CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI.

CONCERNING DEEP SEA DREDGINGS. By Prof. L. Agassiz, . . . oa

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE AND THEIR ALLIES. IIlus-

trated by two plates and cuts. . W. Putnam, 6

A New ERECTING ARRANGEMENT, ESPECIALLY DISHED FOR Use

| witu Brnocutar Microscopes. By R. H. Ward, M.D., 30

_ Tue RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION. By Prof. N. E

A Shaler, . i 32

; THE Soeur vainé OF A By J. wW. Wouter, LLD., vi Be 65

IRRIGATION AND THE FLORA OF THE Pains. By Rev. E.L. Greene, 76

a THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. By John G. Henderson, . 79

Bisco en CR E a a e

ASENN TS OF THE a ARDET By Prof. H. W. Parker, 133

‘REMARKS ON UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN REGARD TO MICRO-

SCOPICAL OBJECTIVES AND OCULARS. By R. H. Ward, M.D.,. . 137

Tue STONE AGE IN New Jersey. (Illustrated. By Charles C.

- Abbott, M.D. 144, 199

THE Ust or ae ae PELLUCIDA AS A eas Gaito FOR

Hıcu Powers. With a plate. By Dr. J. J. Woodward, U.S.A., 193

Waar 1s True Taconic? By Prof. J. D. Dana, . . 197

Hints ON HERBORIZING. . By Dr. A. H. Curtiss, . 257

USE OF THE RATTLES OF THE RATTLESNAKE. By J. G. Henderson, 260

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. By J. A. Alle

ART I. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF 263

Part II. NOTES oN THE BIRDS OF Coles 342

Part III. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THE ca tar tae

VALLEY, 394

Dmnrcv10%s » FOR gp pae ie a boia. ir Lint Wal- ,

> singha 275

ion FOR Paerata uoe acs. ‘By William Wood, 281

‘RELATIONSHIP OF THE AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED OWL- By

Robert Ridgway, . 283

ONE OF OUR COMMON ‘Soin " Fituswated: Dy Prof. Albert

H. Tuttle, 286

TUDENTS’ o noioorts: By R. H. Ward, MD Bat

HIBERNATION OF THE JUMPING MousE. By Prof. Bioro Tni. 330

o D Miner. With plate. By B. Pickman

332, 596

j os: OF THE I eis ‘Usrrep pice: Ittustrated. By

Prof. Thomas C. Porter NE a

388

MmIcRY 1N THE COLORS oF Pisone By Dr. H. Iag, po

Iy CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI.

VISIT TO THE ORIGINAL LOCALITY OF THE New SPECIES OF

RCEUTHOBIUM IN WARREN County, N.Y. By C. C. Parry,M.D.,

On THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS Fauna. Illustrated. By Prof.

E. D. Cope, s

NEw Tetoxoon FROM THE iR I Nusiratem ‘By ey. sahtel

Lockwood,

ON THE USE OF ii onsen Suse os AS AN an TO bk-

POWER DEFINITION. By Dr. J. J. Woodward, EE e

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR dik oF Inpra. By Rev HL J. Bruce

Tue CURIOUS History or a BUTTERFLY. By Samuel H. Sodaaek

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK AND THE NEIGH-

BORING PARTS OF THE ir ag OF NARRAGANSET Bay. With a

plate. By Prof. N. S. Shal de See ete GBR, GbE

THE New IMMERSION Pee Illustrated. By R. H.

Ward, M.D., Se erate ecules

ON THE CAUSE OF on a IN Sae OF OUk NATIVE

mun AND e OF THE PROBABLE REASONS WHY

‘Eur VIN AVE sO negra FAILED WITH US.

paar: By Pre C. V. Rile . e aie eee

SEQUOIA AND ITs History. By Prot. ger Gia

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF aoe Urns IN BRAZIL. Fataki. By

Prof. Charles Fred. H

NOTES ON AvomonaL eo Iowa AS : hepa ài lihis

trated. By n G. Henderson, .

Cosmmunoxs TO THE NATURAL krón OF THE Se OF

III. By Prof. James Orton, 650

NOTES ON THE oe Vedurviecks OF THE LOWER Wanat a EY. By

Robert Ridgway, . Ses le re ce ee eee

ego tor cu FROM THE i Rocky Moumbaina. By Samuel H.

UT en Sige ON ea ee oe ee

THE cures ene AGE OF THE CoaL oF Wyoming. By Edward

POOG rs a ke 669

EFFECTS OF EXTRAORDINARY SEASONS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF

ANIMALS AND PLANTS. By Prof. N. S. Shaler, —. e 3 3 671

Tue BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND CARPENTER-BEK. = Rev. Samuel =

Lockwood, 21

THE CALIFORNIAN TRIVIA AND o oni Pont IN ITS Dispeeebrion. r

Ilustrated. Pe Robert E. C. Stearns, . £ x 732

THE ALPINE FLORA OF COLORADO. By Rev. E. L Grane, ook 734

CERTAIN PECULIARITIES IN THE CRANIA OF THE Motto- soine:

Illustrated. By J. W. Foster, LL. D., . roe oe i 738

ON THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC Vok. AND Sey. By Prof.

Rony HOO, o vi eee ye 8 ee ae ee TAT

REVIEws AND Book Norticres.— Norwegian Zoology, p. 37. New Gala-

pagos Birds, p. 38. Recent British Ostracodes, p. 38. The American

Entomologist, p. 39. The Fossil Plants of Canids, p. 99. Anthropolog-

CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI. ¥

ical Institute of New York, p. 103. A new Catalogue of Butterflies, p.

160 opographical Atlas of Massachusetts, p. wo Late American

Papers on Ornithology, p. 165. Siebold’s Parthen nogenesis, p. 229. Ethnog-

a of the Shores of Behring Sea, p. 23% Early Stages aprig Flies,

p. 230... Phe Lens; p. 281. PS Survey of Ohio, p. 289. The

w Noxious and Beneficial Insects of Missouri. Iilustrated. e z i Pond

Life, p..295. ari Sea Corals. Jilustrated. = 295. View e Mi-

_ecroscopic World. 352. Revision of some of the cas an Pores

wa p. 854. Birds a Kansas, p. 359. ena Ornithological Register,

p: Vegetable Parasites as Causes of Disease, p. 422. Scien tific

Record, p. 471. The Boston Society’s Ornithological Catalogue, p. 472

Description of à Specimen of Balænoptera musculus, p. 473. The Habits

of the Orca, p. 474. How Plants Behave, p. 475. pte eth Works

in Prospect, p. 478. Prof. Snow’s List E Kansas Birds, p. 482. Cata-

logue of the Penguins in the Museum of the Boston Society pr Natural

History, p. 545. Notes the Natural EP of Fort Macon, N. C., and

Vicinity, p. 546. RE Thesaurus, p. 5 Recent Discoveries in

Ornithotomy, p. 631. Guide to the Study a praes p. 635. The Des-

mids, p. 635. Corals and o Islands, p. 674. Man in the Past, Present

and Future, p. 680. e of the Tres Marias and Socorro Islands,

p- 681. The Evolution of m p. 760. Illustrations of North American

Moths, p.-762. Fourth Report of the Peabody Academy of Science, p.

764. Birds of Kansas, p. 765.

NY.— Dismissal of the late Botanist of the Department of Agri-

O Pi

104. : Plant Driers, p. 107. e Flowering of the Gibbous Bladderwort,

p. 108. New American Vane of Asplenium filix foemina, p. 108. Influ-

ence of Green Light he nig itive Plant, 08. Structure of the

Closed Flowers of ator 109. New Parasitic Plant of the Mistle-

~ toe Family, p. 166. Floral Sadas, p. 167. E. Halls Collection pf Dried

Plants of Oregon, p. 167. Dispersion of Spores, p. 168. Dispeeatios of

= Seeds by the Wind, p. 231. Mimicry in Plants, p. 233. Nardosmia pal-

ta, p. 233. Prof. Babington on Anacharis, p. 297. Another Double

Wild Flower, p. 289. The aii Distribution of Composite, p.

361. The Coloring Matter of Fungi, p. 361. New Stations of Rare Plants,

p. 862. Exuberance of Pollen, p. ng Double Flowers of Ranunculus

-rhomboideus, p. 427. Quercus alba, var. Gunnissonii, p. 427. The For-

mation of Ozone by Flowers, p. 428. Juniperus occidentalis, p. 428. Wild

-Double-flowered Epigæa repens, p. 429. Experiments on Hybridization,

p. 429. Calypso, p: 429. Botany Forty Years ago, p. 485. Moosewood

5 Gbipne mecnley ane Torrey, p. à Botanical N Jeee p

ic aie on Vegetation, p. 551. “Aiea sania pP: pew

; Botanical Works, p. 636. Law of Angular Divergence in the Bra

nches

|, p. 682. Classification of the Gray Pine, p. 684. The Vegetable ;

vi CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI.

Nature of Diatoms, p. 684. Office of Bud Scales, etc., p. 685. Seeds as

Projectiles, p. 685. Alpine Flowers, p. 686. Fertilization of Yucca by a

Moth, p. 765. Trees and Rain, p. 766. Acer nigrum with Stipules, p. 767.

A apia eed New to our Coast, p767.

hipaa — Carboniferous Reptiles of Ohio, p. 46. Note on the Prairie

Ornithological Query, p. 47. Birds found Breeding in the

Catskill — p- 47. Fishes as Surgeons, p. 48. A Sea Bird inland,

: 49. Hemirhampus Richardi? p. 49. Occurrence of the

Orchard panes in South Carolina, p. 49. Tulip Trees Destroyed by

Bark Lice, p. 51. Instinct or Reason in the Robin, p. 52. Laboratory for

arn Zoology, p. 52. Hybrids, p. 53. The Etheostomoids. Jllustrated.

09. Butterfly Notes, 1871, p. 115. Iowa Butterflies, p. 116. Young

= the Blind Fish, p. 116. Se eo Warmed by a Lizard, p. 168. Flying

Spiders, p. 168. Embryonic Larvæ of Butterflies, p. 169. Propagation of

Salmon, p. 170. An Ornithological Aaa p. 172. Albinism and Mela-

nism, p. 173. Dredgings in the Gulf.of St. Lawreuce, p. 174. The Origin

of Insects, p. 174. Change in the Habits of a Bird, p. 175. Reproduction

of Sturgeon, p. 175. Partial Development of Eggs without Fertilization,

p. 176. Floraand Fauna of the Azores, p. 176. Circulation in Insects, p.

178. Note of Icterus Baltimore, p. 234. Note of Rana pipiens, p. 234.

Disappearance of the Colorado Potato Beetle at Niles, Michigan, p. pesi

Affinities of the Kingcrab, p. 235. Respiration of Fishes, p. 235.

Great Northern Shrike and the English Sparrows, p. 236. Peouliat color

ation in Fishes, p. 237. Duration of Life of the Danaus signs dtl pe

American Leeches, p. 238. The last of ‘‘Bonasa Jobsii,” p. 300. Orr jui

logical Blunders, p. 303. Vibrations of the Tail in Snakes, m 304. The

Affinities of‘Crinoids, p. 305. Birds New to the Massachusetts Fauna, p-

306. Error in Darwin’s Origin of Species, p. 307. Parthenogenesis among

Lepidoptera, p. 308. Naturalization of Salmonide, p. 808. Curious

Habits of a Snake, p. 309. More about Singing Mics. p. 809. The Music

of the Rattlesnake, p. 310. Melanism, p..310. A Rare Animal, p. 362.

Geographical Distribution.of Bassaris astuta, p. 364. Colorado Potato

Beetle, p. 3864. Singing Maryland Marmot, p. 3865. The Position of the

Centre of Gravity in Resecté: p. 366. Occurrence of the Scissor-tail Fly-

) 68.

` Great Auk, p- 368. Activity of Trout and Salmon, p. 369 he Carolina

eae . 3869. Pouched Rat (Perognatus PERE: p. 369.

Bird New to Acted United States, p. 370. The Nest, Eggs, and Breeding

Habits of Harporhynchus crissalis, p. 370. Intelligence iy Monkeys, p

371. New Birds in Southern Illinois, p. 430. The Anæsthetic sekóal.

p. 431. Microlepidoptera, p. 432. On the Occurrence of a near Relative

of Ægiothus flavirostris, at Waltham, Mass., p. 433. A Spike-horn Mule-

deer, p. 434. Economical Entomology, p. 435. On the Occurrence of

Setophaga picta in Arizona, p. 436. Zoological Nomenclature, p. 436,

The Gregarious Rat of Texas, p. 487. Notes on Cemiostoma, p. 489. e

Rattle of the Rattlesnake, p. 490. Venomous Fish, p. 491. Vitality of

CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI. vii

Reptiles, p. 491. Change of Temperature in pii pii e Recently

Fertilized Shad Eggs, p. 492. Another pey on the Same, p. 493. Nest

and Eggs of Helminthophaga Luciæ, p. 493. Pe ot Couch’s wi

catcher in the United States, p. 493. The Food of the pee Bear,

493. A New Locality for Zonites cellarius Miiller, p. 494. The cae

Crayfish, p. 494. Calculi from the Stomach of a Horse, p. 552. Animals

of the Mammoth Cave, p. 553. The Opossum, p. 555. Habits of Tropic

Birds, p. 557. Geographical Variation, p. 559. Note on the geha Worm,

ETOS anhingæ) found in the Brain of the Snake Bird, p. 560. Vivipa-

rous Minnows, p. 561. Tornaria, the young Stage of jaN p

The Pesuliat Coloration of Fishes, p. 637. A New Species of

Passerculus from Eastern Massachusetts, p. y The Zoological peep

at Naples, p. 686. Faunal Provinces óf the West Coast of Am a, De

89. n Zoological Barriers, with Sgecial Atami to South Anadis

p. 690. Absence of Eyes in Classification, p. 691. Vitality and Sex, p.

em Spike-horned Muledeer, p. 692. The Rattle of the Rattlesnake, p.

693. Flies as a Mea PRETA Contagious Diseases, p. 694.

naie of fenm es Phalang With cut. p. 767. Embry-

ology of the Myriopods, p. 768. The: ‘Ruane or Bee Martin, p. 769.

Arachnactis the Young of Edwardsia, p. 770. ng Rabbit (Lepus

aquaticus), p: 771. The Salt Lake Crustacean, p. 771. ‘A colossal Oc-

topus. With cut. p. 772. Texas Field Mouse tetas Carolinen-

sis?), p. 772. Marine Crustacea in Lake Michigan. Correction. p. 773.

Albino Deer. p. 7738. i

GEOLOGY. — Geology of the Phosphate Beds of South Carolina, p. 65.

Deep Sea ee p. 58. Coal Beds in Panama, p. 59. Geology,

117 7.

etc., in California, p. . Origin of the New Bugad Glacier, p. 11

The FRSE Aastodon p. 178. A New Fossil Butterfly, p. 179. A

New Cave i , Pennsylvania, p. 288. Glaciers in the solely

Mountains, p. 09 hes of an Extinct Gigantic page of Prey in

New Zealand, p. 312. A Glacial Phenomenon, p. 372. New Genus of

- Ungulates, p. 438. Boulders in Coal, p. 489.. Food of wan p-

39 few a

d Remarkable Fossils, p. 495. oi Creek Petroleum known

‘in the last Century, p. 638. Extinction of Birds in Mauritius, etc., p. 694.

The Eocene Genus Synoplotherium, p. 695. New Land Shells from the

Coal Measures, p. 696. The Proboscidians of the American Eocene, p.

773. The Armed Metalophodon, p. 774. The Fish-beds of Osino, Ne-

vada, p. 775.

ANTHROPOLOGY.— Scalping, p. 118. Archeological Chronology, p. 118.

Flathead Indians, p. 179. Another Lake hee p. 313. Fossil Man in

France, p. 373. A Remarkable Indian Relic, p. 696. The Boomerang, p

701. Antiquity of Man in France, p. 702. The Antiquity of Man in

_ America, p. 776. :

.—Angular Aperture, p. 59. Passage of Corpuscles through

; i alidktscory.

ibe Blood-vessels, p. 60. Cutting and Staining Tissues, p. 61.. Another

viii CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI.

Erector, p. 62. American RE o Society of the City of New York,

62. Improved Apparatus for Drawing with the Microscope, p. 62.

Micro-spectroscope, p.62. Pr EE Life, p- 63. ‘‘ Power” of Lenses,

. 119. Photographic Micrometer and Goniometer, p. 120. Wea Diatom

Leo he Re

Hoax, p. 12 d Blood-corpuscle, p. 121. A New Group of Infu-

soria, 123. Structure of Minute Organisms, p. 123. Pure Water, p. 124.

Railway Dust, p. 124. ases and Vapors in Micro-chemistry, p. 184.

Microphotography, p. 185. Curious Varieties of the Liber, p. 185. Lep- -

idopterous Scales, p. 186. cae Diamond Points, p. 186. Vitality as

Affected by Temperature, p. 187. Microscopical Manipulations, p. 187

Fibres of Flax and Hemp, p. 187. Darwinism and Histology, p- 187.

Fungi, p. 187. Preservation of Fresh-water Polyzoa, p. 188. Crystalli-

zation of Metals in Electricity, p. 488. Conjugation in Rhizopods, p. 188.

pty by Black-ground IHumination, p. 188. Cleaning Diatoms,

pit Microscopical Structure of the Vax or Bloom of Plants, p. 188.

An uae: Mode of Capillary oa p. 239. The New Erecting

Arrangement, p. 240. ote on Above Remarks, p. 241. Oblique

Illumination, p. 241. Glycerine in 1 Microscop, p. 242. Practical Hise

tology, p. 242. Variations in Size of Red Blood- longs p. 242

Comparative Size of Red iari p. 248. Vitality of Organic

Obj

p. 243. Size of Blood-dises, p. 243. Tapices s and Plant-crystals, p. 244.

Respiration i in arira w orms, p. 244. Development or Hydrodictyon,

M The Mic

altwood Finder, £ 245. The Microscope in the Lecture

kaom. p. 814. Angular Jinik e, p. 315. Preparation He Preservation

of Tissues, p. 315. Absorption of Solid Particles, p. 316. Multiplying

Species, p. 316. Vavcionniedt of Vegetable and Animal Life, p. 317

The Leucocytes, p. 317. ie and Endogens, p: 318. A Conspectus

of the aroma p: Photo-micrographs Popularized, p. 318. 4

Deep-sea Life, 373. . RE Life, p. 374. The Nature of Miasm, '

p- 3874. Eels in Pea . 375. The Origin of Guano, p. 375. Arbures-

cent Silver, p. 375. Artificial Fossils, p. 376. Nomenclature of Objectives,

p. 376. Corivctióna to Prof. Tuttle’s Paper in May NATURALIST, p*378. A

New Erecting Prism. With cuts. p. 439. ese Binocular, p. 441.

Opaque Illumination under High Powers, p. 441. Collins’ Light Cor-

rector, p. 442. Measurement of Angular Aperture, p. 442. Organisms

in Chicago Hydrant Water, p. 443. Record of New Fungi, p. 443. Podura

Scales, p. 448. The Study of ‘difficult Diatoms,” p. 444. Cells for

Mounting Objects, p. 497.. The Common Paraboloid as an Immersion

Instrument, p. 498. Bichromatic Vision, p. 499. New Arrangement of

Spring Clips, p. 499. Single Front Objectives, p. 500. pep eT at

ae Aperture of Objectives, p. 564. Organisms in Croton Water, a

6 Distribution and Action of Nerves, p. 565. ree Forms —

CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI. 1X

in Glass, p. 569. The Leucocytes, p. 569. Spontaneous Generation, p.

570. Successive Polarization of Light, p. 638. z Double Erecting Binoc-

ular, p. 639. Angular Aperture of the Eye, p. 639. Classification of

Microscopic Objects, p. 703. A Life Sli paoi m p. 705

k sam

Bone Dust in Soap, p. 707. e Fresh Water Polype, p. 707. Repro-

duction of Sponges, p.707. Multiplication by nerd of Wheel Animal-

cules, p. 708. Spicu ae of Sponges, p. 709. ngous Growth in —_

P: 776. cae Definitions of Objectives, p. STR, raps tion o

bert’s Band, p. 7 oto-mechanical Printing, p. 778. The Submersion

Microscope, p. m The Micro-pantograph. ith cut. he 779. ount-

ing Tissues in Balsam, 781. Mounting Tissues in Dammar Varnish, p.

781. Logwood Staining Fluid, p. 781. Fungi in Drinkin Water, p. 781.

Structure of Podura Scales, p. 782. Dry Rot, p. 782

Norrs.— pp. 63, 124, 189, 246, 318, 378, 445, 505, 570, 639, 709, 782.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPON DENTS.— pp. 256, 320, 384, 447, 512, 576, G40.

EXCHANGES.— p. 192.

Books RECEIVED.— pp. 128, 256, 320, 384, 448, 512, 576, 640, 720, 784.

ERRATA.

1. V.— Page 564, line 22, for ventral read dorsal; line 24, dele and Donacia

er oe 8, for Donacia read drs ee line 6 from bottom, for They are read Alte labus

ts. Page 566, line 1 from bottom, after while insert Telephorus. Page 745, line 29, for

nair Ai Mandara s ead P E ophil latus line ae SOF OPO subter-

ranea Raad Page 746, qu cut, for

eneecus cavernarum. Page 759, line 1 Raphid ophor a read Ceuthophilus ;

tins 23, for R read H; and for UA jia read enact stygius ; line 35, for R. stygia read

Ceuthophilus stygius.

Vol. VI.— Page 45, line 9 from bottom, for TENNIFOLIUM read TENUIFOLIUM. Page 72,

line 10, for Denver 2105 feet above the sea read 5105 feet. Page 136, line 3, for equivalency

ence. Page 138, line 4 of note, for applications read cob is a ep ig as

i t P

before Beale. Page 192, line 4 from bott øm , for 321 read 317. Page 237, li mi 9 fro m bot

naus.

i for glauconia read glaucoma. Page 350, line 3, ‘a oe icta sears ied rs ti

~ phrocotis. e 327, place § before last note. Pages 327 and 529, in the last square of

the upp insert a comma after binocular. Page ad line 25, for Dongali rend Dou-

galt. Pisga 515, line 2 for W. Doubleday read Mr. Doubleday ; last line but one, for

: ever unite their forces. Page sal line 6, for enclosed read

eelosed Ii hee. 9, for meii read then; line 16, for trace read tr

x ILLUSTRATIONS.

LIST OF PLATES.

late, Page. j Plate. Page.

1-2. Blind Fishes and their Allies, 5. The White Coffee-leaf Miner (a

twenty-seven figures ‘ 0 corrected copy of this plate is

3. Breathing eo ot Leaves, also given on page 605

eighteen figur 132/6. Diagram Map illustrating the

4. Frustules of Araphintadiea per oe + — * Ann

lucida (Woodbury-type), eck,

x ’

LIST OF WOODCUTS.

No. Page.

1 — — Fish, Stysicola | Koleops anguilla, . 451-453

Immersion iiiumination, ` 526-530

2. Mudfich. Molitora limi, Ke g Pann kiere CAUS .

$ Representing six gene of the Grape

arters, Etheostomoids, 110-112 Gall. cpl :

9-30. Twenty-two es of An- ht Ss Sot of the Grape-

> ient ef Sri sa roo 537

from New sey, 144-160 | 150. Bracon i letter Parasite of the

31-87. ee Phase of Ancient Coffee Mot 599

Sop aaa ments a Ancient vice Urn from Bra-

ew @ feat See apne Sa ee aie

98-92. Five “ngures yor “Monads, ig Seven

, 8. The wberry Crown- pore Stone Implements generally

phos and Beetle, known as Sg gp ets, . 648-647

94-95. The so Amphipyra aii i tas f an Ancient

L and Mot Store fotad at Lake

96-97. The Gena Colaspis, Larva Winn iseogee, -150

g Beetle 93 Life Slide forthe Microscope, “700

98-99 White teli ned Morning Balanophyllia elegans, >. T32

St hinx and Larva 204 She M gs Tnv Catone: . 132

100. A ei azy Coral, Haplo- Trivia Califo 733

phylha, Trivia Baronii ia 733

101. Jumping _ Mouse, Jaculus Skull of a Mound-builder

Hudsoniu from Illinoi 739

102-108. Fruit of ine Fedias of the Tee ee sk of the "Mound:

; Northern United States, 386-387 740

109-110. pe idotea microcephala, Cut nt, Bar comparative

from the Topu Osh, 411 aize and shape of Tae

111-113. RSS eee stygius. eae kulis, is 745

114-115. Erebomaster avescens, +e 6ni Chelifer’ cancroides, Poe ge tee

mectes inermis,. . . . 419)1 Brazilian Octopus, . . . > 772

1,2.3. A New Erecting Prism, , . 440 Micro-pantograph, . . . . 780

117-118. Ee s gigas, . . . 450

ee ae

CONTRIBUTORS.

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO VOL. VI.

TO GENERAL ARTICLES.

sor C. ABBOTT, Trenton,

beat ei Geis: Cambridge, Mass.

de = ALLEN, Cambridge, Mass.

Poe T. ų tan Cincinnati,

Ohio

Rev. H. J. BRUCE, Springfield, Mass.

one. N.J.

A, New era

icut.

Ww. Kosri LL.D., aig Piri

Prof. Asa Gray, Cam mbridge,

an E. L. GREENE, Greeley, arera

Dr. eap "HAGEN, Cambridge, Mass

HARTSHORNE, Phila-

rof. C. Sian: Hartt, Ithaca, N. Y.

JOHN > HENDERSON, Springfield,

Illino

Rev. Santor Lockwoop, Keyport,

New Jersey.

B. P. Mann, Cambridge, Mass.

Prof. Myer ORTON, Poughkeepsie,

New Y

ch f. H. W. Pe a Mass.

aE C. Parry, Davenport, Ohio.

Peot, THOS. TER, Easton,

Pennsylvania

Putnam, Salem, Mass.

ROBERT ct lent

Prof. C. V. Ri

S. = SCUDDER, “Montone, France

SHALER, Danbridaee

Massachusetts.

R B. C Hg EARNS, San Francisco,

Bapat

Prof. kasok TENNEY, Williams-

town, Mass

Prof. ALBER T H: TOTTLE,

bridge, Mas

Lord Watsinoran Thetford, Eng.

Cam-

Dr. R. H. Warp maiad h

r. WILLIAM D, East Windsor

Ph Ct.

te eae o beieg U. S. Army,

pa ko D.

TO REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

J. À. Allen, Cambridge, Mass.

Rev. a D: Bolles, Salem, Mass.

. Brewer, Boston, Mass.

B. Perry, Cambridge, Mass.

FY W. aiea, alem , Mass.

Prof. C. V. Riley, Fors Loni 8, Mo.

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Eoi Frank H. Snow, De

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CONTRIBUTORS.

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AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.—JANUARY, 1872.—No. 1.

LEEK HYOD 22

CONCERNING DEEP-SEA DREDGINGS.

BY PROF. L. AGASSIZ. *

My Dear Frrenp:—On the point of starting for the Deep-Sea

Dredging expedition, for which you have so fully provided, and

which I trust may prove to be. one of the best rewards for your

devotion to the interests of the Coast Survey, I am desirous to

leave in your hands a document which may be very compromis-

ing for me, but which I nevertheless am determined to write in

the hope of showing within what limits natural history has ad-

vanced toward that point of maturity when seience may antici-

pate the discovery of facts.

If there is, as I believe to be the case, a plan according to

which the affinities among animals and the order of their succes-

sion in time were determined from the beginning, and if that

plan is reflected in the mode of growth, and in the geographical

distribution of all living beings; or, in other words, if this world

of ours is the work of intelligence, and Tok, erely the product of

force and matter, the human mind, as a part of the whole, should

so chime with it, that, from what is known, it may reach the un-

known; and if this be so the amount of information thus far gath-

ered should, within the limits of errors which the imperfection of

our knowledge renders unavoidable, be sufficient to foretell what

*Communicated by Prof. Peirce from , sheets of Bulletin of the Museum of

Per reales Zoology. No.3. A Letter c ng Deep-Sea Dredgings Lae ae nae

Professor Benjamin Peirce, Superint iia Uaid States Coast Survey, b

Pian Cambridge, Mass., December 2, 1871.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

SCIENCE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 1 (1)

2 : DEEP-SEA DREDGINGS.

we are likely to find in the deepest abysses of the sea, from which

thus far nothing has been secured.

I will not undertake to lay down the line of argument upon

which I base my statement, beyond what is suggested in the few

words preceding, namely, that there is a correlation between the

gradation of animals in the complication of their structure, their

order of succession in geological times, their mode of develop-

ment from the egg, and their geographical distribution upon the

surface of the globe. If that be so, and if the animal world de-

signed from the beginning has been the motive for the physical

changes which our globe has undergone, and if, as I also believe

to be the case, these changes have not been the cause of the di-

versity now observed among organized beings, then we may ex-

pect from the greater depth of the ocean representatives resembling

those types of animals which were prominent in earlier geologi-

- cal periods, or bear a closer resemblance to younger stages of the

higher members of the same types, or to the lower forms which

take their place nowadays. And to leave no doubt that I have.a

distinct perception of what I may anticipate, I make the following

specific statement.

It lies in the very nature of these animals that, among verte-

brates, neither Mammalia nor Birds can exist in deep waters, and

if any Reptiles exist there, it could only be such as are related to

- the extinct types of the Jurassic periods, the Ichthyosauri, Plesi-

osauri, and Pterodactyles, but even of these there is very little

probability that any of their representatives are still alive. Among

the fishes, however, I expect to discover some marine representa-

tives of the order of Ganoids of both the principal types known

from the secondary zoological period, such as Lepidoids, Sauroids,

Pycnodonts, Celacanthes, Amioids, and Glyptolepis-like species

may even be looked for. Among Selachians some new represen-

tatives of Cestraciontes or Hybodontes may be forthcoming, con-

necting the latter more closely to Odontaspis. I also look forward

to finding species allied to Corax, or connecting this genus with

Notidanus, perhaps also Jurassic-like forms. Among Chimæ-

roids we may expect some new genera more closely related to the

extinct types of that family than those now living. Among or-

dinary fishes I take it for granted that Beryx genera may be

added to our list, approaching perhaps Acanus or rather Spheno-

cephalus ; also types all ied to Istieus, to Anenchelum, and to Os-

DEEP-SEA DREDGINGS. 3

meroides, Elops, and Argentina. Dercetis and Blochius may also

come up. Species of all classes of the animal kingdom which

have been very rarely met with by fishermen and naturalists are

likely to be found in the deepest waters, in which neither hooks

nor nets are generally lowered. Nothing is known concerning the

greatest depth at which fishes may live. Upon this point I hope

to obtain positive data.

The Mollusks will, no doubt, afford a rich harvest of novelties,

among which some may be of the deepest zoological interest. It

stands to reason that a variety of Nautiloid Cephalopods may be

discovered when Nautilus proper and Spirula are so rarely found

alive, and among new forms there may be those combining char-

acters of Argonauts with features of Nautilus ; some may even be

coiled up like Turrilites. Belemnitic Squids would appear natu-

ral. Among Gasteropods we may look for high spired Natica-

like types, for representatives of Acteonella, Avellana, and the

like ; for small Volutoids of the Tertiary and Cretaceous types, for

Rostellarias, even for Nerineas, and more particularly for forms

intermediate between Firulea and Cyprea. Among Acephala I

would expect a variety of Myacea approaching those described in

my monographs of that family from the Jurassic and Cretaceous

formations, such as Ceromya, Corimya, Circomya, Goniomya,

Myopsis, etc., with Panorpa and Pholadomya, and others recall-.

ing perhaps also Cardinia, Gresslya, or Cardiacea more closely

related to Conocardium than the living species, perhaps leading to

Opis, or Trigoniae of extinct types akin to Myophoria, with Pa-

chymya, Diceras, Grammisia, Inoceramus, Pterinea, Monotis and

Posidonia. Rudistes should take the place of oysters and the

harvest of Brachiopods should be large.

Among Crustacea it is natural to suppose that genera may be

discovered reminding us ef Eryon or of Pemphyx, Gampsonyx, or

some Amphipods, and Isopods aping still more closely the Trilo-

bites than Serolis, or Limuloids approaching that extinct family.

The classification, embryology, and order of succession of Echi-

noderms is now so well known, that it is perhaps still more easy

to anticipate the character of discoveries in this branch of the an-

imal kingdom than in any other. I expect confidently, to find

Spatangoids approaching Holaster, Toxaster, Ananchytes, Hemip-

neustes or Metaporhinus, and others akin to Dysaster; Echino-

lamps approaching Pygurus, Nucleolites tending to Clypeus, Gal-

4 DEEP-SEA DREDGINGS.

erites like Pyrina or Globator, etc., etc., and again Cidarid

akin to C. glandifera and clavigera with Glypticus-like species,

and Codiopsis, Coelopleurus, Cyphosoma, and Salenia

Among Starfishes the types of Goniaster and Luidia are likely

to prevail with simple rayed Euryaloid genera, and among Cri-

noids a variety of genera reminding us of Pentremites, Marsu-

pites, Pentacrinus, Apiocrinus, and Eugeniacrinus.

The question of the affinities of Millepora will probably, receive

additional evidence, and genera connecting more closely the Ru-

gosa and Tabulata with one another, and with the Acalephs may

be expected in the shapes of branching Heliopores and the like.

With the monograph of Pourtales upon the deep-sea corals be-

_ fore me, it would be sheer pretence to say anything concerning the

` prospect of discovering new representatives of this or that type.

His tables point them out already.

But, there is a subject of great interest likely to be elucidated

by our investigation, — the contrast of the deep-sea faunæ of the

northern with those of the southern hemisphere. Judging from

what Australia has already brought us, we may expect to find

that the animal world of the southern hemisphere has a more an-

tique character, in the same way as North America may be con-

_trasted with Europe, on the ground of the occurrence in the United

States of animals and plants now living here, the types of which

are only found fossil in Europe.

A few more words, upon another subject. During the first

three decades of this century, the scientific world believed that

the erratic boulders, which form so prominent a feature of ‘the

surface geology of Europe, had been transported by currents

arising from the rupture of the barriers of great lakes among the

Alps or started from the north by earthquake waves.

Shepherds first started the idea that within the valleys of Swit-

zerland these huge boulders had been carried forward by glaciers,

and Swiss geologists, Venetz and Charpentier foremost among

them, very soon proved that this had been the case. This view,

however, remained confined to the vicinity of the Alps in its ap-

plication, until I suggested that the phenomenon might have a cos-

mic importance, which was proved when I discovered, in 1840,

unmistakable traces of glaciers in Scotland, England, and Ire-

land, in regions which could have had no connection whatever

with the elevation of the “Alps. Since that time the glacial period

DEEP-SEA DREDGINGS. 5

has been considered by geologists as a fixed fact, whatever may

have been the discrepancies among them as to the extent of these

continental masses of ice, their origin, and their mode of action.

There is, however, one kind of evidence wanting to remove

every possible doubt that the greatest extension of glaciers in for-

mer ages was connected with cosmic changes in the physical con-

dition of our globe. All the phenomena related to the glacial

period must be found in the southern hemisphere with the same

characteristic features as in the north, with this essential differ-

ence, that everything must be reversed ; that is, the trend of the

glacial abrasion must be from the south northward ; the lee side

of abraded rocks must be on the north side of hills and mountain

ranges, and the boulders must have been derived from rocky ex-

posures lying to the south of their present position. Whether

this is so or not, has not yet been ascertained by direct observa-

tion. I expect to find it so throughout the temperate and cold

zones of the southern hemisphere, with the sole exception of the

present glaciers of Terra del Fuego and Patagonia, which may

have transported boulders in every direction. Even in Europe,

geologists have not yet sufficiently discriminated between local

glaciers and the phenomena connected with their different degrees

of successive retreat on one hand, and the facts indicating the ac-

tion of an expansive and continuous sheet of ice moving over the

whole continent from north to south. Unquestionably, the abra-

sion of the summits of the mountains of Great Britain, espe-

cially noticeable upon Schiehallion, is owing to the action of the

great European ice-sheet during the maximum extension of the

; glacial phenomena in Europe, and has nothing to do with the lo-

cal glaciers of the British Isles.

Among the'facts already known from the southern hemisphere

are the so-called rivers of stone of the Falkland Islands, which

attracted the attention of Darwin during his cruise with Captain

Fitzroy, and which have remained an enigma to this day. I be-

lieve it will not be difficult to explain their origin in the light of

the glacial theory, and I fancy now they may turn out to be noth-

ing but ground moraines, similar to the * Horsebacks” of

You may ask what the question of drift has to do with paa

sea dredging? The connection is closer than may at first appear.

If drift is not of glacial origin, but tħe product of marine cur-

rents, its formation at once becomes a matter for the Coast Survey

6 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

to investigate, and I believe, it will be found in the end, that, so

far from being accumulated by the sea, the drift of the lowlands

of Patagonia has been worn away to its present extent by the

continued encroachment of the ocean in the same manner as the

northern shores of South America and of Brazil have been.

THE BLIND FISHES OF THE MAMMOTH

CAVE AND THEIR ALLIES.”

BY F. W. PUTNAM.

Tur blind fish of the Mammoth Cave has from its discovery

been regarded with curiosity by all who have heard of its exis-

tence, while anatomists and physiologists have considered it as one

of those singular animals whose special anatomy must be studied

in order to understand correctly facts that have been demonstrated ~

from other sources ; and, in these days of the Darwinian and devel-

opment theories, the little blind fish is called forth to give its tes-

timony, pro or con.

Before touching upon this point, however, we must call attention

to the structure of the fish and its allies, and to others that are

either partially or totally blind.

In the lancelet (Branchiostoma) and the hag (Myxine) the eye

is described ‘‘as simple in form as that of a leach, consisting sim-

ply of a skin follicle coated by a dark pigment, which receives the

end of a nerve from the brain.” Such an eye speck as this struc-

ture gives would only answer for the simple perception of light. In

the young ț of the lampreys (Petromyzon) the eye is very small and

*It was eami to put e -a in the last number of the NATURALIST i

nection article on t and its insect and crustacean life, but the ae “a

eri the pat made o peine to postpone it. e are therefore oblige

refer the reader to the December number for further information of the fauna of Py

cave and a + hört account of the cave itself. — Eps.

on Pro £. m yman questions this structure.

nET ; h f Amm ocætes,

and it was not until 1856, when Prof. aes sorntveetae the fact of a br orphosis in

he lampreys, that their true position wa ined. Prof. Miil hae piaptars ga

. history of the common European species aa. veer that it is ar r four years

attaining its perfect form. With this fact before us and with the early = zalh the

My $ + +

vinoids still unknown, ancel

yet gti to be a larval form of the Myxinoids, notwithstanding that it is eaid t = ray

hy should

Bee oe ot ae

oe | AE E EIA tN CaN Cee eR ee Mere RE

PSS OT Pe eT ee RE eS Iw See

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 7

placed in a fold of the skin of the head, and probably of little use,

as these young remain buried in the sand; but as they attain ma-

turity, and, with it, the parasitic habits of the adult, their eyes are

developed to a fair size, thus reversing the general rule in the class.

In most other fishes the eyes are developed to a full and even

remarkable extent as to size and perfection of sight in water.

In Anableps, or the so called four eyed fish of the fresh waters of

Central and South America, which belongs to a closely allied fam-

ily with our blind fish, the Cyprinodontide, the eyes are not only

fully developed, but are divided into an upper and lower portion

in such a way, by an opaque horizontal line, as to give the effect

of two pupils, by which the fish probably sees as well when follow-

ing its prey on the surface with its eyes out of water, as when

under water. But it is in the interesting family of cat fishes (Siu-

ride) that we find the most singular arrangement of eyes in per-

fect adaptation to the diversified modes of life of the numerous

species. In this family the eyes assume nearly every possible mod-

ification from partial and even total blindness to perfectly develop-

ed eyes, and these organs are placed in almost every conceivable

position in a fish’s head; from the ordinary large eyes on the side,

to small ones on top of the head, enabling the fish to see only what

is above; to the oval eyes on the side, in some just back of the

mouth, situated in such a way that the fish can only see what is in

close proximity to its jaws or even below them. Many genera of

this family found in South America,* Africa and Asia,{ have the

eyes so small and buried under the skin or protected by folds or

cartilage, as evidently to be of no more use than simply to distin-

‘guish light from darkness.

Among the most interesting forms of this family, in this respect,

is the genus described by Prof. Cope under the name of Gronias

nigrilabris. This fish is very closely allied to our common bull

be the young of the Myxinoids, it must necessarily form a distinct class of animals,

near to the mollusks as to the vertebrates.

* Pimelodus cyclopium of Humboldt, Helogenes, Agoniosus and other genera.

+ Eutropius congensis.

į Ailia, Shilbichthys, Bagroides and other genera.

8 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

pout or horned pout, and of about the same size (ten inches in

length). It was taken in the Conestoga river in Lancaster Co.,

Penn., where it is “occasionally caught by fishermen and is sup-

posed to issue from a subterranean stream said to traverse the

limestone in that part of Lancaster Co., and discharge into the

Conestoga.” We quote the sMo from Prof. Cope’s remarks

on the fish : * —

“ Two specimens of this fish present an ae wa condition of

the rudimental eyes. On the left side of both mall perforation

exists in the corium, which} is closed by the epidermis, representing

a rudimental cornea; on the other the corium is complete. Here

the eyeball exists as a very small cartilaginous sphere with thick

walls, concealed by the muscles and fibrous tissue attached, and

by a minute nucleus of pigment. the other the sphere is

larger and thinner walled, the thinnest portion adherent to the

corneal spot above mentioned ; there is a lining of pigment. It

is scarcely Bee thee in one, in the other so closely as to give a

tripodal section. Here we have an interesting transitional condi-

nee in one and the same animal, with regard to a peculiarity which

has at the same time phy siological and systematic significance,

sit Si is one of the comparativ ely. few cases Afees the phy ysiological

appr opriateness of a generic modification can be demonstrated. It

is therefore not subject to the diffculty under which the advocates

of natural selection we when necessitated to explain a structure

as being a step in the advance towards, or in the recession from,

any unknown saiit ioh needful to the existence of the species.

In the present case observation on the species in a state of nature

may furnish interesting results. In no specimen has a trace of

anything representing the lens been found.”

When we remember that the lens of the eye in Amblyopsis has

been found, even though the eye is less developed in all its parts

than in Gronias, it is probable that a careful microscopical exami-

nation would show its existence in this genus also.

It is interesting to note that this fish is black above (lighter on

the sides and white below), notwithstanding its supposed subter-

ranean habits, and that all the other members of the family having

rudimentary or covered eyes are also dark colored, while the blind

fishes of the Mammoth Cave and of the caves in Cuba are nearly

colorless. This want of color in the latter fishes has been consid-

ered as due to their subterranean life. If this be the cause, why

should the blind cat fishes retain the colors characteristic of the

other members of the family living in open waters?

* Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for 1864, p. 231.

Se Sapna

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 9

The fishes which in a general way, so far as blindness, tactile

sense and mode of life are concerned, come the nearest to the blind

fishes of the Mammoth Cave, are those described by Prof. Poey*

under the names of Lucifuga subterraneus and L. dentatus.t

hese fishes having the broad, flattened, fleshy head, with minute

cilia, without external eyes, and inhabiting caves so similar in

structure to the Mammoth Cave, make a comparison of them with

the fishes of the Mammoth Cave most interesting. This is greatly

enhanced by the fact that the Cuban fishes belong to a family of

essentially marine habit, quite far removed from Amblyopsis.

The fresh water ling (Lota), belonging to the same great group

of fishes (though to a distinct family or subfamily) containing the

cod on the one hand and the Cuban blind fish on the other, is

probably the nearest fresh water relative of the Cuban fish, but

the nearest representative yet known is the marine genus Brotula,

one species of which is found in the Caribbean Sea.

n the Cuban blind fish we find ciliary appendages on the

head and body quite distinctly developed, evidently of the same

character as those of Amblyopsis and answering the purpose of

tactile organs. These cilia are in the form of small, but plainly

visible, protuberances (reminding one of the single fleshy protu-

berance over the opercular opening just back of the head in Ambly-

opsis). There are eight of these on top of the head of a speci- —

men I hastily examined, received from Prof. Poey by the Museum

of Comparative Zoology, and quite a number arranged in three

rows on each side of the body, showing that tactile sense is well

developed in this fish ; though it is rather singular that the barbels

on the jaws, so usually developed as organs of touch in the cod

family and its allies, are entirely wanting in this fish.

The brain of Lucifuga subterraneus, as represented by the figures

of Poey, differs very much from that of L. dentatus and of Ambly-

opsis. In all, the optic lobes are as largely developed as in allied

fishes provided with well developed eyes. In Lucifuga subterra-

neus the cerebral lobes are separated by quite a space from the

* Memorias Sobre la Historia =. de la Isla de Cuba, por Felipe Poey. Tomo 2.

pp. 95-114. Pls. 9,10, 11. Haban

t This species was afterwards n o the genus aae Gill, on account of the

ati There a

eral other good characters, to judge from the figures of the Di skull and brain given

= kad that would warrant the ores of the fish to a distinct genus from L. subter

10 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

round optic lobes, which are represented as a little larger than

the cerebral lobes, and also of greater diameter than the cerebel-

lum; this latter being more developed laterally than in either L.

dentatus or in Amblyopsis. The three divisions of the brain

are represented, from a top view, as nearly complete circles

(without division into right and left lobes), of which that repre-

senting the optic lobes is slightly the largest. In L. dentatus the

procencephalon and the optic lobes are represented as divided into

right and left lobes, as in Amblyopsis, and the cerebellum does

not extend laterally over the medulla oblongata as in L. subterra-

neus, but, as in Amblyopsis (Pl. 1, fig. 1d), is not so broad as the

medulla, and, projecting forwards, covers a much larger portion of

the optic lobes than is the case in L. subterraneus.

The Cuban blind fish has the body, cheeks and opercular bones

covered with scales. As in Amblyopsis the eyes exist, but are s0

Fig. 1.

Blind Fish (Stygicola dentatus) from Caves in Cuba.

imbedded in the flesh of the head as to be of no use. The out-

line cut here given (Fig. 1), copied from Poey, is very character-

istic of the form of the fish, but does not exhibit the fleshy cilia

or details of scaling.

The first notice that I can find of the Mammoth Cave blind fish

is that contained in the ‘‘ Proceedings of the Academy of Natural

Sciences of Philadelphia,” Vol. 1, page 175, where is recorded the’

presentation of a specimen to the Academy by W. T. Craige, M.

D., at the Meeting held on May 24, 1842, in the following words :—

“A white, eyeless crayfish (Astacus Bartoni?) and a small white

fish, also eyeless ss (presumed to belong to a subgenus of Silurus),

both t taken

from a small stream called the ‘River Styx’ in the

preneo Cave, Koaiky, about two and one-half miles from the

entrance

Dr. Dei in his “Natural History of New York, Fishes,” page

_ 187, published in 1842, describes the fish, from a poor specimen in —

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 11

the Cabinet of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York,

under the name of Amblyopsis* spelæus.t DeKay’s description is

on.the whole so characteristic of the fish as to leave no doubt as

to the species he had before him, though the statement that it has

-` eight rays supporting the branchiostegal membrane (instead of

six), and that the eyes are “large” but under the skin, must have

been due to the bad condition of his specimen and to his taking

the fatty layer covering the minute eyes for the eyes themselves,

as pointed out by Prof. Wyman. Dr. DeKay places the genus with

the Siluridse (cat fishes) but at the same time questions its con-

nection with the family and says that it will probably form the

type of a new family. In 1843 Prof. Jeffries Wyman} gave an

account of the dissection of a specimen in which he could not find

a trace of the eye or of the optic nerve, probably owing to the

condition of the specimen, as he afterwards § found the eye spots,

and made out the structure of the eye. When describing the

brain, Prof. Wyman calls attention to the fact of the optic lobes

being as well developed as in allied fishes with well developed eyes,

and asks if this fact does not indicate that the optic lobes are the

seat of other functions as well as that of sight. He also calls

attention to the papille on the head as tactile organs furnished

with nerves from the fifth pair.

Dr. Theo. Tellkampf|| was the first to point out the existence of

the rudimentary eyes from dissections made by himself and Prof.

- J. Müller, and to state that they can be detected in some specimens

as black spots under the skin by means of a powerful lens. Prof.

Wyman afterwards detected the eye through the skin in several

specimens. Dr. Tellkampf also was the first to call attention to

the “ folds on the head, as undoubtedly serving as organs of touch,

as numerous fine nerves lead from the trigeminal nerve to them

and to the skin of the head generally.”

It is also to Dr. Tellkampf that we are indebted for the first

figure of the fish,§ and for figures illustrating the brain, and inter-

nal organs. The descriptions of the anatomy of the fish by Drs.

* Obtuse vision. f Of a cave.

t Silliman’s Journal, a 45, p

§ Proceedings Boston Soc. Nat. ji, Vol. 4, p. 395. 1853.

\| Miiller’s Archiv. fur Anat., 1844. p. 392. Reprinted i in the New York Journal of Med-

icine for July, 1845. p.84, with plate.

The other a of the species, that I am aware of, are the simple outlines

ven in Poey’s Mem. de Cuba, the woodcut in Wood’s Ilustrated shine isso and

the cut in Tenney’s Zoology. None of PS figures are very satisfacto

12 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

Tellkampf and Wyman are all that have ever been written on the 4

subject of any importance, with the exception of the description :

of the eye by Dr. Dalton, whose paper, in the “New York Medical :

Times,” Vol. 2, p. 354, I have not seen. Prof. Poey gives a com- d

parison of portions of the structure with that of the Cuban blind

fishes. J

Dr. Tellkampf proposed the name of Heteropygii* for the family —

of which, at the time, a single species from the Mammoth Cave was

the only known representative, and makes a comparison of the char- —

acters with those of Aphredoderus Sayanus, a fish found only in the

fresh waters of the United States, and belonging to the old family —

of Percoids, but now considered as representing a family by itself,

though closely allied to the North American breams (Pomotis), and

having the anal opening under the throat as in the blind fish. :

Dr. Storer} not knowing of Dr. Tellkampf’s paper, proposed —

the name of Hypswide, for the blind fish, and placed it between —

the minnow and the pickerel families, in the order of Malacoptery- ,

gian, or soft rayed, fishes. According to the system adopted by —

Dr. Günther, it stands as closely allied to the minnows, Cyprino-

dontide (many of which are viviparous and have the single ovary —

and general character of the blind fish), and the shiners, Oyprini-

de, of the order of Physostomi. Dr. Tellkampf, in discussing the —

relations of the family, points out its many resemblances to the —

family of Clupesoces, and its differences from the Siluroids, Cy-

prinodontes and Clupeoids, with which it has more or less affinity, :

real or supposed. Prof. Cope in his paper on the Classification of —

Fishes} places the Amblyopsis in the order of Haplomi with the |

shore minnows, pickerel and mud fish, and in an article on the Wy

andotte Cave,§ he says that the Cyprinodontes (shore minnows)

are its nearest allies. This arrangement by Prof. Cope places

the Haplomi between the order containing the herrings and that

containing the electric eel of South America, all included with the

garpike, dog fish of the fresh waters (Amia), cat fishes, suckers

and eels proper, ete., etc., in the division of Physostomi as limited

by him.

the advanced position of the Ber of the intestine being so different from

the position which it has in ordina: ary fi

hes

Synopsis of the Fishes of North America, published in 1846.

i ;

§Indianapolis Daily Journal of rable 5, 1871. Reprinted in Ann. Mag. Nat

Hist., Nov ., 1871.

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 13

Prof. Agassiz in 1851* stated that the blind fish was an aber-

rant form of the Cyprincdontes.

Thus all those authors who have expressed an opinion as to the

position which the fish should hold in the natural system have

come to the same conclusions as to the great group, division, or

order, into which it should be placed. For all the terms used

above, when reduced to any one system, bring Amblyopsis into

the same general position in the system; its nearest allies be-

ing the minnows, pickerels, shiners and herrings; and unless a

careful study of its skeleton should prove to the contrary, we

must, from present data, consider the family containing Amblyop-

sis as more nearly allied to the Cyprinodontes, or our common

minnows having teeth on the jaws, than to any other family, differ-

ing from them principally by the structure of the several parts of

the alimentary canal and the forward position of its termination.

I have thus far mentioned only one species of blind fish from

the cave, the Amblyopsis speleus. The waters of the cave not only

contain another species of blind fish, differing from Amblyopsis in

several particulars, especially by its smaller size and by being with-

out ventral fins, which I have identified as the Typhlichthys subter-

raneus of Dr. Girard; but also a fish with well developed eyes,

as proved by the account given by Dr. Tellkampf and by the

drawing of a fish found by Prof. Wyman, in 1856, in the stomach

of an Amblyopsis he was dissecting. In order to call attention to

the fact that fishes with eyes are at times, if not always, in the

waters of the cave, I have reproduced the drawing by Prof. Wy-

man on plate 1, fig. 13. It is very much to be regretted that the

specimen is not now to be found, and that it was so much acted

on by the gastric juice as to destroy all external characters by

which it could be identified from the drawing, which is of about

natural size. Dr. Tellkampf’s remarks on the fish with eyes are

as follows : —

“ Besides the Te blind-fish, there are also others found in

i cave, — e black, commonly known by the name of ‘ mud-

fish.’ wa i iored fish in the water, but did not suce2ed

n catching nich The latter are said to have eyes, and are entirely

rae Pavan to the blind-fish.”

The name ‘‘ mud-fish,” given to this fish with eyes, and the state-

ment that it is of a dark color, together with the drawing by Prof.

*Silliman’s Journal. p. 128,

14 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

Wyman of the fish found in the stomach of the blind fish, showing

the position of the dorsal fin to be the same as in the fish commonly”

called mud fish in the fresh waters of the Middle, Western 4nd

Southern States, perhaps, indicates the fish with eyes to be a Spe-

cies of Melanura.* This fish is called mud fish from the habit it hag

of burying itself in the mud, tail first, + to the depth of two to four —

inches, and of remaining buried in the mud in our western ditches

during a time of drought. This habit, perhaps, in a measure fits

it for a subterranean life. The occufrence of a fish belonging

to the same family with the blind fish, but with well developed —

eyes, in the subterranean streams in Alabama, as mentioned further

on and figured on PI. 2, fig. 4, however, renders it probable that the

cave fish with eyes may be the same or an allied species, and the

drawing by Prof. Wyman would answer equally as well for it.

The fact that the Amblyopsis succeeded in catching a fish of,

probably, very rapid and darting movements, shows that the tactile

sense is well developed ‘and that the blind fish must be very active

in the pursuit of its prey; probably guided by the movement

which the latter makes in the water so sensibly influencing the del-

icate tactile organs of the blind fish that it is enabled to follow

rapidly, while the pursued, not having the sense of touch so fully

developed, is constantly encountering obstacles in the darkness.

In describing the habits of the blind fish Dr. Tellkampf says :—

“ It is found solitary, and is very difficult to be caught, since it —

requires the greatest caution to bring the net beneath them with- —

out driving them away. At the slightest motion of the water they —

art off a short distance and usually stop. Then is the time to —

follow them rapidly with a net and lift them out of water. They

are mostly found near stones or Ton Aeri lie upon the bottom,

but seldom near the surface of the wa

Prof. Cope, in describing the habits of the blind fish which he

* Dr. Günther considers the genus Melanura of this country to be aT mous With

Fig. 2. a of Euro In Gael

babies only one pia ecies hat

bese as yet satisfactorily de

eribed.,

t See the interesting note?

on the habits of the -a min”

; f, ow, by Dr. bott

A waa Naturalist, Vol. im 3

Mud fish (Melanura limi), and 388, with figure- -ol

107

the fish on page 385, which we here reproduce lor comparison

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 15

obtained in a stream that passes into the Wyandotte Cave, though

he entered it by means of a well in the vicinity of the cave, says

that : —

“Tf these Amblyopses be not alarmed they come to the surface

to feed, and swim in full sight like white aquatic ghosts. They are

then easily taken by the hand or net, if perfect silence be pre-

served, for hay are beeen iow of the presence of an enemy

dently very acu | for at any ar “they turn suddenly downward,

and hide nin stones, etc., on the bottom. They must take

apparently very sparse. This habit is rendered easy by the struc-

ture of the fish, for the mouth is directed upwards, and the head i is

very flat above, thus allowing the mouth to be at the surface.”

The blind fish has a single ovary, in common with several genera

of viviparous Cyprinodontes. In three female specimens of Am-

blyopsis which I have opened, the ovary was distended with large

eggs, but no signs of the embryo could be traced. In these three

specimens it was the right ovary that was developed, and this, as

in the figure (Plate 2, fig. 1c), was by the side of the stomach

and did not extend beyond it. The number of eggs contained in

the ovary was not far from one hundred in the specimen figured.

As the embryos develop, the mass probably pushes further

back in the cavity and also extends the abdominal walls. That

the fish is viviparous is proved by the statement made by Mr.

Thompson before the Belfast Natural History Society,* that one

of the blind fishes from the cave, four and a half inches long,

‘was put in Water as soon as captured, where it gave birth to

nearly twenty young, which swam about for some time, but soon

die These, with the exception of one or two, were carefully

preserved, and fifteen of them are now before us [at the meeting,

I wish they were here], they were each four lines in length.”

It is singular that no mention is made regarding these young, as

to the presence or absence of eyes, and, as if it was fated that this

important point should remain unnoticed as long as possible, if is

equally singular that Dr. Steindachner omitted to examine some

very young specimens which he received from a friend a few

months since and sent to the Vienna Museum, where they will

remain unexamined until he returns there. I saw the Doctor only

* Annals and Mag. of Natural History, Vol. xiii, pp. 112, 1844.

16 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

a week after these, to me, interesting specimens had been sent —

abroad, and he was as grieved as I was disappointed at my being

just too late to take advantage of them. ;

At what time the young are born has never been stated, buts

judging from such data as I can at present command, I think that —

it must be during the months of September and October. Speci- —

mens collected during those months would probably contain em- a

bryos in various stages of development, the examination of which

would undoubtedly lead to most interesting results.

Prof. man has most generously placed in my hands his un- —

published notes and drawings of the several dissections he has —

made of Amblyopsis, as well as his specimens and dissections.

Many of these drawings are reproduced on Plate 1, and will, with

his notes which I here give, greatly enhance the value of this arti- —

cle, as his dissections have been made with the utmost care, and —

with a patience and delicacy that only a master hand attains. It

will therefore be understood that, in giving credit to Prof. Wyman ~

in the following pages, I refer to his unpublished notes, exeept 7

when the quotation is given from a special work. In quoting his

description of the eye and ear from “ Silliman’s Journal” I have

changed the references so as to refer to his drawings reproduced

on Plate 1, and not to the three cuts given in “Silliman’s Journal,”

though the figures of the brain and of the otolite were copied from

- those cuts.

The largest specimens I have seen of Amblyopsis are several —

males and females, each from four to four and a half inches in —

length, which seems to be about as large as the fish grows, though

Dr. Günther mentions a specimen in the British Museum of five

inches in length. The largest specimen captured of late years is

said to have been taken, during the summer of 1871, and sold for

ten dollars to a person who was so desirous of securing the pre-

cious morsel that he had it cooked for his supper. The smallest

specimen I have seen was one and nine-tenths inches in length.

Tite general shape and character of the fish is best shown by the

figures on plates 1 and 2.

“The whole head, above and below, is destitute of scales, the

direnlar edge covering the space between the upper ends of the

opercula. The skin covering the middle region of the head is

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. i7

smooth, but on either side is provided with numerous transverse

and longitudinal ridges (Pl. 1, fig. 7), which are, on the whole,

regularly arranged. The first row of transverse ridges, eight or

nine in number, begins between the nostrils and extends back-

wards, diverging from the median line. The third ridge is crossed

at its outer end by a longitudinal one, as are also two others farther

back. The second and third rows, situated, in part, on the sides

and, in part, on the under surface, are less regular than the preced-

ing. A fourth, on the borders of the operculum, is still less well

defined. The transverse are also crossed here by longitudinal

ridges. About ten vertical ridges, also provided with papille, and

similar to those on the head, are visible on the sides extending from

the pectoral fins to the tail, but are not so well defined as those on

the head. The skin of the head is of extreme delicacy and is cov-

ered by a very thin, loose layer of epithelium.”— Wyman

“The larger ridges have between twenty and thirty papille,

many of these having a cup-shaped indentation at the top, in

which a delicate filament is, in some instances, seen (PI. 1, fig. 9).

These papillz are largely provided with nervous filaments, and, as

is obvious from their connection with branches of the fifth pair of

_ nerves, must be considered purely tactile, and the large number of

them shows that tactile sensibility is probably very acute and in

some measure compensates for the virtual absence of the sense of

sight. Plate 1, fig. 8, represents one of the ridges of the bead

magnified, showing the papilla of which it is made up, and figure

9 shows three papille still more enlarged. Two of these show a

cup-shaped cavity at the top, and the short, slender filament al-

ready mentioned. The surface of the papillae is covered with

loosely connected epithelium cells. Fig. 10 shows the nervous fil-

aments distributed to the papillz: a, a branch of the fifth pair of

nerves passing beneath the papillary ridge and sending filaments

to each papilla. These papillary branches interchange filaments,

forming a nervous plexus in connection with each ridge. This

figure of the nerves was drawn with a camera lucida, from a speci-

men treated with acetic acid.” — WYMAN. __

‘*Plate 1, fig. 6, represents a double system of subcutaneous ca-

nals, which extend the whole length of the head, but were not

traced farther back than the edge of the naked or scaleless skin

which covers it. Forwards they bifureate, nearly encircling the

nasal SPT towards the oe line ending in a blind pouch.

ER. URALIST, VOL. 2

18 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

The lateral branch was not traced distinctly to an end, but seemed

to connect with: the olfactory cavity. The walls of these canals

are exceedingly delicate and easily overlooked.” — Wyman.

“Plate 1, fig. 5, shows the globe of the eye with the optic nerve

(c), as seen under the microscope. The lens (b) is detached from

its proper place by the pressure of the glass. Irregularly arranged

muscular bands are attached to the exterior of the globe (a, a, a,

a), but were not recognized as the homologues of the muscles of

the normal eye of fishes ; nevertheless, they indicate that the globe

was moveable.” — WYMAN.

“In the three T recently dissected, the eyes were ex-

posed only after the removal of the skin, and the careful separation

from them of the loose jheeni tissue which fills the orbit. In a

fish four inches in length the eyes measured one-sixteenth of an

inch in their long diameter, and were of an oval form and black. A

filament of nerve (Pl. 1, fig. 3a) was distinctly traced from the

globe to the cranial walls, but the condition of the contents of the

cranium, from the effects of the alcohol, was such as to render it

impracticable to ascertain the mode of connection of the optic

nerve with the optic lobes

Examined under the microscope with a power of about twenty

eer slant the following parts were satisfactorily made out (Pl. 1,

fig. 3): 1st, externally an.exceedingly thin membrane, b, which

inv ested the whole surface of the eye and appeared to be continu-

dant about the anterior part of the eye; 3d, beneath the pigment

a single layer of colorless cells, c, larger than a pigment cell, and

each cell having a distinct nucleus; 4th, just in front of the globe,

a lenticular-shaped, transparent body, e [see also fig. 4], which

pr ge of an external membrane aE numerous cells with

uclei. This lens-shaped body seemed to be retained in its place

t a prolongation forwards of the exten membrane of the globe ;

5th, the globe was invested by loose areolar tissue, which adhered

to it very genera lly, and in some instances contained yellow fatty

matter ; in one specimen it formed a round oS visible through the

skin on each side of the head, which had all the appearance of a

small eye; its true nature was ieeintod by the microscope

only. It is not improbable that the appearance just referred to _

may have misled Dr. DeKay—where he states that the eye exists

of the usual size, but pisati by the skin

If the superficial membrane above noticed is denominated cor-

rectly the sclerotic, then the pigment layer may be regarded as the

representation of the choroid. The form as well as the position

of the transparent nucleated cells within the choroid correspond

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 19

for the most part with the retina. All of the parts just enumer-

ated are such as are ordinarily developed from and in connection

with the encephalon, and are not in any way dependent upon the

skin. But if the lenticular-shaped body is the true representative

of the crystalline lens, it becomes difficult to account for its pres-

ence in Amblyopsis according to the generally recognized mode of

its development (since it is ‘usually formed from an inv olution of

the skin) unless we suppose that after the folding in of the skin

had taken place in the embryonic condition, the lens retreated from

the surface, and all connection with the integument ceased.[*]

According to Quatrefages, however, the eye of Amphioxus [+]

is contained wholly in the cavity of the dura mater, and yet it has

all the appearance of being provided with a lens. If his descrip-

tion be correct, then the mode of development as well as the mor-

eye of the blind fish, the anatomical characters which have been

enumerated show, that though quite imperfect as we see it in the

adult, it is constructed after the type of the eyes of other ver-

tebrates. It certainly is not adapted to the formation of ima-

ges, since the common integument and the areolar tissue which are

interposed between it and the surface, would prevent the transmis-

sion of light to it except in a diffused condition. No pupil c or any-

thing analogous to an iris was detected, unless we regard as repre-

senting the latter the increased number of pigment ‘alls. at the

anterior part of the globe.

It is said that the blind fishes are mga sensitive to sounds

as well as to undulations produced by other causes in the water.

In the only instance in which I ipro dissected the organ of hear-

ing (which I believe has not before been anne) all its parts

were largely developed, as will be seen by reference to Pl. 1,

g.1 As regards the general structure, the Sails oe not differ

materially from those of other fishes except in their popao

dimensions. The semi-circular canals are of great |

cranium, so as to approach quite near to the corresponding parts

of the opposite side. The otolite contained in the utricle was not

remarkable, but that of the vestibule (Pl. 1, fig. 2) and seen in

- *In birds and mammals there is a stage of development ma the lids —_ to-

gether and firmly unite, to separate again animal “ In

` the mole rat (Spalax typhlus) of Siberia, the lids never open, and t he eyes remai

through life covered wee hairy 6 skin. It is o — grak: in er ae some-

f tł e.—J.W.

í tI have used the prior name of Branchiostoma in this sated when aan of the

Lancelet

20 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

dotted outline in fig. 1e is quite large when compared with that of

a Leuciscus of about the same dimensions as the blind-fish here

described.” — Wyman, Silliman’s Journal, Vol. 17, p. 259, 1854

The Amblyopsis speleus undoubtedly has quite an extensive

distribution, probably existing in all the subterranean rivers that

flow through the great limestone region underlying the Carbonif-

erous rocks in the central portion of the United States. Prof.

Cope obtained specimens from the Wyandotte Cave and from wells

in its vicinity, and in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at

Cambridge there is a specimen labelled “from a well near Lost

River, Orange Co., Ind.,” which, with those from the Wyandotte

Cave, is conclusive evidence of its being found on the northern

side of the Ohio* as well as on the southern, in the rivers of the

Mammoth Cave. I have been able to examine a number of speci-

mens from the Mammoth Cave, and have carefully compared with

them the one from the well in Orange Co., Ind., and find that the

specific characters are remarkably constant.

In 1859+ Dr. Girard described a blind fish, received by the

Smithsonian Institution from J. E. Younglove, Esq., who obtained

it‘ from a well near Bowling Green, Ky.” The general appear-

ance of this fish, which was. only one and a half inches in length,

was that of Amblyopsis speleus, but it differed from that species

in several characters, especially by the absence of ventral fins.

Dr. Girard therefore referred the fish to a distinct genus under the

name of T'yphlichthyst subterraneus. Dr. Günther § considers this

fish a variety of Amblyopsis speleus and records the specimen in

the British Museum ‘from the Mammoth Cave,” as “ half-grown.” |

By the kindness of Prof. Agassiz, I have been enabled to exam-

ine nine specimens of blind fish without ventrals, in the Museum of

Comparative Zoology. Seven of these were collected in the Mam-

_ moth Cave by Mr. Alpheus Hyatt in September, 1859. One was

from Moulton, Lawrence County, Alabama, presented by Mr.

Thomas Peters; and another from Lebanon, Wilson Co., Tennes-

see; presented by Mr. J. M. Safford. It is not stated whether

*T have also been gags Po Holmes of Lansing, Mich., that blind fishes have

been drawn ont of wells in

Proceedings Acad. Nat. m pree +» Po 03:

} Blind fish.

§ Catalogue of Fishes in the Britist PORR ee See a

|| The largest specimen I have seen of Typ teen-twentieths

inches in len_th, and te . malles: Amb p A eight + Da aon

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 21

these latter came from wells or caves, but probably from wells.

They are all of about the same size, one and one-half to two

inches in length, and are constant in their characters. Moreover,

four of the seven specimens from the Mammoth Cave were females

with eggs. These eggs were as large in proportion as those from

Amblyopsis. The ovary was single and situated on the right

side of the stomach, as in Amblyopsis. The difference in the

number of eggs was very remarkable, each of the four specimens

examined having but about thirty eggs in the ovary, while in

three females of Amblyopsis (all, however, of nearly three times

the size of Typhlichthys) there were about one hundred eggs in

each. As in both species there were no signs of the embryos in

the eggs, it is not probable that any of the eggs had been developed

and the young excluded, nor is it at all likely that the great vari-

ation in the number of eggs would simply indicate different ages.

By a reference to the figures (Pl. 2), it will be seen that the pylorie

appendages, stomach and scales of the two fishes are different.

For these reasons, taken in connection with the absence of ven-

tral fins, I have no hesitation in accepting Dr. Girard’s name as

valid for this genus, of which we thus far know of but one species,

with a subterranean range from the waters of the Mammoth Cave,

south to the northern portion of Alabama. In this connection it

would be most interesting to know the relations of the “blind

fishes” said to have been found in Michigan. For thus far we

have Typhlichthys limited to the central and southern portion of

the subterranean region, Amblyopsis to the central, and the spe-

cies in the northern portion undetermined.

In 1853, on his return from a tour through the southern and

western states, Prof. Agassiz gave a summary of some of his

ichthyological discoveries in a letter to Prof. J. D. Dana.* In this

letter are the following remarks :—

opsis, the anal aperture far advanced under the throat, but is en-

tirely deprived of ventral fins; a very strange and unexpected

combination of characters. I know but one species, Ch. cornutus

Ag. It is a small fish scarcely three inches long, living in the

ditches of the rice fields in South Carolina. I derive its specific

* Published in American Journal of Sci. and Arts, Vol. 16 (2d series), p. 134, 1853.

22 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

name from the singular form of the snout, which has two horn-like

projections above.

This is the only information ever published regarding this inter-

esting fish and the only specimens known are those on which Prof.

Agassiz based the above remarks.

By the kindness of Professor L. Agassiz, who has placed all

the specimens of the family contained in the Museum of Com-

parative Zoology in my hands for study, I am enabled to give a

figure and description of this interesting species from the three

specimens in the Museum, which were labelled as the originals of

-Chologaster cornutus Ag., from Waccamaw, S. C., presented by

r. P. C. J. Weston, 1853. The largest of these specimens was

distended with eggs and I was enabled to compare the ovary with —

that of Amblyopsis. _ From its being single and the eggs very

large, I have no doubt that it is a viviparous fish like the other

genera of the family. The position of the ovary behind the stom-

ach, as shown in fig. 2c, plate 2, and the presence of four pyloric

appendages (Pl. 2, fig. 2a) instead of two, as in Amblyopsis (fig.

la) and Typhlichthys (fig. 3a), are good internal characters, sep-

arating it from the other genera, independently of the presence

of eyes and the absence of ventral fins and papillary ridges.

The stability of the internal characters I have mentioned was

most unexpectedly substantiated by the discovery of a second

species (Pl. 2, figs. 4, 4a) of the genus among the specimens in —

the Museum of Comparative Zoology. I have the pleasure of

dedicating this species* to Professor Agassiz, not only in kindly

remembrance of the eight years I was associated with him as stu-

dent and assistant, but also because the fish so well illustrates the

decided position he has taken relative to the immutability of spe-

cies.

The only specimen known of this second species was drawn

_ from a well in Lebanon, Tenn., and presented to the Museum by

` Mr. J. M. Safford, Jan., 1854. It is a more slender fish than C.

cornutus, but the duteadina follows the same course and the four

pyloric appendages are present as in that species.

In the genus Chologaster + we have all the family characters as

well expressed as in the blind species, though it differs from Am-

TA Synopsis of this family with descriptions of snt ymi species will appear in the

“ Report of the Peabody Academy of Science for 18

ł Literally “ bile-stomach ;” probably named from sA yellow color of the fish.

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH .CAVE. 23

blyopsis and Typhlichthys by the presence of eyes, the absence of

papillary ridges on the head and body, and by the longer intestine

and double the number of pyloric appendages, as well as by the

position of the ovary; and agrees with Typhlichthys by the ab-

sence of ventral fins. Amblyopsis and Typhlichthys are nearly

colorless, while Chologaster Agassizii is of a brownish color similar

to many of the minnows, and C. cornutus is brownish yellow, with

dark, longitudinal bands.

Among the most interesting points in the history of this genus

is the fact of its occurring in two widely different localities, C.

Agassizii having been found in a well, in the same vicinity (proba-

bly in the same well) with a specimen of Typhlichthys, and

undoubtedly belonging to the same subterranean fauna west of the

Appalachian ridge, while C. cornutus belongs to the southern coast

fauna of the eastern side of that mountain chain, and is thus far

the only species of the family known beyond the limits of the great

subterranean region of the United States.

Having now given an outline of the structure, habits and distri-

bution of the four species belonging to the family, and recapitu-

lated the known facts, we are better able to consider the bear-

ings of the peculiar adaptation of the blind fishes, in the Mañ-

moth and other caves, to the circumstances under which they exist.

Prof. Cope in stating, in his account of the blind fish of the

Wyandotte Cave, “that the projecting under jaw and upward di-

rection of the mouth renders it easy for the fish to feed at the sur-

face of the water, where it must obtain much of its food,” suggests

that : —

“ This atrnctaie also probably explains the fact of its urag the

sole representative of the fishes in subterranean waters. No doubt

many other forms were carried into the caverns since the fae

first found their way there, but most of them were like those of

our present rivers, deep water or bottom feeders. Such fishes

would starve in a cave river, where much of the food is carried to

them ‘on the surface of the stream. ..... The shore minnows

are their nearest allies, and many of them have the upturned

mouth and flat head. ..... Fishes of this, or a similar family,

enclosed in subterranean waters ages ago, would be more likely to

live than those of the other, and the darkness would be very apt

to be the cause of the atrophy of the organs of sight seen in the

Amblyopsis.”

This suggestion was undoubtedly hastily made by Prof. Cope

when writing the letter which was printed in the ‘Indianapolis

24 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

Journal,” and were it not that the article has been reprinted in the

“ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,” I should not criticise

the statement made in an off-hand letter for publication in a news-

paper ; for with Prof. Cope’s knowledge of fishes it could simply be

a hasty thought which he put on paper, when he suggests that it is

because the Cyprinodontes have a mouth directed upwards and

are surface feeders that they were better adapted to a subterranean

life than other fishes, and hence maintained an existence, while

other species, which he supposes were introduced into the subter-

ranean streams at the same time, died out.

If the fishes of the subterranean streams came from adjoining

rivers, why were not many of the Percoids, Cyprinoids and other

forms, that are as essentially surface feeders as the Cyprinodon-

tes (many of the latter are purely “mud feeders”), as capable of

maintaining an existence in the subterranean waters as any species

of the latter? Neither is it necessary for us to assume that the

structure of the fish should be adapted to feeding on the surface,

for not only have we in the blind cat fish, described by Prof.

Cope himself, from the subterranean stream in Pennsylvania,

an example of a fish belonging to an entirely different family of

bottom feeders, thriving under subterranean conditions, but the

blind fishes of the Cuban caves are of the great group of cod fishes

which are, with hardly an exception, bottom feeders. The fact

that the food of the blind fishes of the Mammoth Cave consists in

great part of the cray fish found in the waters of the cave, as

shown by the contents of several stomachs I have examined, and

also that one blind fish at least made a good meal of another fish,

as already mentioned, shows that they are not content with simply

waiting for what is brought to them on the surface of the water,

and that they are probably as much bottom as surface feeders.

Again, in regard to the sense of sight, why is it necessary to

assume that because fishes are living in streams where there is lit-

tle or no light, that it is the cause of the non developmént of

the eye and the development of other parts and organs? If this

be the cause, how is it that the Chologaster from the well in Ten-

nessee, or the “mud fish” of the Mammoth Cave are found with

eyes? Why should not the same cause make them blind if it made

the Amblyopsis and Typhlichthys blind? Is not the fact, pointed

out by Prof. Wyman, that the optic lobes are as well developed in

Amblyopsis as in allied fishes with perfect eyes, and, I may add,

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 25

as well developed as those of Chologaster cornutus, an argument

in favor of the theory that the fishes were always blind and that

they have not become so from the circumstances under which they

exist? If the latter were the case and the fishes have become blind

from the want of use of the eyes, why are not the optic lobes also

atrophied, as is known to be the case when other animals lose their

sight? I know that many will answer at once that Amblyopsis

and Typhlichthys have gone on further in the development and

retardation of the characters best adapting them to their subterra-

nean life, and that Chologaster is a very interesting transitionary

form between the open water Cyprinodontes and the subterranean

blind fishes. But is not this assumption answered by the fact that

Chologaster has every character necessary to place it in the same

family with Amblyopsis and Typhlichthys, while it is as distinctly

and widely removed from the Cyprinodontes as are the two blind

genera mentioned ?

Assuming, for the momeat, that Chologaster is ‘a transitional

form between the surface feeding Cyprinodontes, and Typhlichthys

and Amblyopsis, let us recapitulate the characters that distinguish

the different forms and see if they exhibit transitions, and if Cho-

logaster is traversing the slow developmental road to Amblyopsis.

Allowing all characters embraced in the general structure of the

skeleton, brain, scales, fins, etc., as ordinal, and common to both

Cyprinodontes and Heteropygii, we will recapitulate only such as

can be considered of family and generic value in the two groups.

CYPRINODONTES. CHOLOGASTER. TYPHLICHTHYS. AMBLYOPSIS.

Surface feeders. In part. Unknown. Partially.

Intestine. In mera Moderately pag Soaps The same.

long anion convo- a ong wi two

juted, in others

ceti miiko vo iy

Stomach § pylor- In most, if not Stomach well gji pere a with The same.

ic appendages. an stomach not defined, cœ- pyloric ap-

ell defined cal, with two pos ageon

from intestine pyloric ap- each side.

and without ap- pendages n

each side.

Viviparous. Many genera. Probably. Probably. ie doubted-

Ovary. \ Single in vivipa- Single and Single and a same.

rous genera* placed behind placen at do

and placed by the sto! mach. ach.

oa side of in-

and rapers in

. > — ovary is also single in other genera of viviparous fishes belonging to distinct

26 THE BLIND FISHES OF .MAMMOTH CAVE.

Anal opening. In normal posi- Forward ofpec- The same. The same.

tion. torals.t

Air bladder. Present in few Present. The same. The same.

genera.}

Scales. On body regu- Irregularly ar- The same. The same.

larly imbricat- ranged, firm-

ed ow luosely ly attached

attached. by being cov-

ered in great

part by the

cuticle.

Head with scales With scales. Naked. The same. The same.

naked.§

Tactile papille || Absent. Absent. Very prominent The same.

on the heud and as ridges on

body. the head and

sid f body

Ventral fins.T Present in most Absent. Absent. Present.

enera, absent

n at least two.

Eyes.** wee developedin Well eee ag Rudimentary tt The same.

an rma and of no use

Habitat. ed er; Limestone wa- Limestone wa- Thesame. |

brackish water} ter of subter- ter oS abt

salt w ranean riv- ranea

os EE NR

wat

Geographical + Nearly all parts of One eA in Gentral & south- oane and

range. the world. i cela a y ern portion of . central

streams of S. subterranean N idon of

central por- fauna of Unit- same.

tion in Mone the U. ed States.

cies io the

an coas biai

of U. S.

From this brief comparison ‘6 some of the prominent charac-

ters of the genera of the Heteropygii with the Cyprinodontes, their

pi eek: E cee

Ina + A ath eo At m 4 + thie forward

position of the anus beg 0.

t The air bladder is in several families present in some species and in others

iS ae presence oF - absence of scales on the head, or inten portions of it, ool = Ngee!

{| I cannot recall anything but the barbels on the head ‘and jaws of many Apii n of

Cyprinoids, Siluroids, Gadoids, ete., etc., that can be said to be tactile organs, among

; fishes, f papillæ on the head and body of the blind fishes

K of the a and Cuban caves, and the filaments of the fin rays of map $

and the flesh rays o. Gurnards. ;

ST Of all iii the ventrals are the most nape to deviate from their normal stru

and position. Their presence or seen in exhibited in man families and onen noy

different ages ot the same fish, a the great variation in their position in differe

of the same family, v are hange in them of either pate , specific, OF

individual character, 0 bees indicative of age (as they are lost in so me adult pei E

— s piar in th you e other bot

i rt f this paper, thori eyes

the constant and srarins part of the fish structure than t the Kontrat ias, pand i

re f. th

Pie

like them are eubject t

. perfection in structure.

5 Sat "E pe e ae sn Jon

and as the eye of an Amblyopsis « of twice the sizo is not over a 32d of an inch oo width, ,

it must be very small indeed in Ty to find it

in an ordinary dissection, assisted only by a god lons.

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. vi

acknowledged nearest allies, we can only trace what could be

regarded as a transition, or an acceleration, or a retardation of

development, in simply those very characters, of eyes and ventral

fins, that are in themselves of the smallest importance in the struc-

ture (permanence of character considered) of a fish, and, as if to

show that they were of no importance in this connection, we find

in the same cave, blind fishes with ventrals and without, and in

the same subterranean stream, a blind fish and another species of

the family with well developed eyes.

If it is by acceleration and retardation of characters that the

Heteropygii have been developed from the Cyprinodontes, we have

indeed a most startling and sudden change of the nervous system.

In all fishes the fifth pair of nerves send branches to the various

parts of the head, but in the blind fishes these branches are devel-

oped in a most wonderful manner, while their subdivisipns take

new courses and are brought through the skin, and their free ends

become protected by fleshy papilla, so as to answer, by their deli-

cate sense of touch, for the absence of sight. At the same time

the principle of retardation must have been at work and checked

the development of the optic nerve and the eye (which probably

exists externally in the young fish), while acceleration has caused

other portions of the head to grow and cover over the retarded eye.

Now, if this was the mode by which blindness was brought about

and tactile sense substituted, why is it that we still have Cholo-

gaster Agassizii in the same waters, living under the same condi-

tions, but with no signs of any such change in its senses of sight

and touch? It may be said that the Chologaster did not change

because it probably had a chance to swim in open waters and

therefore the eyes were of use and did not become atrophied.

We can only answer, that if the Chologaster had a chance for

open water, so did the Typhlichthys and yet that is blind.

If the Heteropygii have been developed from Cyprinodontes,

- how can we account for the whole intestinal canal becoming so

singularly modified, and what is there in the difference of food or

of life that would bring about the change in the intestine, stomach

and pyloric appendages, existing between Chologaster and Typh-

lichthys in the same waters? To assume, that under the same con-

ditions, one fish will change in all these parts and another remain

intact, by the blind action of uncontrolled natural laws, is, to me,

an assumption at variation with facts as I understand them.

28 THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE.

Looking at the case from the standpoint which the facts force

me to take, it seems to me far more in accordance with the laws of

nature, as I interpret them, to.go back to the time when the

region now occupied by the subterranean streams, was a salt and

brackish water estuary, inhabited by marine forms, including the

brackish water forms of the Cyprinodontes and their allies (but not

descendants) the Heteropygii. The families and genera having the

characters they now exhibit, but most likely more numerously rep-

resented than now, as many probably became exterminated as the

salt waters of the basin gradually became brackish and more lim-

ited, as the bottom of this basin was gradually elevated, and

finally, as the waters became confined to still narrower limits and

changed from salt to brackish and from brackish to fresh, only

such species would continue as could survive the change, and they

were of the minnow type represented by the Heteropygii, and per-

haps some other genera of deuce water forms that we have not

yet discovered.

In support of this hypothesis we have one species of the family,

Chologaster cornutus, now living in the ditches of the rice fields of

South Carolina, under very similar conditions to those under which

others of the family may have lived in long preceding geological

times; and to prove that the development of the family was not

brought about by the subterranean conditions under which some

of the species now live, we have the one with eyes living with the

one without, and the South Carolina species to show that a sub-

terranean life is not essential to the development of the singular

characters which the family possess.

