pail to
hold the eggs, which were wrapped in
warm flannel, and a good kerosene lamp,
which was placed under the pan holding
the water and then lighted.</p>
<p>The bucket containing the eggs was
then placed in the pan of water and the
whole apparatus left in a quiet bedroom.</p>
<p>Oh, how Mr. Jane and the boys and the
neighbors twitted Mrs. Jane about wasting
coal oil and time in keeping those
eggs warm! But, behold! in a little over
two weeks, one morning a shell was
chipped, at noon another, and by the next
morning four pert little downy fellows occupied
the bottom of the bucket, with
seven unhatched eggs.</p>
<p>Those chickens grew faster than almost
any chickens ever known. They were
never anything but tame, and the most
active of the four, who bears the appropriate
name of Theodore Roosevelt, allows
any one to pick him up and fondle
him, but is ready to fight with anything
in the poultry yard—big chicken, little
chicken, the skye terrier, the cat or anything
else that is or might be in his way.
Mrs. Jane says she never was sorry for
her experiment but once, and that is all
the time.</p>
<p>The cause for Mrs. Jane’s regret is the
fact that whether she be in the hen yard,
kitchen or parlor, no place except right
under her motherly gown is quite good
enough for these enterprising birds.</p>
<p>Recently I saw “Teddy” open the
screen and walk into the kitchen.</p>
<p>He lifted his foot, pulled the screen
open wide enough to admit his head and
then pushed his whole body, now quite
large and plump, through the crack.</p>
<p>How long this interesting little hero,
with his mates, will be permitted to enjoy
the rights of chickendom yet remains
to be seen, but the fact that “Mrs. Jane’s
incubator was a success” has been admitted
by all who were so skeptical when
she began her novel experiment.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Mary Noland.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div>
<h2 id="c14">A STROLL IN THE FROST KING’S REALM.</h2>
<p>The rain of the night before had turned
into a heavy sleet, followed by blustering
weather. All day the sun was hidden by
gray clouds, accompanied with fitful
snow showers; but at last the clouds were
dispelled and the following morning
dawned clear and cold.</p>
<p>As the sun slowly rose above the horizon
he added dazzling brilliance to the already
lovely landscape.</p>
<p>The mercury was very little above zero
as I sought the woods to reap the full
benefit of this wonderful transformation
of Nature. Just two days ago she wore
her usual garb of neutral tints; but what
a magical change the Frost King had
wrought in this time! The earth was
now covered with a white mantle of snow
and every tree and shrub had on a glittering
armor of sleet. A few minutes’ brisk
walk over the crisp snow brought me to
a corn field, and by wending my way
along a path through this field I arrived
at a strip of woodland. Here the path
merged into a narrow wagon road cut out
of a steep bluff. The entrance to this
road introduced me to a land of enchantment.</p>
<p>On either side the face of the bluff was
covered with a tangled growth of shrubs,
briers and weeds, while above were trees
whose over-arching branches sparkled in
the sun, showing all the colors of the
rainbow. Every branch and twig was
decked with gems—rubies, sapphires,
emeralds and diamonds everywhere—and
diamond dust formed a carpet underneath.
The low bushes at the base of the
bank where sheltered from the wind’s disarranging
blast, were wrapped in finest
ermine. Just in front of me, to the left,
was a wild rose, a fountain of purest
crystal, the effect heightened by its scarlet
hips. A little further on was a small
tree draped with a tangled vine with clusters
of pendant fruit, like crystallized
grapes. On the other hand were raspberry
canes, the livid red gleaming
through the dazzling frost, and all around
was goldenrod, more resplendent than
when its golden blossoms lighted the way
in autumn, and the asters shone like
jewel-rayed stars.</p>
<p>A barbed-wire fence, as far as the eye
could reach, was converted into endless
strings of pearls. I gazed upon this vision
until, becoming dazzled, I turned from
the sun to rest my eyes, and in the background
saw trees that formed pearly silhouettes
against the dark blue sky. Was
any enchanted land more entrancing?</p>
<p>Turning again, I resumed my walk to
the foot of the hill, and, by the aid of the
bushes and saplings, scrambled up its precipitous
face and pushed onward through
the underbrush, parting the interlacing
branches as I went until I reached a ravine.</p>
<p>I continued onward, recognizing the
familiar trees everywhere; though divested
of foliage and incased in crystal, each
variety has its distinctive form and bark.
A musical tinkle accompanied every
movement as I brushed the twigs and
grasses along the way.</p>
<p>One not accustomed to the study of
Nature in her various moods might suppose
that such a landscape would be devoid
of animation. But this was not the
case. A very pleasing feature of the
scene was the animal life that abounded.
A rabbit snugly concealed beneath a
bunch of grass started up, bounded away,
and was soon lost to view in the thicket.
Small flocks of snowbirds and chickadees
were flitting gaily about. A crow sat in
the top of a majestic oak and cawed lustily
in answer to one that was faintly
heard in the distance. A pair of cardinals
flew about the border of the woods, and a
single woodpecker was high up on the
trunk of a tree, while another, whose
form could not be detected, was hammering
away. All these were suited to the
environment, but not so was yonder lone
blackbird, doubtless a straggler from a
flock which had settled in the tree of the
yard in the early morning.</p>
<p>Lured by the pleasant, mild weather of
the preceding week, they had arrived
only to encounter snow and mid-winter,
and would doubtless retreat to more congenial
surroundings and absent themselves
until the true springtime should
herald the approach of summer.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Addie L. Booker.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div>
<h2 id="c15">SNAILS OF THE FOREST AND FIELD.</h2>
<p>The forest is the home of the snail,
where these interesting little animals may
be found by any one desiring a closer acquaintance.
They are not generally easy
to find, being mostly nocturnal in habits
and remaining hidden away under leaves,
stones and old logs during the daytime.
On rainy days, however, they may be
seen crawling about, enjoying the delicious
moisture.</p>
<p>In our last article we reviewed a few of
the most interesting families of bivalve
shells, and in the present paper we desire
to draw the attention of the reader to the
order Pulmonata, which includes those
snails breathing air by means of a modified
lung. The snails differ from the clams
in having the body generally protected by
a spiral shell which is capable of containing
the entire animal. The former have
a more or less expanded creeping disk
which we call a foot, a head generally
separated from the body by a neck (the
reader will remember that the clams are
headless), and also a pair of rather
long eye peduncles protruding from the
top of the head, which bear at their tips
the round, black eyes, and a pair of short
tactile organs, or tentacles, extending
from the lower part of the head. The eye-peduncles
are peculiar in being invertible
in the same manner that a kid glove finger
is pulled inside out.</p>
<p>The mouth is placed in the lower plane
of the head and is recognized externally
as a simple slit. Inside of the mouth is
placed one of the most wonderful dental
apparatuses known to science. This is
called the radula, odontophore or tooth-bearer,
and is a belt of chitinous, transparent,
yellowish or colorless material,
its upper surface being armed with numerous
siliceous teeth arranged in longitudinal
and parallel rows. The radula is
placed in an organ called the buccal sac
and occupies a position in the sac analogous
to that of the tongue in a cat or
dog, viz., on the floor of the mouth. It is
formed from a layer of cells in the posterior
part of the buccal sac, called the
radula sac, and new teeth are constantly
forming here to take the place of those
which have become worn by use. The
whole radula rests upon a cartilage, is
strongly fastened at the anterior end, and
is brought down between the two fleshy
lips of the mouth where it performs a
backward and forward movement, thus
rasping off with the sharp teeth particles
of food which have been cut into small
pieces by the horny jaw. During this
process the morsel of food is pressed
against the top or roof of the mouth. The
jaw is placed in the upper part of the
mouth in front of the radula, and is frequently
armed with ribs to aid in cutting
or biting off pieces of food, as leaves or
vegetables.</p>
<p>As before remarked, the radula is made
up of parallel rows of teeth, the whole
area being usually divided into five longitudinal
rows, each row differing from the
one next to it. We have first a central
row, on each side of this a lateral row and
finally a marginal row. Each tooth in
each row is made up of different parts, a
basal part attached to the radula belt and
an upper part which is turned over or reflexed
and bent backward so as to tear
off food particles by a backward movement
of the whole apparatus. This diversity
of form in the teeth has led conchologists
to adopt a tooth formula similar
to that adopted for vertebrate animals,
so that the teeth of different species
can be compared and the animals classified
thereby. Thus each tooth has certain
prominences called cusps, which
vary in size, number and position, and
serve admirably to describe the different
groups of snails. All the mollusca, except
the bivalves, are provided with this
radula.</p>
<div class="fig"> id="fig5"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9204.jpg" alt="" width-obs="500" height-obs="703" /> <p class="caption">LAND SHELLS. <br/><span class="small">FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.</span></p> </div>
<dl class="undent"><br/>First row:
<br/>Helix fidelis (California)
<br/>Helix pomatia (Europe)
<br/>Liguus fasciatus (Florida)
<br/>Second row:
<br/>Cyclophorus appendiculatus (Philippines)
<br/>Bulimus chiliensis (South America)
<br/>Third row:
<br/>Helix albolabris (U. S.)
<br/>Helix haemastoma (India)
<br/>Fourth row:
<br/>Helix profunda (U. S.)
<br/>Nanina lamarkiana (Philippines)
<br/>Glandina truncata (Florida)
<br/>Fifth row:
<br/>Zonites fuliginosus (U. S.)
<br/>Achatinella (Sandwich Islands)
<br/>Helix intorta (Philippines)
<br/>Bottom row:
<br/>Cerion microstoma (Cuba)
<br/>Clausilia macarana (Dalmatia)
<br/>Bulimulus multilineatus (Florida)
<br/>Helix nemoralis (Europe)
<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div>
<p>One of the most wonderful and interesting
facts connected with the radula is
the large number of teeth on each membrane.
Thus in some species of our common
snails there are seventy-one teeth in
a single row, and the whole radula is
made up of a hundred rows of teeth, making
a grand total of seventy-one hundred
teeth in the mouth of a single snail!</p>
<p>Land snails are found almost everywhere,
in valleys, high up on mountains,
and even in deserts. They may be found
in the cold climate of Alaska or in the
tropical zone under the equator. As a
rule, they prefer moist localities, where
there is an abundance of vegetation and
where the ground is strewn with rotting
logs, beds of decaying leaves or moss-covered
rocks. Open woodlands may be
said to be their best habitat in the northern
part of the United States.</p>
<p>The shells of the Pulmonata vary to a
wonderful degree in size, shape and coloration.
Some are so small that they can
scarcely be seen with the unaided eye,
while others attain a length of six inches;
some have the aperture of the shell armed
with numerous folds or teeth, while
others are smooth and the colors vary
from whitish or horn-colored to the gorgeously
colored helices of the tropics
with their bands and blotches of red,
brown, white or green. With all this diversity
the land shells or helices may always
be distinguished from their salt or
fresh-water relatives. The land snails
breathe by means of a so-called lung
which is a sac lined with a network of
blood vessels and occupying the last turn
or whorl of the shell. The air taken into
this lung purifies the blood.</p>
<p>Much is written at the present time upon
our new possessions, the Philippine
Islands, but few people are aware that
these islands are tenanted by the most
interesting and beautiful group of all the
land shells, the Cochlostylas, or tree
snails. The animals live for the most part
in the trees and bushes of the islands, the
island of Luzon having, probably, the
best known fauna. The animals are large
and quite bold and the shells are of surpassing
beauty, with their colors of
white, green, brown, etc. Now that these
islands have come into the possession of
the United States it is to be hoped that
these handsome creatures will receive the
study they deserve.</p>
<p>The land shells of the United States,
while numerous in species, are not as
conspicuous in color-pattern as those of
Europe, South America or the islands of
the Indian and Pacific Oceans, although
California produces some highly-colored
species, as will be seen by consulting the
figure of Helix fidelis, on our plate. The
majority of our species are uncolored,
like the figure of Polygyra albolabris.</p>
<p>One of the largest and most interesting
of American shells is the Bulimus, found
in South America. The shell of Bulimus
ovatus attains a length of six inches and
the animal is correspondingly large. In
the markets of Rio Janeiro this mollusk
is sold as food and is eagerly sought by
the poorer people, among whom it is considered
a great delicacy. Another interesting
fact in connection with this species
(as well as others of the genus) is the size
of the eggs which it deposits, they being
as large as pigeons’ eggs. These are also
eaten with avidity by the negroes of Brazil.</p>
<p>One of the most beautiful of the land
shells found in the United States is the
Liguus fasciatus, found in Florida and
Cuba. The shell is about two inches long
and is encircled by bands of white, brown
and green. This species lives in great
numbers at Key West, associated with
many small shells of the Bulimus
group. Closely related to the last-mentioned
shell (Liguus) is the agate shell
(Achatina), which attains a length of
seven inches and is the largest of the
land shells. Like the Bulimus mentioned
above it lays eggs of large size
with a calcareous shell, some being over
an inch in length. Both the animal and
the egg are eaten by the natives of Africa.
The shells are very attractive, being variegated
with different colors, like agate,
from which they receive their common
name.</p>
<p>Another of our new political possessions,
the Hawaiian Islands, has a molluscan
fauna peculiar to itself. This is the
family Achatinellidae which is confined
solely to the Sandwich Islands. There
are no shells which can compare in
beauty with the Achatinella with their encircled
bands of black, yellow, white, red,
etc. They live on the bushes, generally
rather low and near the ground, and recently
they have been threatened with
<span class="pb" id="Page_78">78</span>
extinction because of the cattle which
have been introduced into the islands.
In feeding on the bushes, they also consume
large quantities of these snails. A
bush inhabited by these little creatures
must be a beautiful sight, with the green
foliage set off by the handsomely colored
shells, like jewels on a costly dress.</p>
<p>Among the edible snails none excel in
public favor the common edible snail of
Europe (Helix pomatia). The cultivation
of this animal has become an established
business, like our oyster fisheries,
and thousands are consumed annually.
The early Romans considered this animal
a dainty dish, and the inhabitants of
France, Spain and Italy have inherited or
cultivated a liking for the succulent
“Shell-fish.” This species has been introduced
into New Orleans where it is
eaten by the French inhabitants. Helix
nemoralis, an edible snail of England,
with a beautifully banded shell, is sold in
the streets of London and eaten much as
we eat walnuts, by picking out the animal
with a pin! The edible snails, as well as
many others, make good and interesting
pets in captivity, the Helix pomatia being
of such a size that it may be easily
studied. It is interesting to watch one of
these snails feeding upon a piece of lettuce.