That a salt or brackish water fish would be most likely to be

the kind that would continue to exist in the subterranean streams;

is probable from the fact that in all limestone formations caves

are quite common, and would in most instances be occupied first

with salt water and then brackish, and finally with fresh water so

thoroughly impregnated with lime as to render it probable that

‘brackish water species might easily adapt themselves to the

change, while a pure fresh water species might not relish the solu-

tion of lime any more than the solution of salt, and we know how

few fishes there are that can live for even an hour on being

changed from fresh to salt, or salt to fresh, water. We have also

the case of the Cuban blind fishes belonging to genera with their

nearest representative in the family a marine form, and with the

eae te, =e 5

THE BLIND FISHES OF MAMMOTH CAVE. 29

whole family of cods and their allies, to which group they belong,

essentially marine. Further than this the cat fish from the subter-

ranean stream in Pennsylvania belongs to a family having many

marine and brackish water representatives. As another very in-

teresting fact in favor of the theory that the Heteropygii were

formerly of brackish water, we have the important discovery by

Prof. Cope of the Lernzan parasite on a specimen of Amblyopsis

from the Wyandotte cave; this genus of parasitic crustaceans be-

ing very common on marine and migratory fishes, and much less

abundant on fresh water species.

Thus I think that we have as good reasons for the belief in

the immutability and early origin of the species of the family of

Heteropygii, as we have for their mutability and late development,

and, to one of my, perhaps, too deeply rooted ideas, a far more

satisfactory theory ; for, with our present knowledge, it is but the-

ory on either side.

4 EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

PLATE 1.

(All the fig rae Int t = | ing by Prof. J. Wyman.}

Freé.1. Brain, nerves and organ of hearing of Amblyopsis speleus; enlarged; a, E

tory lobes and nerves; b, cerebral lobe D e bes; d, cerebel

organ of hearing, showing the semicircular canals, with the otolite repre-

sented in place by the dotted lines; f, mrin oblongata; g, optic nerves

tural ixteenth of an inch in Smeal a, optic pyd

"8, solaroiio i c, layer of colorless cells; d, layer of Pen

(iris ?); e, 1

Fie. 4. Lens, laii and bA e the cells.

Fig. 5. eo ee g the muscular bands, a, a, a, a; b, the lens pressed out

lace; ¢, ney Sons nerve.

Fie. 6. Top of ‘head, showing the canals under the — of the natural size. The two

Fig.7. Top of head, showing the arrangement of the ridges of papillæ. Natural size. —

FIG. 8. One of the ridges of papillz from the head, magni

Fig. 9. hand of the papille from the ridge, still more sumepniied, showing the cup-

summit and projecting filament.

Fig. 10. A portion of the ridge i nd treated with acid, to show the arrange-

branch (a) of the fifth pair. _

A fish with eyes, found: in the ‘stomach of an Amblyopsis.

30 ERECTING ARRANGEMENT FOR BINOCULAR MICROSCOPES.

LATE 2.

Ficg.1. AMBLYOPSIS SPELZUS oop Natural siz

la. Stomach and pyloric debt Price e size.

1b. Scale, magnified.

; lc. Abdominal cavity, showing position of stomach and single ovary. Natural

FIG. 2. HOLOGASTER CORNUTUS Agassiz. Natural s

2a. ahi and pyloric appendages. Twice SLORY size.

2b. Scale. magnifier

2c. gc mee cavi ity, saer stomach and single ovary behind the stomach.

wice natural s

Fie. 3. Takasi EE E Girard. Natural size.

3a. Stomach and TA appendages. Twice natural size

3b. Scale, magni

FIG. 4. CHOLOGASTER yee Putnam. Natural size.

4a. Stomach and a appendages. Twice natural size. E

4b. Scale, magnifi: ;

The scales minti ed on the plate are all from the second or third row under the dorsal

4b is represented with the posterior margin down, all the others are represented

with legs posterior margin “n Po taft: ane pater: pizp of the scales is given by the

; 4b is so small that the natural

size can hardly be represented by the black dot.

NOTE TO ARTICLE IN DECEMBER NUMBER, BY A. 8. PACKARD

Since my article was printed, Prof. Cope’s article entitied ‘ Life in the Wyan-

dotte Cave” has sigan gs in the “ Annals and Magazine of Natural History” (Lon-

November.

on)

eave; “ Anophthalmus No. and Another bs gpd cig = cies = Staphylinide;

Rap! aroptanbpi a; two — cies of flies; an A er: a species of

Pseudotremia; Cam s pellucidus, an unknown iate Crustacean with pre” 2

egg pouches. and a Ternean (crustacean) Logie bo = ind fish. Of these one

meine ane tise ‘gated the cen-

tipede, mi ‘the blind canal are > probably the same ‘as s those found in the M mmoth

Cav o beetles and t aceans are certa se different arn those of the

‘atten. aa the cen siete a are gical The Gammaroid crustacean

found in the waters of the Mammoth Cave: wea peto is no doubt in pai: the food of

the blind ask; we did Bot find; but some snol species no Sows exists, | as we we r ;

NEW ERECTING ARRANGEMENT, ESPECIALLY

DESIGNED FOR USE WITH BINOCULAR

MICROSCOPES.

BY R. K. WARD, M.D.

For dissecting and other manipulations under magnifying po .

ers, the simple microscope is awkward and unsatisfactory,

has been made to serve as a binocular only with low powers ; but

the superb field of the compound microscope has been compan 7

tively little used for these purposes because few persons can W

to advantage under an inverting arrangement, the erectors usually

ee E A EEEN A VE ET re E TE EE ee

ERECTING ARRANGEMENT FOR BINOCULAR MICROSCOPES. 31

furnished are not good, and the use, otherwise satisfactory, of a

good objective as an erector has not as yet afforded the advantage

of binocular vision. The simple expedient now proposed is de-

signed to increase the usefulness of the stereoscopic binoculars in

ordinary use by rendering them easily available for purposes which

require an erect image.

Last summer I proposed, at the Indianapolis meeting of the

American Association, to place, for certain purposes, an erecting

objective below instead of above the regular objective of the micro-

scope. Then, of course, the regular objective becomes the erector,

and the accessory one below acts as the objective. This simple

expedient, applied to Wenham’s or other non-erecting binoculars,

leaves little to be desired for the purposes of a dissecting micro-

scope. As a simple contrivance, the lenses of a one-and-a-half

or two-inch objective (preferably a solid or single-combination

one) may be packed or screwed into the upper end of an adap-

ter which when screwed into the nose-piece of the microscope car-

ries them up close to the binocular prism, and into the lower end

of which, lengthened more or less by two or three adapters of

various lengths, the object glass may be screwed. A more ele-

ant but scarcely more satisfactory arrangement is an adapter

with sliding-tube adjustment which varies to the extent of an inch

or more the distance between the erector and objective. Differ-

ent powers and distances will of course be used according to the ~

wants of different observers. The combination which has proved

most convenient in my hands consists of a two-inch erecting lens

close to the binocular prism, and a two-thirds objective at a dis-

tance, measured to its lowest end, of from three to four and a quar-

ter inches below the erector ; giving powers of ten to fifty diameters,

and requiring a working distance between the stage and the bi-

nocular prism of four and one-half to five inches, which is quite

practicable with large stands. A shorter working distance may

be gained at a slight disadvantage. With a two-inch erector and

four-tenths inch objective, powers of eight to fifty diameters can

be secured without removing the binocular prism more than four

inches from the stage ; and with a one-inch erector and two-thirds

inch objective a power of forty diameters is obtained with the

binocular prism three and three-fourths inches from the stage.

When, however, sufficient working distance cannot be obtained, the

object may sometimes be placed upon the substage, or, oftener,

32 THE RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION.

the substage removed and the body racked down so as to foc

through the empty stage upon the table, a block or box, or an

temporized stage occupying the usual position of the mirror i

illuminated by the mirror after the method suggested by Mr.

James Smith. In this case it is desirable to increase the wors

distance between the prism and the object by varying the le ns

employed. Thus a one-and-a-half-inch objective at from th

and three-fourths to five and three-fourths inches from the ere

will give powers of six to fifty diameters and working distan

from prism óf seven to ten inches. The erector may also be

moved an inch or more from the prism. When this latter arran

ment is to be used exclusively, placing the object at from eig

to ten or twelve inches from the prism, as in many students’

croscopes, the apparatus is further simplified by screwing 4 4

inch objective into the nose-piece in its usual position, as an ¢

tor, and screwing or sliding over it an adapter carrying a-one

a-half or two-inch Bbjeditve from four to six inches lower dow

Some contrivance is required to illuminate transparent objects t

der the lower powers ; but opake and translucent objects on a bl:

ground can be dissected and manipulated with great facility.

The same erecting arrangement can be used in connect

with monocular microscopes that have no draw-tube and theret

cannot use an erector in the usual position. It may also be u 6

as a means of working Wenham’s and other binoculars, ¥

high powers. With powers of five hundred or one thousand

ameters, however, it is still difficult to obtain good definition or

fully light both fields.

’

THE RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION

BY PROF. N. S. SHALER.

For some years I have been teaching that the tail appendage

= rattlesnake was not to be explained on the doctrine of

, inasmuch as it could contribute in no way to the £

uk of the animal. It seemed to me quite clear that it was

calculat d to hinder than to help the creature in the race of

by warning its prey of its presence. Nor did it seem easy t0

THE RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION. 33

count for its existence by supposing that it was used as a sex-

ual call and had been brought up by natural or sexual selection

for some such office. The burrowing habits of the serpents would

seem to make sexual calls almost unnecessary and there is no evi-

dence to make a reasonable basis for belief that rattlesnakes

exercise any such choice in pairing as would lead to the develop-

ment of this very singular appendage. Last summer, however, I

had a long desired opportunity of examining a little into the

habits of the rattlesnake and obtained some results which have

served to shake my confidence in the opinions I had held as to the

usefulness of his rattle. The observations are, as it will be seen,

rather insufficient for a determination of the points in question,

but it may be long before I am able to add to them, so I give

them now hoping that some one with better opportunities for

studying the ways of this interesting creature may either confirm

my opinion or refute it.

The first and only living and active rattlesnake which I met on

a carriage journey of some months’ duration made during the past

summer through that part of the Appalachian chain where these

serpents most abound was in the middle of a road near the Kishi-

coquillas Valley, Pennsylvania. As the sound of my carriage

disturbed the surly fellow in his pleasant basking place in the

_ dusty way, he begun to sound his warning when we were over a

hundred feet from him. Although quite accustomed to the sound,

having had specimens captive for months at a time, I mistook it

for that made by our “locust,” the Cicada rimosa Say, nor did I

perceive the error until my companion, Mr. A. R. Crandall, called

my attention to the serpent when we were within forty feet of it.

My wife and child, a little girl of eight years, who were in the

carriage also mistook the noise for that made by the Cicada, which

was abundantly familiar as it had been for a long time the

most accustomed sound heard while we were travelling through the

wooded mountain country.

I have found that the note of the rattlesnake is recognized

by many persons as indistinguishable from the sound made by the

Cicada. Professor Brewer, whose long experience in the service of

the California Geological Survey gave him quite unrivalled op- —

portunities for becoming familiar with the sound made by this

reptile, tells me that he was on one occasion at least in great dan-

ger of being bitten by one of these animals on account of having

R. NATURALIST, VOL. VI 3

34 THE RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION.

supposed that its persistent rattle was only the whirring of a locust.

The range in pitch in the rattling sound of the snake is quite

great ; it is even difficult to understand how sharp it can be from a

study of the sound made by the animals tamed by captivity,

at the same time the note of the locust is also very variable so

that one is not able to discriminate by this means. The reader

will doubtless have caught the main point towards which these

facts so plainly tend, namely, that the imitation of the note of the lo

cust may possibly be of high value to the rattlesnake. The Ci- ;

cada furnishes the most satisfactory mouthful to many of our birds.

Almost every observer of the life of our woods and fields, has seen :

determined notes, are easily misled by sounds which approach

even though imperfectly, the calls of their species or the sounds

of their prey, so that the imperfections in the note of a& rat-

tlesnake when considered as an imitation of the Cicada cannot

count much as an argument against this view. F

If this view be correct, then we must regard the rattle of the

rattlesnake as a useful appendage, and not an instrument cale

lated to do it injury by warning its prey of its presence.t Bu

ŽI had an opportunity, recently, of seeing a living Cobra di Capello in a state of ©

The first impression was how entirely unlike any other serpent it was.

like serpents, would be easily misled by the strange shape of the cobra and fail to $

it or even be attracted to

closely or even smell any strange object. $

t Rattlesnakes of the genus Crotalophorus make little or no noise with the im

THE RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION. 35

is by no means so easy, even if we allow all that can be claimed for

natural selection, to account for the development of this ap-

pendage. The following seems to me the most satisfactory con-

ception of its evolution, looking at the matter from Mr. Darwin’s

point of view. It is a fact well known, doubtless, to those who

have observed serpents, though I find no mention of it in the

works I have consulted, that many serpents, when in a state of

excitement vibrate the end of their tail just as the rattlesnake

does.* This movement is likely enough the same in character as

that which occurs in the hinder part of the spinal column

among higher animals under excitement. The wagging of the

dog’s tail is a rhythmical movement of essentially the same

character as the movement of the rattlesnake. Taking the same

line of argument as that adopted by Mr. Darwin with regard to

the monthly phenomena observable among the mammalia, it could

be claimed that the tendency to move the tail was explicable on

the following grounds. During more than half the lifetime of the

group of vertebrates, from the point of their presumed origin at

the close of the Silurian down to the present day, the caudal por-

tion of the body was used as the propelling agent. Fishes, with

slight exceptions, propel themselves by a reciprocating movement

of the tail. All conditions of excitement at once manifest them-

selves in the violent movement of this part of the body. Whether

in flight or chase or under the influence of sexual excitement, this

movement is the important element of success. It is by no means

surprising that the motion which was for ages the point which natua-

ral selection operated most intensely, for those forms which had

the capacity for making this alternate movement of the tail with

the greatest rapidity would be most successful in flight or chase,

should have survived its usefulness and remained as a mere feature

of expression in most of our animals. It may be remarked in

rattles of the tail. In this genus, therefore, there could have been no advantage derived

— openness It m may be said, ee that the ‘rates which have little fanctional

number and shape than in the Crotalus. Tt

tendency to form rattles in this group of serpents and these structures are seized upon

tural selection and made functional.

Man the above matter was as put in type, I pare learned that Prof. Jeffries Wyman

ry; ema the occur-

rence of this Ripon in the tails of sakes: oebee than than the rattlesnake, some two or

ago. any notice of the Sp siahcidtations in the Proceed-

three years e fail

- ings of the Sects. sùgh there can be no doubt that this eminen- naturalist should

bec the priority on this point,

36 THE RATTLESNAKE AND NATURAL SELECTION.

passing that the obstinate aniya of the tail among the verte-

brates may be accounted for by the intense bodily inertia, if we

may so call it, which causes the energy of survival of useless —

structures to be proportionate to the length of time which they —

have been of use to the groups to which they belong. It is natural :

enough that a part of the body situated at one of the regions of ;

manifold relations as the tail is, and unappropriated to any spe — 2

cial function, should be put to use in various ways, as a prehensile :

instrument by some monkeys and other animals, or a building tool ‘

by the beavers, as a fly-brush by many others, etc. 1

Mr. Herbert Spencer has already suggested that the wagging ¢ of

_ the dog’s tail and similar movements of that appendage is in fact an q

escape of nervous force restrained from other modes of expression — q

at the moment. Looking at the matter from this point of view,

which is doubtless quite satisfactory, we may reconcile it perfectly

with the views which have just been presented by supposing that

the ancient and no longer functional channel of escape for nervous

force, the tail, has remained the way of outlet for the suppressed

energy of the animal. The older the channel the less easy iti

to close it either by volition or by natural selection.

Be the cause of the persistence of the tail and its movem 3

what it may, we are still justified in assuming as the starting i

motion of the tail common among snakes. It is the opinion 0

some herpetologists that the rattles are the remains of the skins |

successively shed by the animal. The rate of development of

rattles, together with the fact that the skins of some serpents

more imperfectly detached from the region about the tail than

_ other parts of the body, makes this view very probable. Let

suppose that we had a group of poison-fanged serpents, accid

tally tending to keep the tail skin in the peculiar fashion of ratt

snakes and that in some of these it was persistent enough to ma

the whirring sound of the Cicada when the tail was rapidly mo

under excitement. These would survive and breed the most surely

and so that feature would become hereditary. The great varjab

ity in the number of rattles in the different forms of rattles?

and the late time of their development, even among those wW%

differ in no other regard, would seem to indicate that this struc?

has not yet been firmly fixed by long inheritance.

The reader will please not suppose that because I have | pole

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES, 37

followed the lead of the most advanced of the champions of nat-

ural selection that I am convinced of its sufficiency as an expla-

nation of the great diversities which exist among animals or, of

its being sufficient basis for an explanation of the snake’s rattle.

But having been driven step by step from a decided opposition of

the whole theory and compelled to accept it as a vera causa, though

I think one much more limited in its action among animals than

Mr. Darwin believes, I feel it to be my duty to examine every one

of those points upon which I have relied for evidence against it.

It must be confessed that the case of the rattlesnake seems to

me no longer the bar to the acceptance of the theory it once did.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Norwecian Zoo.oey. * — The thoroughness and zeal shown by

the Scandinavian naturalists in working up minutely the fauna of

their shores is remarkable. While the land animals and plants

of the country of Linnzus and Fabricius have been most zealously

described, of late years no region has been so thoroughly explored

with the dredge and net as the coast of Denmark, Norway and

Sweden. We are also indebted for nearly all our most accurate

knowledge of the natural history of Greenland, Iceland and Spitz-

bergen to the hardy and adventurous sons of. the Norsemen, who

first visited those islands for discovery and conquest. And it is a

fact that in those countries where the land is most barren in or-

ganized life, the most valuable knowledge of biology has been

acquired. With a few exceptions no one has done more to ad- |

vance zoology in the highest sense than Professor Michael Sars.

The marine zoologists of our own country owe him a peculiar debt

of gratitude, for his writings have been a constant source of infor-

mation, and better still a stimulus to do more thorough and last-

ing work.

The present memoir consists of detailed and beaitifully illus-

trated descriptions of new additions to the marine fauna of the

bay of Christiania. The figures have been drawn by Dr. G. O.

* Bidrag til Kundskab om Christianiafjordens Fauna. II. Af Michzl Sars.

from his manuscript by his son, G. O. Sars.) Christiania, 1870. 8vo. pp. 114,

with six plates.

38 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Sars, one of the most eminent of the younger European zoolo-

gists, anda zoological artist of unusual skill.

The chief interest of the book is in the accounts and figures of the

curious crustacean parasites found living on worms. These are 7

degraded water fleas (Copepoda), like the Lernzans found living

on the gills of fishes. The Danish naturalist Kréyer, recently de

ceased, was the first, we believe, to discover one of these parasites

on a worm (Polynoé). Keferstein, a German naturalist, after-

wards detected several similar forms, and more recently Steen :

strup, Claparède and others have found a considerable number on

different worms. These discoveries form a new chapter in the in

tricate subject of parasitism, and open up new relations in the

study of biology. ,

explorations in the greater part of Central America, the Cordil- —

leras of the Andes in Columbia, Ecuador and Peru, Dr. Habe

found time to visit the Chinca and Galapagos Islands. While he

paid particular attention to the natural and physical history of

these regions, he did not neglect the ethnology and meteorology

of the countries he visited. He has returned with large collec-

tions stored up in New York, and we trust he may get time to

arrange and publish the results of his travels. Meanwhile the

birds of the Galapagos Islands have been identified, and in this —

article, a list of thirty-seven species of birds collected by him is

given, with illustrated descriptions of seven new species. :

authors state that they ‘‘are preparing for publication a memoir ;

on the avifauna of this group of islands, in which [they] propose —

to embrace what has previously been recorded on this subject,

well as the results of Dr. Habel’s arduous investigations.”

Recent Brrrisu Ostracoprs.t — Whoever attempts the difficult

and wearisome task of studying and describing the numerous

shelled entomostraca which swarm in our pools, ponds and streams,

and also in the sea, will find the occasional papers of Mr. Brady

invaluable, while the present is a work ranking with the elaborate

By P. L. Sater and O ma a collested by Dr. Habel in the Galapagos 1

don.) May, 1870. 8vo. pp. 6, with cuts. :

tA Monograph of the Recent British Ostracoda. By George S. Brady. (From ®

Transactions of the Linnzan Society, vol. xxvi. (no date) dto. pp. 142, with 18 p

BOTANY. 39

volume of Baird, and the more thorough memoirs of Lilljeborg,

Fischer, Zenker, Claus, Sars, and others. The classification is

that proposed by G. O. Sars, son of the distinguished Norwegian

zoologist, Prof. Michael Sars, in his “ Oversigt af Norges marine

Ostracoder” published in 1865. The Ostracoda are represented by

the little two shelled water fleas, about half a line or less in

length, which swim over the bottom or creep over submerged

plants. As remarked by the author, “the geographical and bathy-

metrical distribution of the Ostracoda is a matter of the greatest

interest as illustrating the probable condition under which the va-

rious fossiliferous strata have been deposited.” We might also add

that the Ostracoda are found in the lowest fossiliferous strata, in

company with the Trilobites and Nebaliads. So that a profound

knowledge of the living species is absolutely necessary for the

correct appreciation of some of the earliest traces of life on our

globe.

Tur AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST.— I regret to state contrary to

announcement a year ago, that this magazine will not be contin-

ued during the coming year. The cost of publishing a paper so

profusely illustrated with original figures is great, and the pub-

lishers, Messrs. R. P. Studley and Co., have lately concluded

to discontinue it, as they have not met with suflicient financial en-

couragement. I have, however, since they so decided, purchased

from them all the illustrations, and all interest in the magazine,

and hope at no very distant day to recommence its publication my-

self. Meanwhile I take this means of thanking the many sub-

scribers who, during the year, have sent in expressions of encour-

agement and appreciation, or who have signified their intention of

renewing subscription. I shall ever be glad to hear from them on

entomological subjects, and to render them what little service

lies in my power.—C. V. Rixer, St. Louis, Mo., December 10, 1871.

BOTANY.

DismissaL or THE Late BOTANIST OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE. — Editors American Naturalist. Dear Srrs:—I

have to request that you will place before the readers of the

American Natoratist the correspondence herein enclosed.

Dr. Parry was thought to have performed the duties of Bot-

anist to the Department of Agriculture to the entire satisfaction

40 BOTANY.

of the previous Commissioner. His extraordinarily abrupt dis-

missal upon the incoming of the present Commissioner, following

a course of vexatious treatment to which, he states, he was sub-

jected by his Chief Clerk, does not seem calculated to win the

confidence of scientific men in the present administration of a

department in which they naturally feel much interest.

Very respectfully yours,

Asa Gray.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTU j

Washington, D. C., September i 1811.

Hon. F. Warts, Commissioner of Agriculture.

Sir :—In order to enable me to comply strictly with the regulations of —

this Department in regard to ordinary correspondence in connexion with

my official duties as botanist, I respectfully ask to be furnished with

written instructions on the following points. 1st. Should letters ad-

dressed to me personally, as botanist of the department, imparting or re-

. questing information on botanical subjects, be answ and signed by

Having heretofore exercised my o sinless in this matter, with

due regard to the scientific jisit SE the department and to facilitate

the business of my division, I desire to avoid any future misunderstand-

ing a receiving definite written instructions on these points for my guid-

ance Respectfully yours,

. C. Parry, Botanist Agr. Dpt.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

Washington, D. C., September 27, 1871.

C-C KARRY, Esq., Washington, D. C.

Sır :— Your services as botanist of this Department will not be yer:

pica after this date.

I am respectfully,

FREDERICK Watts, Commissioner. —

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, }

Washington, D. C., September 27, 1871.

Hon: Freperick Watts, Commissioner of Agriculture.

Sır :— I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of this date inform-

ing me that my “services as botanist of this Department will not be re-

quired after this date,” for which I sincerely thank you.

respectfully request that you will designate some person from the de-

BOTANY. i 41

partment to-morrow to be with me in selecting my private property,

books, etc., from that belonging to the Department.

Respectfully yours,

C. C. Parry, Botanist Agr. Dept.

To the Honorable JUDGE WATTS,

U. S. Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington.

The undersigned, botanists, well acquainted with Dr. C. C. Parry, and

having a high opinion of his ability, industry, entire probity and honora-

ble character, as well as of his peculiar qualifications for the position,

acting upon their view of the best interests of the science they repre-

sent, and sincerely believing that his dismissal must have taken place un-

der some a a hereby respéctfully solicit that the Commis-

sioner would take into consideration the propriety of re-appointing Dr

Parry to the Sree of donk in the Department of Agriculture.

JOHN Torrey,

Asa GRAY

Wo. H. Brewer, Prof. Agriculture in Yale College.

Danie C. Eaton, Prof. Botany in Yale College.

Harvard University Herbarium, November 22, 1871.

— A copy is forwarded to Messrs. Watson, Engelmann, and Canby,

for their signatures.

ARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, È

Withington D. C., November 27, 1871.

To Prof. Asa GRAY.

Dear Sm:—Prof. Henry this morning placed in my hands the note of

Profs. pane Brewer, Eaton and yourself, asking me ‘‘ to consider the

propriety of reappointing Dr. Parry to the position of Botanist in the

Department of Agriculture.” The respect which I must necessarily have

is, that my own self respect and especially the interests of this Department,

forbid that I should reverse that which I did with care and reflection. I

did not, to Dr. Parry himself, assign any reason for his removal, sim-

ply because ke did not afford me any opportan unity to do so. I did not see

agreeable to me to utter as for him to hear. Nor do I now desire to say

any thing about Dr. Parry that might disparage him in the estimation of

his friends.

Iam, most respectfully, your ob’t. servant,

FREDERICK WATTS.

Cambridge, Mass., November 30th, 1871.

To the Hon. Freperick Watts, U. S. Commissioner of Agriculture.

Sm :—I have to acknowledge your favor of the 27 inst. in reply to the

42 BOTANY.

memorial addressed to you by Professors Torrey, Brewer, Eaton. and my-

self. It still appears to me that the friends of Dr. Parry are entitled to

know the reason of his summary dismissal by you,—all the more so that

your letter intimates, without directly asserting, some moral delinquency.

on his part. Iam still so confident that you must have been misled, that

I respectfully ask leave to print your letter to me along with the memo-

rial to which it is a reply; in case you still decline to furnish the charges

upon which Dr. Parry’s dismissal was grounded.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

ASA GRAY.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, i

Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 1871. )

To Professor ASA GRAY.

Dear Sm:— Yours of the 30th of November was handed to me yester-

day by Professor Henry. If it were not that you say that my former "g

ter to you “ intimates without directly asserting some moral delinguency

on Dr. Parry’s part, I would content myself by saying that my judgmem®

dictated to me the propriety of Dr. Parry’s removal. But I have Con-

cluded to put you in possession of the whole subject. a:

When I took charge of this Department, my first duty was to look into

and to understand the divisions of subjects which make up its whole, the

work that had been done, and the character and competency of each indi- 4

vidual who had charge of that work. Among the divisions was that of

the Botanist, with Dr. Parry in charge of it. My attention was called to

the inquiry, how and to what extent the work of this division conduced

to the practical operations of the Department. I found that nothing at

all had been done by Dr. Parry beyond his attention to the preserva) me

of the herbarium. This Department is designed to render the develop-

ments and deductions of science directly available to practice, that far-

mers and horticulturists may be benefited by them. The principles a

vegetable physiology, their relations to climate, soils, and the food ee

plants, and the diseases of plants, which are principally of fungoid origin,

it is clearly the duty of a botanist to investigate. If possible, he sho

throw some light upon the origin and condition of growth of the lower

orders of cryptogamic botany. This is a domain into which IT could not

discover that Dr. Parry had ever entered, so far as his practical WO

here gave any indication. The routine operations of a mere herbariu™

botanist are practically unimportant. i

In the course of my investigation, my attention was also drawn to 1"

mode of expression, wanting in perspicuity and not creditable to the

partment. These things, and what I also learned that my pre

had signified to Dr. Parry, to the effect that his letters should be subn

ted to him and for his signature before they were sent away, induced’ e

, to direct my chief clerk to have a conversation with Dr. Parry, and #

say to him that, as the head of the Department, I was responsible

BOTANY. 43

whatever emanated from it, and that all letters on official business must be

sent open to me, for my signature and frank. I returned with this message

a sealed package for which my frank was asked. At another time I re-

turned to Dr. Parry by my chief clerk, a letter which he had written and

which I did not think proper should be sent, and which the Doctor pas-

sionately tore up and threw into the waste basket. This he subsequently

apologized for to the gentleman he had thus insulted. On the 25th of

September, after these various conversations between my chief clerk and

Dr. Parry, he wrote another ee addressed to ‘‘ My Dear Doctor.”

It had no other designation. For whom it was intended, I did not learn,

or if I did I have forgotten. It concluded, ‘“ yours, ‘ officially, ’ C. C. Parry.”

I wrote on this letter, “ This is not very a ieee in its last sentence;

akisa a Botanist can sign no official letters. What his ‘ official’

not understand, Hag under the a ea ea I think it is in-

SEPE A BAe A t then occurred to me that I would dismiss

Dr. Parry, but held the ate under advisement for two days, until the

27th of September, when I received a note from him, in which he re-

quested me to furnish him with written instructions (underscoring the

word), and which contained two queries respecting letters from the De-

partment. I did not think that he was in want of the information he

longer TE his servic My conviction was then, and is now, that

whatever may be the aa aoas of Dr. Parry as a botanist, he was not

eR Soi creditably to discharge the duties which should devolve upon

him in connection with this Department, and therefore, without passion

or prejudice, I determined to dismiss him

word in reply to your suggestion shank printing my letter and your

Eas Se I decline to be a party myself to any such proceedings. But if

you will take the whole ae neaaibility of it, I shall never complain that

you have violated a confidence which I never intended to impose

I am, very respectfully,

FREDERICK Watts, Commissioner of Agriculture.

BOTANIC GARDEN, ?

Cambridge, Mas December 11th, 1871.

To the Hon. Freperick Watts, U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture, Washing-

ree foe O.

My Dear S1r,—I have to thank you for your letter “Nov” [Dec.] 8th,

in response to mine of Nov. 30.

You will permit me to remark, that the dismissal, without an hour’s

notice, of Dr. Parry from a position the duties of which he was thou ught

to have performed acceptably to your predecessor, must of itself, if un-

explained, cast an injurious reflection upon character or conduct.

ing that Low re for such dismissal were of a nature which it would

have been isagreeable for you to utter as for him to hear, and that

you “do anti now desire to say anything about Dr. Parry which might dis

44 BOTANY.

parage him in the estimation of his friends,”—all this certainly conveyed to

my mind the conviction that some serious delinquency had been charged. 4

It is with satisfaction, therefore, that I have read your letter now before

me, obligingly written ‘‘ to put [me] in possession of the whole subject.” i

I learn from it that the reasons for Dr. Parry’s sammary and ignominious

dismissal relate to some details of a. in the mode of conducting offi-

cial botanical correspondence, — to a momentary loss of temper in the

presence of one of your subordinates fid by the mọde in which 2

he destroyed a letter of his which had been returned to him to be can- —

celled), and for which he duly apologized,—to the subscribing of a let- 3

ter addressed familiarly “My Dear Doctor” [evidently some botanical

correspondent] by the phrase “ yours officially,”—that in some letters you —

found “ his mode of expression wanting in perspicuity ”(a fault into which :

more practised writers may sometimes fall),—and finally, that you did i

not discover in Dr. Parry the kind or degree of botanical qualifications

for the post which you were entitled to expect, and deemed the sorriomi

of “an herbarium botanist” practically unimportant. 7

As your letter has relieved my own mind from a painful anxiety upon

this subject, it may have the same effect upon others, upon whose minds

also your action had left the alternative of supposing, either bad conduct —

Ase

on the part of one hitherto highly esteemed, or of very hard usage "T ;

wards him (it was thought through some AREARE of himon =

Some misapprehension of yours). I think it proper and just, the refor e ;

making public, in scientific circles, first, the correspondence bet

Dr. Parry and yourself, and second, that between ourselves.

m, very respectfully yours,

Asa GRAY-

EXTRACTS FROM REPORTS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE AG

CULTURAL COLLEGE of Pennsylvania, made by the Hon. FREDERICK Me

1865, 1868 : — examples of “ perspicuity,” ete.

“If science and learning be useful at all, where can it tell with so

potent an influence, as where it deals with the operations of a et va

embrace a great number of mechanical and chemical forces, and aie

the necessity for searching after philosophical truth?” i

“The individual members of the Board of Trustees, have labored

“Our experience ieee us, that a farmer’s son, graduated in wt

institution, finds no place, ever after, in the domestic circle of his amily

BOTANY. 45

he is actually driven, by his education, into the necessity of resorting to

forms habits of idleness and intemperance; and the result is, that the

father not only loses the expenses of his education, but the son himself.”

“ These farms will all differ essentially in the character of soil and situ-

ation; and will be conducted under the eye of a skilful Professor of Agri-

culture for the purpose of testing and developing the thousand mysteries

which now cloud the knowledge of the farmer. These experiments car-

ried on under the direction of a scientific observer, who will constantly

keep note of the weather, the signs of the Zodiac, the application of ma-

nures, and all the various actual and supposed influences which affect the

growth of plants; and this, too, at three different points of the State,

and upon different soils, cannot fail to produce an amount of information

analea valuable, and which could never be collected by individual

exertion. Until now our Institution has never had the power of prose-

cuting these inquiries; but we now start upon a new career girded about

with the strength of sufficient means, and we hope with pe corian

to soon make it tell upon the Agricultural interests of the Stat

POTATOES Growime ABOVE Grounp. —I send you herewith,

what appears to me to be a rather uncommon freak of nature. I

remember an old ballad which ran something like this —

“ They plant aaen in the fall

ere, over there,

And they aig risa tops and all

Over there, over there,”

but I never knew of any authority for the potatoes growing on the

stalk above ground until I saw it in the specimen I send. There

were found in our potato field yesterday several stalks of potatoes

having from six to twelve or more little potatoes on them, from the

eyes of which are shooting the regular leaves. They seem in

these specimens to grow from the axils, but in some other speci-

mens they seem to be enlargements of the leaf-stem itself. —B. D.

Eastman, M.D.

HELENIUM TENNIFOLIUM.—Specimens of this plant were pre-

sented by Dr. Foreman, having been found by him growing about

three miles northwest of Baltimore, in the neighborhood of some

cotton mills. As it is a native of the extreme southwestern

States of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, it is believed that its

seeds have been introduced in cotton bales from a southern port.

The plants observed were few in number, as if recently established,

but were in vigorous growth and have made abundance of seeds.—

Proceedings Maryland Academy of Sciences, Nov. 6, 1871.

46 ZOOLOGY.

Z00LO0GY.

Carsonrrerous REPTILES or Onto.—Prof. Cope made some

observations before the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia on —

the extinct Batrachian Fauna of the Carboniferous of Linton, —

Ohio, based on studies of materials obtained by Prof. S. J. New-

berry, director of the Geological Survey of Ohio. Twenty-seven

species had been discovered up to the present time, twenty-three

of which were referred to the following genera. Pelion Wyman,

1; Sauropleura Cope, 3; Tuditanus Cope, 4; Brachydectes Cope, —

1; Oestocephalus Cope, 6; Cocytinus Cope; Molgophis Cope, l;

Phlegethontia Cope, 2; Colosteus Cope, 3; Eurythorax Cope, L.

Tuditanus, Cocytinus and Phlegethontia were described as new

genera. The first represented Dendrerpeton Owen, but possessed

thoracic shields. Plegethontia embraced slender snake-like forms

without armature, ribs or limbs, and was allied to Molgophis.

Cocytinus was defined as a branchiferous animal somewhat resem-

bling Necturus, but without fore limbs and well ossified vertebra.

weak posterior limbs only present, head lanceolate ; ventral arm —

ture consisting of closely packed osseous rods arranged en chevron; —

spines of the vertebra ‘an-shaped. Three new species were des-

cribed, one of which was the smallest of fossil Batrachia, being |

scarcely four inches long and represented by beautiful specimens: —

Two new species of Sauropleura, three of Tuditanus, one % —

Coc ytinus, two of Phlegethontia and one of Colosteus (C. pauc-

radiatus) were added to the system. Eurythorax sublevis Cope —

was a large form of four feet in length with the pectoral shield i

very broad and nearly smooth.

Pelion and Tuditanus were pointed out as the proad-headed 2

types. It was stated in conclusion that no reptiles proper ha’ —

been yet discovered in the coa' measures and that Sauropleurā :

looked much like a Lacertilian with its long limbs, neck, etc.. J ar .

it had the armature of the belly and other structures of the Be

trachia. This class has then forms resembling the serpents (Moligo — :

phis), lizards (Sauropleura) and crocodiles (Labyrinthodon) among : |

true reptiles. |

Nore on tHe Prarie Dog.—The graphic account of the habits

of Cynomys ludovicianus given by Prof. Jillson in the Naturavis? —

for March, 1871, refers to the small amount of water used by as 4

ZOOLOGY. 47

Our experience with a pair which were domesticated in my labora-

tory for a month, agrees with his, so far as regards the water;

when offered it was either refused or merely tasted. Of milk,

however, they were very fond, and drank from the same dish with

a cat, lapping it up greedily and seldom stopping while any milk

remained; in less than fifteen minutes, however, a looseness of

the bowels always appeared, which continued for a day or two. In

uttering their peculiar cry, they seemed to stiffen the whole trunk

and “rear” into a very comical attitude. Curiously enough, they

not only burrowed, but were vigorous climbers, would run up my

legs and get upon my shoulders and even head; but they seemed |

to have little power of estimating height, for they continually

tumbled from the chairs and tables, often striking upon the tip of

the nose, whereupon they made comical passes in front of the nose

with the front-paws ; one of them finally was killed by falling from

a window, to the seat of which he had climbed by means of a

table-leg. The other has been described, and I may hereafter give

some account of its structure. — Burt G. WILDER.

ORNITHOLOGICAL Query. — I have seen a partially albino

Robin, in which numerous pure white feathers are scattered through

the otherwise normally colored plumage. This is of very common

occurrence, but the circumstances under which the specimen was

secured open an interesting question. It was one of a flock in

which were several partial albinos like itself, and one wholly white

bird. Is it probable that, as suggested by Mr. Glover, these

speckled birds were the offspring of the white one and a normally

colored mate ?— Exirorr Coues.

Birds Founp BREEDING IN THE CATSKILL Mountains. — During

a visit to the Catskill mountains, in the second week of July,

I found the following birds breeding there:— Regulus satrapa,

Dendreca coronata, Sitta Canadensis, Troglodytes hyemalis, Junco

hyemalis, Dendræca virens, D. Canadensis. The last four birds

are common throughout summer in all the higher hills of Ulster

and Sullivan counties, and the mountains of Pennsylvania. The

golden-crested wren, I noticed only on the summits of Round Top,

and one or two others of the highest peaks. On the eighth of

July, {| saw several young birds, apparently not many days from

the nest. They, were attended by their parents, and hid them-

selves from observation, amid the densest hemlock boughs. At

48 ZOOLOGY.

times, the old birds uttered a lisping sort of warble, beginn

like that of Dendreca striata, but winding up with a few sprigh

notes, similar to those of D. virens. The young had no not

save the usual faint chirp. What is the southernmost observ

breeding locality of this bird?

Petrochelidon lunifrons is the commonest swallow in the Cat

skills, far outnumbering all the other species combined. It bre

in great numbers under the eaves of every barn and deserted house.

In no other eastern locality have I noticed it in such great abun-

dance as in these mountains. — T. Martin TRIPPE. .

Fısnes As SuRrGEONS. — In walking through the long dank g

of the forest, an almost imperceptible, minute sort of tick ab

tached themselves to the ends of our trousers, and from thence

up our legs and buried themselves in the flesh, causing 4 Mos

annoying sensation of itchiness. The whole party soon became

victims to the irritation of this little pest, and scratched and ex-

claimed without measure. One of the Caribs, on hearing y

cause of our vexation, said that the remedy was near, advising

us to go without one moment’s delay and lie down in the rive

and that there was a small fish in the creek which would alm i

immediately extract the tick if it had not burrowed too far m

the flesh ; we all did as I fully expect you to do, gentle reader, 00

hearing this novel style of surgery, burst out into uncontrolam

fits of laughter; but on Mr. C— and the manager’s assuring U

that the blacks only spoke from long experience, and that t

themselves had more than once proved the efficacy of the cure

warning us at the same time that the tick, if not soon extra

would become a very severe sore ; we at last, but without one atom

of faith in the experiment, assented to the proposal, and ©

menced to undress without further opposition. :

We bathed, and then in compliance with the Carib’s directio

lay down quite still in the shallowest part of the stream.

few moments, I felt something very sharp strike against sev’

parts of my body ; cautiously raising my head, and looking ©”

towards my legs I saw a swarm of very small fish, wriggling

swimming around me, continually bobbing their little heads at

person, and readers, ridiculous, incredulous as I fear my

will sound in the ears of the unlearned, positively the fish

only picked off the tick which were outside the flesh, but act

extracted those which had burrowed beneath the skin.—22e™

ZOOLOGY. 49

A Sea Birp Intanp.—The cold, northeast storm of the past

few days brought us a rare visitor in the shape of the Little Auk,

Mergulus alle L. Two individuals were captured in full winter

plumage and plump, though with empty stomachs. Their occur-

rence thirty miles inland is somewhat remarkable. Allen records

the capture of a single specimen at Greenfield, Mass, on the Con-

necticut, and Linsley places the species among the birds of Con-

necticut on the strength of one captured near Martha’s Vineyard.

It is found on the coast of New Hampshire, New York and New

Jersey in winter, and was therefore to have been expected on our

own, but this is its first appearance in Middletown. — G. Brown

Goopr, Middletown, Connecticut, November 18th.

[The same storm drove a lot of the little auks to Middletown,

Mass., and large numbers were taken along the coast of Massa-

chusetts. Maynard says he has seen it in Florida. — Eps. ]

Nore on HEMIRHAMPHUS( Ricnarpi?)—An ichthyological friend

requests us to make a note of the unsuspected abundance of this

fish on the North Carolina coast. It occurs at certain seasons in

immense numbers, swimming near the surface in schools so large

and dense that specimens may rapidly be secured by simply jerk-

ing a naked hook through the water. — ELLIOTT Coves.

OCCURRENCE OF THE OrcHARD ORIOLE IN SovuTH adie: —

Dr. Coues, in his “Synopsis of the Birds of South Carolina,”

enumerating the Icteridæ, says of the Orchard Oriole (Jcterus

spurius), “rare; chiefly migrant; some probably breed.” My own

observations in this State differ somewhat.

On the 28th of June, this last spring, and a few days after my

arrival at Camden, I happened to be walking across one of the

public squares of the town, when among the songs of many other

birds, I thought I distinguished the note of the Orchard Oriole,

and the next moment caught sight of the familiar but unexpected

person of this little dweller of our northern orchards. Flitting

among the branches of a tree near by, every moment or two he

sang his cheerful song, and while I stood watching, as he busily

searched among the leaves for insects, his more sober partner

joined him, holding in her bill a worm, which, however, she soon

carried off, flying towards the other corner of the square. I fol-

lowed, and in a few minutes after discovered the pendant nest,

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 4

eee

fg ee ZOOLOGY.

hanging from one of the lower boughs of a small oak a

more than fifteen feet from the ground ; drawing the limb doy

me, I found that it contained four nearly fledged young. W

I was engaged in examining these, the two old birds kept

terrible chattering, flying so near, that at one time I thon

were about to attack me. One of the young ones I tried

in a cage, but failed in my attempt.

Since then, I have discovered five other nests, three of

contained half fledged young, the other two had been but

deserted, and in one case, I saw the parent birds feeding the!

lings in the neighborhood of the nest. A

These nests were all found from the 28th of June to the

- of July, and were with one exception in the thickly inha

tions of the town and on the edges of the public squares.

not doubt but that if I had made especial search for

Should have discovered many more; for in various parts

town, I saw the black and chestnut of their plumage

amidst the topmost boughs and heard their clear and pl

Songs sounding in every direction around me. I counted

pairs of these birds, of which I shot four. They seem

as familiar as I have noticed them at the north, and from all ;

learn are thought one of the common species of birds at this

and are called Gold-finches, why, I cannot conceive, as

» prove them not rare, at least in this portion

state, and establish the fact of their breeding here.

But, from Dr. Coues not having discovered a nest of i

cies at Columbia, ‘during two years’ observations at that

which is not more than thirty miles distant, I am inclined

ZOOLOGY. 51

fection of plumage of the fourth spring, as mentioned by him,

having the deep chestnut color covering the whole lower parts,

and the glossy blackness on the head, wings and tail feathers ;

_the others were birds of the second or third years. The nests I

found, were all formed entirely of grass, coarse without and finer

within, like those Audubon speaks of as usually built in Louisiana.

On the 30th of July, I observed a number of these birds, not

less than twenty-five or thirty, congregated together on the top of

a decayed tree, which stood near the edges of a large cultivated

field; at my approach they flew off, and since that time I have

neither seen or heard a single individual of this species, and they

seem to have entirely disappeared from the place, although the

autumn is near at hand. — H. S. Kepnery.

Torre Trees Destroyep By Bark Lice.—I send you some

specimens of Coccidæ belonging to the genus Lecanium, and which

I think is an undescribed species.

Mr. P. R. Uhler of Baltimore writes me that it is new to him,

and undescribed in the many works which he possesses treating

of the Coccidæ. It is very near to the Lecanium juglandis Bouché.

I send you some of the deserted scales, also some of the larvee

as they appear at this date. These bark lice are very destructive

to the Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). We had some beauti-

ful specimens of these on the college grounds, which have been

entirely ruined.

These insects are ovoviviparous. The eggs, which are one-for-

tieth of an inch in length, appear in July almost filling the female.

In August the gravid female contains the embryo in all stages

of development, from the undeveloped egg to the active larva.

From the last of August to the first of October, the larve leave

the scale through a central opening in the under surface.

The larve are in form and color quite like the common sow-bug,

one-twenty-fifth of an inch long, antennæ eight-jointed, abdomen

nine-jointed, the posterior joints being deeply sinuate, with a long

seta on each side. After wandering about the tree from eight to

ten days, they become attached to the bark of the trunk and limbs

by little peripheral filaments, two on each segment. The color

soon turns from brown to black.

The imago is perfectly formed in June. The turtle-shaped scale

being then five-twentieths of an inch long. of a dark flesh color,

oe ZOOLOGY.

from which there exudes a sweet fluid which attracts swarms of —

flies (Diptera), bees and wasps, and falling on the leaves, forms a —

dark sticky wax. On the underside of the fully formed adult fe

males are four cottony lines extending from the angles to the cen —

tre. In October the emptied scales fall from the trees. k

The rate of increase is enormous, each female producing thou- |

sands of young. Two or three years are sufficient to destroy a large,

vigorous tree.— A. J. Coox, Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich.

Instinct or REASON IN THE Rosis ?— A pair of Robins (Turdus

migratorius) had, for three years, built their nests and reare

their young on the trees in front of my house. The fourth year

they decided for family ends to change the trees for the beams og

of anew shed. There they built their nest; and soon four eggs —

were seen in it; in due time the young appeared. As they were —

in plain view from our window, and were also exposed to danger —

from boys, cats, and other enemies, we watched them very closely: :

After a few days, the birds had grown too large for all to remam —

in the nest, and one was seen on the beam outside. As cats were

whetting their appetites looking at it, I determined to protect it

at all hazards, and went near to watch. The parents seemed a8 :

fearful and anxious as I, keeping both of them on the wing, $08 —

to and from the nest, with much flutter, and noise and talk. I .

noticed they were bringing, what seemed to be nest material, in a

addition to the food for the young. The next morning at day- d

light a new nest close beside the old one, was completed, and two

of the young placed in it. Here two in one, and two in the other

nest, they were cared for until they could fly. The next ya

they began their family duties near the same spot, but a foarfal

gale blew down the shed, with its nest, eggs and birds and they 4

have never nested on the place since.— Rey. S. A. L. Drew, South :

` Royalton, Vt. me 2

;

LABORATORY ror Marine ZooLoer.— Dr. Anton Dohrn in 4 w a

ter to Professor Agassiz, who has communicated it for publication a

in this journal, writes that he has matured a plan which has ue

many years been in the minds of many zoologists; that of estab a |

lishing a large laboratory for marine zoology in the Mediterranea” . |

He has obtained permission of the authorities of the city of Ne

ples to construct a large building at his own expense, in the yilla

Reale at Naples close to the sea, containing a large aquarium e

ZOOLOGY. 53

the public, and extensive rooms for naturalists of every country.

Dr. Dohrn, with two or three other German zoologists, will settle

there and conduct the administration of both the aquarium and

the laboratories. He wishes that information regarding this pro-

posed laboratory be widely extended in America, and earnestly

invites all who may go to Naples to visit the aquarium. An an-

nual report of the work done and progress made at the zoologi-

cal station will be published. A committee has already been

formed to give farther dignity and importance to the project, con-

sisting of Messrs. Hemholtz, Dubois-Reymond, Huxley, Darwin,

Heckel, Leuckart, Van Beneden, etc., and in this country Professor

Agassiz.

Hysrivs.—[Simply remarking that we strongly suspected that

the supposed hybrid between the cat and raccoon was nothing more

than a cross between an Angola and a common gray cat ; a variety

that is well known in this vicinity and in every way corres-

ponding to the description given; and that we thought it best to

let the communication printed in the October number call forth

comments on this oft recurring question of hybrids ; we accordingly

give the following careful summary of the subject with thanks

to Dr. Gill for treating it in so concise a manner.— Eps. ]

To the Editors of The Naturalist. —I find in the number of

“ The Naturalist” for October (p. 660) which, has just come to

hand, a notice by Col. Higginson, endorsed by Prof. Jenks, of an

alleged hybrid between a raccoon and cat, which is extremely tan-

talizing. No information as to the structural characteristics of the

animal is given, and scarcely any as to other points, and yet it is

not too much to say that the authentication of such hybridity would

revolutionize physiology, for certainly nothing like it has hitherto

been made known. Remarkable as is the hybridity of the ram

and doe roe-buck (Capreolus Europeus) recorded by Hellenius, it

pales into insignificance when compared with hybridity between

the cat and raccoon. We have, in the last mentioned animals, not

only representatives of distinct genera and families, but of pri-

mary groups (Superfamilies) of the fissipede carnivores, charac-

tized by differences of as great morphological value, as, for exam-

ple, those between the horse and rhinoceros: those differences, in

the animals in question, are exhibited especially in the osseous,

digestive, and generative systems, and it is therefore desirable to

54 ZOOLOGY.

know in what manner these systems are modified in the supposed

hybrid; the living animal could readily be examined as to its

dentition (the number of the molar teeth and their characteristics),

the feet (whether digitigrade or plantigrade and whether tetra-

dactyle or pentadactyle), the head (whether ` abbreviated and.

cat-like, reflecting the diminished number of teeth, or whethe

prolonged into an attenuated muzzle), and especially the charac-

ter of the snout, whiskers, the claws, the tail and the pelage.

The very vague information that has been furnished respecting

the form, walk, tail and pelage is very insufficient, and conveys

‘no clear idea as to the animal’s peculiarities. No clear idea, er

ther, is obtained by the mere reader from the statement that “the

- animal when taken up by the tail, turned upon the aggressor wit

a fury far beyond that of a common cat.” Although my experi-

ence with cats under such conditions has been limited, I canno

conceive how more fury can be manifested than I have seen pe

hibited by one cat when subjected to such an interesting experi-

ment. A clue is indeed furnished by the opening paragraph

Col. Higginson’s remarks, namely, that the animal ‘struck [him

at first as being the handsomest cat [he] had ever. beheld,”

after this significant admission, it is more than probable that ba

characters would only require to be contrasted with those of

ordinary cat. It may be added that the wild cat (Lyng rufus)

has “pointed and tufted ears” (which the raccoon has not) and

hybridity between a domestic cat and lynx would not be im

able.* My acquaintance with you, Messrs. Editors, assures’

that you must have entertained considerable doubt respecting ©

reliability of such an account, although you have made no ©

ments, and you would confer a boon on science if you would procul

a photograph—not a drawing which might reflect, unintenti ;

ally, the imagination of the artist—of the animal in quest®”

Until better evidence than has yet been brought forward is

ered, naturalists will not only be excused for doubting any

hybridity, but would be inexcusable for not doubting it, and

gentlemen will, I doubt not, concur in this sentiment.

* It is, of course, not suggested that the animal in question i necessarily a hybrid

all, much less between the cat and lynx; the character of the tail alone

origin highly improbable; it is merely intended to indicate within wh

might be credible.

GEOLOGY. 56

female cat would encounter in the prosecution of their amours,

and that therefore if such a monstrous union were possible, the

marriage must be between a cat and female raccoon. But until

most cogent evidence is adduced, I must remain sceptical as to

the possibility of any fruitful union whatever.

f course, no reflection is cast upon the eminent, gentlemen

who published the account of the remarkable animal, and who have

only repeated what they heard; they, probably not being very fa-

miliar with the order of mammals in question, naturally believed

in and reflected the opinions of others. My only object in this

communication is to elicit more evidence while it may readily be

obtained, and I may be allowed to express the hope that when the

animal— happily for the interest of science !— dies, it may be re- -

served for a more worthy fate than to leave its skin stuffed for a

museum: it should, of course, be submitted to the examination

of a critical anatomist.

In conclusion, a few words respecting the nature of the evidence

required in alleged cases of hybridity may be serviceable. In

view of the constant statements respecting hybrids circulated in

various publications, affirmations and beliefs are not sufficient.

Hybrids partake of characters peculiar to each parent, but modi-

fied by the sex of each parent. Therefore, all the men of China,

Me., might swear they saw a cat and raccoon in coitu (and in view

of the strength of the sexual instinct, the allegation might not be

wholly incredible), and all the men of Taunton might swear that

they believed that the offspring of one of the animals was the re-

sult of such amours (and in view of the credulity of man and the

general ignorance respecting nature, the reality of such belief

would be quite credible!) but all such affirmations and beliefs

would not meet the requisites of the case, unless the offspring

shared characteristics of each parent, and even if it were further

sworn that the female had been precluded from intercourse with

another animal, it would be no further evidence, for unless the al-

legation was confirmed by the characteristics of the animal, we

would still have-infallible nature against truthful and at least fal-

- lible man. — THEODORE GILL.

i GEOLOGY.

GEOLOGY or THE PHospHATE Beps oF Sours Carora. — Dr.

56 GEOLOGY.

A. §. Packard, Jr., made some remarks on the geology of the

phosphate beds of South Carolina. During a recent visit to

Charleston, he had observed the phosphate diggings on the Ashley

river, and at a locality on the northeast railroad eight miles from

_ Charleston, but through the courtesy of C. C. Coe, Esq., Superin-

tendent of the Marine and River Phosphate Mining and Manufac-

turing Company, and Dr. C. U. Shepard, Jr., he had enjoyed

special facilities for studying the Quaternary, or Post Pliocene

formation in which the phosphate bed occurs, having made two

excursions in company with these gentlemen on the Company's

steamer Gazelle. He was also indebted to Prof. C. U. Shepard,

Sr., for much valuable information regarding the chemical as well

as geological history of these interesting beds. Analogous beds

have been discovered in the later tertiary of England near Canti

bridge, but they are becoming exhausted, and manufacturers of

superphosphates are now importing large quantities of the crude

phosphate rock from Charleston, S. C., as well as the phosphate,

or apatite, rock from the Laurentian formation of Canada, which

Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, the distinguished chemist of the Canadian

Geological Survey, believes to have resulted largely from the ba

composition of shells, especially those of Lingula. a

The phosphate beds of South Carolina are spread over an area

along the coast one hundred miles along, and about twenty miles

in breadth ; the formation is not continuous, being sometimes, as

stated (in conversation) by Prof. C. U. Shepard, Jr., replaced -

ferruginous sand. It has already been largely used as a fertilizer

for worn out lands of the Sea Island cotton region, and promises

from the unlimited supply of the rock, to become a large industrial

interest of the state, six million dollars having already been 1

vested in lands and mining and manufacturing materials by north-

ern capitalists alone. ' a

The relation of the phosphate: beds to the Quaternary formatio

of the state and of the latter to the glacial beds of sand and a:

of the northern states, were, however, the principal points ee

would allude to. At a celebrated locality of Quaternary fossils at

Simmon’s Bluff on Wadmalaw Sound, about thirty miles by’ m

from Charleston, he made with the kind and generous aid of

Shepard, Jr., a large collection of fossils, from a bed of sand pe

mud about four feet in thickness. This bed corresponded with a

marine clays of New England and Labrador, and the ancient ieee

GEOLOGY. 57

bottom with its multitude of shells, which remained just as they

had died in their holes, reminded him of an ancient raised sea-

bottom at Hopedale, Labrador.

These clay beds graduated into clay and sand, containing a fer-

ruginous layer, supposed by Dr. Shepard, Jr., to be the horizon of

the phosphate beds. These beds correspond to the beds of clay

at Gardiner, Maine, where Sir Charles Lyell discovered the bones

of the Bison and Walrus. They contain bones of the Megalonyx,

Mastodon, Elephant, Tapir, two species of Horse, Peccary, Rhi-

noceros and Manatee. The sands graduate into the beach sands

of the close of the Quaternary, just as do. the Bison and Walrus

beds of the Kennebec river. The phosphate beds, then, were

probably rolled masses of Eocene rock crowded with shells, min-

gled with the bones of the animals above mentioned, deposited

and arranged by the waves of a shallow sea a few feet deep. This

sea was much shallower even than that which covered the ancient

sea bottom beneath, which must have been only from one to five

or ten fathoms deep, as the same shells are at the present day

thrown up on the neighboring beaches in great abundance, and he

had dredged some of them at a depth of from five to thirty feet at

Beaufort, N. C.

After their deposition, the carbonate of lime of the shell marl

of the Eocene rocks had been replaced by phosphate of lime.

How this had been effected, and whence the phosphate of lime was

derived, was a question still unsettled by chemists. He alluded

to the theory of Prof. Shaler that this phosphate deposit had been

formed at the bottom of the Gulf Stream, which, according to

that geologist, had probably flowed over the site of the present

phosphate beds; and in opposing the theory suggested that the

_ phosphate beds were deposited in shallow water, perhaps lagoons

as suggested by Prof. Holmes, as they rested in a shallow water

deposit above alluded to. There was no apparent evidence, as

well shown by the facts published by Tuomey in his geological

survey of South Carolina, of a depression of the coast. On the

other hand there is no apparent evidence of glacial action on

` the coast, since the Quaternary sands are marine or aerial, and

Tuomey states that he has nowhere in the state of South Carolina

seen any angular blocks, nor a pebble a foot in diameter. More-

over, the life of the Quaternary in this state indicated even a

warmer climate than at present obtains.

Since these remarks were made, he had met by. accident with

58 GEOLOGY.

the paper by Desor, than whom no one can speak with gren

authority, in which he has made a comparison * between the

„cial marine beds of the North and the marine coast deposit

the Southern states, parallelizing the deposits in a masterly man

ner. His remarks entirely confirm the views given above. ©)

difficulty Desor had in parallelizing the Laurentian beds of

North with those of the South containing the remains of land am

mals, was the apparent absence of the remains of land animalsi

the clays of the North, but since then teeth of the bison har

been found at Gardiner, Maine, in the upper part of the clay

It may also result from farther investigation that the phosphate

beds were laid down at a later period than we have supposed

the time when the great mammals found in the cave at Phe

ville by Mr. Wheatley flourished, perhaps during the earlier o

tion of the river terrace period when the mammoth and mastode

lived both in the northern and southern states. ”

Thus, the parallelism between the Quaternary beds North

South would seem to be even more exact than Desor twenty ye

ago could make it with his data. The climate gradually gv

warmer from Labrador to Florida; the Gulf Stream did n

parently change its bed during the Quaternary period; the

lations of level of the. coast of South Carolina were slight

involved but a few feet, where in Canada and Labrador the

and fall involved several hundreds; and the denudation eff

in the North by land ice, was caused in the South by oceanie Cu

rents, waves and atmospheric agencies. There are- apparently

facts to show that while the glaciers lined the coast of New

land, the waters of South Carolina were not as warm, if

warmer, than at the present day, from the effects of the 4

Stream. — Bulletin Essex Institute. ae

Derr Sea Expiorations. — The expedition by the

Survey, under the charge of Professor Agassiz and Count

tales, to explore the sea at great depths in the Southern

lantic and along the Pacific coast, revives the interest in the Te

markable discoveries made by the late English deep-sea dre

explorations in the Mediterranean Sea. It seems, as “Nat

remarks, that Humboldt, as long ago as 1812, maintained

EEE E på EA g PET

and the deposits of the valley of ~ e Mississippi. By E. Desor. American J

Science and Arts, 1852. Vol. 14,

MICROSCOPY. 59

such a low temperature exists at great depths in tropical seas as

can only be accounted for by the hypothesis of undercurrents

from the Poles to the Equator. The temperature soundings taken

on the last English expedition show that the bottom of the sea off

Portugal, below one thousand fathoms, ranges from thirty-nine to

thirty-five degrees, or about the freezing point. In the Mediter-

ranean the temperature beneath the hot surface stratum of water

is uniform to any depth—namely, about fifty-five degrees. It is

naturally inferred that in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans an

undercurrent of polar icy water is flowing southward under the

warmer: tropical waters; and this is sustained by the discovery at

great depths of polar animals in the seas of Florida and Cuba.

, The English expedition under Professor Carpenter, the well known

physiologist, has also detected the existence of an outward under-

current in the Strait of Gibraltar, which carries back into the

Atlantic the water of the Mediterranean that has undergone con-

centration by the excess of evaporation in its basin. Professor

Carpenter confirms the theory previously urged by Captain Maury,

that the cause of thé superficial in-current and the deep out-cur-

rent is to be found in the excess of evaporation, the Mediterra-

nean water being from evaporation denser than the water of the ;

Atlantic. Catpankst then compares the polar and equatorial areas,

and shows that there is a tendency in the former to a lowering of

level and increase of density, which places it in the same relation

to the latter as the Mediterranean bears to the Atlantic.

Coat Beps 1N Panama.—In a paper read before the Geolog-

ical Section of the British Association, Dr. Hume stated that,

during a recent residence upon this isthmus, he learned that a

series of seams of coal had been found in a secluded and prim-

itive portion of. the country, not far distant from the railway.

He had procured and analyzed some specimens of the coal, and

had found 75 per cent. of carbonaceous matter, the balance being

water and ash, and a very small quantity of sulphur. The coal

possessed a fair heating and large illuminating power.

r MICROSCOPY.

ANGULAR ÅPERTURE. — An anonymous querist in the “ Monthly

Microscopical Journal,” incidentally to asking the aperture of a

certain lens, urges the importance of angular aperture as an ele-

60 MICROSCOPY.

ment in the construction and study of objectives, and intimates, i

which is hardly saying too much, that the peculiar qualities of the E

objectives depend more on their angular aperture than on their |

focal lengths. “Focus and aperture are in fact both essential

factors in the denomination of an object-glass, and where a differ-

ence exists in either we must keep in mind that we are comparing :

different things, and not the same things with differing qualities.”

The estimation of any angular aperture, so well expressed by “Bie

is perfectly familiar and undisputed among experienced microscop-

ists, although its exact bearings are not always easily apprehended

by beginners ; and that microscopists need occasional caution 1m

regard to it may be inferred from the case in point, where an a

complished writer stated an extraordinary performance of à lens

without mentioning the range of its apertures or the aperture be :

which he worked it. The peculiar and entirely independent quali-

ties of lenses of low and of high angles are everywhere understood

alike ; but the extent to which success has been attained`in this

country in the construction of high angles cannot be appreciated a

abroad when “B,” evidently well informed on other points, woul p

_not be surprised to hear that a one-fifth of excessive resolving

power had an angular aperture of 150° or 160°. Any onein ki :

country would be *‘ surprised” to hear that its highest angle bic!

;

pot

Sii

Makers should always engrave the angular aperture upon t a

mounting and on the boxes of their objectives. The neatness and a

sufficiency of this plan, however, is marred in the case of many, =

modern objectives whose screw-collar adjustment gives a WW |

range of powers and angles. Exactly at what point of adjustment

the measurements should be made in these cases is one of the mo 1

difficult points to be settled in endeavoring to obtain a unifor i

nomenclature in regard to the works of different makers. At least Í

for the present, until some standard degree of adjustment can be

agreed upon, both the highest and lowest figures should be gv

where the range is considerable. : ae

PASSAGE or CORPUSCLES THROUGH THE Broop-vessers. — The”

‘t Monthly Microscopical Journal” reviews a paper on the subject

read before the Royal Society by Dr. R. Norris. Previous hy

potheses fall short in regard to the most singular and im ; :

part of the process. ‘The question is less how the corpuscles 8°" —

MICROSCOPY. 61

out, than how they get out without leaving any trace of their pas-

sage through the wall. Observers are agreed that both red and

white corpuscles pass out of the vessels through apertures which,

manifest during the period of transit, can be seen neither before

nor after that time, and that it is essential to the process that the

corpuscles shall cohere to the wall of the vessel and shall be sub-

sequently subjected to pressure from within. The physical condi-

tions essential to the passage of a rigid body through a colloid film,

as when a solid body passes through a soap-bubble without break-

ing it, are present in the case of the minute blood-vessels and the

corpuscle, and are as follows ;—an intimate power of cohesion, ei-

ther mediately or immediately, between the film and the body, a

certain amount of pressure from within, and cohesive plasticity of

the substance of the film so that the breach in it may become uni-

ted as it descends upon the opposite surface of the body which is

being extruded.

Curring anD Staining Tissues.— Mr. E. Ray Lankaster recom-

mends, in the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,” that

a small piece of tissue be enclosed in a metal box and frozen by

means of a freezing mixture. It is then held between pieces of

pith in wooden forceps (or an American clothes-peg) while sections

are cut by a razor cooled in snow, the cutting being performed in

acold room. Three razors are used that two may be cooled while

one is used. The sections are first placed in a one-half per cent.

gold chloride solution, or in silver nitrate solution if desired.

After five to seven minutes they are transferred to distilled water

and soaked for a few hours. They are then placed in’ water acidu-

lated with lactic acid to reduce the gold chloride, and after the red-

violet color is fully developed they are teased out, if oT ;

and mounted in glycerine.

ADULTERATION Or Tea AND Correre.— According to Dr. Hec-

tor Helshan’s paper on the employment of the Microscope in

analysis, before the South London Microscopical-and Natural His-

tory club, coffee drinkers are liable to be treated to a decoction

of roasted coffee-berries, chicory, poor flour, stale sea-biscuit, tan-

yard refuse, peas, beans, and saw-dust. Some of these modern

improvements may be escaped by buying the coffee unground.

Dainty tea-drinkers will notice with interest that the Chinese ex-

port teas rendered attractive by the salts of copper, lead, and iron,

62 MICROSCOPY.

and cheapened by mixture with the refuse tea-leaves from the kitch-

ens. Other leaves are largely prepared and sold as tea, and the

process of improvement is further carried on by the importers al

home. Willow leaves have been much substituted for tea, and

have been said to be a good substitute. |

ANOTHER ERECTOR. —A flat minor above the eye-piece was ex-

hibited by Mr. E. Richards, as an erector for the microscope, at

the October meeting of the Royal Microscopical Society. He uses

a glass plate platinized in front. This littlé erector is cheap and ~

easily used when the microscope is in a vertical position. Itis

not, however, easily applicable in an inclined position of the in-

strument; and it is liable to narrow the field of view. This isa

modification and adaptation of Mr. E. T. Newton’s apparatus pub-

lished in the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,” July,

1871

AMERICAN MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY or THE Crry or New York.

— Rooms: Mott Memorial Building, 64 Madison Av., New York.

Officers: President, F. A. P. Barnard, §.T.D., LL.D.; First Vive

President; J. E.. Gavit; Second Vice President, H. G. Piffard

M.D; Recording Secretary, J. W. S. Arnold, A.M., M.D.; Cor-

responding Secretary, R. A. Williams, Jr., A.M. ; Treasurer E.

C. Bogert; Curator, Samuel Jackson; Librarian, j . H. Corn

Trustees, T. F. Harrison, C. Van Bunt, W. H. Atkinson,

D.D.S., S. G. Perry, D.D.S., D. H. Goodwillie, M.D., TAi

— The Medical Record. ae

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WITH THE Monoa

Mr. E. T. Newton proposes, for microscopical drawing,

reflector partially covering the eye-lens and mounted with a

sion for rotation, so as to be easily adjusted to use with the

ment inclined at any angle. The Beale neutral-tint reflecto

should be mounted, for those who prefer to use it, with a s!

rotating movement. This substitute for the camera has th :

tional advantage of being an erecting arrangement.

Micko-srecrroscorr. — Mr. H. G. Bridge states in the sa

ly Microscopical Journal” that it is perfectly feasible, wi oy

Browning’s bright-line micrometer, to record or map the §

observed, so that the positions given shall be correct to the

the micrometer circle.

NOTES. 63

Proropiasmic Lire.— Mr. Crace-Calvert stated that life will be-

come manifest in the albumen of a fresh egg mixed with pure wa-

ter after an exposure of fifteen minutes to the atmosphere. Ex-

periments in x Serer CRATE are often vitiated by mo-

mentary exposure to the a

NOTES.

Pror. Agassiz has published a letter in regard to the expedition

in the Hassler, in which, after stating that some published state-

ments are incorrect in many particulars, he says : —

“The Hassler was built for the coast survey work of the Pacific

shore of the United States. Any work undertaken on board this

vessel, is, therefore, entirely pg to that of the regular

operations of the survey. she , however, necessarily

make the tour of the South A toad ea ae nt, in order to reach

her destination, Professor Pierce, the Superintendent of the Coast

Surv ey, has thought it wise to organize a scientific party, con-

useful to science, as well as to the special interests of the survey

itself. To this énd he has provided a dredging apparatus in con-

nection with the hydrographic operations, thus continuing a

larger scale the work so admirably conducted under his auspices

in the Gulf of Mexico during the last five years. e wider range

thus given to these operations will, of course, greatl enhance

the value of the previous work, and lay the foundation for much

more effective researches in the future.

I consider aoe tg ee in being connected with this voyage,

doubly so beca the companions with whom I am associated

are men of tried ‘ability #0 some of them having a larger experience

than my own in special details of the work, while Captain John-

son, commander of the Hassler, adds to his professional skill a

zeal for the interests of science opiti shared by the officers un-

ler him, But while erah thing has been done to give this initia-

that lives has special value for the ataralsak but the expens

making these collections, and indeed all expenses of the i

tific party not directly connected with the Coast Survey work, will

I have thought it best to publish this statement in order to

make it fully understood that the scientific expedition connectéd

with this voyage is not its chief object, except so far as that ex-

pedition subserves the best interests of the Coast Survey.”

a E

64 NOTES.

The vessel sailed December fourth, and will touch first at St.

Thomas Island. The steamer burns less than three tons of coal

a day, and can thus run eight thousand miles on one hundred and

fifty tons of coal, a remarkable saving of fuel. Professor Agassiz

has taken out abundant stores for preserving specimens, and deep —

sea nets and hooks specially adapted for catching fish at great —

_depths. We also publish a letter to Professor Pierce, the Superin-

tendent of the Coast Survey, in regard to the aims of the dredg-

ing party from advanced proofs received from Professor Pierce; and

published as a Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.

We noticed in the last number of the Naruraxist the instrue-

tion in science afforded to the teachers of Boston at the Hallof —

the Natural History Society, the means having been furnished by —

Mr. John Cummings ; we should not forget the other efforts made

to instruct the public and popularize science, under the auspices

of the same vigorous institution, the means of which have been —

and are this year to be furnished by Mr. John A. Lowell, as trus- 4

tee of the Lowell Institute Fund. The first courses were givet L

for a nominal price of admission in the lecture-room of the Soci-

ety’s Museum, last year. The following is the programme of the

lectures for this season : ie

“ First course, beginning October 23, twelve lectures on Pop- a

ular Geology by W. T. Brigham, A.M. Subjects —‘ Water as 3

xeological Agent; Chemical and Physical Properties of Water; a

Dew and Rains ; Springs ; Rivers ; Waterfalls ; Bogs and Ma rshes + e

Lacustine and Oceanic Deposits ; "The Ocean ; Cave erns ; Snow a

Ice; Glaciers; Deluges. a

Second Course, beginning December 4, six lectures by B. a

Jeffries, M.D. Subject—‘ Comparative Anatomy of the Eye,

ision.’ a

Third Course, beginning December 26, ten lectures by Professor ;

å. L. Go oodale, of Bowdoin College. Subj ect — ‘ Physiologica

Botany, study o some of the relations of Plants to Heat, "

Light, Blectricity e Chemistry.’ mas

Fourth Course, beginning January 29, six lectures by be i

Dwight, Jr. . M.D., ‘Subject — ‘ Preservation of Life among t

Vertebrates.’ F at- :

Fifth Course, ri iat February 19, six lectures by W- G. refer-

low, M. D. Subject—‘Cryptogamic Botany, with special

eyce to the Alge.’ b ieot

Sixth Course, beginning March 11, by F. G. Sanborn, Sub) ;

—‘ Talks about Insects.’’

ys a SB

AMERICAN. NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.— FEBRUARY, 1872.—No. 2.

LEAHY O)OD >

THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.*

BY J. W. FOSTER, LL.D.

—1+o2

TOPOGRAPHICAL Fratures.— The mountains of Colorado form,

perhaps, the most striking feature in the orology of the United

States. Regarding the several ranges which traverse the region

between Mexico on the south and the British Possessions on the

north as parts of one stupendous whole, whose upheaval in the

main may be referred to one geological epoch, we find that along

the fortieth parallel the most active telluric forces were exerted,

producing the widest expansion and culminating in the loftiest

peaks. Between the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Wasatch

on the east, the ridges, with their intervening valleys, reach an ex-

pansion of not less than a thousand miles. Traced north and south

they not only diminish in height but contract in width to about —

four hundred miles. There are five or six peaks in Western Col-

orado which attain an altitude of over fourteen thousand feet

above the sea, constituting the highest ground in the Uni

States, with the exception of a region on the head waters of Kern

River where there is a single point, Mt. Whitney, estimated at

fifteen thousand feet.

Between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains there is

a great swelling of the land, which to the ordinary observer is al-

* Read before the Chicago Academy of Sciences, November 14, 1871.

_ „ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

SCIENCE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 5 (65)

66 ` ‘THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

most imperceptible. Kansas City, at the junction of the Missouri

and Kaw Rivers, is six hundred and forty-eight feet above tic

water; First View, near the western line of Kansas, is four thou-

sand, four hundred and seventy-nine feet; and Denver, fourteen

miles from the base of the mountains, is five thousand, one hun-

dred and five feet. Thus it will be seen that the traveller along

this route is ascending a rapidly-inclined grade which to the €

appears as a dead-level ;

From this elevated plateau the mountains rise abruptly, like a

great rampart, ridge succeeding ridge, until, on the fortieth

allel, the culminating point is attained at Gray’s Peak. This

was named in honor of the distinguished botanist of that n

by one of his devoted disciples, Dr. Parry, who was the firs

measure its altitude, which he found to be fourteen thousand, )

hundred and forty-five feet. :

There are really two culminating points to the range in this

cinity ; one with a rounded outline probably a few feet lower, and

the other cone-like in form, which in the distance resembles an

aérial pyramid. It would not be inappropriate to attach to the

southern point the name of Torrey, who has done so much in í

termining the botany-of the mountain region of the United States;

thus linking together the names of two honored observers who

throughout a series of years have worked side by side in a ©

mon science. Here is the water-shed of the continent. The rat

which fall on the western slope find their way to the Pi

through the Colorado River and the Gulf of California, and

which fall on the eastern slope reach the Atlantic through

Platte branch of the Missouri, thence through the Mississippi #

the Gulf of Mexico.

Standing at Denver on a clear summer’s day, the observer cme

prehends in the range of his vision, a view rarely surpa

grandeur and extent. The mountains rise abruptly from

plains like a great wall which can be traced for one hundred

‘fifty miles. To the south is seen Pike’s Peak, distant sixty ,

_ or more, jutting into the plains, and to the north, pert "J

tant, Long’s Peak, with its snow-clad flanks and bare s

up amidst the congeries of peaks. .The intermediate dist

filled in with mountains of every variety of contour; some se

ted, some crater-like, some pyramidal and some with rou

outlines. -

THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. 67

The best time to view this landscape is at early morn. The

mountains then resemble a great cloud-bank hanging on the verge

of the western horizon. As the sun comes up illuminating the

peaks and projecting crags, the landscape resolves itself into defi-

nite outlines. Over the whole are thrown broad masses of light

and shade, and rock and tree and grassy slope are revealed with

wonderful distinctness, while from the snow-fields are flashed back

the tints of sapphire and gold. Bathed in that rare and clear

atmosphere there is something in this scene ideal, unearthly.

‘The Delectable Mountains” revealed to the vision of John Bun-

yan were not comparable in grandeur to these.

While in the distance, the mountains appear to present an im-

penetrable barrier, yet when approached, they are found to be in-

tersected by numerous canons which afford practicable routes to

their very heart, and enable the explorer, without exhausting ef-

fort, to scale their loftiest summits. Their arrangement en echelon

affords passes which may be surmounted even by railroads.

e have, very properly, incorporated into our vocabulary the

Spanish term “cañon” as expressive of a torrent-stream walled

in by mountains. Such is the character of all the streams which

descend to the plains. Rock-bedded and often rock-walled, they

rush and roar in their onward course, and only find repose after

their escape to the broad undulating plains.

Ascending a.summit from which a bird’s eye view of the eer

can be obtained, the contour of the surface appears like a confused .

mass of matter thrown up and corrugated when the elements of

fire were in the wildest commotion. A tumultuous sea, instanta-

neously arrested and petrified, would be a miniature representa-

tion of what is here seen; and yet, when the geologist comes to

carefully examine the structure of the mountains stratigraphically,

he finds that they range in nearly conforming lines, whose diree-

tion is N. N. W. and S. S. E.

Another striking feature in the topography of this region is

the series of high table-lands known as “ parks.” They are ver-

dant valleys walled in by snowy mountains. The melting snows

give rise to numerous springs and rivulets which sustain an al-

most perennial growth of bunch grass, making these paska accord-

ing to Fremont “the paradise of all grazing animals,” and these

streams the favorite abode of the speckled trout. The antelope,

the elk, the mountain sheep and the black-tailed deer still abound

68 : THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

in these rich pastures, but the buffalo has been driven away.

When, in 1844, Fremont visited the South Park, herds of these

animals blackened the surface, and their well-beaten trails afford-

ed the most practicable route through the region ; but now they

do not even approach the foothills.

The Utes use these parks during the summer as cow lodges, but

as winter approaches the herd is driven down to the plain.

Grotocy. To comprehend the geology of the Rocky Mountains,

where the forces of metamorphism have been so powerfully ex

erted, it is necessary at the same time to study the geology of the

Plains, where the strata repose nearly horizontally, and are abun-

dantly charged with fossils. Starting at Kansas City, we first

counter the Coal Measures, which continue to Fort Riley. Here

occurs a drab-colored limestone associated with marls, which 1

regarded as the equivalent of the Permian. Next succeeds a series

of bright red and green marls, seen at Salina, which may be Tri-

assic. Above this formation comes the Cretaceous occupying 4

broad zone nearly coterminous with the plains, conspicuously dis

played at Ellis, Fossil Creek, and Fort Wallace. The Miocene

tertiary abuts against the foothills and extends to the east of Der

ver. At Golden City, the strata of this formation are tilted up

vertically, thus showing that within comparatively recent times,

this region has been subjected to violent displacements. It

characterized by heavy deposits of coal (lignite) which is succe

fully mined at Golden City, on Ralston’s Creek, South Boulder and

other streams descending from the mountains. The beds are ten

ten to'fourteen feet thick—an undue expansion which would i an

cate that they are pockets, instead of persistent seams. The :

is bright and glossy, but crumbles on exposure to the aif"

even. when burned in a grate. It contains from twelve st fifteen .

per cent. of hygrometric moisture which must be expelled in 0%

bustion at the expense of the fixed carbon, and therefore prev™

it from acquiring that concentrated heat necessary in ™ urgi¢

operations. It answers well for household purposes and for:

motives, and in such a region where wood is scarce, its eco!

cal value can hardly be over estimated. pe

As we enter the foothills, layers of brick-red sandstone arè-

served which, although destitute of fossils, Hayden is dispose

regard as Jurassic. There is also seen a drab-colored lim

Sie

THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. ; 69

used at Denver for building purposes, which Hayden regards as

Carboniferous. Although ripple-marked, I observed no. fossils.

Both of these deposits are highly metamorphosed and the strata

stand nearly vertical.

Next succeeds a vast series of gneissoidal rocks in which feld-

spar and mica are the predominant minerals. These rocks every-

where show lines of bedding, but they have been plicated, shat-

tered and tilted up at all angles, and at the same time are cut by

numerous divisional planes. The metamorphism of the mass is

so complete as to have obliterated all traces of fossils and to have

changed the mechanical structure of the rocks themselves. Per-

haps there is no region on the continent where the action of i Apne

ous causes is displayed on so grand a scale as here.

The true granites are only seen along the axes of elevation.

They play an important part in the structure of the region, con-

stituting, as it were, its framework.

In the’ Rocky Mountain system is probably represented the

whole assemblage of formations from the Azoic up to and includ-

ing the Jurassic, but so thorough has been the processes of meta-

morphism, at least on the Atlantic slope, that it is impossible to

recognize subordinate groups. On the western slope, Fremont

long ago recognized rocks with organic remains, which he referred

to the Odlite, which is a member of the Jurassic. The investiga-

tions of Whitney in California have settled this question—that it

was at the close of the Jurassic epoch that this vast assemblage of

formations was metamorphosed and folded into great ridges with

their intervening valleys. The eruptive rocks accompanying this

upheaval were for the most part granites, probably in a pasty con-

dition, as in this association there are no traces of volcanic prod-

ucts.

Vers Poenomena.— It was at this time that the granites and

metamorphic rocks became impregnated with the precious metals,

such as gold and silver, which are found concentrated in veins and

fissures. At a subsequent date— during the earlier Tertiary Pe-

riod—a series of vof@fhic vents were formed along the line of pre-

vious disturbance, from which were poured forth a series of igneous

products, such as basalts, lavas, etc. These also became impreg-

nated with the precious metals, of which the famous Comstock lode

in Nevada, as shown by Richthofen, is a notable example. Thus,

70 THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

then, the formation of the mineral veins of this region may be

referred to two distinct epochs.

The veins of Colorado, thus far mined, belong to the older class.

The gold-bearing veins, unlike those of California, contain in

their gangues, copper and iron pyrites, blende and galena, and wg

intimately is the gold connected with these sulphurets, that great

loss is incurred in its extraction. ;

The veins of silver have, also, their associations of base sul-

phurets, and the silver itself appears under the forms of sulphu-

sites of gold mining, while Georgetown is the focus of silver mining.

The annual product in the precious metals as estimated by Clar-

ence Kingis about three million, two hundred and fifty thousand

dollars. As constituting a part of the volcanic phenomena, may*

mentioned the frequent occurrence of hot springs throughout the

whole atea oceupied by this mountain system. In Colorado, te F

most noted are those of Middle Park and Idaho. ‘The former A

not readily accessible, and I am not aware that their waters me

been subjected to analysis. The latter are now resorted to for

their remedial virtues in cases of rheumatism, paralysis, and ie

taneous affections. These springs issue from the left bank of

Soda Creek, and are three in number. The flow is not oo

being about ten gallons a minute. The temperature is 109° #

An analysis of the water by Mr. J. G. Pohle of New York, gave

one hundred and seven grains of solid matter to the gallon, e

up of the following ingredients :

Carbonate of Seda s a oer eR Ea ee ee pe '

Carbonate of piao; 6 iaoi aa vig ee ae Sa 9. an

Carbonate ʻof Magnesia, . . . n EPEA E a > 2

Carbonate of Iron, ý 3 5 y : 29.36

Sulphate of Soda, e a a r N E et aake BR

Sulphate of Magnesia, š ý > š k ft Os te . 3.44

Sulphate of Lime, Š x 3 č ` ‘ PoE E . d 416 Pie

Chloride of Sodium, . hee 4 í oe a n A

Chloride of Calci d Magnesium, of each a trace, 4.08

Silicate of Soda, ‘ $ n < t fi š ; :

107.08

Cimate.—One of the most striking peculiarities of these

tains is the absence of a perpetual line of congelation. Mr. m m é

in his little work on this region, calls special attention to tea

nificant fact, and points out the diversities between these F

tains and those of Switzerland ; and what I propose to state

aE E E SERE IY E E ENO EIIE AS TT ERAS. NERE T a aT E NE a E

. THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. 71

this head will be but an amplification of this train of thought. It is

true that in midsummer even large snow-fields are to be seen, but

it is the result of the winter’s accumulation in the ravines and

other places sheltered from the sun. Above the snow-patches the

grasses thrive and the delicate lichens in thin flat crusts adhere to

the rocks which form the dominating peaks. The tree-line ascends

to eleven thousand feet. Potatoes, beets and cabbages and the

hardier cerealia, such as oats and barley, are successfully cultiva-

ted at nine thousand feet; at ten thousand feet flowers bloom,

often sending forth their petals close by a snow-bank. Thus Jan-

uary and May are commingled. Thriving under such conditions

is a wild columbine which clusters in large patches and bears a

deep purple blossom fringed with white. This profusion of gaudy

flowers arrested the attention even of the untutored savage, and

the Utes gave to the plant the name of idaho or purple flower.