First the jaw is seen to protrude
and to cut off a small piece of the leaf,
which is drawn into the mouth and reduced
to still smaller pieces by the rasp-like
radula. A large piece of lettuce, after
this snail has made a meal upon it, looks
as if an army of worms had been at work.
The pomatia is also of an inquisitive disposition
and will wander about the snailery
(or even the whole house if he can
get out), examining everything in a very
curious manner. No more interesting object
can be placed in a library or study
than a snailery with several species of
snails. They are far superior in interest
to goldfish or canaries.</p>
<p>The most interesting snails are by no
means the largest. Frequently the small
snail shells with their animals have habits
or shell structures of absorbing interest.
Among these are the Pupas, whose tiny
shells frequently reach the astounding
size of one-sixteenth of an inch in length!
It is not until we place these mites under
the microscope that their interesting
characters are seen and appreciated. By
such an examination we find that the little
apertures are armed with many teeth and
folds, and sometimes we wonder how it is
that the animal ever gets in and out
through such a labyrinth of apparent obstructions.
These teeth serve in a manner
to protect the little animal from its
enemies. These tiny shells are always to
be found plentifully under starting bark
and under chips, stones and debris, in
more or less moist localities.</p>
<p>In another genus of Pupidae, Clausilia,
nature has provided the aperture of the
shell with a little valve called a “clausilium,”
which acts as a spring door to close
the shell against all its enemies. This
door is an additional safeguard as the
aperture is already provided with numerous
teeth and folds. In this manner
does Mother Nature look after her children.</p>
<p>It is a curious fact that in all the larger
groups of animals there are one or more
genera which have the cruel and bloodthirsty
propensities of the shark. The
Mollusca are no exception to this rule,
and we find in the genus Testacella an
animal having all the ferocious propensities
of the terrible man-eating tiger. This
mollusk has a long, worm-like body, the
shell being very small and rudimentary,
ear shaped, and placed on the extreme
posterior end of the animal. Its principal
food consists of earth-worms, although
it will attack other mollusks and
even its own species. It has been likened
to the tiger and the shark in its cunning
while pursuing its prey and in its ferocity
when attacking it. The poor earth-worm
stands but a slight chance of escape when
Testacella scents it and starts in pursuit.
The worm tries to escape by retreating
into its underground galleries, but this is
of no avail because the mollusk has a
long, narrow body and can go wherever
the worm does. If the worm, perchance,
has the opportunity of retreating far into
its galleries, the mollusk will dig tunnels
to intercept it. Frequently the mollusk
will make a sudden spring upon its victim,
taking it by surprise. This slug-like
snail will frequently devour a snail much
larger than itself, but if the victim is too
large for one meal it will be broken in
the middle and one half eaten and digested
<span class="pb" id="Page_79">79</span>
and then the meal completed with
the other half.</p>
<p>The Testacella also resembles the tiger
and the shark in the possession of long,
fang-like teeth upon its radula. These
teeth are recurved and aid the mollusk in
getting a firm hold upon its victim, and
also assist in the operation of swallowing.
It is a curious fact that this animal will
not feed upon other dead animals nor
upon fresh meat, nor freshly-killed
worms. Like the snake, which it greatly
resembles in habits, it must hunt and kill
its own food. Its wanderings are nocturnal
and during the day it remains concealed,
buried in the earth. Testacella is
quite long lived, as snails go, its duration
of life being about six years.</p>
<p>A genus allied to Testacella, and having
the same predaceous habits, but being
protected by a large shell into which
the whole animal can withdraw, is the
Oleacina or Glandina. The shell is long,
with a narrow aperture and a dome-shaped
spire; the animal is long and narrow
and the head near the mouth is furnished
with a pair of elongated lips which
may be used as tentacles. The South
American species feed on the larger mollusks,
as the Bulimus before spoken of,
and the aperture of each intended victim’s
shell is carefully examined before
any attempt is made to enter. When our
“tiger” is satisfied that its victim is really
within, it will enter the aperture and devour
the animal. Sometimes it will make
a hole for itself in the shell of its victim
and will eat the contents through this
aperture instead of the natural one. In
Florida these animals prey upon the large
pulmonates like Lignus and Orthalicus.</p>
<p>Before closing this brief sketch of the
Land Mollusks we must not neglect to
mention their wonderful protection
against the cold of winter and the heat of
summer. This is a tough, leathery secretion,
which completely covers the aperture,
and its formation is thus described
by Mr. W. G. Binney in his “Manual of
American Land Shells.”</p>
<p>“Withdrawing into the shell, it forms
over the aperture a membraneous covering,
consisting of a thin, semi-transparent
mixture of lime, mucus or gelatine,
secreted from the collar of the animal.
This membrane is called the epiphragm.
It is formed in this manner: The animal
being withdrawn into the shell, the collar
is brought to a level with the aperture,
and a quantity of mucus is poured out
from it and covers it. A small quantity
of air is then emitted from the respiratory
foramen, which detaches the mucus
from the surface of the collar, and projects
it in a convex form, like a bubble.
At the same moment the animal retreats
farther into the shell, leaving a vacuum
between itself and the membrane, which
is consequently pressed back by the external
air to a level with the aperture, or
even farther, so as to form a concave surface,
where, having become desiccated
and hard, it remains fixed. These operations
are nearly simultaneous and occupy
but an instant. As the weather becomes
colder the animal retires farther into the
shell, and makes another septum, and so
on, until there are sometimes as many as
six of these partitions.”</p>
<p>The air-breathing snails which we have
so briefly discussed in this article, are
but a very limited number of the many
thousand species of this very interesting
group of animals. Their shells are easily
gathered and require but little trouble to
prepare for the cabinet and for study.
The writer, therefore, trusts that what
has been written may act as a stimulus
and induce many to take up the collection
and study of these beautiful objects.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Frank Collins Baker.</span></p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div>
<h2 id="c16">THE GILA MONSTER. <br/><span class="small">(<i>Heloderma suspectum</i>.)</span></h2>
<p>The reptile fauna of the North American
continent includes a curious lizard
known as Gila Monster, in science called
Heloderma. It represents a family all
to itself, with only two species: Heloderma
horridum and Heloderma suspectum.</p>
<p>Francisco Hernandez, a Spanish physician
and naturalist, was the first to know
of its existence when he found it in Mexico
in the year 1651. In an account of his
explorations he mentions a lizard three
feet long, with a thick-set body, covered
with wart-like skin, gaudily colored in orange
and black, and generally of such
horrid appearance that Wiegmann, another
scientist, two hundred years later,
called it Heloderma horridum.</p>
<p>For a long time this name was given indiscriminately
to all lizards of this kind,
living either south or north of the boundary
line of Mexico and the United States,
till Professor Cope discovered a difference
between them and called the variety found
in our southwestern territories and states
Heloderma suspectum.</p>
<p>Many other naturalists have since taken
up the study of this interesting reptile.
The result of their observations and experiments
was that they all agree in acknowledging
the Heloderma as the only
poisonous lizard in existence, although
their opinions are at variance as to the
effect of its venom on the human system.