The white explorers applied this name to a town, which they

founded on the banks of Clear Creek in Colorado, and a band of

miners swarming thenée to a region farther north, carried with

them this name, which subsequently became attached to a territory

of the United States.

During the summer, day after day, the sun comes up without a

cloud; but midday passed, there is an afternoon mist, often ac-

companied by thunder and lightning. At Denver the phenomena of

gusts of wind and thunder and lightning are of almost daily occur-

rence, and yet without a drop of rain. During the month of July

last, the precipitation was fifty-one one-hundreths of an inch. In

the mountains there are ‘ cloud bursts,” when the rains fall in a çat-

aract and filling the gulches sweep every thing before them.

The electrical phenomena often occurring during a storm on the

. summits of the mountains are most vivid, and dangerous to those

caught in such exposed positions. There are authentic instances

_ where the body becomes so surcharged with electricity that the hair

stands out rigidly, and sparks are emitted from the person thus

isolated when approached, and every metallic article becomes lu-

minous.

Statistics as to the amount of rainfall in the mountains have

not been collected, but at Denver it only reaches about thirteen

inches during the year.

In that dry and -bracing atmosphere the thermometer may rise

to ninety degrees F. and yet without producing those depressing

v2 THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

effects experienced in a more humid climate. Perspiration is

most insensible. The residents represent that autumn is the pléas i

antest portion of the year, and that this delicious season contin-

ues until January, when the winter seriously sets in and continues —

until May. The snows are not deep, and on the cliffs expose

to the direct rays of the sun rarely remain over a few da ;

Such is the climate in the cañons, but on the higher peaks a man

tle of white begins to form late in September and continues to at-

cumulate until spring. e

The temperature at Denver, two thousand, one hundred and five

feet above the sea, does not differ essentially from that at Cam-

bridge, Massachusetts, seventy-one feet above the sea, while the

difference of latitude is about two degrees. This is shown in

subjoined table :

DENVER

- Spr. Sum. Aut. Win. Mean.

45. 69.0 39.9 30.3 46.2

CAMBRIDGE.

44.3 68.6 50.1 26.2 47.3

1.3+ 4— 10.2— 4.14 i

Mt. Washington, in New Hampshire, is six thousand six

dred feet above the sea, and the little band of observers who

year passed the winter upon its summit, encountered all the!

ors of an arctic climate. At Idaho Springs, in the heart of the C0

orado Mountains, and one thousand one hundred and forty-

feet higher, cattle may pass the winter without shelter. A es

breath permeates the valleys, mitigating the severity of wit

and rendering the climate agreeable to the human system. 1)

not pause to discuss the causes of this anomaly, so at varis

with what is observed in other regions lying within the temp@™

zone. ra

If we turn to the Alps, from which we naturally derive our ide

of the effects of temperature by reason of elevation, we shat! ©

that far different conditions prevail. At the height of eight +0

sand feet the line of perpetual snow is encountered, and not

than four hundred glaciers exist, extending over an area of I

teen hundred square miles. Mt. Blanc, fifteen thousand, seven ©

dred and forty-four feet above the sea, about fifteen hundred +% i

higher than several of the Colorado Peaks, is scaled only by em”

Fe ee a e ae ae Pa eee

THE MOUNTAINS ỌF COLORADO. 73

ting steps for a long distance in an icy acclivity, and its scalp is

always snow-clad. The pines and larches disappear at five thous-

and, nine hundred feet, while the mosses and lichens continue up

to the line of perpetual snow. The cerealia are not grown higher

than three thousand, eight hundred, or four thousand feet, but in

one sheltered place, Skala, barley ripens at five thousand, nine

hundred and fifty feet above the sea.

In order to produce glaciers there must be a marked relief and

depression of the surface and a marked vicissitude between the

summer and winter temperature. While the Andes in the tropics

rise into the region of perpetual congelation, there is not that va-

riation of temperature which is necessary to produce nevè, that

aggregation of large crystalline facets, so different from river-ice,

which make up glaciers. Many parts of Siberia and North Amer-

ica are within the line of permanent ground frost, and yet no gla-

ciers are formed. In the Alps, according to Forbes, the summer’s

thaw percolates the snow to a great depth with water. The frost

of the succeeding winter penetrates it far enough to freeze it to

at least the thickness of one year’s fall; or by being repeated in

two or more years, consolidates it more effectually. The glacier

commences near the line of perpetual snow, and renewed by the

accumulation of each winter descends to a lower level, its extrem-

ity being constantly dissolved by the summer’s heat.

In the Colorado region the conditions of relief and depression

of surface are sufficient to maintain glaciers, but the temperature

is not sufficiently low to maintain a line of perpetual congelation

on which they depend for their existence. ;

GuactaL Action.—Two enquiries naturally suggest themselves ;

were these mountains formerly encased in ice? Were these plains

subjected to that erosive action so conspicuously displayed in New

England and the region of the Great Lakes?

The western limit of the Erratic block group, as observed by

me, is in the immediate valley of the Missouri, between Leaven-

worth and Lawrence. The western limit of the striated rocks,

as observed by Hayden, is at Plattsmouth, also in the immediate

valley of the Missouri.

In crossing the plains, which expand to more than six hundred

miles m width, there is an absence of all drift phenomena, such

as boulders, gravel knolls, and planed surfaces, until Denver

74 THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO.

is approached. Here the soil reposes on a water-washed gra

but the beds of the streams are composed of shifting sands.

vancing towards the foothills, small boulders are observed stroi

over the surface, and occasionally it is traversed by ridges of

In fact the observer experiences a feeling of disappo

ment at the absence of the more striking drift phenomena;

naturally comparing this region with the Alps, he expects tos

great outlying masses of rock which have been transported

from the parent bed ; accumulations of gravel and sand in the1

ture of terminal moraines; and rock surfaces which have been

planed down and striated. Entering the mountains, the cliffs

are jagged, no where exhibiting those smooth outlines seen in t

Alps and called by De Saussure, roches moutonnées. The ench

ing banks of the streams are made up of large egg-shaped

bles and occasional boulders two and three feet in diameter.

of these materials, so far as I have observed, are striated,

Taking Clear Creek as the line of my observation, these W

worn materials do not attain ah elevation above its bed of

than one hundred feet, and tracing the smaller streams to Nigh”

elevations they soon disappear and are replaced by nee fan

ments.

The transporting power of the present streams is very 8

They have a descent of from fifty to one hundred feet to the

and, swollen by the spring freshets, the waters sweep —

sufficient force to bear along the largest boulders here obs

particularly if entangled in ice.

other phenomenon characteristic of all true drift. regions,

entirely wanting on the plains, and but sparingly represented

the mountains ; and that is the absence of lakes. Professor

sey, as far back as 1862, in a paper communicated to the ‘

ical Society of London, pointed out the fact that lakes were

numerous in those regions where the evidences of ice action

most manifest, and comparatively rare in tropical and su00"™

cal regions; and maintained that they were actually due to.

erosion of their basins by glaciers. 7

The scenery of the Alps derives one of its principal et er

from the abundance of its lakes. We may refer to. Geneva

stance and Zurich, near the borders of the mountains, ie

Lakes of the Four Cantons, Lago Maggiore, and Como, 2

THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. 75

series of Austrian lakes, to say nothing of the innumerable

pools of water which occur near the summits of the loftier ridges.

The scenery of Sweden and Norway is diversified by these in-

land enclosures of water, which become rare in the more temper-

ate climates.

If we consult a map of the northern portion of our own coun-

try, we shall find that, leaving out the great chain of the Canadian

Lakes, and such collections of water as Winnepeg, Athabasca,

Slave Lake and Bear Lake, all the way from Minnesota to the

Arctic Sea, there are innumerable smaller lakes which enable the

voyageur in his canoe to penetrate to every portion of the country.

In southern Wisconsin the lakes are few and in Ilinois they dis-

appear almost altogether.

n the plains there is not a permanent collection of water to

which we attach the name of lake; and in the mountains they are

rare. This is the more ‘surprising when we consider how actively

the forces of elevation and subsidence have been exerted. The

Great Basin, it is true, is characterized by numerous lakes, most

of which are of a highly saline or brackish character, but in a re-

gion where the streams are cut off from the sea, it is but natural

that the waters should accumulate in the depressions.

There may have been a time when the annual precipitation of

rain was greater, and consequently the transporting power of the

streams was increased beyond their present capacity, but there are

few phenomena with regard to the distribution of the superficial

materials which cannot be explained by a resort to causes now in

operation. Professor Whitney has arrived at substantially the

same results with regard to the Pacific slope. __

In concluding these observations, I may remark that the rail-

road facilities are now so far developed that to an inhabitant of

the Mississippi Valley, this region is as accessible as the White

Mountains of New England. The ordinary observer is brought

in contact with some of the grandest scenes in nature, whilst to

the geologist and botanist are opened new spheres of observation

— a constantly EN succession of the most interesting and

varied phenomena.

IRRIGATION AND THE FLORA OF THE PLAINS.

BY E. L. GREENE.

Tue system of irrigation is destined to effect some interes

changes in the aspect of the western plains in regard to their bot-

any, as will appear from a few facts which we subjoin as the

sult of observations made in Colorado during the past two seaso 3

It might be expected that refreshing streams conducted through :

this naturally rich, but extremely arid soil, would have flowery

banks. So indeed it does sometimes happen, and so it we

always be if the diggers of ditches would make them broad an

shallow, with gradually sloping banks, instead of digging te

narrow and deep and leaving the sides perpendicular. i

God speed the labors of the “grim utilitarian ;” for when?

has plowed, and scattered the ‘precious seed,” we know

with the wheat, there will spring up and bloom the purple

cockle, and the yellow evening primrose—one joy for him a

three for us. Or, if his skill divides the mountain stream, causing’

portion of its waters to turn from their natural course adown

valley, and leads them over the thirsty plains that lie

the happier are we; for while now from the face of the “d

he reaps golden harvests, we see-it “rejoice and blossom

rose.”

We will suppose that the reader is a botanist, and that

come out from the far Atlantic shore, to pass a few summer ”

among the mountains. Arrived in Denver, the next point to

gained is Golden City, the gateway to the mountains. He ™

traverse this short distance in less than a half hour by rail, P

this mode of conveyance, excellent as it is, some three tho

miles, more or less, he is now doubtless tired; besides, he

to see something of the vegetation of the plains before lear

them for the rocks and the pine-forests, the alpine bogs, and

fields of perpetual snow. You then take this little trip to 9”

City on foot. It is July or August. There has been 20%”

these many weeks. The road is miserably dusty, but if ee

on foot (or on horseback) you need not follow it, and the

(76) :

ee ee ee ee eee te ee a a SY

pit a

ASS ee Gee

er nee Tees ae aE eae ee

IRRIGATION AND THE FLORA OF THE PLAINS. 77

surface of the plains is sere and brown save some “ eighties ” or

larger tracts that are fenced, and under cultivation.

You have perhaps crossed a broad, deep canal of swiftly-flowing,

muddy water, and now in passing these fields of grain you hear

the laughing voices of little streams. They are hidden from view

by the standing growth, and at proper distances from each other

they go, singing on their way across the gently sloping fields,

making glad the hearts of the ranchmen, with their sure promises

of an abundant harvest. Now right in the midst of one of these

“eighties” of wheat, you behold a solid-half-acre of—can it be?

Yes, those are certainly the long strap-shaped leaves, and the dark

cylindrical spikes of Typha latifolia! the veritable Cat-tail Flag ;

and growing more densely and luxuriantly than you ever saw it

before.

It is difficult to harmonize, in your mind, this patch of marsh

with its close surrounding of thrifty grain, and equally difficult is

it to reconcile the whole field with what seems to shut it in on all

sides i. e. a seeming boundless, lifeless waste of withered prairie

grass. There are now, on these plains, many acres of Cat-tail

Flag where five years ago, no seed of a marsh plant would have

‘germinated, because all was then more like an African desert than

an American swamp. The change came after the following man-

ner. The large ditch was first made from some stream before it

leaves the mountains, and led along the higher ground, whence its

waters were conducted to these lands below, which now constitute

fertile fields. After one or twe seasons of irrigation, all slight

hollows came to be occupied by shallow ponds. Why the sur-

plus waters do not sink away into the earth beneath, you must

learn from the geologist. The fact is they do not. Even during

fall and winter when the water is turned off from the ditches, the

ponds remain the same, the water in them falling but slightly be-

low the ordinary level.

The gossamer-winged seeds of the Typha are borne upon the

winds by the thousand, from the valleys of the rivers below, to -

these uplands. Here they find all circumstances favorable to

germination, and the plants grow and spread rapidly ; sedges and

other marsh plants growing with them, and the whole comes in the

course of a few years to bear a strong contrast to the almost des-

ert tracts around.

In the settled, and consequently irrigated, portions of country

78 IRRIGATION AND THE FLORA OF THE PLAINS.

which lie nearest the foothills, where the landscape is considera

bly varied by elevations and depressions, there are now many

larger lakes covering five or ten acres and. quite deep, which were

nothing more than dry hollows six or eight years ago. The num-

ber and variety of aquatic plants in these lakes are increasing

every year, and on the shores of some the cotton woods and wik

lows that have sprung up from seed are becoming quite conspic-

uous. In the section of which I speak, there are no natural lakes

or ponds, but in those which have been the incidental result of t

irrigation of the lands around them, the water-fowl, the amphibi-

ous reptiles, and strictly aquatic plants have all found for them

selves homes in what was but a dry waste, a few years since.

Some of the very oldest lines of ditches are now noticeabl

great distances by the native willows, which have sprung

seed and attained their full size, all along their banks. Othe

the willows and cotton woods grow only in the mountains or by

rivers whose valleys lie eonsiderably below the level of the pl

Among the plants of the plains are a large class of annuals:

seeds of which seem invariably to germinate in autumn, and f

plants, to attain half their growth during the fall and early

ter, so that they flower in April and May. ‘These are for t

most part gone out of flower before the first of June, in all ti

uncultivated portions of the country; and during all the bu

months of summer the seeds lie waiting for the rains of early

tumn to start them into life. But not so upon the culti

lands. Here, wherever moisture is given, there is a regular

cession of these plants in bloom, through the whole su

fall ; and by the ditches at the side of our village streets, |

anist may in October gather excellent specimens of plants, W

before the settlement of the country, he would have found

where after May. The same may be said of many peren

which, in the vicinity of the water, continue to send forth |

stems and flowers, long after their season is past in other

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

BY JOHN G. HENDERSON.

——eo

COMPARATIVELY speaking it will be but a short time until the

buffalo, like the great Irish elk, the mastodon, the dodo, and other

extinct animals, that have lived since the appearance of man upon

the earth, will only be known to us by its bones, with this advan-

tage, however, over the mastodon; its character, habits and terri-

tory over which it formerly ranged are all accurately described by

the historian and naturalist, as well as the causes which are leading

to its extinction. As civilized man advances, the buffalo, the elk,

the deer, the beaver, the otter, the bear, the panther, the wild-cat

and wolf, and other members of the wilderness or prairie fauna,

must give way to domesticated animals—animals whose original

wildness and savageness have been subdued, and whose whole -

organization, mental and physical, has been by thousands of years

of contact with civilized man modified and changed so as to be-

come subservient to his wishes and purposes. Some, as the buf-

falo, elk and deer, are slaughtered for their flesh and hides ; others

as-the etter and the beaver, for their skins alone; while still oth-

ers, such as the panther, wild cat and wolf, are killed on account of

their savageness, their existence being incompatible with the pres-

ence of civilized man.

For the buffalo are substituted our common cattle, for the wolf

and wild cat, our domesticated dog and cat. Instead of clothing

himself with the skins of the buffalo and deer, and living upon the

fruits of the chase, the civilized man carries with him the sheep,

from whose fleece he makes his coat for winter ; or rears the cotton

plant, while from its fibres he manufactures his fabrics, instead of

fraying the inner bark of the cedar or basswood for the same pur-

pose, as did the aboriginal man

But civilized man in his Bed into the wilderness, or in his

advance upon the prairies, meets with many new forms of animal

life and from their number he now and then selects some, such as

the wild turkey, for example, which seems to have a pre-adaptation

to domestication, and from such he adds to the stock of his domes-

ticated species. .

(I9) «

80 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. `

But the advent of civilized man not only disturbs the

fauna by the extermination of large numbers of animals, but

by causing others to increase largely in numbers. When the

my of any animal is exterminated or thinned out by any

such animal will rapidly increase in numbers. For illus

the enemies of the smaller birds—the larger birds of prey

destroyed by civilized man. This gives the small birds an

hended as one would at first imagine.

The early Jesuit missionaries and French voyageurs, who |

way of the Great Lakes penetrated to the valley of the Mis

pi, at the end of the seventeenth century, found the buffalo

thousands grazing upon the prairies of Illinois and neighb

states, or flying in countless numbers before the Red-hunter,

the prairie fire.

The idea of their domestication at once entered their I

and, from that time to the present, many attempts have

made to domesticate them, or, by crossing with domesticated

tle, to impart to the latter some additional valuable quay

but I believe that hitherto all such attempts have proven abort

Now and then, upon the western frontier, you may see “the

color, high shoulders, and somewhat restless disposition, t!

dicate a cross between the domestic cow and buffalo bull, bat

the red-blood of the Tndian, the mighty throng that is pressing

soon absorbs it, and obliterates effectually its marks, if not `

its effects. :

It was with a peculiar interest that I read the descrip

these strange animals, transmitted home by the Jesuit

geur, who two hundred years ago first looked upon “our

prairies on which herds of wild-cattle pastured in age

Strange contrast! Where now iron rails mark the hig

civilization and commerce, then were only paths made by

falo, or the Indian trail to hunting grounds or from village '

age. Where now are great cities, built of brick, stone and

with their iron and marble fronted palaces of trade, thet

Indian villages of sometimes five hundred cabins made of

sewed together by the hands of industrious squaws 50

ously as to render tħem impervious to rain and snow, and

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 81

as to render it easy for the Indian woman to obey her dusky mas-

ter when he ordered her to ‘‘ take up her house and walk.” Now

huge boats, with gilded saloons propelled by powerful steam en-

gines float on the bosoms of our rivers, then the light canoe made

of the cotton wood log by the use of the fire and stone ax, or

the still lighter birch-bark, were the only keels that had ever dis-

turbed their waters.

As the sources of information of this character are not accessi-

ble to many readers of the NarturaList, I may be pardoned for

freely transcribing from accounts given in Jesuit letters and Re-

lations, and from the pages of early French writers and voya-

geurs. Here we see old Illinois—as it was at the end of the

seventeenth century —the otter, beaver, and wigwams upon the

banks of its rivers, the panthers, wolves, bears and wild-cats

in its forests, with its great prairies of wild grass where grazed the

deer, the elk, and the buffalo, or at noon-tide shielded themselves

from the summer’s sun under the shade of lonely cotton wood

trees, or in the beautiful groves that here and there studded the

plain, like islands upon the bosom of the ocean. Here, too, we see

primitive man hollowing out his boat by the aid of fire and the

stone ax, skinning animals and dressing their hides with the flint

knife, and engaged in war or the chase, armed with the war-club

and bow, and whose arrows were tipped with bone or flint. Here

are presented to our view the first effects of the contact of civili-

zation and barbarism, we see the Indian eagerly exchanging skins

of the buffalo and beaver, and other articles demanded by civiliza-

tion, for the iron ax, knife, gun, and kettle, to supply the place of

the stone ax, flint knife, bow and arrow, and Indian akeek. Here

we see the gay and volatile French associating upon terms of

equality with the Indian, each adopting the manners and habits

of the other and thus assimilating the habits of civilized man

with the superstitions and customs of the savage, for the ‘* French-

man forgot not that the uncivilized man as well as the civilized

man, was his brother and he deported himself as man to man.”

Here we see the Jesuit, the medicine-man of civilization, strug-

gling to displace the superstitious rites and ceremonies of the

medicine-man of the forest, to substitute his own no less whim-

sical, foolish and absurd rites and ceremonies in their stead; and

the triumph of the former, when, as on one occasion, after forty

dogs had been sacrificed to appease ge spirit of destruction,

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI.

82 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

which, in the form of disease, was laying waste the village, the

medicine-man was forced to bow his knee to the cross and offer up

his prayer for mercy to the great Manitou of the French. Here

these old Jesuit Relations and Letters we see the Red-man on

bended knee before the blessed virgin, reciting the rosary or te

peating Ave Marias translated into the Algonquin language by the

Jesuit fathers. a

The Jesuit missionary, Father Marquette, who, with Joliet and

five French voyageurs, discovered and explored the Upper Mis

Sissippi, in the year 1673, was the first white man who penetrated

to the habitat of the buffalo, by way of the Great Lakes. Fathet

Claude Alloiiez and other missionaries, who had penetrated the

wilderness as far as Che-goi-me-gon, a great Chippewa Village &

the extreme west end of Lake Superior, no doubt had heard feof

the wandering Sioux, or as they were known in those days, the

Nadouessi, of the great plains that lay farther westward and

the vast herds of buffaloes that roamed over them. History, i-

deed, records the fact, that these Sioux Indians told the $ pe

pale-faces that came among them with “ pictures of hell and of the

last judgment” of their manner of shielding themselves from tN

winter's storm with the hides of wild-cattle for the roof of their cah

ins instead of bark. It was here, too, that the missionaries heart

of the Great River, and here, for the first time in history,

those two Algonquin words, Messi-Sepe. Father Alloiiez, in spe

ing of the Sioux Indians says, “ They live on the great river cafe

Messipi.” He blended the adjective Messi, great, and the nout

Sepe, river, into the word Messipi, which was no greater ©

tion of the original than our Missis-sippi. It was here, t00, "8

Father Marquette received tidings of the Great River, and "

tions that dwelt upon its banks, and it was here that he resolve

explore it. ‘‘This great river,” he says, “can hardly empty

Virginia, and we believe that its mouth is in California. 4

Indians who promise to make me a canoe do not fail to eee

word, we shall go into this river as soon as we can with 4 re

man and this young man given me, who knows some of these ®

guages, and has a readiness for learning others; we shall vi

nations which inhabit it, in order to open the way to 8° many

our fathers who have long awaited this happiness.” *

_ At the same Chippewa Village, the Jesuits met the Tilinos

* Marquette’s Letter to Le Mercier.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 83

ans, who came there to rehearse their sorrows and ask the protec-

tion of the French. The Sioux upon the one side and the Iroquois

upon the other, had made savage inroads upon them. They told of

the noble river upon which they dwelt. ‘They had no forests,

but instead of them, vast prairies where herds of deer and buf-

falo, and other animals, grazed on the tall grasses.” This is the

first mention that is made of the buffalo upon the prairies of

Illinois. None of the French had yet seen the buffalo un-

less, perchance, some trader had followed the Indians to their

hunting grounds, though many thousands of robes had already

been transported from the region of the Upper Mississippi to Eu-

rope. They were taken from the buffaloes by Indian hunters,

tanned and prepared by the hands of the squaws, and then in

birch-bark canoes, transported by way of the western rivers to the

portages, where canoe and cargo were carried across to the

head waters of rivers that emptied into the Great Lakes, over

whose waters, still in the birch-bark canoe, they were carried to

Quebec, and there by their Indian owners, exchanged for articles

of French manufacture suitable to the wants of savage man.

Father Marquette says of the Illinois, ‘They always come by

land. They sow maize which they have in great plenty; they

have pumpkins as large as those of France, aud plenty of roots

and fruit. The chase is very abundant in wild-cattle, bears, stags,

turkeys, duck, bustard, wild-pigeon and cranes. They leave their

towns at certain times every year to go to their hunting grounds

together, so as to be better able to resist if attacked. They be-

lieve that I will spread peace every where, if I go, and then only

the young will go to hunt.’”’*

It was not, however, until the fall of the year 1672 that he re-

ceived orders from his superiors * which bid him embark at last

upon the voyage so long and fondly projected.”

Louis Joliet, whose name is now imperishably connected with

that of Marquette in the discovery of the Mississippi River, arrived

in the spring of 1673, with orders, from Comte de Frontenac, gov-

ernor of Canada, and M. Talon the intendant, for the exploration

of the great river.

The winter before the arrival of Joliet was spent in busy prep-

aration for the great voyage. From the wandering Indians Father

Marquette gathered all the information he could, and from their

* Ibid.

84 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

statements he drew the first rude map of the Great River, and

marked upon it the names of the nations that dwelt upon its

ders. He says ‘‘as we were going to seek unknown countries, We —

took all possible precautions, that if our enterprise was hazardous

it should not be fool-hardy ; for this reason we gathered all possi-

ble information from Indians, who had frequented those parts,

and even from their accounts traced a map of all the new countty,

marking down the rivers on which we were to sail, the names of

the nations and places through which we were to pass, the course

of the great river, and what direction we should take when

got to it.” * i

- It was on the 17th of May, 1673, that they started from the

the Wild-Oat Indians, or, as they are called in French, the

Avoines, a nation that dwelt upon the borders of the bay and

voyage, at which they were much surprised. They tried to dik

suade him from the undertaking by telling him of hostile n

parties constantly in the field; that the Great River was

dangerous, unless the difficult parts were known; that it was

of frightful monsters who swallowed up men and canoes tog

that there was a demon there who could be heard from afar, ™

stopped the passage and engulfed all who dared to approach

finally, they told him of heat that was so excessive in those

tries, that it would infallibly cause their death.

The zealous missionary thanked them for their good advices

told them that he would only be too happy to lay down his ®™

the salvation of souls. They entered Fox River, of which

quette says: “it is very beautiful at its mouth, and flows

it is full of bustards, duck, teal, and other birds attracted p

wild-oats,+ of which they are very fond.” On the 7th of

they arrived at a village of the Mascoutins, where they found

nations— the Miamis, the Maskoutens and Kikabous, livi

*Journal of Father Marquette.

tThe Zizania aquatica Linn.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO, 85

cabins made of rushes. Father Marquette was enraptured in be-

holding the position of their town, ‘the view was beautiful and

very picturesque, for from the eminence on which it was perched,

the eye discovered on every side prairies spreading away beyond

its reach, interspersed with thickets or groves of lofty trees.”

After having assembled the Indians and addressing them upon the

objects of their voyage, and after haying received a present from

the Indians, a mat which served them as a bed, they set out upon

their voyage. They embarked in the “sight of a great crowd, who '

could not wonder enough to see seven Frenchmen alone in two

canoes dare to undertake so strange and hazardous an expedition.”

With the assistance of two Miami Indians, given them as guides,

they found their way through the marshes to the “ portage” where

canoes and- cargoes were carried and safely deposited in the Wis-

consin. Here they bid good-by to the waters that flowed through

the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence by Quebec, and turned to

follow those that were to lead them into strange lands. They bid

their Indian guides good-by, and the voyageurs “ were alone in an

unknown country in the hands of Providence.” They floated si-

lently down the Wisconsin. ‘It was an unbroken solitude, where

the ripple of their paddles sounded loudly on the ear, and their

voices, subdued by the stillness, were sent back in lonely echoes

the shore.” *

They “saw no small game or fish, but deer and elk in consider-

able numbers.” Bancroft renders the word vaches, buffalo, but this

is a mistake. They had not yet reached the buffalo ground. The

words vache sauvage, as used by the Canadian French, applied to

the American elk, Cervus Canadensis.+

At length, on the 17th day of June, with a joy that Marquette

could find no words to express, they glided into the Great River,

the storied theme of many an Indian tale. They gently followed

its course to the forty-second degree of latitude. Here all was

changed. Their birch-bark canoes were now floating between the

great prairies of Iowa and Illinois, while the river was studded

with beautiful islands fringed with willows whose branches were

reflected back from the bosom of the water. Everything was

Strange and calculated to strike the imagination of the voyageurs.

' At one time a great fish struck one of the canoes so violently that

*McConnel; Western Character.

t Discovery and Ex. of the Miss., >. ye Shea, p. 16.

86 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

they thought it would break the canoe in pieces ; at another, th

saw a monstrous animal swimming across the river.* And th

they floated on until they arrived at the home of the buffalo.

“Having descended as far south as 41° 28’,” Marquette says,

‘twe find that turkeys have taken the place of game, and Pisi-

ous, t or wild cattle, that of other beasts. We call them wild

tle because they are like our domestic cattle; they are not lo

but almost as big again, and more corpulent; our men having

killed one, three of us had considerable trouble in moving it. a

head is very large, the forehead flat and a foot and a half be

the horns, which are exactly like those of our cattle, except š

they are black and much larger. Under the neck there is a kma ”

of large crop hanging down, and on the back a pretty high hur E

The whole head, the neck and part of the shoulders are covered ;

with a great mane like a horse’s; it is a crest a foot long, which

renders them hideous, and falling over their eyes, prevents their

seeing before them. The rest of the body is covered with a coarse;

curly hair like the wool of our sheep, but much stronger s

thicker. It falls in summer and the skin is then as soft as vel

At this time the Indians employ the skins to make beautiful

which they paint of various colors; the flesh and fat of the

kious are excellent and constitute the best dish in banquets.

are very fierce and not a year passes without their killing some

dian. When attacked, they take a man with their horns, if they

lift him up, and then dashing him on the ground, trample on

and kill him. When you fire at them from a distance with gun

bow, you must throw yourself upon the ground as soon as you

and hide in the grass; for if they perceive the one who fired

rush on him and attack him. As their feet are large and

short, they do not generally go very fast, except when they

irritated. They are scattered over the prairies like herds of

tle. I have seen a band of four hundred of them.” $ a

Thus far the exploring party had not seen a single human

ing; on the 25th of June, however, they saw a human track g

* The “great fish,” it is supposed, was the Mississippi cat-fish, and the “m0

animal” either the tiger-cat or the panther., i

t Algonquin name for buffalo, called also, in Indian, Beezhike.

$“ When these animals are shot at a distance of fifty or sixty yards, they ©

ever, charge on the hunters.” Axdubon and Bachman, Quadrupeds of North 4

Vol. 2, p. 44.

§ Marquette’s Journal, p. 19 of J. G. Shea’s Dis. and Ex. of The Miss.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 87

sand. Marquette and Joliet followed it. It led to a path, and

that to an Indian village. Marquette hailed the Indians in the

Illinois language, and they answered, “we are Illinois.” hey

feasted the pale-faces upon sagamity,* fish, dog, and buffalo—the

fat of the land. The master of ceremonies blew his breath upon

the food to cool it, and, with spoons of buffalo horn, put three or

four mouthfuls in the mouths of their guests, “as we would feed a

bird.” After five days of feasting, smoking and council, six hun-

dred men, women and children spiced them to their boats, and,

after promising to return to stay with them, they again committed

themselves to the current of the Messi-Sepe. They passed by the

Piesa paintings upon the face of a limestone cliff, of which Mar-

quette gives a description, and while conversing about them, they

heard the rushing of the waters of the Missouri, known to them

by its Algonquin name of Pekitanoui, or Muddy River. Swollen

by the melting of snows a thousand miles away in the mountains,

it was pouring its impetuous current into that of the Mississippi,

freighted with large trees, branches and drift wood, ‘real floating

islands,” says Marquette. He speaks of the mouth of the Ohio

River, then known as the Ouaboukigou, which we have corrupted

into Wabash, and applied to a tributary of the Ohio. The word

Ohio is of Iroquois origin. The original was Oheo or Youghio,

and meant beautiful. Farther down they met other Indians who

feasted them on wild-beef. Marquette says of them “that they

did not know what a beaver was, and their riches consisted in the

skins of wild-cattle.” He speaks of the Indians on the lower Mis-

sissippi as being armed with bucklers made of the skins of wild

cattle, and says “that the number of wild cattle ey heard bel-

lowing made them believe that the prairies were near.” The voy-

ageurs returned about the last of August or the first of September,

passing up the Illinois River. Upon its banks he again met the

Peoria Indians, the same that were at Moingona. Of the country

Father Marquette remarks, “we had seen nothing like this river

_ for the fertility of the land, its prairies, woods, wild-cattle, stag,

deer, wild-cats, bustards, swans, ducks, parrots, and even beaver ;

its many little lakes and rivers.” +

Father Claude Allouez, in a ‘‘ Narrative of a Journey to the Ili-

nois,” written shortly after Marquette’s voyage, in speaking of the

*Indian meal boiled in water and seasoned with grease

t Marquette’s Journal, p. 19 of J. G. Shea’s Dis. and Ez. of the Miss.

_ ous other purposes. The skins were used by the Sioux Indi

beautiful scarfs “ingeniously made. of the hair of bears and:

_ kaskia, November 9th, 1712, he says, “the chase and war are

88 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

occupations of the Indians, says, “they hunt cattle, deer, turkeys;

cats, a kind of tiger, and other animals, of which they reckon

twenty-two kinds, and forty kinds of game and birds.” * a

The buffalo was of incalculable benefit to the Indians. Of the

hoofs and horns they manufactured glue. The tallow was an arti-

cle of commerce and was used for various purposes, among which

was that of mixing with Indian meal to make sagamity. :

tongue was considered a delicacy and the “jerked” beef served —

them for bread and meat. Of the skins the Indians made robes

for beds or the floor of the cabin, or for blankets at night. Chg

the raw hide they cut thin strips for making snow shoes and vark

for covering for their lodges and the modern Mandans strete l

raw buffalo hide over a wicker frame, and thus, using it as & substi-

tute for birch bark, make a light, portable boat similar in construc

tion to that of the coracle of the ancient Britons, or the Esquimaux

kaiak.t They also made spoons and ladles of the horns, and,

cording to Marquette, the Illinois Indians used the bones for the

same purpose. He says, “they made all their dishes of wood:

their spoons of the bones of the buffalo, which they cut 5° bi

that it serves them to eat their sagamity easily.” The chiefs Y

oxen.” i

From Father Marest we learn that these scarfs were made ?

the women, also the mats for wigwams. In a letter dated Ki

sole occupations of the men, while the rest of the labor falls u

the women and girls. They are the persons who prepare

ground for sowing, do the cooking, pound the corn, build the

wams, and carry them on their shoulders in their journeys. pae

wigwams are constructed of mats made of platted reeds W

they have the skill to sew together in such a way that the:

cannot penetrate them when they are new. Besides these th

they occupy themselves in manufacturing articles from bu

hair, and in making bands, belts and sacks, for the buffaloes”

are very different from our cattle in Europe. Besides ha

large hump on the back of the shoulders they are also om

covered with a fine wool, which our Indians manufacture 10°

*Ibid, p. 75.

_ {See Dr. Wilson’s Prehistoric man. p. 115.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 89

of that which they would procure from sheep, if they had them in

the country.” * |

Father Rasles also describes the occupations of the women.

“ They toil like slaves from morning till night. It is their duty

during summer to cultivate the earth and plant the Indian corn ;

and from the commencement of winter they are occupied in man-

ufacturing mats, dressing skins, and many other works of the

kind, for their first care is to provide everything that is necessary

for their cabin.” t

In the chase of the buffalo the Indian relied mainly upon his

bow and arrow. The Indians of that period were very expert in

their use. The little bow and the tiny arrow, pointed with the

little flint arrow-heads found everywhere over our state, was

placed in the hands of Indian boys who ranged among the hills,

practising upon small birds, and “ they became so skilful that

at ten or twelve years of age they scarcely ever failed to kill the

bird at which they aimed.” {

Little boys of the Sioux nation, were thus early taught the use

of the bow, and, also, “shot small sun-fish with a bow and an ar-

row, with a little spear fastened to it.” § The Illinois were in the

habit of shooting fish with the bow and arrow. ‘They embarked

in a canoe with their bows and arrows; standing upright, for the

purpose of more easily seeing the fish, as soon as they perceived

it, they pierced it with an arrow.”|| I have no doubt but that the

Indian boys of Ilinois also shot the sun-fish with the bow and

arrow.

Father Marquette described the Illinois Indians as ‘ well-formed,

nimble, and very adroit in using the bow and arrow.” Allouez

bears testimony upon the same point, ‘‘ they ordinarily carry only

the war-club, bow, and quiver full of arrows, which they discharge

so adroitly and quickly that men armed with guns have hardly time

to raise them to their shoulders. They also carry a large buckler

made of the skins of wild-cattle ; which is arrow proof and covers

the whole body.” §

From Father Rasles, we learn the character of the arrows, and

*Kip. Early Jesuit Missions. p. 199.

t Ibid. 38.

t Ibid 26.

§ History, Condition, Prospects etc. Schoodleraft, Vol. 4. p.61.

jl Barly Jesuit Missions, Kip. p. 40. :

T Dis. and Ez. of Miss. J. G. Shea, p. 75.

90 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

the skill with which they were used. ‘‘ Arrows are the princip

arms which they (Illinois Indians) use in war and in the a

They are pointed at the end with a stone cut and sharpened in thi

shape of a serpent’s tongue; and if no knife is at hand, they

them also to skin the animals they have killed. They are so

ful in using the bow, they scarcely ever fail in their aim, and

The Indians on the lower Mississippi shot an arrow

through the horse of De Soto, and it is said that the modern

dians on the plains, think it no unusual feat to send an a

through a buffalo, so that it falls on the ground upon the

side, and this was doubtless done often by the Indians of

olden time upon our prairies.

Some of the descriptions given by the Jesuits of our vast

ries, with herds of buffalo and other animals grazing upon t

are charming indeed. Father Rasles in his letter above quote

speaks of vast herds of buffaloes and roebucks, and says, “

not a single year passes but they kill more than a thousand

bucks and more than.two thousand buffaloes. From four to

thousand of the latter can often be scen at one view grazing

the prairies.” `

“Of all the nations of Canada, there are none who live:

great abundance of everything as the Illinois. Their riv

covered with swans, bustards, ducks and teals. One can §

travel a league without finding a prodigious multitude of

who keep together in flocks, often to the number of basis

dred.” : :

Father Hennepin also speaks of herds of buffalo, grazing be

* Early Jesuit Missions Kip. ine

“t Lewis and Clark in deca the Missouri in 1896, on pase

- upon White River, estimated that they saw twenty thousand on the Pr

_ time.” Schoolcraft, Hist. Cond. Prospects, ete., Vol. 4, p- 98.

the

of the American Fur Company, who, while he was travelling from oath

Mandan nation in the month of August in a cart heavily con yaa

Bachman,

ther.” Quadrupeds of North A a a nice E E vast num

111056

oes that formerly roamed over the prairies of Illinois.

$ Kip. Early Jesuit Missions, p. 39.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 91

the bluffs and the banks of the Mississippi, or as he called it, in

his journal, the river Colbert. The voyage of Hennepin down

the Illinois and up the Mississippi River, was in the year 1680.*

Of the scenery upon the Illinois River, called by him, the Seigne-

lay, he says “ it is lined with hills, whose sides are covered with

fine large trees. Some of these hills are half a league apart,

leaving between them a marshy strip often inundated, especially

in the spring and fall, but producing, nevertheless, quite large

trees. On ascending these hills, you discover prairies further than

the eye can reach, studded at intervals with groves of tall trees,

apparently planted there intentionally.”

ather Membre, in his narrative of the voyage of La Salle

(1682) gives a glowing and poetical account of the beauty of the

country He speaks of the Illinois River as “ edged with hills,

covered with beautiful trees of all kinds, whence you discern vast

prairies on which herds of wild-cattle pasture in confusion.” . .

‘“ The fields are full of all kinds of game, wild-cattle, sins,

does, deer, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, woodcock,

wild-pigeons and ring-doves. There are also beavers, otters,

martens, till a hundred leagues below the Maroa, especially in

the river of the Missouri, the Ovabache (Ohio) that of the Che-

pousseau (the Cumberland?) which is opposite it, and on all the

emallcrones in this part.” oi. a sas 5 ee Oe

“ The cattle of this country surpass ours in size; their head

is monstrous, and their look frightful, on account of the long,

black hair with which it is surmounted, and which hangs below

the chin, and along the houghs of the animal. It has on the back

a kind of crest, of which that nearest the neck is longest, the oth-

ers diminish gradually to the middle of the back. The hair is fine

and scarce inferior to wool. The Indians wear their skins, which

they dress very neatly with earth, which serves them for paint.

These animals are easily approached; they could be easily domes-

ticated.” +

Charlevoix, who passed through the Mississippi Valley in 1721,

gives a fine and detailed description of the buffalo, as seen by him

on the prairies, and the Indian method of hunting it. As his work is

very scarce I transcribe the whole of his remarks upon the buffalo.

* Dis. and Ex. of the Miss. J. G. Shea, p. 108, 109.

t The Tamaroas, + af th +h af i} e Ti

t Dis. and Ex. of the Miss. J. G. Shea, p. 179, 180.

‘posts, give way to the beasts to escape. These penalties cons

92 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

‘In the southern and western parts of New France,* on both

sides of the Mississippi, the most famous hunt is that of the buf-

falo, which is performed in this manner : the hunters range the m-

selves in four lines, which form a great square, and begin bys

ting fire to the grass and herbs, which are dry and very high;

as the fire gets forwards they advance, closing their lines.

buffaloes which are extremely afraid of fire, keep flying from

and at last find themselves so crowded together, that they arè —

generally every one killed. They say that a party seldom returns

from hunting without killing fifteen hundred or two thousai

But lest the different companies should hinder each other, they

agree before they set out about the place where they intend

hunt. There are also some penalties appointed against those who

transgress, this rule, as well as against those who, quitting th

in giving a right to every person to strip those who are guilty,

to take away even their arms, which is the greatest affront

can be given to a savage; and to pull down their cabins. The

chiefs are subject to this penalty as well as the others, and if amy

were to endeavor to exempt them from this law, it would raise à

civil war amongst them, which would not end soon.”

“The bull, or buffalo, of Canada is bigger than ours; his h

are low, black and short, he has a great beard of hair unde

muzzle, and a great tuft of hair upon his head, which falls down

over his eyes and gives him a hideous look. He has a great bum

on his back, which begins at his hips, and goes on increasing |

to his shoulders ; and this bump is covered with hair, somet

reddish, and very long; the rest of his body is covered with b

wool, which is much Valin, They say that the skin of the

falo has eight pounds of wool on it. This animal has a large ©

the hind parts small, the tail very short, and one can scarce

any neck it has, but its head is bigger than that of the Europ

bull. He runs away generally at the sight of any per ect and

hear enough to shoot him, you must. go against the wind.

he is wounded he is furious and turns upon the hunters. He is’

*The whole of Canada together with the country on both sides of the Mi

from e source to the gulf, was then claimed by the French, under the name ®

Fran

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 93

furious when the cows have newly calved. His flesh is good, but

they seldom eat any but that of the cows, because the buffaloes are

too tough. As for his skin, there are none better; it is easily

dressed, and though very strong, it becomes supple, like the best

Chamois. The savages make shields of it, which are very light,

and which a musket ball will not easily pierce.” *

On the 6th day of October, 1721, as Charlevoix and his party

were descending the Illinois River, he says he saw a great number

of buffaloes crossing it in a great hurry, and he scarce doubted but

that they were hunted by the Indians. On the next day he passed

the mouth of the ‘ Saguimont,+ a great river that comes from the

south ; five or six leagues lower down he left on the same hand

another, smaller, called the river Macopines.t These are great

roots, which eaten raw are poison, but being roasted by a small

fire for five or six days or more, have no longer any hurtful quali-

ty.”§

In the year 1711, Father Marest made a journey on foot, with

three Indian guides, from Cahokia on the east side of the Missis-

sippi, south of the present city of St. Louis, to Peoria, on Lake

Pimetoui, — this word, in Algonguin Indian, means land of fat

beasts. He left the site of the present city of Springfield to his

right about six miles, I should judge. He says, “journeys which

are made in this country should not be compared with those in

Europe. There you find from time to time villages and towns,

and houses in which you can rest, bridges or boats to cross the

rivers, beaten paths which lead to your destination, and persons

who can place you in the right way, if you have strayed. Here

there is nothing of the kind, and we travelled for twelve days

without meeting a single soul. At one time we found ourselves

upon prairies which were boundless to our view, cut up by brooks

and rivers, but without discovering any path which could guide us,

and then again it became necessary to open a passage through

dense forests, in the midst of brushwood covered with thorns and

briars, and at other times we had to cross marshes filled with mire,

in which we sometimes sank to the waist.” . . . . “Besides these

inconveniences, common to all those who travel through these de-

Charlevoix, Travels in North America, Vol. 1. p. 92.

Kengi

§ Charlevoix, Vol. 2, p. 162.

94 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

serted lands, we had the addition also of hunger during the wh

of our journey. It was not because we did not see great numb

of stags and deer and particularly of buffaloes, but our Indians —

were not able to kill any. A rumor they had heard the day be

our departure, that the country was infested by parties of the ene

my (probably the Sioux), prevented them from carrying their gt

for fear of being discovered by the report when they fired, or

being embarrassed, if it should be necessary for them to seek

to be burnt at last before a slow fire, or to be used for food in the

feasts.” * i

From the same letter, written at Kaskaskia in 1712, we le

pany the Indians in their hunts. There were during the year

great hunts; that of the summer, which scarcely lasted t

weeks, and that which took place during the winter, which

four or five months. With but a slight exertion of the im

tion one can see the motley group of Indians, French and

breeds, headed by the Blackgown,} issuing from the old has ~

of 1712, where the wigwams of the savage and the rude huts 0

the French indicated the contact of civilization and barb

and turning their faces to the north toward the great pral

where they were to engage in the chase of the deer, the elk

the buffalo.

These old missionaries soon learned to love the rivers and |

ries of Illinois and, if duty called them to Canada or the

Lakes, to rejoice upon their return to the Illinois missions.

ther Marest remained a short time with the Peorias and then '

tinued his journey on to Michilimakinak. After stopping '

few days he started to return in the bark canoe by the way

Lakes and the St. Joseph River, called now Miami River

* Early Jesuit Missions, Kip, p- 216, et seq. the

tEverywhere among the western Indians the Jesuits were known PY

Blackgowns.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO, 95

says he “ascended the River St. Joseph to the ‘portage.’” Here

they transported all there was in the canoe to the source of the

Illinois River called Haukiki, which was a corruption of the In-

dian word Theakiki. They then carried over the canoe, launched

it and continued their route. They were two days in making this

portage, aud then followed the windings of the Theakiki to the

prairies of Illinois, where the old missionary joyfully exclaims,

‘at last we perceived our own agreeable country, the wild buffa-

loes and herds of stags, wandering on the borders of the river;

and those who were in the canoe took some of them from time to

time, which served for our food.” *

The buffalo was first seen by Cortez and his followers, in 1521, a

single individual being observed in a kind of menagerie or zoo-

logical collection of Montezuma, in Mexico. To this place the

animal had been brought from the north by Indians, to whom the

collection of rare birds and quadrupeds had been committed by

the native monarch. It was not, however, till the expedition of

Coronado north of the Gila, in 1540, that its natural ranges were

penetrated. It was not found at all in the highlands of New

Mexico. The Spanish adventurers had passed the Rio del Norte,

and entered the region of the great southern fork of the Arkansas,

before they encountered the immense herds which they describe.

So headlong was the course of the droves of these animals follow-

ing each other, that they sometimes pitched into and filled up en-

tire gulfs and defiles lying in their track.+ The buffalo was found

by De Soto (1541) after he had crossed the Mississippi and en-

tered the present area of Arkansas and Missouri.

Audubon and Bachman mention the buffalo as once existing

upon the Atlantic coast, and further add that ‘‘ authors state that

at the time of the first settlement of Canada it was not known in

that country, and Sagard Theodat mentions having heard that

bulls existed in the far west, but he saw none himself.” Lawson,

in his “Journal of one thousand miles’ Travel among the Indians,

with a Description of North Carolina” (London, 1700) speaks of

two buffaloes that were killed in that State on Cape Fear River.

Audubon says that the bison aman existed in South Carolina

* Early Jesuit Missions, Kip., p

t Discovery and Ex. of the Laer J.G. Sna 18; pes Cond., Prospects

ete., Vol. 4, p. Schoolcraft cites Castenada’s an Expedition to Cibola.

ete., Saag

96 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

on the sea board, and that he was informed that, from the last

seen in that State, two were killed in the vicinity of Colum

“ It thus appears that at one period this animal ranged over ne:

the whole of North America.”* Names of places still retained,

in many instances, indicate the former range of the buffalo. £

river upon the Upper Mississippi was called by the Indians Bees

hike Sepe, or Buffalo River, “on account,” Father Hennepin s

“of the number of buffaloes found there.” Charlevoix speaks

river near Niagara Falls, which bore the name of La Riviere aut

Beufs, or Buffalo River, which was, no doubt, a French transla-

tion of the Indian name. Schoolcraft says that the city of Buti

perpetuates the tradition of the former existence of the b

near Lake Erie, From Charlevoix we learn that, at the time

passed through Lake Erie (1721), the buffalo was still found in it

vicinity. Writing from The Strait (Detroit), he says, “at the end

of five or six leagues, inclining towards the Lake Erie, one

vast meadows which extend above a hundred leagues every "ai

and which feed a prodigious number of those cattle which I ba

already mentioned several times.” t x

The view that the name La Riviere aux Bæufs, and that of the

city of Buffalo, perpetuate the traditionary existence of the b

at the east end of Lake Erie, is corroborated by the fact, §

by Dr. Elliott Coues in the November number of the NATUR

that the buffalo formerly existed on the Kenawha River m

nia.

Schoolcraft says, “It was found in early days to have ©

the Mississippi above the latitude of the mouth of the Ohio

at certain times throughout the present area of Kentucky. ©

only ranged over the prairies of Illinois and Wi

spread to Southern Michigan, and the western skirts of

Tradition says that it was sometimes seen on the borders”

Erie. It was also common to the southern parts of Wisco!

and crossed the Mississippi into Minnesota above St. An

Falls for the last time, it is believed, in 1820;”1 nd 2

states, “in the days of our boyhood and youth, buffaloes T

over the small prairies of Illinois, and herds of them

through the open woods of Kentucky and Tennessee ;

* The Quadrupeds of North America. Vol. 2, P- 55.

tCharlevoix, Travel: in North America, Vol. 2, p. 13.

t History, Cond., Prospects, etc., Vol. 4, p. 92.

THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 97

had dwindled down to a few stragglers, which resorted chiefly to

the ‘Barrens,’ towards the years 1808 and 1809, and soon after

entirely disappeared.” *

From my own reading and reflection upon the subject, I would

place the range of the buffalo, before the advent of the whites

in this country, within the following area,— beginning upon the

Atlantic sea-board at Charleston, thence north of west to the

Mississippi, thence down the river to the gulf, thence to the mouth

of the Rio Grande, thence up said river to the Rocky Mountains,

thence north to the Great Slave Lake in latitude 60°, thence

south-east to the source of the Mississippi, thence to the south

end of Lake Michigan, thence east to the east end of Lake Erie,

thence south-east to the Atlantic coast, near the mouth of Chesa-

peake Bay, and thence down the coast to place of beginning. I

can at least show good authority for the buffalo having been found

at all of the extreme limits of the above area, but of course we

can only conjecture as to whether it ranged over the whole of the

above territory at the first settlement of this country.

But the buffalo has been driven westward until now the area

over which it ranges is probably not over one-tenth of that above

described. Like the Red Indian it must succumb in that mighty

struggle which has been going on from the remotest geological

time,— which has literally filled the earth with relics of lost spe-

cies and still continues to-day, controlled by the same laws, and

producing the same effects as it did when the last mastodon laid

down to die.

The old French and Indian population, before the year 1812,

exterminated the buffalo from the prairies of Illinois, notwith-

standing the countless numbers that roamed over them at the end

of the seventeenth century and during the first half of the eigh-

teenth. It has not been more than one hundred and twenty or

or one hundred and fifty years at farthest, since they were being

slaughtered by the thousand everywhere over our state, yet,

though for years I have kept a sharp lookout, I have never met

with a single bone of this animal. Audubon states that in the .

* Quadrupeds of North America, Audubon and Bachman, Vol. 2, p. 36.

+ Prof. Worthen informs me that he has found the bones of the buffalo very rare in

this state. A portion of a skeleton comprising big bones, ribs, etc. was found with

Broadhea: skull

on. four

only a foot or two below the surface in Christian or Montgomery county, and those are

all the remains he knows of having been found recently in the state.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI.* T

98 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO.

Far West “the prairies are in some places whitened with

skulls of the buffalo, dried and bleached by the summer’s sun

the frosts aud snows of those severe latitudes in winter.”*

doubt their skulls and other bones were as plenty upon the pra

of Illinois a hundred years ago. It seems to be the object of na-

ture as soon as possible after life is extinct to destroy the rem

of every organized creature, and to throw back its component p

into the rounds of circulation again, and it is only a very rare a

cident that even the hardest parts, such as hoofs, horns, teeth, ete

are fossilized. I presume that not one in every fifty thousand,

the buffaloes that were in Illinois during the eighteenth centur

will stand a chance to attest its former existence by a single bo

at the beginning of the twentieth century. Large numbers of ti

Elk, Cervus Canadensis, grazed upon the prairies of Illinois, í

will be seen by the above extracts, and Audubon says, that a£

were still to be found in Kentucky, and across the Ohio River

Illinois, at the time he settled in that state. Their horns, ™

from their size and hardness, were better calculated to resist ee

effects of time than the buffalo, are sometimes, but rarely, i

in our state. Two of them were picked up this year,

County, within ten miles of the Illinois River.

animals which have lived on the surface, it seems to 7

care to provide the means of disencumbering the habitable

lying above and below the water, of those myriads of th 7

skeletons of animals, and those massive trunks of trees, *

would otherwise soon choke up every river and fill every ©

To prevent this inconvenience she employs the heat of the

and moisture of the atmosphere, the dissolving power of c

and other acids, the grinding teeth and gastric juices of 4i

peds, birds, reptiles, and fish and the agency of many °

vertebrata.”+ No better illustration of these words of Sir

Lyell can be found, than that of the scarcity of the >

. the buffalo and other large mammals that once formed &

the fauna of the great prairies of the Upper Mississippi- k

NOTE:—Teeth of the Bison have been found in the Qi y clays of GA

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Tue FossıL Prants or Canapa.*— This elaborate work relates

chiefly to the Devonian flora of Gaspé and St. John, New Bruns-

wick, and indeed is a revision of the Pre-carboniferous flora of

Eastern North America, as the author has introduced “such

allied species from New York, Ohio, and Maine as may serve to`

illustrate the Canadian species.” He proposes the term Erian,

derived from the great Erie division of the New York geol-

ogists, instead of Devonian, hoping ‘to keep before the minds

of geologists the caution that they should not measure the Erian

formations of America or the fossils which they contain, by the

comparatively depauperated representatives of this portion of the

geological scale in the Devonian of Western Europe.”

e notices and figures illustrating the Dadoxylon, “ evidently

an Araucarian conifer” of which no foliage nor fruit have been

found, only drifted trunks a foot in diameter; of the Psilophyton,

the species of which were “ synthetic or generalized plants,” hav-

ing rootlets resembling those of some ferns, stems having the struc-

ture of Lycopodium, and rudimentary leaves also resembling those

of the club mosses (Lycopodiacez), branchlets with circinati ve-

nation like that of ferns, and sporangia of a type quite peculiar to

themselves, are of much interest. He also describes and figures

trunks of tree ferns from Gilboa, N. Y. ‘‘ where these trunks

are stated to occur in an erect position in sandstone” and are now

in Prof. Hall’s collection, while Prof. Newberry has communicated

to him “two well characterized trunks of tree ferns from the De-

vonian of Ohio, and another from Gilboa, N. Y. so that the oceur-

rence of large tree ferns in the Erian flora is now well established.”

As to Silurian vegetation, a few sea weeds occur in the Upper

Silurian limestones of Gaspé, but with them are associated in the

lower part of the limestone, remains of the land plant Psilophy-

ton, which suffice to indicate the existence of neighboring land,

probably composed of the Lower Silurian rocks, and supporting

vegetation. He also announces on a subsequent page his discov-

ery of fossil trees of the type of Prototaxites in the Upper

Silurian of England.

*The fossil plants of the Devonian and Upper Silurian formations of Canada. By

J. W. Dawson, LL. D, F.R.S, F.G.S. With seein re tes and cuts. Geological Survey

of Canada, Montreal. Dawson Brothers, 1871. Royal 8vo. pp. 923. $2.50. (99)

: single species, and the death of both isolated species and i

100 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Comparing the Devonian flora with that of the Carbonifi

period, so familiar to most of our readers, who have seen t

beautiful impression of fern leaves from the shales enclosing

of coal, our author states that generically the two floras arei

main identical. ‘‘The most important and characteristic ¢

boniferous genera are also among those best represented in t

older flora. On the other hand, while some Carboniferous g

have not yet been recognized in the Devonian, the latter po

ses some peculiar generic forms of its own, and these are

cially abundant in the lower part of the system. As examples

such genera I may name Psilophyton, Prototaxites, Leptophle

and Arthrostigma. Further, it may be remarked that these

culiar Erian plants present highly composite or synthetic types

structure, giving to these a more archaic air than that of the C

boniferous flora.” ‘Specifically, however, the Devonian flora

almost altogether distinct from the Carboniferous. Ee be: Sal

lar local conditions which prevailed so extensively in the Ca

iferous period. . The Devonian plants probably grew On

rocky islands, bordered by much less extensive and perm

lowlands than those of the Carboniferous era.”

of his patient and extended researches in fossil botany.

the origin of the flora as a whole, as well as

floras, inevitably arise and must be met by the student in $€

They are discussed by our author in his usual candid and

osophical spirit. He refers—

“For a moment to views of the sequence of Pals«oz° a

which poge be entertained in accordance with theories is

vation of species now prevalent. The lower Devonian’

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 101

tinguished by the abundance of some remarkable forms referred

f the genera Spirophyton and Dictyophyton of Hall,

also for the occurrence of vast quantities of humbly organ-

ized acrogens suited for a semi-aquatic habitat, as Psilophyton

and Annularia. May not these two la ps of plants be related

in the way of derivation? Again the void thetic types of acro-

gens of the lower Devonian, and the prototypal exogens of the

genus Prototaxites give way in the middle Devonian to more

perfect E be pitivette: types of acrogens and gymnosperms ;

may they not have been advanced by a process of evolution?

Such reit Aii have charms for persons of vivid imagination,

and may be supported by the analogy between the progress

favorable to algæ, and swampy flats favorable to Psilophyton

and its allies, and by the alternation of these conditions in

the same locality. Prototaxites does not change into Dadoxy-

on. It disappears and is replaced by a type of wood which

continues to the present day. Psilophyton continues to exist

without improvement along with the Lepidodendra and ferns of

of the gradual extinction of the old flora and the introduction of

anew one from some different source. If therefore we desire to

account for the succession of floras in this way, we must suppose

local extinction and the introduction from another region of plants

which in the meantime have been modified there

In considering the relations of the Pre-carboniferous to the

older floras, he considers that in accordance with the views that

have been so well illustrated by Prof. Hall as to the derivation of

the sediments forming the American Silurian strata from the north-

east, and the gradual extension in each succeeding period of land

and shallow water to the southwest we should expect to find the

oldest land plants towards the northeast. ‘‘ Accordingly, it is in

Gaspé that as yet we have the only link of connection of the Erian

flora with that of the Silurian period,” i. e., the remains of a club

moss (Psilophyton) ; and he believes that a by no means sparse

land vegetation accompanied it. But he boldly inquires whether

land plants did not exist in the Lower Silurian, and even hints

that we might look for the actual origin of land vegetation in the

a Silurian of a flora similar in type to that of the Lower 3

-but probably richer in species.

Group of New York and in the sandstones of St. John,

102 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Laurentian period. He thinks it “possible that the rocks of

foundland or Labrador, or beds now buried under the Atl

may be those which alone contain the remains of the lower Sil

rian plants.” The Eophyton of Torell from the primord

Lower Silurian rocks of Sweden, “if a land plant at all”

Dawson regards “it as a doubtful plant, similar forms being

ently produced by impressions of feet or fins on the surf:

mud”), the author regards as more nearly allied to Psilop

than to any other genus, saying that ‘‘ whatever the nati

these forms, they are present in the primordial of America as

Mr. Murray has found them in Newfoundland and Mr. Sel

Nova Scotia, in rocks probably of this age.”

“ Such views as to a primitive Silurian and Laurentian flora

strengthened by the obvious fact that the plants of the lower

middle Devonian have the aspect of the remains of a decay

flora verging on extinction, and pointing backward in geol

time, while those of the upper Devonian give us a great m

of new forms and point onward to the Carboniferous.

stated, the lower and middle Erian flora stands

é mer

trees, all having the structure of Prototaxites. In the H

and thence to the modern Araucarian pines. There is n

tion from one type to the other, nor are they intermixed

same beds. The Middle Devonian would thus seem to nav

the grave of Prototaxites, and the birth-place of Dadoxylon,

far as the regions in question are concerned. a

Something of the same kind occurs in the Carboniferous:

scanty and somewhat antique Lower Carboniferous flora Pt

backward to the Upper Devonian, just as the Lower we

may be supposed to point backward to the Silurian. -y

reasons lead me to anticipate with confidence the discov

Is it possible to indicate where such earlier flora p ;

pected? In Eastern America, from the Carboniferous A

ward, the centre of plant distribution has been the API i

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 103

But this centre was non-existent before the Devonian period, and

the centre for this must have been to the north-east whence the

great mass of older Appalachian pA E was derived. In the

Carboniferous period there was also an eastward distribution from

the Appalachian, and links of connection in the Atlantic bed be-

tween the floras of Europe and America. In the Devonian such

connection can have been only far to the northeast. It is there-

fore in Newfoundland, Labrador and Greenland that we are to look

for the oldest American flora, and in like manner on the border of

the old Scandinavian nucleus for that Eri Europe. Again, it must

have been the wide extension of the sea of the Corniferous lime-

stone that gave the last blow to the se a flora of me Lower

Devonian ; “and the re-elevation in the middle of that epoc

brought in the Appalachian ridges as a new centre, and establiched

a connection with Europe which introduced the Upper Devonian

and Carboniferous csr Lastly, from the comparative richness

of the later Erian flora in Eastern America, especially in the St.

John beds, it might be: a fair inference that the northeastern end

of the Appalachian ridge was the original birth-place or centre of

creation of what we Sed call the later Paleozoic flora, or of a

large part of that flora

Finally, in a supplementary section Dr. Dawson gives us his

theoretical views as to the origin and extinction of species.

‘t Some of the forms reckoned as specific in the Devonian and Car-

boniferous may be really derivative races.” These may have

originated in one or more of the following ways ;— (1) By a nat-

ural tendency in synthetic types to become specialized in the di-

rection of one or other of their constituted elements. (2) “By

embryonic retardation or acceleration in the manner illustrated by

Hyatt and Cope.” (3) ‘The contracting and breaking up of flo-

ras.” (4) ‘*The elevation of a great expanse of new land at the

close of the Middle Erian and the beginning of the Coal period,

would.by permitting the extension of species over wide areas and

fertile soils, and by removing the pressure previously existing, be

eminently favorable to the production of new, and especially

of improved varieties.’

ÅNTHROPOLOGICAL InstiruTE oF New York.*—In a former

number we called attention to the organization of this society, of

which we have now received the first fruitsin the form of a ve

interesting and important number of its Journal. The publications

* Journal of the Anthropological Institute of New York. Vol. i, No.1. 8vo pamph.

Pp. 100. New York. 1871-72. [50 cts.

104 BOTANY.

of the Institute will consist of Memoirs, which will contain ps "i

more exhaustive in their character than those published in

Journal, which is to contain abstracts of the records of the

ings, the shorter papers and such translations and miscell

matter as the committee think worth printing.

The character of the new society promises .to be such

only pure anthropological science will be allowed entrance

meetings, and the list of present officers indicates that its o

will be fulfilled. One of the duties of the president of the

is to give a review of the progress of Anthropological Se

during the year, and with Mr. Squier in the chair we look fo

to an important contribution as the first annual address.

The present number contains the proceedings cons

the organization of the Institute, with its Constitution, yy

ete., and several papers.*

Taken all together we do not know when we have sab

isfaction derived from the knowledge attained, than W

perienced while reading the first number of this Journal.

shall make extended quotations in future numbers of p

RALIST.

BOTANY.

Ox UTILITY IN THE SUPERABUNDANCE OF SEEDS AND che

In the vicinity of Pike’s Peak last summer I noted that

wis, in many instances, had its usually two “ leaves”

into one. As winter approaches the terete branchilet, as I a

‘t needles,” divides and exposes the two inner faces. 47

one year branchlet is terete; when two or more years-

“leaves” are in twos or threes. The trees in this mor

condition grow as well, and as far as can be seen, are in as :

able circumstances to engage in the struggle for- life as í

*The Progress of Anthropology in Europe and America; pode ci satin v A

of Von on some points of South American Ethnology»

au. Antiquities from the Guano or Huana Islands of P with

by E. G. Squier. Sculptured Rocks, Belmont Co., Ohio, with illustrations,

Canoe in Savannah River Swamp, with cut, by C. C. Jones, jr- ier.

ning ph ton the Incas, by M. Broca, Dr. Nott, Dr. Piai and Mr. ŝqu ‘i

iscellaneous Ri

BOTANY. 105

can be, whether with one, two, or five leaves, and this too though

the inner or, as we would say of true leaves, the upper surfaces, so

essential to most plants, do not exist during the growing time.

In my recent paper on Cotyledons (‘ Proceedings American -

Association,” Indianapolis) I noted that the usually pluri-cotyled-

onous Abies excelsa frequently has but three, and at times but two

seed lobes. The number of lobes does not seem in the slightest

degree to aid the individual or to exert any influence whatever

on the preservation of species.

The trees and shrubs of Europe mostly bear seeds more pro-

fusely than closely allied American species. Quercus robur, com-

mences to bear acorns when ten years old. It then bears annu-

ally. Quercus alba, the American white, rarely fruits till fifteen or

twenty, and then seldom leaves but every other year, although

generally more prolific than any other North Eastern American

oak. It never approaches in profusion the best specimens of the

English species.

Liriodendron tulipifera appears ‘to have an abundance of pol-

len, so far as an examination of its numerous flowers indicates.

The seeds are distributed by a light wing. The immense major-

ity of the distributed carpels are seedless.

In the Pine family the pollen is in immense profusion. If we

climb into a tree just as the pollen sacs are bursting, our clothes

are as yellow as if turned out of a mustard bag.

Many observations of a similar character must have been made

by every botanist.

At page 183 of this journal, 1871, I said we may say of pol-

len or of seeds themselves, that ‘nature makes numberless things

for which she has no use whatever. Perhaps it may be, that like

the human mind, the mind of nature likes variety and profusion,

in the effort for which mere utility is not always consulted.” The

editors remark—“ and of this sort pollen and seeds are queer ex-

amples. Does he mean that these are useless because superabun-

dant enough to ensure against risk and loss, and appropriation by

animals through which fertilization and dispersion are subserved ?

It does seem to me that no utility is subserved by the division of

Pine leaves or of cotyledons; nor in a large number of cases

which might be cited as to the mere form ‘of plant structure. In

the case of the oak, and other similar instances the American spe-

cies holds its own against all losses as well as its English brother ;

e 106 BOTANY.

and doubtless would if it only fruited every ten years instes il

every two, and especially when we see the Liriodendron

most of its seeds infertile and yet very widely distributed, m

: we not regard the profusion of English seed useless?

And in regard to the pine pollen, certainly after granting i

widest margin for * insurance against all losses,” the vast pr

tion is useless so far as any benefit to the individual or spec

directly concerned.* If we regard pine pollen as produced by:

ture for the purpose not of fertilization merely, but for the pul

of forming coal also (see Huxley on coal), it would suit a popwa

idea of utility in nature. But the coal formed out of depo

pollen from Sigillarias and Lepidodendrons, serves no purp

these plants.

It was in this sense that I meant the over production u

and in this sense I suppose I should differ from much in mo

philosophy, which, as I understand it, seeks in every prol

of life a benefit to the parent which produced it. Yet in one

the production may not be regarded as useless. A boy wi i

ao Pama our bit of criticism which Mr. Meehan fails Pe ane me e poit

Table

the seeds to be fertilized. ‘This excess of pollen Mr.

Y h

nings for which sf

fei -toe conti ane personi ification — before he condemns Da

ever ?”

ow, while we plead “ t igor of Dame Aar

particular sie it rit may be allowable to bring shinies to her general wet

for economy s to be served by profusion.

surely fertile iar PNE of Impatiens (referred to on page

imilar flowers of violets, Specularia, and the like, where nature

ization, and therefore shuts up anthers and stigma together, and endows

e power to send out their tubes from the one to aai reer

|, insects, or other carriers—here a superabundance

in these cases — and in rge de grains of p

exceed the number of ovules to be fi

Apropos to the paucity of seeds whieh mature in graps yr?

are m others, but ile showin

from in the struggle for life, we were piapia to explain oe phat a factor

tively, the mere num umber of progeny mu st be in the problem f natural se

that is best d Dveri “ Origin of Species; » asl

to thé paragraph in which he states that the Fulmar petrel ‘ays but one

believed to numerous bird in the world.”— EDITORS.

pee do not

BOTANY. 107

a stick, the shavings are of no benefit to him. But the activity

which produced the shavings is a power in boy life, other things

he does which aid both in the purpose and in the results. He

gathers apples. The action serves him, and the result is food for

action in the future.

To illustrate this again in plant life. We all know how much

time has been given to studying the uses of thorns. What is the

use of thorns to arose. The sweet briar has a few scattered re-

curved thorns. But when a certain insect deposits an egg in a

growing branch, the gall and a portion of stem above and below,

become densely crowded with straight sharp thorns. I take it

that these thorns are entirely useless to the plant, and yet the vi-

tal action which produced them no doubt served a useful purpose ;

and I should say the same of all the thorns on the whole plant.

I suppose some might say that this echinate gall was the result of

abnormal vital action, and is perhaps to be credited to the insect

which was thus better protected from enemies. But how this lar-

va is better protected by these pines I fail to see. The principle

applied to the boy with the shavings seems more philosophical.

The thorns are useless, but the action which produced them was

not.

I have been content in the past with recording my observations,

only occasionally hazarding a suggestion as to the direction in

which they pointed. I feel that my field and my opportunities are

too limited to allow me to put full faith in my own judgment

when opposed to the views of those much better situated to decide.

If in this I offer more than my usual quota of opinion, it is out

of respect to the editor’s inquiry. — Tuomas MEEHAN.

PLant Dryrers.— The best article I have ever used,—better than

any blotting paper—is one of the kinds of sheathing paper

made by Messrs. Roberts and Son, of Waltham. In any large

quantity it can be had cut to size at the mill. I have just been

distributing two tons of it among botanists, cut to size of twelve

_ by eighteen inches. Each sheet is like a pad of blotting paper.

We stitch from three to five sheets together into a dryer, the

Specimens being placed between successive dryers, of course en-

closed in a sheet of thin soft paper; nothing can be better, nor

so cheap. The maker having a small quantity left over from our

large order, I have asked the Naturalists’ Agency to take it in or-

108 BOTANY.

der to supply botanists, schools, ete., in quantities smaller

can be had from the manufacturers. For price see the

ment.—Asa Gray.

Lare FLOWERING or tHe Gisnous BLapperwort.—T

I found on the flats of the Charles River, Utricularia gibba,

ering half an acre of ground in full bloom, October 2d. i |

tinued to send up fresh flowers till cut off by a frost near the ü

of November. The time given in our works on botany, fot

pecting this little plant in flower is July and August.—

Epwarps, Natick. > ;

New American VARIETY or ASPLENIUM FILIX re

Europe many variations of this fern are given in their ma

the most prominent of which are vars. rheeticum, multifidum, ®

inum, crispum, latifolium.

None, however, have been noticed in this country prev™

1869, when several tufts were discovered growing in wie’

H., bearing all the fronds thus peculiarly marked: tips of

pinna fringed with five to eight lobes, tops of fronds :

with a cluster of ten to fifteen pinne gradually dimm!

size towards the centre, fronds fifteen to twenty inches

five to seven wide. In 1870 and 1871 I gathered specimens

the same roots, in all respects like the first.

This variety seems identical with var. multifidum of p

works, but as the specimen sent to the herbarium of Prof.

at Cambridge bears the name of Asplenium filix femna

tatum, it will henceforth be known by that name.—W™. - =

der to test the effect of green light on the sensitiveness

Mimosa, M. P. Bert has placed several plants under be

of different colored glass set in a warm greenhouse. At

_ to green, yellow, or red light had the petioles erect and the

expanded ; the blue and the violet, on the other hand, hac

ioles almost horizontal and the leaflets hanging down.

those placed beneath blackened glass were already less |

and in twelve days they were dead or dying. From

the green ones were entirely insensitive, and in ade

ZOOLOGY. 109

were dead. At this time the plants under the other glasses were

perfectly healthy and sensitive ; but there was a great inequality

of development among them. The white had made great progress,

the red less, the yellow little less still ; the violet and the blue did

not appear to have grown at all. After sixteen days the vigorous

plants from the uncolored glass were removed to the green; in

eight days they had become less sensitive, in two more the sensi-

tiveness had almost entirely disappeared, and in another week

they were all dead. Green rays of light appear to have no greater

influence on vegetation than complete absence of light, and M.

Bert believes that the sensitive plants exhibit only the same phe-

nomena as all plants colored green, but to an excessive degree.—

A B.

STRUCTURE OF THE CLosep FLOWERS or ImpatreNs.— At a

meeting of the Linnean Society of London held November 16th,

Mr. A. W. Bennett read a paper on the above subject, his obser-

vations, made on Impatiens fulva Nutt., an American species

completely naturalized in several places in the south of England,

being substantially in accordance with those recorded by Prof.

Asa Gray in his ‘‘Genera Flora America boreali-orientalis.” Mr.

Bennett, however, believes that the closed or ‘“cleistogenous” self-

fertilized flowers are not the result of “arrested development,”

but are from the first of a different nature, and he suggests that

the “cap” formed by the unexpanded calyx and corolla may be

thrown off the pistil by the elasticity of the stamens, which are of a

very different shape and structure from those in the perfect flow-

ers. The anthers do not dehisce, but the pollen, the quantity of

which is very small, pierces with its tubes the wall of the anther

in order to reach the stigma. The plant does not appear to be

visited by insects in England; the conspicuous flowers, in which

there is a provision to prevent the pollen reaching the stigma con-

sequently seldom produce op while the unopened flowers do so

abound invariably.— A. W.

ZOOLOGY.

Tue Erarostomomws.— Having been for several years specially

interested in this little group of Percoids, of which I am now '

engaged in completing a monograph. and wishing to secure

110 ZOOLOGY.

all the material possible before publishing the work, I take

the Boston Society of Natural History and Peabody. Aca

of Science, and many type specimens received from Prof.

Hadropterus,

and Dr. Abbott. Besides these, all the types of Girard of t

specimens described in the Pacific Railroad and Mexican

ary Surveys, the types of Agassiz’ species and such as still

of Haldemann’s and Storer’s have been carefully studied.

this material about forty species haye been recognized and se

others are indicated by single specimens.

_ The great variation between individuals of the same $

makes it essential to have a large number of specimens 170

many localities as possible in order to determine the ape

any degree of certainty. Especially is this variation not

tween males, feniales and young, and between males and

at the spawning time and those taken later in the se

early spring the males of many of the species are most b

arrayed in blue, orange, red, and other bright colors, whil

‘mer and fall these colors are entirely lost or aes

In many species where the males show a decided difer

ZOOLOGY. 111

coloration from each other the females will be so similar in their

plain markings as to make it almost impossible to separate

them. There is also considerable variation in the shape of the

fins between the males and females of some species, especially

noticeable in the genus Catonotus, in which the spiny dorsal fin

of the male is short and each ray usually terminates in a little

knob, while in the female the rays are longer, and are without the

Fig. 5.

ll Wt MY

SAP PS Renee Rees wane decbsan =

WS ‘

Hyostoma,

eee

knob. Pages could be written on the variations which individ-

uals of the different species exhibit when a large number of any

one species has been carefully examined, but enough has been

said here to call attention to the necessity of securing all the ma-

terial possible for the work on which I am engaged.

These small fishes have the general appearance of young perch,

and combine the habits of the perches with those of the little fresh

water bull heads (Cottoids) or “ miller’s thumbs” as they are

called in England.

They are found in

nearly all locations,

including lakes,

ponds, rivers, small

streams and ditches.

The sandy and gray-

elly shores of lakes APT

and ponds are favorite spots, as well as the grass and weed grown

shallow parts of rivers, or the clear rocky stream. Several of the

species are in great part surface swimmers, but by far the larger

number pass most of their time on the bottom, darting about from

stone to stone or in and out among the water plants. From this

habit of moving by quick, short, and often zig-zag darts they Asi

received the common and very appropriate name of ‘darte

and in many localities are well known under that name. A few

112 ZOOLOGY.

of the species attain four or five inches in length, but b

larger number never exceed three inches, and many not

and one-half to two inches. The outline cuts here given (I

3-8) are all of natural size and roughly exhibit several

more prominent forms.

These little fellows are generally quite difficult to catch

one gets familiar with their ways of darting about, but

little practice and some patience they can be secured with

net or by driving them into a set net. But the way to catch

in large numbers is by drawing a seine, with very small mê

along the banks of a lake, pond, or river, or up a narrow

In this way I have often succeeded in obtaining from four

to forty or fifty specimens at a single haul of a fifty foot $

the sandy shores of Lake Champlain. In August last,

fishing on the Wabash River, very successful hauls were}

Figs. 7 and 8, by dragging a fifteen 100°”

Wy along the shallow banks ,

river over the water plants,

= was easily done by one”

wading up stream in about t

three feet of water, holding

one end of the scine and

person holding the seme “

‘the other end, in such a wa;

let it bag considerabl

stream, and every now

dragging the seine ashore. In this mode of fishing Care

taken to keep the lead line well down on the bottom or the!

dart under. To a person who has never tried seining in $

a few hours of such collecting will secure to him more Sp

of all that swim in the locality than he has thought it pos”,

obtain. A very successful way of collecting these darters; ©

only have a scoop net, is to scoop about among the W3

or over a muddy, leafy, or stony bottom, stirring up

and getting the water so clouded as to confuse the fish,

going backwards and forwards over the ground and ee

mere emptying your net, many specimens may often be

Catonotus. Microperca.

Etheostomoids are widely distributed in the fresh i

North America east of the Rocky Mountains, and I

specimens taken from Hudson’s Bay to Georgia.

ZOOLOGY. 118

New England are very limited, only two or three having as yet

been found, but in the central, north-western and southern states

they are far more numerous, and the Ohio valley seems from pres-

ent data to be the great centre of distribution of the group.

The method of preserving fishes is looked upon by persons not

familiar with collecting as a difficult operation, and has always

been a “bugbear” in the way of securing specimens of the class,

I therefore offer the following simple means of preserving any

small fish. If you intend collecting largely and are provided with

a small seine or good hand or minnow net, it is best to go well

prepared with vessels in which to place your captures, and for this

purpose any strong bottles, jars or cans answer well. Pickle jars

with good corks, or some of the patent preserve jars or cans are

excellent, and handy to carry in basket, bag or pocket. Always,

when you start out, have the collecting jars about one-third or one-

half full of aleohol or unrectified whiskey (high wines), or if these

can not be had readily, take common drinking whiskey or almost

any spirit, as a substitute. When you get the specimens put them

at once into the spirit before they have a chance to harm their fins

and scales by thrashing about in the net or on the shore. It is al-

ways my plan to put the specimens I want to preserve immediately

into my collecting jars from the net, not allowing them the slight-

est chance to get injured, and as the alcohol kills them almost in-

stantly they are not harmed by dying, as is the case when left to

die on land or in a pail of water as is so often done. By pur-

suing this course any fishes captured at the same time, and not

wanted, can be returned to the river. When one wishes to study

any species alive, the best way is to put two or three specimens

only in a jar or pail to take home for the purpose, for if more are

placed in one jar they will almost invariably die before being able

to reach home with them.

While collecting you can fill your jars to the brim with speci-

mens, provided you put them in alive and tip the jars as they are

filled so that the spirits will come in immediate contact with the

specimens as they are put in, but after you get home it is best either

to add more spirit to the jar, or if weak spirits have been used

pour it all off and fill the jar as full as you can with specimens

without jamming them and then pour in all the spirits you can;

tuck in a little soft paper, or rags, to stop the top ones from shifting

about, and wrapping your bottles in paper or cloth put them in

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI.

_ at letter postage (three cents for every half ounce) by putti

rag that has been soaked in alcohol or glycerine and squeea

114 ZOOLOGY.

a box, packing with sawdust if you can get it handy, if not wit

shavings, hay or grass, and send by the first express to their d 3

tination, that they may arrive before the spirits get weakened o

the natural colors of the fish are lost or changed by the alco

As the Etheostomoids are all small fishes, common ale or ji

bottles can be used in collecting or packing them up for sené

away, as the specimens can be readily taken out by breaking

the neck of the bottle. .

Common glycerine will answer the purpose of preserving th

brilliant colors of the fishes, and it would be very desirable

have a few specimens of each kind put up in it for the purpose 0

making sure of the natural colors, though from its strong contra

ing powers specimens so preserved are not so good for genera

study as those put in alcohol. It would also be very

able to have a number of specimens, especially if of brilli:

colors, preserved so as to retain their colors, in the following '

Take the specimen as soon as dead and cut off a portion of

varnish is at hand, simply let the fish dry in the shade.

simple method the natural colors will be preserved for a long

By using a little care and putting cotton in the abdominal ¢

ity and a little arsenic on the flesh, very handsome and in

specimens can be made.

_ It often happens that a person obtains one or two speci

a fish he would like to forward, but hardly thinks it worth wi

send so small a lot by express. Such can readily be sent

specimens in a small tin or wooden box, with a little co

~ (the specimen also having been first put in alcohol or §

_ some kind, or glycerine, for an hour or two). A specimen

; a can be several days on the route without being injured.

In concluding my request for specimens of fishes of this

I beg to state that any other specimens would be very

to our collection, and that any thing sent by express

to the anani Academy of ~~ Salem, Mass.,* will

ZOOLOGY. 115

thankfully received and acknowledged. I may also say that a copy

of the ‘t Monograph of the Etheostomoids,” when published, will

be furnished to all persons who kindly assist in the work by send-

ing specimens ; and that all notes on the habits, time of spawning,

natural colors, etc., will be duly acknowledged in the work, which

will form one of the series of illustrated monographs published by

the Museum of Comparative Zoology. It is proposed to describe

and figure every known species of the group.—F. W. PUTNAM,

Director Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass.

Burrerrty Nores, 1871. — As bearing on the winter history of

the species, an interesting capture of a much worn and faded

female Archippus was made by me, May 12th, in this place—Am- .

herst, Mass. The only Niphon taken during the season was found

on May 18th. The 23rd, Vialis appeared and soon was very com-

mon. Phaeton was first seen June 5th, and, contrary to the usual

reports, was not confined to a small locality, but became rather

common in several directions from the village. June 9th, a single

dimorphic female Hobomok was captured ; suspecting it to be such

and to have been described as Pochahontas and Quadaquina, I

wrote to a distinguished lepidopterologist, who informed me that, —

on his pointing out the fact, Pochahontas was acknowledged by its

author to be a dimorphic Hobomok ; my specimen also agrees with

a named Quadaquina received from a writer who has publicly

stated his belief that it is the same as Pochahontas. July 8th,

found Metacomet and Egeremet, males, abundant on Indian Hemp -

flowers and took Mopsus on an umbelliferous plant. Calanus

(Westw.) — the C. inorata of Grote—was met with July 17th and

Aug. 2nd. A single Delaware was taken by a neighbor in July.

A harvest of butterflies was reaped, Aug. 2nd, on flowers of the

mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanum), at the foot of the Hol-

yoke range; among them were Melinus, Mopsus, Smilacis and

Edwardsii— the latter two very abundant, and the Edwardsii show-

ing either a seasonal or regional variation from New York spec-

imens, being smaller and the markings tending more to lines. On

the top of the Holyoke range, Lucilius was frequent, and near the

top a Portlandia confidently observed and the beautiful moth,

Callimorpha interrupto-marginata taken. A visit in August to the

Green Mountains in the region of Conway, Ashfield and Goshen,

revealed nothing different from Amherst—none of the species that

. Epixanthe, Porsenna, Lucia, Clothilde, Acadica, strigosa, Ang a

ing information about the young specimens I mentioned (pag®

stances. Just as Dr. Hartung was leaving the cave hotel on í

- 21, a bottle was brought to him containing four specimens; one

116 ZOOLOGY.

might be set down as belonging to a Canadian fauna. The

butterfly of the season that is noteworthy was a single Milbertty

frosts had come, and all the butterflies had disappeared excep 7

Philodice, rapæ and Americanus. In the course of the season

Marcia was frequent ; it is not in the New England catalogue,

haps because not regarded as distinct from Tharos. Cybele an

Aphrodite were alike common, the latter the more so. A few uaa

Siopes REETA very abundant. Graptus rare. Seat

and Mystic common. Of the Nisoniades, some of my dates are

Lucilius, Ennius, Juvenalis and Persius, May 27th— the first al

August 2nd, and the second also June 10th; Icelus, June srd ut

Horatius July 24th. The following New England butterflies 4

not been observed: Protodice, Eurytheme, Lisa, Delia, Genu

tus, Henrici, Atlantis, Montinus, Claudia, Nycteis, Harrisii, Cani

gracilis, Faunus, Semidea, Bachmanii, Catullus, Lycidas, a

Wingina, Acanootus, Manataaqua, Manoco, — Panogui g

Mesapano, Logan. — H. W. PARKER.