Dr. van Denburgh in his latest researches
has found two glands, one on each side of
the lower jaw, located between the skin
and the bone. Such a venom-producing
gland being taken out of its enveloping
membrane proves to be not a single body,
but an agglomeration of several small
ones, differing in size, and each emptying
through a separate duct. These glands
are not directly communicated to the
teeth. When the animal is highly irritated,
caused by constant teasing or rough
handling or by being trodden upon, the
poison is emitted by the glands, gathers
on the floor of the mouth, where it mixes
with the saliva, and is transmitted through
the bite.</p>
<p>A Heloderma has no fangs, but a goodly
number of sharp, pointed teeth, both on
the upper and lower jaws. They are
curved backward and about an eighth of
an inch long, or even less than that. The
principal characteristic of these teeth is
that they are grooved, facilitating thus the
flow of the venom into the wound. It
bites with an extremely swift dash, directed
sideways, and holds on tenaciously
to whatever is seized with its powerful
jaws. Sumichrast says when the reptile
bites it throws itself on its back, but none
of the later naturalists makes mention of
this peculiarity.</p>
<p>The venom of the Gila Monster injected
into the veins and arteries of smaller animals
as rats, cavies and rabbits and into
the breast of pigeons and chickens, causes
death within twenty seconds to seven minutes.
Brehm relates that a young Heloderma,
and in poor physical condition besides,
was induced to bite the leg of a
large, well-fed cat, which did not die, but
gave signs of prolonged terrible sufferings.
It became dull and emaciated and
never regained its former good spirits.</p>
<p>Among several cases of Gila Monster
bites inflicted on human beings can be
quoted that of Dr. Shufeldt, who, in “The
American Naturalist,” gave an interesting
account of the sensations he experienced.
It is sufficient to say that the pain, starting
from a wound on the right thumb,
went like an electric shock through the
whole body and was so severe as to cause
the victim to faint. Immediate treatment
prevented more serious consequences.
The Doctor, nevertheless, was a very sick
man for several days and began to recover
only after a week had elapsed.</p>
<div class="fig"> id="fig6"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9205.jpg" alt="" width-obs="500" height-obs="369" /> <p class="caption">GILA MONSTER. <br/>(Heloderma suspectum.) <br/>About ⅓ Life-size.
<br/><span class="small">TAKEN FROM LIFE BY HARRIET E. HIGLEY AND FRANK M. WOODRUFF.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div>
<p>The constituents of the venom are as
yet not thoroughly known, but it is said
to be of an alkaline nature, the opposite
of snake poison, which is acid. It acts
upon the heart, the spine and the nerve
centers and causes paralysis.</p>
<p>Other scientists claim the saliva of the
Heloderma is poisonous only in certain
cases and under certain circumstances. It
may also depend upon the physical condition
of the victim at the time the venom
enters into the system. Yet there is little
doubt that, if help is not at hand immediately,
the bite may prove fatal.</p>
<p>The Apaches stand in dire fear of this
animal, so that, at least, with their older
people no amount of money seems tempting
enough to make them go near it,
much less to capture one. A former resident
of the territories says both Indians
and Mexicans believe firmly that if a Gila
Monster only breathes in your face it is
quite sufficient to cause immediate death.
On an old Indian trail, a good day’s journey
west from the present site of Phoenix,
can be found, crudely outlined on the face
of a rock, the picture of two Helodermas
pursuing a man who runs to save his life.
Numerous hieroglyphic inscriptions tell
probably the story of the event and prove
not only the prehistoric origin of this
primitive piece of art, but also the erroneous
ideas which were prevalent in these
remote times, for the reptile never attacks
and never pursues. It is safe to say that
the animal has been vastly misrepresented
at all ages.</p>
<p>Nature has kindly provided the Heloderma
with a compensation for its partially
undeserved bad reputation in giving
it beauty. For whosoever looks upon a
fine specimen with unprejudiced eyes cannot
fail to admire at least the combination
of its colors and especially the odd, capriciously
disposed markings; the delicately
tinted skin, studded in transverse
rows with shiny tubercles, like so many
beads on strings.</p>
<p>The illustration to this paper is so excellently
made that scarcely any description
is necessary as to the animal’s exterior
in color and markings. This Heloderma
is a little over nineteen inches in
length by ten inches in circumference of
the body and five inches at the thickest
part of the tail, which makes one-third of
the total length of the body. When such
a reptile grows to the size of eighteen
inches it is called adult. Those growing
beyond these figures are unusually large
specimens and in very rare instances the
species of our illustration reaches the extraordinary
length of two feet. An adult
Gila Monster weighs about two or three
pounds, and in winter less than in summer.</p>
<p>The four short and stubby legs seem
quite out of proportion to the massive
body, much more so as the two pairs are
widely separated lengthwise of the body.
When walking the body is elevated, while
in rest it lies flat on the ground. Each
foot is provided with five digits armed
with curved white claws.</p>
<p>The skin has generally the appearance
as if covered with rows of uniform beads;
but, on closer examination, these beads,
or more correctly, tubercles, prove to
have different shapes and are differently
set, according to the part of the body
which they cover. On the head from the
nose up to between the eyes they are flat,
irregularly cut, closely joined and adhere
completely to the skull. Those following
form polygonal eminences, each
one separated from the other by a circle of
tiny dermal granulations, while behind
the eyes on both sides of the head they are
larger, semi-spherical and stand far apart.
The throat and the nape of the neck are
studded with very closely set small tubercles,
increasing in size only above the forelegs,
whence they extend in well-defined,
transverse rows along the whole upper
side of the body and the tail. The under
side of the latter and the abdomen are
covered with tessellated scales of a light-brown
and dull yellow color arranged in
another handsome pattern.</p>
<p>A Heloderma’s head, with its triangular
shape, is very like that of a venomous
snake; it gives the animal—especially
when it is raised in anger—a truly awe-inspiring
appearance.</p>
<p>The wide-cleft mouth reaches far behind
the eyes. These are very small and,
like all lizards, provided with eye-lids that
close when the animal sleeps. The eye
itself has a dark-brown iris, with the
round pupil that indicates diurnal or at
least semi-nocturnal habits. Between the
nostrils, well in front of the blunt nose, is
a wide space. The nostrils are so far down
as to nearly touch the margin of the supra-labial
scales. This position denotes
<span class="pb" id="Page_84">84</span>
terrestrial habits in reptiles rather than an
all aquatic life. For to most of them
water is indispensable to their welfare.
Thus the Gila Monster shows this structure
as it likes to bathe in shallow water,
often for many hours at a time.</p>
<p>The crescent-shaped openings of the
ears are situated not far from the edge of
the mouth, between the head and the
neck, and are partly concealed and also
protected by the overlapping gular fold;
the tympanum is exposed. The animal
sees and hears well. The remaining three
senses are more or less concentrated in
the tongue which is one of the most remarkable
features of the Heloderma. It
is slightly forked at the tips, half an inch
wide and two to three inches long; it is
dark reddish-brown with a shade of purple.
When in rest it is drawn together
into a small, conical shaped mass, scarcely
an inch in length. But as soon as something
disturbs the usual quietude of the
animal the tongue is thrown out immediately.