Jowa BUTTERFLIES. — To the lists hitherto published are tob

added Phaeton, Acadica, Thoe, and the following Hesperia

conspicua, Otho, Zabulon, Massasoit, Poweshiek, — all from

tral Iowa,„namely Poweshiek and Jasper counties.— H. W. P.

Youne oF THE Brinp Fisu.— Dr. Hagen gives me the fí

as belonging to Dr. Steindachner, which I just mis

before they were sent to Vienna. These specimens were pro

by Dr. Hartung for Dr. Steindachner under the following

which was smaller than the others (probably Typhlichthy$)>

living. He immediately transferred them to a jar containing ĉ

hol and took no notice of them until he reached N ashville, ¥

he discovered an addition of eight little ones in the jar.

The birth of these young was undoubtedly due to placing

parent in the alcohol, and the date (Oct. 21) would corres

the: time I stated in my paper as probably that at whist the

were born.

Dr. Hagen states that he examined the young under a lens

GEOLOGY. 117

out taking them from the jar and could not discover any eyes. The

specimens were about three lines in length.

So now we have two more facts to add to the history of the

blind fishes (though whether they apply to Amblyopsis or Typh-

lichthys is not yet settled). First, that the young are born in

October, and second, that they are without external eyes when

born. —F. W. PUTNAM.

GEOLOGY.

GEOLOGY, ETC. IN CALIFORNIA.— At the regular meeting of the

California Academy of Sciences Dec. 4th, Professor Whitney pre-

sented a variety of fossils found in limestones one hundred miles

east of Elko. He then read a paper descriptive of his labors in

_ the projection of a topographical map of the State, and exhibited

several proofs or specimen copies to the members. ‘They were

most complete and elegantly engraved. He had commenced the

publication of a volume on the geology of the State, and would

probably compile three on the same topic. He also exhibited the

first volume of the “ Birds of California,’ containing seven hun-

dred illustrations. This, the first volume, was devoted to the land

birds of the state. The “ Botany of California” was also in

preparation. It is not to be illustrated. Salvador Morthange,

consul-general of Belgium, was introduced to the Academy and

read a highly interesting paper on White Island, in the bay of

Plenty, New Zealand

Professor Marsh, of Yale College, made a few remarks on his

recent explorations. He had been out since June from New Haven,

and had spent two months in collecting vertebrate fossils. He had

discovered probably about fifty new species from the Miocene and

Pliocene deposits, embracing a large variety of extinct reptiles. In

Eastern Oregon he had made discoveries which would seem to clear

up the geological puzzle in regard to the fresh water lakes ; and also

a large number of fossil horses, some but two feet in height, and

some of the two-toed type had been collected.

Dr. Blake read a paper on the water of the “ Devil's Inkstand,”

at the Geysers, which he found to contain a large quantity of

ammoniacal salts. —R. E. C. S.

ORIGIN of THE New ENGLAND GLACIER. — Professor Dana con-

tributes an important article to the “ American Journal of Science’

_ Seems to have changed from the poor reindeer hunter Pe

AiB = ANTHROPOLOGY.

on the icy plateau which gave rise to the great New England

cier. He locates this mer de glace between Lake Temiscamang i

Lake Mistissinny, on the Canadian watershed. During the glat

period the watershed was probably five thousand feet above

present level, while the White Mountains, the Green Mo

peaks, and the Adirondacks stood five hundred feet higher

they do at present ; so that there was a sufficient inclination to

the sea-coast to allow of a movement in a southeast direction

the mass of ice.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Scaremc.— Tae “Friend of India” contains a letter from

Superintendent of Police in the north-eastern district of Beng

giving an account of scalping among the wild tribes on the

tier of that district. In commenting on this letter the j oe

above named says, ‘The Naga tribes use the scalping-knife m

a ferocity that is only equalled by the American Indians, and

scalps are carefully preserved as evidences of their prowess

vengeance over their enemies. On the death of a chief, a

scalps taken by him during his warlike career are burned with

remains.” —Jour. Anthr. Inst. N. Y.

ARCHEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY. — According to a notice ¢

“Essai de Chronologie Archéologique” in “Pall Mall Bu

Professor Forel draws a vivid picture of the time which has elap

between the deposition of the Schussen glacial beds and the €

lake habitations. A lapse of time of unknown duration had

reindeer andthe mammoth had passed away, the Bos prt

_ alone surviving as a contemporary of the wild boar, red d

— -roebuck. The flora had changed. To the Alpine flora,

r scanty vegetation of mosses and lichens which were just 3

| _ grow on the ice-mud, had succeeded rich and brilliant forests

_ posed of all our indigenous species of trees. The level of the!

had fallen 30 mètres, and had assumed its present aspect.

to the intelligent and active fisher, agricuiturist and m

to whom are due the relatively highly civilized lake habitat i

ancient Switzerland, But the use of metal had not been

‘duced yet, and pott tively high

MICROSCOPY. 119

of civilization at which the builders of the pfuhlbauten had arrived,

Long after came the ages of bronze and iron, and finally the

Roman period, with its fixed dates and absolute chronology.

rapid review of the history of humanity in Europe shows us an un-

interrupted series of events, looking back from the Roman period,

through the various lacustrine epochs as far as the most ancient

remains of polished stone. But there occurs a gap. We are not

in presence of fixed dates, and the continuity of the events alone

gives us a perfect key to their relative antiquity. Professor Forel

asks—has this lacuna lasted a hundred years, a hundred thousand,

or millions of years? And, while he does not attempt to precisely

estimate its duration, he proves convincingly that the gap is consid-

erable, but that it is not enormously large. The age of trees which

must have grown in the rich vegetable beds of Morges, after mould

had been slowly formed from the débris of the pebble beds of the

glacial period, indicates a vast lapse of time. Professor Forel

enters at great length into certain results at which he has arrived

after sounding the Rhône at various levels, and precisely estima-

ting the amounts of mud which the river annually transports. He

considers that a space of 300,000 years is necessary in order fo fill

the lake of Geneva, and that in time the lake will be entirely filled

up. His conclusions, in fact, are that the space of time which

separates the archeological ages of the reindeer and of the red

deer (paleolithic and neolithic epochs) is considerable, and ought

to be counted by thousands of years; it is not infinitely great, and

ought not to be counted by millions of years. .

MICROSCOPY. .

t Power” or Lenses.—For some three or four years some

American microscopists have been calling attention to the “ decep-

tion,” commonly practised by most working opticians in calling the

“power of their instrument less than it really is— i. e., calling an

objective a quarter-inch when its focus is really but one-fifth or

one-sixth of an inch + or an eighth when actually a “ one-ninth or

one-tenth,— and some now approach to one-twelfth.”

In the “ Monthly Microscopical Journal” for December, 1871,

Mr. F. H. Wenham writes a paper in reply to one of Mr. E. Bick-

nell’s on this subject in which he takes Mr. Bicknell to task for

exposing the deception,—and admits the truth of the charge.

a ie

120 MICROSCOPY.

Here we have a gentleman, well known throughout the micros

cal world as one of the most accomplished theoretic opticians

London, generally supposed to be the principal advisor of

working opticians, not apologizing for, but practically defen

the imposition, one that bas been exposed and complained of

Dr. Wm. B. Carpenter * and also by a writer in the “Qua

Journal of Microscopical Science.”

Mr. Wenham says “a scientific microscopist gives the diam

with his illustrations and the nominal power of his object g

this quite meets the case.” In this Mr. Wenham is entirely wr

it does not meet the case. A power of one-thousand diam

obtained with a one-inch objective is a very different thing

one-thousand diameters obtained with a one-tenth, wnless the $

inch is ten times as good an instrument as the one-tenth. The S

entific microscopist should g’ve with his i 1-strations, not 0

amplification he employed, but the real focus of the oh

and the name of the maker, as astronomers do in the case

telescopic observations.

He farther says, “in such a difficult and complex arrangt

as a high power object-glass, it is almost impossible for all

makers to work to the same magnifying standard.”

course depends on the knowledge of opties possessed by the 7

man, but has nothing to do with the matter. When the objec

is made, the focus can be measured, and the glass named

ingly. The nearer the actual power comes to that inten

much the more credit to the maker — the farther it is from

he sells it for the more to his discredit. It is an axiom ae

copy that the lower the power of a glass that will give

. result or effect, the better the glass. e

< Mr. Wenham’s comparison with the steam engine IS as

propriate as Hartnack’s objection to English micros¢

_ With their wheels and screws they look like a steam engine.

sae

_ PHOTOGRAPHIC MICROMETER AND GONIOMETER. — I :

_ worth, of Georgetown, D. C., proposes, in the “ Americal

_ of Science and Arts,” a photographic positive on glass

stitute for the ruled micrometers. Lines of one-sixth inch

~ are reduced by photography to ; 3 inch, mounted 1n >

~ used like the ordinary eye-piece micrometers. The lines

_ *The Microscope, ete. London. 1868. p. 184.

ot Pe eee

MICROSCOPY. 121

and distinct and the intervening spaces are said to be sufficiently

translucent, which would suggest that the contrivance is best

suited for the rapid and easy performance of easy work.

Similarly a goniometer is made by reducing a graduated circle

of eighteen inches to a transparent positive of suitable size to be

placed in the draw-tube below a positive eye-piece. The eye-piece

is furnished with a cob-web line, and its rotation is easily read off

on the scale in its focus. This goniometer, which could be made

for a few shillings, would seem to be a valuable accessory to all

microscopes, especially to those not possessed of a graduated

concentric stage.

Tur Diarom Hoax.—Many readers have enjoyed, in a late

medical journal, the ingenious essay on test-objects, in which the

new immersion one-seventieth of 191°, wet with fluoric acid and

illuminated by a new eccentric parallelopiped with fluorescent rays

exclusively, is represented as revealing that the structure of Pleu-

rosigma angulatum is like the Nicholson pavement ; and that a

new diatom, fortunately rare, has beads, more than one hundred

and forty-seven millions to the inch, which are invisible by all

other lenses. and to all other observers. They will be further

amused by learning from the “t Boston Journal of Chemistry ” that

some foreign medical journals have seriously reviewed. this bur-

lesque and discovered it to be a hoax. ;

Tue Rep Broop-corruscLe.— Mr. E. Ray Lankester presents

in the “Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science” an interest-

ing contribution to our knowledge of the physical structure of the

red blood-corpuscle and the action of gases and vapors upon it.

The red blood-corpuscle has no outer coat distinct from its con-

tents and having a pronounced inner limitation, none being visible

under the highest powers of the microscope (what might be mista-

ken under low powers for such proving under high powers to be

an illusion of refraction), and the corpuscles, torn or cut by draw-

ing a needle across the slide, suffering no escape of viscid material

from their interior, but furnishing portions which by the collapse

of their edges assume a rounded form; yet their surface must be

differentiated into a.film or pellicle having no definite inner boun-

dary, and similar to the pellicle which forms on a cooling mass of

Jelly, since they become wrinkled when subjected to oblique pres-

sure and recover their form and outline again with great elasticity

and precision.

not in any part to the oxygen of the atmosphere, since the?

122 : MICROSCOPY.

- The stroma of which the viscid mass mainly consists appears

homogeneous in the mammalia, but contains a nucleus in the other

vertebrata. This nucleus, though undetected by Savory, seems to

exist in ae fresh corpuscles, and has been detected in blood

physiological conditions of the animal, and after removal fro!

circulation it becomes sharply and permanently defined. |

The usually described forms characteristic of certain classes ®

animals, are not believed to be the only normal forms. The bl

of the frog seems to vary at different seasons of the year, and

ordinary biconcave discs of human blood may be more

replaced, in fresh and perfectly healthy blood, by the “‘ thorn-a

and the “single” and “double watch-glass forms.”

The macula discovered by Dr. Roberts of Manchester ini

blood of all vertebrata are strangely ignored by most of ther

authorities, though published many years ago. They are

verified by the author’s researches. A part of the matter

posing the corpuscle segregates to form spots, usually one in u

but often three or four in the frog, which are ordinarily imper

ble, but which are deeply stained by nitrate of rosanilin, and

sharp little pullulations under the infuence of tannin.

the development of these macula is cermin or not §

be undetermined.

That the corpuscles are not in the condition simply of à

ened membrane is shown by the very curious observation

they will readily float out of the plasma into a drop of oil.

separated in this manner from the plasma they show a strong Wi

dency to cohere and thus assume hexagonal forms, just : ef.

sometimes do when a thin film of blood is dried upon a sli

The appearance and disappearance of the granulation

nucleus and other effects demonstrated by Stricker to tak |

when blood, after contact with aqueous vapor, is exposed i

: mately. to carbonic acid and atmospheric air, is proved to

the alternate presence and absence of the carbonic

_ be replaced in the experiment by hydrogen or other gases

The action of chloroform and many other re-agents

corpuscles is studied minutely, but without as yet th

desired light upon their effects when introduced into t

MICROSCOPY. i 123

The preservation of blood absolutely unchanged in appearance

is essential to a successful study of its structure. Hitherto the

inadequacy of most students’ microscopes and the necessity for

immediate and hasty inspection of blood has almost prevented its

successful study. To these reasons it should be added that only

the few students who make somewhat of a specialty of this branch

of science can become sufficiently expert for its more difñcult in-

vestigations; and the author’s estimate of drying as a means of

preserving blood, that it is of little or no use, meets with an

important exception in the case of studies as to the class of ani-

mals to which a given specimen of blood belongs, and also in the

determination of the existence of certain diseases. ` For all pur-

poses, however, it is desirable to preserve the corpuscles in their

natural state, and osmic acid has been successfully introduced for

this purpose by Prof. Max Schultz. A film of blood on a glass

cover is exposed for three minutes to the vapor arising from a bot-

tle of two per cent. solution of osmic acid; after which it may be

immediately mounted in a nearly saturated solution of acetate of

potash. ‘Every corpuscle thus becomes ‘set,’ as it were, in its

living form.”

A New Gnrovr or Inxrusorra.— In studying the blood of frogs

Mr. E. Ray Lankester has sometimes noticed a little parasite which

was at first mistaken for a very active white blood-corpuscle. This

new infusorian, which is figured in the “ Quarterly J ournal of

Microscopical Science” for October last under the name of Undu-

lina ranarum, is a minute pyriform sac, the narrower end of which

is somewhat twisted and spirally bent round upon itself, giving it

a strikingly shell-like appearance. It has neither mouth nor cilia,

but instead of the latter a broad, toothed, undulating membrane

which makes it the type of a new group of infusoria.

Structure or Mrxute Orcantsms.— The “ New York Evange-

list,” in describing with very natural admiration the beautiful

Moller’s Type Plate (the diatoms of which, by the way, are un-

doubtedly vegetable and not animal organisms), raises again the -

question whether these minute organisms may not be possessed of

organs and tastes corresponding to those of higher aminals. Per-

Sons having an intelligent interest in the science of microscopy,

but unfamiliar with its details, cannot be too well assured that

extreme simplicity of the lower organisms is a fact of positive,

124: NOTES.

not of negative, knowledge, —a conclusion reached from what

see, and not from what we fail to see. l

Purr Warer. — Dr. Burdon Sanderson, F.R.S., found it

sible to obtain optically pure water. The fusion of ice fi

the nearest approach to this standard. ,

Ramway Dust. — The “Manchester Guardian” publis

study of railway dust made by Mr. J. Sidebotham, who finds

consist, in the case examined, about one-half of particles of u

and the other half of cinders, sand, ete. Some of the parti :

iron were magnetic, and most were sharp, rough and irritati

NOTES.

We make the following extracts from a letter to one a the

‘tors from Mr. Dall, Chief of the Coast Survey Expedition

plore the hydrography and natural history of Alaska. It is @

Harbor of Hiuliuk, Unalashka, Alaska Terr., Oct. 30, 1871:

‘t We arrived here on the 23d of September after a dis p :

passage of twenty-six days from San Francisco, during ;

however, we obtained some very interesting observations m

WwW inc

spring to have it approximately complete. Tidal ant |

observations are going on, we have taken many hundr

gles and shall go to sounding bye and bye. 4

e island when we came was a mass of verdure up to™

caps of the highest peaks. There are no trees, excepi

than six feet high and an inch or two thick. I went on ag

T A ax : ENER he island and with

ing trip the other day in the interior of the 1 packs for kini

NOTES. . o kee

often seen inside the harbor. Birds are rather plenty at this sea-

son and probably much more so in summer,

his month and the next are the worst of the year. We have

had more or less rain almost daily, but also a good deal of sun-

shine, more indeed than I anticipated. The weather has been

comfortable, temperature averaging 44° Fahr. It has not been

lower than 32° yet and that only once, still the snow has crept

down the mountain sides a thousand feet and we have had several

real old fashioned snow storms.

All hands have worked together harmoniously and with energy.

I think the prospects for a good season’s work are very favorable.”

—Wa. H. Dati, Actg. Asst. U. S. C. Survey.

T.. Srerry Hunt, LL. D., chemist to the Canadian Geological

Survey, has been appointed to the chair of Geology in the Massa-

chusetts Institute of Technology. ;

Some one writes to “ Land and Water” that though the menage-

rie at the Jardin des Plantes is at a low ebb, still specimens are

being forwarded by the various agents with all speed, and we may

hope soon to see it with some of its former glories.

Pror. C. F. Hartt has recently returned from his explorations in

Brazil, having specially studied the supposed Amazonian drift

beds; and Prof. Marsh has returned to New Haven, with immense

collections of fossil vertebrates, ete., from the Rocky Mountains.

Pror. H. James Clark, of the University of Kentucky, has been

appointed Prof. of Veterinary Science in the Massachusetts Agri-

cultural College.. :

Dr. G. Hartung, the well known geologist and author of the

splendid works on Madeira, Lancerota, Teneriffe and the Azores,

has recently made a geological trip through this country, so as to

be able the better to study American works on geology. We also

learn from Prof. Hagen that two other German geologists of good

_Teputation, Drs. Reiss and Stuebel, authors of works on Teneriffe,

and Santorin, have been geologising for two years past on the west

coast of South and Central America, and travelling thence from

New York to California, design to go to the Hawaiian Islands to

‘investigate their geology with a view to publication.

How interesting a-collection illustrating the products, habits

and homes of insects, as well as the relations of zoology and bot-

any to agriculture and the arts may be, is to be seen in a visit to

the Museum of the Agricultural Department at Washington, the

a and Comparative Anatomy, as will meet the wants |

126 NOTES.

result of many years’ work of Mr. Townend Glover, to whose t

requited labors in practical entomology we have previously ¢

attention. :

He has a beautifully illustrated manuscript work on the in

injurious to cotton and other crops, which thus far Congress

been asked in vain to:publish. - To the great value of the mu

Prof. Hagen of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Camb

bears the following testimony. ‘I find no notice in the NATURA

1st of the Museum of the Agricultural Department in Wash

ton, D. C., the admirable work of Mr. T. Glover. I was

astonished at going through this valuable collection. The

upon which Mr. Glover works is his own, and the arrange

his own devising. When fish, fruits, etc., cannot be pre

excellent casts beautifully colored are made and exhibited.

illustrating injurious and beneficial insects and their transito

tions, drawn, engraved and colored with his own hand, are mi

ed in the halls,so that if any one wants to know about the

injuring certain crops or plants, he can obtain very complete ™

mation. I know not which the more to admire, the ext

really vast plan of the institution, and the elegant comple

the design, or the modesty of the learned naturalist who

ceived and done it all entirely without aid, in the agricultural

ests of this great country ; meanwhilé supported by means 1

ridiculously small, compared with the results. I confess th

Agricultural Museum in Washington has no superior in the

and even no rival either in England, France or Germany-

Tur authorities of Brown University are beginning t0

museum of natural history. During the last year several a

large cases were placed in Rhode Island Hall, and betw®

and four hundred specimens of birds and animals were 20°

_ previous collection. A large collection of the implements

ican Indians was also added, together with several small

valuable collections of coins, both ancient and modem

a pense incurred by these improvements was met by @ fe

the College, interested in this department. Arrangements:

been made for adding to the Cabinet an extremely hiv

tion of birds, numbering about forty-five hundred; and

specimens in Mammalogy, Herpetology, Ichthyology»

NOTES, ; 127

The mounting and arrangement of the specimens is entrusted

to the care of Mr. J. W, P. Jenks, A.M., a well informed prac-

tical naturalist, and a most skilful taxidermist. Mr. Jenks was

one of the party assembled by Prof. Baird, U. S. Fish Commis-

sioner, at Wood's Hole, during the last summer, and spent six

weeks in making full collections of the marine animals of that

coast, so that this department usually so incomplete in our colleges,

will be well represented at Brown.

Amone the losses sustained by the burning of the Museum of

the Chicago Academy of Sciences was that of * the State collection

of insects, recently purchased by the State from the heirs of the late

State Entomologist, Mr. B. D. Walsh, for two thousand dollars,

but of great scientific value from the number of types it contained.

“The Smithsonian collection of Crustacea, undoubtedly the larg-

est alcoholic collection in the world, which filled over ten thousand

Jars, and contained the types of the species described by Prof.

Dana and other American authors, besides hundreds of new spe-

= many of which were described in manuscripts lost by the

e fire.

ow The a aeS of the United States North Pacific Exploring

Expedition, collected in great part in Japanese seas by the Secre-

tary in 1853-56. which, besides crustacea, included in the last item,

great numbers of annelides, mollusca, and radiata, most

of which remain undescri bed, except in iise also lost.

“The collection of the marine shells of the coast of the United

States, made by the Secretary and his correspondents oe

twenty a of dredgings and general research on every part of

the coas Maine to Texas. Nearly ev poe — was illus-

trated. by by specimens from every locality in which it occurs, not

only on on own shores, mi on those of p Hens sad te the Arctic

_ Sea, and in the Tertiary and Quaternary formations, showing the

effect of mee influences, geological age, ete. This collection

embraced about eight thousand separate lots of

“The deep-sea crustacea and mollusca dredged in the Gulf

_ ‘Stream by M. Pourtales, of the United States Coast Surv =] the

-~ Years 1867, ’68 and ’69, which had been placed in the f the

_ Secretary for descriptio

-~ “The manuscript of the ———— Zoology of the North Pa-

a cific Exploring Expedition u he command of Capts. Ringgold

a rs, in 1853-56 ; the ites by the late Dr. A. A. Gould ;

ibranchiate and Tunicate Mollusca,

128 > BOOKS RECEIVED.

saved, apa fortunately been in the Smithsonian Institut

the time of the fire

“The manuseript of the work on the shells of the East

North America, prepared for the Smithsonian Institution

Stimpson, illustrated by drawings not only of the shells, b

the soft parts, lingual dentition, ova-capsules and other

This work had been in course of preparation since 1849, and

of the species illustrated were new to science. A two |

dred of the drawings had already beet engraved on wood, but

blocks were destroyed with the rest of the materai That

tion of the work containing the synonymy of the species alti

described was epi having been in the house of the Secretary

the time of the

“The manuscripts and drawings of a work on the Crustacea

North — , in preparation for the Smithsonian Institut

Wm. Stimpson. <A series of ‘“ dredging papers, ig

abstract of e result of explorations by ‘the Secretary on @

of the coast from Nova Scotia to Florida, and in the Gulf of M

ico, chiefly valuable for the study of geological and bathyme

distribution. The descriptions (as far as completed) of mb

Pourtales, prepared by the Secretary. A portion of these

tions had been published i in the ‘Bulletin of the Museum 0

parative Zoology,’

ee BOOKS RECEIVED.

0. and Height of the Elevated Plateau in which the Glacier of New £

G its ori ns By J.D Dana. 8vo, , 1871.

~ Maps a the ir ha and er Geyser Basin, Fire Hole River, Wyoming Te B E

Fellow Stone Lake. From Surveys under the Department of the Interior. By

rvey under Dr, F, V. Hayder + Gen.

Preliminary j peie in Lake Superior, under Bv't Brig.

Agri leului Hiii Nov. and Dec, 1871. [Contains “ Entomo

B y T. Glove T Entomologist J l

h odiacere oo Carices Boreali—Americane, By Stephen T. Olney-

cies JEN p I. j ioa Dd sil.

ie anda No.8. By R. s. San. Francisco, P. Beo!

etan ts %Misenm. ie EaU rative Tora You E No.3. Letter cone

redging: yL

Annual Report of the eer a tg of the Interior, Gov. document. 8vo Paes) Lge

Report on Geo ‘al Structure ge ate al or age Z Afia Edwa

Dawson, er sted J. Harrington pn Map and 3 plates.

ort ve cee of rince Edwa ia beds Dioni reai oe ee

ee of New ‘ue of Birds of the Families Troglodytid# and Tyran

s reets.

renee, ae ‘Fre H.S

Catalogi a from iby collected by J. A. Mc Neil. BYT a

Das Graterfeldiet Gaudir By Dr. L. W. Schaufuss, Ra pp. 2 i

Jahresbericht der Ne Naturforschenden Gesellsch haft in Em 1870. avo. ppt Ist. and 3

us baie berichte chte der sea der Wissenschaften, Ixi Band. 1 Heft.

9. ien. 1871.

oiae Schriften der rforshenden Gesselschaft zu Emden. xv. Sv {

| eee gik ongelige'. Panske, T Roberti yx Herd Forhandlinger og dets

<. No. 1871. No. 1. 8vo.

Ve erhand in oan ee ao A m a Vereines der preussischen Rheinlande und M

hie fur ye ini 1871. 4to. Braunschw Jan. 1

eedings Academy ‘at. Fp ily of aan te "Part, “Apr-Sep. isi. O i

A series of pa; pers on Concholi ogy. aac r Lea, oats: thea > Dec.. Jam

Bulletin of the Sng oi ry, eal Deda ` Dee.

Journal of t ‘in Institute, Tan. Le p ESTA ' wedi :

Amer, Journa Jan, ‘ature. Nos. for

Land and or Dec. The Field. No

le E pos © Newmans Entomolgist. Dec. Jan.

gs p

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol, VI.— MARCH, 1872.— No. 3

EEEN OD

THE BREATHING PORES OF LEAVES.

BY PROF. T. D. BISCOR.*

Ir the outer layer or skin be stripped from the surface of the

green colored parts of plants and examined under a low power of

the microscope, the stomata, or breathing pores, will appear as

green specks in the otherwise colorless membrane. Their obj

is to open and close communication between the eee

Space always existing between the individual cells, and the outer

atmosphere.

The sausage-shaped cells constituting the essential part of the

Organ are called the pore cells. They have the power of separa- :

ting from each other in the middle, thus opening a free way for the

air to the interior tissues; or in certain conditions of light and

2 _ ple of little ante-chambers before reaching the great

130 THE BREATHING PORES OF LEAVES.

der the surface, or raised above it, or surrounded by a rit

smaller cells with thinner walls than the remaining epiderm

Immediately under the stomata are empty spaces, of i

form and varying size, called breathing rooms. They are

nection with, and form a part of the intercellular space whic

ramifies through the entire structure of most tissues.

dowed with all the peculiar properties of their natural st

were they always existent in their peculiarities, only sm:

the leaf was younger? Or, have they grown out of a sing

by the process of subdivision and after growth? Do théy

to the epidermis, or to the chlorophyl bearing tissues

Two examples, studied in their structure and history, will

some light on these questions.

Gasteria verrucosa, of the aloe family shows, seatte

the surface, small, thick-walled squares with a deep cavity

centre (Pl. 3, fig. 6). These squares fall at the juncti

little cone in the middle. In the centre of each square,

tom of its cavity, can be seen a narrow slit. Various $

will show more of the structure. Pl. 3, figs 7 and 8 repre

horizontal slices seen from below ; i.e. inverted on the

the microscope. The razor in fig. 8 has passed through

cells, and in fig. 7 just beneath them. In fig. 7 you see,

ing through the green pore cells, the thick-walled s¢

was so plain in the surface view. The vertical sections,

10, show the thick outer wall of the epidermis and the li

or protuberances seen in the middle of the cells in fig.

9 it will be perceived that the opening between the p

not a plain straight-walled cavity, but that the two ¢

in the middle, and again by means of horns or protub

nearly in contact above and below, thus making as i

room. The striped portion under the pore cell in fig:

sents a thickening of the cork layer which has formed

lies on a little lower plane than the rest of the dra

square cavities above the pore cells may be called the

of the stomata. When you drop a little of Schultz’

THE BREATHING PORES OF LEAVES. 131

lution on a section like fig..9 the thick outer wall of the epider-

mis, especially in the outer half, turns deep brown, a color whic

follows down the sides of the cavity, extends as a very thin layer

through the slit, and fades out on the walls of the rectangle below ;

the substance thus colored is cork, or of the nature of cork. The

main portion of the walls of the pore cells, and all the cellular

tissue underneath, become violet or purple; the reaction of cel-

lulose. The little grains in the cavities of the pore cells are of a

bright blue, betokening starch; and the granular mass of proto-

plasm in which these are embedded becomes yellowish brown.

In studying the development of this complex organ, we take the

youngest leaf of the plant, and find on its base (the youngest

portion) no trace or hint of stomata. A very little higher up we

find the epidermis appearing as in fig. 1, many of the cells hav-

ing built a partition across their front end cutting off about a

quarter of the original cells. .These small cells are distinguished

from the remaining portion of the originally single cells, and from

the undivided cells, by being filled full of granular protoplasm

while the other cells are only partially filled with the protoplasm

constituting the nucleus. These little cells, called mother cells,

soon grow so as to become longer than broad, and are raised by

the more rapid growth of the surrounding cells so as to leave an

air space below (figs. 2 and 4). An approach to a spherical form

is now made by the mother cells, and the walls of the neighboring

cells are a little thickened with the deposition of cork substance

giving the first trace of the thick-walled square of the ripe sto-

mata. Next the mother cell divides by the formation of a thin

` partition which runs in the direction of the point of the leaf, and

is perpendicular to its surface. Soon this partition thickens in

the middle (fig. 3) and splits through the thickened portions to

within about a fifth of each end. All further growth only effects

minor changes in the form of the cells, or an increased thickening

of their wall. Figs. 4, 5, and 9 show the various stages of growth

in cross section, and fig. 10 in longitudinal section.

In Tradescantia discolor the stomata, quite different in ap-

pearance, are more readily seen from the surface. (Fig. 14.)

The peculiarity of these stomata consists mainly in the structure

and form of the epidermis cells immediately around them and

constituting a part of the stomata apparatus. The form and ar-

rangement of these cells are shown in figs. 16, 17, and 18. The

132 THE BREATHING PORES OF LEAVES.

double lines in fig. 14 between the ‘‘help pore cells,” as these

surrounding cells are called, are formed by projections of o

cell over another, as shown at a of fig. 17, which “a

from above would show two contours to the same cell ne

the same plan.

The development of these stomata is, easily traced in the

ures. The mother cell, shown in fig. 11, grows less rapid]

the surrounding epidermis cells, whose Waits therefore stre

as radii from its four corners. Thin partition walls are t

across between these radii cutting off from these side ce

cells as-shown in fig. 12; at @ one of these side cells

been formed, and two at b. Almost immediately aft

a pair of end cells are formed in a similar manner; and a

formation of the four help pore celis, the two pore cells are

as described in the Gasteria verrucosa. Figs. 15, 16, and 17

in cross sections the development of these organs, and

shows the mature state in longitudinal section. The air

_ do not exist at first, but the unequal growth of the sur

_ tissues causes tension which splits apart the walls divid |

cells, and thus forms and enlarges the air spaces ; and in

manner are formed the openings between the pore cells

selves.

The two examples described may serve as types of two

of stomata, in one of which the pore cells are surroune

dinary epidermis cells, and in the other by modified cell

pore cells. Within these two classes are to be found

differing from each other as variously as the leaves in

great classes net veined and parallel veined.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 3.

Figs. 1,2,3. . Surface views of epidezmis of Gasteria verrucosa, from

fAivid

o the two pore-cells.

Fig. . posa section of same pN as No. 2.,

‘ig.

g k dae view of full-grown ‘eat, showing two stomata.

Hig. n Stomata fully grown seen from beneath, the plane of the di

Fig. 10. | section of the same.

American Naturalist. Volk VI. PL3

oe.

BISCOE ON THE BREATHING PORES

AQUEOUS PHENOMENA OF THE PRAIRIES. 133

Figs. 11-14. apt views of epidermis a micas discolor, from first appearance

mata to maturity of the

Fig. Th: ie edie of about the age of. Ne ge 2, b.

Fig. 18. i ee section of the

X 400. e arrows indic: ir ne direction of the point of the leaf.

AQUEOUS PHENOMENA OF THE PRAIRIES.

BY PROF. H. W. PARKER.

Tur igneous scenes of the prairies have become very common

place in description. But where is there any account, either scien

tific or popular, of the interesting aqueous phenomena, in winter

and in summer?

How it may be in the region protected on the north by the Lake

Superior highlands and affected by the air of the lakes, the writer

does not know, except that the temperature is much modified.

But in central Jowa intense cold is of frequent occurrence, and there

are conditions along with it that often bring out the splendors and

wonders which we associate with arctic scenes. Parhelia, or mock

suns, at morning or evening, are common ; without exaggeration it

may be said that they equal the real sun in brilliancy, and are in-

deed blinding to the sight. After witnessing them, an eastern man

regards all that he has seen of this phenomenon at the east as in-

significant. So likewise, mock moons, and both lunar and solar |

halos, crosses, and far-extending complicated circles of light, with

bright spots at the intersections, may be mentioned as sights by

no means unusual, and often of great magnificence and duration,

continuing a good part of the day or night. The writer remem-

bers, for example, a circle passing through the sun and reaching

horizontally quite around the sky, making part of a cross inscribed

within another circle around the sun, there being also four tangent

circles at the ends of the cross; and this was visible for several

hours before and after midday. The cloudless sky of the West

conspires with spicules of frozen vapor, to render these effects not

rare; for the West, at least beyond the vicinity of the lakes, is

bright and sunny at all seasons.

Feathery crystals, frequently of great size and beauty, and com-

pletely clothing every exposed ey are sometimes to be seen

my j i Se a Bras

134 AQUEOUS PHENOMENA OF THE PRAIRIES,

for a succession of mornings and would number many repé

in the course of every winter. The writer counted a do

exhibitions of this kind before one winter was half gone.

weather, a perceptible thin vapor comes on at night, not uncom

ly, when the air has a stillness favorable to the growth of th

leafage. In certain covered situations, where moisture rises,

webs are changed to a lace-work of crystals, the length and d

cy of which would be incredible to one who never lived in

climate. Ina cellar stair way, the plastering and shelf and í

article on it were soon robed with a polar-bear fur of i

ments, so long that the smaller articles lost their identity 0

It is well known that the fine porous soil of the West has a

longed drought is wonderful, especially along the beaten

roads.” Fissures over an inch across have been measured.

the subsoil can retain any moisture, with such openings

its heart, is a mystery. On the high treeless rolling p

ever, at the summit level between river systems, water is!

tained at a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet, though no

in sufficient quantity. The manner in which wells are

the supply of mills, in such a situation, is worthy of pub

A shaft is sunk, say thirty feet, and from the bottom ga

drifted in various directions, in the style of a mine,

to the length of a hundred feet. Thus, numerous very S

are struck, which, all together, give a large supply of w

workmen report these veins as occurring at somewhat .

tervals, and as indicated by a root-like mass of dar

it is affirmed, too, that they follow one general direc!

one instance at least, said to be transverse to the surface ¢

In this connection, reference may be made to the

cryptogams that penetrate almost every inch of the

gray clay beneath the top soil in that prairie region,

in all similar districts. This vegetation, threadli

stringlike, is coated with dark discolored earth,

dead, the thread lying shrivelled, black and loose in

cal cavity ; but the writer has found the filaments ap

and living at a great depth — even to the depth of

his memory is not at fault. mes

One very common peculiarity of the surface Mm

AQUEOUS PHENOMENA OF THE PRAIRIES. 135

noticed —the extent to which the water of the sloughs, or swales,

reaches up the acclivities on either hand, even where the interval

has a very considerable descent in the line of flow ; there is thus a

broad concave bog that must strike a stranger with surprise, for it

is not due to springs, but rather to a spongy retention of rainfall.

Some peculiarities of prairie storms should not be omitted in

this sketch. Nothing at the West is done by halves; when it

rains, it rains; and the general surface is so uniform, the soil -

to a certain depth so pervious, that something like a subterranean

lake is suddenly formed, which rapidly rises, flooding cellars and

even bursting up the cement of cellar floors by hydrostatic pres-

sure, if cement-has been resorted to, by the trustful immigrant.

One species of prairie storm should be elevated to the rank of a

genus. It is mostly nocturnal in its habits and prowls all night ;

its distinguishing characters are surges of rain, rhythmic roar of

wind like that of heavy billows on a coast, incessant quiver of

lightning, and overlapping continuous peals of thunder. It is as

if the spirits of the old American Mediterranean sea were claiming

again their last battle-ground—a suggestion harmonizing with the

ocean-like level of the country and the looming mirages of sunny

days. But the lightning of this species of storm seems to be

among the clouds, and the new-comer soon becomes fearless ; in-

deed, it does not require a long residence at the West to make

one familiar with lightning, however timid he may have been at

the East, although it remains true that thunder gusts are not

pleasant to a person who is out on the open prairie, where man or

horse is the only prominent object to attract the downward or up-

ward bolts of electricity. Finally there is something peculiarly

grand in western thunder. No hills break its smooth roll, and its

long crescendos and diminuendos give a breath and cadence to

the sound, as if chariots could be heard rolling on for hundreds

of miles over the level prairie floors.

The subjects of this article have not been in the path of the

writer’s special study; but he believes that the prairie region

offers a fresh and interesting field of observation in this regard.

The reports and books where the information might properly be

looked for, have failed to give him any information in respect to the

relative humidity of the prairie atmosphere—a matter of prime

importance. On average winter days, the writer found it from

forty to fifty hundredths of saturation.

REMARKS ON UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE

IN REGARD TO MICROSCOPICAL OBJEC- ~

TIVES AND OCULARS. ;

BY R. H. WARD, M.D.*

Tue nominal focal length of an achromatic objective, as used

by microscopists generally, represents its amplifying power as

actually used in the compound microscope. Even the equivalency

in amplifying power with a single lens of the same focus is no

longer distinctly realized, while the size and appearance of the

combination, its working focus, angular aperture, and microscop-

ical efficiency, are not even hinted by the figures used. The nom-

inal focus represents the magnifying power and those properties

dependent on it. Like other measurements, these must be stated

by comparison with known standards. To use diverse and u-

known units of measurement in cases designed to be compared

with each other is simply self stultification. To call two lenses,

of identical magnifying power, respectively one-fourth and

sixth inch lenses, is just as indefensible as to call two hous am

equal height, forty and fifty feet high respectively. To argue against

the existing looseness of usage in naming lenses, is only to stale

what everybody knows in regard to the advantages of uniform stan-

dards of measurement generally. So impressed are many mic

pists with the urgency of this question, and so determine

they to escape from some of the present confusion, that a com

tee has been appointed to report on the subject. Though that :

mittee is unprepared to report, it is believed that giving publi

to some facts and opinions involved in the consideration, may |

to useful agitation and to increased definiteness of ideas 4 2

information in regard to it. Of course it would be premature

i claim or expect accuracy of statement or safety of opinion

= such a complication of disputed questions; and what is said,

designed to be contributory and suggestive, and in RO

dogmatic or final.

The great variation in objectives of identical name is fa

bstance of remarks made by the writer at the Indian | È

faat 4 Aya ray s of Science.

iat the su

the American Acsociation

(136)

a UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES. 137

known and is undisputed. Among other people one-fourth of an

inch is less than four-tenths and more than one-fifth ; but among

microscopists it may often be more than the first or less than the

last. An indefinite number of figures might be published to prove

or illustrate this irregularity, the writer having been particularly

interested in making and recording these comparisons for more

than a dozen years, and Messrs. Bicknell, Biscoe, Higgins, Cross,

and many others having been especially interested in the same

study ; but it is idle to prove what everybody knows and admits.

So familiar have some of these apparent errors become by use, and

good usage too, that they have been often accepted as estab-

lished, even one of the latest authorities * stating the power of

the one-fourth-inch objective five times as high as that of the one-

In the early days of the compound microscope as a really useful

instrument, we find microscopists wishing that microscope makers

would “grind their glasses to some settled standard.”+ We are

willing to be more reasonable now, or else the conditions stated

| have become more difficult. We do not desire, nor consider it

practicable that the opticians should make all their combinations

of certain definite and conveniently graded powers ; but we do pro-

pose so to name our powers, if we can, that each number shall

Stoup together all those powers of which it is the nearest and best

description.

| Makers would doubtless be considered as doing a favor to those

who use their instruments if they would, after finishing lenses, care-

fully estimate their powers and name them by the fractions most

nearly representing those powers. But even if this were done, and

much more now when this is certainly not done, or nót done upon

such a uniform plan as to be satisfactory, microscopists should

always reëxamine their lenses in order to be definitely informed

in regard to one of their most important properties.

The easiest method of examining the magnifying power of an -

_ objective, by measuring the image (of a known object) which it

lend at a standard distance (now ten inches), was as well under-

: me a hundred years ago as now; a lattice of fine silver wire

ee human hair, or a scale ruled on glass, being used to measure

Se are ee ty Sa

nes

* Sufolk, Microscopical Manipulation, London, 1870.

f Bakeron Microscopes. London. 1742.

138 UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES.

the image.* A positive ocular t or the eye-lens of a negative

is used as a simple microscope with which to read off the measure- —

ment. Ifa separate piece of apparatus were to be made for the

purpose of measuring these powers, a positive ocular with microm

eter attached would doubtless be preferred, it being placed

means of the drawtube or some other contrivance at such a height

that its micrometer should be ten inches from the objective. —

reading would then give the real size of the image formed at that

distance by the objective, and the ratio of this number to the

known size of the object, say the distance apart of two lines on

stage micrometer, would give the magnifying power of the objective.

But as few are possessed of a large variety of apparatus, Or ¢

to buy a piece for so infrequent a use as this, the measurement!

generally made with an arrangement which every microscope oug

to include, a negative ocular with a micrometer in the focus of

eye-lens, whose advantages for general micrometry are s0

understood, giving the best view of the object and a sufi ici

good view of the measuring lines, that it is usually preferred for

that purpose. Of course the field lens is removed in meast

the power of the objective alone,{ but replaced for ordinary work.

If it should be thought best to name lenses by their magn if

power alone, the power ascertained could be at once attached

the lens, the present one-inch lens becoming No. 10, or x 10

but if it should be the usage to name it by its power when com- :

bined. with some standard (say two-inch) ocular, it pire: ;

marked No. 50, or x 50, or perhaps x 45 or x 55. Should

preferred to retain the nomenclature by inches of focal lens

power of ten diameters might be called a one-inch lens, and p

above and below rated in proportion. This plan is within

of the opportunities of every microscopist, while the plan of

ally employing a single lens of small aperture and exactly 0

ocus as a standard of comparison is only adapted to the

*The measurement of the image, formed by the objective ser on a sereen

tance of several feet, as employed by Dr. J. J. Woodward at the Army *

seum at pisemas n, is u Semis kika the most reliable soi of etern

amplifying po but is a sein which requires too many a pplications ang"

1 to be universally applic oo

t The convenience y aoras popularity in | this country p his bom

pe te ates the awkwa

¢ Dr. Higgins in ae American Naturalist, Dec.,

1870, p. 628.

roe It rt be 9 or 11, and thus the various degrees rs deat vw þe ¢

UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES. 139

the opticians and is not free from question as to what standard is

meant after all. The lens made as a standard is probably not a

one-inch lens at all (principal focus), for the principal focus is never

used in the microscope; and authorities differ as to whether it

should have conjugate foci of one-inch and ten inches, or ten inches

apart (one-inch and nine inches), Assuming x 10 as a one-inch

power, would be most easily applicable and unmistakable; and

_ this power, ten, divided by the ascertained power of any ocular

or objective would give the equivalent focal length of that objective

or ocular without comparison and beyond dispute.

The chances -of error in this case are the same as in ordinary

micrometry, with one or two additions, and should in all cases be

ascertained in order to test the reliability of any series of observa-

ions. They are due to the uncertain value of the divisions of the

stage micrometer, to the like (but less important) variability of

the measuring scale, to the uncertainty as to the exact optical cor-

respondence of the lines selected for comparison in the two scales,

and to the uncertainty as to obtaining exactly the assumed dis-

tance between the upper scale and a given point of the objective.

The first of these errors is the largest, and its magnitude would

surprise many who have noticed and admired the remarkable

“perfection” of the common micrometers. A micrometer which

ought to be the best in the writer’s possession, with lines 100, 1000

and 2000 to the inch, has a certain error of .02 and a limit of error

of .035. This is entirely too much latitude for a single source of

error, and of course it is nearly eliminated by comparing a large

number of spaces belonging to at least several different scales,

rejecting any scales which by differing widely from the average

standard are presumably erroneous, and averaging the rest. The

remaining sources of error may be similarly reduced by averaging,

though their aggregate limit of error, ascertained by comparing the

average measurements with extreme figures beyond which there is

va Possibility of doubt, will be found to be very small and incon- -

siderable.

The standard distance of measurement in estimating magnifying

powers may be stated to be, at present, ten inches. The distance

of five inches has been recommended, even somewhat recently,*

and eight,+ nine,t and ten§ inches have been successively used.

* Brocklesby, N, Y., 1851. + Baker, Lond., 1742.

t Fokes, Esq.. P.R.S., 1742. § Lardner, Carpenter, Suffolk, etc.

140 UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES.

The smaller numbers were evidently too small, and the last

inches, seems to be permanently accepted as most correct theo

cally and most convenient in use. If, however, the metric syst

were to come into general use, this distance would be change

two hundred and fifty millimetres with increased convenience

with a scarcely appreciable difference in results. The sooner

a change is made the better, provided it is certain to come at all

and possibly it might be considered only a fair concession to

convenience of the great number of continental microscopists

to the excellence of their metric system, to make this a

out further delay.

The propriety of measuring the image at this standard dist

when estimating the power of objectives or oculars is undispt

and it would seem equally undisputable that the whole powe

the compound microscope should be obtained in the same mal

were it not that the authorities have always differed in regard to th

subject. When Hooke, Griffith, Hogg, and other eminent aw

ities have directed that the image should be measured at the

tance of the object on the stage, and Lardner, Carpenter and

folk, in common with most microscopists, measure the image |

inches from the eye wherever the object may be, it is useless to

peal to authorities. It would seem, however, that the former cuit

tion, to measure the image at the distance of the object, must

an adverteney which could lead only to confusion. The writer

fully stated this question in a recent review,* and theren

further discussion of it here.

A more difficult question is as to the point in the object

which the measurement should be made. If the objective

optical centre and we could find it, there would be no diflic u

the case. But the modern objective has no permanent opue

tre, at least none that we can easily find and use, and unless

one can give us a better rule, we may be obliged to meas™

the bottom of the whole system, or from (about) the cent

lowest pair or set of lenses. Mr. Charles R. Cross} has pr

to evade this difficulty by measuring ten inches between

_ jugate foci used, without regard to the position of the obje

plan which would be very eligible with high powers, but

venient if not inapplicable with low powers, since few co

*The American Naturalist, June, 1871, p- 229-

t Boston, 1870

UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES. 141

microscopes have a body short enough to bring the conjugate foci

within ten inches of each other-with very low objectives, and, if

they did, the magnifying power, instead of being that generally

used, would be greatly reduced or altogether suppressed.

The very low power objectives (say four and five-inch) are usu-

ally mounted short in order to leave sufficient room between them

and the stage,.and their power as ascertained by an arbitrary rule,

would be greater than that at which they are usually worked, un-

less, in their ordinary use, the draw tube were habitually raised

enough to compensate for the shortness of their mounting.

At what point of screw-collar adjustment the angular aperture

and the magnifying power should be computed, is one of the most

complex questions involved in the discussion, and an entirely un-

settled one. Most makers state the angular aperture of their

lenses at its highest point, but no such uniformity of usage exists

in regard to their magnifying powers.

With the lenses of a dozen years ago this would be comparatively

unimportant, but with many of the high-power and high-angle

lenses of the present day, the effect of the screw-collar movement

is too great to be disregarded. It has been proposed, and would

be most easy, always to rate objectives at their arrangement for

uncovered objects, this being a naturally fixed point, and the only

one at whichthe maker’s judgment in regard to the accuracy of the

correction is usually known: but this usage would greatly under-

tate many of the high objectives. On the other hand, rating them

at their highest adjustment, or at an average between the two,

might be vitiated by the fact that the point of highest correction

is not a natural and fixed one, but is somewhat dependent on the

judgment or caprice of the maker, some lenses of equal power

being capable of a much larger range of corrections than others

are. And finally, if we could agree upon some standard thickness

of glass, and the glass were sufficiently uniform in refracting

Power, the same standard would scarcely be convenient for all

Powers (low powers being generally worked by the great majority

of microscopists through glass, say rto or ył inch, for which

many high powers are incapable of good adjustment), and few mi-

eroscopists are sufficiently expert in the use of the screw-collar to

make the same adjustment from the same glass-cover. Adopting

the highest point of adjustment would perhaps involve the least

change from present usage; and in cases of unusual interest or

142 UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES.

importance it might be well to give both extremes, or else to:

ify the angle and power at which the combination was work

accomplish the results specified. Attention need hardly be call

to the fact that this great increase of power and angle, amounti

sometimes to more than one-half of the minimum amount, is d

entirely, not to the interposition of the cover-glass or other m ed

but to the change in the relations of the lenses caused by t

movement of the screw-collar. Where an extra front of diffe

properties is added, we have essentially another objective wh

power and angle should doubtless be separately stated. a

The use of linear measurement in recording and stating po Í

has become so general that there may now be said to be

respectable deviation from the custom. In the early histo

microscopy, powers were generally stated, according to the 7

flatness or depth of the object, in superficial or cubical me:

and it was plausibly urged that this represented the real

enlargement of the natural object; but, aside from the

venience: of the large and often incomprehensible numbers

obtained, this method gives in one sense the magnifying

but in no sense the microscopical power employed. The p

see small things depends, so far as real or apparent siz :

cerned, on the distance from each other of minute po

structure, and this is in the exact ratio of the linear mag

power. Squaring or cubing this power has acquired a su

of sensationism, if not of charlatanism, and is generally av

in science. ce

If anything could be more confused and confusing 4

different real and nominal powers of the objectives, it 3

the corresponding powers of the eye-pieces or ocu ATS. 4,

without any pretence of uniformity, and named without ant?

attempt at significance, it has seemed until recently that no ©

from the confusion was to be looked for. Yet it would see

convenient and altogether unobjectionable to have the o%

named as to express their magnifying power, and the p

doing this has been already introduced into this country

microscopists have re-named their oculars by their m°%

power, on the basis of one-inch to ten diameters, and Tam

by Mr. Bicknell that Tolles has already adopted the same

naming those of his manufacture, discarding the letter

ture (A, B, C,ete.) and selecting 2 in., 14 in. lins 2

UNIFORMITY OF NOMENCLATURE IN OBJECTIVES. 143

* in., and }in., giving powers of 5, 74, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40

diameters. The writer has applied the same names to his oculars,

applying the intermediate fractions 55; in., žin., and }in., to inter-

mediate powers; and he is satisfied, by experience of its con-

venience, that this nomenclature only needs a trial, to secure its

adoption by all who use the microscope for other purposes than

amusement. Of course any microscopist, having determined the

power of an objective and the powers of the microscope when that

objective is used with his various oculars, can obtain the powers

of his oculars by dividing the latter numbers by the one first named,

and can then name his oculars, like the objectives, either by their

magnifying powers or by their equivalent focal lengths. The

rivalry of makers and the interests of trade are not involved in

this case as in that of the objectives, and there may be no reason

why this plan,if as acceptable to microscopists generally, as it has

been to a few, should not come into immediate use.

In order to work the objectives and oculars at their standard

powers they should be of course, about ten inches apart either by

length of compound body or by use of draw tube ; and it is believed

that most objectives whose corrections are accurate enough to show

any difference will work best at about this distance. Should a

decidedly different distance be used in any observations of impor-

tance, it would be well to state that fact in recording the observa-

tion.

In reviewing this subject, the following points would seem to be

reasonably well settled. Objectives should be, and could be toa

much greater extent than they now are, rated according to a uni-

form standard. They should be named not arbitrarily, but in a

manner indicative of their magnifying power. Ten inches is the

standard distance of measurement in estimating powers. This dis-

tance should be taken from the eye to the rule by which the meas-

urements are made, without regard to. the distance of the object

on the stage. Magnifying power is always stated in linear meas-

ure. The magnifying power and angular aperture, as well as the

maker’s name, should be engraved on all objectives, and added to

all particularly important drawings made by their means. Ocu-

lars Should be named, like the objectives, in such manner as to

indicate their magnifying powers or equivalent focal lengths.

The following are some of the more important queries which still

remain open. Should the standard one-inch objective be charac-

New Jersey, the last remnant of the once mighty t

a tains of Sussex to the sea-beach of Cape May, are

"stone weapons and implements, popularly considered

144 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

terized by magnifying ten diameters as used in the

ten inches (254 siltlimbtres) to nine and five-sixths incl

millimetres)? From what point in the objective shall

tance to the scale be measured? At what point of s

adjustment shall the objective be placed for rating its angul

ture and amplifying power? Should the name ocular be

tuted for “ eye-piece” in hgeneral use?

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT, M.D.

——tOe————

Fig. 9.

1-2 natural size.

Tuners are many people still living who remember t

pe; and to-day seattered all over the state, fron

_ property of these aborigines, and by them fashioned in

shapes, sizes and of the various minerals that we no

Liars uote javelins, harpoons, Ppor

mers, | s, mortars and pestles, pipes, 4

pe shapes of chipped jasper ; all these, in va

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

yearly turned up by the plough, gathered, as ‘curiosities,’ or

momentarily gazed upon and thrown aside to turn up again, more

broken than before, and so more a puzzle to him who finds them.

Again, at odd times, a ‘‘deposit” is met with, deep in the soil

and a neighborhgod may have the even tenor of its way disturbed

by the wise comments of village sages, who ponder gravely over

the “injine things” and never think to preserve them. A record

of a number of these “finds,” however, has put us in possession

Fig. 10. Fig. 11.

1-2 natu ral size. 1-2 natural size.

of this fact, that the banks of our rivers and larger creeks were

the favorite localities of these people of the stone age,— these

Indians, if you choose —a people who had at no time a knowl-

edge of metals, unless perhaps they utilized the many masses

ot native copper, which even a century ago were still to be found

in some localities (neighborhood of New Brunswick, Middlesex

and Somerset counties). There are yet savages in their stone

age; and it was not many centuries ago that a people along the

laware River fashioned from its sandstone and porphyry peb-

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 10

146 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

bles the weapons and implements their primitive wants suggest

These “ relics” are now (with exceptions to be mention hele

ter) surface-found specimens; but when a hundred or more

gathered together and carefully compared, we must come to one

of two conclusions; either that there were many execrable work-

men among their tool makers ; or that the age of the crude spec

imens far exceeds that of

finely wrought relics.

found on the surface, ye

can scarcely imagine that

people who could fashion

latter, would deign to utili

may, there is always 48

tion from poor (orimitis

good (elaborate), whic

indication, we believe, of

lapse of years from very

cient to more modern ti

from a palolithic to & y

lithic age ; and long after BY

introduction of meta E

1-2 natural size. ; :

ones continually

tured. Arrow heads of stone, we know, are still in use.

surmise be correct, if a people as rude as they who fashio

wrought flints found at St. Acheul, near Amiens, France, ;

dwelt on the shores of the Delaware, and the relics arè as ri

as those mentioned above, were not such a people too pr

to wander from another continent? We believe this and ag

the first inhabitants along our Atlantic coast ane inlar

been autochthones,+ and that their “ flint ¢ hips ” are now -

* Nilsson on the Stone Age. Edited by Sir J. Lubbock. Page xi xix) SF aren

t We judge of our “Indians” by those ane = are now the esr i

REPES and finding stone implements as rude as those of A

the

Hoxne (see Lubbock’s Prehistoric times), we polek conclu ha if

of such “flints” were so primitive as to be incapable of a migra pom l

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 147

mingled with the more elaborate stoneware of their descendants ;

the so-called Indians of to-day.

Having made a collection of these stone implements and weap-

ons, it was natural to attempt Fig. 13.

to classify them at once, and

when we speak of things so

dissimilar as axes and arrow

heads, it seems strange that

there should be any doubt at

times, whether any partic-

ular specimen should belong

to one class or the other;

yet we have met with such

specimens, and our cabinet

contains an unbroken series

from the latter to the former,

from triangular arrow heads,

whose three sides scarce

measure an inch, to jasper

hatchets(?) a foot in length;

and these hatchets run as

gradually into axes, as the ar-

row points cease to be such, TT

and are oa atai lance a SPE or spears, as fancy dictates.

ugh k tol Se T

sa , the Esqu nimaux seem abe contented where they are, 5 it th ey are ry dif-

ferent eee from the siey = anag” ” We canno ot but think that there 1 was an eid

tochthon. ic people here in North America. and if an A

ve away or absorbed the primis race that ttle such rude aparen asone

no sep and , that we have figured.

them sa

345), “ It is my rept hat the great continents were already occu-

d, though sparse, eee when man was no more advanced

the lowest savages of to-day, and although I am far from believing that the

bol sate of civilization which now occur can } be aprit and accounted for by the

mst

esla much light on the very different amount of progress yria h has been attained by

races.” That is the migration from Asia that Bunsen claimed has absorbed

America mu

he relative positions of — and ocean may have been widely dif-

“rent from what now exists, or existed when Bunsen would date the Turanian migra-

fon from Asia,

148 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

The large jasper implement or weapon, fig. 22, may |

been a hatchet, lance head or ekin dresser, for owe — Y

ciding. It would be a great gain 6 the subject, had each of tl

various forms of ‘‘ flint implements ” a representative in the

i 1-2 natural size. d

an edge and blunt back ; grooved or not beet fors

and the latter being oithig implements of one oF more

without any hammer-like part, having been always b

mass of flinty rock and chipped into the desired shape

We will now again divide the axes proper into

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 149

not grooved,* and illustrate the various shapes that occur in

varying numbers. A majority of the axes found in New Jersey

are water-worn pebbles of sandstone, porphyry, granite, ser-

pentine, etc., that have originally borne more or less resem-

blance to some one of the shapes then in use. Such cobble stones

are usually grooved, on each side and beneath, and the stone worn

smooth upon the upper edge (Fig. 10), which is a common shape ;

or the groove circles the stone (Fig. 11). In a number of speci-

mens, the original surface of the stone has been ground or chipped

away from the groove making it a more marked feature in the im-

plement (Fig. 12). This

specimen has had con-

siderable work put upon

it, as is seen by the gen-

eral elegance of the out-

line. There is no indica-

tion of its having once

been polished; and the

edge, which is now mu-

tilated, was probably

never very sharp. As a

Tule, these cobble stone

axes are not polished

except upon the edge;

the axe (Fig. 10) and the

beautiful specimen (Fig.

15) being exceptions. In

size, axes of this des- 1-2 natural size (side view). 1-2 natural size

cription vary very much,

the little specimen (Fig. 13) being but three inches in length by

two in breadth, and is the smallest grooved example that we

have. It is of sandstone, and a repetition in outline of the more

accurately made specimen (Fig. 10). On the other hand, the

uncouth axe (Fig. 14) is an example of the maximum size of this

style. While this specimen, unquestionably, is an axe, it is of

such rude workmanship, that we can scarcely imagine any man so

primitive, as to be willing to make use of it. Its greatest length

Pro Shang a re eo aR Ne

Fig. 15.

*We will not include perforated stone axes in our description. That they occur

ny in New Jersey is probable from the fact of other perforated stones oceur-

150 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

is eight inches ; greatest width five inches. In thickness the stone |

varies little from two inches. The cutting edge has been broken |

off too much to determine if it was ever very sharp or not.

grooved axe (Fig. 15), found in Salem county, New Jersey, is the

handsomest specimen we have ever met with. As will be seen in

the drawing, it has a second slight groove or depression in front

of the main one intended for the handle fastenings. The

surface has been beautifully polished, the edge is still pe

equidistant from each side, and describing a very nearly accurate

circle. Comparing such beautiful work

We will now take up axes

grooves, and find at the outset that

are neither as numerous nor as Y

in outline as the grooved, cobble

specimens. Ungrooved axes, how

are more generally polished, have |

defined edges, and usually the €

posite the cutting edge is more or

pointed. The specimen (Fig.

sey. They vary but little from

shape or size, some few being but

half its length and the back tapé

s a rather sharp point. The aim

S TON of this specimen are: greatest

six inches; greatest width, scant three inches; thickness

tre, one inch and a half. Occasionally, an axe of this

was chipped out, and the beautiful mass of many colored i

(Fig. 17) is an illustration of this fact. Rough in oul’

unquestionably is, its intended use is unmistakable.

chipped edge extends beyond the end, both above

it may be that it should have been classed as a hatchet

a good connecting link between these two forms. — of

we have three fine specimens that present a good idea pees

vailing styles of small weapons. The axe (Fig. 18) ®

ee THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 151

a = Fig. 17.

Dey

i i

ise

: sagen i

binant

15g THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

phyry, and has been very carefully chipped and ground fi

water-worn pebble such as are now so very abundant in the bed”

and along the shores of the Delaware River, at and, below

ton, N. J. Prof. N

(vide ‘Stone

Scandinavia”) vou

Fig. 18.

pear to us how a

/ Natural size.

and one-quarter inches; its thickness at the commencemé

the polished surfaces one and _ three-eighths inches.

small axe, of rare shape, is

that figured next (Fig. 19). It

is of a fine grained porphyritic

stone and has been polished

over its whole surface. Its di-

mensions are nearly the same

as the preceding, though it is

not quite as wide as the for-

mer. The cutting edge was o-

riginally good. The back has

a ridge running obliquely across

it, from which the surfaces

slope at angles of forty-five

degrees. Had this been used

as a wedge for splitting wood,

certainly the back is not favor-

ably fashioned for receiving a hard blow;

in that case would have been much battered, in this §

still in moderately good state of preservation. This ¢ c

condition of the backs of axes is not unfrequent 4

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 1538

grodved cobble stone specimens. A third specimen of diminutive

axe is that given in Fig. 20. It is of a chocolate colored slate

` not commonly found in use among our antiquities. It has been

very carefully polished and probably had a fine edge. Its size

varies little from the preceding, and its general appearance rather

indicates it as an ornament, ‘a victory stone or charm,” rather

than a weapon. They are not uncommon, and sometimes occur of

a somewhat smaller size. Lastly, we figure (Fig. 21) a very rude

axe or that and hatchet combined. As will be seen by the illus-

tration, it presents many points of

resemblance to both a hatchet

proper and a spear head. That it

is not the latter, however, is evi-

dent from the fact that the base,

being the natural surface of the

stone, is uncut, and sufficiently

broad to enable the specimen to

stand upon it on a level surface.

The cutting edge being on both

sides and running into an obtuse

point, gives some points in com-

mon with a hatchet. It is, per-

haps, even more than the jasper

specimen (Fig. 17), a connecting

ink between axes and _ hatchets, Ras =;

and to these we will now direct .

our attention. aa

Harcurts.— What we here designate as hatchets, as distin-

guished from axes, are carefully cut jasper specimens, having no

blunt edge with which to give or receive a hammer-like blow.

They are usually smaller than axes and vary less in shape. Before

gaing into details with reference to the jasper specimens, we will

mention the crude hatchet (Fig. 9) and ask a -comparison of it

with the plate of a flint instrament given by Lubbock in Nilsson’s

“Stone Age.” (See foregoing foot-note.) We consider this a very

ancient “implement,” and it is one of several that rolled out of the

gravelly bluff that skirts the Delaware River near Trenton, N. J.

aving no blunt edge, we call it a hatchet, and from it have in

_ Succeeding years been evolved, through accumulated skill, the more

elaborate specimens. Prominently in this list stands the magnifi-

Fig. 20.

154 . THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

cent brown jasper specimen (Fig. 22). There we have a carefully

chipped hatchet, well edged on all sides, of a nearly perfect oy:

est length, six inches; and scant three-quarters of an inch

greatest thickness. This specimen is one of one hundred and fifty

dow near Trenton, N. J. The one figured is somewhat shorter

and broader than the others, which might have been hatchets or

lance heads.* They were buried points up, and were surrounded —

Natural size.

in position, had they been placed at the time on the surface.

men similar to those in this “deposit.” The bulk of t

tion was presented to the Philadelphia Academy ; and after

were stolen from that institution, the remainder were aepo»

safe keeping with the American Philosophical Society, ¥

now are. Figures 23 and 24 we have also designated as

although the specimen (Fig. 24) is marvellously like the +

scraper, as figured in Sir John Lubbock’s « Prehistomi

(3d ed., page 93, figs. 105-7), though just double the: as

Mila H

iis HT

“Heri

pr Ny

e u

itt

156 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY:

_ there is just this difference between modern or prehistoric

ers and the implements we here designate as hatchets, t.2., h

former have one flat, smooth surface, the plane of a single cleav-

age, the split of a single blow; while the hatchets have an edge,

bevelled from each side, which are both equally well and uniformly

chipped. ‘These more elaborate ‘‘hatchets,” however, may h

been used as scrapers. The more usual sizes of hatchets are

illustrated by figures 25 and 26. These give the average outl

also of a series of nearly thirty gathered from one field. The

should be no objection to the proposition that they were used

cutting tools. We have alread

that axes are equally small.

figures one from Ireland, in “En

historic Times,” fig. 98, which is} ;

small; and on page 182, speaking

Swiss axes, says, ‘‘ with few €

tions they were small, es

when compared with the mag

specimens from Denmark ; in

they varied from six inches to on

while the cutting edge had genera

a width of from fifteen to

lines ;” and again on page 98

ing of so-called ‘‘axes” OF!

of the Kjokkenmoddings, says

are . . . . rudely triangular

rangular in shape, with a cu

at the broader end, and t

half to five and a half m

| ESTIS length, with a breadth of onè

half to two and a half inches.” Now the New Jersey

differ only in this, that both sides are chipped, but otherwis

are identical. As we have abundant reasons for knowing

mussels were a favorite food, they may have been used to

their shells, having been found with heaps of half bur

shells; and certainly, inserted in a handle by securel,

the smaller or tapering end therein, they would make &

weapon. A tomahawk, for instance, to be worn in à be

in close combat, when the bow failed or the quiver of

Uae

AITO

. THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 157.

In conclusion we would call attention to the rude green jasper

hatchet (Fig. 27), that has an edge derived from a large chip

Fig. 24.

Natural size,

having been struck off, giving on one side a smooth surface, which

edge meets with the opposite

more gradually wrought surface.

This specimen agrees more than

any we have seen with the

Kjokkenmédding axes; and we

call attention to the similarity

of our specimen: with that

figured in « Prehistoric Times,”

Plate 1, fig. 8.

not the case, however, and their

‘Use as hammers is unquestionable.

a resented by the one given in Fig.

Fig. 25.

: Natural size.

Such specimens are well rep-

28. This hammer is seven

158 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

inches long and about three wide. Others occur somewhat

but there is no other important variation. Occasionally, an

usually shaped stone will be found to have been utilized as a 1

mer, having required but li

Fig. 26.

with a handle about one

of its total length; it has

a sort of edge, never

than one-quarter of an inch in

width, chipped upon it. `

handle has been som

ground down, but not

in any degree. Secure

ened to a handle, this b

well directed, would give an opponent a fearful blow,

imagine they were not

used as weapons, but

as hammers only; and

this belief is the more

strengthened by the

equally abundant pres-

ence of partially pol-

ished, oval cobble stones,

which we believe can be

best designated, consid-

ering all things, as

Cuisets.— Such a

chisel is that illustrated

here (Fig. 29). This

specimen consists of a

Stone that has had a beau-

tiful cutting edge ground

at one end, and two-thirds

of one surface has been

split smoothly off, making it, not a hollow gouge, bakit

chisel. The under surface is oval, rocking to an

while lying on that side. A sufficient number of suc

Natural size.

Fig. 27.

Natural size.

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 159

have been found to consider them as we have done above, rather

than as adzes, hatchets or ungrooved axes.

The specimens that we have described so far have been all ordi-

nary surface-found specimens— with one exception—and we can-

not see that their use was less apparent for that fact, although a

damper is thrown on one’s ardor in collecting them, when Sir John

Lubbock assures us that ‘‘ those found singly in this manner have

Fig. 29.

1-2 natural size. ea 1-2 natural size.

comparatively little scientific value;” but we have not alone met

with specimens thus singly found, but have met with several in-

stances where quite large deposits of “axes” have been encoun-

tered in digging cellars and similar excavations. For what purpose

this was done, nothing about ‘the find” gave any clue. It was only

probable that for the sake of concealment from enemies or other

purpose, a considerable excavation had been made and these axes

therein deposited. In one case, in digging a cellar in Trenton, N.

J., one-hundred and twenty were found. Again, in excavating the

A St eS aE ie Es

ee Fee ee

bey gee Oi Aes

ni Ta

Shaves

1871, pp.

160 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

“receiving vault” of the Riverview Cemetery, near Trenton, “a —

bushel basket full of axes were found, packed close together and six

feet under ground.” On the face of the bluff fronting the Delaware

River below Trenton, several instances have come under the notice _

of the author. In the first two instances, the specimens were all _

grooved cobblestone axes. In one instance, below Trenton, the

axes, over fifty, were all of porphyry, and were such as that figured

above (Fig. 16). It is not a little strange that in these “finds” —

of axes, we have as yet invariably failed to meet with any other

Fig. 30.

ee a OR

mer ay aa St ne

‘hott lee

1-3 natural size.

class of tools or weapons. One word as to ‘‘inscribed axes,” such ie

as that figured in “Dr. Wilson’s Prehistoric Man” (2d ed. past

412, Fig. 49). When we remember that axes such as these hive

ultimately become considerably ‘inscribed ;” and we Can mi

happy combination of Phoenician, Arabic, Hebraic and other

letters scratched here and there over the surface of many apt

mens, although not with the astonishing regularity of that give?

in the figure above quoted of the axes from Pemberton, Buran, n

Co., New Jersey. — To be continued in next number.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

A New Caratocus or Burrerriies.*— More than twenty y

ago Messrs Doubleday and Hewitson, in their classic WO™

genera of diurnal Lepidoptera,” commenced a synonymle

ules Sy Te Catalogue of Diurnal Lepidoptera, by W. F. Kirby: gwi

viii, 690. ; ue

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 161

the species of butterflies, then known attempting to refer them to

the genera usually recognized, or to those established by them-

selves. Since that time, the number of described forms has enor-

mously increased, while the labor of specialists has multiplied the

recognized genera at a nearly corresponding rate. Such being the

state of the case, a faithful attempt to reduce’ the chaos to more

or less complete order must be welcomed by every working lepi-

dopterist ; the task is in many respects a thankless one, inasmuch

= aS by its very nature it must soon become antiquated and no

amount of supplements can prevent the absolute necessity of an

entirely new catalogue in the course of one or two decades. Let

us then present to Mr. Kirby the thanks of the present generation

of American entomologists on the accomplishment of his under-

takin

The classification of the larger groups in the work under review

is mainly that proposed not long since by Mr. Bates—one which

| is undoubtedly an advance upon its predecessors, but which still

_ Seems open to criticism — Mr. Kirby, however, has altered some of

= names accepted by Mr. Bates, supplanting, for instance, Ery-

cinidæ by Lemoniide because the generic name Erycina proves to `

be preoccupied. The justice of this does not seem to us manifest ;

x in any case they are both antedated by the name Vestales

on to this group by Herbst as early as 1793, but which has

never since been recognized.

The treatment of the genera is independent, but rather unequal,

depending apparently either on the compiler’s autoptical familiar-

~ with the- included species, or upon the amount of study given

oy naturalists generally to certain groups. He has not hesitated

” Make some very radical changes in nomenclature, and these ap-

— us almost invariably just and in strict obedience to the

_ Principles exposed in the preface; indeed it seems questionable

W 3 : a . : * .

for er he has always been sufficiently sweeping in this respect;

| Nymphalide alone: and yet Mr. Kirby retains it in the

sense, which has indeed the unanimous consent of ento-

» but which cannot be defended by just rules of nomen-

162 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

such a step would have subjected him to harsh criticism, but no

doubt too it would eventually have gained acceptance and savel

the generation to come from a confusion and war of words from |

which we still trust they may be exempt.

As the author states in his preface, there are not wanting the

usual accompaniments of such a catalogue —“ magazine” genera;

but he has specified these and they are fortunately few in number,

The species of each genus are numbered and classed according to

the author’s views of their affinities, certainly an undertaking vety

difficult of accomplishment, which only the fortunate ability of the

- compiler to consult the large English collections cou'd render fea “

sible ; those which are unclassed are placed separately at the end

of each group; more intimate relationships are designated by a

peated numbers followed by a letter, on'y the first descriptions

and those of iconographs are cited, excepting where 2 species has :

been described under more than one name, and the dates an invase

riably added ; it is, however, to be regretted that the speci.e RO

menclature commences only from the twelfth edition of the ah ;

tema Naturæ.* Regional distribution is marked in 4 distinc 7

` column for more ready reference.

In the appendix, corrections are made, the work is brought :

down to March 1871, and the author has taken the opportunity Ke

alter some generic names. The index is very full and pa

Having already had occasion to use it some thousands ob ue

: vs isprint

we have chanced to discover but one omission and no M nm :

whatever. The synonymie words are printed in the same baba

the others but the genera are distinguished by capitals ; the pis

merit of the index consists in its condensation, it bewg f e

_ in small type and in quadruple columns, so that each w

alphabet hardly averages over a page of names. As p hi

one wholly of reference it will be seen how yaluable is such

ture. : ;

With regard to our own species, the author states in ae jee

that he has been in correspondence with American pes pars

the subject, so that the catalogue is quite complete. a n

point out a few errors into which he has fallen and mistaken t

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 163

an attempt here would be a work of supererogation. It should

however be stated that the author very often follows the lead of

those who announce — apparently without sufficiently careful

comparisons —the identity of many European and American forms ;

we are convinced that such instances will be hereafter shown to be

exceedingly limited in number. :

e work is one of great importance, and an indispensable

hand-book for any entomologist engaged in the study of Butter- .

flies. It is printed in a compact form, modelled upon a good plan

and published at a reasonable price; we trust that it may com-

pensate the compiler for the labor, vexation, and patient study

which such a task required.— S. H. S.

TorograrmicaL Arias or Massacuuserts.— There has been

recently published a topographical atlas of the state, which is of

such a character as to demand special consideration. It was com-

piled by Messrs. Walling & Gray, and seems calculated to mee

an existing and long-felt want. ;

It opens with a general view of the topography of Massachusetts,

Which is followed by a succinct summary of its history by Albert

H. Hoyt. This summary contains a statement of some of the

more important events characteristic of the period of settlement,

of the colonial period, and that of the commonwealth proper, with

lists of the most prominent public officers.

A rather complete history of the railways of Massachusetts is

sven by Edward Appleton, Railway Commissioner, while there

appears in another part of the work an abstract of School Re-

turns, includin

United

aa being many modifications suggested to the son by more

— Studies. While the classification of the rocks is by no

n satisfactory to the writer, the identification of many of the

Eo being very questionable, and while the recognition of the

bered : as organic is certainly premature, it should still be remem-

that the geology of Massachusetts is in no wise as yet

164 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. :

thoroughly worked out, and that this sketch with the accompanying

map will be likely to prove of great service to thousands, who

may by these means gain some knowledge of the structure of this

portion of the earth’s surface. a

A brief and accurate account of the principal vegetable forms

found in the state, also a like account of its more prominent

animals, might be introduced into this part of the volume, in sub-

sequent editions, with no small advantage to the young and to all

those who have not access to more purely scientific works.

The volume also contains a short sketch of the climate of Mas

sachusetts, with a climatological map, by Lorin Blodget, author

of “Climatology of the United States.” This is an interesting

feature of the work and is calculated to attract attention, espe

cially in view of the marked prominence which the subject has !

recently assumed.

Finally, there follows a series of maps to which the several

portions of the work already mentioned really serve, and properly,

as an introduction. Of these maps, three are general, one pemg

of the United States and Territories, another of New England, i

while the third is a railway and township map of Massachusetts.

There come next maps of the several counties of the state, on Z

scale of two and a half miles to an inch; and last of all, maps"

Boston and vicinity, and of the other principal cities in the i I

monwealth. p

In the construction of these maps no small expense han ai

incurred, and much care exercised. The compilers have a on T

themselves of the results of the astronomical, trigonometriot f

various local surveys, and have spared no pains in their eff | un |

render their work deserving of confidence. While absolute d

rectness has not been reached and is not claimed, a fair Aea ‘þe

accuracy has been very generally secured. Though the eee

Sa te Agee ens ee ee nae ne. Se nn Fea, eee Sr

hed in el ,

by no means equal to many of those recently publis : o

under government patronage, they are yet, for the ordinary mt |

ses for which they are likely to be consulted, calculated to ™ p

most equally useful; and while the government maps T°” or

are very expensive, these cost the buyer scarcely a tithe WP

tion, and will be of immense practical value in rendering ® ot

; he stal

knowledge of the topography and physical features of t wee

possible to citizens at large. cid step i

The publication of this atlas being thus an impor

a $ ~

ki F:

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 165

the right direction, it is to be hoped that it will prove widely use-

ful, in awakening and developing an intelligent interest in the ge-

ography and natural history of the state.— J. B. P.

Two Lare American Parers on OrxıTHOLOGY.*— Mr. Og-

den’s article is an acceptable contribution, but like most early

essays would have been the better for competent. supervision.

Riippel is not the author of the Planches Enluminées, nor can we

accept, even on Linnean authority, St. Domingo as the habitat of .

an Asiatic bird. When geographical names are totally inept, or-

nithologists cancel them; C. Dominica (L.) should stand as C.

Brissoni Wag., and C. Ludoviciana (Gm.) as C. miles Bodd., the

latter having, moreover, priority. Without criticising the specific

determinations, several of which appear to require modification,

we must indicate an oversight respecting the four species Mr.

Ogden has not seen. Arranging the eleven of the Academy’s

collection in three groups, according to the development of the

Wattles and carpal spines, the writer continues directly with num-

bers 12-15, which brings them under *‘ c, species devoid of wattles”

ete., which is not the case with all of them. Thus, C. miles is a

wattled and spined species, very near if not identical with C. per-

sonatus Gould, which Mr. Ogden correctly locates under a. Some

other species here admitted are probably invalid, as C. Uralensis

Evers., which is generally assigned to leucurus. The term “ Lo-

bivanellus” is not exactly synonymous with Chetiusia, as would

: Seem from the title of the paper, these names being merely two

of several that have been proposed for different groups of these

t birds. The new species is C. nivifrons, from ‘ Fazoglou,” belong-

-MG as we judge from the plate, to the unwattled group.

Mr. Lawrence describes Catherpes Sumichrastt, apparently a sec-

ond species of the genus, although, as_the-tail is wanting, he is

hot satisfied of its position. It is, he’says, “ rather a remarkable

king bird,” with the bill shaped precisely as in C. Mexicanus ; of

stouter form and darker colors, with small white abdominal spots

like the dorsal ones of that species. The type isin the Smithsonian

Institution, from Vera Cruz. Three new fly-catchers are Myiozetetes

* i

va mepris of the genus Chettusia (Lobivanellus), with a description of a New Spe-

a ook den. . A. N.S. Phil., Oct. 1871, 194; PEL Descriptions of New

i of birds of the famili i i idæ. By Geo. N. Lawrence.

i Thid. Nov, rs. vi. one. ‘amilies ria eas and Tyranni y

166 BOTANY.

grandis (Tumbe, Peru, type in Vassar College), Empidonax atri-

rostris (Venezuela?, type in Cab. Lawr.) and Myiarchus Yueat-

anensis. This last is highly interesting, owing to the novel

identifications it implies. It is what Mr. Lawrence in 1869 (Ann.

Lye. Nat. Hist., N. Y.) called M. “ Mexicanus Kaup,” whilst

contending, very properly, for the distinction between his cineras-

cens and Kaup’s bird. To everybody’s surprise, Kaup’s Mexicana,

only lately identified, proves to be what Baird called M. Cooperi

in 1 This announcement of Dr. Sclater’s, upon examination

of Kaup’s type specimen, of course makes quite a commotion in

the synonymy of the several species implicated.— E. C.

BOTANY.

New Parasric Prant or tun Misrieror Fammy.— Miss Mil-

lington of Glens Falls, N. Y., sends some specimens of the curious

new parasite which she discovered last summer in Warren and

Essex Counties, N. Y. and which have very much interested

our botanists, It grows upon the branches of Black Spruce

trees so abundantly that it has evidently injured, and apparently

killed, some of the trees most infested by it. Arceuthobium Oz-

ycedri of Bieberstein grows on juniper trees in the Caucasus rm

gion, and here and there in Southern Europe as far west as Spur :

This was the only species known, and the only habitat, until z

Sir William Hooker brought to light American plants growing :

on Pine trees in the Hudson’s Bay region and west to Oregm i

and gave a good figure in his Flora-Boreali Americana, referring ‘

it to Bieberstein’s species. Mr. Nuttall, however, distingus B

this American species as O. Americanum; and Dr. Engot

about twenty-five years ago distinguished two more species”

the far west and south west. These plants are a sort of ‘ale

_ toe, of diminutive size, with small scales at the joints int w

of leaves. They were unknown nearer to us than Hode .

mountat? =

bany sv

E a a a, E

See

and the Saskatchewan on the north, and the Rocky

on the west, until last summer, when Mr. Peck of Al

prised us by sending, for a name, a specimen of an Areeul! Pak

in fruit, collected by himself, if we rightly understand, mM po

selaer County, New York, inhabiting a black Spruce: -e

Millington, to whom belongs the credit of first detecting we f

plant, sent her specimens later. She found it in two localities :

BOTANY. 167

in great abundance. ‘The limbs of the trees affected were very

. much distorted: every twig bristled with the little parasite, and

some trees seem to have died from the effects of its absorption of

their sap.” It is curious to notice, first that a plant of this sort,

growing on the boughs of Spruce trees in such quantity as to dis-

tort and even destroy them, and in three (adjacent) counties of

a long and fully settled region, has been entirely overlooked, and

then, when discovered, found about the same time by two inde-

pendent observers at considerable distance from each other. We

may now expect that it will be detected through the whole length

of the Adirondacks, at least if it proves to be the same species

as that of Hudson’s Bay, as we think is likely. It grows, how-

ever, upon Spruce instead of Pine. The plants are diminutive,

and in Dr. Engelmann’s opinion, which is much to be relied on,

is probably specifically distinct. So he names it Arceuthobium

minutum. Curiously enough Mr. Elihu Hall found last summer,

in Oregon, a larger Arceuthobium also inhabiting Spruce trees,

and may therefore throw more light on the study of the New York

plant. The specimens are now in the hands of the botanist most

— to this investigation, Dr. Engelmann of St. Louis— A.

RAY.

; FLORAL CuRIOSITY.— A friend has brought me a Fuchsia, grown

in his parlor window, which exhibits one of those abnormal growths

not uncommon in the vegetable world, but which [ have not ob-

Served among Fuchsias. Two of the outer sepals are perfect

Steen leaves, precisely similar to the ordinary foliage of the plant,

pering to a broad petiole and uniting at the base, with the two

normal sepals, to form the tube above the germ. The rest of the

flower does not differ from other blossoms. It is an interesting

instance of the well understood fact that sepals and corollas are

Ste leaves, or rather advanced development of leaves. —

Hall of Illinois passed last summer in Oregon, where he

: was most industriously occupied in amassing 2 large collection of

e M Specimens. These are now being arranged and named

e will goon be offered to subseribers in sets, at eight dollars

= hundred Specimens. The magnitude of the sets of Phæ-

ngamons and Vascular Cryptogamous plants may be rightly

E. Hàrr’s CoLLECTION or Drip Prants or Orecon.— Mr. -

168 ZOOLOGY.

estimated at from six to five hundred specimens in the fuller sets, a

with smaller ones as low as two hundred species. Some of these |

plants are new, many are rare, and indeed Oregon plants gene- :

rally are scarce in all but the older herbaria of this country. So —

that these specimens, generally very nice and complete ones, and i

in limited quantity, are likely to be taken up at once. As Mr

Hall may soon leave Illinois upon another exploration, applica-

tion for these collections may be addressed to Mr. Charles Wright,

Harvard University Herbarium, Cambridge.— A Gray.