In fact, it is used for smelling,
tasting, feeling. It is used for measuring
depth and distance, for expressing desire
and satisfaction; and with what rapidity
is this instrument of communication projected
and retracted!</p>
<p>A Gila Monster may be trusted to some
extent as long as the tongue is freely
used, but if that is not the case it is wise
to be careful in handling it. Fear and
hostility are expressed by deep, long-drawn
hisses; by opening the mouth to its
fullest extent and by quick jerks of the
head from one side to the other.</p>
<p>At the present time these reptiles are
not so very common. Ever-prevailing
superstition among the ignorant and exaggerated
bad reputation have brought on
a relentless war of extermination against
them, so that now in the neighborhood of
settlements they are seen seldom if ever.
Their center of distribution is more and
more confined to the region along the
banks of the Gila river in Arizona, although
less frequently they may still be
found as far west as the Mojave desert in
California. But those are wrong who believe
that the Heloderma is living only
in the most arid portions of the southwest.
There are several reasons why the
reptile seeks eagerly irrigated places,
which are productive of some vegetation,
for it needs water, food and shady hiding-places.</p>
<p>In the middle of summer, when even
the larger streams are dried up, the Gila
Monster retires to some burrow, abandoned
by another animal, or to deep crevices
in the rocks, and spends there in a
torpid state several weeks, until the great
rainfalls relieve the country, give fresh
plant life and fill again the barren riverbeds.
This is the animal’s summer retreat.
During the course of a year it takes
a second and longer one, the regular hibernation,
that lasts about from November
to the middle of February, when it
resumes its outside life again. It loves
to bask in the still mild rays of the sun,
but as soon as the heat increases the Gila
Monster seeks shelter for the day behind
stones and bowlders, under clumps of
cacti and in small mesquite groves along
the river banks. It roams about only after
sunset or early in the morning. The idea
that this lizard enjoys the quivering heat
on an open Arizona plain, while other sun
and heat-loving reptiles keep in hiding, is
as erroneous as many others. Nothing is
so absolutely fatal to the Heloderma as
to be exposed only for half an hour to the
direct rays of the sun in midsummer. Another
reason why it prefers to live in the
neighborhood of streams where plant life
is more abundant explains itself by the
necessity to provide for food.</p>
<p>Whoever has an opportunity to observe
reptiles in confinement for an extended
period of time can easily draw conclusions
as to their mode of living in freedom. A
captive Gila Monster is fed on hens’ eggs;
in summer one each week, in winter one
every two or three weeks. It refuses every
other kind of food, however temptingly
it may be offered, such as mice,
frogs, angleworms, mealworms and the
like. It is more than probable that in their
wild state they live on a similar diet, consisting
then of eggs of other lizards, of
turtles and of birds. The animal has the
reputation of being destructive to the Arizona
quail.</p>
<p>Several writers of Natural History add
to this a diet of insects, but the embarrassed
locomotion of the Heloderma
seems to exclude flying and fast-running
prey. Nearly all reptiles which feed on
eggs climb, as do some snakes, and as
<span class="pb" id="Page_85">85</span>
does the slow and clumsy Gila Monster.
They are not able to ascend high and
straight trees, which, however, are not
found in these regions, but they are able
to climb bushes and low trees, having
somewhat leaning trunks and rough bark.
And it is wonderful to see how cleverly it
disposes of the sharp claws and the muscular,
half-prehensile tail, both in dragging
itself up and in retarding an often
too rapid descent.</p>
<p>The inquiry may be made: How is it
possible that a Heloderma lives on eggs
alone when it can find them only during
the relatively short time of five or six
months? First, it may be remembered
that this period corresponds nearly to the
active life of the animal before and after
estivation. The second and more important
reason is its remarkable frugality.
The digestive organs are so constructed
that they adapt themselves to a fast of
many months without injury to the animal.</p>
<p>In captivity the Gila Monster begins to
slough about January and continues this
process during several months. The
epidermis comes off not like a snake’s, in
a whole piece, but in several, or more frequently
in many, fragments.</p>
<p>There is still a wide field open for accurate
observation and definite knowledge
that we relinquish to the professional
naturalist and to those fortunate
ones who can study the animal in freedom.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Amelia Walson.</span></p>
<p>[Editor’s Note: The Gila Monster of
the illustration is still living and has for
some years been the interesting pet of one
whose love of nature in all forms has
found beauty in the reptile usually
shunned alike by the savage and by civilized
man.]</p>
<h2 id="c17">BIRD NOTES.</h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="center">I.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Bit of sunshine taken wings,</p>
<p class="t0">Or a spray of golden-rod?</p>
<p class="t0">On thistle top he sways and swings,</p>
<p class="t0">Or flung high to the sun, he sings—</p>
<p class="t0">Perdita—Perdita—Perdita—</p>
<p class="t2">’Dita,—Sweet, Sweet—.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="center">II.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Good morning trolled, then all the day,</p>
<p class="t0">From thicket hidden bramble bush,</p>
<p class="t0">This recluse croons his roundelay.</p>
<p class="t0">But startle him,—a flash of gray,</p>
<p class="t0">And, Hush—Hush—Hush—Hush—</p>
<p class="t2">Go ’way,—Go ’way—.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="center">III.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Wild cherry bough and hanging nest,</p>
<p class="t0">And calls amid the apple bloom,</p>
<p class="t0">No need to tell whose flaming breast</p>
<p class="t0">And fluting note lead all the rest,—</p>
<p class="t0">Glory—Glory—Glory—Glory—</p>
<p class="t2">Glory,—Come-O, Come-O—.</p>
<p class="lr">—Mary Hefferan.</p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div>
<h2 id="c18">THE POMEGRANATE. <br/><span class="small">(<i>Punica granatum.</i>)</span></h2>
<p>The Pomegranate is tree-like, growing
to a height of about fifteen feet and in
favorable soil even as high as twenty feet.
It is probably native in Persia, though it
is found in a wild state in all the countries
bordering on the Mediterranean
Sea. It is also found in China and Japan
and has been brought by man to all of
the civilized parts of the globe, where the
climate is of a sufficiently high degree of
warmth to permit the ripening of its
fruit.</p>
<p>This little tree is frequently cultivated
not alone for the beauty of its form, but
for the beauty of its flowers, which, under
cultivation, become doubled and
show an increased and striking splendor
in the richness of their color.</p>
<p>The etymology of its name is very interesting.
The word Pomegranate is
from two Latin words, pomum, meaning
apple, and granatum, meaning grained
or seeded. The former has reference to
the shape of the fruit and the latter word
to the numerous seeds contained in the
pulp. The technical name of the Pomegranate
plant is Punica granatum. The
generic name Punica is evidently from
the Latin word punicus, meaning red, and
refers to the red color of the pulp or possibly
also to the scarlet flowers. The name
Punicus was also used by the Romans
with reference to the Carthaginians, and
signified untrustworthy or treacherous,
this people having such a reputation with
them; thus the name may have been applied
to this fruit which, though it delights
the eye, is disappointing to the
taste.</p>
<p>Pliny tells us that the Pomegranate
was extensively cultivated by the Carthaginians
at their home in Northern Africa.
This may have been the reason why
the name Punica was selected for the
genus by Linnaeus. The Romans also
called it “Pomum Punicum,” or Carthage
apple.</p>
<p>That the knowledge of this tree is of
great antiquity is shown in many ways.
It is frequently referred to in ancient
Sanskrit writings of a time earlier than
that of the Christian Era. In this language
it was called “Dadimba.” Homer,
in the Odyssey, speaks of its cultivation
in the gardens of the kings of Phrygia
and Phaecia. There are frequent references
to it in the Old Testament. In the
directions for making Aaron’s robe we
find the following passage: “Upon the
skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates
of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet,”
and again, “They made bells of pure gold,
and put the bells between the pomegranates.”
Hiram, in the building of
Solomon’s house, used the design of the
Pomegranate. In the seventh chapter of
the First Book of Kings we find “the
pomegranates were two hundred, in rows
round about upon the other chapiter,”
and in another verse we are told that they
were of brass.</p>
<p>Moses spoke of the promised land as
a land of “wheat, barley and vines, fig-trees
and pomegranates.” Solomon indicates
that this fruit was cultivated in his
time as he speaks of an “orchard of pomegranates
with pleasant fruits.”</p>
<p>The Pomegranate is frequently represented
in the ancient sculptures of the
Assyrians and of the Egyptians.</p>
<p>The Pomegranate belongs to the family
of plants called Lythraceae. This
family has about three hundred and fifty
species which are widely distributed, but
are most abundant in tropical regions,
especially in America. In describing the
tree Dr. Oliver R. Willis gives the following
characteristics: “Branches
straight, strong, sub-angular, armed near
the ends with spines; young shoots and
buds red. Leaves opposite or fascicled,
short-stalked, and without stipules.
Flowers large, solitary, or two or three
together in the axils of the leaves, near
the ends of the branchlets. A beautiful
object for planted grounds.”</p>
<div class="fig"> id="fig7"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9206.jpg" alt="" width-obs="750" height-obs="339" /> <p class="caption">POMEGRANATE. <br/>(Punica granatum) <br/>⅔ Life-size.</p>
</div>
<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div>
<p>The color of the flowers, which develop
on the ends of the younger branches, is
a deep and rich scarlet or crimson. Many
variations have been produced by growing
the plants from seeds and one of these
bears white flowers. The petals are
rounded and usually crumpled.</p>
<p>The fruit, which is a berry about the
size of an ordinary orange, is when fresh
usually of a reddish yellow color, becoming
brownish in drying. The rind is
thick and leathery, and encloses a quantity
of pulp which is filled with a refreshing
juice that is acid. It is of a pinkish
or reddish color, and encloses the numerous
angular seeds. Probably the
chief value of the plant lies in the use of
the fruit as a relish, though the rind of
the fruit and the bark of the root are
used in medicine.</p>
<p>The bark contains a large amount of
tannin and from it there is also obtained
a bright yellow dye, which is used to produce
the yellow Levant Morocco.</p>
<p>In regions without frost the tree is
often grown for ornamental purposes.</p>
<h2 id="c19">FISHES AND FISH-CULTURE AMONG THE GREEKS AND ROMANS.</h2>
<p>Greek mythology shows us that for a
long time, perhaps many centuries, the
ancestors of the Greeks knew but very
little about the sea or about rivers. The
numerous monsters of the sea, products
of the imagination, combined in their
forms the parts of marine and land animals,
including man. The angry waves
suggested to them some creature that was
wroth; in the ocean depths what more
likely to be found than the caverns empty
and dry, the homes of the monsters with
which they had peopled it? Their knowledge
of the sea was of very slow growth.
It was yet a divine thing in Homer’s time,
who lived just before the dawn of history.
Their knowledge of marine life had made
but little if any greater advance than their
knowledge of the sea itself. The people
of Homer make no use whatever of fish.
We do not find a word indicating that
either noble or slave ate fish, although the
bill of fare in the Homeric household is
given to us with considerable fullness.</p>
<p>Passing over two centuries or more to
the Athens of Pericles’ time, we will find
that a great change has been wrought.
Fish is now the daintiest viand that comes
into the Athenian market. The fishing
industry has developed and grown to immense
proportions. The fishmonger has
taken on a character which seems destined
to be eternal. Till this day it has
suffered no change except that he has
transferred to his wife some of the traits
that once were his.</p>
<p>The task of supplying the fish-market
of Athens and other cities must have required
a large number of fishermen.
For at this time fish might almost be
called the national dish, hence an enormous
consumption, whereas the means of
capture were far inferior to those of to-day.
As a matter of fact the market was
supplied from a very wide area, but chiefly
from the seas to the east. Far along
the north and south shores of the Black
Sea the industry was a flourishing one.
Particularly from these regions were salted
and dried fish supplied. Here they
were prepared in the huts of the individual
fisherman and were gathered up by
the traders, who sailed their little boats
far and wide in search of traffic. The
fish were exchanged for merchandise, especially
for earthen utensils and for clothing.
These salted and dried fish were the
staple varieties and were supplied to the
<span class="pb" id="Page_90">90</span>
market in great quantities, as they were
the principal food of the poorer classes
and were sold very cheap.</p>
<p>The hours for the fish market in Athens
must have been a time of very great interest,
not only to the Athenian householder
but to the foreigner sojourning
within the city. To preserve order and
also to give all customers an equal chance
to procure the rare specimens offered for
sale, several stringent laws were enacted
to govern the market. Among other regulations
was one requiring the opening of
the market to be announced by the ringing
of a bell. Apparently there was no
fixed moment of time when this bell
should be rung, but the time varied little
from day to day. If we can believe our
ancient authorities, the ringing of the bell
was the occasion for a rush, pellmell, to
the market, each seeking to obtain the
first choice. Strabo tells us an interesting
story anent this custom. On one occasion
a musician was performing before
a number of invited guests, and when,
in the midst of a composition, the bell
rang, in a moment the guests were up
and away to the market, all except one
man, who was deaf. When the lyrist
had finished he was very careful to
thank his lone auditor for his courtesy in
remaining to hear him through, instead
of running away when the bell rang, as
the rest did. “Oh, has the bell rung?”