Dispersion or Spores.— A. E. de Moravia mentions in “See —

ence Gossip” a carrot-colored fungus (Peziza aurantia), about two —

inches broad, which when blown upon emitted a dense €- ‘oud of

spores, with a distinct ‘fizzing” sound. Its spores were i

ranged in long tubes (asci) opening on the surface, but no ial

springs or other means of emission could be detected.

ZOOLOGY.

Serpents WARMED BY a Lizarp.—In the same glass ¢

two horned frogs (Phrynosoma, and really not frogs at all b

lizards), and two young serpents, the milk snake and the B 3

ied snake, each about ten inches long; when the sunshine a

the window-sill on which the case rested, the two serpents CoM

themselves together under one of the lizards, and were con-

pletely hidden by it, as if AEN pretection from the chill ait

the evening. — Burr G. WILDER

Frying Sprpers.—At Providence, R. I., Oct. 22, about 9 A. 1 :

with the thermometer at 55° and a strong breeze from the sou" j

saw numbers of small Lycosas run up the pickets of a fence ~

when near the top, raise themselves as high as possible by 84 ad

ening their legs, and turning their abdomen upwards. Immedi per

afterward some of them were blown off from the fence and

away in a nearly horizontal direction. of the

One, after leaving the fence, settled to within & poe tver

ground, and then moved slowly northward horizontally about

_ ty feet, where I lost sight of it. Another blew against int aa

thread extending upward caught on my face. Four gsi ž

ch long §

ase were

he spiders were about a sixth of an in

were probably young.

a ae ede se ee Ve

Bes

‘that

bet

ZOOLOGY. 169

On the 19th of November, which was an unusually fine day for

the season, with the thermometer about sixty degrees and a light

breeze from the south-east, I saw thousands of the same little

Lycosas on the tops of fences around Providence running about

and every few minutes raising themselves on tip-toe with their

heads to the wind and turning their abdomens up in the air.

They were very easily disturbed by the near approach of any object

and would either run down the fences or lay themselves down so

as to be hardly visible. I succeeded however, in bringing my lens

hear enough to several of them while their abdomens were eleva-

ted to see the thread passing from their spinnerets. It seemed to

come from the small middle pair only, but the posterior pair were

in constant motion, folding together over the middle ones and then

spreading apart asif to help out the thread. Occasionally, one suc-

ceeded in being blown from its position and carried along by the

wind, sometimes horizontally, sometimes descending gradually as

it went, but usually upward, sometimes at as high an angle as forty-

five degrees from the horizon. The upper part of the thread pre-

Served the direction which it had at starting while the lower end

was drawn down in a curve by the weight of the spider. They

were usually supported by one thread only, but in one instance I

or three threads passing from the spinnerets at once. In another

a single thread hung down from the spider while supported by an-

other thread in the air.

Most of the spiders hung by their spinnerets only and drew their

legs close against their bodies. - Others extended their legs side-

ways and one seemed climbing the thread as he went up.

I first noticed the spiders ascending about 10 A. M., and they

continued to do so until 4 P. M., though less frequently in the

oon,

: The threads spun in their unsuccessful attempts were streaming

countless numbers from fences, trees, posts and telegraph wires,

the dried grass in a pasture looked as if covered with one

T cobweb. — J. H. EMERTON.

Expryonic Larva or Burrerriies.— Under this head Mr. S.

Scudder publishes an article in the “ Entomologist’s Monthly

ine.” He points out the probable universality of the law

Caterpillars of butterflies present greater structural differences

“Ween the embryonic and adult stages of the same individual,

170 ZOOLOGY.

than are to be found in the adult larve of allied genera. By the

term “embryonic” he designates those caterpillars which have

not changed their condition since leaving the egg, a stage in whieh

they generally continue but one or two days. Some of the changes

alluded to are more or less gradual in their appearance, but they

generally occur at the first moulting of the caterpillar.

He incidentally remarks that in studying caterpillars “ the shape

and sculpturing of the head, the form of certain segments, and

especially the precise number, location and disposition of the

spines, thorns, and hair-emitting warts of the body will be found

to furnish abundant means of distinguishing the most closely

lied and minutely subdivided genera.” f

The differences he proceeds to describe ‘are not always in the

same direction ; for we have seen that caterpillars which in infancy

are clothed with appendages of a unique and conspicuous chan

ter, definitely disposed, display in mature life irregularly distri

buted, scarcely perceptible warts, emitting simple and nearly mi-

croscopic hairs; while others, which in their earliest stage bore

regular series of simple hairs seated on little warts, become r

sessed at maturity of compound spines, surmounting mammulæe,

so definitely arranged, but occupying a very different position to :

the hairs of early life. So, too, we find some caterpillars wh

a tuberculated irregular head in infancy, and a smooth and eq

one at maturity ; or the reverse, when the head is simple

and heavily spined or cornute when full grown ; others,

main almost unchanged through life. This latter con

again, Te

dition of

whether

we consider their characters alone, or their disposition.

the only other possible condition—do we ever find larv

ich beat

at birth, a

only irregularly distributed, simple, minute hairs in infancy, 8

„itis

regularly arranged special appendages at maturity Taa m

doubtful whether such a phenomenon exists in nature ; SHS

istic of embryonic larvæ.”

Proracatios or Satmon.—During the past season

attempt to obtain eggs of the sea-going Salmo sa

limits of the United States was made at Orland on :

River ; and as this was also the first authenticated expe"!

ZOOLOGY. 171

confining salmon for breeding purposes through the summer and

fall, it deserves some mention. It was necessary to buy live sal-

mon of the fishermen near Bucksport in the early part of the sum-

mer, because later in the season they are scattered ovr the head

waters of the river in the wilderness. It was found that in com-

mon brook, river, or pond water of sufficient depth and flow, the sal-

mon would remain in perfect health from June till November. A

pond specially prepared for them in a very clear, cold brook proved

unsuitable, and every salmon placed there died. The seventeen

fish that remained at hand in the beginning of the spawning sea-

Son were kept in a pound built of stakes and nets on the margin

of a large pond. The area enclosed was some fifteen or twenty

square rods, and the depth of water about six feet at the deepest

point. Confinement within this narrow enclosure does not appear

to have hindered in the least the development of the spawn and

milt. Ten out of the seventeen were found to be females and nine

of them yielded eggs freely. The method of fecundation differed

from that commonly employed, in that the eggs and milt were care-

fully kept from water until they had come in contact. This meth-

: od is of Russian vrigin. It was in this case remarkably successful.

About ninety-six per cent. of the eggs were fecundated. They

Were taken between the 2d and 10th of November, and on Dee.

18th they were packed up, to the number of seventy thousand,

five hundred, and distributed in nearly equal proportions to the

three States of Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The conditions under which the seventeen salmon were kept

_ Preclude the idea that they could obtain any considerable amount

Of food, and there is no good reason for thinking that they ate

muting at all after they were brought from the salt water in

: which they were caught. They slowly fell away in flesh, and at

as the Spawning season were very gaunt, compared with their condi-

- tion in June. More noteworthy was their change in color and

et eS age eee T Fa Se a OIE yer Bere ey

shape. In color they were darker, with clusters of red spots on

* head,

back ™m Was very marked. The sides were flat and broad, the

= arched high, the head seemed disproportionately largé, the

172 ZOOLOGY.

jaws were long and curved.- At the extremity of the lower jaw

was a large, curved process that shut into a cavity in the roof of ©

the mouth. There was, indeed, between the two sexes as greata

difference as there is between the male and female of our common

domestic fowls. Yet in June there was so little difference that

only a practised eye could distinguish the male from the female

salmon. The fishermen who had been handling them all their lives

had never observed the difference. hs

During the process of spawning and after its completion both

sexes continue to fall away in flesh and soon the colors begin to :

fade. At the end of a month the process on the lower jawi

found to have decreased in size. Two females and one male taken :

from the water on the 23d of November, thirteen days after the

completion of the spawning, were forwarded to the Peabody Acad

men, a male, that was put, early in July, i

two hundred acres in Bucksport, and running into @ ih

November, was taken thence after ten days. This was the finest

specimen seen, a strong, stout-built fish thirty-four inches Jong anil :

weighing eleven and a half pounds. His colors were Unus i

deep, perhaps in consequence of the deep reddish color of oe

water, through which nothing could be seen at the depth of three

"G. A:

feet. —

Ax OrsrmoLocicar Brunper.—Having submitted the a

“ Bonasa Jobsii” (Jaycox; “Cornell Era,” IV, 182) 19 BE

thologist, requesting him to pass upon it, we are favored W A

following reply : — “ Newspaper science is rarely worth p

attention, but as the ‘Era, a publication of an institutiot

learning, notices a supposed new species of bird which, it aP.

is named by the President of the University, although ihe

by another gentleman, I suppose the article must be Tete

to the extent at least of blaming it for introducing ê ae

nym of the ruffed grouse. It is such a complet coil

_ same time is written with such ingenuousness, that I ie

what you ask and spare the writer’s feelings too. I a :

not one of the ‘striking differences’ that Mr. Jaycox

sufficient to characterize a new species and perhaps # new ally

are of the slightest consequence. Bonasa umbellus p

eighteen tail feathers, but is also found with sixteen, 35 |

eat oi eee

ZOOLOGY. 173

twenty, as in this instance. The alleged difference in proportions

of tarsus and middle toe is within the ordinary range of individual

variation ; while the points of color adduced may be matched in

almost any game bag— indeed, I do not see how the writer ever dis-

covered them, intent as he says he was on the edible qualities of

the bird, to which he had better have confined his investigations.

He is not to blame, of course, for knowing nothing of ornithology,

but he ought not to have rushed into print on the subject, when any

ornithologist would willingly have examined his specimen for him,

and kept him out of a scrape. If you think this bears down too hard

on the writer, ease it up a little; but I really think that Mr. Jay-

cox will in the course of time thank you for printing it; I remem-

ber that just such raps did some of my early lucubrations good.”

ALBINISM AND MerLANIsSM.— In the November number of the

Narvrauist is an article on a “ Singular Albino,” an ‘albino bobo-

link” (Dolichongx oryzivorus) ‘illustrating a rare and curious

condition,” being “of a uniform pale yellow, exactly like a ca-

nary bird.”

I would like to ask the writer or any of the readers of the Nart-

URALIST if ‘they have ever seen an albino bobolink marked other-

wise. I have one taken in this vicinity which perfectly answers

to the description given above. It looks precisely like a yellow

canary with the exception of size and pointed tail feathers. The

remark js frequently made by those visiting my collection, « what

a large canary that is.” This is the only albino bobolink that I

have seen, and it may be unusually marked, yet the description in

the Naturarisr so exactly corresponds to the one in my cabinet,

that the thought occurs to me that this perhaps may be the usual

Color of the albino of this species. Although albino signifies white,

yet there may be various shades of white. I find this statement

verified in my own collection. Before me is an albino mink (Pu-

lorius bison), muskrat (Fiber Zibethicus), two wharf rats (Mus de-

cumanus), two house mice (Mus musculus), pure white, and also

an albino red squirrel (Sciurus Hudsonius), meadow mouse (Arvic-

ew), blue-bird (Sialia sialis), two robins (Turdus migra-

ius), barn swallow (Hirundo horreorum), cliff swallow (Hir-

Wado lunifrons), white, but not pure white. They are more of a

dingy white. In the bobolink described above, it might be called

a Yellowish white. In the albino the eye is always red.

174 ZOOLOGY.

Albinism is much more common than melanism— the latter is

seldom found. In my collection of about two thousand specimens

of birds and animals (one thousand mounted) there is but one

specimen of melanism, a black woodchuck (Arctomys monax).—

Wm. Woop, M.D., East Windsor Hill, Conn.

Drepornes IN THE Gute or Sr. Lawrence.— Mr. J. F. Whit

eaves has during the past summer, according to ‘‘Nature,” dredged

in from fifty to two hundred and fifty fathoms in the Gulf of St.

Lawrence. Atadepth of one hundred and sixty and two hundred

fathoms a number of sea pens (Pennatule) were dredged, this ge-

nus not having previously been found on the Atlantic voast of

America. A Spatangus also occurred; and the following shells,

which are new or very rare on this side of the Atlantic : —Pe-

ten Gronlandicus Chemn. not Sowb., Arca pectunculoides Sacchi,

Yoldia lucida Lovén, Y. frigida Torell, Newra arctica Sars, Ñ

obesa Lovèn, Dentalium abyssorum Sars, Siphonodentalium vitreum

Sars, Eulima stenostoma Jeffreys, Bela Trevelyana, Chrysodomus

(Sipho) Sarsii, and C. Spitzbergensis, the latter shell occurring M

shoal water.

Tue Orion or Ixsecrs.— At a meeting of the Linnæan Society

of London held on November 2d, Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.RS. |

read a paper on this subject, which has always presented one a

the most difficult problems to the Darwinian theory. ee

great difficulty in conceiving by what process of natu al selection i

an insect with a suctorial mouth like a gnat or a butterfly could be

developed from a powerful mandibulate type like the Orthopter, :

or even the Neuroptera. M. Brauer has recently suggested thal |

the interesting genus Campodea is, of all known existing pei! .

that which most nearly resembles the parent insect stock, ale :

which are descended, not only the most closely allied Collem te

and Thysanura, but all the other great orders of insects. : ad S

insects we have a type of animal closely resembling certain d á

which occurs in both the mandibulate and suctorial series late ;

sects, and which possesses x mouth neither distinctly mando

nor distinctly suctorial, but constituted as a peculiar ty pe, © + io

of modification in either direction by gradual changes; withow oi

of utility. The complete metamorphosis of the Lepidopter> -

optera and Diptera, will then be the result of adaptive ne Fe,

brought about through a long series of- generations. — A- arr

ZOOLOGY. 175

@uaner 1x THe Hasrrs or a Birp.— The New Zealand papers

State that in certain districts in those islands the sheep are being

constantly attacked by the Kea or “mountain parrot” (Nestor

notabilis), belonging to the family of Trichoglossina or Brush-

tongued parrots, which infests the neighborhood. These birds are

seen sticking to a sheep and pecking at it producing a patch of

raw flesh on the loin about the size of a man’s hand, from which

matter continually runs down the side, taking the wool completely

off that part which it touches, and in many cases causing death.

The fact is of interest, as affording an instance of entire change

of habit within a comparatively recent period. The Kea, like

other birds of the family to which it belongs, was originally a

fruit-eater, or occasionally feeding on insects concealed in the

crevices of bark and rocks. It is only since the colonization. of

New Zealand by Europeans that sheep or other large mammals

have been introduced. The parrots are also frequently seen

tearing at the skins of sheep which have been hung up to dry,

and they were probably first tempted by these when their natural

food ran short in the winter.— A. W. B

REPRODUCTION oF Sturcron.—The following observations on the

_ Sturgeon of the Volga by Professor Owsjannikow and others are

recorded in the “ Bulletin of the Acclimatization Society” of Paris.

The sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), the smallest of the Russian stur-

geons, spawns in the Volga early in May on rocky bottoms, the

temperature of the water being at 10° R. (= 543° F.). The eggs

are readily fecundated by the artificial method. After they have

: been in the water a few minutes they adhere to any object which

7 they touch. The development of the embryo can be observed in

Progress at the end of one hour. On the seventh day they hatch.

At first the young fish are 0".007 (about -2y inch) long. At the

age of ten weeks they are nearly two inches long. They feed on

æ of insects, taking them from the bottom. Both in the egg

‘nd when newly hatched, the sterlet has been taken a five days’

JPurney from the Volga to Western Russia, and in 1870 a lot of

~~ €388 Were carried to England to stock the river Leith. This

*Pecies passes its whole life in fresh water. The other species

mhabiting the Baltic, Acipenser sturio, A. Huso, A. stellatus and

$ - Güldenstädtii, are anadromous. These species hybridize. and

freely, and from this circumstance some Russian savants have

Pronounced them only varieties instead of species. —C. G. A.

176 GEOLOGY.

PARTIAL DEVELOPMENT or EGGS WITHOUT FERTILIZATION.—

Hensen has observed that the eggs of rabbits, unimpregnated and

within closed cysts, developed themselves into polynucleated pro-

toplasmatic masses and fibres. Kupffer also noticed that

Ascidia there arises in the egg before impregnation a peripheral

layer of cells which, later on, after impregnation, becomes the ex —

ternal covering of the animal. More recently, as we learn from

the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopy”, (Ellacher has observed the

remarkable fact that even in warm blooded vertebrata the first act

of embryonic development, namely, segmentation, may take place

independently of impregnation. :

Frora anp Fauna or tae Azores.—The most striking fact

brought out by Godman’s ‘ Natural History of the Azores, oF

Western Islands,” is the wonderful amount of similarity between

the productions of these remote islands and those of Europe;

from eighty to ninety per cent. of the birds, butterflies, beetles

and ,plants being absolutely identical with common European

species, while from one to four per cent. only are American.

This is the more remarkable when we turn to physical maps for s

information and find that both the oceanic and aërial currents A

from the westward, so that we should naturally expect the Amer-

ican element of the fauna and flora to be much better represt™”

The difficulty, however, is to a great extent cleared up by Mt

Godman’s observation that the Azores lie in a region of storms

from all points of the compass ; and that every year these storm

bring numbers of birds from Europe, and no doubt also num )

of insects, although these are not so easily observed. wW

thus account for the enormous preponderance of European sp"

and this, taken in conjunction with the entire absence of !

genous Mammalia and Reptiles, causes our author to PE

theory of a common continental extension uniting these o

Europe as the origin of their fauna and flora. Had this been

_ and taking into consideration the vast time implied by the

_ of a thousand miles of country to the depth of fifteen

feet, we should certainly have found the productions of the

to be far more endemic and peculiar than those of M

the Canaries, instead of far less so. ae

The most curious and difficult problem is presented by T

istence of a considerable number of wingless beetles of €

culiar to the Atlantic islands (Azores, Madeira, Canaries).

ZOOLOGY. 177

could not possibly, in their present condition, have been trans-

ported over the six hundred miles of ocean that now intervene be-

tween these groups. Mr. Wollaston has, however, discovered that

beetles have a tendency to become apterous in these islands;

many which are winged in Europe, or belong to winged genera,

being altogether wingless in Madeira and the Canaries. Some of

these wingless species differ in no other respect from their Euro-

pean allies, so that we may be sure the change has been effected

in a comparatively limited time ; and the fact that some European

Species possess both winged and wingless individuals’ shows that

the character is an unstable one, and therefore easily abolished or

retained as one or the other state becomes advantageous to the

species. We are thus at liberty to suppose that these wingless

Atlantic groups are the descendants of very remote winged an-

cestors, who were among the earliest immigrants to all these

islands ; and these being subjected to similar conditions, all became

apterous. Another strange phenomenon is presented by the Elas-

trus dolosus, a beetle of the family Elaterids which belongs to a

genus peculiar to Madagascar. A single plant, Myrsine Africana,

a native of tropical Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, is found

in no other group but the Azores where it seems to be common.

As another beetle of the same family (Elateridw) is allied to a

Brazilian species and is therefore probably the descendant of an

ancestor who came over in a floating log, we are led to speculate

on the possibility of this anomalous Madagascar beetle and S.

African plant having been introduced by a similar process ; since

the currents round the southern extremity of Africa partially

merge into the great equatorial current of the Atlantic which gives

tise to the Gnif Stream, and this undoubtedly reaches the Azores.

Mr. Godman had previously visited the Galapagos Islands, which

are only half as far from South America as the Azores are from

Europe, yet they contain hardly any identical species of birds,

Plants or insects. This is well explained by the fact that these

islands are situated in a region of calms instead of one of storms ;

and chance introductions being therefore a far rarer occurrence,

the early immigrants have all become modified, and have so

Stocked the country with their peculiar and well adapted forms

iy a new comers (if any do come) have little chance of establish-

ng themselves. — Airrep R. Warraor, in the Academy.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 1

178 ZOOLOGY.

CIRCULATION IN Insects.— Mr. H. N. Moseley finds the circu-

lation of insects to be observed most advantageously in the wings

of B'atta orientalis. The details and results of his methods of

observation are given in the ‘‘ Quarterly Journal of Microscop-

ical Science.” When B. orientalis casts its skin it emerges quite

soft and milk-white: at which time light may be thrown through

the body, and the action of the heart and valves studied to

advantage. The circulatory system of insects is injected with

difficulty from the heart: a more certain result is obtained by

cutting off half of one wing and injecting, through the cut edges,

either the removed portion of the wing, or the remaining portion

and through it the heart. Indigo-carmine, or Berlin blue solution, —

is preferred as the injecting fluid. Mr. Moseley places the fluid

in a short india-rubber tube closed at one end and furnished with —

a canula at the other, and forces it into the insect’s veins by pres-

sure of the finger upon the tube; a procedure which would seem ‘

to be applicable to many other cases. —R. H. W. : !

GEOLOGY. wee

Tae Cuantavgua Masropon. —The remains of a skeleton, be

longing to the extinct species of animal, Mastodon giganto

were discovered the twenty-fifth of August, 1871, in the r

of Jamestown, N. Y. These remains were found imbedded four ‘

feet below the surface, in soil composed of peat and marl, and

deposited in the Post-tertiary period; and were located wa

swamp, two acres in extent, situated upon a farm now owned by :

about one

small swamp, fet 2

mile north of the village of Jamestown. This ‘Anges

by springs, had been drained five years ago, and last ae

quantity, and consisting of slightly decayed twigs, of iar to ott

inches in length, identified as cone-bearing species, SIM oie

pines and firs, and remarkably preserved.

At the time of my visit, upon the 16th of Sep

mains were deposited mainly in the cabinet of the

tember, the

« Union 9

ANTHROPOLOGY. 179

and College Institute.” I also found a portion of the bones, par-

ticularly those of the smaller animal, at the residence of Prof. S.

G. Love, to whom I am much indebted for information bearing

upon the subject.

The left side of the lower jaw, preserved almost entire, was

two feet in length; and the size of cranium,:from sections ob-

served, was some three and a half feet in length. The depth of the

jaw bone was seven and a half inches ; its width six inches. There

were two fragments of one tusk; the point, three feet and seven

inches in length, six inches in width, with marked depressions

upon one side of surface ; the other fragment, two feet five inches

in length, seven and a half inches in diameter and much decayed ;

an intermediate section and the one adjoining the cranium were

gone. There were six teeth; larger ones seven and a half inches

in length, weight five and a half pounds, with mammillated emi-

hences (distinguishing the species), of about two inches in eleva-

tion. The enamel was well preserved. Sections of scapular were

thirteen inches long, seven inches wide ; fragments of ribs, twelve

to eighteen inches in length. A section of the ribs, as first

found, was five feet in length. Head of femur bone was also

here.— I should judge the height of the larger skeleton to be fif-

teen feet, its length seventeen or eighteen feet.

The smaller skeleton (found at a short distance from the larger

one), was probably seven feet in height; tusks four feet long, four

inches wide; teeth three and half inches in length; sections of

jaw and rib bones were also found.—T. A. Caeser, Leon, N. Y.,

Nov. 13, 1871.

A New Foss, Burrerriy.— Mr. S. H. Scudder has discovered

x new species (and genus) of butte from Aix which is con-

mained in the museum at Marseilles. He calls it Satyrites Reyne-

Sh after the direction of the museum. The specimen consists

Mainly of the two forewings, the venation of which can be made

out very satisfactorily. It is of the form, and has the general ap-

; pearance, of Portlandia, though nearest to the East Indian Debis.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Ftarneap Inprans.—I will give you now a short outline of the

x sita traditions of the Flatheads, comprising also their notions

About the globe, ete. 7 !

180 ' ANTHROPOLOGY.

The earth, according to them, is not spheroidal but flat, and

surrounded with water on all sides, like an island, and heaven or

sky is nothing else than a huge hollow mountain, covering the

earth, as the covering of a kettle. Before the creation, Skòmelten

(obsolete word, meaning mother, and which was substituted by

the word Skói); a woman very powerful, and who took existence

by herself, begot a son without assistance of man, and this i

son undertook to create heaven, and earth, and man; and for his

dwelling he chose the summit of the covering, namely, heaven, —

whence he took the name of Amédtkan, which means, He who sits

on the tops of the mountains; while Skdmelten, his mother, 1% —

mained above on another land beyond the waters; for besides out

earth, they thought that Amétkan created other worlds, under,

above and around us. Be

This Amòtkan was then considered as their invisible God, who

has also many sons, though no wife; and when the Indians sav

the whites for the first time, they considered them to be the natu- r

ral sons of Amòtkan, and consequently immortal, until they $8"

one of them killed by the Blackfeet.

‘The first generation of mankind became very wicked, and turned |

a deaf ear to the admonitions of Amdtkan, who, in his Wf ;

_ drowned them all in a general inundation. Amòtkan undertook à ;

second creation of a race of people, twice as tall as the first ae 3

but proving worse than the first, they were all destroyed by pi

_ which came from heaven. The third generation being êS ak

the first and second, was destroyed by Amotkan through e ee

pestilence. The fourth generation would all have been anh h .

on account of their crimes, had not mother Skomelten rte wre

with her son in behalf of mankind. The wrath of Am

appeased by the prayers of his mother, and he promised uae

destroy his creations again. But until that time the world w E

perfect darkness, there being no sun; and the people per they

suaded that the darkness was the cause of their wickedness itt

held a general council for the purpose of enlightening the W ‘ y

but as every one refused, Sinchlèp (a small prairie-wolf): right

the smartest of all the animals, undertook and sueceeded F people

ing the world very little less than the actual sun, and if ot

were very glad. But the animals of those times had t et

of speaking, no less than the people, and Sinchlep, being

cunning, interfered too much in their secret business, and nT

ANTHROPOLOGY. ‘ 181

ing by during the day published the actions which the people per-

formed in secret ; wherefore, in anger, the people took Sinchlep by

the tail, which at that time was very long, and fastening him to the

ground, prevented his being seen any more. The crow then of-

fered himself in place of Sinchlèp, but, being naturally so very

black, gave little light, and, unable to endure the ridicule of the

people, he retired with shame.

Finally Amdtkan sent one of his sons, called Spakani, to en-

lighten the world. Before doing so, Spakan? wished to marry

with a woman of the earth. In coming down from heaven, he

landed first in the camp of the Flatheads; but the people seeing

him, though very handsome, but so different from themselves,

refused him ‘admittance to their lodges. Spakani, very much dis-

pleased, left the place, and seeing near the village a small cottage,

inhabited by a family of frogs, he went in, complained of the peo-

ple, and showed his desire to marry one of the frogs. There was

one, very large and fat, and thought herself very happy to become

the wife of the son of Amotkan, and with one jump she became

one flesh or incarnated with the cheek of Spakani, and thus matri-

mony was celebrated or consummated. The people, on seeing the

cheek of Spakani so disfigured, and enraged at the presumption

of Mistress Frog, tried with sticks to kill her, until the frog, very

mach ashamed, prayed her husband to leave the earth; and since °

te had come to make himself sun, to go up immediately, which he

did; but to revenge himself for the contempt of the people, he

does not allow them to see him clearly during the day, when

he covers himself with a shining robe, and at the approach of

night, he deposits his robe, crosses the waters under the earth, and

then only shows himself as he is, with his wife frog on his cheek.

For these Indians, the sun and moon are one and the same

~ ag; and this notion accounts for the reason why they have but

one and the same word to express both sun and moon, namely,

— and so also the spots in the moon are nothing else than

frog,

Having heard this story, I asked them (there were several chiefs

_ ‘Mong those present) whether they really believed the fable ; and

they answered that they did, not knowing better; then I asked

‘them what they thought when they saw the sun and moon at the

same time during the day. They all started, looked at one another

“n surprise, looked up, as though searching the sun and moon, then

182 ANTHROPOLOGY.

; ;

joined in a general laugh, and covered their faces as if ashamed;

and one of them, looking at me with only one eye across his fin

gers, said, “ Well, we were all beasts, and like enough not one of

us has ever observed and remarked what you say now.” Since i

that time it was agreed to call the moon by the name of spakan n

skukuèz, meaning the sun of the night. i

As to the immortality of the soul, the end of the world, the

recompense or punishment after death, they have the tradition that —

man in dying, dies only half—that is, the body; the one “a :

(which they anciently did not know how to designate, but mie

afterward their ancestors called Singapens) does not die, but the l

singapèns of the good ones go to stay with Amòtkan; though

without knowing to what particular bliss, and the Singapèns of

the wicked go to another place, not determined, having no e

punishment than to be deprived of the company of Amòtkan. For

wicked they intend liars and thieves, as they consider lymg a"

Moreover,

they said that the earth and the people have one day Oe

an end, and that after this last day all the dead shall come to light

again, and shall be placed in another land, better th

and that after such epoch the people shall die no more- a

Notwithstanding the power and nobility of Amòtkan a A

melten, these were not the deities which the Flatheads worshipped:

but Spakaní, the sun. After him came as geniuses the ane jè 7

every kind, the beaver, the crow, the deer, etc. But Siete v

prairie-wolf, was regarded the most powerful and a

mankind. To show the power and favor of Sinchlep, in f the

tors reported that there was a time when a large pat 1

earth was inhabited by a set of giants, terrible men, "a

every one they met with, for which they were called Nàtlis inchlèp:

which in ancient language means “‘killers of men thai ap

in pity for the smaller people, went through all the earth,

every giant, and converted them all into large stones; Pi

of late, when the Flatheads in crossing the mountain?

basaltic stone standing upright, they said to one anol’

aside, there is a. Nùtliskèliguten killed by Sinchi Ps |,

large piece of silex they saw, was for them a fragment a ton

of the “killers of men.” As it oftentimes happen’ ip ue

‘more of these prairie-wolves come at night to howl us oe

aze, there are still many, particularly the old women, `

ANTHROPOLOGY. 183

that Sinchl»p’s howling foretells the arrival by the next day of

somebody, ei-her friend or foe, provided he only howls three times.

The wo:ship which our Indians rendered to the sun, consisted in

raising up towards the sun a morsel of meat or roots before eating

them, and saying, “ Sun, have pity of us, that animals and fruits

may grow abundantly.” In their particular distresses each one

prayed to whatever first met his eyes, whether a tree or a stone.

In worshipping the sun, our Indians were not as fervent as the

Blackfeet are even now; who, not satisfied with offering a parcel

of their food, very often cut off large pieces of flesh from their

bodies and offer them to their Natésa (the sun), particularly when

they go to war. I asked an old man, well nigh a hundred years of

age, if he prayed when he was young, and how he prayed. “Oh!

ves,” he answered, “every morning my mother took me into the

9 woods, and having found a dry pine-tree, broken and rotten from

old age, she told me, ‘My son, go and rub yourself against that

tree, and pray? And so I did, saying, ‘ʻO my good tree! have

pity of me, and let me live as long as you have lived; and I re-

peated always the same prayer ; my mother did the same at another

tree not far from mine, until our sore shoulders compelled us to

put an end to our prayers.”

Generally the prayers of our Indians consisted in asking to live

à long time, to kill plenty of animals and enemies, and to steal

the greatest number of horses possible; and this was the only

‘stance when to steal was not a fault, but a great merit and bra-

very, since no man could ever hope to become a chief unless he

had killed at least seven Blackfeet, and stolen twelve horses.

As it happens rather often that both people and animals are

willed by lightning, so they regarded it as an evil genius; and the

rainbow was for them nothing else than the same lightning looking

Wn for prey amongst the people ; they believed that the only

Means to avoid being killed, was to move off immediately and to

8° and encamp at some miles’ distance.

à OTE. — The above is from a letter of Father Mengarini to Geo.

ibbs, Esq. ; though written some years ago, it is published for

n first time in the ‘* Journal of the Anthropological Institute of

ew York,” Vol. i, p. 81, 1871.

: Pog Gibbs states that the frog-wife story exists in a modified

Mong the Nisquallies and other tribes also, as does much of

PIRN ining mythology of the Rocky Mountains Flatheads. It

noticeable that the Mexicans, according to Garva, quoted by

184 MICROSCOPY.

Gallatin (“ Trans. Am. Ethn. Soc.,” vol. i, p. 97), believed in the

destruction of the world four times by various causes, on each

occasion of which the’sun also perished, so that the present is the

fifth sun.

MICROSCOPY.

GASES AND VAPORS IN Micro-cuemistry.— Mr. E. Ray Lan-

kester describes in the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Sci-

ence” his gas-chamber, which is a modification of the one used by

Schweigger-Seidel. A watch-glass-shaped piece of glass has its

edges ground and cemented to a flat plate of glass. The top of

the dome thus formed is ground away so as to make a large open-

ing into its cavity, and closed by a thin cover glass which bears —

the object to be examined upon its under surface and therefore

inside of the cavity of the dome. This covering glass is held in

position, and the joint rendered air-tight, by means of oil. ine

the top and sides of the dome are inserted glass tubes, three m

number, through which re-agents, in the form of gas or vapor, are

introduced into the dome by means of suction or of pressure. To

prevent too rapid drying of the object, as a dro

may in some cases be previously passed throug

Wolff’s bottle. Heat may be applied by introducing va

a stout copper wire through one of the tubes, and heating the em”

which remains outside, or by similarly introducing & pantai |

connected with the poles of a galvanic battery. In this manner

if desired.

ochlorie acid 8

_ drogen sulphide, chlorine, iodine, bromine, ammonia,

chloroform, carbon bisulphide and carbolic acid.

stream which might displace the particles un a

the action of diluents (as water or alcohol) is avoided, a

minute traces of the re-agent may be introduced, increased,

or counteracted with great facility. The author peliev™ i

chemical histology all re-agents should be applied m yet

form, though not exclusively so, if possible.

MICROPAOTOGRAPRY. — A good popular article on this poe

published by Mr. Charles Stodder in the “Boston 1

MICROSCOPY. 185

Chemistry.” The history and advantages of microscopical pho-

tography are well given, though no-reference is made to the cor-

responding disadvantages, such as the unequal applicability of the

process to objects of different colors, and the necessity of repre-

senting a single focal plane or section of the object, while the dif-

ferent varieties of delineation by hand-work enable the artist, if

sufficiently expert to know what he sees, and sufficiently candid to

draw what he sees and not what he thinks he ought to see, to re-

construct to some extent the object and represent at a single view

the knowledge gained by many slight changes of focus. Unfortu-

nately for their value as tests in this case, the so-called test-objects

seem to be particularly suitable for photographic illustration. Of

the Woodward photographs familiar to the writer, those of the

test-ohjects are (probably necessarily) more faultless than those

of the tissues, and are therefore tests of the corrections of the

objectives and of the perfection of the illumination rather than of

the general applicability of the photographie process. -Of this

latter question, but little understood as yet, the researches of Dr.

Woodward and others give promise of an early solution.

Mr. Stodder applies the name of microphotograph to the en-

larged photographic representation of a microscopic object, such

as the well-known productions of Dr. Woodward and of Dr. Mad-

dox, although, since that name was previously appropriated to the

reduced photographs for microscopical inspection taken from large

objects, some microscopists have recently preferred, for the sake

of distinction, to designate the enlarged photographs of small

objects by the name of photomicrographs.

Curious Varrerres or tHe Liner. — “The Lace Bark of Ja-

maica (Lagetta lintearia), is composed of a series of concen-

tric layers of very fine and strong fibres, which, by crossing and

interlacing each other, form a complete network, the beauties of

which are quite hidden till the bark is beaten out, and the fibres

Partially Separated by carefully pulling them in a lateral direction,

When a piece of vegetable lace a yard or more in width, will

be produced. This natural lace is used in Jamaica for making

als, caps, collars, frills, etc. . . . . The bark of the Paper Mul-

berry of the South Sea Islands is another of the fibrous kinds; it

is very strong and tough, and is used in the Pacific Islands for

Making what is called tapa cloth, which serves the natives for

186 MICROSCOPY.

various articles of clothing. Another remarkable fibrous bark is

the Antiaris saccidora, called the Sack Tree in Western India and

Ceylon. The bark of this tree is used for making sacs, hence its

common name. A trunk is selected of the requisite diameter, and

a piece is cut off, of the required length; the bark is then soaked

and beaten, loosened from the wood, and turned back or inside

out; if it is entirely stripped off, it requires simply to be sewn up

at one end, but it is usual to leave a small piece of the wood to 3

form the bottom. The bark is toughly fibrous in the Stringy

Bark Tree (Eucalyptus gigantea) of Tasmania : while in the Iron i

Bark it is tough and might be taken for a close-grained wood. —

The ashes of the bark of the Pottery Tree of Para, whose cells

are shown by the microscope to be silicated, is mixed with clay by

the Indians, and made into a kind of earthenware which is very

useful and durable.”— Mr. Jackson, of the Kew Museum. From

the Monthly Microscopical Journal. :

Lepmorrerous Scares.— Chevalier Huyttens de Cerbecq of

Brussels, after careful study of the scales of butterflies and moths,

with immersion objectives and transparent illumination

powers by the paraboloid, is satisfied of the beaded structure of

the scales of most insects, if not of all. |

- Dr. John Anthony describes the markings on th

“ battledore ” butterfly-scales as consisting of heads or

vated on stalks. In his plates in the ‘‘ Monthly Micos

Journal ” they stand up like door-knobs or like the glandular B%

on some plants. He uses light reflected from a rectangular prs

carefully centred, and limited by the diaphragm; and wae

appearances are well seen with objectives as low as one-fifth m%s

‘he judges that they will be readily seen by other. observers.

Grixpine Dramonp Pornts.— Mr. F. H. Wenham, with his ;

customed liberality which the world will not soon forget, pabi

in the “ Monthly Microscopical Journal” the method by. Ee ae

fragment of diamond may be turned in a lathe toa

as a nėedle. These points are easily prepared, and are

thing for glass ruling, being used in Peter’s writing

probably by Nobert. A splinter of diamond is mount pe

end of a wire, chucked in a bow-lathe, and turned against es

splinter similarly mounted. The importance of this s"

may be inferred from the fact that Mr. Stanistreet, whose

hairs

ace

is:

Spee 3 K

a eR ieee Siete st.) a, Lomein ape

of high

knobs ele-

point as fint

MICROSCOPY. i 187

was calculated to rule lines to the +55455 of an inch could not

procure any diamond fine enough to rule more than about five

thousand to the inch.

VITALITY as Arrectep BY TEMPERATURE.— Mr. Grace Calvert

found that 300° and sometimes 400° Fahr. are sometimes re-

quired to destroy living germs; also that animaleules could live

for hours at seventeen degrees below the freezing point of water.

Microscorican Maniputations.— Mr. Stanistreet justly judges

that other amateurs will be encouraged by learning that the ma-

chinery for ruling his already famons lines was entirely constructed

by himself, untaught and unassisted, while confined to the house

by illness.

FIBRES or Frax anp Hreme.— Mr. Suffolk states that a com-

mittee, on which he was appointed by the Queckett Club, under-

took the study of these fibres with reference to their discrimination

with the microscope in mixed fabrics ; but abandoned the work on

finding the fibres too much alike to be distinguished.

DARWINISM AND HısroLocy. — Dr. Lionel Beale, in his address

to the Queckett club, counsels a careful comparative study of the

tissues of man and the apes, in order to verify, if possible, the

Correspondence which has’ been asserted but not proved to exist

between them.

STAINING AND Curtinc Lreaves.— Dr. R. Braithwaite, in his

elaborate Study of the bog-mosses, stains leaves by immersion

from two to twenty-four hours in iodine and sulphuric acid or

‘solution of biniodide of zinc, preferably the latter. Transverse

Sections he obtained by soaking the leaves in thick mucilage of

gum arabie, and, when partially dried, enclosing between pieces

of elder pith and slicing into water.

ALTERNATION or GENERATIONS IN FuNGI.—Mr. M. C. Cooke

reviews, in ‘“‘ Nature,” the experiments of Oersted and of De Bary

on this subject. Most Uredines have two forms of fruit, but it is

*xeeedingly difficult to prove an alternation of generations in any

ase. . When the spores of fungi are sewn upon a plant, or intro-

duced by inoculation, it is nearly impossible to prove that other

fungi Subsequently appearing on the same plant owe their pres-

“nee there to the spores intentionally sewn or inoculated.

188 MICROSCOPY.

PRESERVATION OF FRESH-WATER PoLyzoa.— Mr. Stewart ex

plained to the South London Microscopical and Natural History

Club that he had succeeded in killing polyzoa with the tentacles

expanded by adding a few drops of the best French brandy to

the water they were living in. They were overcome by the liquor,

without drawing in their plumes.

CRYSTALLIZATION oF Metats py Execrricrry.— This has beet |

studied under the Microscope by Philip Braham, Esq. His app —

ratus is described in the ‘“‘ Monthly Microscopical Journal,” for

Dec. 1871.

Cexsucation 1x Rurzorops.— J. G. Tatem, Esq. has observed |

what seems to be an instance of this hitherto unnoticed, though

not unsuspected, process in the case of a common Amoeba,

PHOTOGRAPHING BY BLack-crounp ILLUMINATION. —D'. hk

ward has obtained good high-power photographs (x 1000) of 0

jects saree sae by Mr. Wenham’s truncated lens.

Cieanine Diatroms.— Dr. Maddox cleans and bleaa u

toms by immersion in a solution of chlorate of potash and af —

drochloric acid. Se

Microscorreat Structure or THE Wax or BLOOM OF re :

— An interesting study of this familiar substance wee :

leaves and fruits, by Prof. De Bary, is given in the “ Botanica a

tung,” with some thirty beautiful illustrations. The wax i

not appear to be a simple coating over the surface, as thong

might have been laid on liquid with a brush, forming hairs

ous layer. Itis seen to be rather a dense forest of min

of wax; each one sitting with one end upon the epidermis eo |

other either rising up straight or rolled and curled 4 "o dense

neighbors. This matting of waxen hairs often becomes 50

that when examined from the surface it presents to i nit

Scope the appearance of a continuous layer, while a carefully

section of the leaf, or skin of the fruit, shows its true yae

— question from what part of the epidermis Or sube

swered. He says that in the cell-contents there can i

ered the slightest trace of wax, and the statement tba

rophyll is partly made of wax is totally erroneous.

7) ue? See ee ENN.

;

Se eo eat ht EOE e eee pee Nee a aie te ae oo Sp at a FS

NOTES. 189

in which it can be first detected is the cuticle and the cuticular-

ized elements of the epidermis cells.—T. D. B

NOTES.

Pror. Agassiz read a notice of the life and character of Dr.

E. Holbrook of Charleston, S. C., before the Natural History

Society of Boston, Oct. 18, 1871. He remarked that :—

larly modest nature, eluding rather than courting notice, he never-

theless first compelled European recognization of American science

by the accuracy and originality of his investigations. 1 well re-

member the impression made in Europe more than five and thirty

years ago, by his work on North American reptiles. Before then,

the supercilious English question, so effectually answered since,

: ds an American book?’ might have been repeated in '

another form, ‘ Who ever saw an American Scientific Work?’ But

Holbrook’s elaborate history of American Herpetology was far

above any previous work on the same subject. In that branch of

wi omit Europe had at that time nothing which could com-

re it.

and

the sp nd mor

me ge 2u European journey had greater influence upon his future

k than his st in ris, where he worked at the Jardin des

190 NOTES.

life, such as his friendship with Valenciennes, with Dumeril, Bibron

a s

On his return to America he was called to the Professorship

of k astomy i in the Medical School of Charleston, S. C. From

this time Dr. Holbrook, although he became an eminent practi-

tioner in the city which had adopted him, was even more distin-

guished as a teacher of human anatomy, and finally renounced”

practice to devote himself to his professorship. Clear, simple and

straightforward as a teacher, intimate with the most advanced

sy stems of thought and instruction, he inspired his students with

a love of nature, weds nade them indeed, in not a few instances, —

naturalists and men of science, as well as physicians. His pupi

are among the dias cultivated men of the South. His lovable

personal qualities endeared him to them, and many of his students —

lost in him not only a revered teacher, but a well beloved friend.”

Tur Officers of the Boston Young Men’s Christian Union, rec

ognizing the importance of scientific studies, and the n

eed of

encouraging scientific tastes, have determined to establish or

rooms of the Union a Natural History cabinet. Their object W

providing such a collection, is to foster the growing taste for sti- |

gouree

ence among the young men of Boston, and to open 4 a new

of instruction and amusement to the members of the Union.

The cabinet will be in charge of Mr. F. W. Clarke, and contri |

butions to start it are earnestly solicited. Specimens eer |

sent, carefully packed, to the care of F. W. Clarke, Beit .

Union, 300 Washington Street.

Ix compliance with a repeatedly expressed desire,

prepared to receive paride at any time, with isarat of §

delivery, at least to the more important addresses,

ie conditions, which must be strictly observed:

Every package, without exception, must be er

song p paper, and secured so as to bear separate transports

y express or otherwise vio |

. The address of this institution or individual for |

the parcel. i is intended must be written legibly on the : |

the name of the sender must be written in one corner. so |

4 No single package must exceed the half of a one witht

. A detailed list of addresses of all the parcels seni T ©

contents must accompany them in here

No letter o¢ other communication can be allowed 9"

the Smiths ;

NOTES. 191

cel, excepting such as relates exclusively to the contents of the

package.

ll packages must be delivered in Washington free of freight

and other expenses.

Unless all these conditions are complied with the parcels will

not be forwarded from the Institution ; and, on the failure to com-

ply with the first and second conditions, will be returned to the

sender for correction.

Specimens of natural history will not be received for transmis-

sion, unless with a previous understanding as to their character

and bulk.

Our contemporary, the ‘‘ Revue Scientifique” (Jan. 13, 1872, p.

679) in analyzing a paper by one of the editors of this journal,

has made several mistakes, one of which we might notice. It says

“Mr. Packard rejects in consequence the idea of Fritz Müller and

Brauer that the primitive insects had all leptiform larvze, and were

hot afterwards modified to produce insects with eruciform larve.”

On the contrary he agrees with the opinion of Müller and Brauer

that the earliest insects were those with an incomplete metamor-

phosis, quoting with approval Miller’s note to that effect.

In a previous number (Sept. 23, 1871, p. 300) Dr. Packard is

made to say “ that the king crabs are nearer the Trilobites than

Plerygotus.” He has never said this, but on the contrary follows

Mr. Woodward in uniting the king crabs with the Eurypterida, of

Which Pterygotus is a member; considering the king crabs as on

_ the whole much more remotely allied to the Trilobites than to the

Enurypterida. .

Extomonoatsts will be pleased to learn that Mr. R. H. Stretch

of San Francisco is now ready to begin the publication of “ Mus-

trations of North American Zygeenide and Bombycide ” in which

| he hopes to be able to figure all the North American species. The

first plate, containing eight species of Alypia, six of Ctenucha,

one Scepsis and a Psychomorpha are in the hands of Miss Peart

(°F Philadelphia to be lithographed. Mr. Stretch proposes to fig-

m the species as he can procure them, and so to arrange the let-

2 ter press that it can be bound in proper order. The book will be

Maiform in size with the transactions of the American Entomo-

MR Society. The value of such a work will largely depend on

aid rendered to Mr. Stretch by museums and individuals, and —

192 EXCHANGES. p

we trust he will receive every encouragement. At any rate many —

interesting and rare Californian species will be figured, which will —

make the work of much value to students. |

Tue second edition of the “Guide to the Study of Insects”

having been exhausted, a new and improved edition will appear

late this month. Several new plates and cuts will be added,

and an appendix, bringing the work down to the latest date. The

price will be reduced to five dollars.

A Narurar History Society is flourishing at Natick, kau

is now growing rapidly, having a membership of seventy. Its mr

seum is gaining accessions, and already needs more room for cases

Ir is proposed to add a department of Science to the Executive :

Branch of the Government. It is to be composed of the Storm —

Signal Corps of the army, the Lighthouse Board, and the Coast :

Survey Bureau of the Treasury, and the Hydrographic Bureatt of -

the Navy.

A COMMUNICATION to the Corporation of Brown University ¥

recently presented from Colonel Stephen T. Olney, making & mi-

nificent offer of his herbarium and books on botany, ON condition

that a suitable building should be provided. for their reception.

It was referred to a committee.

Dr. W. Stimpson writes us from Key West, iris

date of January 15, “To-morrow I leave here 1 the v- i

Steamer, “ Bibb” Capt. Robert Platt, to run a series ‘i se :

between Cape St. Antonio (Cuba) and Cape Catoche (Yucsey

and I „ticipate most interesting results, as Capt. Platt has

three years’ experience in deep sea dredging with Pourtales:

_ expect to get into two thousand fathoms at least.”

EXCHANGES. ui

f mout

ical microscopic objects (mounted) also herbarium aanre &

and sea-shore plants, desired in exchange for U. S. herbarium specime

JESUP, Amherst, Mass. poe air

terial, fossil or recent, desired in exchange bs ;

ides tro Western localities —H. H. BABCOCK, 11 18th St., Chicago, ne s

Azolla and other Hydropterides Qiviag re desired in ie inci

water alge or mounted microscopic objects.—T. D. BISCOE, 321 George

for

Mioi oscopic Fungi, mounted or unmounted, desired in exch a y

slides or herbarium specimens.— C. E. HANAMAN, 103 First St., Trey: *

American Naturalist. Vol. VI. Pl. 4.

= = at. en

thiisttnesni “iii i eh UCT BPH ii HEP

war iil i

tesadiieiteescatests. er ee

TWO FRUSTULES OF

AMPHIPLEURA PELLUCID®

MAGNIFIED 1500 DIAMETERS.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY

DR. J. J. WOODWARD, U. S. ARMY;

SEBUM.

AT THE ARMY MEDICAL M USEU!

Objective by WM. WALES, Fort Lee, N. J.

E EL E

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.— APRIL, 1872.— No. 4.

EGT: TIMO

THE USE OF AMPHIPLEURA PELLUCIDA AS A

; TEST-OBJECT FOR HIGH POWERS.

BY DR. J. J. WOODWARD. U. S. A.

Over a year ago (February 1, 1871) the Surgeon General of the

United States Army published a brief memorandum prepared by

me, on the Amphipleura pellucida and its markings. This mem-

orandum was accompanied by two photographs exhibiting the

striæ of the diatom, as seen with a power of about one thousand

diameters. The paper was republished in the ‘* American Journal

of Science and Arts” (May, 1871), and in the ‘London Monthly

Microscopical Journal ” (July 1871). :

$ ince preparing the memorandum referred to, I have had occa

Sion to use the Amphipleura pellucida a number of times as one

of the means of comparing the high power objectives of various

makers, and having found it, within certain limits, well adapted to

this purpose, have thought the following remarks on its use would

not be without interest to working microscopists.

pecimens mounted by various English preparers may readily

be obtained from any of the large dealers in microscopical prep-

arations, I have compared such modern slides with some of the

original ones mounted by Messrs. Sollitt and Harrison, which I

“we to the courtesy of Mr. W. S. Sullivant of Columbus, Ohio, with

the Sample in the first century of Eulenstein, and with other slides

a various sources. I find all very much alike, the striæ usu-

y varying from ninety to one hundred to the zoo Of an inch.

ha few large frustules I have found coarser striæ than the above

enang according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY. OF

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI 13 - (193)

194 AMPHIPLEURA PELLUCIDA.

but finer ones in none. For the best use of the test it is essential

that the frustules should be clean and mounted dry,* on the under —

surface of a very thin cover (not thicker than z4, of an inch).

In some of my slides the frustules are mounted between two thin

covers, adhering to the upper one but I am not sure bos this

arrangement offers any decided advantages.

The first step in the practical use of this test, after obtaining

a properly mounted specimen, is to select a frustule, to count the

number of its striæ to the thousandth of an inch, and to ta

its position with a Maltwood’s finder.

_ The frustule thus selected becomes a valuable unit of compar-

ison between different objectives, the distinctness with which the :

stri are shown indicating the definition of the glass, the man-

ner in which the edges of the frustule are seen while the mid-ib

and striæ are in focus showing the degree of penetration, and the

appearance of the ends of the frustule when the centre is in focus

giving a fair idea of the flatness of the field.

The illumination must be oblique, and the pencil of light most

be thrown lengthwise along the frustule, which may be done by

a common coal-oil lamp, with or without a small plano-comv®

lens, or other condensing apparatus, to concentrate the rays. yee

however, is the least favorable mode of illumination, and will on

succeed if very carefully used with the best objectives.

better are the calcium and magnesium lamps, which may be

densed obliquely by means of a small plano-convex lens of one

three inches focal length. Either source of light gives & w

ful picture, the striæ being black on a white ground. +

*This is essential to the best and most beautiful appearance; it i

dispensable for re tery nor does balsam mounting make resolu

difficult. For example I obtain excellent resolution of the balsam

om $

I desire, also, to draw attention to the fact that Count F. Ca; states hat

vad: before - ge yal Microscopical Society, March 1, 1871, expressly

year had made a photograph of the balsam-mounted Am;

of Moller’ “ag e, obtaining good resolution and counting th

gives e millimetre. For this purpose he u o. 10 of

with monoc sunlight obtained b m

rather faintish, so that it would not give good positive images.

about 640 d fterwards he obtained the same resul

(Mon Microscopical nene April, 1871, p- 176). I may

No. 11 belonging to m (price 250 francs) gives exce

e of ass pen and of other balsam-mounted §

to our collection

AMPHIPLEURA PELLUCIDA. 193

results, however, are attained by the light of the electric lamp or

of the sun rendered monochromatic by passing through a satu-

rated solution of the sulphate of copper in strong aqua ammonize

and of about the eighth of an inch in thickness.

Of these methods, that by sunlight involves least trouble and

expense, and may be best managed as follows :— Erect a perpen-

dicular wooden screen about two feet square on one edge of a

small table. Cut in this a circular hole an inch and a half in

diameter at about the height of the under surface of the stage of

the microscope. On the outside of this hole mount a small plane

mirror which can be adjusted by passing the hand to the outside

of the screen. On the inside, cover the hole with the ammonio-

sulphate cell. (A piece of dark blue glass will answer the pur-

pose though not so well.) Now move the table to a window

through which the direct rays of the sun can fall upon the mirror,

adjust this so as to throw a nearly horizontal pencil of parallel

rays through the hole, and place the microscope in the shade of

the screen in such a position that the parallel blue rays will fall

on the under surface of the amphipleura slide at an angle of from

fifty to seventy-five degrees with the plane of the slide (I sup-

pose the frustule to be examined has first been found by ordinary

day-light or lamp-light). Next place a small bull’s eye or any

other condenser of from one to three inches focal length (mounted

©n à separate stand or on a radial arm) in the parallel pencil in

Such a position as to concentrate the light, at the angle above

dicated, upon the frustule under examination. After this noth-

ing remains but to regulate the cover correction and the fine

adjustment. The precise angle which should be given to the

uminating pencil will vary with the angle of aperture of the

objective used. As a rule it should be less than half the angle of

aperture of the objective, and 70° to 75° is the maximum angle

Which should be given even for objectives of 170° angle, a greater

angle, distorting the image without improving the definition.

The same results can be obtained by using a heliostat to fix the

direction of the solar rays, and obtaining obliquity by an achro-

‘Matic condenser of from 130° to 150° suitably decentred. On

Account of the stability of the illumination this method is espec-

tally suitable for photographing the Amphipleura, but the simpler

oR above described answers every purpose if the object is to

Compare objectives,

196 AMPHIPLEURA PELLUCIDA.

As to the result I may say that I have not yet met an immer-

sion lens by any first class American, English, or Continental

maker of an actual focal length of 4 inch or less which did not,

in my hands, resolve the Amphipleura more or less satisfactorily.

I have even succeeded with an immersion + of Mr. Tolles’

obtaining a good photographic negative of two frustules well

resolved with only two hundred and fifty-six diameters. My

friend, Dr. J. W. S. Arnold of New York, writes me that he has

obtained resolution by a Wales’s immersion }.

A great difference exists, however, as to the manner in which

different objectives, even when of the same power and by the same

maker, will exhibit them, and for myself I have obtained the best

results only with the finest immersion glasses of Messrs. Wales,

Tolles, and Powell and Lealand. Spencer’s recent objectives I

have had as yet no opportunity of trying. With dry objectives

the task is more difficult, still I have succeeded tolera bly with

some of the dry objectives of the above makers, and it was a —

seen with dry objectives that Messrs. Sollitt and Harrison first

observed the striæ, though they could have glimpsed them but

imperfectly or they would not have set them down at one hundred

and thirty thousand to the inch. :

In illustration of the appearances which ought to be obtained i

by a first class immersion objective of adequate power, the liie

ality of the Editors of the NATURALIST enables me to present ge -

with a Woodbury print from a negative, representing portions of “

two Amphipleura frustules as seen by an immersion objective

Mr. Wm. Wales of Fort Lee, New Jersey, magnified i

en omr ce

The objective used was made by Mr. Wales nearly three pe ‘

ago. It was named a jj; but is in fact a lower power. On , a

urement I obtained the following data.’ Magnifying ee ae

without eyepiece, at fifty inches distance from micro es a

screen eight hundred and ninety diameters uncovered, tWS e

hundred and fifty diameters at full correction for cover’ ve -

of aperture at uncovered 110°, at full cover 130°; at uncor >

the objective is, therefore, y very nearly. Bey

{ie a a ee ae ee

i a na E ra ee

PURRE SFE oe

WHAT IS TRUE TACONIC? 197

The photograph was taken without an eyepiece, the magnify-

ing power being obtained by distance; owing to the moderate

angle of the objective the picture was freer from diffraction fringes

and consequently handsomer than any Amphipleura picture I had

previously obtained, for this reason only it was selected for repro-

duction. Since it has been in the hands of the printer, however,

it is only fair to say that I have obtained equally beautiful

pictures with the same power by an objective made by Tolles of

40° angle, as well as by an objective of Powell and Lealand,

both used without eyepieces. Copies of these pictures I have sent

to the Editor of the department of microscopy of this journal for

exhibition. I suspect each maker would claim that the picture

by his objective was the best. For myself I regard them as

nearly equally good, and think that to discriminate slight shades

of excellence between objectives of this high grade, it is necessary

either to give a much higher power, by distance or eyepiece, or

else to use some more subtile test, such for example as the finer

bands of the Nobert’s plate.

My present object is not to advocate one maker or another,

but to present an. image of what the best glasses of several

excellent makers will do with ease if properly handled, and to

those who are influenced by more partisan feelings I need only

Suggest that less than two years ago no American microscopist

had been able to see any striz on this well marked diatom, and

that those who had made the attempt were disposed to regard

the observations of the Hull naturalists, made over ten years

fore, as quite fictitious.

In conclusion I need only mention that the illustrative print

Was reproduced from my negative by “The American Photo-

relief Printing Company” No. 1002 Arch Steet, Philadelphia, Pa.

WHAT IS TRUE TACONIC?

BY PROF. JAMES D. DANA.

‘Tue true use of the term Taconic should be learned from Prof.

Emmons’s first application of it when he made his formal an-

nouncement of the “ Taconic system.” In his final New York

‘Taconic to the Hudson River appears first in Prof. Emmons’s Agri

published in 1843.

198 WHAT IS TRUE TACONIC?

Geological Report, 4to., 1842, the rocks so-called are those of the

Taconic mountains, on the borders of Massachusetts and New

York, together with the quartzite, limestone, and slates adjoining

on the east,* and not the slates far west of these mountains;

moreover the slates, the rocks of the mountain, were the typical

beds, and not the quartzite. Hence, if ‘there are any Taconic

schists or slates, those of the Taconic range are the rocks entitled

to bear the name, being Taconic geographically, and Taconic by

the earliest authoritative use, Prof. Emmons the authority.

Prof. Emmons, in his Agricultural Report, subsequently pub-

lished (in 1843), announced the Primordial beds of Bald Mt. (neat

Canaan Four Corners, in Columbia Co. N. Y.), as Taconic also;

but this did not make them so. He referred to the Taconic the

Black slates of northern Vermont, since shown to contain primor- 7

dial fossils; he searched the country north and south for other ‘

Taconic rocks, and found them as he thought ; and he set others on

the search, not only in this country, but over the world. But all

this has not changed the fact that the true Taconic beds, if any ae

such, are those he first so announced ; and that the rest, s0 far as

they are of different age from these, younger or older, have been i

dragged into the association without reason. The Taconic rocks

of Berkshire and of the counties of New York just west ae

bore the most prominent part in his later descriptions of the Tx

conic system.

The error on the part of Prof. Emmons, in referring beds of

other ages to the Taconic system, is not surprising considering

the difficulties in the case. But it was no less an error;

name as a backer cannot make the wrong right.

* Professor Emmons opens the subject of the “Taconic System » in his

(1843) by saying that it extends north through Vermont to Quebec, a”

Connecticut; but the only rocks a describes as the rocks l the sys

Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and their continuation ar mee

These are the typical rocks on which the system wa as aa On pha i

ures fe ae ctions across this particular region are given

ions are contained in the only other Tiiti on the 8

fn figure,

through Graylock, raiona slate” stops just west of Berlin,

New York, the slates on the west being put down as “ Hudson

figs. 2 and 3, the boundary k near Petersburg, north of Berlin.

eee ra eee aR oe) E

eee ee ee A GA

extent of country

Primitive one.

“L, page 43) say

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 199

Geologists now regard the slates of Taconic Mt. and the lime.

stone, also, as of Lower Silurian age, but later than the Potsdam

sandstone. Logan refers them to the Quebec group. Whatever

the period of the slates, or slates and associated limestones, to

that period properly pertains the term Taconic.

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

[Concluded from March Number, p. 160.]

BY CHARLES G. ABBOTT, M.D.

ee es

Arrownraps.—No one class of relics of a savage race presents

at once so great a variety of shapes, sizes and materials; and

the former presence of “ Indians,” is more generally known to the

people at large through the frequent occurrence of these arrow-

Points, than by means of any other style of weapon or implement ;

not even excepting the cumbrous axes that not unfrequently go to

make up the piles of cobblestones that accumulate in field corners

or by the roadside. One of the largest axes we have seen, which

We have since sent to Sir John Lubbock, was found supporting a

Section of worm-fence, where it had been lying thus for at least a

_ century.

: These arrowheads, which are found scattered over every por-

tion of the state, are, very naturally, much more numerous in some _

localities than in others; and as no one style appears to be pecu-

liar to any one locality, a good series from even a very limited

_ Gesperate undertaking, as no well marked style has yet been found

: ne : af Closely allied varieties. The Darwinism of arrowheads

: sang supplemental theory to make it good, nor are there

that cannot be explained by a somewhat similar and more

Prof. Nilsson (‘Stone Age in Scandinavia,” Eng.

s “ we may divide arrowheads into such as have,

200 - THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

and such as have not, a tang or projection for insertion into the

shaft.” Referring to Lubbock, in “ Prehistoric Times,” we find —

him, on page 98, quoting Sir W. R. Wilde, who divides the arrow-

heads into five varieties. Further reference to the two works

quoted above shows us, in the drawings, that whatever they have

! - . illustrated from the north of Europe or from

Terra del Fuego is also to be met with herein

New Jersey. We propose, in figuring the vari- 3

ous shapes that we have so far met with, to —

follow Prof. Nilsson in separating the speci-

mens into those with and without tangs or pro- —

jections; but we cannot undertake to follow

him farther, where he specializes certain a :

as harpoonpoints, etc., etc. That some wet

used as spears, as weapons in battle,

as hunting spears, or for fishing, i. es, harpoonpoints, is proba ie pe

beyond question; but that they were not or could not have 7

Natural size.

used as arrowpoints is difficult to disprove; and while we ee

pose to speak of certain specimens in order, as to their prob

use, we will call them all “arrowheads.” Ethnologists cat reject

Fig. 34.

Fig. 32. Fig. 33.

-esting z to those who ddeire to study them ppe: and ;

specimens are scarce. Arrowheads with tangs Or proje

insertion into the shaft are somewhat less abundant sae :

Without the projection; but they are of far greater variety of

line, and vary more in their size, running into spear OF |

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 201

points. The most common shape of tanged arrowpoint is the

small jasper specimen given in Figure 31. Unlike some forms,

Fig. 35. Fig. 36. ;

Natural size. Natural size.

F there can be no question as to ‘the use to which this specimen

Was most admirably adapted as that of an arrowhead. The

Sharp point, well defined edges and deeply notched base, com-

Fig. 38.

pnp size.

Natural size.

to mendes: it at once secure in its attachment to the

| efficacious as a weapon when discharged from a bow.

202 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

Of this pattern there is a remarkable uniformity in size, and the

vast majority of specimens found are of jasper. A second form

with a notched base is represented

by Figures 32 and 33. Like the

above, this form does not vary much

in size, and is usually of jasper, but

by no means invariably of that min-

eral. Slate was considerably used,

but accuracy and general elegance of

material. We think that there cat

be no question as to these being used ;

exclusively as arrowheads, but the —

same shape of greater dimensions

A would have been efficacious as

| poonpoints. The specimen (I

33), it will be noticed, has se

edges. This is a not incommon

ture of many of the smaller speck

mens, but generally these

A ca

Natural size,

has explained this,

comparison with the same type with smooth edges, W

they are invariably much thinner. To secure the

serrated edge, it was probably necessary to make

them so; and of course these thin specimens were

more frequently broken in the manufacture and

more liable to injury in the daily wear and tear

to which they were subjected. A third form of

notched arrowheads with a projecting base is

seen in that figured in the illustration (Fig. 34).

_ In general appearance it is much like the preced-

ing, but the object of the notch in the centre of

the base below does not appear. The specimen

of a black, slaty stone, thin, with the sides

kam ly serrated. We have met with no sim-

ilar e in any work on the subject of stone Natural

weapons.. In New Jersey, at least about Trenton, they”

— Sea ee a dozen or more examples having eh ae

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 203

the writer. Of these specimens there was no variation in size,

_ mineral, or peculiarity of base. A fourth form, and a very common

one, is that given in the five illustrations (Figs.

35, 36, 37, 38, 39). In these examples we see

the one common character of an unnotched

base, and that the blade of the arrow is consid-

erably wider, the width increasing abruptly in

three specimens and less so in the other two.

The specimen (Fig. 35) is of jasper, beautifully

wrought, and very accurately bevelled from the

centre to the edges, which are smooth. The

length, one inch and three-quarters, decides its

use, that of an arrowhead only. The speci-

men that approaches this most nearly is that

iven in Fig. 39. This is Fig. 43.

Fig. 42.

_ quarters times as large as the former. It is

well made, considering the material, and if

used as an arrowpoint must have required a

very heavy shaft and powerful bow. A series

of specimens, figured by Prof. Nilsson as

coming from Mexico, Ireland, and Terra del

Fuego, and all bearing considerable resem-

"lance to the illustration we have given, are

Called, one an “arrowhead,” another a ‘‘har-

Poonpoint.” We will leave it to be decided

in future, if it can be, to which class this

and of similar mineral. Itis not

“Tare form. It appears to us to be better

Adapted to arrow purposes, but is nevertheless

type of based arrowhead, all of which

~ Some peculiarity of their own. Fig. 40

the natural size of a form that is occasionally found. It

“= Rot appear ever to have been more acutely pointed or

Natural size.

204 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

sharper sided than now, and is an innocent looking affair. Tt

is as difficult to conceive of the use of so small a specimen

as it is to conjecture how the larger ones were utilized. Yet

they occur in sufficient numbers to show that they had an

especial adaptation. We cannot look upon them as toys for pre

historic infants; there is too much work about them for that

The following figure (41) is of similar dimensions, but appears

to us better outlined for an arrowhead. On a slender reed, if

discharged with force, it would unquestionably bring down a lat

bird or squirrel. A much larger and very accurately outlined

style of arrowhead is that illustrated by Fig. 42. These aren

well finished except in outline, are of slate and rough and um

on their broad surfaces. This occurs from the peculiarities of

nearly the same general shape

the preceding, but much 2

finished specimens, are frequelly

found. Quartz seems to have wa

a very favorite mineral with the

ancient arrow makers, and alr

every shape we have found in

minerals is reproduced in this, ©

cept that they are almost a

small, and so were used only

arrowheads. Figure 43 ue

: vailing style of arrowhead, B®

and a half inches long, and one inch in breadth at the w

the blade. It is of a slaty stone, and from great agè OF tn

causes has lost its acute point and well sharpened edges.

base is similar to that of the slate arrowhead above p

and appears to be sufficiently large to render a secure pe

to a shaft feasible. If originally as sharp at the point -

the edges as are some jasper specimens, it was then ee

doing considerable execution. They are quite abundant

shape has rendered them very liable to be broken, >)

stony ground ; and we therefore find the majority of |

in a more or less fragmentary condition. . Figure a

arrowhead that presents one marked peculiarity. Tt wisi

therwise agreeing very well with Fig. 36, it has that ©"

< X 3

Natural size.

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 205

Originally it had a point; of this we feel confident, but as this is

the most fragile portion of an arrowhead, of course it is the most

likely to be broken and such has here been the case; but the wea-

pon was still deemed worthy of preservation, and has therefore

been chipped to an edge, where the fracture took place. Whether

used as an arrowhead afterwards or not, may perhaps be ques-

tioned. The specimen as it now is certainly bears much resem-

blance to certain chipped jaspers, to which we will call attention

hereafter. They are of frequent occurrence and vary very much

in size, as though all sizes of arrowpoints were occasionally thus

repaired, even the pigmy specimens that we have Fig. 45.

already figured and described. ;

An interesting and quite abundant form of

arrowhead is that given in Fig. 45., They occur

of every variety of mineral that has yet been met

with by us, in the shape of ‘ relics,” but the very

_ §teat majority are in a fragmentary condition,

usually only the base and a small portion of the

shaft remaining. ‘The specimen figured is of jas-

_ per and is remarkably perfect. The point is

Somewhat blunt, but the edges are pretty sharp.

The slender stem is as thick as broad, and there

__ 1s but little tapering from the quadrangular base

tothe point. In June, 1871, we forwarded three

Perfect and several broken specimens of this form

> Sir John Lubbock, who has since written us —

As to the long pointed forms of which there are

a three nearly perfect specimens, besides some

Wmns I am disposed to regard them as arrowheads,

: but would only express this opinion under reserve.” There is every

: reason to believe that the first owners of these stone implements

7 ere moderately careful of them, and no little skill was required

vA them successfully out of the materials they used. Taking

a = consideration, we believe it is safest to give to a speci

CS at name which expresses the use involving the least risk.

OW such a g

am this has stood safely the exposure of several centuries. To

oa in the end of a spear handle, and used as such, to thrust

if ’ mo would Involve more danger of its being broken, than

at the end of a slender shaft it was shot into the side of

Natural size.

206 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

some animal or bird, and so secured unharmed for future use.

Theorizing in this way, we believe, without reserve, that this form

was exclusively used as arrowheads.

A decided variation from the square tanged arowhai

‘trated by Fig. 46 which represents a large arrowhead, admirably |

chipped from flint, or a bluish gray mineral resembling it. While

we have occasionally met with specimens like it in our own neigli-

borhood, it is really a ‘‘sea-shore” form and was probably largely

used in shooting or harpooning fish. Along the shore of pie

ware Bay and in Delaware, near the break-water, and in =

Fig. 46. Fig. 47.

oe Natural size. Natural size.

_ localities, it is the prevailing form. Three inches long,

sevén-eighths in width, it has a very acute point,

but little resistance to the water. The tang is s0

mit of its being securely fastened to a shaft, andy

, moved. The specimen is beautifully reproduced in ev!

but length, in quartz specimens. In quartz, this style p

and its size shows it was used only as an arrowhead, i

upland hunting.

peer eal fh eRe

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 207

Figures 47 and 48 represent two allied forms of slender

stemmed arrowheads, allied to each other and to the preceding two

varieties. They are of slate, moderately well made and of a length

that suggests the spearhead as well as arrow. They are, neither.

as frequently met with as the preceding forms, with prolonged

stems ; but cannot be called rare forms. It has been suggested by

an esteemed contributor to the Naruratist, that these broadly

based forms were used as target arrows, the stem only perfo-

rating the target, and so they were not lost. But we do not believe

so much work would be spent upon arrowheads, for such a purpose

only, and opine the prehistoric infants

learned to shoot by other methods. In-

deed, such must have been the mode of

life at this time, that it was a matter tof

killing or starving, and under such circum-

Stances man’s capabilities to climb, run or

shoot correctly are very quickly and thor-

oughly developed. Indeed, correctness of

aim may have been inherited then, as well

as faculties we now possess are inherited

by us.

Figure 49 represents a variety of arrow-

head, of which we have only seen the one

Specimen. Beautifully wrought in dull

green jasper, it has the slender stem of the

"mediately preceding forms, with barb-

projections immediately above the

It is most unfortunately broken, so

as $0 render it impossible to determine

all its features. Probably, the barbs were

hot repeated lower down, and the specimen was broken very near

the original termination. Unlike the other elongated-stemmed

Natural size.

Specimens, this is thin and flat, and the whole aspect is that of a

delicate, easily broken form. This fact makes us doubtful about its

as an harpoonhead ; although it would be most admirably

2 adapted for such use had the base been sufficiently prolonged to

_ Permit the Side projections to operate as barbs. We do not find in

_ 1 SSon’s work on the “Stone Age in Scandinavia” any harpoon-

Point that resembles this, which more naturally suggests that use,

any of the specimens he figures as having been so used. It

208 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

seems incredible that a form so easily destroyed as this should fi- —

nally have been picked up in its present condition, In a very stony

field that for a century has been under uninterrupted cultivation.

We have to refer to one more form of arrowhead with projecting —

base. For delicacy of finish and beauty of outline it is unequalled. —

As will be seen by the illustration (Fig. 50), the base is broken off,

but we can feel confident that it was sufficiently prolonged to ena —

ble the very accurately finished barbs to be effective. We imagine —

the prehistoric hunter who supported a quiver of arrows with such

heads as these did not waste them on small game. However great

the skill of an arrow maker, to turn out such

work was undoubtedly a tedious operation. |

The second great division of arrowheads, l

which furnishes less variety in shape, is 14 ni

plified in its study by the greater uniformity |

of size, and there is proof from this alone that :

their use was for shooting purposes only. We T

have not yet collected a single plainly based

specimen, i. e. without a tang, that was too

large to seem fitted for arrow purposes, oF by

its size suggested any other use. This ¢ :

may be further subdivided into such as have

Fig. 50.

largest number belong to the wy

mn next in number to the second seri sa

fewest specimens are those with straight

Natural size,

ases.

These remarks on relative abundance are liable to be w

almost any time. As in the case of axes, so We yee

meet with “ deposits” of arrowheads ;” the storehouse, % pee

of a tribe or perhaps of an arrow maker ; and as in such oe 5 Ki

is always a predominance of one form, so it may be that ie j

lectors have a majority of straight based specimens from t ma

cality ; or a future “ find,” will change the relative Pn iot

_ which we have given. No predominance of any one ene

ever, marks the site of the dwelling and worksh

maker. . In some cases the variety is wonderful ; an

nfinished specimens suggest that variety was continas!

at by the “flint chipper.” We have seen er

such a locality, that we have not yet met with in 4 fin

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 209

These sites of skilled arrow-makers’ workshops were usually on

projecting points op bluffs overlooking a broad expanse of country ;

and when once visited, are known immediately by the countless

numbers of thin, splintery flakes that cover the whole ground.

One such place in particular had evi-

dently been so occupied for many gen r-

ations, or by a score o° arrow makers

during their lifetime, considering the vast

amount of chips and refuse material on

the ground. It was a paradise for the

mineralogist, for all our mineral produc-

tions, suitable for chipping, seemed to

be there in abundance. After a rain,

when the chips were free from dust, the

many colored jaspers presented a beau. g

tiful appearance. Isolated specimens of L

minerals, available for arrow making, are

frequently found. in the fields, that do not belong there according

to the given “localities” of mineralogists. One of the finest

agates we have ever seen, was a partially

chipped mass found just beyond the town

limits of Trenton, N. J.

Triangular arrowheads, with concave bases,

are very abundant and present some little

variations in detail. Figure ‘1 is a beau-

G ` tiful specimen of one of these varieties, and

Natural size. is of a shape and size that we frequently

meet with. They are mostly of black

quartzose stone, or cut from a hard piece of

slate. The specimen figured is of yellow

jasper, with veins of white quartz running

h it. A second illustration of this

4, form, giving about the minimum size, is that

== of Fig. 52. It is one of the handsomest

specimens that we have ever seen. It is cut

from a greenish gray jasper, and remains in its perfect condition.

ake the preceding this size and form also is mostly represented

y black Specimens cut from hard stone, but one that is much

more brittle than is this many colored jasper, of which so many of

Cur arrowheads have been made. A third variety of this class of

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 14

Natural size.

Fig. 53.

210 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

arrowheads, is given in figure 53. The base is so slightly

curved as to make one doubt where to place the specimen. It is

very nearly an equilateral triangle, but is particularly to be noticed,

in that it has not been made with a well defined point; or if so

originally, has since been sharpened down to a curved edge, and

again used as an arrowpoint. Such arrowheads must have been

shot with tremendous force to render them

effective, for the cutting edge is never

sharp as points that have been chipped;

and as they now are, these curved topped

specimens seem better adapted to crush

than to penetrate. The specimen described —

} is cut from yellow jasper or a mineral ap-

proaching it. It has not the gloss that

A variation of the

Natural size,

jasper usually has.

form immediately preceding this, is given in Fig. 54, of slate, but

well cut: this style is very sparingly met with. The peculiarity,

as will be seen at a glance, consists in the manner in which the —

point has been chipped. A single specimen of this style would

probably excite no comment. The peculiarity would be considered

as resulting from a chance blow of the arrow maker. This how-

ever is proved not to be so from the fact that a score oF more 4

have been gathered, each, in size and mineral, Fig. Ko fo

the fac-simile of the others. It is probable

that one maker may have fashioned all that

we have found, and the style originated and

died with him.

A handsome form is represented in Fig. 55.

It has the appearance at first glance of having

been barbed as in Fig. 50 but the carefully

chipped sides of the base induce us to believe

that it is now in its original condition. With

a shaft much narrower than the base of the

specimen, this would be one of the most ef-

fective arrowpoints that we have figured. It

is not a common variety in this neighborhood

(Trenton, N. J.) but we have met with quite a num

very smoothly chipped and are thin and easily broken- i

ments of this form are much more abundant than of

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 211

Straight based specimens, as given in Figs. 56, 57, 58 and

59, are very frequently picked up where arrowheads are found

at all. Used wholly in bow and arrow hunting, they are scattered

pretty much every where. Falling by Fig. 56.

chance, hither and thither when the hunter

failed to strike the game, they have been

left for anthropological entertainment until

our time, to be gazed at and their work-

manship admired. The most usual form of

this class is the plain triangle (Fig. 56).

Of white or rose quartz or of black slaty or

quartzose stone, they present, in the field,

so much of a contrast to surrounding peb-

bles, as to be readily detected and picked up. This same even

edged triangle varies considerably in breadth and Fig. 57.

length, the extreme in ‘length being the quartz

arrowpoint (Fig. 57). Between these two ex-

tremes, all the variations of relative length and

Fig. 58. breadth exist. This latter figure is

ie perhaps a little more abundant than

the preceding, and when evenly cut

from a piece of veined or rose quartz

is a very beautiful specimen of an-

cient stone work. The minimum size

of equilateral triangular arrowheads

of this pattern is shown in Fig. 58. This specimen

Fig. 59. is cut from a piece of dark

; chocolate jasper. Its size is usually found

cut from black stone, and is generally of

equally good workmanship. Like the

more slender, green jasper specimen (Fig.

52), it must have been used only in secur-

ing small birds and mammals. A rare form

of this class is the pretty specimen (Fig.

59). This is cut from a piece of green-.

ish jasper, and while very peculiarly out-

: lined, still bears some resemblance to the

these already described (Fig. 55). The base also approaches

of the beautiful specimen, Fig. 45. Indeed, we were at first

Inclined to believe that that form was intended, but the narrow

Natural size.

Natural i

Natural size,

212 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

stem being broken, it was finished up as we now see it. Lately we

have seen several stems like it, but smaller, and as they are all

thinner than the stemmed arrowheads, and show nothing of the

well marked central ridge that they have, we be- Fig. 60.

lieve that this style was designed, just as it is, but

probably for some especial purpose — some particu-

lar game. They are about as scarce as any one va-

riety, so far as our experience in collecting goes.

The leaf-shaped arrowhead and its modifications,

and those arrowheads with convex bases, are well

represented in numbers, in the usual day’s “find”

in any neighborhood good for collecting. The plain

leaf-shaped form (Fig. 60) is the prevailing variety,

and the difference in size in a large series is but very

slight. They are generally chipped from white

quartz, and exhibit careful workmanship. The point and edges

are invariably sharp; the indestructible nature of Fig. 61.

the mineral having helped to preserve them until ;

this time. When first lost, who can say? A va-

riety of this form, verging into the plain triangle

A x

Natural size.

Fig. 62.

shaft, which does

not appear so read-

ily in the case of the

material (jasper) from the on!

shown in Fig. 62.

the general run of leaf-sh

heads, even of that pe = ing

— Its size indeed su

and we are somewhat inclined to think that an arrow

head would be a very uncertain weapon, in the hands ‘

ever good a marksman.

We Wh ee eins ay

preceding form. The present tomt

is but seldom met with. 50 dis

have varied but very little in a ie :

ured. Another and petal i ái :

is §

than

nd is larger

of mottled slate, an i $

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. : 213

In continuing the subject of arrowheads, we have a few words

to say concerning certain forms that have more or less affinity to

those already figured, but have peculiarities of their own, worthy

of some special comment. The first of these specimens is illus-

trated by figures 63 and 64. While bearing some resemblance

to each other, they are not both fragments, as’ they appear;

Figure 63 being evidently a finished specimen, as the base is

chipped and not broken. This fact renders it probable that the

other (Fig. 64) has had a chipped base of similar form, which has

since been broken. Both have had, and one still has, a very good

point. They are thick and heavy ; strong enough for harpooning,

but are not long enough to penetrate sufficiently deeply to kill,

Say a sturgeon or gar. When these were in use, our pickerel

Fig. 63. Fig. 64.

Natural size, Natural size.

may have been much larger than now, and in that case they would

have been effective in spearing them, but are too cumbrous for

the slender Esoces that are now found in our waters. In works

on prehistoric remains, we do not find this form figured or de-

scribed in either stone, bone, or bronze. Unless one or two frag-

ments that we have belong to this form, we have never met

with any other specimens than the two here figured. The speci-

men given in Fig. 63 is of jasper and heavier in all its details than

other ae is of lighter material and more smoothly chipped

Bee: A third example of arrowhead exhibiting certain peculiarities

-8 represented by Fig. 65. It has been frequently remarked that

: arrowheads, wherever found and of whatever age, all have very

rete in common; and if a collection from all quarters of the

> globe was to lose the labels, it would be a difficult matter to de-

214 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

termine the locality of each, unless the mineral, from which they ;

were made, would decide the question; and another interesting —

feature is the similarity between arrow, spear and harpoon points

of an age long past and those now being used and made by the

. savages who are still more or Fig. 66, he

less completely in their stone

age. Bearing this in mind,

we call attention to the * har-

poonpoint,” which in all im-

portant features is identical

with one figured by Prof. Nils-

son,* and concerning which

he says, “the “stone points

(for harpoons) vary in shape;

sometimes they are as in pl.

iii, figs. 45,47. Such are like-

wise found in Scania...»

The broad head seems to indi-

cate that they have been har-

A E poons rather than arrowheads.

Natural size, . .. . It appears to me cer-

tain that pl. x, fig. 203 has

been the stone point of an harpoon. . . . A person who had

resided in Greenland recognized it at once as such.” Here

that a New Jersey and an ancient Scandinavian specimen,

Greenland one of the present day are identical. Tf bre

the head of arrowpoints is an indica-

tion of use as harpoons, then several

that we have figured must be pla

under that heading ; but while they have

unquestionably sufficient breadth, as

shown in Figs. 36 and 37 and 38 and pf

39, they have not a notched or other JAn

style of base, that would secure a firm |

fastening to the staff of the implement.

In concluding the subject of ‘arrow

oS heads,” in this present paper, we desire

to call attention to two other examples of specimens

marked similarity to those figured by ethnologists in

203;

Natural

Fig. 67.

‘Natural size,

*Stone Age in Scandinavia, edited by Sir J. Lubbock; plate x, fig.

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. . 215

voted to “relics” of other countries. Prof. Nilsson, to whom we

have so often referred, figures on plate xiii, figs. 225-226, two

“arrowheads”, which he refers to (page 88) as spears which

` have been worn down and broken from use, and repaired; and

considers the specimens to have been once like others referred

to, about six inches in length. Fig. 66, found here in New

Jersey, is almost identical except in size, which is but one half

that of the Scandinavian specimen. It

Seems not a little curious that not only

do we find here pretty much all that

characterizes the Scandinavian stone

age, but even fragments that have been

utilized are here found, showing that

they, too, have undergone a similar re-

Storative treatment.

Figure 67 represents a handsomely

chipped, rough-edged, bluntly pointed

arrowhead ; at least we will here fol-

low Prof. Nilsson, and call them 50,

masmuch as he has figured the same

form, except, that they appear more

roughly worked. He gives two figures £

that show the similarity better than a

Mere description can, on pl. ii, fig. 36,

and pl. xvi, fig. 266. In size the speci-

mens agree,

As, most frequently, stemmed arrows

of any variety are in a fragmentary

condition, we call attention to the illus-

68) Z _& jasper arrowpoint (Fig.

i which is perfect in itself and quite

Natural size.

“Yer seen. There: were certainly some very skilled arrow makers

ong our aboriginal, stone age people.

a > & general survey of the collection of arrowheads that we

: So Sesame about one-third smaller than similar arrowpoints.

ae ribed and figured by various authors, from Europe especially,

ie at them from a mineralogical point of view, we

26 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

found anywhere in the neighborhood, or even in the state; :

as they were unquestionably manufactured here, the minerals i

_ bulk must have been transported from a distance. The large ja

to weigh eight ounces each, we have in them a bulk of stone ot

pleasant to carry as tran

backs probably.

heavy but we cannot now

the exact weight.

Sprars. — There are to

found in almost every field,

arrowheads are ever met

nate a lance may real a

i i been so used. Fig. 69

i i a perfect specimen of the

boor it being, as are so many

i. T A. i! arrowheads, provi

tang, or projecting base ; and in general appearance

ral of the forms of those smaller implements. This spe

ae _Jasper. Very well, but not as finely, cut are many ®

_ and it shows by its whole aspect to have been wr

- View to strength and durability, as well as being €

chase or in battle. The point and sides are still vet

capable of inflicting a fearful wound if thrust with

amount of force. The specimen figured is three and

ters long by a little less than one-half in width.

about the average of the spears such as we are NO

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 217

Fig. 70 represents an allied yet much handsomer form, which

is quite rare and so far has been always found (by us) in a frag-

mentary condition. It is simply an enlargement for spear pur-

poses of a common form of arrowhead. The workmanship of

this specimen excels that of the preceding, which may, however,

be due to the greater tractability of the mineral. Like the other

spear we have figured, this specimen as a hunting implement

or weapon in war is very formidable. With the ordinary force of

a man’s arm, such a Fig. 71.

spearhead would iin- SEA

pale a sturgeon, and

thrown as a javelin

would probably

cleave a man’s skull.

The sharply barbed

base would make this

more efficacious in

the chase than some

of the European

somewhat larger. Sir

John Lubbock figures

& modern Esquimaux

spearhead in “ Pre-

historic Times,” fig.

218, which is very

innocent looking: in

Comparison with this.

Judging from the

abundance of stone

‘mplements that are made of a much less durable and easily

Wrought material than jasper, it would seem as though there was

an ancient aristocracy, or at least, then, as now, there were two

; a more wealthy, and a poorer one. Fig. 71 represents a

very common, although invariably (so far) broken style of spear-

head, differing somewhat from the preceding (Fig. 70), but closely

allied, however, to it. This specimen is broader and has

longer. The base is merely a straight, narrow tang and suggests

218 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

the base of the preceding, which we have represented as similar

this. The two specimens each supply to the other the missing

or at least suggest them. These three allied forms of true sp

are not abundant. Probably they constitute about one per

f the “find” in any

ity, except, perhaps,

sites of the former labors

arrow makers. Here

ments of spears abound

greater proportion. H

use rendered them —

Fig. 72.

and we now find that a

` greater proportion of i

are broken, notwithstan

their much greater st

Possibly their size, T

ing them more conspici

has led to their having

more frequently

spears that were y

by the grandfather of

ae mens we gathe

Natural size, when rambling

y during summer vacations, the illustrations

would be far more attractive.

As we separated the arrowheads into two classes, 5

projecting basos and those not so furnished, so we

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 219

rate the spears. Fig. 72 is a beautiful specimen of a spearhead

of a kind of flint, and mineralogically is unlike any other specimen

in our collection. It is the leaf-form of arrowhead enlarged and

is of fine workmanship. As a weapon it must have been valuable,

but it is difficult to conceive how it could have been sufficiently

securely attached to a long shaft. It is little less than five inches

in length, by two and one-eighth in breadth. We have never met

with another specimen that was like it in all particulars, size in-

cluded, but have seen them in collections Fig. 73.

made elsewhere in the United States and

in South America. Lip

= Laycenraps.—Fig. 73 is a representa-

~ tive of an average specimen of those long,

slender, finely edged slates, which we here

denominate as ‘“lanceheads.” They are

never wrought with that care which char-

acterizes arrow and spearheads, but still O ot

have had sufficient care bestowed upon Se Af

them to show that they were for some im- i

portant purpose. They are very abundant, be-

Scattered promiscuously over the whole y

state, and turn up at odd times, every AN

Where and anywhere. Along the shores of oon

_ Our creeks and from the bottom of the Del- (ewe a

Aware River, upland and lowland, it seems Ki

to make no differençe as to the character ai

of the piace, here or there, they are equally mmaa.

> We cannot now remember how C D

_ Many specimens of them we inclided in a ETE

‘ tion sent in the summer to London, but we believe that

i they, with the pile now before us, would number nearly a hun-

dred. We have intimated that they were only of slate—this is

— 80. The “deposit” of which we have spoken already, of jas-

P specimens, of which the large hatchet figured was one, was

“omposed of “ lanceheads” very similar to this slate here figured.

As all these « slate” specimens have a well defined, blunt base,

thought that the handle or shaft must have been here

TRP &, and if so, then we cannot look upon them as anything

than lances or javelins. The majority of ‘the jasper deposit”

referred to also had this same feature of a well defined base.

=~ from“ flints” that have been designated “knives” by N

220

hatchet.

_ “finds” in all parts of the globe. Our specimen certainly va

strong resemblance to the Kjokkenméddings lanceheads

by Sir John Lubbock, after Worsaz, in ‘‘ Prehistoric Times,

230, figs 173,174,175. Our specimen is double the width :

one-third longer, but we have met with some few that were ii

tical in size with the illustrations quoted.

Kyives.— Were the specimens (Figs. 74 and 75) found on

site of the former labors of an arrow maker, or were they

very rarely met with under any circumstances, we should be

Fig. 75.

Fig. 74.

Natural size, :

Poed. to consider them as only worked jaspers that had

unfinished and were probably commenced for arrow

however, is not the case. Such specimens as these are |

singly, say one or two to an acre, over all the grou

i Hibbook, still we have come to the conclusion e

ment but had many uses, and as pocket knives

a Conia of various tools, so the rudely ci

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. ; 221

a multiplicity of uses. The edge being the prominent charac-

teristic of the specimens, cutting must have been the principal

object in the making, and therefore we call them “knives.” Com-

menting on a collection of antiquities forwarded to him from this

neighborhood, Sir John Lubbock remarks, “the absence of flakes

and true scrapers surprises me. How do you account for it? Is

there no flint in the neighborhood?” There is no flint in the neigh-

borhood, and as jasper, slate and sandstone do not flake off as

readily and conveniently as flint proper, so we do not have in the

abundance characteristic of European ‘‘ finds,” true “flakes” and

= _ “scrapers” such as may have been made by almost a single blow;

and so too, our knives, if those we have figured be knives, have

hot a smooth edge, as a single plane of Fig. 76.

cleavage produces, but still would surely

be effective for most of the uses to which

any ‘‘flint” knife could be put. The

specimens are always of an elongated,

oval outline, and vary little from three

inches in length by one and one-half in s

width |

th.

Both sides are equally smoothly chip-

n some specimens, indeed in

- quite a large number, there is more of a

curve to one side than the other, ap-

proaching in this the general appearance

of the semi-lunar knives found in Swe-

den. (See Nilsson’s “ Stone Age,” plate i

V, figs. 88-9.) Figure 75 shows this anarai

_ More, perhaps, than any other specimen in our collection. Mr.

_ Lubbock has figured in “ Prehistoric Times” (page 490, fig. 214),

æ Esquimaux knife, that certainly can be duplicated without diffi-

culty, without the handle. Many of the more elongated leaf-shaped

_ Mrows, that had lost their points, might have been thus used, by

_ Pltcing the broken end in a bone handle and so converting the

as base and sides into the edges of a knife blade. As we do not

_ “Men find arrowheads which give evidence of having been re-

o pointed, perhaps very many of the specimens now found without

_ Pelnts were once inserted into bone handles, which latter have

. long since crumbled into dust.

rie PERS.— Every collection of flint implements found in Eu-

299 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

rope seems to have always a large number of rude implen

that have been called ‘‘ scrapers :” viz., tools for scraping and cle

into clothing. Prof. Nilsson, besides these “scrapers,” deseribes

a “stretching implement,” which may or may not be repres

here by certain carefully cut jasper specimens, which we will

— fer to presently. Specimens that we here figure as scrapers:

76 and 77) approach somewhat to the figures and descrip

of Nilsson and Lubbock, but do not agree wholly with ei

Fig. 76 will be found somewhat similar to the illustration in A

son’s work, plate ix, fig. 188. It will be noticed, however,

all our New Jersey specimens, that both sides are chipped.

mens such as this and those following were sent to Sir J.

who expresses surprise at the absence (in the collection) of “

Fig. 77.

scrapers. Admitting the dissimilarity between the ee

the American specimens, we still claim for ours greater

finish and fully as great adaptation to the use intended

tt STRETCHING ImPLEMENTS.” —Prof. Nilsson calls by ee

certain forms of stone implements, which he says rese"

“the bone implement, provided with a handle, which

for stretching the skins in order to give them the rege

ss ”

he re that he gives is re resented with A, har

= m the widened

_ bly from being rubbed against leather or something |

(‘Stone Age in Scandinavia,” p. 77.) The widenet $

specimens (Figs. 78 and 79) are not worn smooth m

but the ridges are not acute enough to endanget the

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 223

cutting, and we can readily see that, provided with a handle, they

would be well adapted to the use he mentions with refe:ence to

= Scandinavian specimens. One argument in favor of these spec-

imens being used for domestic purposes, is that we have found

_ them numerous in certain localities, where the large number of

; fragments of pottery, “ corncrushers,” pestles, etc., shows that on

; that spot once was a dwelling or village of those ancient people

l who utilized the “relics” that we have been describing. As to

= their manufacture, we have but to remark that they appear to

; have been made from the mineral directly, and not from the bases

; of broken spearheads, our reason being that they are generally

__ thicker and wider than spearheads; though, on reference to the

= spearhead (Fig. 69), it will be seen that the basal third of this

i specimen would make a “stretcher” very similar to the one we

have figured here, 79. These Fig. 79

Stretchers or skin dressers are

quite abundant. From one field

of but eight or ten acres we have

over seventy specimens, all agree-

ing remarkably in size and shape, E F

and, with one exception, all are (27 ©

cut from jasper. 4

Somewhat allied to scrapers,

hatchets; and in a measure sui

generis, is the next illustration we -

shall give. The specimen itself

-Ba light yellow jasper “ flake,” mies mec

subsequently chipped about its edges. If a “hatchet” handle

Were attached to thé centre of the flatter side, or base, the stone

Would then mak

hatchet. If, however, a short bone handle had covered the

ue, or “skinner,” although now its edge is too irregular and

baa for skinning. When sharper, however, it could have been

utilized in detaching the tough hide of the bison or a deer; but

saer or not the bison ever roamed in New Jersey, we know

Lubbock figures as ‘flint implements,” a series of speci-

Times ‘en from a tumulus at West Kennet, Eng., (Prehistoric

‘men. » P. 163, figs. 147 —50;) and to his figure 150 our speci-

A certainly bears great resemblance. As Sir John Lubbock

224 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JER?EY.

does not give any other name to the specimens, nor suggest their

probable particular use; we can only follow his example, as to :

figure 80, and call it an ‘‘implement.” This certainly is an easy, —

but scarcely satisfactory way of escaping a trouble, which perhaps _

is little bettered by the suggestion that just such a chipped

flint may not, by its original owner, have been specially set apart

for particular use or uses, but have been a sort of “ handy come —

by,” valuable to crush a mussel, or crack a marrow bone, but never —

designated by its first possessor, as either the one or the other

Indeed, would not a people whose advancement was but thus

Fig. 80.

Natural size. : ic

progressed—a stone-age people—be limited in the variety í

plements, and adepts in the art of multiplying uses |

simple article?

Perrorarrp Sroxes.— In the fourth volume of the A

Narvrauisr, page 880, we have described and figured |

formed “relic” found near Trenton. We now know -a

are frequently found in the west, and since the publication

‘notice of our Jersey specimen, a figure of an allied

from Vermont, has been published on page 16, of oe

(1871). Figs. 81, 81a, is an ornament. or « gorget

and Davis) found in the same field with the

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 225

referred to (Amer. Nat. page 380, 1870). It is of softer ma-

terial and perhaps not as finely finished as some similar speci-

mens ; but the hole that runs the whole length of the specimen is

as perfect as any drilling in metal that we have ever seen. The

width of the specimen in the centre is just one inch. The breadth

at the top one and one-half inches. As in the specimen figured

Fig. 81

Natural size.

in the NATURALIST for March, 1871, p. 15, this has, also, the perfo-

ration slightly smaller at the apex than at the base. Another per-

forated stone is the elongated, quadrangular flat stone (Fig. 82).

This specimen has been carefully polished and is very graceful in

outline. The perforation near one end — the smaller — is evenly

illed from each side to the centre, where the two depressions

Fig. Sla.

_foration Suggests that it was suspended by a cord, probably around

the heck. It has been suggested that it was used as an “ ear

drop mo

i Fisnrwc-rLommeTs. — Girdled, globular or oval pebbles, which

‘Mave been designated “ fishing-plummets,” are very abundant. We

AMER, NATURALIST, VOL. VI. AD onai nin

226 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

have never met with any having more than the one groove each,

ig. 82 Prof. Nilsson describes. Indeed,

they may have belonged to the same net

While the fact of the vast majority of

these stones being found in the beds

of rivers or on the immediate shores

found upland far from any water a

present; so that they may have hat :

some other use than net weights,

have been lost in the transportation

of nets overland. n

Porrery. — As we have nothing!

fragments to offer, we will close oë

extended notice of “Indian oe

ties” with a few words com

os these specimens (Figs. 84 °:

Natural size, 87). In the style of decoration,”

will be seen to vary. On examining a vast quantity of such

ments, we find no other forms of ornamentation, but freque ;

Fig. 83.

urn or vase, and 8

distinct from the

the vessel, is well ‘a

| Natural size, To what extent :

origines” were vegetarians, or were adepts in gasito™

THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 227

it is difficult now to determine; but besides the vast quantity

of fragments of pottery, there are frequently to be found, long,

cylindrical stones, with tapered and polished ends, that for want

of a better name, perhaps, are entitled “ pestles.” They are too

well known to need a figure given of any specimen, and their

whole extent of variation is in length and diameter. The largest

Fig. 84. Fig. 85.

Natural size. Natural size.

we have ever seen is in the possession of Dr. John W. Ward of

Trenton, and was found near that place. It is seventeen and one-

half inches in length, and scant eight inches in circumference.

It is bevelled at either end and polished ; indicating that the ends

were used in crushing corn (?) by striking blows, rather than by

Tolling the pestle in the depression of a basin-shaped stone. Very

many of these pestles are less uniform Fig. 86.

i their circumferences, being nearer an

Said cylinder in shape than truly cylin-

drical, and again, some specimens we

have gathered,

have a some-

what polished

surface at the

middle, showing

that the usual

contact was |

there, rather

than at the ends.

Very many of these ‘t pestles ” are of diminutive size, varying

ao = seven inches, and of diameter in proportion. ‘Their

ay indicated by the occas onal presence of a shallow

Hoyi a circular flat stone, in the centre of which isa depres-

n that has been gradually worn by the constant rubbing action

228 THE STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY.

of the little pestle. Their use was unquestionably to prepare the —

paint used in the decoration of the face and body. Indeed, one _

specimen of such mortar and pestle, exhumed with a skeleton

and some weapons, had a hard cake of reddish clay filling up

the depression of the mortar, which was the more easily recog-

nizabie, as the surrounding earth was of a peculiar blue-black color,

being an admixture of the surface loam and underlying blue trias-

sic clay that is so abundant in the neighborhood of Trenton,

New Jersey.

Of other implements belonging to our prehistoric kitchens, there

is but little to be said, except of certain large, saddle-shaped

stones that are claimed to have been used as the “ mills” whereat,

by the use of large pestles, maize was crushed before being used :

as food. Certainly several such stones as we refer to were acai a

rably adapted for just such use ; and we doubt not that to consider

them as corn-mills is correct. They have invariably been too u-

wieldy to move from the fields for purposes of illustration; and

in fact have varied so in shape, that no one illustration would give

a general idea of the whole set.

The same remarks will apply to other large stones, that appr

to have been utilized by the Redman, and are called “ anvils, e

for want of a more correct designation. Dr. Thomas 5. Stevens

of Trenton, to whom we are indebted for many favors, has called :

our attention to one such anvil, which was found on the site of i

“Indian” village. The stone in question is about twenty inches,

in height; has an hour-glass contraction at the middle, and b

level, circular surface at either end of about nine inches 1n li a

Where contracted at the middle, it measures about five oF ages

es in diameter. The present shape of the stone, we w :

to be admirably adapted for use as an anvil, or “ bench ; by? d

ing it before you, between the legs, and seating yourself p

ground. Thus positioned, one could easily imagine himself a

historic arrow maker, resting one surface of a block of J ae i

ious

the upper face of the anvil, and striking off the precio™™ Sak

that a subsequent laborious chipping would transform to, suce

cate arrowheads as we have figured, Whether such 3% | a vel

here described, was shaped from a globular boulder or nol}? ae

difficult question to decide; but judging from the peels

character of the implement, we consider that it one i

some resemblance to its present shape, and was afterwards E

to perfect the uniformity of its hour-glass contraction. ms

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 229

We have now described typical specimens of our collection. It

must be borne in mind, that they are all from one limited locality,

except one axe, and that collectors may now have or may discover

within state limits much that we have not seen. We may add to

qur own collection as the years roll by; but notwithstanding all

this, we believe that the ground has been sulliciently gone over to

warrant us in heading our article, the Stone Age in New Jersey.

OTE.—Since the original manuscript of this article was written I have had an oppor-

elder’s Narrative; ” and this missionary there states, that the

tunity of seeing “ Hæckw

New Jersey bank of the Delaware River, from Trenton to Bordentown, was occupied

by a “great king” to whom the many lesser chiefs were subservient. This fact may

explain why this locality is so singularly rich and varied in its forms of antiquities

May not the surrounding tribes have brought hither, as tribute, tithes of their choicest

8, and thus explain why so many specimens of weapons of foreign minerals are

n the fields, which possess naturally none of the minerals of which so many

mplements, are made? As Heckwelder was one of the earliest Europeans

Visiting these parts, his account is well worth referring to, whether our assumption be

orrect or not. It is interesting to know that the locality of which we have treated, was

once a place of importance to the people whose scattered relics alone are left for us

to study them by

ee à

=æ

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

SIEBOLD’S PARTHENOGENESIS.* Professor Von Siebold, well known

by his first work on the Parthenogenesis of the bees and silk

Worm (Bombyx mori) gives here further statements of a similar .

‘development in Polistes, Vespa holsatica, Nematus ventricosus,

Psyche helix, Solenobia triquetrella and lichenella, Apus cancriformis

and productus, Artemia salina and Limnardia Hermanni. The

facts reported are the results of observations, continued through

a dozen or more years. The manner of observation, and the

Statement of the facts are equally interesting and important.

“ey form a masterpiece and indeed a standard for every zoolo

gist desirous of knowing how to observe and how to study.

There are twenty-one observations concerning Apus reported from

the years 1857 to 1869 at four different localities, in Bohemia,

Croatia, Poland and Italy. The number of collected and investi-

gated Specimens for each observation varying between 21, 100,

> 1000 and even 5796! Males were found only in Krakau,

Breslau and Croatia. In Bavaria, near Gossberg, Siebold did not

* Pai; `i g P Pt

cert zur Parthenogenesis der Anthropods von. C Th. E. v. Siebold. Leipzig.

‘A; PP. 238, pl. 2.

230 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

find any males in ten observations in the same place in the years —

1857 and 1869, although nearly 10,000 specimens were carefully

investigated. The chapter on Polistes is really a masterpiece: ig

In the concluding remarks is stated the law that in Hymenop —

tera (Apide, Vespide, Tenthredinide) the parthenogenesis de

velopment always results in males, while in Lepidoptera and :

Crustacea (Psychidæ, Talæporidæ, Phyllopoda) always females. —

` The first, the Parthenogenesis resulting in males, is called Arneno- a

toxy by Leuckart ; the second resulting in females is called Thely- q

toxy by Siebold. There are some observations recorded on a

initial development without impregnation of the egg in verte

brate animals, by Oellacher on the hen, by Hensen on the rabbit,

by L. Agassiz on codfishes. Finally, the fact that no male of

‘the eel has been found is shaken; a fact which suggests that they

are produced by parthenogenesis.—H. HAGEN.

ETHNOGRAPHY. or THE SHORES OF BEHRING Sea. *— This well

known author having visited Behring Sea nearly forty y p

has now collected all the ethnographical facts of those part

as its people are rapidly becoming extinguished and their caso

are dying out. The chapters are: concerning the Aleuts ; Conte i

ing Koljusches ; the names of the people along the northern Ame

ican and Asiatic shores; voyage from Kamtschatka w

reception in Sitka; the Koljusches in Sitka; tbe religion

legends of the Koljusches ; liberty and slavery of the Koju

their exterior appearance ; their industry together with that of bps

neighboring people, their dress and the material of it, their

building, the metallurgy, their food and vessels for preparing

the Aleuts, their physical constitution, sexual customs,

ings, shipbuilding and navigation, weapons of the 0

hunting, anatomy and medicines, sense of beauty and #8

enjoyments, legends and songs, numbers in the language

words for numbering of all people around the

Finally, there is a chapter on the history of the in

for making fire by primitive people.— H. HAGEN.

Earty Sraces or Dragon Fries. t— The dragon fie t

i * Ethnographical observations and experiences on the shores per re

by Prof. A. Erman in the Zeitschrift für Ethnology, 1870 and 1871- P:-®

p. 149-175 p. 205-219 with a map. o. V. The Im

t INustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, =" Cabot.

ture State of the Odonata. Part I.— Subfamily Gomphina. By Loe

8vo. pp. 18. Three lithographic plates. Cambridge. 1872. ;

struments

BOTANY: . 231

be difficult to raise from the larva state, but the difficulty can be

overcome, and we hope that this paper with the beautiful plates

containing figures of so many forms, may excite students in

entomology to rear our dragon flies in aquaria. It is this kind

of work that tells in advancing science, and a work to which the

labors of systematists are largely preparatory. Those who live

away from libraries and museums can easily devote themselves to

observing the habits and early stages of insects, and thus do as

much, or even more, to advance entomology than they who give

their time to describing new species. Mr. Cabot describes the

immature stages (larva and pupa) of seventeen species of which

four were raised and identified beyond any doubt. Dr, Hagen

holds himself responsible for the determination of the species

‘ and gives a synopsis at the end taken from Mr. Cabot’s descrip-

F tion.

CaM

eal serie |S) i

: Tae Lens.*— In spite of the fire the first number of this new

~ Scientific journal has been reprinted and issued with commendable

= Dromptness. Among the original articles is a conspectus of the

| Families and Genera of the Diatomacez,” by Prof. H. L. Smith,

which will prove very useful to students; while botanists will be

| interested in the list of plants about Chicago, by H. H. Babcock.

A - J. J. Woodward describes a new method of photographing

: histological preparations by sunlight. Dr. Danforth contributes a

useful article on the preparation and preservation of sections of

Soft tissues, and the editor gives us a list of the Diatoms of Lake

Michigan with a description of a new Rhizosolenia (R. eriensis).

The selected articles and miscellany are timely, and the whole

appearance of the magazine very pleasing.

ROTA T,

Dispersion or SEEDS By THE Wixp.— A Kerner, director of

Botanic Garden at Innsbruck in the Tyrol, has contributed a

very interesting paper on this subject to the ‘‘ Zeitschrift des

en Alpen-vereins.” In order to ascertain the extent to

Which seeds are carried by currents of air, the writer made a

“areful investigation of the flora of the glacier-moraines, and of

ESL uses ee nl

* ; i

A Quart ly Journal of Microscopy and the allied Natural Sciences: with the Trana:

the State Microscopical Society of Illinois. Edited by S. A. Briggs, Chicago.

-1s 8vo. PP. 64. 1871. Witha lithographic plate and wood cuts.

237 BOTANY.

the seeds found on the surface of the glaciers themselves, belie- _

ing that these must indicate accurately the species whose seeds are

dispersed by the agency of the wind. Of the former description

he was able to identify, on five different moraines, one hundred

and twenty-four species of plants, and a careful examination of the

substances gathered from the surface of the glacier showed seeds —

belonging to thirty-six species which could be recognized with

certainty. The two lists agreed entirely in general character, and

to a considerable extent, also specifically ; belonging, with scarcely

an exception, to plants found on the declivities and in the moui-

tain valleys in the immediate vicinity of the glacier ; scarcely ina

single instance even to inhabitants of the more southern Alps.

M. Kerner’s conclusion is that the distance to which seeds can bè

carried by the wind, even when provided with special apparatus

for floating in the air, has generally been greatly ov rer-estimated; :

and this is very much in accordance with the view advanced by

Mr. Bentham in his Anniver sary Address to the Linnzan Society

of London, in 1869. Along with the seeds M. Kerner found, 00

the surface of the glacier, more or less perfect remains of a nun

ber of insects belonging to the orders Lepidoptera, emis

Diptera and Coleoptera, which, like the seeds, belong

exclusively to species abounding in the immediate rit ;

of the glaciers.

The species of plants which are specially inhabitants

higher mountain regions M. Kerner divides into two classes.

the first the seed or fruit is provided with an appendage of val ce

kinds, to enable it to be carried easily by the wind; the spect

possess generally a short span of life, are continually shifting ti

habitat, will grow where there is scarcely any soil, and ba pe

love to establish themselves in the clefts or on the inaccessible §

of rocks; their floating apparatus appears designed rather to en

them to reach these habitats, where no other plants could :

themselves, than to be carried any great distance by *

The second kind are much more stationary, have a a grea

of life, require a richer soil, are unprovided with any ap?

for flight, and can advance only very gradually ; they are

quently much less abundant than the first kind. From ! the

tached loe

Ips; ve

observations, and the fact of the existence of de

for some of the mountain species in the Tyrolese A

mote from their more abundant habitats further sout

BOTANY. 233

draws the conclusion that at a period subsequent to the glacial

epoch a warmer climate than the present overspread that part of

Europe, when the species referred to extended over a wide

area, of which the present isolated localities are the remains.—

A.W. B.

Moucry 1N Pants. —In the January number of the London

“Popular Science Review” Mr. A. W. Bennett brings forward

Some remarkable illustrations of this singular class of phenomena,

a which he divides under two heads :—those relating to the whole

: habit and mode of growth, and those which relate to the develop-

ment of some particular organ or part. Of the former kind a

very familiar instance occurs in the extraordinary resemblance

between the succulent plants which form so prominent a feature

in the flora of the sandy deserts of America and Africa, belonging

to the widely dissociated genera Cactus, Euphorbia and Hapelia ;

and instances of this kind the writer thinks may generally be

accounted for by similarity of external conditions. Far more’

d difficult is it to explain the cases of “mimicry” which come under

a the second head, in which species growing either in the same or

$ in different localities, imitate one another to a marvellous degree

of closeness in the form and venation of the leaf, the external

appearance of the seed-vessel, or in some other particular organ ;

and of this kind several illustrative drawings are given. It ap-

Pears impossible to suggest any explanation of this curious

Phenomenon like that which has been brought forward in the case

of similar close resemblances in the animal kingdom, viz., ‘‘ pro-

tective resemblance” springing up by the operation of natural

Selection, and these singular facts seem to deserve closer attention

than they have yet received. Mr. Bennett doubts whether natural

selection is adequate to account for the growth of organisms of

this description, and belieyes we must recur to the predarwinian

doctrine of “design” in nature. — A. W. B.

NarDosmTA PALMATA. — About four years ago my attention was

called, by Prof. Albert Hopkins, to a locality in this town where the

‘ardosmia palmata Hook. is somewhat plentiful. It grows in

amy open ground ; only a few large trees and some bushes being

"r, and in the immediate vicinity of a perennial spring of pure

cold water, What are the New England localities of this rare

plant? — Sansorn Tenney, Williams College, Mass.

: A by the first of September they had almost entirely

Nore or Icrervs Bartimore.— The following is the spring

ZOOLOGY.

note of the n

Hang-nest.

a A A a a Bn EE! ET, E

Sometimes the first part has five notes, instead of four; and the :

part after the rest is sometimes sung without the preceding patt

— 5. 5. HALDEMAN. g

Nore or Rana piprens.—The voice of the bullfrog is

vowel of un, pronounced like the French nasal un, and repeate

groups of three notes; the last one col

Bull-frog. ~ verted into a kind of dipthong, 35 if f

=F the closing of the organs over the issuing

sound. Not having heard the sound for

for which allowance must

Blud-an-owna!

many years, I write from recollection,

be made. Popularly, this frog is supposed to say,

— S. S. HALDEMAN. i

prue AT NIES,

DISAPPEARANCE OF THE CoLorapo PoraTo BE š

for 1811;

Micuican.—In the May number of the NATURALIST

gave a brief account of the Colorado Potato Beetle, as it 4

observed on the farm of James Hudson during the ah a

years. As these beetles have apparently disappeared ae

region I have taken pains to learn something of the time of

disappearance. It appears that during the spring

beetles were even more plentiful than during the preceding pe

and that they attacked the potatoes as soon as they ci

destroyed whole fields, and went on increasing with genre

About the middle of July, however, they began to

number, and by the middle of August, only a few "e re

-But the manner or cause of their disappearance e

stood. The fields of late potatoes were mostly sa a

fields were saved by putting on ‘‘ Paris green ” mixed fe

to twenty parts of flour. lt was sprinkled over the plan

the dew was on.—Sanzorn Tenney, Williams College

(234) :

ries E SR Sc Se Stee pode PM ee ee es ea ny

whi

ZOOLOGY. 285

AFFINITIES OF THE KING-CRAB.— A paper on the Anatomy of

the American King-crab (Limulus polyphemus Latr.), by Professor

Owen, recently occupied two meetings of the Linnæan Society of

London. The learned author entered into an elaborate description

of the external structure and muscular and nervous systems of the

King-crab, and of its habits and modes of life as investigated by

Rev. Dr. Lockwood, of New Jersey, and Mr. W. A. Lloyd, at the

Aquarium at the Crystal Palace. After a résumé of the views of

its structure and affinities entertained by Woodward, Spence,

Bate, Packard, Dohrn, Salter, Huxley and other carcinologists,

and a reference to the analogies of the Xiphosura with the ex-

tinct Trilobites and Eurypteridæ, Professor Owen summed up in

favor of retaining the Limulus as a member, though a somewhat

aberrant one of the class Crustacea. Prof. Van Beneden, the

eminent Belgian embryologist, on the other hand, has published

a paper in the “Comptes Rendus de la Société Entomologique de

Belge,” in which, from a study of the embryological development

of Limulus, he arrives at the following conclusions :— 1. That

the Limuli are not Crustaceans, as none of the characteristic

phases of the development of Crustacea can be distinguished ;

i and that, on the other hand, their development shows the closest

resemblance to that of the Scorpions and other Arachnida.

2. That the affinity between the Limuli and Trilobites cannot be

doubted ; and that the analogy between them is the greater in

Proportion as we examine them at a less advanced period of their

development. 3. That the Trilobites, as well as the Eurypteride

and Pecilopoda must be separated from the class Crustacea, and.

must form, with the Arachnida, a distinct division.— A. W. B.

7 Respiration or Fisnes. — M. Gréhant, in his lectures on respi-

en recently delivered at the Ecole Pratique de la Faculté de

Cine of Paris, mentions some interesting facts in relation

-to the respiration of fishes. He refers to the researches of M.M.

umboldt and Provencal, who found that a tench placed in a

“all quantity of water (three or four quarts) used nearly the

ole of the dissolved oxygen in the course of seventeen hours,

Ist a quantity of carbonic acid amounting to about four-fifths

oxygen removed was exhaled. They found that the whole

eof the body of the tench acted like the gills in removing

Oxygen, as the same amount disappeared when the animal was

236 ZOOLOGY.

only so far immersed that its head and gills were free. In one í

M. Gréhant’s experiments five gold fish removed the whole of the

oxygen from a small quantity of water before they were asphysi

ated, whilst carbonic acid was exhaled to double the amount of

the oxygen absorbed. A small amount of nitrogen appears also

to be exhaled. He points out the analogy that obtains between

the respiration of fish and of the foetus in the uterus. —A. W. B

THE Great NORTHERN SHRIKE AND THE ENGLISH SPARRO

—Thave lately received with much interest from a pupil in

gers College Grammar School, a fine male specimen of

Northern Butcher-bird (Collyrio borealis Baird), which s

shot on the 6th inst. in a larch tree, in the city of New Brus

‘wick. It had just made a repast on the brains of m English

sparrow. Certainly it had method in its way of doing the

The victim was gibbeted by having its head squeezed into

crotch made by the bifurcation of two branches, each =

half an inch thick. Thus suspended, the head was broken in f

the top, and the brains taken out. This is not the only pie ee

has come to my knowledge of the marauding on sparrows ini

in this place, by the northern shrike. Iam of the belief p

birds of prey are waking up to the fact that the cities are %

a rich winter harvest, hence the resort thither of raptorial D

will greatly increase. It was recently said in a journal, thet

owls were becoming numerous in Central Park, and were

forays on the English sparrows. Probably, if looked y

PRANA

equally on the increase in these places. Moreover, th

_ think is true of all the parks where these sparrows

naturalized, and unless means are used to prevent, yes

of birds of prey in those parks will be very considerad™

ially in the winter. The wonderfully prolific nature |

little birds will furnish rich and abundant provision, pe

Shrike, although with a singular daintiness, it selects the

As to the acclimatization of the English sparrow —

not quite proof against the severity of our winters. wal

ago, a flock of these birds left Jersey City for the mow

Bergen Tunnel, a distance of but little more than two mi? s

some wheat had been spilled from a freight car. haw

taken from them their pickings in the city. Noti

ZOOLOGY. 237

were counted dead in one place on the snow near the tunnel. The

little fellows were unable to get back to their boxes in the city

and so perished from the cold.— Samurt LocKxwoop.

PECULIAR COLORATION IN Fisnes.— A short time since while

examining a number of alcoholic specimens of Cyprinoids from

Ogden, Utah, collected by Mr. J. A. Allen last September for the

Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, I noticed a species of Richard-

sonius distinguished by a bright vermilion spot on the abdomen.

The size of the spot varied in different individuals ; in some it was

quite small, in others it extended from the base of the pectoral

fin to the anal opening. Calling Mr. Allen’s attention to this fact

he informed me, greatly to my surprise, that this color was not

present in the living fish when he caught them, but appeared after

the fish had been in alcohol a short time. A dissection of one of

these fishes showed me that the color was deposited in the areolar

layer or derm, and was therefore a true pigmentary color. The

only explanation I can offer to account for this peculiar appear-

ance of color is this :—it is well known that during the breeding

season fishes frequently take on the most brilliant colors, which

disappear when that season is past. Is it not therefore probable

. that this color may have been one, at least, of the colors assumed

by the fish during the reproductive period, and that the alcohol

served in some way to bring out the color thus abnormally.

Whatever may have been the cause, the fact that color can so

appear in fishes will serve as a caution to ichthyologists when

describing Species from alcoholic specimens alone, lest they con-

found abnormal or seasonal colors with those that are permanent.

Tf any of your readers have observed a similar peculiarity in

| any other species of fish, I should be glad to learn of it through

z the pages of your magazine.— Ricuarp Buss, JR.

i _Dorattoy Or Lire or tHE Danus Arcatprus.— About the

Middle of last September I found my first larva (7. e. the first

a tarer happened to see though the fly is common even hereabout)

= took it home to feed. I afterwards found more, having finally

aam pupas, dating from 1st to 13th October, half of which I

any. ; of the balance two came out males, but imperfect, the

es td was a female and I kept it in an empty wardian case hoping

e the fourth might be a male. I cannot give the date of its appear-

but it was about the 18th, and at the end of a week it was

238 GEOLOGY.

still alive and trying to suck a bit of apple paring. I then offered

it some sugar and water on which it fed greedily, but the solution —

being too strong stuck to its feet and in struggling it lost two of

them. On the 30th the last fly came out a female, and then I

determined to try how long I could keep her, making my sweet-

ened water very weak. The first mentioned died on the 1th

November, and the last on the 10th December being then forty

days old, and I think might have lived longer but that in the mean

time I had filled up my case with plants and as she persisted in

keeping near the glass her wings were continually drenched by the

moisture collected on it.—Lours Mircnetn, Norwich. —

American Leecues.— Our fresh water leeches, neglected forso

long, have at length received attention from Prof. Verrill, who con-

tributes an illustrated article on them to the “ American Journal of

Science” for February. About twenty-five species are enumerated,

- most of them being new to science, one species ( Cystobranchus :

viridus Verrill) lives in both fresh and salt water. Most of out —

common leeches belong to Clepsine, and are found under sub-

merged sticks, ete. and occasionally on the under side of turtles,

but they seldom, if ever suck blood. They feed upon insect zor

small worms, etc.

GEOLOGY.

A New Cave rm Berks County, PENNSYLVANIA,

ered sometime last November and was explored to “a

tent in February 1872. The above cave is now explored her a.

length of about five hundred feet and in width nearly pe

hundred feet in several apartments composed of Jimestoné ‘fd

silicious rock. The stalactites and stalagmites are of 4 eer

nature, some stalactites are nearly pure silica, some twelve = : iS

teen inches in length and one and one-half inche

was disco” !

some S

s in thi

and in one apartment all quartz crystals, some purple,

Amethyst as can be. I intend to explore the whole am

to find a “bone cave below, as the present floor, I am sure, 3 en |

_ time dropped down and is now from twenty to twenty se me

in depth. I expect to find an entrance to the lower bottom: pi

temperature of the cave is from sixty to sixty-five w ban

some apartments. I think the stalactites are purer ae ee a

in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. The above cave 7

sft

Pare

MICROSCOPY. 239

leased by Samuel Keehler about three miles from the village of

Kutztown, who intends to have ready accommodations for visitors

and explorers during this April.— H. W. Hoxtiensusn. Reading,

Pennsylvania.

MICROSCOPY.

AN Improvep Mope or OBSERVING CAPILLARY CIRCULATION.

As I have never seen in print the following method of exhibiting the

circulation of the blood in the frog, I send it hoping that it may

enable some one interested in such studies to demonstrate the

distribution and influence of the nerves upon the capillary vessels

and circulation. I have, for over twenty years, been aware of the

peculiar manipulation presently to be described; where I first ob-

tained the knowledge, or how, I cannot state. I have made the facts

_ known to a great many microscopists, and have not, as yet, met

any one who previously knew it. If we grasp a frog in the hand

and plunge it in water about as warm as can be conveniently

borne, say about 120°, though I have never measured this, judg-

mg simply from the apparent warmth to the hand, we shall find

that, in a few moments, the frog will become perfectly rigid ; it

may now be removed and laid apon a plate for dissection. Care-

fully Opening and stretching the parts by pulling upon the fore

limbs gently, or even cutting the bones if necessary, the heart

may be displayed, showing the contraction and expansion beauti-

fully ; and if now the animal is placed in warm water, the lungs

will immediately float out, and by a suitably contrived stage, the

arculation may be examined. It is better, however, not to do this

but to draw out gently the large intestine by means of blunt

forceps, and then spreading the mesentery on the glass of the

frog plate (I find it convenient to use a large one with an elevated

S'ass, instead of one in the same plane, on which to spread the

mesentery) we can observe the capillary circulation very nicely

with 27 or Linch objective, by dropping a bit of thin glass over

the place or with a higher power “immersion.” Of course the

Parts opened must. be kept moist and covered with a cloth, and a

few drops of tepid water added from time to time. If the experi-

“ent has been properly conducted, the animal will remain per-

the circulation will continue for hours; I cannot

po ong, for I have never known it to cease until long after

eS“ nished all the exhibition I have ever had occasion to make.

Say how J

240 MICROSCOPY.

If the frog is a large one, the mesentery can be spread out so

as to afford the most magnificent exhibition of capillary circula-

tion, with a distinctness, and under an amplification which will |

excite the greatest admiration and astonishment in any one who

has only seen it hitherto in the web, or the tongue.

The objectives of a high power ought to be more tapering at

the end than our American makers usually furnish them. In this

respect, some of the foreign objectives are superior. It would be

very little more trouble to make the higher powers at the object

end but little larger than the front lens, and thus infinitely more

convenient for work than with the large flat surface which most of :

them now present. In fact, with a 4 or ,4 American objective, “

ordinarily made, it would be impossible to approach sufficiently

near to the mesentery to focus on the smaller capillaries without

striking some of the larger bloodvessels. If nothing more

be done, the front set at least might be mounted in 4 little pre

jecting tip or nose; and if those who are ordering objectives wil

insist upon this, I doubt not the opticians will do their part. —™

L. Suirn.

Tus New Erecrine Arrancement.— In the January number

of this Journal, and also in the Monthly Microscopical ca

of the same date, Dr. Ward describes “ A new erecting arrani .

ment especially designed for use with Binocular Micron

The arrangement proposed by Dr. Ward will undoubtedly work 8

he proposes, but cui bono? It is an axiom in microscopy: = wae

as in other pursuits, that the simplest means of accomplishing

an end is the best. Dr. Ward’s arrangement is complicated a

troublesome, and unless all the lenses are well made and T his

centred, definition will be injured. Dr. Ward is correct ee

observation that the “erectors usually furnished [italics am si

are not good and the use, otherwise satisfactory, of ag o

- vision.” The first clause is correct because “ the erectors

furnished” reverse, counteract or destroy all th

which the opticians have taken so much pains to int jsion.

the objectives. The second clause refers to pinocular Hi i

This has been completely accomplished by Tolles’ binocular © “

piece which has been in use and before the public more real

years. Without any change from, or addition to, fee er

construction or use, it gives an image erect, binocular ane

MICROSCOPY. 241

scopic with any objective, from a four-inch to a y, inch; and of

course it may be used for dissecting by transmitted or reflected

light with any objective having ‘‘ working distance” enough for

manipulation — certainly with a half-inch. The only objection, if

it is one, against the instrument for this use, is that the “ power,”

the amplification, is necessarily higher than with other binoculars.

But where a very low power is wanted I believe a pair of specta-

cles set with magnifying periscopic lenses will prove to be better

than any binocular dissecting microscope yet devised. But the

objection to the “usual erector” for monocular instruments re-

mains. This was remedied by Tolles years ago; so long ago that

he has forgotten when. He made erectors that did not disturb

any of the corrections of the objective, but preserved them and

gave as good effects as were obtained without an erector.

When will American microscopists learn what has been done in

instruments made in their own country, by their own artists?

as ae ee E ETT Le a ee ee E EA oe NEE ee

Nore on toe Apove Remarks. —It can hardly be necessary

to state that Tolles’ binocular eye-piece, with which the writer has

Sometimes worked, was ignored in the paper referred to, simply

because there was no occasion to mention it,— it being no novelty

but an article whose properties, have been perfectly familiar to

American (and foreign) microscopists for years. It is only fair

` to add that the new arrangement, which can be added to any

Microscope at a cost of two or three dollars, has been used for

months by several microscopists who consider it extremely simple

and convenient.

that an erector (or anything else) however perfect, can be

added to the objective and ocular and give “as good” optical

effects as would be obtained without the additional refracting and

dispersing surfaces, is much disputed and surely cannot be

considered a conceded point at the present time.

If Mr. Tolles is prepared to supply the market with erectors

radically superior to those generally used, microscopists will doubt-

ie learn the fact when it is announced, as I do not find it now,

in the Catalogue of the Boston Optical Works or in their adver-

tisements in the Narvuratisr and other journals.— R. H. W.

KSA

_ Osuique ILLUMINATION.— A new contrivance, for obtaining

e transparent illumination with high powers and black

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 16

242 MICROSCOPY.

ground illumination with medium powers, was introduced by Col.

Horsley of the East Kent Natural History Society. He uses light

reflected from the inside of a broad, short, silver-plated tube

beneath the object. The tube may be silvered, not very perma-

nently, by rubbing it with a solution of nitrate of silver and hypo-

sulphite of soda. Such a tube, placed in the stage opening, would

give a more oblique illumination than could easily be obtai

otherwise in instruments having a thick stage.

' GLYCERINE IN Microscopy.— Dr. W. M. Ord, of St. Thomas

Hospital, London, questions the safety of glycerine as a medium

for studying and mounting microscopic objects. Its solvent

power over carbonate of lime is well known, and he had found it

ruinous to crystals of murexide, oxalate of lime, and triple phos-

phate. Might it not produce unsuspected molecular changes

in other objects? Portions of tissue preserved unaltered in :

for years, might have been affected’ in molecular constitution by it

at the first penetration and before the first observation. More

light is wanted on this subject.

Practica Histoocy.— Dr. Wm. Rutherford gives, in te

Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science for January 1872, A

synopsis of his course of instruction in Histology. The paper's :

too long to reprint and too dense for abstract, but it is full of

suggestions that will be useful to many others besides me

students. The author has a dashing and not unattractive manne?

of expressing his dissent from the opinions of most microscop

in England and this country in regard to apparatus, ete. ;

— Manasse

e result of

and se

various

of the

such 3

VARIATIONS IN Size or Rep BLOOD-CORPUSCLES.

(“ Centralblatt” No. 44, October 28th, 1871) gives th

more than forty thousand measurements on one hundred

enty-four different animals, intended to show the effect of

physiological and morbid influences on the size of the red

cles. In general, influences which raise the temperature

body were found to diminish the size of the corpuscles

very high temperature of the external medium, or septic p° a

Excess of carbonic acid in the air also acts in the Se

Oxygen, on the other hand, increases the dimensions ©

corpuscles, and so do, in general, all substances which dept e

animal temperature, as external cold, quinine, hydrocy aor :

and intoxicating doses of alcohol. Morphia is an exception,

MICROSCOPY. 243

though it generally reduces animal temperature, the corpuscles

become larger under its influence. Finally, acute anemia (pro-

duced by arterial hemorrhage) increases the dimensions of the

corpuscles.— Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.

Comparative Size or Rep Broop-corruscies.— Mr. George

Gulliver states in the same Journal, that recent measurements

confirm his conviction that the size of these corpuscles, in families

of fishes and reptiles, bears little relation to the size of the

Species; while in many families of birds and mammals, there is

such relation, the largest corpuscles occurring in the largest spe-

cies and the smallest corpuscles in the smallest species.

Viratiry or Orcantc Germs at High Temprrature.— This

standard question of the experimenters in spontaneous generation,

is attracting increased attention from its relation to the more

fashionable question of disinfection. It is discussed in several

numbers of the ‘Chemical News.” Mr. G. E. Davis calls attention

to the fact that the ovens, in which fabrics are baked for pur-

poses of disinfection, are often irregularly heated and may vary

fifty degrees from the thermometer’s indication. Hence, making

allowance for this uncertainty, the highest temperature desired

cannot be safely attempted, and the temperature attempted may

not be gained. He believes that the heat employed has little ac-

tion upon the disease germs, and rather tends to encourage their

growth. He advises that a vessel of carbolic acid diluted with an

equal volume of water be placed near the clothing, in order to

gain the combined effect o? the heat and the phenol vapor.

Mr. Richard Weaver states that 350° Fahr. is the highest

temperature available for disinfecting clothing: and Mr. H. 5-

Yardley queries whether germs might nót be destroyed at inter-

mediate temperatures although they would live at certain lower

sree higher degrees; thus, might not life be destroyed at 330°,

Which would continue to exist at 200°, 300° and 400°?

_‘OBszct Teacnixe” rx Mrcroscory.— It is customary at the

regular fortnightly meetings of the East Kent Natural History

Society at Canterbury, England, to make dissections of plants

ag animals, and microscopical demonstrations of the same.

ig following items are derived from the Proceedings of this

Size or Broop-piscs.— Mr. George Gulliver predicted that

244 MICROSCOPY.

these corpuscles would soon be recognized as of importance in

systematic zoology, and demonstrated the relation of their size to

the respiratory function. The blood-discs of Amphiuma are the

largest now known, supplanting, in this respect, those of the

familiar Proteus.

RAPHIDES AND PLANT-CRYSTALS.—— Mr. Fullager gave demon-

strations of the crystal-prisms of Quillaia bark, and noticed their

size, prismatic and angular outline and polarizing properties, as —

points of distinction from true raphides which are acicular and

occur in bundles. The order Iridaceze abounds in erystal-prisms

Mr. Gulliver showed the great importance of plant-crystals,

especially raphides, in systematic botany ; the raphidian character

being so eminently natural, and so much more fundamental and

general than other single diagnostics. ‘+ The shortest and sharpest

diagnosis of the Onagracex would be Calycifloral Exogens abound-

ing in raphides; of Galiaceæ, Corollifloral Exogens abounding ™

raphides; of Orchidaceæ, Gynandrous Endogens abounding 1

raphides; of Hydrocharidacee, Hydral Endogens destitute of

raphides.” Similar examples occur extensively in Mr. Gulliver's

Memoirs in the Pop. Sci. Rev., Oct. 1865; Ann. Nat. Hist.,

1861-1865; Quart. Jour. Mic. Sci., 1864, 1865, 1866, 186%

Seeman’s Jour. Bot., 1864, 1866, 1867 and 1869. The eryetal

prisms of Quillaia bark, shown by Mr. Fullager, and of aut

demonstrated by Col. Horsley, test the genuineness of the ome

barks ; for though crystal-prisms abound in many British Endogen?

and in exotic Exogens they have not yet been observed in at

Dicotyledons: and while true raphides are not uncommon n for r

eign shrubs and trees, they have not yet been demonstrated in p

British trees. Sphæraphides were shown by Col. Horsley yl

_ the prickly pear (Opuntia) and by Mr. Gulliver in the on

aceæ. The raphidian character of the British species of Le a

was constrasted with the exraphidian Wolffia. Of the E =

Euphorbiacee, Mercurialis alone abounds in sphærap pee

the curious starch-sticks are equally characteristic of Dr ay :

By the raphidian diagnosis, the minutest portion of a plan other

often be located in its own order as distinguished from e

orders of the same alliance.

RESPIRATION 1N Aprancurate Worms.— Mr. Gulliver “ ee

and described a worm, about a. quarter of an inch long; é

MICROSCOPY. 245

Naid family which abounds in pools near Canterbury. The vivid

action of the vibratile cilia within the intestines, causing a rapid

current of water, was seen in the pellucid segments of the thin,

flat body, and was regarded as a true respiration. The same may

be seen in Sanuris variegata.

DeveLorment or Hyprovicryon.— Mr. Keit, of the Dublin

Microscopical Club, obtained, by cultivation, two forms of this

plant, an irregular network of large cells, and the ordinary nets

which “appeared ” to be produced from the irregular form. Fur-

ther study is promised.

Tur Marrwoop Fixper.— This little accessory, used by almost

every microscopist, is used under two disadvantages, the want of

exact correspondence in position of the scales on different plates,

and the size of the squares, in one of which, under a high power,

an object may still be lost. Mr. W. K. Bridgman offers, in the

“Monthly Microscopical Journal,” a means of correcting these

difficulties,

Each person using the finder in exchanges, is advised to prepare

‘common slide with a label in the centre and a dot on this, indi-

cating the position of the centre of the central square of his own

Finder. This “ test slide,” properly named, may be sent to any

correspondent as a key to the correction if any, to be made in

Using his Finder.

The position of an object in a square must be recorded, or

much of the usefulness of the Finder is lost. Mr. Bridgman

indicates this position by a dot having the same relation to the

figures. Thus 2.5 would indicate that the object was situated in

the centre of the square 235, or 2°. that it was far to the right of

_ the centre. The writer (R. H. W.) has always been accustomed to

record the position in the square by decimals; as, in the cases

above, 33:2 and 25:9, This plan, which is convenient, and not

liable to mistakes, has been mentioned to many persons, and

doubtless used independently by many more, but is not recollected

to have been published before. It is accurate to within one-tenth

Of the diameter of a square, which is quite sufficient in practice ;

but two places of decimals may be used, if deemed necessary, to

ndieg iti . 25. . 25-99

Andicate positions very near a line, as 85:2! or 3375.

NOTES.

PHILADELPHIA.— American PurtosorurcaL Society, December

15th.— A sum of money was appropriated for the planting and

preservation of a grove of oaks in Fairmount Park, to be called

the Michaux Grove, in accordance with the will of the botanist

Michaux. i

Prof. E. D. Cope read a paper “On the Pythonomorpha of the

cretaceous strata of Kansas.” This embraced a synopsis of the

species of the order known from all parts of the world, by which

it appeared that America was its home, only four species having

been described from Europe. He said that the Danubiosaurus of

Bunzel had no relationship to the group. The American species

were forty-two, distributed as follows: New Jersey green-sal™

15; rotten limestone of Alabama, 7; chalk of Kansas, 17; other

localities, 3. The Kansas species were referred to Clidastes 3 SPa

Edestosaurus 4 sp., Holeodus 4 sp., Liodon 6 sp. Of these Ede

saurus tortor and E. stenops, Holeodus coryphaeus and H. tectulus;

and Liodon curtirostris, L. latispines, L. glandiferus, and L. orat

sartus were described as new.

January 5, 1872.—Hon. Eli K. Price read a paper

Phases of Modern Philosophy,” in which he combatted t :

of the Heterogenists and of the Evolutionists. In the latter pa

of the subject he opposed the views of Darwin, asserting that a

variations seen among domesticated animals had no parallel aine

those in a state of nature, and the fact of their ready hy ere

is indication of their specific unity. He quoted Professor se |

Thompson, to the effect that no transition from species ton

had ever been observed in palæontological history ; and pR :

that the variations observed among animals on which the develop :

Mentalists relied in evidence of their theory, were few and abn A

and entirely insufficient for the use made of them. That me a :

_ of man from apes was not supported by evidence. peer -

_ the theories of evolution are highly injurious to faith and mol eu

and thus to Christian civilization.

January 19th.—Benj. Smith Lyman read a paper”

Bearing Region of the Punjaub,” accompanied by 4 topog"®

5 ‘ * heds.

map. He pointed out the Tertiary age of the oil-bearing

(246)

“On -gome

he views

«On the O

phieal -

Shon,

ae finally dee

eS r E I Be meee capt Shp Ls es

NOTES. 247

Professor Cope read a paper ‘On a new fossil reptile from the

cretaceous strata of Kansas,” which was named Cynocercus incisus.

The vertebral articular faces were deeply excavated above and

below, so as to give them a transverse character. A new Croc-

odilian from the same region was named Hyposaurus Vebbii.

Professor H. Hartshorne read a paper on * Organic Physics,” of

which the following is an abstract :

1. The expression ‘‘ organic physics” is as well justified as

“organic chemistry” and *“ animal mechanics.” For,

ital force is clearly correlated with other physical forces, as

heat, light, ete.

3. But the correlation is not identity.

4. Advocates of the ‘‘continuity” theory have endeavored to

make it appear to be identity ; but they will not succeed ; because,

Oe The effects of heat, light, electricity, magnetism and gravita-

tion are known, and they always tend (in the absence of life) to,

an opposite kind of change to that which occurs under life-force ;

namely, '

6. They form of C., H., N., S., P., and C., compounds of few

equivalents and stable equilibrium; while, under life-force, the

same elements are made to produce compounds of many atoms or

equivalents and of unstable equilibrium; the first are mainly erys-

talloids, the second always colloids.

The directness of this opposition is especially demonstrated

by the result of death (arrest of life-force), which is attended b

the resolution of the complex, unstable, colloidal organic substances

Into more simple, stable erystalloids and gases.

able, at least, though not proven, that the assumption of particular

forms, under given circumstances, is (analogous to crystallization)

the property of the bioplasm ; i.e., given the matter, the form results

as its property or attribute. k

9. But chemists have never succeeded in making organizable

l r by synthesis. Nor is it likely that they ever*will. All com-

k eX organic substances made in the laboratory (as urea by Wöhler,

atty acids, ete., by Berthelot, and even, if made, crystallizable

Fesults of the downward or retrograde metamorphosis ; produced

ce be-

248 NOTES.

earus; Pouchet and Pasteur have long debated it; Owen, Ben-

nett, Clark, and a few others have of late years reasserted it;

Bastian (Nature, 1870) makes an elaborate experimental defense

of it. We note concerning it as follows: (a) The manipulation

(to avoid introducing minute viable forms) requires an almost or

quite impracticable delicacy throughout. (b) When heat is used

we have always the alternative of concluding that certain minute

organisms, germs or spores, can resist a higher temperature than

was supposed, or that, taking for granted that the heat employed

must have killed all germs, new life afterwards sprang up witi-

out parentage. All experience makes the former much more

ould not, five hours would put an end to all manifestations of

life. Frankland’s experiments (and Calvert’s) gave similar results

against abiagenesis. (c) Supposing (although Huxley does not)

that Bastian could not have mistaken ‘“ nian” molecular

movements for evidence of life, we yet observe that, if life sprang

up in Bastian’s apparatus, it was such life as can exist without at

or oxygen; altogether unlike, therefore, ordinary world-life. W —

The assertion of Pasteur is justified, that the onus probandi ar

with abiagenesists, since there is no experience of any living ay

more than +5455 of an inch in diameter springing into life —

inorganic matter ; it is, therefore, vastly improbable (needing inch

cogent evidence to prove) that any form less than zo00 of an

in size can be made to spring into life from inorganic matter. re

11. While abiagenesis is wnproved, we hold to the conclus o

that vital force is not the mere outcome or resultant of any 0t #

of the other cosmic forces. : ogieal

12. How does it differ? Of the organic cell or “ physiol ation

unit,” the most constant determinable acts or changes are Me, an

and excretion ; atomic or molecular motion, definite in results, 18 | ae

essential of life. Must not the motion itself be peculiar? sation :

13. More definitely, we find,—that, while in the condi n and

of matter in the (nebular theoretical) formation of the of fore

“

Cone $ a

_ 14. Sexual union is closely analogous to chemical gees «

instead of combustion, it makes construction by detaining P =

ucts. a hyllo-

15. Again we notice the analogy between the spira ey

taxis of plants (opposite leaves a double spiral, w one ae

more, and bilateral symmetry of vertebrates and

some mollusks, and radial symmetry of radiates an

corresponding) and the spiral helix of the electro-magn®*

NOTES. 249

opposite chemical and polar elements of the battery are to the

current of the helix, so (may be) are the polarities of the sperm-cell

and germ-cell to the spiral phyllotaxis of plants and symmetrical

(usually “ssn organo-taxis (a new term) of animals.

16. A close (but reversed) analogy exists between heat-force

and vital force. A spark of fire may “light” and so burn succes-

sively an indefinite amount of combustible matter. A s spark o

ife may animate an indefinite amount, successively of ans, 8

matter. The former, combustion, reduces complex substances,

which are unstable, to more stable compounds. The latter, life,

elevates similar substances to more complex states; but with

constant transmutation of their forms.

17. Such analogies are as yet crude, and do not solve the

ife.

18. But the facts on which they rest justify and encourage the

Physical investigation of vital actions; including their study. under

ara -dpa physics.

9. Such a ew of life is in no manner antagonistic of theism

or of ‘tele olog "any more than i is the now priar reduction of

; ical or Bhiveical kaarre All such analy eat ‘inquiries are,

moreover, legitimate, so lor g as they are accurate; whether they

Point to biogenesis or abiogenesis; to the origin of types by inter-

rupted appearances or by evolutio

February 2d.—Prof. Geo. B. Wood communicated further results

of his experiments with salts of potassa on vegetation, and espe-

cially on grain and fruits:

He e stated that in a field of grain in which the soil had been

oy exhausted by bad culture, one-half was enriched by barn

Manure, the other with the same with wood ashes added. The

effects of the latter were especially marked, and much greater than

ch ae former. The most striking results were obtained by the

f the hed of the poke, Phytolacca decandra.

oa Cope read a paper on the “ Families of Fossil Fishes of the

Cretaceous strata of Kansas.” —

— greater part of these were shown t o be Physostomous

ine of three families, viz.: the Saurodontiæ, the Pachy-

i dontidæ, and the Siete cade Of the first, four genera

en s

sev

orm provided with multitudes of minute shovel-headed

AS a general result the great resemblance of this fauna

ce of salt, gypsum and alum shales in large quant

250 NOTES.

to that of the English Chalk, was pointed out, six of the nine

genera of Kansas having been found in the latter.

Murch 1st.— Benjamin Smith Lyman read a paper “On the

Topography of the Punjaub Oil Region.” pi

It aimed at a somewhat detailed account of the topography of

the oil region ; its situation, general features, special features,

ete. The different places were mentioned where each kind of topo-

graphy is to be seen, and its causes and simple laws pointed

out; chiefly in order to show the great usefulness of careful topo-

graphical studies to geology. A short sketch of the geology of the

region, aside from structure, was also added. Bie

he general section of the rocks of the region is as follows,

below the new and old alluvians: a

» Miocene (Sivalik) perhaps. i : : . G 3,000 feet

Eocene (Nammulitic), with oil, i ; i ; è 1,950 *

Carboniferous, without oil, about . F r : . 1,800 ú

vonian, with Saltana plaster, . : ; i . 2,850

9,600 feet

The oil or asphalt (dried oil) or rock tar (melted asphalt) is

of a parabola, and seems likely to reach 3,000 gallons

within a year and a half. At a rough guess a hundred er e

might be bored in the region, with a whole yield, then, 0

7,000 barrels. The natural springs (five) yield from à (25 Be,

three quarts a day. The oil is dark green and very A da

or less). There is nothing whatever in the Punjaub oN GT to

to bear out a belief in the distillation of oil from One sage

~- another, or in its emanation from below or in its gradoa i ped, :

first fifty gallons a day, but grew quickly less. like the ord

ikely to

-boring into cavities below the olibano bed. oct of

ities is notice’

well as that of sulphur, saltpetre, brown coal in itil i

and that of traces of copper, iron and lead. L

Prof. E. D. Cope read a paper “On Bathmodon,” 4 ent

extinct Ungulates. It was represented as per ised i

nee

ven PCCleS under the head of one species, as

NOTES. 251

characters, but with peculiarities of dentition of a combined

ruminant and suilline character. There was on the outer side of

the molars but one crescent, and before this a tubercle. The inner

portion of the crown a tedge. Besides the species Bathmodon

radians, a second form, Loxolophodon semicinctus, was referred to

the group. The former animal was large as the rhinoceros, the

second equal to the tapir.

Prof. Cope read a paper “ On two new species of Ornithosaurians

from the Kansas cretaceous.” They were described as Ornitho- _

chirus umbrosus and O. harpyia. The former was regarded as one

of the most gigantic of the Pterodactyles, extending probably 25

feet from tip to tip of the wings. The other was two-thirds the

size, ;

Prof. Cope read a paper “On Protostega,” a genus of extinct

Testudinata. A detailed account of the osteology of P. gigas from

the cretaceous was given, by which it appeared that the genus had

Separate ribs as in Sphargis, and that the carapace was formed

by large radiating plates of bone in the skin. Two other species

Were described — P. tuberosus and P. neptunus. The latter, the

largest known marine turtle, from New Jersey; the former, from

the cretaceous of Mississippi, had been referred by Leidy to the

Mosasauroids,

A discussion on Mr. Prices paper read at the last meeting

took place, in which Prof. Hartshorne, Prof. Lesley, Mr. Price and

_ Prof. Cope took part. Prof. Hartshorne supported the opposi-

tion to Abiogenesis expressed in the paper, on the ground of insuf-

ficiency of evidence in its favor, but believed in the evolution of

Species. Prof. Lesley objected to the insufficiency of Mr. Price’s

» Masoning against the labors of experts in biological science, and

Stated that the more attention he paid to the subject, the better

Satisfied he became that man was descended from apes. Prof.

Cope Stated that Mr. Price’s paper was in error as to the facts:

‘as hat variability of specific type was even fmore common in

“ure than under domestication; examples from many so called

d soon ;

ng Connections were found. (4) That the known cases of

252 NOTES.

$ ' j

transition were numerous, not few; and that common induction

required that we should believe of the unknown, that which we see

in the known, when other circumstances were identical.

Ar the annual meeting of the London Geological Society, Feb-

ruary 16, Mr. Joseph Prestwich, F.R.S., President, in the chair, ;

the Wollaston Gold Medal was presented to the Secretary, Mi,

David Forbes, for transmission to Professor Dana, of Yale Col-

lege, Connecticut. The President said : i

“I have the pleasure to announce pa the Wollaston Mei

has been conferred on Prof. Dana, of e College, New Havet, —

S; ee in handing it to you for poe to our Foreign — |

Member, I beg to express the great gratification it affords a

that the aw ard of the Council has fallen on so distinguit a :

ogist. Prot. Dana’s works have a worl he

reputation. Few branches of geology but have recat

attention. An able naturalist and a skilful mineralogist, he :

studied our science with advantages of which few 0 u 3

boast. His contributions to our science embrace cosmical ques- )

tions of primary importance—palxontological questions of 8 iit z

interest—recent phenomena in their bearings on geo ogy Fa

olo

g the parria] as well as the principles of |

common, the one universal, and the one kindred "pura

in the various branches of science.”—Mr. David Forbes, in

said that ‘it was to him a great pleasure to have, ! in the i a

Prof. Dana, to return thanks to the society for their highes held

and for this mark of the appreciation in which his abors of the

in England. It had rarely if ever occurred in the e

society that the Wollaston medal had bean awarded x prai

gist who had made himself so well known in such W widely

departments of the science, for not oily i was Pro

eminent as a mineralogist, but his numerous m

Crustaceans, Zoophytes, coral islands, volcanic fo on gene

other allied subjects, as well as his admirable treaba th

Geology , fully testify to the extensive range and great =

his scientific researches gure

of the pr

The President then onie the balance 0

NOTES. 253

the Wollaston donation fund to Prof. Ramsey, for transmission to

Mr. James Croll, and addressed him as follows :

“The Wollaston fund has been awarded to Mr. James Croll,

of Edinburgh, for his many valuable researches on the Glacial

phenomena of Scotland, and to aid in the prosecution of the

same. Mr. Croll is also well known to all of us by his investiga-

tions of oceanic currents and their bearings on geological ques-

tions and of many questions of great theoretical interest connected

with some of the great problems in Geology. Will you, Prof.

Ramsey, in handing this token of the interest with which we follow

his researches, inform Mr. Croll of the additional value his labors

have in our estimation, from the difficulties under which they

have been pursued, and the limited time and opportunities he has

had at his command.” — Prof. Ramsey thanked the president and

council in the name of Mr. Croll for the honor bestowed on him.

He remarked that “ Mr. Croll’s merits as an original thinker are of

4 very high kind, and that he is all the more deserving of this

honor from the circumstance that he has risen to have a well

recognised place among men of science without any of the advan-

tages of early scientific training ; and the position he now occupies

has been won by his own unassisted exertions.— Nature.

Catirorysta Acapemy or Screxces. March 4th. A Communi-

cation was received from Prof. George Davidson, at present in the

East, accepting the Presidency of the Academy.

_ A translation by Dr. A. B. Stout of an interesting paper by

G. V. Frauenfeld, K. V. (of Vienna, 1870) on the “ Extinct and

Perishing Animals of the Earliest Epochs of the World” was read

by the Secretary.

Dr. Ellinwood read a digest of a translation of the proceedings

"e the Society of Natural Sciences of Neuchatel, 1869-1870,

giving a brief résumé of the principal discussions which occurred

S the Archeological Congress at Copenhagen in 1869, being an

interesting narration of the developments of antiquity, arising

from an investigation of the shell mounds.

n Mr. Stearns gave the result of his examination and researches

m some of the numerous shell heaps and mounds at Point

i Tampa Bay, Florida, near the supposed landing place

: % the Expedition of De Soto :—

The latter were composed of alternate thick strata of shells

and thin strata of ashes; these alternations were owing to the

A amg Visits of the Indians to the localities where these shell

oe are found, and during the interim between these visits a

Sowth of grass and other vegetation had taken place, covering

shells of Marginella conoidalis. A great number of this 8

254 NOTES.

heaps and near them, as well as in the burial or earth mounds,

fragments of pottery, and arrowheads of chalcedony, and other

implements of stone and shell may be found; and near the Point

Pinallis mounds a remarkable vase of steatite, shaped somewhat i

like an ordinary soup tureen, had been discovered. The material

of which this vase is made was probably obtained by the Indians

at Apalachicola, near which place a deposit of soapstone existed,

and the material for the arrowheads was without doubt obtained i

at the elevated and now fossilized coral reef in Hillsborough Bay,

known as Ballast Point, not far from the town of Tampa. M

Stearns also briefly referred to the statements of the narrator of

the De Soto Expedition relative to the abundance of pearls which

were seen in possession of the Indians, and which were said to be :

obtained by some of the soldiers of De So He was of the +

to’s men thought were pearls, were the

t hell had

been found in an ancient mound in the city of St. Louis. :

Dr. Gibbons presented a copy of the “ Oriental Medical Gr

zette” of Constantinople, which contained a paper by Dr. A a

lah Bey, descriptive of the contents of the mounds in Europ,

Asia and Africa; the writer advancing the theory that the mound :

works being similar all over the world, they should be attributed -

in their origin to one race. ; :

Mr. Wetmore referred to some interesting develo

in the shell mounds of South America.

_ Prof. H. G. Hanks presented remarkably fine spee

jasper and tourmaline from Calaveras County. ; a

“ CENTRAL Park Museum.— Destruction of Mr. Hawkins’ we

tions.— A Tımes reporter called yesterday on Mr. B. ware

Hawkins in order to ascertain the truth of the allegations nt

in a communication which appeared in yesterday’s T x Park

erence to the destruction of his restorations in the e i

Museum. r. Hawkins stated that all he had € gals

twenty-one months to restore the skeletons of the extine

pments made 2

imens of

arted away to Mount St. Vincent where the remains 2 er other

several feet below the surface. The preparatory sketene a

NOTES. 955

animals, including a mammoth and a mastodon and the moulds

and sketch models were destroyed. Mr. Hirron did this, said Mr.

Hawkins, out of ignorance, just as he had a coat of white paint

put on the skeleton of a whale which Mr. Perer Cooper had

painted white. Mr. Hizron told the celebrated naturalist who

had come from England to undertake the work that he should not

bother himself with ‘dead animals,” that there was plenty to do

among the living. This illustrates the policy of having such men

48 Hinron at the head of one of the most important Departments

of the City Government. When the skeletons were dug up again,

by order of Col. STEBBINS, they were found broken in thousands

of pieces. Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution when he

heard of this piece of barbarism, would not believe it. “Why,”

he exclaimed, “ I would have paid them a good price for it.” . Mr.

Hinton however, preferred to destroy the work of the naturalist

Which had cost the City at least twelve thousand dollars.”

We copy the above from a slip cut by a friend from the

“New York Times.” What good will ever come to science from

the million of dollars it is proposed to spend on the new building

fora Museum of Natural History in the Central Park so long as

the citizens of N ew York allow vandals and ignoramuses to hold

the Places that should be filled by men of culture and unques-

tionable scientific standing?

“We alluded some time since to the threatened destruction of

Peak Services to science by the purchase of the site on which

e Circle stands. lt is right also that the meed of praise should

ected towards the attainment of this object, and who have

o tlie own their sense of the value of the monument which is one

eas glories of their county. We refer especially to the Rev.

yan King, the vicar of the parish, Mr. Kemm, Mr. George

Wilet and the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, Hon. Secretary of the

hor ~ure Archeological and Natural History Society. It is to be

Ped that their example will stimulate similar zeal for the pres-

“tion of monuments in other parts of the country.” — Nature.

: Waen will Sir John Lubbock’s example be followed here?

satin year our monuments of a former race are being destroyed

it ho hand has yet been raised to save them.

ag Raphael Pumpelly has been appointed State Geologist of

~SSouri, as we are assured by a correspondent.

TANS 3

256 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOOKS RECEIVED.

A Frencn Association for the Advancement of Science, has ;

been started. The annual meetings will be held in the various

towns and cities. Over 100,000 francs, in shares of 200 francs

each, have already been subscribed by the founders of the Asso-

ciation,

Tue Smithsonian Institution has recently succeeded in obtain-

ing two complete skeletons of the remarkable tapir of the high-

lands of the United States of Colombia, known to naturalists as

Tapirus pinchaque or Roulini. Previously only the skull had-

been obtained by Roulin, by whom it was first made known, and

it was one of the rarities of the great anatomical collection at

Paris. The Smithsonian Institution had before obtained a number —

of skulls and a skeleton of the still more remarkable tapir of

Panama, which had remained undistinguished from the common

species of Panama till within a few years, when first described,

under the name of Elasmognathus Bairdii, by Prof. Gill, from :

two skulls in the Smithsonian collection. There are no externa

or dental differences between the tapirs corresponding Y with the

marked differences in the skulls; the external differences being

confined to the contour of the forehead, the color; a

character of the hair. ae

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

ne frit

SENSITIVE OAT.—The sensitive or animated oat, as it is usually cn of Ga

of Avena pernu L. It is a native of the Barbary States and the region ;

but as it is not unfrequently cultivated as a curiosity ithas Se region sparing re rem bem i

A Maby places. Although not often found in gardens in thi

dificulty i in getting seed from any of the larger dealers or florists

BOOKS RECEIVED.

pe, Edited

Zoological Record for 1870; being vol. 7 of the Ree ord of Zoological | Li tugil..

Alfred Newton. 8vo; p cloth. London. Zoological Record Ass porto Jiustration

Tepen book ok of British pie with full Descriptions of an n spe ae an olored plate,

. Y . Cooke. vols., 8v0, 981. oodeuts tion

TANAN and. New York, Macmillan & Co, Past l. e

The Metric System of Weights and Measures; an Address delivered Rechte ee Á P.

the University of the State of Nete York, at Albany, Aug. 1, 1871. By College. sra

cloth. 1s tion, printed by order of the Board of Trustees of Colu mbia hief

Geological euy of Ohio. Report of Progress in 1870. By J. S. N E:

reports by E. B. Pp ee Edward Orton, J. H. Klippart.

G. x meri ley, Chemists G. i, M. C. Rend, He fenty Newton W. B. Potte

ket. $

8vo, clo uts with map P 3 oe .

State Second Report of the Geological parece of ‘nah made during the yaar a 304,

State Geologist, assisted by John Collett and G. M. Levette. Svo, cloth, PP ung.

k Also contains * Manual of the Botany of Je ferson Co.,” by A- Walling

New of the Botan ennsylvan By Thomas C. Porter. (From

ia f Penn ) Folio. pp.2, and map. 1872, 1871.

Notes on Podisoma, By M.C, Cooke. 8vo, pp. 14. 2 plates. London.

On Nucieated Sporidia, By M, C. Cooke. Svo, pp. 4 kondon. 1871.

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol, VI.— MAY, 1872.—No. 5.

CEB OYDOD >>

HINTS ON HERBORIZING.

BY A. H. CURTISS.

As there are many persons, especially in the country, who desire

to acquire a scientific knowledge of the world of vegetation which

Surrounds them, but who, for the lack of competent instructors, do

not know how to commence, the following brief directions, offered

at the commencement of the floral season, will probably prove ser-

Viceable to many readers of the Naturarisr, and may perhaps

afford some new ideas to experienced botanists. Any one having

à capacity for study may learn the name and natural relationship

of any flowering plant by an intelligent use of a good descriptive

Work on botany—first reading, as a necessary drudgery, an ele-

Mentary treatise on the structure of plants. But no one can be a

good botanist without a good herbarium, which is composed of

dried specimens of species and their various forms arranged in

Systematic order and accurately labelled. The formation of a good

“arium is no simple task, and desultory, unguided efforts will

Surely be attended with much loss of time and many sources of

scouragement. i

Scientific characters are taken from the frpit and leaves as

well as from the flowers, and often the roots are very impor-

‘ant; therefore, a mere sprig of flowers does not constitute a

botanical Specimen.” A plant not over three or four feet high.

= Senerally be preserved entire, doubling it upon itself once

Mice if too long for the herbarium sheet—the most approved

2 Size of Which is eleven and a half by sixteen and a half inches —

sensed a cording to the Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

ie in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

ER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 17 (257)

258 HINTS ON HERBORIZING.

of very large herbs, the upper portion and a lower leaf must sut

fice, and of shrubs and trees a branchlet. Specimens of most

herbs may contain both flowers and fruit, but of most shrubs and —

trees the flowers are to be collected early in the season andthe —

fruit with mature leaves later. Sedges should be collected only —

_ in mature fruit. l i

Specimens are usually brought home either loose in a tight tin

box or pressed flat in folded sheets of thin paper carried in a stout

portfolio : but good specimens are more easily prepared by using

a portable press. This consists of two light but strong boards

half an inch thick, fifteen and a half inches long, and ten md

a half inches wide; this size will prevent specimens from being ;

made too large or unnecessarily small. Between these plao :

a pile of driers of the same length and width, each consisting of

a sheet of rag paper folded in quarto with a folded sheet of tet

paper inside to hold the specimens till dry. Straw paper, howe

thin, should never be used. The whole is to be bound toge :

with a stout strap, and may have an oil-cloth cover. Arrange ©

each specimen naturally, showing both sides of leaves and hove ;

and fold down the upper half of the drier carefully upon it, gi :

that the leaves, etc., lie smoothly; carelessness in preparmg :

specimen is unpardonable, for it may be destined to be p' i :

for centuries. Next morning transfer the sheets of specimens ms

the house press, for which there should be provided a great u 1

_ ber of driers, about twelve by eighteen inches in size. The a

kind of drying paper may not easily be obtained, but nevp q

answer very well. The press should be divided by boards ' e

/sections, ticketing each to show whether it is to. be chans”

next day or the day after, and assort the specimens pee

Do not take out the specimens till perfectly dry ; and, if P

driers are at hand, transfer the specimens when nearly

another press, and let them remain a week or two; ev this à A

and sedges, and many other plants, may be tr ansferred a strips

the first change. Build up the piles compactly, with th ore a

around the edges, so that all may receive uniform pe on to

the fifty to seventy-five pounds of weights to be P pandi

Succulent plants may be dried quickly by placims nat a i

-separate press near a stove; the heat may be so gre# pe taket u

' specimen at top will dry in a day, but care should aa =

remove them as soon as dry. Besides Monocotyledons a

Sage

HINTS ON HERBORIZING. 259

frageæ this treatment should only be applied to plants that incline

to mould or fall to pieces (Conifers are not benefited by it). To

dry the damp driers effectually without spreading them all over the

room, cut a hole in one end of each and string them on a stout

wire and suspend this on hooks set in the under-side of a shelf.

Pieces of stiff paper with a slit in the middle are useful for

confining specimens of sedges, etc., where bent, and folded pieces

of oiled paper for adhesive flowers, ete. ; also rings of cotton for

thick heads of ligulate Composite. The color of plants is best

preserved by rapid drying, but not much attention should be paid

to this point, as they will fade in a few years. If such plants as

the purple Ariseema and Symplocarpus or an orange Lilium be

dried in a few minutes by ironing them in their driers, they will

look when mounted like paintings.

Specimens may be mounted for the herbarium on sized paper

with glue, or on unsized paper with touches of poisoned paste and

Strips of gummed paper. Never mount a small specimen on the

centre of a sheet, nor any specimen without first poisoning it,

which is done by washing with an alcoholic solution of corrosive

sublimate just weak enough not to show. A pile of duplicates,

if infested with insects, should be inclosed for a while in a close

vessel with an ounce or two of chloroform or cyanide of potassium.

A few grains of the latter introduced into a case of entomological

Specimens will quickly destroy all intruders. It is best to keep

each genus in a manilla cover and these in piles on the shelves of

4 cabinet.

; The earliest flowering plants being on the whole most difficult,

beginner will meet with many discouragements at first; but

“very step will add to his strength. Any locality will afford from

ive hundred to eight hundred species of flowering plants, and, in

cag so large a number, mistakes are inevitable; there-

ik Wis well to send a set of specimens, numbered to correspond

_ “Yohe retained, to some person having a good herbarium, who

= doubtless be willing to examine and name them in return for

: te not attempted at all, but great care should be taken to

ite the two sets exactly correspond, for there is great danger

i: ciiig closely related species, as also of mistaking marked

> for different species.

~The Plants of other sections may be easily obtained by ex-

260 ' USE OF THE RATTLES OF THE RATTLESNAKE.

changing with other collectors. A person before commencing this

system should procure the “ Naturalists’ Directory ” and the

‘‘ Catalogue of Plants” from the Naturalists’ Agency at Salem, to

which it would be safest to apply for the best works to be studied.

_ If one expects to collect year after year for exchange, it is very

advantageous to keep a record of the time when the best speci-

mens of each species are to be obtained, which will be found to —

be an invaluable aid in following seasons. System in scientific

work is of the greatest importance, and with this and patient per

severance and economy of time, great results may be accomplished.

—=_

USE OF THE RATTLES OF THE RATTLESNAKE.

BY J. G. HENDERSON.

Ir seems that the singular structure from which the subject of k

these notes derives its name, was intended as a special stumbling

block in the path of antidarwinists, or to intensify the “ sot |

for existence” which the Darwinian theory, like all other theories ,

must undergo. yni A

In most notices I have seen of the rattles of the rattlesnake

théy have been mentioned as though they were of no advantag® :

the possessor, and that natural selection would never produce wa

but on the contrary would weed them out, if that theory bail :

correct. It seems to me that the whole trouble in the m yap

arises from the assumption that the sound of the rattles, 385"

war-cry, is a disadvantage to the reptile, by calling the

of its enemies to it and thus inviting its own destructioh

that consequently the only way to reconcile the exi

rattles with the theory of Darwin, is to show that thi

_ other use made of them and that in striking the balance

2 ne rattles. If I understand him rightly, this is the Y!

_ matter taken by Prof. N. S. Shaler in his paper in the Jam

: tine ALIST. He says that for some years he has “

Mas the tail appendage of the rattlesnake was not to be

USE OF THE RATTLES OF THE RATTLESNAKE. 261

upon the theory of natural selection, inasmuch as it could contri;

bute in no way to the advantage of the animal; that it seemed to

him quite clear that it was rather calculated to hinder than to help

the creature in the race of life by warning its prey of its pres-

ence.” But he intimates that he is now ready to say, that this

appendage can be explained upon the theory of natural selection.

He considers the idea that it might be used as a sexual call as

untenable, but that the whirring sound of the rattles closely imi-

tates the sound made by the Cicada and for this reason is used as

a call-note, as a hunter uses his bone-turkey-caller, to induce the

bird to come within the range of his weapon. Now the first ques-

tion which naturally arises is this: Does the snake sound its

rattles when seeking to capture its prey? Ihave always under-

stood that it is only when it throws‘itself upon the defensive and

prepares for battle that the rattles are sounded; that it is an

alarm note, a war-cry, and not a gentle, deceptive invitation to

the victim. I have never seen a rattlesnake, and know of course

nothing personally of its habits. But if this use is not made of

the rattles as suggested by Prof. Shaler, and the sound only serves

_ to call the attention of its enemies and thus invite destruction,

then indeed is the theory of natural selection nonplussed. But

as I view the matter, instead of inviting his destruction by

Sounding the rattles, it is one of the most effective means of self

Protection and is as useful to it in the race for life as is the growl

of the tiger when threatened with danger. The snake does fot

Sound its rattles until it considers itself discovered, and not

then unless it- apprehends danger. It throws itself in position

to strike and says in unmistakable language, “Look out, I am

omy for you!” If pushed upon, it makes its leap at its antag-

nist, and again throws itself in position to renew the conflict,

and again sounds the note of defiance ; a note calculated to alarm

and, like the war-whoop of the Indian, strike terror to the heart

ot the assailant ; but it may be said that the Indian only utters

his yells when rushing on his enemy, or when actually engaged in

the conflict, and the sounding of the rattles upon the first approach

of danger is a disadvantage. Now it seems to me, if this were

2 true and if it be a piece of rashness upon the part of the snake

early to exhibit his combatativeness, that natural selection

‘Would Cure the matter by selecting and preserving the more timid,

and that

- When it

> eventually, rattlesnakes would only sound their tail-bells

would best promote their interests.

262 USE OF THE RATTLES OF THE RATTLESNAKE.

- We are not to judge of the advantage or disadvantage of the

rattles by their effect upon the nerves of man alone, though no

doubt many a man has turned his back and been deterred from

making an attack by the sound of these rattles and the defiant

attitude of their possessor.