asked the deaf man. And when informed
that it had, he, too, hastened to the market.</p>
<p>The Greek interest in fishes seems
never to have gone beyond their utility
as an article of food. The building of
aquaria and fish-ponds never came to be
the sport of the Greeks, although they became
extravagant luxuries among the
Romans. Likewise fishing never became
the sport of a Greek gentleman, unless,
perchance, at a rather late period. Plato
excludes fishing from the sports of a free-born
gentleman. The only sport he would
have him engage in was the chase, which,
athletic games aside, was about the only
outdoor sport a Greek gentleman seems
to have indulged in. For instance, there
is no mention in Greek literature of
horseback riding as a pastime, yet horsemanship
was an accomplishment in which
every Greek gentleman received special
training. Likewise, though fishing was
not a recognized sport, yet the science of
angling was well understood among them
by the third century B. C., and probably
much earlier. This we learn from a beautiful
poem by the Alexandrian poet Theocritus,
entitled “The Fishermen.” I will
quote a portion of the poem translated
into prose, partly because it gives us a
picture of some ancient professional fishermen
in the camp, partly because it mentions
all the ancient instruments of the
business.</p>
<p>“Two fishers, on a time, two old men,
together lay and slept; they had strown
the dry sea-moss for a bed in their wattled
cabin, and there they lay against the
leafy wall. Beside them were strewn the
instruments of their toilsome hands, the
fishing-creels, the rods of reed, the hooks,
the sails bedraggled with sea-spoil, the
lines, the weels, the lobster pots woven
of rushes, the seines, two oars, and an old
coble upon props. Beneath their heads
was a scanty matting, their clothes, their
sailor’s caps. Here was all their toil, here
all their wealth. The threshold no door
did guard nor a watch-dog; all these
things, all, to them seemed superfluity,
for Poverty was their sentinel. They had
no neighbor by them, but ever against
their narrow cabin gently floated up the
sea.”</p>
<p>Long before daylight one of them
awoke and aroused his companion to tell
him the dream he had had. I shall quote
the dream, as it graphically describes an
ancient angler busy at his task: “As I
was sleeping late, amid the labors of the
salt sea (and truly not too full-fed, for we
supped early, if thou dost remember, and
did not overtax our bellies), I saw myself
busy on a rock, and there I sat and watched
the fishes, and kept spinning the bait
with the rods. And one of the fish nibbled,
a fat one, for in sleep dogs dream of
bread, and of fish dream I. Well, he was
tightly hooked, and the blood was running,
and the rod I grasped was bent
with his struggle. So, with both hands,
I strained and had a sore tussle for the
monster. How was I ever to land so big
a fish with hooks all too slim! Then, just
to remind him he was hooked, I gently
pricked him, pricked, and slackened, and,
as he did not run, I took in line. My toil
<span class="pb" id="Page_91">91</span>
was ended with the sight of my prize; I
drew up a golden, look you, a fish all
plated thick with gold. Gently I unhooked
him * * * then I dragged him on
shore with the ropes.”</p>
<p>I leave to the reader the pleasant task
of comparing the ancient tackle with the
modern. It must be said, however, that
the description is rather ideal for the
Mediterranean fisherman displays no
science in landing his game, but simply
throws it high and dry or breaks his
tackle. This fact is well attested for the
ancients, by several vase and wall paintings
portraying fishermen actually at
work. These paintings show us that the
ancient outfit included a basket, frequently
with a long handle, and a vase painting
in Vienna undoubtedly suggests its use.
The man has caught a fish which he is
lifting straight up out of the water, at the
same time he is reaching down with his
basket, evidently to scoop up the fish just
before it leaves the water, similar to the
practice in trout-fishing to-day.</p>
<p>Before passing over the Ionian Sea to
observe what the Romans did in this field
of activity, the quasi-scientific study of
fishes among the Greeks, particularly that
of Aristotle, should claim our attention.
Compared with the work of the moderns
Aristotle’s work was crude indeed. Estimated
as the first attempts at building
up a science his work deserves our admiration
and, in view of the fact that his
writings were standard for nearly two
thousand years, it demands our respect.</p>
<p>Aristotle did his work in natural history
under the patronage of King Philip
of Macedon, who drew upon the resources
of the empire to provide him with
rare or little known specimens from far
and wide. How some of his conclusions
were based on insufficient data and are
consequently very inaccurate, or even
grotesque, his discussion of the eel will
illustrate. It must not be taken as a fair
sample of his work in general. In fact, it
is very unusual. “Among all the animals,”
he says, “which have blood, the eel
is the only one which is not born of copulation
or hatched from eggs. The correctness
of this statement is evident from
the fact that eels make their appearance
in marshy bodies of water, and that, too,
after all the water has been drawn off and
the mud removed, as soon as the rain-water
begins to fill these lakes. They are
not produced in dry weather, not even in
lakes that never become dry, for they live
on the rain-water. It is, therefore, plain
that their origin is not due to procreation
or to eggs. In spite of this some people
think that they are viviparous, because
worms have been found in the intestines
of some eels, which they believe are the
young of the eel. This opinion, however,
is erroneous, for they are produced from
the so-called ‘bowels of the earth’ (i. e.,
the earth-worms), the spontaneous product
of mud and moisture.”</p>
<p>Turning now to the Romans, we find a
somewhat different state of affairs, but
different only on the aesthetic side; from
a scientific or industrial point of view the
Roman, though heir to all the Greek civilization
and learning, in this, as in many
other lines, made but slight advances.</p>
<p>Fish culture never became a serious occupation
among the Romans. It was a
pastime, one of the many directions which
their senseless luxury took rather than a
carefully directed effort to stock ponds
and rear fish for food, or as a means of
nature study. The immense ponds
were stocked with rare fish in preference
to useful varieties. Next to the rare species
those that could be tamed were in favor.
A qualification of the above statements
should be made probably, in favor
of the Romans who lived during the
early Republican period of whom Columella,
a Roman writer, has the following
to say in his book entitled De Re Rustica:
“The descendants of Romulus, although
they were country folk, took great pains
in having upon their farms a sort of
abundance of everything which the inhabitants
of the city are wont to enjoy.
To this end they did not rest contented
with stocking with fish the ponds that
had been made for this purpose, but in
their foresight went to the extent of supplying
the ponds formed by nature with
the spawn of fish. By this means the
lakes Velinus and Sabitinus, and likewise
Vulsmensis and Ciminus have furnished
in great abundance not only catfish and
goldfish, but also all the other varieties of
fish which flourish in fresh water.” Such
were the practices of the Roman country
folk in early times, but, strange as it may
<span class="pb" id="Page_92">92</span>
seem in view of the extravagance of which
the fish pond became the object in later
times, no measures were taken to secure
the reproduction and free development of
staple food fishes.</p>
<p>It is well known that the ancients had
a remarkable predilection for fish as a
food. The principal luxury of the Roman
banquets consisted of fish, and the
poets speak of sumptuous tables spread
with them exclusively. In the period between
the taking of Carthage and the
reign of Vespasian, this taste became a
perfect passion, and for its gratification
the senators and patricians, enriched by
the spoils of Asia and Africa, incurred the
most foolish expense. Thus Licinius
Murena, Quintus Hortensius and Lucius
Philippus, spent millions on their fish
ponds and in stocking them with rare
species. Lucullus was by far the most
extravagant of these fish fanciers. A fish
pond was to him very much what the
yacht is to the modern millionaire. It is
his name that we find so frequently in
Cicero’s letters, when he and his set come
in for several cleverly-framed rebukes.
“No matter,” says Cicero, “about the
state, if only their fish-ponds escape
harm.” It was Lucullus who had a channel
cut through a mountain at an immense
outlay of money, in order to let
salt water into his fish-ponds. We are
told by Varro that one Hirrius had an
income of nearly $700,000 from his
Roman real estate, and spent the
whole amount on his fish-ponds. Some
of these fish-ponds were very elaborate.
They were constructed with many compartments,
in which they kept the different
varieties. The care of these ponds,
and the feeding of the animals, required a
large force of trained men and assistants
who, we can infer, learned a great deal
about the habits of fishes, their favorite
food, and how to propagate them, but
their information was never reduced to
anything like a science.</p>
<p>That foolish extravagance of the Roman
nobles produced but two results, the
less of which was the impoverishment of
some of Rome’s wealthiest families; the
other and more unfortunate result was
the destruction of the fishes along the
Mediterranean Sea.</p>
<p>Probably the sole contribution to fish-culture
resulting from all this extravagance,
was the introduction of gold-fish
into an artificial habitat and providing
them shell-fish for nourishment.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I will note some of the
forms that were most popular among the
Romans, either for table use or for the
aquarium. For these we are indebted to
a mosaic discovered in Pompeii. They
are formed as they were seen by the artist
in an aquarium, but in the mosaic they
are supposed to be seen as if in the sea.