The ability of the snake to defend itself does not consist in its

strength or size, or in its power of overcoming its adversary by

a prolonged conflict, for most of its enemies are its superior in

size and strength. Nor does its deadly poison act quickly

enough to secure its own safety when it is attacked, but, in most

cases, the victim, after the deadly stroke is given may still revenge

itself by the destruction of the snake. But the certainty of the

effect of the poison serves as a warning and is advantageous, not

in defense after the attack is made, but in preventing an attack —

from being made. If, then, the color of the rattlesnake ba

different from all harmless snakes, so much so as to render it :

conspicuous, this would be beneficial to it, by the readiness with :

which all animals would recognize it, and thus protect the snake

by this notice of the deadly character of its weapons. Jf thena

conspicuous color would be of advantage, it seems to me that ead

other means which it may be able to use in making know? a

character to any animal that may come near it, would be advat

tion, and that the whirring noise which it produc

of the matter, admirably serves its purpose.

language, “I am a rattlesnake, armed with what will

you if you come too near ; give me a wide berth !” 33 t0

Prof. Shaler remarks that it is a fact well known eer

those who have observed serpents, that many when in as ae

excitement vibrate the end of their tail just as the m je

oes. This statement reminded me of a South American%

st” (vol. bP

described by Darwin in his “‘ Voyage of a Naturali

123, Harper’s ed.), where he says :—

= “Of reptiles there are many kinds: one snake ee na

cephalus, or Cophias), from the size of the poison

other naturalists, makes this a sub-genus

intermediate between it and the viper. In ¢

opinion I observed a fact, which appears to me ve

ean : “en though it ®

instructive, as showing how every character, even :

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 263

be in some degree independent of structure, has a tendency to

vary by slow degrees. ‘The extremity of the tail of this snake is

terminated by a point, which is very slightly enlarged; and as the

animal glides along, it constantly vibrates the last inch; and this

part striking against the dry grass and brushwood, produces a

rattling noise, which can be distinctly heard at the distance of

six feet. As often as the animal was irritated or surprised, its

tail was shaken ; and the vibrations were extremely rapid. Even

habitual movement was evident. This Trigonocephalus has, there-

, in some respects, the structure of a viper, with the habits of

r rattlesnake; the noise, however, being produced by a simpler

evice.”

It was these remarks of Darwin that first suggested the problem

of the rattlesnake’s tail to my mind, and, as I had thought consid-

ably about the matter, of course I was deeply interested in the

paper by Prof. Shaler ; but I must acknowledge that, while many of

his suggestions are correct and highly valuable, I was disappointed

to find that the only advantageous use, in his estimation, of this

tail appendage of the rattlesnake, is am imitative call-note to

allure birds within its reach, and that, otherwise, it is rather a

disadvantage than an advantage to be preserved and perfected by

natural selection. If it is useful for both purposes, then there is a

double reason for the action of natural selection. If it is not

wed as an imitative call-note, but is useful in the manner I have

Pointed out, then I have shown that it is explained by natural

Selection,

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

BY J. A. ALLEN.

I. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KANSAS.

iy the spring of 1871 an expedition to the Plains and the

Rocky Mountains was sent out by the Museum of Comparative

‘Zoilogy > under the charge of the writer. During the nine months

oat m the field by the party in question, the department of

Smnithology received a large share of attention. In the following

Pages it is proposed to give a hasty résumé of such observations

264 . ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

as may be supposed to interest the ornithologieal readers of the

NATURALIST, reserving a more detailed and formal report for

publication elsewhere.* i

Leavenworth, Kansas, was the point at which we co

our labors. During the ten days spent at this locality we col-

lected or observed nearly one hundred species of birds. Althou :

we arrived here May 2d, the country wore the aspect of a New

England June. The prairies were already green with waving

grass and the forests were nearly in full leaf. The apple trees —

were some days out of bloom, and the young cherries were as —

large as very large peas; the vegetation being fully a month in 3

advance of its usual stage in Southern New England at the same

date. Comparatively few of the birds, however, were nesting; 7

some had not arrived from the South, and others whose breeding -

stations were more to the northward still lingered. a

We found in the vicinity of Leavenworth a collector’s paradise, .

the forests of the Missouri bottom-lands literally swarming W

birds, many of which none of the party had before seen ae

the general aspect of the ornithological fauna being strikingly

_ diverse from that of the northeastern states. The red-headed ste

red-bellied woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus and Centris

Carolinus) revelled among the grand old elms and cottonwoods

of the bottom-lands, some of which tower to the height of on

hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. The golden-shafted fiche

(Colaptes auratus) was almost equally abundant, and showed itè

close affinity with its red-shafted brother of the mountains -

the Pacific Slope (O. Mexicanus) by already frequently pres® e

touches of red in its black check patches. Although the haity p i

downy woodpeckers (Picus villosus and P. pubescens) were”

served, they seemed by no means common. The crest” i

(Lophophanes bicolor) and the merry cardinal ( Cardinalis PA

anus) vied with each other in their noisy demonstrations, ©

ing exceedingly abundant and garrulous. Their vocab p

inexhaustible, as they every day astonished us with "u ith

which we often at first supposed to proceed from some ©”

_ erto unknown to us. The blue jay (Cyanura cristata) we

*This report will embrace annotated faunal lists for eight locali ios

nary list for the whole. Mr. C. W t accompanied the jally the fo

dermist, and Mr. Richard Bliss as ichthyologist, both of whom, espe" —

greatly aided in the ornithological work.

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 265

at home, and as ‘vivacious and even more gayly colored than at

the north. While he seemed to have forgotten none of the droll

notes and fantastic ways one always expects from him, he has

here added to his manners the familiarity that usually character-

izes him in the more newly settled parts of the country, and anon

` Surprised us with some new expression of his feelings or senti-

ments,—some unexpected eccentricity in his varied notes, per-

haps developed by his more southern surroundings. The yellow-

breasted chat (Icteria virens) disported himself among the tangled

underbrush, and seemed highly to enjoy the discomfiture to which

he often put us, through his well-known ventriloquial accomplish-

ments, in our search for his exact whereabouts. The Carolina

wren (Thryothorus Ludovicianus) was more or less common, and

already had young full-fledged on our arrival, while the only other

birds then found breeding were the cardinal, the towhe and the

brown thrush. Most of these, however, were still pairing and

hestbuilding. The common chickadee (Parus atricapillus) and

the house wren (Troglodytes aédon) were both common, but were

far less numerous and much more retiring than their more demon-

Strative southern relatives already mentioned.

Among the warblers three southern forms were the most com-

mon, their bright colors often attracting the eye as they flitted

through the openings among the trees. These were the Ken-

tucky (Oporornis formosus), the hooded ( Wilsonia mitrata Bon.)

and the blue-winged yellow (Helminthophaga pinus). They seemed

aware that they were especial objects of attention to the collector,

and took good care not to exhibit themselves unnecessarily. The

golden-crowned warbler (Helminthophaga celata) was also one of

Most numerous of the Sylvicolide. The Nashville (H. rubrica-

pilla), the blue yellow-backed (Parula Americana) and the black

and white creeper (Mniotilta varia) were likewise moderately fre-

Ment. The beautiful cærulean warbler (Dendreca cærulea) was

met with a few times, the Blackburnian (D. Blackburniew) once or

. twice, and the yellow rumped (D. coronata) but once, though the

was doubtless common somewhat earlier in the season. The

ie Tallow warbler (D. estiva) was more or less common along the

_ mtskirts of the forests; the chestnut-sided (D. Pennsylvanica)

was by no means rare; redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) were seen

: hg few times, and the Maryland yellow-throat (Geothlypis

48) was far from numerous.

Pk geously arrayed at the north, the intensity ©

-266 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

Of thrushes, by far the most common was the wood thmsh

(Turdus mustelinus), which was abundant. Although it was the

pairing season, they were comparatively quite unmusical, their song i

being shorter, and, it seemed to me, far inferior to that of the repre

sentatives of this species at the North. The birds were also much

less wary, being easily approached. I shot five or six in half aa

hour during one of our excursions, and might have easily got 38

catbird, which were both tolerably numerous, m

not even the robin, was met with. The common eastern bluebird

(Sialia sialis) was frequent, especially near the borders of te a

orests. $

Of vireos, three species: only were seen, — the red-eyed, the

warbling and the white-eyed, all of which were moderately pe

about equally frequent. The logger-headed shrike ( Collurio Tud

viciana) was occasionally seen, generally along the edges er

prairie. ge

Harris’s finch (Zonotrichia querula) was, next to the ante

the most abundant species of the family of sparrows and finches; * :

it was also one of the largest and handsomest. It almost pr

sively frequented the damper parts of the woods, assole

the white-throated sparrow (Z. albicollis), much resembling w

in habits and song. The white crowned (Z. leucophrys).

. Lincoln’s sparrow (Melospiza Lincolnii) were each a few 8”

met with. The song sparrow was scarcely observed ; t8 id spit ;

sparrow was common, as were also the chipping ont S

rows. The beautiful lark finch (Chondestes gramm

among the rarer species. The towhe was numerous anii

indigo bird (Cyanospiza cyanea) made its appearance ame

erable numbers soon after our arrival. The black ving

aca) 38

ad the

bird, or scarlet tanager, was the only representative ag gor

the tanagers. It was, however, abundant, and tho was

e its color”

_ appreciably greater here.

-Of the Icteridew, the Baltimore and orchard orioles nt fro

- abundant, the Baltimore indulging in a dialect 50 ere out t0

that of its northern relatives as often to puzzle us to .

what bird its strange notes belonged. Its colors;

also;

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 267.

unusually bright in all the specimens examined. The red-winged

blackbirds and the purple grackle ( Quiscalus purpureus) were both

numerous, the latter presenting the brassy tints somewhat pecu-

liar to the western race of this flexible species. The lazy, ubiqui-

tous cowbird (Molothrus pecoris) was ever lurking in the trees

and bushes, watching for an opportunity of shirking the burden

of hatching and rearing its young upon some more industrious

neighbor, wholly oblivious of respectability and fair play in re-

spect to its domestic affairs. On the prairies the meadow lark

(Sturnella Ludoviciana) filled the air with the wild, sweet melody

so characteristic of this bird in the prairie states.

Among the swallows, the purple martin (Progne subis) was one

of the most numerous, breeding in all parts of the city in boxes

liberally provided for their accommodation. This bird seems to be

a universal favorite in the more newly settled parts of the west,

the erection of martin boxes being one of the settlers’ first ‘‘ im-

provements.” Hence this bird is often common where none could

exist without man’s kindly aid. The barn, cliff, white-bellied,

bank and rough-winged swallows were also more or less com-

mon. The swift (Chetura pelasgia) was quite numerous, breeding

chiefly in the hollow trees of the forest, which it always seems to

Prefer to chimneys, to which it has to resort in most of the longer

Settled districts, or else abandon the country.

The Carolina dove was abundant almost everywhere ; the quail

(Ortyx Virginianus) was equally numerous, but affecting chiefly

the neighborhood of thickets. The prairie chicken still forms

chief game bird of the prairies.

a Of birds of prey few were observed beyond such almost

universally common species as the marsh hawk and the sparrow

hawk. The latter was nesting abundantly in woodpeckers’ holes

în the forests. Between this bird and the red-headed woodpecker

We witnessed many fierce encounters, the woodpecker being usu-

y the aggressor, but by no means always the victor.

The few water birds seen were chiefly of the following species:

“Potted and solitary sandpipers, both common; the lesser tell-tale

E y ellow legs” (Gambetta flavipes) and the red-backed sandpiper

as ( i dna Americana) were also quite numerous about the lagoons,

which were also inhabited by an abundance of ‘mud hens” (Fulica

Our na), and frequented by teals, mallards and wood ducks.

stay being so short at this interesting locality, many birds

268 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

were doubtless to be found here of which we met with no exam

ples.

Leaving Leavenworth, our next stop was at Topeka, where we

also tarried for ten days, devoting the time almost exclusive

ornithologizing. Here also we observed about one hundred spe

cies, including a few not met with at Leavenworth, while some’

birds that were among those most numerously represented there,”

were not seen at opeka Among those especially missed was í

Harris’s finch, and among the new forms Bell’s vireo, Nuttall’s

whippoorwill and the yellow-headed blackbird were the most note-

worthy. As Bell’s vireo did not appear here till some days after

our arrival, it may be expected to be equally numerous at Leaven

worth, as the ornithological fauna of the two localities is essen

tially identical, the distance between them being less than 3

hundred miles, and both being in nearly the same latitude.

At no point have I ever met with birds in greater abundanc

than at Topeka, either in individuals or species. On the day

our arrival there I counted, during a half hows stroll iat Oe, |

woods near the town, about thirty species, of most of WIE

I observed several individuals, whilst several of them wel

extremely abundant. This may result from the trees being 1

stricted to a narrow belt along the Kaw river, thus crowding

those more or less restricted to a timbered country into 4

atively limited area. The trees here are smaller than along

Missouri, less crowded, and with a thicker undergrowth.

erable areas were covered with quite young trees, forming,

the dense undergrowth of hazel, dwarf oak and sumac

almost oe thickets ; and the forests were broadly *

on the prairies. These brush jatki were the fa’

of the yellow-breasted chat, the black-throated | punting ®

Several species of Spizella, among which we here first met Wi

S. pallida, or clay-colored sparrow. The chats were so a i

hovering and singing in the air at once, each s striving to

other, in grotesque manceuyring and in song,

black-throated buntings would be also in sight or ite 71

in a similar vocal rivalry. Although the males of

Species were so numerous, a female was rarely seen-

one ventured into sight the males would most ungallantly St

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 269

pursuit of her, and oblige her to seek concealment again,—a treat-

ment similar to that indulged in by the bobolink toward his

“better half.” The thinner portions of the wooded area were

_the favorite haunts of Bells vireo, which immediately upon its

arrival became one of the most numerously represented species.

They very soon commenced pairing, the males almost incessantly

uttering their rather pleasing though peculiar and feeble song.

Among the other later arriving birds was the golden-crowned

wagtail (Seiurus aurocapillus) and the swallow-tailed kite ( Nau-

clerus furcatus). The former appeared on the 15th of the month

(May), and immediately the woods were ringing with its familiar

song. The arrival of this bird so late in the season was quite

unexpected, the trees being not only in full leaf, but vegetation

generally was quite far advanced, strawberries being already

ripening in abundance in the fields, whilst for days the temper-

ature had been that of July in southern New England. This

interesting little. woodland songster is pretty sure to make his

appearance in Massachusetts with the earliest unfolding of the

leaves, arriving there rather earlier than we this year observed it

ito appear in Kansas.

At this place we saw the only robins—a single pair—and the

only cedar birds (one or two small flocks) met during our sojourn

of over two months in the state of Kansas. The blue-gray gnat-

catcher (Polioptila cærulea) was here also met with once, and the

only time in the State.

» Leaving Topeka May 24th, we arrived the following day at

ort Hays, situated some three hundred miles west of the Mis-

souri river, and fairly out on the “Great Plains.” The only

timber found here consists ofga somewhat interrupted fringe of

elms, box elder and cottonwoods along the streams, and this

entirely disappears a few miles further to the westward. We

“nce have here all the characteristic birds of the plains, in addi-

tion to many eastern species that follow the timber up the streams

as far as timber regularly extends, even after the timber belts

become extremely restricted and irregular. Remaining five weeks

B the vicinity of Fort Hays enabled us to betome thoroughly

as liar with the ornithology of “this peculiar region, our excur-

os fe mending in different directions from fifteen to thirty miles

oom the Post, which, through the hospitality of the officers in

‘ommand, formed our headquarters and base of operations.

270 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

When we arrived here the plains were everywhere covered with —

a carpet of short fine grass, varied with large patches of

brightly-colored flowers,— yellow, orange and various shades of

red and purple,—forming a landscape beautiful beyond descrip-

tion. Gradually the earlier plants passed out of bloom, the hot —

dry winds of June parched and withered the grass, and when we

left, the first week in July, only the belts of deep green formed by _

the foliage of the trees along the streams, presented anything —

agreeable to the eye, these being doubly refreshing from their con —

trast with the almost desert-like aridity surrounding them. The

daily maximum temperature ranging during our stay from about —

90° to 108° F. in the shade, the reader may readily perceive the :

semi-tropical character of the summer climate of the Plains.

The total number of species observed here was sixty-one, about :

ten per cent of which were by no means common. Among Hè

species inhabiting the timber, the kingbird, the Arkansas fiy- ,

catcher (Tyrannus verticalis), the purple grackle, red-headed x

woodpecker and the Baltimore and orchard orioles were by far the =

most common, all of which in fact were numerously represented. a

The brown thrush, the mockingbird, the black-headed grosbesk:

(Guiraca melanocephala), the chickadee (Parus atricapillus), ris

golden-shafted flicker, the warbling and Bell’s vireos, ane ©

common wren (Troglodytes aédon) were all more or less

The kingfisher was occasional, and the Carolina dove every whee

abundant, far out on the Plains as well as in the vicinity of the

timber. The rongh-winged swallow was also common, an 5,

nies of the cliff swallow were met with breeding on the pene

the vicinity of the streams. A few purple martins were id

near the Post; night-hawks were abundant, resting ON u

uring portions of each day, and breeding out on the er

They were mostly of the pale variety commonly know? so

deiles Henryi, but different specimens varied greatly in ©”

being nearly as dark as eastern ones. The cowbird was

out on the Plains as well as in the timber, but WaS

numerous.

everywhere abundant, representing typically th were 9

Plains known as S. neglecta. Its notes, howev bes ies li

different from those of the representatives of this se

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 271

to the eastward in the prairie states, being less varied and ringing,

and more guttural. The horned lark was equally characteristic,

being by far the most numerous species here met with. During

the excessive heat of midday it was seen crouching with half open

wings in the shade of some tussock of herbage; whilst in win-

ter, when it is equally abundant, it is not uncommon to meet

with considerable numbers that have died of the extreme cold, as

was the writer’s experience the past winter. The yellow-winged

sparrow is also one of the most abundant species. The pine

wood finch (Peucea estivalis) of the South Atlantic and Gulf States,

or rather the representative of that species, was quite frequently

met with near the streams, where its sweetly modulated song greets

the ear with the first break of dawn, and is again heard at night

till the last trace of twilight has disappeared. It is here very

appreciably paler than the race of P. estivalis found in the pine

barrens more to the eastward, though not otherwise sensibly differ-

ent. It here constitutes the variety of this species known in

the books as P. Cassinii. The lark finch (Chondestes grammaca)

was also common, but affected chiefly the vicinity of the streams

and damp hollows. The yellow-headed blackbird, whose biography

was so well written sometime since in the Natuxarist * by Dr.

Coues, was also a few times met with. But by far the most-

interesting species were the chestnut-collared bunting (Plectro-

phanes ornatus) and the lark bunting (Calamospiza bicolor), because

both are not only characteristic of the region, but they are among

the few birds strictly confined to the arid plains. Both were quite

abundant, but were only met with on the high ridges and dry

plateaus, where they seemed to live somewhat in colonies. Ata

few localities they were always numerous, but elsewhere were often

hot met with in a whole day’s drive. They were rather wary, and

very tenacious of life, often flying long distances when shot through

vital parts. Most of the many specimens procured by us had to

be killed on the wing at long range. Both are strong fliers and

Seem to delight in flying in the strongest gales, when all the other

birds appear to move with difficulty and generally lay concealed

among the grass. Both sing while on the wing, the lark bunting

hovering in the wind, and shaking its tail and legs after the well

“nown manner of the yellow-breasted chat. Indeed its song strongly

ry ee rae

* Am. Nat., Vol. v, p. 195.

272 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

resembled the song of the chat, with which at such times its whole

demeanor strikingly accords. tag:

Among rasorial birds, the quail and the prairie chicken, both

very recent emigrants, it is said, from the Kast, were occasional,

and here reach their present western limit. The wild turkey is

still abundant along all the more heavily wooded streams, The

sharp-tailed grouse is also common, especially to the northward of

Fort Hays th

Hawks were by no ‘means numerous, excepting perhaps, the

marsh hawk, which was moderately frequent. A single pair of

duck hawks (Falco peregrinus) was found breeding on a dif ;

near the Saline, and one nest of the red-tail was found, Sparrow

hawks were also occasionally seen near the timber, and a single

pair of ravens was observed. The black vulture (Cathartes aura)

was also frequent but far less numerous than would naturally be

expected, from the abundance of food afforded them by the

thousands of carcasses of decaying buffaloes that are scattered

over the plains. The little burrowing owl (Athane hypogea) W8

seen at intervals, living in colonies in the prairie dog towns.

Water birds were few, the only ducks seen being a few represent

atives of the wood duck and the green-winged teal. The pee

. sandpiper was more or less frequent along the streams, but the

killdeer plover was by far the most numerous representative of:

alle. The so-called “mountain” plover was also occasil™™

and generally seen on the dry prairies far away from the streams

lew (Numenius borealis) and a single sinall colony of the 10!

billed curlew (N. longirostris) were also observed,

breeding. The only herons seen were one or two examples

of the little green heron and the night heron. espe

A few weeks passed near Fort Hays, in mid-winter, enables

to add a few notes respecting the winter birds of the Pine

species only of the summer birds was met with in numi

winter. This was the horned lark which was exceedingly p

ous. The snow. bunting was also abundant, and 1-

there were bushes; the rough-legged buzzard was t

mon hawk. None of the remaining twenty-four peli

total number of thirty observed, were numerously represe 1

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 273

were such as from their general known distribution would be ex-

pected here. Neither the bluebird nor the meadow lark was

observed, but the kingfisher and golden-shafted flicker were both

occasional, one

In conclusion, some peculiarities in the nesting habits of some

of the birds observed in Kansas are worthy of notice. A nest

of the purple grackle was found in an old woodpecker’s hole.

Although this is the only instance of the kind I have as yet ob-

served, my friend Mr. Wm. Brewster, of Cambridge, informs me

that he has repeatedly found the same species breeding in wood-

peckers’ holes in Maine! The Carolina dove generally bred at

Port Hays in trees, as at the eastward ; sometimes, however, lay-

ing in an old grackle’s nest instead of being at the trouble of build-

ingone. One nest, however, was found on the ground, although

bushes were growing but a few yards distant. More to the west-

ward I learned that this bird—more common here than at the east

—always breeds on the ground, as it is of course compelled to do,

owing to the absence of either trees or bushes. Meeting with this

bird in pairs in the breeding season far out on the Plains, some-

times ten miles from the nearest trees, led me to believe that

this would be its habit, even before I had seen positive evidence

that such was the case. s

Other interesting instances of the modification of nesting habits

may well be mentioned in this connection. The brown thrush is

well known to vary the location of its nest according to the nature

of the soil, nesting on the ground in sandy districts, and in bushes

where the soil is damp or clayey. Among the clayey bluffs at

Leavenworth we found it nesting in bushes; at Topeka on the

ground; at Fort Hays in bushes, when breeding on high ground,

and in trees, ten to fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, when

syi in the timber along Big Creek (a considerable stream on

$ ort Hays is situated). We had an ample explanation of

E latter departure from its usual habits during our stay at Fort

“Ys: Big Creek, flowing in a deep narrow bed, is subject, in

Pear hes sudden freshets, resulting from occasional heavy rain-

it rising sometimes ten or a dozen feet in a single night, as

v oe :

a nee witnessed. The trees growing chiefly along the bed of

unde: » the water at such times submerges not only the scanty

Ri ah; but all the lower branches of the trees. Hence the

paia Sh, as well as all the other birds, appears here always to

- NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 18

274 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

select high nesting sights. Can such foresight be regarded as the

result of “blind instinct?” As the highwater line is always indi-

cated by the drifted matter lodged in the trees, is not this preca-

tion the result rather of a rational appreciation of the exceptional

dangers here to be guarded against, and this caution in the selec-

tion of a safe nesting site really the result of induction?

The cliff swallow (Hirundo lunifrons) we found breeding

throughout the West in its primitive way, that is, on the faces of |

cliffs ; yet where such natural facilities abounded they in somem-

stances abandoned the rocks for the more sheltered nesting aw

afforded them by buildings, plastering their mud dwellings against

the building under the projecting eaves. At Topeka, ho

we saw cliff swallows frequenting the holes in the banks of the Kaw

River made by the sand martin, keeping in the company of these

birds, entering their holes and presenting the same appearance

of breeding in them as the sand martins themselves! Through :

out the mountains of Colorado we found the violet-green er :

(Hirundo thalassina) breeding in abandoned woodpeckers Te

but in the “ Garden of the Gods”, near Colorado City, they We

nesting in holes in the rocks. We had good: evidence also m l

the sparrow hawk bred there in the same manner, — m per

the cliffs instead of in hollow trees! At Ogden, Utah, we 0i

the red-shafted flicker frequenting holes in a high bank, 4 ther

these holes entered horizontally for a few inches only and sil

turned abruptly downward, having the same form tbey apie

have if made by this bird in a decayed tree. These ciret poles it

left no doubt in our minds that these birds nested in the

the bank we saw them entering, although it was fot

breeding season. The region being but scantily scion

many miles, there is certainly some reason for such a l F

of their habits. While on'this subject I may add that p “ased

he material ci

eats

in the construction of their nests with locality, oT Nests ”

the same species from different localities hence © j

in appearance, enabling one sometimes to atone a

the locality whence the nest came by the mater

construction. aie ee

Finally, I wish briefly to notice some peon pro

color of the plumage of the birds inhabiting the

DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 275

the extreme dryness of the atmosphere, the want of shelter from

the intense rays of the sun—an intensity one can hardly appre-

ciate until he has passed a few summer days far out on the Plains

— «nd the dry, heated powerful winds so constant here, few would

be surprised at the faded, bleached and worn plumage that char-

acterizes the birds of the Plains. It is more noticeable of course

in those that do not frequent the timber, though more or less

apparent in all. Here the common “house” wren is bleached

and faded, forming the so-called Troglodytes Parkmanni, differing

from the T. aédon of the east only in this particular. The meadow

and horned larks look singularly “ weather worn,” the former

constituting the Sturnella neglecta of authors, and the latter the

uda rufa of Audubon, in which the yellow almost entirely

disappears from the forehead, throat and lores, fading to white.

night-hawk becomes much lighter and paler, forming the race

known as Chordeiles Henryi; Peucea estivalis wears a very faded

aspect, and forms the so called P. Cassinii. The yellow-winged

Sparrow becomes equally faded and changed, and the killdeer

_ Plover shows a similar paling of the colors, which is also notice-

able in birds as brightly colored as the Baltimore oriole. The

color of the mountain plover is in similar harmony with the mid-

Summer gray tint of the plains. In respect to the Baltimore, we

find here a well marked race, characterized by the middle coverts

Of the wing being white instead of bright yellow, and by having

much more white on edges of the secondaries. The bill is also

Slenderer and relatively longer. The Leavenworth specimens I

find are, in respect to color, about half way between the Fort Hays

type and the common form of the Eastern States.

ct reenn

DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA.

BY LORD WALSINGHAM.

i been asked to give a few directions for collecting Micro-

pe. idoptera, I think I can best do so by describing as shortly as

Possible my own mode of proceeding, adding such hints as may

Secur to me,

276 DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA.

I go out with a coat provided with large pockets inside and out,

containing an assortment of pill boxes generally of three sizes,

glass bottomed pill boxes preferred, a bag slung over my shoulder,

and a net. Unless searching for particular day flying species

I prefer the last three hours before dark. As the sun goes

down many species move which do not. stir at other times. I

watch the tops of the grass, the stems of the flowers, the twigs of

the trees; I disturb leaves and low growing plants with a short

switch and secure each little moth that moves, taking each out of

the net in a separate pill box, selected according to the size of the

insect, as he runs up the net to escape. Transferring the fall i

boxes to the bag I continue the process until moths cease flying or

night sets in. Many species can be taken with a lamp after dark,

Returning to camp I put a few drops of liquid ammonia ons :

small piece of sponge and place it in a tin canister with such ot

the boxes as do not contain the smallest species, and put these

and the remainder away until morning in a cool place. In the

morning I prepare for work by getting out a pair of scissors, #

pair of forceps, my drying box containing setting boards, a sheet

of white paper and some pins. K

First, I cut two or three narrow pieces of paper from tat

six lines wide, or rather wider, according to the size of the la f

and smallest specimens I have to set. I then double each of thes

strips and ent it up into braces by a number of oblique cuts Mt

_ I turn ont the contents of the canister and damp the sponge $

a few drops of fresh ammonia, refilling with boxes containing

insects. Those which have been taken out will be found to be

dead and in a beautifully relaxed condition for setting. =%

smallest specimens been placed in the canister Over night, ©

would have been some fear of their drying pp, owing to the

amount of moisture in their bodies. ee

If the weather is very hot there is some danger of killed ™

becoming stiff while others are being set, in whic

at once to pin into a damp cork box all that have

of the canister, but under ordinary circumstances

them one by one as I set them:

Taking the lid off a box, and taking the box betwee?”

and thumb of the right hand, I roll out the insect on the!

left thumb, supporting it with the top of the fore pee i

manipulating it as to bring the head pointing tori

threet

h case it is

peen taken

I prefer

Who is alway

DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA. Bie

hand and the thorax uppermost. Now I take a pin in the right

hand and resting the first joint of the middle finger of the

right against the projecting point of the middle finger.of the left

hand to avoid unsteadiness, I pin the insect obliquely through the

thickest part of the thorax so that the head of the pin leans very

slightly forward over the head of the insect. After pressing the

pin far enough through to bring about one-fourth of an inch out

below, I pin the insect into the middle of the groove of a setting

board so that the edge of the groove will just support the under-

sides of the wings close up to the body when they are raised upon

it. The board should be chosen of such a size as will permit of

the extension of the wings nearly to its outer edge. The position

of the pin should still be slanting a little forward. The wings

should now be raised into the position in which they are intended

to rest, with especial care in doing so not to remove any scales

from the surface or cilia of the wings. Each wing should be fas-

tened with a brace long enough to extend across both, the braces

being pinned at the thick end, so that the head of the pin slopes

away from the point of the brace; this causes the braces to press

more firmly down on the wing when fixed. The insect should be

braced thus: the two braces next the body should have the points

Upwards, the two outer ones pointing downwards and slightly

Mwards towards the body, and covering the main portion of the

Wings beyond the middle. Antenne should be carefully laid back

e the wings, and braces should lie flat, exercising an even

Pressure at all points of their surface. The fore wings should

slope slightly forwards so that a line drawn from the point of one

to the point of the other will just miss the head and palpi. The

hind wings should be close up, leaving no intervening space but

Just showing the upper angle of the wing evenly on each side. I

ean give no more precise directions as to how this desirable result

may most simply and speedily be attained ; no two people set alike.

Peed is an object; for I have often had to set twelve dozen in-

Sects before breakfast. A simple process is essential, for a man

s pinning and moving pins, and rearranging wings

and legs, is sure to remove a certain number of scales and spoil

yi Appearance of the insect besides utterly destroying its value.

i taise each of the fore wings with a pin and fix the pin against the

bi margin so as to keep them în position while I apply the bra-

- Half the battle is really in the pinning. When an insect is

278 DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA.

pinned through the exact centre of the thorax, with the pin prop-

erly sloped forward, the body appears to fall naturally into its po-

sition on the setting board, and the muscles of the wings being left

free are easily directed and secured; but if the pin is not put ex

actly in the middle, it interferes with the play of the wings. Legs

must be placed close against the body or they will project and

interfere with the set of the wings. Practice, care and a steady

hand will succeed. When all the insects that have been killed

are set, the contents of the canister will be found again ready,

twenty minutes being amply sufficient to expose to the fumes

of ammonia. Very bright green, or pale pink insects should be

killed by some other process, say chloroform, as ammonia will

affect their colors. a E

Insects should be left on the setting boards a full week to dry,

then the braces may be carefully removed and they may be trans- —

ferred to the store box.

Having given some account of the process each insect goes |

through I will say a word as to the apparatus required. ae

First as to nets. The simplest net is a strong, circular, 10?

wire hoop with bag of book muslin attached, fastened into a light :

deal or other handle. oe

I use a small pocket net about 9 inches in diameter made to aa

up, with a jointed wire frame and a screw to fit into a brass S0%

in ashort cane handle. To counteract the strain of the net pe

so slight a frame the three wire joints are made flat, the two%

but to prevent this upper joint from coming into

net is fixed, the upper part of the screw which holds the ;

the handle is welded square and fits a corresponding square pe

in the other end of the wire frame, holding all tight when ai

down. A small green silk or other net can be slipped on OFT

frame as required.

An umbrella net with stout steel rim and canvas edging

for sweeping tall grass and herbage, or to beat bran

which means many small and beautiful species of retired

be obtained. ajned

I use pill boxes with glass bottoms, which ean be obtem

rious sizes. They are convenient in admitting of the & for;

of each specimen, so rare species can be especially soart

damaged ones permitted to escape ; but they are exp® ate

DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 279

ordinary purposes cardboard boxes answer sufficiently well. It is

a good plan at the beginning of a season to strengthen all your

boxes by a crossed strap of tape or calico firmly glued at the top

and bottom, For a killing box any tin box or canister with a

closely fitting lid capable of containing one hundred pill boxes

will be found to answer.

Setting boards can be bought ready made of the smallest sizes.

They are made by gluing a strip of thick cork on a thin slip of

deal, the cork must be thick enough to enable a groove to be cut

into it, deep enough to hold the bodies of the insects to be set and

to leave sufficient depth for the pin to hold firmly without reach-

ing the deal. The cork on each side of the groove should be

smoothed off with a gentle curve, so that the wings dry in a good

position. The deal backing projects beyond the cork so as to slide

into a groove if required, and it is convenient to have a deal cup-

board of drying boxes with handle at top and perforated zine door,

having grooves on each side into which the setting boards can be

slid. Each board should be papered with thin white paper.

At the beginning of a season setting boards may be washed or

brushed over with advantage with a weak solution of oxide of zinc,

it fills up old pinholes and makes them look clean.

For Tortricina use No. 10 pins; for Tineina (small), No. 19;

for Nepticule, No. 20. :

_ Always set your insects as soon as you kill them, they are then

much more easy to set and retain their position better when dry.

When pill boxes are filled keep them cool to prevent the insects

from fluttering ; if glass boxes, keep them also in the dark.

any species when first taken will flutter in the boxes and injure

themselves ; for these it is well when collecting to carry a small

phial of chloroform and a zine collecting box corklined, into which

you can at once pin your captures ; the cork should be damped to

ep them fresh. Touching a pill box with a finger moistened

With chloroform will kill the insect inside. Too much chloroform

'S apt to stiffen the nerves of the wings and interfere with setting.

By breeding Microlepidoptera many species not otherwise

easily obtainable may be added to a collection, and the habits of

*s in the larva state may be studied with much interest. For

. > Purpose a few wide mouthed glass bottles should be obtained

se Corks to fit, so that the small larve can be placed in them

with fresh food and the food kept fresh by exclusion of air. If

280 DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING MICROLEPIDOPTERA.

mould should appear the cork can be replaced by muslin or net

tied over. I would hardly advise a travelling collector to attempt

this method although I have adopted it with some success, but in

a stationary camp it is most interesting and comparatively easy.

Corklined store boxes are of course required into which tore

move the insects when sufficiently dried on the setting boards.

These, as well as the pins and setting boards with drying case to

hold them, and the net frames of the folding and umbrella patterns

will best be obtained from some dealer in such things.*

To pack Microlepidoptera for travelling, pin them firmly close

together into a corklined box, so that each specimen just gently

holds down the body of the one above it. This cannot be done

with very minute species. Put your box into another larger box

and let the outer one be sufficiently large to leave a good clear m

inches all round the inner one. Pack this intervening space with

hay not crammed too tight; it will act as a spring and reduce the

effect of shaking; the whole parcel should be made thoroughly i

secure against damp. R

In conclusion I would say that I shall be happy to receive speti-

mens from collectors in all parts of the world and will wil if

send European species in exchange where this is desired ; al

` preferred I will pay at the rate of, say four cents each, for i

specimens sentin good condition. Ishall also be happy w a

all communications upon the subject and to send a small box

taining two or three specimens as types to show how insects 00s ‘

to be set, to any one who proposes to send me specimens- Twill

over should any collector send me insects in good condition =

willingly supply him with a full outfit of setting boards and pS

and a store box to encourage further collections.t er

Insects in a damaged condition are not of the slightest va" —

me in any way.

r i New oxford

*In London there are several, among whom I would mention T. os „turers o

Street, and Thomas Eedle, Maidstone Place, Hackney Row- The * i

entomologi tain

on. In America, The Naturalists’ Agency, Salem

Co., Washington St., Boston, keep on hand insect pins, cork. :

the other articles required by the collector. 5

t Address, The Lord Walsingham, Merton Hall, Thetford, England.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING BIRDS’ EGGS.

BY WILLIAM WOOD, M.D.

I wish to say a few words for the benefit of those engaged in

collecting odlogical specimens.

Twenty years ago, all eggs were blown with two holes—one at

each end, and until within ten years most eggs have been emptied

with two holes as above, or at the side. Very many of the eggs

Which I now receive in my exchanges are similarly prepared. At

the present time no experienced collector ever makes but one hole

to remove the contents of the egg, using a blowpipe in some form

to accomplish this object. The following rules should invariably

he followed.

Ist. Prepare your eggs neat and clean. There is no excuse for

having a dirty set of eggs where water, soap, and a tooth brush

fan be found. Some eggs will not bear washing, as the shell is so

taleareous that the characteristic markings will wash away. There

are, however, but few of this class, and I believe this peculiarity ~

's confined to the water-birds. You can see it in any of the spe-

Ges (Smithsonian Catalogue) from 615 to 628 inclusive, and also

m the eggs of the Grebes and Flamingo, and some others. Hav-

ig Once seen it you will never mistake it for anything else.

2d. Make but one hole, and that a small one in the middle of

the ege—cover this hole, when the contents are removed and the

Specimen is dry, with gold-beater skin or the paper number indi-

cating the bird. Use an egg drill or a pointed wire of four or six

Sides to make the opening.

8d. If the blowpipe does not readily remove the contents of the

» Inject water and shake the specimen thoroughly, then blow

again, and repeat the operation until every particle of the egg is

Temoved.,

“4th. If the smbryo is too far advanced to remove through a

Moderate sized hole, blow out what you can of the liquid part and

io the esg With water, wipe it dry and put it away in a covered

* in some warm place, and every 24 or 48 hours shake it well

remove what you can, and then refill with water. Re

281

and

282 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING BIRDS’ EGGS.

operation several times, and after a few days the contents will be-

come sufficiently decomposed to take away.

h. After removing the contents of any egg cleanse the shell

thoroughly. Fill it with clean water and shake vigorously, blow

out the contents and repeat the operation until the specimen is

perfectly clean. This is particularly desirable in white eggs, as

black spots will show through the shell after a time if the least

particle of the egg or blood stains remains inside.

6th. Save all your eggs in sets—that is, keep alt the eggs each

bird lays by themselves. This is the only way to form a correct

knowledge of the eggs of any species, as a single egg, particularly

of the blotched ones, frequently gives a very erroneous idea of the

general markings—a very unsatisfactory representative of a set.

For instance, in my collection are four eggs of the Buteo noob

found in the same nest, two of which are pure white and two —

blotched. It is not very uncommon to find great variations in

markings in the same species and in the same nest.

7th. Keep a memorandum of the place and date of collecting

each set of eggs.

8th. Use some kind of a blowpipe in preparing your eggs for te :

cabinet. The common blowpipe, with the addition of a fine “3 ;

tip, will answer; yet it is a severe tax on the lungs and brain 2

you have many eggs to blow. F have many a time been yeni :

almost blind from overtaxing my lungs in this operation. Wi

a few years Mr. E. W. Ellsworth, of East Windsor Hill, Com

has invented a blowpipe which is operated by the thu

finger, which works very perfectly and expeditiously. 1 would d

be without it on any account. After using it for a time,

letting it remain unused until the leather packing —

instrument does not work satisfactorily to those unaccust

it. The remedy is simple. Take off the blowpipe and w

instrument submerged in a bowl of warm soap suds, "i

leather packing becomes pliable and works as well as mer yell

as well

used the same instrument six years, and it works to-day tl á

when new by following the above directions. The prn

cient guide in case repairs are needed, and the

referred to for any further information required.

Peter Oe

RELATIONSHIP .OF THE AMERICAN WHITE-

FRONTED OWL.

BY ROBERT RIDGWAY.

I wisn to call the attention of ornithologists to a paper recently

published in the London ‘‘ Ibis” (vol. ii, January, 1872), upon

the relationship of the North American White-fronted Owl, known

as “ Nyctale albifrons Shaw,” or “N. Kirtlandii Hoy.” The

author of the paper in question, Mr. D. G. Elliot, refers that

bird to the N. Tengmalmi Gmel., of Europe, with which species he

also considers our N. Richardsoni Bonap., to be identical. That

both these opinions are erroneous, I purpose showing in the follow-

mg remarks : e

The little owl above mentioned, is a bird identical in all the

details of form and size with the N. Acadica Gmel., an exclusively _

North American form, which is scarcely more than half the size of

the N, Tengmalmi, and cannot, by any means, be referred to the

latter species. The birds which Mr. Elliot supposes to be identi-

cal with “ N. albifrons” are merely the young of N. Tengmalmi,

ma plumage analogous to that of the small North American

Species, but resembling the latter no further. Mr. Elliot is by no

means the first to notice this plumage, for it has been long known

to European ornithologists, and its relations correctly understood

(see Naumann “ Die Vögel Deutschlands,” i, p. 500, pl. 48, figs. 2

and 3—where both the adult and young plumages are illustrated).

Neither do I claim to be the first to refer the “ N. albifrons” to

€ N. Acadica, as being its young stage, for Strickland in “ Orni-

thological Synonymes” (i, 1855, p- 177) places the two together.

ing aware of the differences between the adult and young

blumages of the N. Tengmalmi, and seeing a direct analogy in the

characters of the N. Acadica and “ N. albifrons” I suspected a

“milar relation between these two small North American forms ;

Stross. Course of my investigations of the North American

trigide in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution I found

er reasons for considering them old and young of one species.

reasons I present as follows : —

, Ist. All Specimens examined, of N. albifrons (including Hoy’s

(283)

284 RELATIONSHIP OF THE AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED OWL.

type of N. Kirtlandii) are young birds, as is unmistakably appar-

ent from the texture of the plumage.

2nd. All specimens examined of the N. Ane are adults; I

have seen no description of the young.

3rd. The geographical distribution, the size and proportions,

the pattern of coloration (except that of the head and body, which

in all owls is more or less different in the young and adult stages)

and the shades of color on the general upper plumage, are the

sane in both. The white ‘ scalloping” on the outer web of a

alula, the number of white spots on the primaries and the

number and position of the white bars on the tail, are features —

common to the two. y

4th. The most extreme example of “ albifrons” has the facial

circle uniform brown, like the neck, has no pte: on the forehead,

and the face is entirely uniform dark brown; but

oth. Three out of the four specimens in the collectia wee l

facial circle composed of white and brown streaks (adult ge :

precisely as in Acadica, and the forehead similarly streaked (wi z

adult feathers). Two of these have new feathers appearing upon

the sides of the breast (beneath the brown patch), as well as p 4

the face; these new feathers are, in the most minute be :

common (adult) dress of N. Acadica.

Fhe above facts point conclusively to the identity of the =

“albifrons” and N. Acadica. This species is easily distingu! :

from the N. Tengmalmi which belongs to both continents,

the North American and European specimens are distinguish

and, therefore, should be recognized as geographical races: —

I give below a brief synopsis of the two species, and the

cipal list of synonymes belonging to each :—

DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERS OF NYCTALE.

Tengmalmi and Acadica.

Cna Pa 2 io a ae jati oli er

MMON rsus longer than d =

. Square: Kea sites primaries AERE on ias webs, their end ie

bowed; 3d quill longest. Upper parts generally i

w bars

brown. Young: Facial circle and forehead plain piace brown;

unvariegated, white; face plain dusky ; lower parts with

plain chocolate brown; the abdomen, ete., plain ochraceous.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED OWL. 285

A—Nostril sunken, opening laterally ; elongat 1, and obliquely vertical. Cere not

inflated. Tail more than half the wing. Bill yellow.

1. N. TENGMALMI. — Wing about 7.20; tail 4.50.

a. Legs white, scarcely variegated; lower tail coverts with only narrow

shaft streaks of brown. (Maximum amount of white, the spots of this color

much extended, on the scapulars even largely predominating over the

-brown.) Hab. The Palearctic Region (Europe, — and Northern

‘ ngmaimi.*

b. Legs ochraceous, thickly ded lower tail coverts with ee medial

stripes of brown. (Minimum amount of white, and excess of darker colors;

the latter not only deeper in tint, but occupying larger areas. The differ-

ence readily appreciable on comparison.) Hab. Northern portion of

the Nearctic Region (Arctic America south to the ae border of

the U. S.). ‘ $ Var. Richardsoni.t

Nostril inent i teri ee circular. Cere somewhat ene a

Tail mat more these half the wing cathe less). Bill black.

2. N. ACADICA. f— Wing 5.25 to 5.80; tail 2.60.— . Cold temperate gng of

Nearctic meia Leonean oe Dea America ee eerie U. S. from the

Atlantic to the P. ly to the south

ern borders of the U. S., and into Mts. of Manico. Oaxaca, Sel. P. Z. S. 1858,

“NYCTALE TENGMALMI.

riz Tengmaimi GMEL., S. N. p. 291, 1789 (et mes var.). — Nyctale Tengmalmi BONAP. et

Auet.— Noctua Te Imi a et ora Tengmaimi BOIE lula Tengmalmi

Boxar, et Auct, — Scotophilus Tengmalmi SW ; trix dasypus BECHST (1791) et Auct. —

aa dasy, m A. M R (1794).— P. yctale planiceps

; me t M (183 D. — ctale abietum BREHM (1831).— Nyctale

~ (1842). ee of Lass tee h is Surnia ulula.) — Nyctale Kirtlandi

Euron, Tois 1 Tr. Jan., 1872

S Sept., T, 49, 1807. — sah peg ey Orn. Bi e "RICH. and SWAINS.,

1B, A., II, 97, 1831, — ome ace N. Y., IL, pp. 38, 436; Isis, 1832, p. 1140.—Janp. (Mis.)

Mos II, 66.— Na at. Vog hl. ed. , 434, pl. 43, figs. 1 and 2. — PEAB. B.

mip p.%0.— NUTT. Man, p. 137, 1833.— Nyctale Acadica BONAP. List. p. 7, 1838; Consp. Av.

Stang na Gen. B, fol. App. p. 3. 1844.— Monog. Strig. Crut. ma pati

LASKE. Orn, Syn. I, 176, 1855.— NEWB. P. R. R. pi. y : in, .— Cass. B. N. Am. 1858, 58.

mp & SUCK. P. R. R. Rept. XIN, ii, 156, 1860.— COUES Prod. B. Ariz. 14, 1866. — GRAY

Swa aist I, 1869, 51.—Lorp Pr. R. A. I, IV, iit (Brit Co — ae Scotophilus Acadicus

ipa Clasif, B. If, 217, 1837. — Striz riz passerina PEN i . SP. 1%, 1785

RSH., Phil. Trans, LXII, 385. — WILS . Orn. pl. y £ ya a4 ape passerina JAMES.

eo Am. Orn. T 109, 1831, — Strix Acadiensis LATH. -9 sit ef a kor

trons y - V, pl. 171, 1794: Zool. VII, =LA . 14. S woz

albiş, TRILL, Ois. Am, Sept, I, , 1807. — Scops albifrons STEPH. PO i Xi ii, 51, — Nye

Thi CASS. B. Cal. & Tex. 18 7, 1854. — BONAP. Consp. Av. p. 54. — sN. m m, 1

Kin HT. Ath. Ak. Berl, 1938, 430. — GRAY Hand List egy 1869. — Nyctale

rontalis Lic

Kirtanaii Hoy, Proc, Ac. Nat, Se. Phil. VI, 210; 1952. — S. phalwnoides DAUD. Tr. Orn. IT,

1 LATH. Ind. Orn, Supp. p. 16, 1802; Bie Supp. I, 66, Gen. Hist. I, 372, 1828. — Athene

GRAY. Gen. B. fol, sp. 43, 1844. — Athene Wilsoni BRIE, Isis, 1828, 315,

HRE

ONE OF OUR COMMON MONADS.

BY PROF. ALBERT H. TUTTLE.* ie

Since the investigations of Clark, Carter and others on

sponges and their allies, anything which adds to our knowledge of

has been known. a

Until recently but little has been known of the real nature ot

the Monadina. As a natural consequence, organisms have mA

referred to the different genera of this family upon very slight

study and superficial Te

i ae semblances.: Urella, '

which Ehrenberg

scribes thus, “ aggregate

monads, free-swimming:

YN tailless, devoid

N eyespeck and ha

ay 1 AZ gelliform fil

Re oe

e ae ~ share of attention

if S one might

A colony of about forty Monads. the ‘species

figures given that the diagnosis of the genus had been 2

very minute, aggregated, free-swimming,” — whether 7

or Alga making no difference.

When, therefore, I found in a collection made at Spy

Cambridge, on the 25th of November last, a large eri

viduals of this genus (probably the species gla

made use of the opportunity for a careful eke

my spare time to it daily as long as I continued to?

water; what follows is therefore the result of @

vations, at which each point has been examined and ve

* Communicated to the Section of Microscopy of the Boston society =

tory, Dec. 13th, 1871,

(286)

ONE OF OUR COMMON MONADS. 287

`- Urella probably finds its nearest ally in Anthophysa, differing

from that genus principally in being free-swimming instead of

fixed upon a stalk. The number of monads in acolony is quite

variable, almost every number having been seen, up to forty or

fifty; in this, however, as in many other respects, the constant

activity of the colonies renders it impossible to speak with abso-

lute certainty ; even when cornered so that they could no longer

progress in the direction in which they had been moving, they

continued to revolve upon their axes with considerable rapidity,

making it impossible to count them with accuracy. Occasionally,

a group of five or six or even two or three and not unfrequently a

Fig. 89.

An ideal section through a colony of Monads.

single monad would be seen, and these were more available for

purposes of study, though the larger groups were more frequent.

From such measurements as I was able to make while they were

in motion, I should say that the average length of each monad

was about one two-thousandth and the breadth one five-thousandth

of an inch; but these dimensions varied a good deal with the size

of the colonies, the individuals in the larger groups being more

elongated and narrower than those in the smaller ones. The form

may be described as conical with a rounded base not at right an-

gles with the axis of the cone, the past at the greatest distance

from the apex being the one nearest the apex of the colony ; in

Colonies of over ten or twelve the axis of the cone being also bent

towards the apex of the group, especially in those monads near

the base. ‘The form of the larger colonies varied from hemispher-

288 ONE OF OUR COMMON MONADS.

ical to raspberry or even mulberry shape, the form shown in ek

88 being the most common.

I was unable to find any trace of a common investing mem-

brane in either the larger or the smaller groups, nor do I believe

that any such membrane exists in any true species of Urella.

I was able to distinguish clearly two flagella, both arising from

a point near the most elevated side of the base of the cone. The —

Fig. 90. larger one was stif,

arcuate with the con- —

cave side toward a

a Hartnack number nine.

I am not certain as to the number of contractile vesicles

of clear spaces would be seen in the body, but they W

observed to contract. I do not

wish, however, to speak with any

degree of positiveness upon this

point, as I was not able to keep

a single monad in view long

enough to satisfy myself, on ac-

count of the constant revolution

of the colonies. As regards the

ingestion of food I have seen

something, though not as much as I could wish, 28 *

disputed question. I fed them with indigo which =

and I frequently watched its ingestion. On a

cessant motion, I was not able to satisfy my self of re

of a definite mouth, but I did not see a single Í

indigo being received at any point except very ie

Fig. 91.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 289

mon base of the flagello, and in every instance observed, the

act of ingestion was preceded by a quick bending of the larger

_ flagellum by which the particle of indigo was thrown against

the surface of the body in a manner similar to that described

by Professor Clark in his observations upon Monas. So far as

I was able to follow the process, whenever a colony reduced its rate

of motion sufficiently to permit of careful observation upon this

point, it was so much like the process described in Monas as to

leave little doubt in my mind that it was substantially Fig. 92.

the same: although as I have said I did not see a dis-

tinct mouth.

It appears probable, now that the Monadina are bet-

ter understood, that we shall soon be able to recognize

in them a well-defined family of the Flagellate Infusoria, oe

although doubtless many forms that have been assigned Monad.

to that group are vegetable in their nature; these will be gradu-

ally removed and those forms which are unquestionably animal

will be distinguished: among these it seems to me the genus

Urella as described by Ehrenberg will undoubtedly take its place.

Figure 88 represents a colony of about forty monads; Fig. 89

an ideal section through such a colony ; Fig. 90 represents a group

of five; Fig. 91 of two, and Fig. 92 a single monad. I have at-

tempted to sketch in this last the position of the large flagellum

when throwing a particle of food against the mouth region.

All the above figures are enlarged one thousand diameters.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

GEOLOGICAL Survey OF On10.*— Though this is but a yearly

report of progress, yet itis an important contribution to American

geology, both in its purely scientific and practical aspects. We

are convinced that when the final reports shall be published, the

Citizens of the State of Ohio will feel proud of the thorough and

able manner in which the survey has been carried on and com-

Borys ee E ee AN

*Report o Pipe 1870. By J. S. Newberry, Chief Geologist. Including

Reports by E. B. peatentiag Edward Orton, J. H. Klippart, piron Geologists; T.G.

Wormley, Chemist; G. K. Gilbert, M. C. Read, W. B. Potter and Henry Newton, Local

Assistants. Svo, pp - 568, with maps and engravings.

AMER. fi sah VOL. VI. 19

290 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

. pleted, and of the monument to scientific zeal and learning erected

in the series of magnificent works which we are promised in the

present report. We make a few extracts regarding the discoveries -

made by the survey. The fossil invertebrates are to be worked up

by Profs. Hall and Worthen, many novelties having been found.

“The interesting collection of Amphibian remains, which in-

cludes more than a dozen species, obtained by myself some years

ago from the coal rocks of Ohio, has been placed in the hands of

Prof. E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia. He has described them and

caused them to be carefully drawn. They supply material for six

or more plates, which will add much to the interest of our final

report

port.

The fossil fishes and fossil plants found in the State have been

described by myself. They have been drawn by Mr. T. Y.G

ner and Mr. G. K. Gilbert in a style that has not been surpassed

lar character done by the best European draughtsmen. The il

are not exceeded in scientific interest by any that ha i

described by palæontologists. The fossil fishes comprise D

genera and species, some of which are more remarkable pte |

size, their formidable armament or peculiarities of Liste ving

any of those which formed the themes of Hugh Miller's irs

descriptions. These have, for the most part, been ound inter-

Ohio; have never been described and will not fail to deeply mt

even indispensable, fossils are to the student of geology; g

happy to know that their significance and value are coming

all the fossiliferous rocks, and that no one can boas

has not learned their language.” z

We are promised that the final reports will

umes, of which the first two will be on Geology and

with a geological map on a large scale, vol. 8 @

Geology and vol. 4 on Agriculture, Botany and |

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 291

In his * Sketch of the Structure of the Lower Coal Measures in

Northeastern Ohio,” Prof. Newberry says that :—

“It is worth noticing, in this connection, that the Killbuck and

Tuscarawas run in parallel synclinal valleys, and it seems probable

that the folding of the strata which formed these subordinate

troughs and ridges in our great coal basin first gave direction to

the draining streams of the region we have been considering ; and

that, in a general way, these lines of drainage have retained,

already observed, I am prepared to find that the bearings of the

valleys of the Ohio and all its main tributaries in our State have

een determined by the same causes that produced the great folds

of the Alleghany mountains. y

Another interesting fact in regard to the valleys of the streams

is, that they are all cut far below the present stream-beds. The

valley of the Beaver is excavated to a depth of over 150 feet below

the present water level. The trough of the Ohio is still deeper.

The Tuscarawas, at Dover, is running 175 feet above its ancient

The rock bottom of the Killbuck valley has not yet been

reached,

The borings made for oil along the streams of the region under

consideration,-as well as in other parts of the country, afford many

remarkable facts bearing on this subject. They will be reported

Siet in detail in the chapter on Surface Geology in our final re-

por 2

Prof. Andrews records an interesting discovery, as follows :

“At Zaleska, in mining the Nelsonville coal, a fine bowlder of

sray quartzite was found half imbedded in the coal, and the other

half in the overlying shale. The quartzite is very hard, and

the bowlder was rounded and worn by friction before it came into

coal. The dimensions of the bowlder are not far from 17

: se

Indicate movement and pressure. Doubtless the bowlder had

settled into the coal while the coal was in a comparatively soft

3 ion of the sediments

which constitute the shale over the coal, is doubtless true. But

à S .

®©

fae)

®©

[e]

iss)

whic! i

would hardly have force enough to move heavy bowlders. The

eren explanation of isolated bowlders, such, for example, as are

292 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

to account for the existence of ice during the period of the pro-

ductive Coal-measures. A part of the vegetation of the coal

period was allied more or less closely to the modern ferns, but

these, of very large size are found chiefly in the tropies. Coal

is, however, found in arctic regions. This fact has been supposed

to indicate a warm climate during the coal period. There are two

. equally important elements in all calculations respecting the origin

of coal. The first is a sufficiently warm atmosphere to secure luxt-

riant and abundant vegetation ; the second, a climate sufficiently

cool to prevent such decay of the vegetable matter as would forbid

any accumulation. There is little or no accumulation of vegetable

matter in the hot, damp climate of the tropics, the decay counter

balancing the growth. On the other hand, the peat vegetation

accumulates in wet bogs in comparatively cold climates. Whether

there may have been, after the submergence of the Zaleski coal,

at some point more or less remote, a shore on which ice may have

itis impossible to say. tt

_ Sir Charles Lyell in his ‘Students’ Elements of Geovani :

published in 1871, gives the following paragraph on the rere :

the coal period: ‘ As to the climate of the coal, the ferns and

conifere are, perhaps, the two classes of plants which may be

relied upon as leading to safe conclusions, as the genera are nS oc

allied to living types. All botanists admit that the abundance”

ferns implies a moist atmosphere. But the conifer, a ie

mum in numbers constituting 1-62 part of all the flow

whereas, in a wide district around the Cape of G nifers

do not form 1-1600 of the phenogamic flora. Besides pepe

man ecies of ferns flourish in New Zealand, some O` ia ihi :

borescent, together with many lycopodiums, so that 2 bs vegett

country may make a nearer approach to the Carboniferous Yre

tion than any other now existing on the globe.” a

The other reports will also commend themselves to § State in

and meanwhile we trust no expense will be spared by piee ;

causing the final report to be published and extensively 0"

2. f j

Tue Noxious AND BENEFICIAL INseCTS OF Missoun™ pe

by the time this review appears we shall have a fourth mi eS

Mr. Riley, a notice of Some of the good things m the P

ring plants;

; ope they |

Insects of the *

*Third Annual Report on the Noxious, Beneficial and other gro, pp: 18%

Missouri, ete. By Charles V, Riley, State Entomologist. 1871.

cuts. Price $1.00, Cae

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 293

port will perhaps be “ better late than never.” A description of

the very ingenious machines for jarring trees to rid them of the

Plum Curculio will be in- Fig. 93.

teresting to fruit growers ;

while two Ichneumon par-

asites of this insect are de-

scribed and figured. The

Apple Curculio (Anthono-

mus 4-gibbus) which is do-

ing considerable damage in

Southern Illinois and some Strawberry Crown-borer.

parts of Missouri is described fully and well figured, as well as the

Fig. 94. Plum Gouger (A. prunicida).

Another weevil injures the

strawberry plant. It is the An-

$e akis fragarie of Riley (Fig. 93,

a, larva; b and c, adult beetle).

The egg is probably laid in the

downwards into the pith and

Amphipyra of the Grape. root, when it attains its full size,

and in the autumn the plants break off. The Pea and Bean wee-

vils are noticed at length. Fig. 95.

Among the insects in-

juring the grape are no-

ticed several moths :

among them the Pyra- NN

midal Larva of Amphipyra.

Grapevine Worm (Amphipyra pyramidoides,

= =

known to feed on the vine. It

will not probably prove very

troublesome. The habits of

the Spotted Pelidnota and

Grapevine Flea Beetle are des-

cribed and figured in an excel- 3)

lent manner. We are also Grape Colaspis.

ae made acquainted with the habits of a rather

"ape Colaspis. formidable. beetle, clay yellow in color, the Co-

laspis flavida (Fig. 96; 97, larva) of which the early stages are

for the first time described. :

294 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

A valuable notice of the Grape-leaf Gall-louse (Phylloxera

vitifolie) next follows, and we only hope that this fearful scourge

in Europe will not abound here, though for several years it has

been more or less injurious. It is thought by Mr. Riley, who has

Fig. 98.

Whité-lined Morning Sphinx. 2

studied it in France, to be the same species as the P. vastalr

pe;

The account of the Tent Caterpillars will be found to ee

esting, and several other destructive caterpillars are noti

greater or less length.

Fig. 99.

Larva of Morning Sphinx.

ve cits

As a sample of the illustrations we introduce the abe a

of the White Lined Morning Sphinx (Deilephila ince

and its larva (Fig. 99). Riley alludes to the striking

larval variation in this species, having found on the

very light caterpillars, with black ones with a y ellow

same plant

dorsal i :

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 295.

and two rows of small yellow spots along the side. It is often at-

tacked by Tachina flies.

The concluding chapter on ‘“‘Two of our Common Butterflies

(Danais archippus and Limenitis disippus) ; their natural history,

with some general remarks on Transformation and Protective Imita-

tion as illustrated by them,” will interest all naturalists, especially

those who have studied cases of mimicry.

Ponp Lire.*—There is not much to be said about this exquisite

little book; the best thing to do about it is to read it. As its

title states, it is a new edition of a familiar work by the present

able Secretary of the “ Royal Microscopical Society.” Its author-

ship would be a sufficient guarantee of its scientific accuracy, but

not of its general excellence in other respects; for few men,

whether eminent or not, could prepare a volume containing so

much to commend and so little to regret.

With the exception of an initial chapter devoted to the appara-

tus employed, the book is a Natural History work, describing and

commenting upon the minute living forms which abound in the

ponds near London. Usually a chapter is given to the work of

each month in the year ; and an interesting discussion of relations

Closes the list. The distribution of work through the various

months would be more applicable to our Southern than to our

orthern states, but the chief interest of the book is entirely inde-

pendent of local considerations.

ritten in a lively and dashing style, though without a touch of

Sensationism or vulgarity, illustrated with neat and life-like wood

cuts and dainty colored prints, and presented by the publishers in

an attractive form, this little gem of a book would be of as much

interest to a poet or a philosopher as to a naturalist. We advise

_ very intelligent reader, whether scientific or not, to buy the vol-

Ume, and read it, and having read it to join with us in wishing that

the author’s next edition, or next work, may be as good if not as

8mall.— R. H. W.

Derr Sga Corars. t — This ae treatise is on the deep-

‘ea corals collected during the recent expeditions made for the

oo.

*Marvels of Pond Life d edition. London:

: . By Henry J. Slack, F. G. S. Second e

Groombridge & ons, 1871. :

X Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy. No. iv. s

"S. ByL.F. de Pourtalès. Cambridge, 1871, large 8vo, with a map and 8 litho-

Staphic plates,

296 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

exploration of the Gulf Stream, by the U. S. Coast Survey. The

work contains much of general geological and zoological interest

from the reviews of our. present knowledge of the constitution of

the sea bottom on the Atlantic coast of the United States, the

results of which have already been presented to our readers.

Perhaps the most interesting of the corals figured is the Haplo-

phyllia paradoxa dredged off Bahia Honda, at the enormous depth

(for corals) of 324 fathoms.. This remarkable form is referred by

Count Pourtalés to the Rugose Corals, which have hitherto only

been found in strata below the Coal measures, and therefore of

great geological antiquity. The nearest allied form is Caloplyl-

lum profundum, found fossil in the Dyas. This coral is of

such interest that we copy the figures. The brief remarks on

Fig. 100.

A Deep Sea Coral (Haplophyllia).

the geographical and bathymetrical distribution of the corals pos

sess much interest. The reef building species do not seem to er

tend to any considerable depth. ‘ The families having apparently

the greatest range in depth, are the Oculinidæ, the Styl

and the Melleporidæ. Simple corals, which form such a large o

portion of thè deep sea fauna, are not represented at S ‘wel -

Floridian reef fauna; some species are describ from the

Indies, but without indications of depth.” wept

The author gives a list of dead corals, which have pez nie |

north of their original habitat by the Gulf Stream. “ Thei

tions are that a current sweeps over the bottom in 3 adi 1 to

from south to north : ; in other words, the Gulf Stream @ sh |

the bottom, at least, as far north as the highest latitude mE

and is not underlaid by a cold Arctic current running in are se

site direction, as has sometimes been assumed to ane vit

low temperature at the bottom.” ‘The work concludes er

of the corals constituting the Florida reef. The illus

abundant and excellent.

BOTANY.

Proressor BABINGTON on Anacnaris. — The editors of the

Narvrattsr will do a favor by reprinting Professor Babington’s

short article, contributed to the April number of the “ Journal of

Botany,” in order that the attention of our botanists may be called

to it during the coming summer. It may be that we have two

water-weeds, as Babington and Planchon supposed ; one dicecious,

the other hermaphrodite. In that case the characters of the two

are commixed in my manual. That plants with ‘* hermaphrodite

flowers really do exist in the United States” is certain. Dr. Tor-

rey’s “ Flora of the State of New York” describes them, and I

ean vouch that the description was taken from living plants. He

says “‘the stamens are mostly three, but varying to four, five or

six, or more.” As to the male flowers, of the peculiar structure

and economy described by Nuttall, so far as I know these have

been since collected only by Dr. Engelmann at St. Louis, who

gave specimens both to Dr. Torrey and myself.. Dr. Torrey states

that he describes these specimens. It is to be hoped that Dr.

Engelmann may be able to find this sterile-flowering plant again ;

and that all our botanists will examine the plants they meet with

and preserve specimens of any different kinds or sexes of flowers

they may detect.

Professor Babington appears to have overlooked Caspary’s elab-

orate papers on these plants. As to the name, now that Adan-

Son's genus is Elodes, there is nothing to prevent the restoration

of Elodea.—A. Gray

On Axacmars.— There is far from being a concurrence of

Opinion concerning the proper -generic name of the plant called

Anacharis Alsi

Flo Se Ei p- 7 ; i

ata ( Benth. Handb. ed. 1, 499; ed. 2, 447 ) the generic name

Richard defined genera with each of the names Elodea,

(297)

298 BOTANY.

ris, and Hydrilla in 1812 (Mem. Inst. 1811, pt. 2, p. 1), and had

previously described the genus Elodea in 1803 (Mich. Fl. Bor

Amer. i. 20). In the latter work he refers E. guyanensis to that

genus, as well as E. canadensis, and places them as hermaphrodite

plants in the Linnean Class and Order Triandria Monogynia. In

both of these places he states expressly that Elodea has hermaph-

rodite flowers. In the Mem. Inst. he says that Anacharis and

wrong,

and Canada ; and his Æ. guyanensis and the E. granatensis of Hum

boldt as also hermaphrodite, and in that he is correct.

chaux’s work in 1803 (but by name only ), does not seem to

published any description of it until the appearance of hi

em. Inst. ), which was issued in 1814, but communicate

the Institute in 1812. Pursh called the Canadian plant Sara

occidentalis in 1814 (El. Amer. Septen. i. 33), and expressly §

acharis. He says,“ The staminate flowers ( which are rare)"

commonly break off, as in Vallisneria, and float on nee we

where they expand and shed their pollen around the

the fertile flowers.” . ea

It appears from’this that there are two series of plants |

power which each node of the stem possesses of P

plant if detached from the rest. Bae of 2

But even if it be considered that the diccious st! pais

charis and Hydrilla is not sufficient to separate thom-

maphrodite Elodea of South America (Apalanthe, +

BOTANY. 299

the expediency of retaining Elodea as the genuine name is very

doubtful, as the sec. Elodea of Hypericum hasbeen separated as a

genus by the name of Elodea by Pursh, Spach, Endlicher, and

others, and as there was manifestly a m mistake in Richard’s original

definition of his Elodea as applied to the species of Anacharis (if

they were intended to be included i in it), although that definition

does suit the South American species described by him and by

Humboldt. It appears, therefore, to me that we had better retain

Anacharis as the name of the plant well known in A orth America,

and, unfortunately, now too well known in Englan

Doubtless Richard was led to suppose that “the p AiR s plant

is hermaphrodite from its very close resemblance to his E. guyan-

ensis, which he had seen alive and then ascertained its hermaphro-

dite structure. The barren filamen ts found in the female flowers

Sessile male flowers; the s e of the male “flowers of ‘Anachavis

being figured and described oe Richard as tubular and bifid, and

described by A. Gray as sessile, tubular, and 2-cleft. Richard also

Says that the male ng of Anacharis are stalked and so figures

_ them, but A. Gray does not say anything on that poin

r. Syme gives as his opinion that * there are no characters of

sufficient importance to separate the ERS Hydrilla, Elodea, and

nacharis,” but in that opinion I cannot concur. Dr. Hooker

States that the staminodes of the foak flowers of Anacharis are

: ari derived (?) the state ment f m A. Gray, in who yond book

mowers ever ge do exist in the United States or ae aie for,

Axorner Dougie Wip Fiowrr. In July of last year (1871)

300 ZOOLOGY.

while collecting in the region of perpetual snow on James’ Peak,

I found and preserved a flower of Trollius lagus in which the

These petals were of the same color as the sepals, but shorter,

though broad, and in other respects finely developed. The pla

is abundant in the high mountains of this latitude.— Rev. E.

GREENE, Greeley, Colorado Territory.

ZOOLOGY.

Tue Last or “Bonasa Jossu.” — The immediate Was.

the sudden appearance and prompt destruction of the í .

mentioned bird, greatly regret that a page of the arent

should be occupied in recording its career; but since this is

case (see issue of March, p. 172) and since some of the sta

ments of your correspondent require correction, we hope that a

final shot may be permitted; and first since neither the Naw

RALIST nor its correspondent appears to have seen the folom®

communication in which the describer of ‘Bonasa Jobsii”

fully resigned his first-born and since it contains some instructive

remarks from high ornithological authorities, we roni its la

tion here.

beg the pr reading the views of two dis

jriithologtéta Peo 8 TBA ird and Dr. Elliott Coues,

the article publishe d in Tue Era of December 8th, :

“ Bonasa Jobsii.” ‘

Professor Baird writes: ‘Your letter of the 11th

the accompanying description of the su ipposed new *

grouse. A difference in shape, or color ot

discrepancy in an observed measure, or an anat

from a description based upon a dried specimen, i

SMa little moment. The pope of tail-feathers

pains now to subordinate form s, once considered SE”

do to establish them as such. I admit now but KT

nasa in the United States, with, however, an óf

e and a Western, these diversified by differences are

slight variations of proportions which, however, ©”

ZOOLOGY. 301

importance. A great difference in the colors of the Eastern bird

been frequently met with, and we have several specimens in

our collection, answering very well to the account given of your

bi Ad

r. Coues, writing to the editors of THe Era, says: ‘Thé

Wises I take in ornithology is my excuse for begging enough of

your valuable space to correct an unfortunate error that appears

in your issue of December 8th. say unfortunate, because the

_ Was unlucky bias to shoot, and Mr. Jay cox “still more to write

about, shows nothing of specific consequence. The ppm g

rectrices of Bonasa umbellus varie s from sixteen to

differ more than they appear to in this instance, while the discrep-

ancies in color that are airs by the writer are strictly within’

the range of captors variat

Thus we see Profes r Baird and Dr. Coues agree that the bird

described was a Sirie ii

There was one very important sentence omitted in the pub-

lished article in Tue Era. It is: ‘As TI have no ote of ruffed

‘Birds of New i and fy apime ar of Wilso apres

rica’ I found so many different species of birds differing from

ve other in so slight a degree that it led me to suppose the

ird was one that had not been described.

Professor Baird’s letter he says: ‘I admit now yn one spe-

of Bonasa in the United States.’ At the time of the

a 4 pblication of his work he describes two— Bonasa umbellus

he n i

ie me he was writing ‘Birds of North America,’ he would have

med another genus for it; at least it would seem so from the

manner in which he has niade new spaces of specimens which

302 ZOOLOGY.

differ from seo other in so few characteristics.”— From report

Proc. OC. U. Nat. Hist. Soc., Jan. 13, 1872. Onan Bin

that while a young student may be well versed in the §

works of twenty years ago, in which many species rest upon | s

basis than “ Bonasa Jobsii;” he would not, unless directed, b

apt to see the recent periodical publications in which as yet appear

the only evidences of the great and beneficial revolution from the

“ analytical ” to the “ synthetical” stage of science; and so th

charge of “knowing nothing of ornithology” seems to us not on

harsh but unwarranted. However, as Mr. Jaycox has som

and cheerfully acknowledged his ornithological blunder, “ B

Jobsii” may be regarded as the name of an extinct species,

laying no claim to synonymy with Bonasa umbellus, and W

‘only to comment upon some parts of the note which occa

this communication.

The “Cornell Era” is not a “publication of an institution

learning ” in any sense which entitles its contents to more ©

eration than other ‘‘ newspaper science ;” it is published

the sole direction of five students and it differs from other 4

periodicals mainty in its willingness to publish the pro

the various scientific societies. So neither the Era no a

versity are in any way responsible for “ Bonasa Jobsii nik

Natural History Society, from the proceedings of er

description was an extract, and by the President of which \

not by the President of the University as inferred by your ¢

pondent) the specific name was suggested ; and since some

_readers may know that the Professors of the Unive er

rary members of the Society, and often attend its m ne

is but fair to them to state that none were present w

Jobsii” was introduced; had they been, Mr. Jaycox W

been at once referred to the able papers of Mr. Ten (8 ;

Comp. Zoöl. vol. i, No. 8, and vol. ii, No. 3) in which

subject of specific characters is discussed. >

In conclusion I must allude to the contrast

manner of your correspondent’s criticism and thc a v

and Dr. Coues, who may fairly be regarded as © ate

older and younger American ornithologists. Their ie

ical without being sarcastic; and they evince respect for

ZOOLOGY. : 303

though misdirected zeal of a young naturalist, instead of commis-

eration for an “ ornithological blunder,” and they include nothing

that might not properly be said in the presence of the person criti-

cised, and, now as “ Bonasa Jobsii” is a thing of the past let us

hope to hear no more of it; and that any reply to the foregoing will

be confined to the question of scientific ethics and the limits of

kindly criticism.—Burr S. Witper, Cornell University.

ORNITHOLOGICAL Brunpers.—In the March number of the

NATURALIST occur some remarks respecting “An Ornithological

Blunder.” Such a gross mistake as that made in the case of

“ Bonasa Jobsii” certainly demanded vigorous criticism; yet are

there not palliating circurstances attending this ‘blunder ” that

render the language of your correspondent’s critique unnecessarily

arsh? To me it seems that there are. Unquestionably þad as

was the work your correspondent was called to pass upon the

indiseretion here alluded to was evidently encouraged, if not

indeed actually induced, by equally unfortunate “blunders” pre-

Viously made, not by mere tyros, but by recognized ornithological

authorities. That this was the case seems evident from the

Comparisons and precedents cited in the remarks accompanying

the description of Bonasa Jobsii. Is not, in fact, Bonasa Jobsii

one of the legitimate fruits of the excessively analytic system

followed in the only general works on North American ornithology

Accessible to students? The authors of these valuable works may

have modified their opinions, and even their methods of working

Since the publication of those works, but as yet the general student

as no means of knowing it. It seems to me that as long as spe-

“les NO more worthy of recognition than Bonasa Jobsii have the

appearance of being currently accepted, because not yet publicly

retracted, mistakes like that made by Mr. Jaycox need not

upon as wholly unpardonable. In fact if the author of

B. Jobsii could have truthfully added, Hab. “ Columbia River,” or,

“Hudson’s Bay Territory,” to his description, his pseudo-species

might even now have been less summarily dealt with though none

the less untenable, By these remarks, however, I do not by any

means wish to encourage such kind of work, but merely desiré to

‘eal attention to the fact that in Mr. J aycox’s case there are exten-

circumstances. — ttt :

[We gladly make room for the above, from Prof. Wilder and

ZOOLOGY.

another esteemed contributor, with the remark that “ our corres

pondent” who ranks with the best ornithologists of the day,

performed his duty with the utmost good will towards the author —

of the new name, and was simply severe on the principle, and :

not on the author, as a warning to all young naturalists not to run

headlong into print. — Eprrors. ] id:

VIBRATIONS OF THE Tart IN SNAKES.— Professor Shaler wi.

note on this subject in the Am. Naturalist, Jan. 1872, p. 35. he

1849 Professor S. F. Baird placed in my hands for translation, the i

invertebrate zoology of Heck’s Iconographie Encyc., but finding it

a poor compilation, I rewrote it, merely following the plates of the

German edition. I incorporated various original observations

my own and the following passage occurs on p. 6-7 of zoology.

“ Instinctive actions are not taught, although a permanent

arek te come an instin ct. The young duck s wims at once, W

and she

hiia Araf witho ut fang o or rattle will Vv hrabe ite ae like a 1

snake producing a similar sound among dry leave ! ain

the young is Paella upon that of the adult, and b

of ideas is limited, they must be as essentially hereditary as

external form. (In a note—These views are favora

trine of innate ideas, which is sete Si, oppos sed b

is not always transmissible Roia parent to its lit pe

but it may appear in a more distant descendant,

nation of generations.

Professor Cope (Proc. Am. Phil. Soc. July- Dec. 1871, a

mentions several poisonous and harmless snakes which

the tail when excited— a phenomenon I observ in 1841.

A point in the extract affords an illustration of wi

of unscientific people, and their inability even to

matter correctly. I had DEAT that “ the young

bites when taken from the egg,” — I might have §

little stronger, for if touched, the unborn snapper turns e

and opens its mouth when the shell is broken vuficient t

the head. Seemingly on this statement,

(May 1860, p. 516) asserts that —“ Agassiz,

savage snap of one of the full-grown Ta

asserted that, under the microscope [ !] he has seen

turtle snapping precociously in embryo.” — $.

lumbia, Pa.

}

ZOOLOGY. 305

[Agassiz’s original statement about the young turtle is in his

Contr. Nat. Hist. U. S., i, p. 175 (1857) and is as follows:—In

‘speaking of the ‘‘ Succession of Characters” he says “ The Snap-

ping Turtle, for instance, exhibits its small, crosslike sternum, its

oot note he further adds, “ Pr. M. v. New-Wied quotes as a re-

markable fact, that the Chelonara serpentina bites as soon as it is

hatched. I have seen it snapping in the same fierce manner as it

does when full-grown, at a time it was still a pale, almost colorless

embryo, wrapped up. in its foetal envelopes, with a yolk larger

than itself hanging from its sternum, three months before hatch-

ing.” — Eprrors. |

THE ÅFFINITIES OF Crinoips. — Metschnikoff, to whom we owe

So many embryological’ investigations, has published preliminary

notices * of the early stages of Comatula which are of the utmost

importance, as they throw an entirely new light on the affinities of

the Crinoids. > Thoroughly familiar with the pluteus of Holothu-

rians, Echini, Starfishes and Ophbiurans, he commenced the inves-

tigations of their earlier stages with the determination of tracing

the presence of the peculiar water system of the larvæ of the

other orders of Echinoderms; what had been previously written

by Busch, Allman aud Thomson, on the early stages of Comatula,

giving no date whatever bearing upon the subject.

To his surprise he found no such water system, nor could he

trace anything in any way homologous to it; he also discovered

that what constitutes the water-system of adult Crinoids, which

has always been homologised with the water-system of other Echin-

ms is developed in a totally different manner. In the free

Swimming Comatula larva the bag-like digestive sac is the only

organ developed, it becomes the digestive cavity of the adult after

larva attaches itself to the ground. He noticed the tentacles

as diverticula of the digestive sac in the interior of the larva;

. Se subsequently force their way through to the exterior, at the

time when the digestive bag has become further differentiated, and

1S provided with a mouth opening in the centre of the oval disk,

and an anus opening not far from it on the side of the calyx. There

* Bulletin Acad. St. Petersburg, xv, p. 508, February, 1871.

AMER, NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 0

306 ZOOLOGY.

is formed at this stage a large cavity which divides into two partis :

the upper part, uniting the hollow tentacles at their base, forms the

so-called circular canal, while below it, and connecting with it, we

have a large cavity forming the perivisceral cavity, a mode of

development of the circular ring and of the perivisceral cavity

totally unlike that observed in Ophiurans, Starfishes, Echini =

Holothurians. |

Metschnikoff compares the mode of development of the ti

and lower cavity to analogous processes in the embryonic growth

of Alcyonella and other Bryozoa; he traces a striking similarity

in the structure and position of the digestive organs and ten

with similar organs of Bryozoa. However that may be, he

shown conclusively that the larva of Comatula has apparently

nothing in common with other Echinoderm larvae; but we

wait for his figures on this intricate subject before we can decide

if the position he assigns to Crinoids is true to nature—*

AGassiz, in Amer. Jour. Sci.

Birds New to Massacuuserrs Fauna.—I send you the

ing memoranda, of six species of birds, new to the fauna

state taken within its limits by myself and friends, with

request that you will publish them in the NATURALIST :—

Hudsonian Titmouse (Parus Hudsonicus). On

1870, I took an adult female at Concord, in compan with

Golden-crested Kinglets (Regulus satrapa). m

ae!

European Ruff (Philomachus pugnax). Had a fines

me in the flesh from Newburyport marshes, May ih

Upon dissection it proved a female, with the ovaries |

developed that I judged it would have laid within two oF

weeks. This, Prof. Baird informs me, is the sixth that

taken in America. i

Baird’s Sandpiper (Actodromus Bairdii). AS ee

Long Island in Boston harbor, Aug. 27th, 1870, by. the fil

Henshaw of Grantville, Massachusetts. This is I beue

note of the occurrence of this bird on the Atlantic coasts

Havel’s Tern (Thallaseus Haveli). A single SP 1870.

on Ipswich beach by Mr. C. J. Maynard, September m

Marsh Tern (Geochelidon Anglica). taken °

beach, September, 1871, by Mr. C. J. Maynard. il

Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala ae Lom

ZOOLOGY. 307

female in the flesh from Cape Cod, December 7th, 1871, which was

pronounced by Prof. Baird unquestionably B. Islandica. Since

then I have seen numbers of females and two fine adult males in

the Boston markets, most of them shot within state limits.

Mr. Maynard also informs me that he took two more specimens

of Baird’s Sparrow (Centronyx Bairdii), October 14th and 15th,

on the Ipswich sandhills, thereby confirming the hypothesis ad-

vanced by him in the “ Naturalist’s Guide,” namely, that they are

regular winter visitants from the North.

The Stilt Sandpiper (Micropalma himantopus) which I see was

recorded in a recent number of the NATURALIST as new to our

fauna, I consider by no means rare in its migrations. Indeed, I

have seen as many as six or seven sent into Boston market at

one time, from Cape Cod, and in the course of a few weeks’ shoot-

ing in August, at Rye Beach, N. H. (just north of our state lim-

its), secured no less than ten specimens. — WILLIAM Brewster,

Cambridge, Mass.

Error ry Darwin’s Ortcix or Species. In the last edition of

the above work, p. 149, Mr. Darwin misstates Hyatt and Cope’s

law of Acceleration and Retardation in the following language :

“ There is another possible mode of transition, namely, through

the acceleration and retardation of the period of reproduction.

This view has lately been insisted on by Prof. Cope and others in

the United States. ` It is now known that some animals are capa-

€ of reproduction at a very early age, before they have acquired

their perfect characters,” ete.

Prof. Cope and others have not insisted on the above proposition,

Which we imagine to be supported by very few facts. Their theo-

ty of acceleration and retardation states ; that, while the period of

reproductive maturity arrives at nearly the same age or period of

the year in most individuals of a single sex and species, the por-

tion of the developmental scale which they traverse in that time,

may vary much. ‘That an addition to the series of changes trav-

ersed by the parent, would require in another generation, a more

rapid growth in respect to the series in question, which is accelera-

tion. A falling short of accomplishing that completeness, would

z t from a slower growth, hence the process is termed retarda-

tion. Vast numbers of observed facts prove that this is the great

law of variation towards which little progress has yet been made

308 ZOOLOGY.

by students who are yet chiefly occupied with the cooperative la

of natural selection. ; ee

Acceleration and retardation of the period of reproduction

may possibly have occurred ; but the only case in which it has been

recognized in connection with the above law, has been int

to sex. In the human species at least, differences in sever

characters, mostly metaphysical, seen in the sexes and in certain

races, may be consequences of the earlier or later appears

maturity in this point. — Z. jas

PARTHENOGENESIS AMONG LEPIDOPTERA.— The Dutch. na =

M. H. Weizenbergh jr. has performed a series of experin

this interesting subject, the insect placed under observation Ah

Liparis dispar, and concludes that it is possible for at least t

successive generations to be produced without access of the

to the female. The following are the results of his very ®

experiments: — (1) August, 1866, eggs laid by impre

males; April, 1867, caterpillars appear, and in July perfect

flies. (2) August, 1867, eggs laid by females of this yet i

without impregnation; April, 1868, caterpillars appear:

July perfect butterflies. (3) August, 1868, eggs laid b

of this year without impregnation ; April, 1869 caterpil :

and in July perfect butterflies. (4) August, 1869, eggs

females of this year without impregnation ; April, 18

the eggs all dried up. The power of reproduction ^p

decrease year by year when impregnation was prevented. A

results have been noticed in other butterflies, in bees, and

in aphides.— A. W. B. eae

can brook

NATURALIZATION OF SALMONIDÆ. — The Ameri

Salmo fontinalis, is now thoroughly established in £n

it is the admiration of pisciculturists. io “

There seems to be no question about the success of T

to introduce the European trout, S. fario, into the ps

and Plenty in Tasmania, good-sized fish of that species in”

casionally caught there. As to salmon (5. saari T

trout (S. trutta), the evidence of success is not ao =

letter from Tasmania, dated Dec. 30, 1871, and pub!

and Water,” asserts that there is no doubt that the

coming yearly, more and more fully stocked vib

that no adult salmon have been caught. James A. . =

ZOOLOGY. 309

the salmon and salmon trout have bred in the Plenty ponds, in

fresh water, without ever having a chance of emigrating to the sea.