The varieties found are: The grey mullet,
electric ray, gilt-head, muraena, scorpion
fish, crawfish, devil-fish, dog-fish,
red-mullet, bass, spinola, red gumara,
nautis prawn, and from another mosaic
may be added the soft prawn, squid and
some other species whose English names
I do not know.</p>
<p><span class="lr">T. Louis Comparette.</span></p>
<div class="fig"> id="fig8"> <ANTIMG src="images/i9207.jpg" alt="" width-obs="500" height-obs="611" /> <p class="caption">CASSIA CINNAMON. <br/><span class="small">FROM KŒHLER’S MEDICINAL-PFLANZEN.</span></p> </div>
<blockquote>
<p>Description of Plate: A, flowering
twig; 1, diagram of flower; 2, 3, flower;
4, stamen; 5, pistil; 6, fruit.</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div>
<h2 id="c20">CINNAMON. <br/><span class="small">(<i>Cinnamomum cassia blume.</i>)</span></h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">“<i>Sinament</i> and ginger, nutmegs and cloves,</p>
<p class="t0">And that gave me my jolly red nose.”</p>
<p class="lr">—<i>Ravenscroft, Deuteromela, Song 7</i> (<i>1609</i>).</p>
</div>
<p>The cinnamons of the market are the
inner barks obtained from trees of tropical
countries and islands. The plants are
quite ornamental; twenty to forty feet
high; smooth, enduring, green, simple
and entire leaves. The flowers are small
and very insignificant in appearance.</p>
<p>Cinnamon is an old-time, highly-priced
spice. It is mentioned in the herb
book of the Chinese emperor Schen-nung
(2700 B. C.), where it is described under
the name Kwei. From China it was introduced
into Egypt about 1600 or 1500
B. C. The cinnamon and cassia mentioned
in the Bible were introduced by the
Phoenicians. About 400 or 300 B. C.
cinnamon still belonged to the rarities of
the market and little was known regarding
its origin and cultivation. Plinius
stated that it was not a native of Arabia,
but does not explain what its native country
was. About the fourth century of
our era cinnamon found its way into Turkey
and Asia Minor, where it was employed
as incense in church ceremonies.
In the sixth century Trallianus recommended
the still very expensive spice for
medicinal purposes. During the tenth
century the price of this article became
much reduced and it was used as a spice,
principally in the preparation of fish
meats. In England it was used in veterinary
practice. Although China is undoubtedly
the home of the cinnamons
they were apparently entirely overlooked
by Marco Polo, the eminent traveler and
historian, who visited the greater part of
China. Oil of cinnamon was prepared as
early as 1540.</p>
<p>There are several varieties of cinnamon
upon the market. Cassia cinnamon, which
is a Chinese variety, is obtained from
Cinnamomum cassia. The bark is quite
thick and contains only a small amount
of volatile or ethereal oil. It is of little
value yet it is exported on a large scale.
It forms the cheap cinnamon of the market.
There are other Chinese cinnamons
of good quality which constitute the principal
commercial article. The Saigon
cinnamon is by far the best article. It
also is Chinese, obtained from an undetermined
species. It is the strongest and
spiciest of the cinnamons and it is the
only variety official in the United States
Pharmacopoeia. The bark is of medium
thickness, deep reddish brown and rich
in volatile oil. The Ceylon cinnamon,
from India, is noted for the delicacy of its
flavor, but it contains comparatively little
volatile oil. The bark is very thin
and of a lighter brown color than that of
the Saigon cinnamon.</p>
<p>Nearly all of the cinnamon of the market
is obtained from cultivated plants.
There are large plantations in southeastern
China, Cochin-China, India, Sunda
islands, Sumatra, Java and other tropical
countries and islands. In many instances
little or nothing is known regarding the
cultivation, collecting and curing of cinnamons.
As a rule the trees are pruned
for convenience in collecting the bark. In
the better-grade cinnamons the bark from
the younger twigs only (1½ to 2 years
old) is collected. This is removed in
quills, the outer corky inert layers being
discarded and dried. As the drying proceeds
the smaller quills are telescoped into
the larger for convenience in handling,
packing and shipping. The color changes
to a reddish brown and the aroma increases.
Two crops are collected annually;
one, the principal crop, in May
and June; the second from November to
January. The blossoms are formed during
May and June and the fruit ripens in
January; these periods correspond to the
<span class="pb" id="Page_96">96</span>
periods of collecting. The older, dry,
corky bark should not be collected, as it
contains little volatile oil. In all carefully
prepared cinnamons the outer bark
layers are removed by scraping.</p>
<p>Cinnamon is quite frequently adulterated;
poor qualities are substituted for
good qualities or added to the better
qualities. This applies especially to
ground cinnamon.</p>
<p>Cinnamon is one of the richest of the
spices. Its flavor is quite universally
liked. It is employed in pies and other
pastry, in drinks, in the preparation of
hair oils and hair tonics, in confectionery,
with pickles, etc., etc. Medicinally
it is employed as a corrective, in dysentery
and in coughs. The excessive consumption
of spices, cinnamon included,
is a pernicious practice, as may be gathered
from the opening quotation from
Ravenscroft. Spices cause pathological
changes in stomach, the liver and other
glandular organs in particular. Quite
frequently those addicted to the use of
spices are also addicted to the use of alcoholic
drinks, and it is more than likely
that the “jolly red nose” referred to was
caused by the alcoholic stimulants rather
than the spices.</p>
<p>The not fully matured flowers are
known as cassia buds and are used as a
spice. They are not unlike cloves in appearance.
The roots of the various cinnamon
trees yield camphor. The leaves
yield volatile oil and the seeds a faintly
aromatic fat.</p>
<p><span class="lr">Albert Schneider.</span></p>
<h2 id="c21">AT DUSK.</h2>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">Dark shadows fall upon the earth,</p>
<p class="t">Cool vapors rise in air,</p>
<p class="t0">The screech-owl in the copse is heard,</p>
<p class="t">The bees are freed from care.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">The butterfly has closed its wings,</p>
<p class="t">The lark has gone to rest;</p>
<p class="t0">The nightingale in tree-top sings;</p>
<p class="t">To sleep the crow thinks best.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">The lightning bug glows in the brake;</p>
<p class="t">The cricket chirps beneath the stone;</p>
<p class="t0">The whip poor will is yet awake,</p>
<p class="t">The bull-frog calls in deep, low tone.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">The flowers droop their weary heads,</p>
<p class="t">The leaves are nodding in the breeze;</p>
<p class="t0">Young birdlings sleep in downy beds;</p>
<p class="t">Squirrels are resting in the trees.</p>
</div>
<div class="verse">
<p class="t0">The bats are flying low and high;</p>
<p class="t">The fishes rest in waters deep.</p>
<p class="t0">The red has gone from western sky,</p>
<p class="t">All nature soon will be asleep.</p>
<p class="lr">—Albert Schneider.</p>
</div>
<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>
<ul><li>Reconstructed the Table of Contents (originally on each issue’s cover).</li>
<li>Created an eBook cover from elements within the issue.</li>
<li>Retained copyright notice on the original book (this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.)</li>
<li>Silently corrected a few palpable typos.</li>
<li>“Vulsmensis”, an error for “Vulsinensis”, was retained because the typo may have originated in the secondary source consulted by the author.</li></ul>
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