Frank Buckland proposes to send out a uet, wherewith to test

the presence of salmon, from which we may infer that such an

obvious means of ascertaining the facts has not yet been tried, al-

though there was ocular proof of the presence of great numbers of

fish supposed to belong to the two species in question. The eggs

from which the Salmonide now in Tasmania, are descended, were

sent out packed in ice. A large case of salmoneggs was shipped

for New Zealand, last November, packed without ice, in glass jars

with damp moss. — C. G. A.

Curious Hanrrs or a Swaxe. I had for some time living in a

Wardian case, a specimen of Oyclophis estivus, received from Ft.

Macon, N, C., through the kindness of Dr. Yarrow. The slender

form of this snake, and its beautiful green and yellow coors have

led to the opinion that it is of arboreal or bush-loving habits. It

never exhibited such in confinement, however, and instead of

climbing over the ferns, etc., lived mostly underground. It had

an envious habit of projecting its head and two or three inches

of its body above the ground, and holding itself for hours rigidly

in a single attitude. In this position it resembled very closely

à sprout or shoot of some green succulent plant, and might readily

be mistaken for such by small animals. — Epw. D. Corer.

More agour Sixers Mice. — A correspondent whose name is

withheld sends me something that may interest your readers :

Dear Doctor, —Y

reported in the “Sun” of this morning, that the peculiarity of sing-

‘ng mice is not due toa diseased condition. After breeding nearly

à cylinder, he becomes very excited and joyous, and turns round

| pleasure

every possible manner. He is always in perfect health, and the

young bred from him are the strongest and largest I have ever

Lente He is also tame, very knowing, very pretty, and about

agreeable a companion as a solitary person could desire. I

310 GEOLOGY.

infer that your mouse is of the ordinary color. I may

at me risk of telling you something you know already, fey

is ind of hiccoughing mouse ; I also had one of these,

sein one day on an exploring expedition i in the wilds of a desert

ed rubbish room, he was lost, night overtook him as

to death.

the Maryland Academy of Science, & propos of Dr. Lockwe

recent article, which, like everything else he writes for the Na

RALIST, is simply delightful. The whole subject is interesting.

lating the voice as to produce musical notes, though the faculty

be only occasionally exercised? Birds themselves, as a rule, st

chiefly under the special stimulus of the breeding season. *

vocal music having been generally, but perhaps too hastily

posed to be confined to birds more information is desirable.

can contribute something ?— Exriorr Coues.

Tue Music or tur RATTLESNAKE. — I have nothing to $

reference to Prof. Shaler’s theory of the use of rattles to the

but while botanizing over the marshes of Michigan during the pest

few years, I have had a chance to become familiar with the

of the rattles of the Massasauga. It is so much like the

of some grasshoppers that I have often mistaken the sound

insect for that of the serpent. — W. J. Brat, Mich. Agr.

MEeLanism. — Noticing what Dr. Wood says, in the last

of the Naturanisr, about “ melanism,” it occurs to me to §

black woodchucks are found in this region and in Washi

H.; and I have had a perfectly black pm from 1

Sanzorn TENNEY, Williamstown, Mass.

GEOLOGY.

Gracers 1N THE Rocky Movuntarns.— In the Na soa

February, in an article on ‘The Mountains of Col

_W. Foster denies the existence of any evidence i :

former presence of glaciers in the Rocky Mountains- a

that so far as he observed none of the rock surfaces ad

and striated, and that those accumulations of sand ame

the nature of terminal moraines are entirely wanting.

With regard to the existence of terminal moraines

GEOLOGY. 811

vinced that Dr. Foster is in error. Mr. Henry Gannett, who spent

the summer of 1869 in South Park, and the region about Gray’s

Peak, informs me that a number of well defined terminal moraines

may be seen west of Gray’s Peak on the trail leading from Monte-

zuma up the peak, and that on Clear Creek, which Dr. Foster says

he took as his line of observation, near Fall River may be seen

another terminal moraine. Mr. Gannett’s testimony is confirmed

by several other members of the party he accompanied.

Dr. Foster is undoubtedly right in saying that in the region he

visited the rocks exhibit no traces of glacial markings. The

granites and syenites that are first met with on entering the Rocky

Mountains from the east are exceedingly friable and decompose

with the greatest rapidity on exposure to the atmosphere, so that

under these circumstances the planed and striated rock surfaces

Would long since have disappeared. It is only when passing

Westward, we approach the outlying spurs of the Snowy Range

that the granites begin to be hard enough to retain any traces of

glacial action.

Last summer in the collecting expedition to the Rocky Moun-

tains sent out by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Mr. Allen

and myself had on one occasion opportunity of observing such

traces of ice action as to leave in our minds no doubt of the

former existence of glaciers in those mountains. These evidences

of glaciation we saw near Montgomery, a mining town on the

head waters of the South Platte in the northwestern part of Park

county. The South Platte rises in the spur of mountains running

West from Mt. Lincoln and flows eastward for about five miles '

through a broad gulch, the walls of which range in height from

eight hundred to fifteen hundred feet. From an examination of

the exposed surfaces of the rocks forming the sides and floor o

the guleh, made by Mr. Allen and myself, I am convinced that at

Some former time the whole valley must have been filled with ice

moving downward toward South Park. Wherever the rocks had

not been disturbed by mining operations they were worn perfectly

Smooth and deeply furrowed with glacial striæ. I noticed several

Places Where projecting rocks were polished and furrowed on the

Side facing up the gulch ; and left untouched on the opposite side,

showing that the ice field had moved down the gulch toward the’

k. Near the lower end of the gulch I traced the glaciation to

à height of eight hundred and more feet, or to the point where the

312 GEOLOGY.

exposed rocks were covered with detritus resulting from a disin-

tegration of the higher peaks by atmospheric agencies.— Ricnagp

Buss, JR., Cambridge. pupae

Discovery or an Extinct Gicantic Birp or PREY IN New Zea-

LAND. — Mr. F. Fuller, while directing some excayations in 4

marsh on the Glenmark estate, province of Canterbury, South

Island, New Zealand, by permission of G. H. Moore, Esq. (whose

researches have added so greatly to the evidences of the extinct

birds of New Zealand), found, among remains of- Dinornis es:

humed at a depth of five or six feet from the surface, afew smaller

bones, including claw-phalanges, which Mr. Fuller recognized as

belonging to a large bird of prey. With two claw-phalanges wett

found a left femur, a vertebral rib with its anchylosed * epipleural

appendage ;” and, in a watercourse about two miles from Glew 7

mark, a mutilated right humerus was subsequently. discovered:

and pronounced by Dr. Haast to be raptorial, and, as well 8

_ other and better preserved bones, most nearly resembling the ọ

responding bones of the New Zealand harrier (Circus assii i

Jardine). Dr, Haast, F.R.S., the accomplished, state geologi

of the province of Canterbury, has communicated an- shay

and interesting memoir on these remains to the Transacom® j

Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. He refers the gigan

torial bird of New Zealand, which was twice the size oF bul tothe

great wedge-tailed eagle of Australia (Aquila audas Gould), 4

genus Harpagornis, Haast, giving it the specific name Moores” i

the liberal partner of Kermode and Co., owners of the na

property. He conjectures, on good grounds, that this huge PF

rial bird preyed upon the young or feeble individuals of “=

Dinornis, and, with them, became extinct. Dr. Haa ay

from this discovery an additional confirmation of his &

. the present aboriginals of New Zealand do not possess:

tions about the gigantic Moas, and writes, “ that, pi

traditions about the Dinornis had been handed down ™

still more alarming existence of this gigantic bird of prey 1

poraneous with the former would most certainly have: 29.

recorded.” I may remark that the individual who, U

mitted to me, with other New Zealand rarities, the

ANTHROPOLOGY. 313

tradition that it belonged to a bird of the eagle kind which had

me extinct; and to which they gave the name of ‘ Movie.’”

(Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, Nov. 12, 1839,

p. 169:) I am now, of course, disposed to attach more weight to

this tradition than when it rested on a fossil proved to belong to a

bird which could not’ fly, and which was at least as large as anos-

trich. We may suppose the great.raptorial species which we now

know to have co-existed’ with the Dinornithes.to have survived, by

reason of its greater powers of escape, some time after the extinc-

tion of its principal prey; and the tradition: of the great bird “ of

the eagle kind” may be a consequence of the knowledge of the

Harpagornis.continuing down to later generations of Maories than

those who hunted down the huge herbivorous flightless birds. —

Ricard Owen, in the Academy.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Axotner LAKE VILLAGE. — “An interesting archeological dis-

covery has recently been made onthe shores of the Lake of Bienne.

The Swiss Government has been for along time endeavoring to

drain a considerable tract of land between the two lakes of Morat

and Bienne, but in order to do this effectually it has been found

necessary to lower the level of the latter by cutting a canal from it

to the lake of Neuchatel. At the beginning of the present year

the sluices were opened, and the waters of the Lake of Bienne

allowed to flow irito- that of Neuchatel. Up to the present time

the level of the: Bieler See has fallen upwards of three feet,

ani this fall has -brought -to light «a number of stakes driven

firmly into the bed of the lake. This: fact becoming known, a

number of Swiss archeologists visited the spot,and it was decided

to remove the soil round these stakes to see’ whether any remains

of a Lacustrine village, which they suspected had been raised upon

them, could be traced. At a distance of between five and six feet

m the: present bed of the lake the workmen came upon a large

number of objects. of various kinds, which have been collected and

are at present under: the custody of Dr. Gross of Locrass. Among

are pieces of cord made from hemp, vases; stags’ horns, stone

hatchets, and utensils used apparently for cooking. The most

fous specimen is, however, á hatchet made of néphrite (the

vame given to a peculiarly hard kind of stone from which the La-

image of the object on a screen where it cou

$14 MICROSCOPY.

custrines formed their cutting instruments). This hatchet is six-

teen centimetres long by seven broad, and is by far the largest yet

discovered in any part of Switzerland, no other collection having

any measuring more than eight centimetres in length. A quantity —

of the bones found at the same time have been sent to Dr. Uhl-

mann, of Münchenbuchsee, for examination by him, and he faif :

that they belong to the following animals, viz :— stag, horse, 0%, F

wild boar, pig, goat, beaver, dog, mouse, etc., together with a

number of human bones. If the level of the lake continues to —

sink, it is hoped that further discoveries will be made, and the |

scientific world here is waiting the result of the engineetinaa e

tions with keen interest.” — The Standard. — Nature.

MICROSCOPY.

Tue Microscope mm tHe Lecture Room.— Dr.

of Heidelberg sends a notice to the ‘ Botanische Zeitung” 0

talatopedpe in RETRA scientific lectures.

the plan of bringing in a number of instruments

which a preparation has been placed, are many and “serious. |

most important is perhaps the difficulty which one un

to the use of the microscope has in understanding the new ©

strange appearances presented, and that while looking at u

inent objects in sight, such as air bubbles and forig" j

marked and strong outline, he misses altogether the ag

which ought to have been seen. The experiment of

ordinary microscope as a solar microscope and p! a

Id be seen

whole class at once, and their attention directed to =

points, was tried last summer, and with the most eo

e used one of Hartnack’s first class instruments ¢

horizontal position and received the image on à mee

from five to eight metres making an image of two deig

in diameter. An heliostat and one or two cond

directed the light on the object. The microscope”

that the stage was somewhat this side of the

- When images were desired as free as possi

aberration the ocular was removed and the imag?

MICROSCOPY. 315

from the objective ; wlien on the other hand the greatest possible

amplification was desired, then both objective and ocular were

used. In this way by the use of Hartnack’s immersion lenses the

finest test objects were exhibited, and the six sided spaces of the

Pleurosigma shown as four to five millimetres in diameter. For

such times as sunlight is not available he recommends the Drum-

mond light, and promises to give the results of his experience

in its use.

In place of the expensive heliostat, no doubt the simple arrange-

ment often used by lecturers on Natural Philosophy might be

adopted. It consists of a mirror outside the window movable in

two directions by means of screws whose heads come within the

room.— T. D. B.

ANGULAR ÅPERTURE.— Dr. Pigott revives the subject of dia-

phragms behind the objective, and reports some very remarkable

results somewhat similar, of course, to those resulting from the

use of an achromatic condenser of very small angular aperture.

He does not demonstrate the advantages of using a diaphragm

Over the objective as compared with the other and more usual

method.

PREPARATION AND Preservation or TissvEs.— Dr. J. J. Wood-

ward commences, in “ The Lens,” a summary of the various meth-

ods employed for this purpose. He prefers to harden the tissue by

gradual dehydration by means of alcohol, and to cut it (imbedded

if small, in paraffine) either off-hand or in a common section

machine. By the latter means sections less than one-two-hun-

dredth of an inch thick are easily obtained. He covers the top of

the section machine with a glass plate suitably perforated and ce-

mented fast by means of marine glue; and advises that the

alcohol used to dehydrate the specimens be saved and filtered for

the preservation of large anatomical specimens.

Dr. I. N. Danforth gives, in the same Journal, his methods of

Preparation, the main object of which is simplification of the

usual procedures. He makes the pithy assertion that success —

€pends more upon tact than upon tools. He cuts the sections

and preserves them in slightly acidulated glycerine. He very |

316 MICROSCOPY.

properly denounces the slovenly custom of carrying home :

fresh ‘specimens of tissues, etc., wrapped in a rag or news

paper. The policy of cutting fresh tissues frozen, which g

tice, as it'is neither adopted nor condemned and is too important

an innovation to be ignored.

T Aesonrnon or SOLID PARTICLES. — ‘t The Lancet” reviews th this

interesting and timely subject. Oesterlen, nearly thirty years ago,

found molecules of mercury in the blood of cats, absorbed from

the stomach ; ` and he, Eberhard, Landerer, , and especially Yo Vo it k

rubbed the same material into the skin of cats and dogs and fi md

it in the liver, spleen, and other internal organs. The experimen

of Herbst and Bruch seemed to demonstrate the absorption l

the bloodvessels of milk-globules and starch-granules ; Marfels

Moleschott fed frogs on blood-corpuscles and pigment-corpuscles 6 t

sheep, and saw these’ corpuséles circulating in the web of the f

foot ; while Donders and Mensonides found charcoal in thel

of rabbits with whose food it had been mixed. Thus the absorption

of solid particles through uninjured. membranes has become n

certain notwithstanding the negative results obtained by Bares

prung, Recklinghausen, and a few other experimenters. M. Hein-

rich Auspitz has recently continued these researches by means ¢

rice-starch the granules of which, easily used on ' account of

small specific weight, and easily recognized by their form and

the iodine color-test, vary from about the size of the red cor}

of the animal used (the rabbit) to about twenty times as

Starch injected into the veins, he detected in all the organs

body ; and starch suspended i in water or still better in oil,

jected into the serous cavities and into the subeutant

tissue, and subsequently recognized in the circulation..

Mottietyine Specres.—In describing a new yee of

dendron stem, before the Royal Microscopical Society,

ruthers, F:R.S., states that it would be in accordance wi

give a specific name to the new fragment. He refrain

for want of sufficient data, and gives the following racy

tion of the method of those investigators who set aside W° ~

previous’ workers and recklessly give new names. to y

specimens. “Suppose, for instance, it were dise e outs’

had‘in this-country another Papilio beside the Sw

Pau

MICROSCOPY. 817

that one entomologist got hold of a hind wing and found that it

had two tails, and so full of his important discovery he figures

and describes his fragment as P. bicaudatus Mint; another finds a

head with the antennz attached, and these are obviously more club-

shaped than the known species, and of course it is P. clavatus Mint;

the body falls into the hands of a third, and it is thick and short

and blunt, and easily distinguished from Machaon, so it becomes

P. truncatus Mmi ; the fore wing turns up, and it has got blue lines

and spots and it would be absurd not to give this new species a

name, and it is P. ceruleus Mum; but the body is investigated by

an entomologist with an anatomical bias, and he makes some im-

portant observations deserving to be published; and the subject

must have a name, so it becomes P. intestinalis Muni; and to ter-

minate an illustration which might be carried to any extent, the

caterpillar is found in a field of carrots; a discovery so important

must be published at once, and it is P. carrote Mum. . The absurd-

ity of such proceedings is apparent from such an illustration as

this, but in fossil botany the terrible reality has to be encountered,

and not only roots, stems, branches, leaves and fruit get different

names, but different states of the same stem receive. different

generic and specific names.”

DEVELOPMENT OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL Lire.— Dr. T. C.

Hilgard sums up his peculiar views on this subject in a recent

lecture before the New Orleans Academy of Sciences. He recog-

nizes no such classes as Protophyta and Protozoa; but states that

“all the so-called infusoria, all the protozoa, protophyta and fresh

water algæ, so cailed, are severally and collectively in all known

cases, the immature but even thus self multiplying germs of higher

(or adult) forms of plants and animals, otherwise well known

for themselves.” Some of the observations leading to these con-

clusions have been already published, and others are promised

ìn the Proc. A. A. A. S. for 1871. Somewhat similar views were

published by Metcalf Johnson, in the Monthly Microscopical

Journal. Though not at present received by scientific men, to

any extent, these theories must be admitted to be not only

ingenious, but suggestive of further investigation.

Tae Levcocyres.—Prof. Hoppe-Seyler’s recent investigations of

the white corpuscles of blood, lymph and pus, give somewhat novel

and very interesting results.. Their original identity is admitted,

318 NOTES.

but a manifest and permanent differentiation is claimed to oceut, :

By an ingenious experiment, glycogen was detected in lympl- —

cells. Their glycogenic properties are lost when lymph or white —

blood-corpuscles become transformed into non-contractile pus- :

corpuscles, which latter, by excess of oxygen, may undergo fatty —

degeneration, or, by long immersion in water, other changes due n

to the presence of oxygen. There also seems to be a close chei-

ical relationship between pus-corpuscles and yeast-cells. of

Exogens AND Enpocrens.— At a recent meeting of the Royal

Microscopical Society, Prof. T. Dyer expressed himself satistied of

an exogenous growth in Lepidodendron, notwithstanding its ert

dently cryptogamic character. He considered De Candolle’s ters

exogens and endogens to be already generally abandoned in favor

of John Ray’s previous names Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons

Recent researches, especially those of Mohl, had proved fist

Monocotyledons were really not endogenous, but acrogenous; *

He would like to see fossil and recent specimens nos í "i

ied by the same systematists, but arranged side by side mi

museums. as

A Consrectus or tHe Draromacex.— This mature and

valuable work by Prof. H. L. Smith, has begun to appea "

Lens.” Diatomists will look with interest for the Suti

numbers.

PHOTO-MICROGRAPHS PopuLarizep.—It is w be hoped

croscopists, and others interested in scientific zr ne ~

notice and appreciate the effort now being made, by S ann sjel

of Newburyport, Mass., to supply ‘‘in a cheap an

objects. Judging from the work already done, ee

enterprise will prove both entertaining and msi"

cultivated public.

NOTES. 7 8

San Francisco Meeting of the American Associati ed

Advancement of Science. In our last number Wè

the committee having the matter in charge had

NOTES. - 319

next meeting of the Association would be held in San Francisco.

The only additional information we have received, up to the time

of going to press, is in relation to the price of tickets from Omaha,

as follows; Mempers of the Association will be furnished with a

ticket from Omaha to San Francisco and return to Omaha for

$63.50 for the round trip, and there is every probability that ar-

rangements will be perfected by which members will be passed at

half fare from various points East to Omaha. The committee will

undoubtedly issue their circular to members very soon, and we

trust that there will be a large attendance, as the meeting will be a

most important one in many ways, while the great concessions on

the part of the Railroads should induce eastern members to take

advantage of the opportunity to visit the, in many points, most

interesting state in our country.

Tue latest news we have of the Hasler and her corps of scien-

tists, is from Montevideo, Feb. 24th, at which date, Mr. J. H.

Blake wrote to us, giving a general account of the expedition to

that time, but as his remarks are about the same as those already

published in the newspapers we omit the details. Quite extensive

collections have been made and several lots already forwarded to

Cambridge from the various stopping places which, up to date of

the letter, were St. Thomas (Jan. 15), Santa Cruz, Barbadoes,

Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, and Montevideo (Feb. 24). The

most successful dredgings were made off the western side of Bar-

adoes, in ninety fathoms.

Osrrvary.’ Pror. Tuos. Russect Crossy, M.D. Extract from

the Minutes of the Dartmouth Scientific Association.

dence

fea to remove unexpectedly from among us, by the hand of

ea ,

members, the loss is that of a friend and brother, and is most

deeply felt; and that we tender the family and friends of the de-

our most heartfelt sympathy in their affliction.

„ Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be furnished the fam-

y and friends, and, moreover, be sent for publication to the

ATURALIST, and several other journals.

320 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOOKS RECEIVED,

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

P. L., Boston, Mass.—It is not uncommon for the Muskrat to travel

from the water, and even to enter sheds Fy outbuildings in search, of fod e

during mild weather in winter.—J. A. /

J. O., Poughkeepsie. —The dried eae you send from Ft. Gibson, oft

a that of of Ferte te ad Say, figured in * Packard’s Guide to ‘Study

ig. 3

A number of letters and notes relating to Entomological matters will have to

unanswered until Dr. Packard’s return from Europe in July.—F. W. P.

p BOOKS RECEIVED.

Memoires de P Academie Royale des Sciences des Lettres et des Beaur-arts de

Tome xxxviii. Bruxelles. i;

Memoires Couronnes et oires des Savants Etrangers, ef sii

Sciences. des Lewes et des Beaux-aris de Belgique. 4to. Tom

Bruxelle

Bulletins de Pa

wee

` Bulletins ie la Societe Malacologique de P ue. 8vo, Ton ‘1870.

Catalogue de I a Pr recieuse et “lin te Ply de Cogutties (Mor uer Ac

oire Natu rmoires, etc, 8vo.- 1 í mi

ve hy Me decim und Naiurwissensehaft. ea

In, 1669, Sechster Band. Drittes Heft. Mit vier Tafeln.

tenon Mit drei Tafeln. 1871. Leipz ig.

P eien ngsberichte der physicalisch-medicinisch Societat zu Erlangeni

‘Annales dela Societe Malacologique de Belgique. 8vo. Tome v: 1g prt an Bree

1600. Pere de la Societe Entomologique de France. 8vo. Quatrieme fos

C a Bibliotheque de la Societe Imperiale des Sciences Naturelles ade (

1870. Porron

ociete Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou., 8v0. ' ane 1 Hes.

-Quatrieme Amı

Avec 4 planches, "Tesaot ou.

rologiques de VObservatoire Royal de Bruxelles. tto.

elles,

~ Bult letin one 1e Mensuel de VObservatoire de V Universite '@ Upsal.

Nos. 1-12. Vol. iii, gs 1-6, 1870-1871. Upsal.

Nouvea aux Mem Societe as le des Naturalistes de Moscou.. 4to.

gap Ee on ge sie ili. vives y planches, Moscou.

es de la Societe de Payetous et P Histoire Naturelle de Geneve. 310+.

e Partie 1871, Jo neve,

Memoires de la Societe d Daidone et Bae nate i ee de Geneve. `

ees dans les tomes Ito xx. 1871. pie 1870. By

on a men 1870 et Aurore Boreale spr 94 ef 25 Octobre

Demat eadeni JE asii 1867, i868

an es a to.

Mem es Peri Akdemio ss Royale we! Retrigue At Tom e

ociete Entom na ern de aces. Quat

IET Aranma on 28vo vols. -1870, 1871, Paris.

Aufgabe des chemischen Ui

ph. 1871, Munchen.

cvai Bericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Bamberg.

Pamph. 1870. rg. i 7

a nde Fer Mi mene t Kerbrettunyg e Wen se enninisse

. iteunged berie; x afel. ; en

8 7 hte den botenees “eee rie ie der Wissentschaften. Mat!

btheil Band isi H z

‘onsiderations sur la

‘dette pm A. p eon ams, e de

“Nole” ter le Byrsax (Boletophagus) Gibbifer. Wesmael, etc. By Alf.

vo. Pi h. ruxelles, ophagus) i verona)

; Description. Mune ren Espece Africaine du Genre Vari ait demie Royale

9 mg Extrait des Bulletins de 1

2me Series Teta net ;

Ueber die Entwicklung a Boe Krustaceen in Eis, 8V0. Pamph.

et eee ae

TELI

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.— JUNE, 1872.— No. 6.

EAEL ODA

STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES.*

BY R. H. WARD, M. D.

Tuose who use the microscope as an elegant and costly luxury

will, of course, be guided in so doing by their general ideas of

taste, economy, etc. ; the few who use the instrument as medical

experts, or original investigators in science, will, at the same time,

by years of practice, grow into the use and the possession of an

instrument suited to their wants ; but a larger class are those who

use the instrument as an incidental though frequent aid in their

daily work in various sciences or professions, who reasonably de-

Sire the simplest instruments consistent with real usefulness, and

who, however eminent in other specialties, are often unfamiliar

With the styles and prices of the various makers, and at a loss to

what available resources would best supply their wants.

The following tables are designed to be of use to buyers of micro-

Scopes, of the latter class, and to persons who desire information

m a concise and convenient form, in regard to the progress thus

far made in this department of microscopy. While the styles and

aa tn

styles with those of European makers, the table of American Stu-

s A lin fo

New wm A Paper on Medical Microscopes, read at the Medical Sodiety of the State of

York, Feb. 7, 1872,

Entered accordin

g to the Act of Co in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

8 CIENCE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington,

AMER. NAT ı VOL. VI. 21 (321)

S22 STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES.

ments.* Only standard and available styles are given, by relis

American makers, and no such makers have been intention

omitted. The selection of instruments and apparatus of the

ferent makers is entirely the responsibility of the writer, and

of the makers. He has selected such sets, at the makers’ pri

as he has been accustomed to recommend to students and ot

for the general purposes of students’ microscopes.

The table of Objectives is designed to be complete in regant

American lenses, and to present for comparison, and for the

venience of those who desire a variety of lenses by different

makers, such European items as could be obtained at the time of

writing. It is believed that the table will be interesting to othe

than buyers, as showing the prevailing powers, prices, «ig

apertures ete., in different parts of the world. N otwithstanding ti

general impression that the prices of American objectives arë

reasonably high, it will be seen that they compare favorably vit

those of the most celebrated English makers. Most T

prepare very cheaply mounted objectives of small angle,

usually second quality, which answer a good purpose

omy is imperative and difficult work is not required. Such lees

are not usually priced and sold separately by the

kers, and are therefore not included in their columns m the tabie

objectives.t They can be obtained, however, at prices Prope”

to their angles and quality. The prices and angular AP

given in the table are generally, though not in every cas 0°

up to date; but a reasonable allowance must be made for}

variation from the standard angles and powers. There is

of over 9

Binoculars are furnished, when ordered,

who do not manufacture them.

even by ©

*Quart. Jour. Mic. Sci., Jan. 1872. opticians:

This remark would also apply to a few of the English oP! ;

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STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES. 323

SYNOPSIS OF STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES.

MODEL,

Must have joint to incline at various angles from horizontal to perpen-

dicular. :

Ourved Bar. — “ Jackson” (but not prolonged beneath stage); stead-

iest form for equal weights.

Transverse Bar. — Most convenient in some respects.

: WEIGHT.

Four to ten pounds. — A question of convenience vs firmness.

HEIGHT. (12 to 16 inches.

Tall, — Much room below stage. Standard length of tube gives usual

powers. Looks well, and is most convenient when inclined.

Short. — Easiest for vertical use.” Short tube works lenses at too low

power. Should be lengthened by draw-tube when inclined.

IAMETER OF TUBE. (1 to 1 3-8 in.)

Small. gage best and is steadiest on small instruments.

Large. — Gives wider field with low power oculars.

MATERIAL.

All Brass. — Looks best. oa

Tron Base. — Saves expense, Wears well unless broken by falling.

COARSE ADJUSTMENT.

Rack and Pinion. — Easiest; ; preferable but costly.

Friction Pinion. — Said to be very delicate.

Chain Movement. — Fine motion. Easily repaired if necessary.

Sliding Tube, by hand. — Saves expense. Most delicate, but awkward.

Wants expert hands, and often two of them.

ADJUSTMENT. Essential.

Screw and lever movin ng nose-piece. —Best. Costly. d

Screw and lever moving compound body. TER for ON powers.

Screw moving compound body. — Less delica

Screw against shoulder, moving nose-piece. — Moi delicate.

ew on nose-piece. — Little used.

Screw mov moving stage. — Cheapest in use in this country. Bad in theory

i pap puya ; but quite satisfactory in use, as made at present.

moving pinion of rack. — Not in this country. Good od for low powers.

May be added to instruments having no other fine adjustment.

Mechanioat. Nöt nišid. STAGE.

Lever. — Plausible, but not successful.

Magnetic. — Plausible, but a pean (Insecure.)

Sag nd movement. (In two rectangular directions.) — Best substitute for

ical, for high powers, and with Maltwood Finder.

Glass, concentric. — Best for Binocular.

324 STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES.

Glass, wagered a hand. — Cannot be too highly commended

nary medica

omen by hand (cloth-lined, or otherwise). Ag

substitute.

Plain. — Saves expense. Should have removable spring ¢

have glass or brass sliding-stage added.

MIRROR. ;

Must have lateral, vertical and two rotary movements,

copes. Arol

which carries it. Lateral movement by hinge joint at top of

carries mirror: obliquity entirely independent of distance of 1

object.

Concave. — Indispensable. Should be nearly two inches '

Plane. — Very desirable and costs little. May be smaller.

Fitting should be removable, ve raoi ligħt.

c with apertures.— Essential. Should be closed betwe

and stage to prevent accidental oblique light.

“ Graduating” or “ Iris.”—~Incomparably best, but un

sive.

OCULARS (eye-pieces),.

Negative i, always meant, unless otherwise

(and performance) varies greatly, though seldom aus €

Two-inch. — (The A or No. 1 of most makers.)

use. Should always be negative.

One-inch. — (Often named B or C, or No. 2 or 3.) X

crometry, occasionally for observations, and general,

denser. If willing to add $5.00 or $10.00, substitute #

by European or American makers (superb field), or

by B6ston Optical Works (field narrower, but pecul

opsectives. (If extravagant anywhere, put it

All above 50° angular aperture, should have ics

All above about 75° nage have the same.

Screw collar. —

Screw movement ny outer tube.—Good for cheap

Sliding movement of outer tube, with pb

lenses of small angles

One-inch. —X 10 (with lowest ocular, X about "i

25° angular aperture.

-One-fourth or one-fifth inch. —X 40 or 50 (with low

One-sixth to one-eighth inch. — X 60 to 80. (With

800 to 400.) Should be 120° to 140°, Best added a

rience rience with the others

* Magnifies, diameters.

STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES. 325

MAGNIFYING POWERS.

Quality more than quantity.

Theoretical. — One inch X 10. Oculars and objectives as above, X 50,

, 200, 400, 800.

Practical. — Should approximate to this.

ACCESSORIES

Essential, and should be PEE free.

ie glass slides and covers; stage-plates with ledge ; pipettes ; pliers ; and

needles mounted in handles

Desirable, for medical and general use.

Compressorium, or animalcule cage.

Graduated Draw-tube.

Cylindrical tad below stage, to use ocular for achromatic condenser.

Reagents. (In twelve one or two ounce via

Turn table, ey mounting materials.

Desirable, more for general than medical use.

Condensing lens, on separate stand, for opaque objects, and for parallel

light, ete. ; ; Or condensing lens to limb or stage of instrument, for opaque

objects; or mirror on curved arm, to swing above stage, for opaque ob-

jects; or mirror removable to sta age or se parate stand for opaque sein

Spotted lens, or glass paraboloid, for translucent objects.

Stage forceps.

Maltwood finder.

Including walnut or mahogany ae ye to $100. Varies with quantity

and quality of work and reputation of maker.

Less, at present, unsatisfactory.

More, unnecessar

ut double, by substituting binocular stand.

Occasional measurements the camera is entirely satisfactory. Where large numbers

e to be made, this method is not sufficiently rapid and ie Dr.

icrometer, a semicircle of ti ag Loos , graduated at the straight edge, and lying upon

ii phragm in focus of the eye lens, is most used by the writer for this purpose, With low

Ts the object is easily brought up obliquely to the foqoiren position; oe high powers the

Jackson adjusting screw The simplest

oetlar micrometer, and best for EOI students’ use, ie a —_— — cut, to fit, from yai

Patty o-hundredths of a

and lying, only when used 1 a Dr, White's ary

mg 7 Pe the diaphragm P the ocular

tei anes thick circle is more durable, more easily obtained and handled, and capable of

expectedly results, It should cost $2 or $3.

326

TABLE OF AMERICAN

simple

Tolles, superintendent.

f Arm expands to fill whole space between uprights, and

Trunnion joint.

gl | 6

Sees |as

` Name and address | Nameofin-| yfodel aa Sia Fa

of maker. strument. 5 > EE P

ent mm eg | me

O'S pl, Q

nace Optical Works.*| Tolles’ Jackson.t | 15 3 6

Stodder, Agent,| Students’

63 Miik 8t., Boson Microscope,

Boston {Carre Works.*} Tolles Jackson} | 15, 4 6

pe. Stodder, Agent, Students’

66 Milk St., Boston. Microscope.

J. Grunow, 410 Fourth| Students’ |Transverse 1215

Av. N. Y. Microscope | bar.

orse-shoe

e). |

J. Grunow, 410 Fourth A rampan a Transyerse| 12 | 5

Av.,N. A Microscope | bar.

(horse-shoe

base).

T. H. McAllister, 49 Nas- audent Transverse| 19 |44

sau St., N. Y. roscope.| bar,

T. H. McAllister, 49 Nas-| Professional [Transverse 15 7

sau St., N. Y. Microscope.| bar.

Wm. Y. McAllister, 728| (No. 5374.) |Transverse 13 |44

Chestnut St., Phila bar.

Y. McAllister, 728| (No. 5374.) [Transverse] * 4

"Chiestiaut St., Philad. z e ban, 13 | 45) 1

Miller Bros., 1223 Broad- patadente’ Jackson. | 16

way, N.Y Microscope.

_ Miller Bros., 1223 Broad.’ Educational Transverse] 15 | <

way, N. Y. i Microscope. | bar. $

*R B.

Gn inches).

| Makes

Diaphragm,

STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES. 327

2 L

$ : bo 5 . g *

m D Ss a. _ Æ ban

H i 2 = m

ad- ; Z Z ofs| Accessory | E3 | CSHB

ji g. | Stage: Mirror. 5 2. FEE apparatus. | EZ sé

s ° 2 3 Sa Pied 3.8%

s pied Ay cam

oS BSE SU iad IES ees rae A

‘crew to/Plain, with Concave, lj in. in. ; Mirror to sep-

Stage. ok Pitta apd with i dete Lin. & } 79 to arate sta nao. ee oe

E clips mo in. 300.| for opaque OF DoC-

2% illumination. ular eye-

Screw with|Plain, with|Plane and con- i i 1/77 ¿Mirror to sep-

Sre to| fitting for cave, 13 in., 1} in. |1 even. (2 toj arate stan f 100. a ie

Pier’ | accesso- with side in. 450.| for opaque or bino:

ortece.| ries movement. il, draw- r oye:

: tube & cam- .

5 era lucida. |"

ring| cave.

: Clips ft. ith ker ° 500.

ovement. J in. 90

tew to|Plain, with|Plane and con-| Two. |2 j °|70 to|Camera lucida, 100. None.§

' nd| spring| cave, 1g in ĝin. 25 {© °°) stage microm-| 5

‘ead with inge and |/500.| eter & com-

3 movemen 4 in. 90° pressorium.

TeW to Plain, “ype Plane and con B i Draw tube and

‘tage. af, prin of Boose $ with 1 ae ł ae = stage forceps. 50. pti

: 8S. 2 i

= Tone ee (French.) °

yew WithiGlass, oe ys con-/ A & B i 0 to| Draw tube and

ape ing by with 1 in, 3/50 to stage forceps. 100..N at e

Bies hanc hiako * moyo- in. & } 600 te :

Seg ment, in

Y With/Glass, slid-\Concave with] T Cond

raisins i Wo. y geTtIRN + on lensing k

Sdi t ing by| hinge move- ra Fr.,|, -°| lens on stand. 50. None.

o 2g divid.|350

y ng.

Glass, slid-[Concave, with! T } i

tol i wo. : Conde nsing|100./None.

ahd Ss ing by hinge move: to in 150 to| jens on stan i

$ hand 32°, &|430.| camera lucida ‘

iz as pies ha icro-

ante Re n eter, ani-

y 41907 malcule cage.

3 (Zen t-

i mayer.)

w to[Plain, withe i

stage, ak oncave, with| A & B i n [Mirror to stage/6Q), 3

2 Spring! hinge move- 1 in. 16°/37 to for opaque ill. 100

Clips. | ment. ana -STO

4 din. 7d

“With P r

hee n, with|Concaye, 18in, oj Stage plates & 80. |100.

oe pein with” ‘aids A &B|] in. 16°|37 to mdensin

lece and __1310.] Jens o stand.

} in. 75°

binocular hospital-stan

Sunk into upper surface of stage, so as to be close to the a slide.

Optical parts, to work with Zentmayer’s b

328

TABLE OF AMERICAN —

(in inches).

sééle | £2

Name and address | Name of in- Pepe a a ri

of maker. strument. Model. =e Fa 38

Zee | es

jee] 23 È B ©

B. Pike’s Son, 518 Broad- Stadoiitn Jackson. | 15 | 5

way, N. Y. Microscope

B. Pike’s Son, 518 Broad-| Physicians’ | Jackson. 15 | 6

way, N.Y. Mic pe.

Jas. W. Queen & Co., 924) Students’! | Jackson. `

oe St., Phil., ‘and pe mt aa

535 Broadwa: ay, N. Y. (No. 1665).

Jas. W. Queen & Co Students’) | Jackson,

Chestnut St. Phil and Mioacope.

535 Broadway, N. Y. | (No. 1665).

Chas. A. ranee aaae Sons,| Students’ | Jackson.

: Microscope.

Chas. A. Spencer & Sons,| Students’ | Jackson.

Canas N: Y, Microscope.

ay cna ay Standard | Jackson.

N.Y. Microscope.

Wm. Wales, T F

E. 8,1 Fort Lee,

J. ii Ben a 147 A mag Studentsa’ | Jackson,

Microscope.

(Roundbase.))

om rer, 17 th! Students’ | Jackson.

éth Bt., i Aa rag Microscope. |

e (Roundbase.)

it Accesorios of Beck's”

1T Makes optical parts

STUDENTS’ MICROSCOPES.

2 ;

a Ss

4 . èn ae ss i.

. ctf Mee gi | 222

Fune m > = = oS} Accessory | +S css

justment. Stage. Mirror. Z S JEE apparatus. | #3 s£ SS

6 = 2 oe ; s: 2,8 a

i a E Eo ERES

with|Glass, slid-|Plane and con-|A & B|] ; Condensing 7 125.

lever to ing z by| cave. I | in. & 50 to lens on stand. 75. |12

? hand. me a ouu.

; with|Glass, slid-|Plane and con-|A & B i

Ge ee 1 in. 350 tol Geia on stand, ate

‘ ind) hand ch), |20U-| & draw tube.

1 with Glass slid-| Plane and con-| A di- Stage microm- 60, |None.

lever to ing cave, with tee pe eter and con-

nose- HUR hinge mo densing lens

be Piece fitting for} ment 300.) on stand.

accesso-

4 ries,

$ Glass, slid- Plane and con-/A & B1 in. 18°50 to/Stage ee 100, |None.

eect ing by) cave, with and ts eter,

®8e-) hand,with} hinge move- ar 9/200.) densing os

Piece fitting f ment. 5 in. 80 on stand, cam-

img c era lucida &

i r essori-

“a. tojPlain, with|Plane a con-| B i Ont onj6Q. |None.

Mage. sprin g| caye, ins 1 in. 20 ae wie eia arm to

[3 clips. | wi oh inge and ||329.| swing above

i movement. 4 in. 60 stage for

fae adj. opaque ill

a ji with p Plain, with| Plane and con- B 1 ane Mirror on|100.| None

TEI epeine reha] > [ma J325. setae

Piec Ton nee 4 in. 60° cannes tata

; adj. and animal-

ree aia £17607 Mirror on Š

ever tol spy papu Plane ie and con-| B pee 325 curved 2,21100.|None.

Piece. e ips. with Linge as above

movement,

‘TeW tol Plaj i Bs. BARRI ONAN IA Condensing|75. |135.

e f sorina ma a CoA ABTT aA 50 toi Tens to limb.

4 nt and wity’ hin gè 22° and 430.

ee or) movemen 1 í i

. 85

: Conden singl90, |135.

1-A & B iun .50 to Jen: evade

o mera luc

| 22° and|430. a, stage mi-

Ea ovement. 4 in. crometer, | &

= ries. 85° PE

_ signs of life became more and more marked ; and in

HIBERNATION OF THE JUMPING MOUSE.

BY PROF. SANBORN TENNEY.

On the 18th of January of the present year (1872), I went

with Dr. A. Patton of Vincennes, Indiana, to visit a mound situa-

ted about a mile or a mile and a half in an easterly direction from

Vincennes. While digging in the mound in search of relics that

might throw light upon its origin and history, we came to a nest

about two feet below the surface of the ground, carefully made of

bits of grass, and in this nest was a Jumping Mouse (Jaculus Hud-

sonius Baird) apparently dead. It was coiled up as tightly as it

could be, the nose being placed upon the belly, and the long tail

coiled around the ball-like form which the animal had assumed.

took the little mouse into my hand. It exhibited no motion or sign

of life. Its eyes and mouth were

shut tight, and its little fore feet

or hands were shut and placed

close together. Everything indica-

ted that the mouse was perfectly

dead, excepting the fact that it

L) f was not as rigid as perhaps a gr

ai ohi iouis EA Baird.) e would be in the jii

tied the mouse and nest ™ my

handkerchief and caried them to Vincennes. Arriving at

Patton’s office I untied my treasures, and took out the mouse a

held it for some time in my hand; it still exhibited no sig? °

of the hind legs. Presently there was a very sli

of the head, yet so feeble that one could hardly be

pressure of my fingers upon the tail near the body was fol

by an immediate but feeble movement of one :

At length there was unmistakable evidence that the animal y

breathing, but the breathing was a labored action, and sè

performed with great difficulty. As the mouse became warmer fh

the on

the same afternoon on which I brought it into the warm roo?

(830)

HIBERNATION OF THE JUMPING MOUSE. 331

became perfectly active, and was as ready to jump about as any

other member of its species.

I put this mouse into a little tin box with holes in the cover,

and took him with me in my journeyings, taking care to put

in the box a portion of an ear of corn and pieces of paper.

ate the corn by gnawing from the outside of the kernel, and

it gnawed the paper into bits with which it made a nest. On the

fourth day after its capture I gave it water which it seemed to

relish. On the 23d of January I took it with me to Elgin, Illinois,

nearly three hundred miles farther north than the region where I

found the specimen. The weather was intensely cold. Taking

the mouse from the box, I placed it on a newspaper on a table,

and covered it with a large glass bell, lifting the edge of the glass

Soas to admit a supply of air. Under this glass was placed a

good supply of waste cotton. Soon after it was fairly established

in its new and more commodious quarters, it began to clean every

part of its body in the most thorough manner, washing itself very

much in the same manner as a cat washes. On coming to the

tail it passed that long member, for its whole length, through the

mouth from side to side, beginning near the body and ending at

the tip. At night as soon as the lights were put out the mouse

began gnawing the paper, and during the night it gnawed all the

newspaper it could reach, and made the fragments and the cotton

into # large nest perhaps five or six inches in diameter, and estab-

lished itself in the centre. Here it spent the succeeding day.

The next night it was supplied with more paper, and it gnawed all

it could reach, and thus spent a large part of the night in work.

i Could hear the work going on when I was awake. In the morn-

mg it appeared to be reposing on the top of its nest; but after

Watching it for some time, and seeing no motion, I lifted up the

glass and took the mouse in my hand. It showed no signs of life.

: now felt that perhaps my pet was indeed really dead; but on

te what I had previously seen, I resolved to try to restore

_ again to activity. By holding it in my hand and thus warming

Sythe mouse soon began to show signs of life, and although it was

ig the whole day in coming back to activity, at last it was as

“Siete and afterward, on being set free in the aie it

l eax. ut so swiftly by means of its long leaps, that it required

On Us a long time to capture it uninjured.

: the evening of February 6th I reached my home in Williams-

332 THE WHITE COFFEE—LEAF MINER.

town, and on my arrival the mouse was in good condition. But

the next morning it was again apparently dead ; in the course of

the day, however, being placed where it was warm, it gradually

came back again to activity as before.

This mouse, then, when dug from the mound was in a state of

the most profound lethargy, —if torpidity be too strong a term,—

and it is safe to infer that it would have so remained till spring,

had it not been removed into a warmer temperature; and this

lethargy or torpidity was as intense, so far at least as regards

external appearances, as that seen in other animals, not except

ing reptiles and batrachians.

I may add that the observations above detailed show that this

mouse is capable of passing into the deepest lethargic state ina

single night, and of returning, when warmed, to activity again on

the succeeding day.

The Jumping Mouse is very quiet in the daytime, but very

active at night. When disturbed in its nest it vigorously repels

the attack by striking with its fore feet with the greatest rapidity.

It apparently does not seek to bite me. i

Since the above was written the mouse has repeated the exhibi-

tions detailed above, and at least once since the begiuning of

April. A colder night than usual seems to furnish the occasion

for it to go into a state of the most profound lethargy.

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

BY B. PICKMAN MANN.*

lowing history of

Tuae observations hich I base the fol

ns upon which I base at enemy

that insect (Cemiostoma coffeellum) which is the greate ;

to the coffee-culture of Brazil, were made in the autumn and wit

ter of the year 1871, at the fazendas of Sao Sebastiao and aps

tario, in the township of Vassouras, Province of Rio de Janell

Brazil. a.

At Sao Sebastião, to whose owner, my esteemed abe

*AR ae Wes Pee ge ag” T ent of Brazil.

THE WHITE COFFEE—LEAF MINER. 333

thanks for his unbounded hospitality and kindness, my observa-

tions extended through the greater part of the month of March.

At Secretario I continued my observations until the latter part

of June, aided by the sympathy and coöperation of the proprietor,

Dr. Christovao Corréa e Castro, one of the most enlightened and

progressive men whom I had the pleasure of ‘knowing in Brazil.

The acknowledgment of my deep gratitude is due also to Col.

Antonio Corréa e Castro for his tender care of me during a month

when I was prostrated by severe Sickness.

I have arranged my account of the insect under headings, for

greater convenience to the future investigator, and have added an

explanation of the less familiar words used, for the benefit of those

who are not acquainted with the science of entomology.

Food-plant, and Indications. of the presence of the Insect.— The

poe (larva) lives in the leaves of the coffee-tree (Cofea

food-plant, with a termination indicating the small size of the

nye — The insect was called Elachista coffeella by Guérin-

oo in his memoir (to which I shall often refer hereafter),

iad. Se at the time when he described it, the genus Cemiostoma

not been established, and the genus Elachista was still consid-

ered of such extent as to include this species.

334 THE WHITE COFFEE—LEAF MINER.

It was referred to under the same name by Nietner in his

pamphlet on the enemies of the coffee-tree in Ceylon.

Vernacular names. — Guérin-Méneville, who described it as com-

ing from the Antilles, called it “ L’Elachiste du Cafier.”*

In Brazil it is called “ A Borboleta do Cafezal,” the coffee-plan-

tation butterfly or moth, but I should think it much more satis-

factory to unite accuracy with definiteness by giving it the name

of the White Coffee-leaf Miner, because other species of moths

are found also living on the cdffee-tree, and a black coffee-leaf

‘miner (Gracilaria? coffeifoliella) is known in Ceylon.

Erroneous names.— This is probably the insect referred to

doubtfully as a Bucculatrix (?) by Stainton in the “ Entomologist’s

Weekly Intelligencer,” vol. iv (1858), p. 70.

mago.—The outspread wings of the perfect insect (imago)

measure from tip to tip between four and six millimeters. The

body is about two millimeters long. Silvery white scales cover

the head and face, the body below, the upper side of the front

wings, and the legs, except the tips of the first, second and

fourth foot-joints (tarsi), upon the upper side of which the scales

are black. In my specimens, which are not in good condition, me

upper side of the hind-body (abdomen) is bare and of a yellowish

brown color. The antennæ are smoky black, except at the base

The front wings are long in proportion to their breadth. On the

upper side of each, at the extremity of the inner edge (inal OF

gle) is a large steel-blue or black spot, which has a violet lustre.

This spot is bordered on the sides towards the base and front peel

of the wing by a golden-yellow band, which is continued "e

the end of the wing. At more than half the distance from

base of the wing to the tip, arises from the front edge =

another golden-yellow band, with converging sides, bene

each edge with black scales, which runs obliquely toward the black

spot, and sometimes almost reaches the golden edging of f

spot. Beyond an interval of about the width of this band gee

the tip of the wing (apex) arises another band of the same Hi '

but wider and shorter, and bordered only on the inside with

scales. This band runs less obliquely toward the bla a

but does not meet the other bands. About as far beyond eo

ond band as that is beyond the first, a line of black scales

the coum

*The' effect upon the leaves was called “ rouille” (rust), by the porns «en

try, who did not know to what it was due, and ascribed it to the action °

ck spots :

THE WHITE COFFEE—LEAF MINER. 389

from the costa, and runs obliquely to a point at some distance

beyond the black spot. Still nearer the end arises another line of

black scales, which runs less obliquely, and meets the former at

its termination, the two thus forming an acute angle. The inner

and outer edges of the front wings, and the whole circumference of

the hind wings bear long smoky-black or brown fringes. The

hind wings are very narrow and pointed. They are smoky-black

on both the upper and under sides.* ‘The front wings are of the

same color on the under side. From the front of the head pro-

jects a spreading tuft of silvery-white hairs. The scales behind

this tuft lie smoothly back on the head. The antennæ are about

three-fourths as long as the front wings, and thread-like. Their

basal joints are thickly clothed with silvery hairs, which form a

velvety eye-cap as large as the eyes. The eyes are black.

Pupa.— The chrysalis (pupa) is two millimeters long; of a

yellowish brown color. The head is large ; the eyes are black ; the

limbs are glued to the body; the last pair of legs extends very

little beyond the tip of the abdomen. It appears to me that eight

abdominal segments are visible.

Cocoon.— The cocoon is five millimeters long, slender, spindle-

shaped, formed of threads of silk of a white color, which are laid

lengthwise and close together upon the outside. It is open at

ath ehd with a longitudinal slit. It rests upon a flooring of silk,

and is covered by a light web of white silk, which is spun across

one of the furrows at the edge of a leaf. This web is a little

er at each end than in the middle, and has an opening in

0 end shaped like the point of a lance, through which openings

è ends of the cocoon beneath may be seen.

Larva.—The caterpillar (larva) is four or five millimeters long,

gery seventy-five hundredths of a millimeter broad across the first

ring (prothorax), which is the widest part. It is of a yellowish

h color, partially transparent. It is flattened, and consists of

twelve rings (segments) behind the head, between each of which

body is much constricted. The second and third segments

a With the first, form the thorax,) are successively narrower

: the Segment in front of them; the next three segments are

anid broader, and the rest of the segments (whieh, with

‘three before them, form the abdomen), are successively nar-

i ti: ae Sete 4

Periors, n says (Mém. etc., p. 15) that they are covered with silvery scales like the su

336 THE WHITE COFFEE—LEAF MINER.

rower to the end. The head is flat, rounded in front, and is fre-

quently much retracted within the prothorax, when its lobes show

through the skin of the prothorax. The jaws (mandibles) have

' three teeth at the end,* and are covered in repose by the upper lip

(labrum). The head on each side, has two eye-spots (ocelli), of

which the anterior is the larger, and about nine hairs. The three

segments of the thorax bear each a pair of jointed legs; the third,

fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth or last segment of the abdomen bear

each a pair of fleshy projections which serve as feet, so that the

larva may be considered as sixteen-legged. From each side of the

back of each abdominal segment, arise three hairs, of which the

anterior or shortest is directed forward, while the two others are

directed backward. The third hair is twice or more than twice

as long as the second, being nearly equal in length to the breadth è

of the segment. The thoracic segments have all three hairs di-

rected forward ; the second hair is the longest, and an additional

hair arises from the outer edge of the back of each segment. i

The mine.— The habitation of the larva is a mine, which 1$

made in the leaf by eating out the soft green substance (paren-

chyma) between the upper skin (epidermis) and the framework of

the leaf, laying the framework bare, but leaving the epidermis

intact, except at the point where (I suppose) the larva enters the

leaf. Atthis point the wound heals up and forms a lenticular sca!

twenty-five hundredths of a millimeter in length, and fifteen

hundredths of a millimeter in breadth, raised a little above the

general surface of the leaf. The epidermis which covers ’

mine becomes rusty brown, sometimes almost black in the —

The excrement (frass) adheres irregularly to its under ee

Sometimes a portion of the under surface of the leaf opposite ;

mine also turns brown. ar

When the eggs are laid in sets, as hereafter to be described, 1

mines of the separate larvee usually become united, an

mines of two sets may be united into one. woi,

One mine fifteen millimeters long and ten millimeters ih

contained seven larvæ, the scars arranged in two groups °

and three respectively. Another scar was near. easel

As many as five mines, all inhabited, have been found i

leaf and even eight mines made by ten larvæ, though ™ aan

some of the larvæ had escaped.

* Guérin says (Mém. etc., p. 13) that they are pidentate.

d even ™°

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. 337

When the larva escapes, it cuts an angular or rounded slit in

the epidermis near an edge of the mine. This slit is slightly more

than one millimeter across, about one and five-tenths millimeters

ong.

The eggs.— Before I had seen any of the insects, I was shown

some eggs on a coffee-leaf, which were said to be the eggs of this

moth. I was not able to describe them at the time, but I think

they could not have belonged to this moth, because they seemed

too large. Stainton says, however (Nat. Hist. Tin., i, 324), that

the eggs of C. scitellum, which is in its habits one of the nearest

allies of this species, are disproportionately large for the size of

the insect. Guérin does not describe the eggs in his memoir.

_ Classification. —It belongs to the suborder of scaly-winged

Insects (Lepidoptera), which may be known from other winged

‘sects because their wings are more or less covered with scales,

which lap over each other like tiles on the roof of a house, and

further they (in the imago state) have no visible jaws, but either

have a tubular tongue formed of two similar pieces which can be

rolled up like a watch-spring, or have no means of taking food.

It belongs to the tribe of cloth-worm moths (Tineina), which

ate all of small size, and may be known from the other Lepido-

ptera because their wings, which are elongated, are not split, but

ate fringed with long hairs.

According to Zeller (Linn. Entom., iii (1848), p. 250), the

only Tineina whose larvee make mines in leaves, and whose ima-

` 808 have the head covered with entirely smooth scales, and have

the lower joints of the antennz widened into an eye-cap, are in-

cluded in the genera Cemiostoma and Phyllocnistis. These genera

with others, were considered by Stainton (I know not in what

Work) to form the family of Lyonetia moths (Lyonetide). The

genus Cemiostoma, to which our insect belongs, is distinguished

the genus Phyllocnistis by the absence of tongue-shields

(Palpi) (1. c., p. 250), and by the middle area (cell) of the fore

™ngs not being closed (l. c., p. 265).

= genus Cemiostoma was divided by Stainton (Nat. Hist.

i » 1, 288) into two groups, one of which has the anterior

ngs of the perfect insect white, while the other has these wings

‘Sigil The former of these groups, to which our species

i n contains six species, as far as known at present. These

` Susinellum, spartifoliellum, wailesellum, coffeellum, labur-

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 22

338 THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

nellum and zancleellum. Cemiostoma coffeellum is the only spe-

cies of the genus yet known outside of the limits of Europe.

Our species may be known from the other species of the group

by the following characters: C. zancleellum has not the first

golden band on the costa; in C. susinellum this band extends

across the wing, reaching the inner angle; in C. laburnellum,

spartifoliellum and wailesellum, this band hardly reaches to more

than half the distance from the costa to the black spot, and the

second band is bordered on both edges by dark scales. Further,

all the species of the group, except possibly O. zancleellum, have

two or three fuscous streaks on the fringe, radiating from the

black spot. I can discover no such streaks in this species.

I do not find it recorded that any other species of the group,

except C. laburnellum, breeds more than once in a year. Stainton

says (Nat. Hist. Tin., i, 314) that C. laburnellum breeds twice.

Seasons.—The larve are said to attack the new leaves in early

- Spring, and to be found from that time forth. As the coffee-tree

is evergreen, it seems likely that the period of hibernation is very

short or none at all. Guérin says (Mém. etc., p. 16)

insect occurs throughout the year in the Antilles, but is more oF

less abundant according to the seasons.

The eggs which I have mentioned were seen on the twenty-fifth

of January. The planter who showed them to me said "

seen the moths that day. I found the larvæ, pupæ, and imag?

from the ninth of March until my observations ended om ”

twenty-first of June. ;

Periodicity. — Guérin says (Mém. etc., pp. 17, 43) that the egg

hatch seven or eight days after being laid. The larvæ then live

about fifteen or twenty days within the leaf, after which they pil

their cocoons. The cocoon is spun within less than twenty"

hours after the larva has left the mine. ‘The larva-skin i$ ee

off within twenty-four hours after the cocoon is completed. ern

not observe how long the pupa-state continues. AC pent

Guérin (Mém. etc., p. 13, 17), the imago comes out of mi I

at the end of six days. It is not known how long diet

should judge that it lived less than two weeks, as that ci

noticed to be the probable limit of life in C. scitellum (

Monthl. Mag., iv (1867), p. 162). eh f eggs È

The history of reproduction, and of the deposition © ity

not known. It must have an important effect upon the long?"

“J

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. 339

of the sexes. Guérin says (Mém. etc., p. 17), that the insect is

reproduced several times in the year, in the Antilles, once in about

every forty to forty-eight days. This would allow for the Eggs,

T to 8 days; Larva, 15 to 20 days; Pupation, 2 days; Pupa, 6

days; Imago, 10 to 12 days; total, 40 to 48 days.

Habits of the larva.—As soon as the larva is hatched (if I mis-

take not), it cuts through the upper epidermis of the leaf, and begins

toeat the parenchyma. Usually it may be found under an edge

oran end of the blotch, eating. I found no cast skins in the mines.

The larvæ can not be considered social, although several are

often found in one mine when several mines have become united.

They show no signs of pugnacity or mutual destructiveness. When

the larva is full-grown it escapes from the mine, and often, or

even generally, goes to another leaf to make its cocoon. This

it can do by letting itself drop with a thread of silk. It then

makes its cocoon across one of the furrows at,the edge of a leaf,

on either the upper or the under surface, but oftener on the under

Surface. The larva places itself across the furrow, and begins a

Mehi by spinning a series of threads from one side to beyond the

middle of the furrow, swinging the fore part of its body back and

forth sidewise. When it has made one side of one end of its web

thus, it spins a like series of threads to make the other side, with-

out changing the position of the hind part of its body. Thus an

pening is left in the middle of this end of the web, in the space

occupied by the body of the larva. It then turns around, and

places its body across the furrow in the opposite direction. Here

ìt spins a like series of threads on each side of it, from the leaf to

> ao part of the web, leaving a similar opening in this end.

„en retires beneath the web, and lays a flooring of silk. On

om it spins its cocoon, laying the outside threads length-

ath cocoons are found in the greatest abundance on the leaves

are near the ground, and frequently on leaves which have

never been injured. :

Habits of the Pupa.— The larva-skin is split longitudinally over

Mai middle line of the head and first two thoracic segments. The

agas extends from the very foremost extremity of the head to the

- rd thoracic segment (metathorax), but does not enter this

m * tor the certain observation of this fact, and of the manner

Which the pupa-skin is burst, I am indebted to Dr. Hagen,

340 THE WHITE COFFEE—-LEAF MINER.

who pointed out to me these interesting details. The skin is then

thrown off and pushed out through the posterior end of the

cocoon. ;

Habits of the Imago.— The pupa-skin is split transversely across

the back of the head (vertex) then longitudinally along the sides

of the thorax as far as the metathorax. When the imago emerges,

the pupa-skin is left inside of the cocoon, generally I think, but

in some cases I have found it protruding from the anterior end of

the cocoon, through which the imago escapes by pushing aside the

threads. It rests on or under the leaves or branches, but is easily

disturbed. ‘It is very lively and very agile,” as Guérin says

(Mém. ete. p. 16) “and flies in all directions seeking to copulate,

It is seen to execute rdpid bounds, and its jerking flight makes it

known even at a distance.” It flies in the day-time, perhaps also

in the night-time.

I judge from the appearance of the scars in the epidermis, al-

ready described, that the eggs are laid unconcealed on the upper

surface of the leaf; singly, or in sets of two, three or more, but

not in immediate proximity, and that sometimes two or more sets

are placed on the same leaf. It is not known how many eggs 4%

laid by one female. — To be continued.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 5.

Fic. 1. Imago of Cemiostoma coffeellum, magnified 15 diameters. <

Fic.2. Empty pupa-skin of the same, seen from beneath, magnified about Aue

ters. (The projections near the head are the broken sides of the thorax.)

Fic.3. Larva of the same from above; the head retracted, magn- 15 diameters. i

Fic.4. Head of the larva from below, showing some of the mouth-parts, magnified

Fic. 5. Cocoon of the same, natural size; 5a, the same magnified 3 aa on

Fig. 6. Leaf of coffee tree natural size, containing five mines made by ten gem

of the larvæ belonging in the four mines wholly figured ; 6 at the

magnified 10 diameters to show the scar made by the larva ie gy Pee

leaf; 6b, part of a mine magnified 5 diameters to show the slit made

larva in leaving the mine.

Vol. VI, Pl. 5.

American Naturalist.

XOK

5 ba

MANN, ON THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

BY J. A. ALLEN.

II. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF COLORADO.

Cotorapo Terrirrory embraces portions of two very different

geographical regions, its eastern half consisting of plains and its

western being exceedingly mountainous, including several of the

highest peaks of the Rocky Mountain system. These two regions

are as diverse faunally as they are in physical features. The orni-

- thological character of the eastern half of the territory differs lit-

tle from that of the adjoining portions of Kansas, already briefly

noticed in the Narurauist for May, p. 263. On entering the moun-

tains, however, one immediately meets with many species of birds

not seen on the Plains, whilst only a few of those characteristic of

the Plains are found in the mountain district, and these only in the

broad valleys or ‘‘ Parks” which repeat most of the characteristi¢

features of the Plains. Owing to the prevalence of forests and

the highly diversified character of the surface in the western dis-

trict, the number of species of birds found within it greatly ex-

ceeds that of the eastern, there being in western Colorado in ce

breeding season rather more than the average number of spectes

found during the same season in an equal area of any portion of

the wooded region to the eastward of the Mississippi River, and

more than twice the number found in corresponding areas 0n the

Plains,

As would naturally be expected, we already find in the narrow

timber-belts that extend down from the mountains along the

streams for a short distance into the Plains a few of the wg

characteristic of the mountains ; just as on the eastern border

the Plains many of the forest birds of the eastern portion of the

United States follow up the stream to the farthest limit of yee

real vegetation. On entering the foothills, however, We are fairy

within the mountain fauna; and as we advance wes

mountains.

tward to the a

oS) Terese ier eae

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 343

The observations herein detailed, were made during a journey

from Denver through the mountains to South Park, by way of the

usual stage road to Fairplay, and thence up the South Platte to

Mount Lincoln. Retracing our steps to Fairplay, we struck east-

ward across the Park to the eastern spurs of the main chain, cross-

ing these near the northern base of Pike’s Peak to Colorado City,

and thence to Denver along the western edge of the Great Plains

The journey occupied about five weeks, and, as we left Denver July

6th, was chiefly made during the nesting season of the birds. We

entered the foothills at a point about fifteen miles southwest of

Denver, where Bear Creek emerges from the mountains and enters

the Plains. Leaving immediately this stream, however, we crossed

a low divide and struck Turkey Creek, and for many miles wound

along its ‘wild cañon up into the mountains. We afterwards

crossed another divide and reached the North Fork of the South

Platte River, and continuing our southwesterly course, through

valleys and over moderate heights, finally entered South Park

at its northeastern extremity, by a pass about ten thousand feet

above sea-level. The vegetation of the foothills was scanty, and

the hills themselves sparsely wooded, the aridity of the climate

along the eastern base of the mountains being nearly as great .

as that of the adjoining plains. Along Turkey Creek rain in

summer is evidently far more frequent than to the eastward, the

Country here being well forested. The slopes of the mountains

are heavily clothed with different kinds of pines and spruces,

Whilst the streams are densely fringed with willows, alders, and

several small species of poplars and birches. Here thousands of

right flowers everywhere dot the valleys, so that with the pic-

turesqueness of the scenery, the beauty of these mountain glens

8 doubtless rarely equalled elsewhere on the continent. Here

‘Sa spot of fascinating interest to the ornithologist ; this

or region being apparently one of the richest in _bird-life

oe found in this part of the Rocky Mountains. _

: ‘it assing on to the North Fork of the South Platte, we find a

— Siiewhat less varied fauna and flora, we having left behind us

3 may Species of both the birds and flowers that made Turkey

valley so attractive. Herë and there the valley of the

: cc = Spreads out into broad grassy bottom-lands, which

A eady the homes of enterprising mountaineers, whose rude

°S-Cabins one meets with unexpected frequency. Further on, the

North

344 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

mountains are still less heavily wooded, with here and there wide

grassy openings; the flowers are less numerous, the animal life

less varied, the birds especially being notably scarcer, whilst

everywhere there are evidences of a rather arid climate. South

Park itself is almost as arid as the Plains, with much the same

vegetation and general aspects, representing, in fact, the Plains

in miniature.

Following along the northern edge of the Park we pass Fair-

play and follow up the valley of the South Platte to its source at

the northern base of Mount Lincoln. The Platte valley above

Fairplay is again a moister region, with a richer flora and fauna

and with the declivities of the hills heavily wooded. The abun-

dance of large bright flowers is again a conspicuous feature,

even to considerably above timber line, the grassy ‘slopes far

above the limit of the coniferous vegetation being thickly set

with flowers of richest tints, even at altitudes exceeding thirteen

thousand feet. Camping a week near the eastern base of Mount

Lincoln, at the old mining town of Montgomery, and making

excursions to the tops of the neighboring peaks, we then retraced

~ our steps to Fairplay, and continued thence eastward across South

Park to the eastern spurs of the mountains. These spurs we find

are irregularly wooded, with frequent grassy intervals of consider-

able extent, forming a series of little Parks. There is not much

‘that is attractive in the scanty vegetation, and birds and animals

of all kinds are scarce, the country being again comparatively

arid. In the valley of the North Fork oats and potatoes of the

finest quality are raised, though liable to injury from frosts,

the dryness of the climate in and about South Park, though &

milder region, renders irrigation necessary for the production of

grains and vegetables. It is nevertheless an excellent ganas

country, stock wintering well here, as in fact in all the principal

mountain valleys, gathering their own subsistence in —

well as in summer. From Colorado City to Denver our road

quite near to the foothills. The streams were well ai

with willows and cottonwoods, with here and there detached a

rather open patches of coniferous forest on the ridges, 3S ee

occasionally adjacent to the streams; hence we have here, as pre

viously remarked, a commingling of the birds of the mou!

with those of the Plains.

With this meagre sketch of the country traversed We am

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 345

more intelligently return to the birds. Among the more common

birds that one meets with along the streams of the western edge of

the Great Plains are such familiar eastern species as the kingbird,

eatbird, brown thrush, and the Baltimore and orchard orioles, all

of which appear to find their western limit in Colorado at the base

of the Rocky Mountains, though further north some of them range

nearly'or quite across the continent. Of other species characteris-

tie of the western edge of the Plains are many that occur not

only eastwardly to the Atlantic, but also westward to the Pacific,

as the robin, yellow warbler (Dendreca estiva) the cliff, barn,

white-bellied and rough-winged swallows, the meadow lark, house

Wren, yellow-breasted chat, nipping, field, Lincoln’s, and bay-

winged sparrows, the black-capped titmouse, red-winged black-

bird, red-headed woodpecker, Carolina dove, kingfisher, yellow bird

or goldfinch, marsh and sparrow hawks, the killdeer plover and

Spotted sandpiper, nearly all of which were seen more or less fre-

quently throughout most of our journey in the mountains, as well as

at their eastern base. The loggerhead shrike was occasionally seen

as were also such common species of the Plains as the lark finch,

lark bunting, black-headed grosbeak, mountain plover and Arkan-

sas flycatcher, all except the loggerhead being exclusively western

Species. Say’s flycatcher was common near the mountains;

the western solitary vireo (Vireo plumbeus Coues), the west-

wood pewee, an Empidonax, and the warbling vireo were

all frequent, and were met with occasionally in the mountains up

to about ten thousand feet. The horned lark was abundant at all

favorable localities up to about the same altitude, above which no

‘alities such as it usually frequents were met with. The moun-

tain mockingbird was not only present here, but was also observed

m * considerably greater altitude. Of the western forest birds,

Audubon’s warbler, the violet-green swallow, the arctic bluebird,

the arctic towhe, the green-tailed or Blanding’s finch (Pipilo chloru-

mus) the western indigobird or lazuli finch, Lewis’s woodpecker,

Woodhouse’s and the great-crested jays, Brewer’s blackbird, the

magpie and raven, were all more or less common, but far more

Pa the foothills than on the plains.

3 ea the above named birds wére met with in the vicinity of

: gag or on the journey between Colorado City and Denver.

N tering the mountains many of them become much more frequent.

ng the foothills the common redstart was also common. The

346 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

chestnut-backed snowbird (Junco caniceps) was first seen at about

seven thousand feet, above which it was common to about the

timber line. Near this point (seven thousand feet) the white

crowned sparrows, the black-capped fiycatching-warbler ( Wilsonia

pusilla), Macgillivray’s warbler, the pigmy nuthatch and the

yellow-bellied woodpecker also first became common, as did also

Nuttall’s whippoorwill, though the latter doubtless ranges down to

the base of the foothills. It was near this point that the arctic

towhe, the lazuli finch, the catbird, yellow-breasted chat, black-

headed grosbeak and brown thrush disappeared. The violet-green

swallow, the American ouzel, the broad-tailed humming bird, the

pine finch and the rock wren, though essentially birds of the

mountains, were all more or less common among the foothills, and

were even seen several miles out on the Plains.

As already remarked, we found Turkey Creek valley richer in

birds than any other part of the mountains we visited. Along its

upper part, and on the north fork of the South Platte, Macgillivray’s

warbler was one of the birds most frequently observed, and, except

ing Audubon’s warbler, which was only moderately frequent, was

the only warbler noticed. It was everywhere. common along the

streams, keeping generally concealed among the willows, its song

being very sweet and attractive. Blanding’s finch was equally

numerous, and its peculiar song was fully as pleasing. It inno

respect resembles the eastern towhe, with which and its allies it

is associated by systematic writers, far more resembling the ae d

of sparrows so familiarly represented at the East by the white-

throat, than any other group—resembling these in its habits, pons

and general aspect, and from which it differs chiefly in its relatively

longer tail. The chipping sparrow was frequent, and we occasion:

ally met with little parties of the chestnut-backed snowbird, n

in notes, habits and general appearances so nearly resembles

common eastern snowbird as to be scarcely distinguishable from

it when a few yards distant. The great crested jay i

macrolopha), was everywhere conspicuous, and though so diffe

in color and other features, forcibly reminds one of th ee

bluejay, being fully as restless and noisy. The magpie, thone

less frequent and more wary, was scarcely less prominent, ae

ing many of the ways and the garrulousness of its near alli f the

jays. Lewis’s woodpecker was perhaps the most numerous O° a

Picide, though the red-shafted and red-headed were cone”

the eastem

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 347

were also the hairy and yellow-bellied. Lewis’s differed considera-

bly from the others in habits, rising into the air almost vertically

to a great height, apparently in pursuit of insects, descending

again as abruptly\to repeat soon the same manœuvre. The

specimens of hairy woodpecker taken by us represented typically

the form known as Harris’s woodpecker, which differs from the

eastern form in being darker, with fewer of the rounded white

spots on the wings. The plumage of the old birds was much worn

and very ragged and the white of the belly deeply stained with

dusky, but the full-grown young were as white below as in the

eastern form, showing the dusky color of the old birds on these

parts to be the result of stains acquired from the fire-blackened

The pigmy nuthatch was also numerous, more resembling in its

habits the kinglets and titmice,—like them hunting about the

extremities of the branches, hanging head downwards — than the

common larger species of the East. It is not only gregarious

with those of its own kind, but associates freely with the titmice

ad the ruby crowned kinglet, all keeping up a lively, social

twitter, The violet-green swallow, one of the most beautiful of

the Hirundines, was everywhere numerous, breeding in deserted

Woodpeckers’ holes, and far outnumbering all the other Hirun-

j 5 together: A single specimen of Townsend’s flycatcher, a

“i Somewhat allied to the thrushes, though generally associated

mit the chatterer s, and formerly with the flycatchers, was

“xen on Deer Creek. Wilson’s thrush was observed at intervals,

= the hermit thrush was everywhere quite common. The broad-

_ failed humming bird (Selasophorus platycercus), the only represent-

ah of the Trochilide, was excessively numerous, and though

Smewhat larger and otherwise different from the eastern ruby-

i throat, might easily be mistaken for it by the casual observer. The

! v Whistling of his wings, caused by the excessive attenuation ot

N ter primaries, is, however, a peculiarity one is sure to notice.

ene of our camps we heard scores of Nuttall’s whippoorwills,

. S of which were dimly seen, but the darkness prevented our

IR "g their acquaintance “ autoptically.” The dusky grouse

i apparently common, was the only representa-

eE family we met with in the — except the

Above ei ptarmigan, soon to be more particularly mentioned.

"S eight thousand feet, Lincoln’s sparrow was the most abun-

348 _ ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

dant representative of the Fringillide, although the white-crowned

was also exceedingly numerous, and both possess very pleasing

ngs.

In South Park we found the birds far less numerous than we

anticipated. In the forests contiguous to it occur most of the

species already enumerated, except of course the few whose verti-

eal range is limited to an altitude considerably less than that ot

the Park. Birds are also numerous along the willow-skirted

streams, and many birds are met with among the pines that scanti-

ly cover the low ridges by which the generally level surface of the

park is diversified. Those properly characteristic of the Park

itself number less than a dozen species, and are mainly such as

characterize the Plains. The savanna and bay-winged sparrows;

. the horned lark, lark finch and meadow lark, the killdeer and

mountain plovers are by far the most numerous. The savanna

sparrow was so abundant on Jefferson Creek, that I killed nearly

twenty one morning in an hour’s shooting and found several nests.

Near Fairplay, where we spent several days, the black-capped fly-

catching-warbler ( Wilsonia pusilla) was the most numerous of the

insectivorous species, the willow thickets along the Platte and

elsewhere being full of them. An Empidonax was also commons

as was Richardson’s wood pewee. These with a single pair of

olive-sided pewees (Contopus borealis) were the only representatives

of the Tyrannide met with in or about the Park. The Empidonat

frequented the same localities as the flycatching warbler, and had

the peculiar habit ( for a flycatcher of this group ) of hiding m the

thickets so as to render it difficult to capture, like the Acadian fiy-

catcher of the East, of which it is its western analogue. Several

nests were found, both of this species and the wood pewee

white-bellied and cliff swallows were common Hirundines, the latter

nesting under the eaves of the houses in Fairplay, and the per

in woodpeckers’ holes. The chestnut-backed snowbird Was

common, but the white-crowned and Lincoln’s sparrow ween

far the most numerous of the fringilline birds, as vibe ad bis

blackbird among the Icteride, the only other species aa

family observed being the common meadow lark. The wa!

vireo was the only vireo observed, and this species eve "i

frequent. The common house wren was abundant, and m

headed and the beautifal Williamson’s woodpeckers ( Sphyrap frst

Williamsonii) were more or less common. We here shot ow

a ee oes t | gael

Me rt we re a eee eet E N E eee gee Dyn = tag R

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 349

_ purple finches, and the song sparrow was occasional, being more

_ tumerous here than elsewhere on our journey.

The vicinity of mount Lincoln was by far the most interesting

locality we visited, where we spent a week in a hasty ornithologi-

cal reconnoissance of the immediate region, our excursions extend-

ing from about twelve thousand five hundred feet above sea-level

tothe top of Mt. Lincoln, whose bald summit rises to nearly a

thousand feet above timber line. About thirty-five species were

found ranging up to or above the limit of trees, the most of which

were tolerably common. The hermit thrush, Audubon’s warbler,

the mountain and black capped chickadees, the ruby-crowned

kinglet, the chipping and Lincoln’s sparrows, the red-shafted,

hairy, three-toed and yellow-bellied woodpeckers, the arctic blue-

, the Canada and great-crested jays and the pine finch

Were all more or less common up to the forest line. The robin, a

common bird throughout this portion of the mountains, was met

with far above the timber line, and its nest was found within a

few hundred feet of the tree limit. The spotted sandpiper and

the American ouzel were both seen up to the very source of the

Tih Platte, and a nest of the former found at Montgomery,

thirteen thousand feet above the sea. The rock wren was seen

mong the taluses above timber line, and the purple finch was a

Tion bird at Montgomery. The bay-winged, the savanna and

White-crowned sparrows and the chestnut-backed snowbird were |

all observed for a considerable distance above the tree limit.

The white crowned and Lincoln’s finches are eminently birds of

gher regions, as above ten thousand feet they appear to tad

mmber all the other sparrows together. The broad-tailed humming

a ady mentioned, continued common to far above —

“a being as much at home among the bright flowers growing on

highest parts of the mountains as in the valleys. The barn,

ý and white bellied swallows were also more or less abundant

sig same elevation, but breed of course only lower down 1n

ex Moir zone. None of the smaller birds were — a | és

ag perhaps the two sparrows already mentioned, than lowes

; black-capped flycatching warbler, which was more conspicu-

"h - not absolutely more numerous, among thé dwarfed willows

T birches above timber line than at lower points, scolding the

oe from almost every bush heap; this little bird being grer

ly an alpine species. Among the snow fields of the higher

350 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

parts of the mountains were found three essentially arctic species

that were not met with below the region of snow. ese were

the tit-lark, the gray-crowned finch (Lewcosticta griseinucha) and

the white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus). The tit-lark was

abundant, rearing its young here, some of which were hardly able

to fly as late as the last week of July. The gray-crowned finch

and the ptarmigan were both common. The latter descends into

the timber in winter, when great numbers are killed for food by

the miners. The only ducks seen in the alpine region was a single

pair of the common goosander. A single gadwall shot on the

Platte in South Park was the only other species of the duck tribe

met with on the present journey.

Near Colorado City two or three species of birds not yet men-

tioned were obtained or observed. One of these was the little

known Rocky Mountain swift (Panyptela melanoleuca) which was

quite numerous about the high cliffs in the “ Garden of the Gods’,

and of which with great difficulty we procured four specimens.

It was nesting in inaccessible crevices and weatherworn holes in

the rocks, about midway up the high vertical cliffs, some of which

are not less than three hundred feet high. They seemed very re

for so small birds, and flew with great velocity, rarely descending

within reach of our guns. The ground tit ( Chamea fasciata )

was met with a few times, and on one of our excursions We saw

a party of a dozen or fifteen woodpeckers of a species as yet pi

parently undescribed, and of which, unfortunately, 2° specimen

was obtained. They were very wary, and led us 4 long ie

over very broken country, at no time permitting us to app:

within range of them. One was badly wounded, but a

succeeded in escaping. It was a species of the size and habits

Lewis’s' woodpecker, rising, like that» species, almost V iil

into the air in pursuit of insects, but was quite differently ¢°

from any described American woodpecker. The tail app? p

be wholly white, except the middle pair of feathers, and gee

also considerable white on the wings and about the head, "e of

of the plumage being black. As we had too favorable à gai

it to be mistaken as to its general characters, I mention | y

for the purpose of calling the attention of other visitors to ! ! wake

may hereafter have the opportunity of visiting the. mT

north-west of Colorado City.

It is not of course supposable that in our hasty

t mainly

reconnoissance i

Pe Te Ee corte See ees Se een ny er te ee See in ee eee et eee Pn Ee Oe We em r

TUZ ME 1 Sponge ia line eat cen pM Se age eri sae

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 351

five weeks of so extended a region that we saw all the species to

be found there at the time of our visit, though we can hardly have

= failedto notice many that were common. The water birds we had

few opportunities to observe. Among the Gralle the greater and

lesser tattlers (Gambetta melanoleuca and G. flavipes) the solitary

and red-backed sandpipers (Rhyacophilus solitarius and Pelidna

Americana) and the field plover (Actiturus Bartramius) were the

only species seen besides the spotted sandpiper and plovers al-

ready mentioned ; and these were only met with at Lake Pass,

the second week in August. The only heron obseryed was one

seen at a distance near Denver; and swimming birds were almost

equally few. The absence of all flycatchers of the genera Tyran-

rus and Myiarchus in the mountains, and the scarcity of the Syl-

vicolide were noticeable features. The absence of the former at

localities above seven thousand feet is not surprising, since they

are emphatically southern forms; but we confidently expected to

meet with a greater variety of warblers.

Tn conclusion, a few remarks on the ornithological faunz of the

region under consideration. Although the elevation of the Plains

at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado, is

Senerally not far from six thousand feet, reaching seven thousand

eet only on the divide between the waters of the Platte and the

Arkansas at “ Lake Pass,” we have both at Denver and Colorado

City a comparatively southern fauna, analogous in all essential

features to the Carolinian fauna of the Eastern Province. From

base of the mountains up to about seven thousand five hundred

feet we find a fauna more nearly analogous to the Alleghanian or

to that of Southern N ew England. Thence upward to about ten

c and five hundred feet we have a zone more resembling the

SARPA fauna of the East, or that of northern New England.

“tom this point upward to the timber line the fauna is more anal-

ogous to that of the Hudsonian, or that of the shores of Hudson’s

7 y and the valley of the McKenzie River. Above this we have

_Tegion dotted with snow fields, where are found several essen-

oY arctic forms, °

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Views oF THE Microscopic Wortp.* — An American handbook

of microscopy is too much wanted to be received in any other than

a kindly spirit. Prof. Brocklesby’s “ Views of the Microscopie

World,” Dr. King’s “ Microscopist’s Companion ” and Dr. Wythe’s

“ Microscopist,” have been unavailable for years; and Dr. Rich-

ardson’s recent work is interesting exclusively to medical readers.

Yet any one who takes up the new book with a determination to

be unreservedly pleased with it, cannot but be disappointed to find

it only a new edition of one of the old ones, which ignores its pre

decessor, and changes its name with the manifest intention of

seeming like a new work.

‘“* Views of the Microscopic World ” written by the same accom-

plished author twenty years ago, was properly described, both by

its name and in its preface, as no manual of microscopical vork,

but as a common-place book of microscopic views, a collection of

almost disconnected descriptions and illustrations, each valued for

its own merits, of what were then unfamiliar microscopic objects.

It was written in a thoughtful, philosophical and devout spirit.

Fresh from the study of Ehrenberg and Mantell, and from the en

thusiastic and successful use of a (then) remarkable microscope,

the author briefly introduced and described the instrument, and

then, evidently with a will, gave the longest chapter of the À

full of interesting descriptions of the diverse organisms cl

by Ehrenberg under the vague name of Infusoria. Next came 7

teresting medley of information in regard to Fossil Infasori®

Larger aquatic animals followed, up to insects, in a short chapter.

Then came two chapters, the most valuable because the _

unique, with numerous lithographic illustrations of woot i

and of artificial crystallizations. A final chapter reviews m

parts of insects, and threw into the bargain mammals, w

tiles and fishes— to say nothing of mollusks and vegetables. its

volume, now little known, was pleasant and conversational or

tone, the more so, perhaps, because informal, unclassified and me

yond the reach of scientific criticism; and though published of

: ; dpook of

k Amateur Microscopist; or Views of the Microscopie World. A M. New

Microscopic Manipulation and Microscopic Objects. By John Brocklesby fas

York: Wm.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 353

unattractive style, would have been more successful had it not ap-

peared in advance of the present demand for works upon the sub-

ject of which it treats.

The present edition is the old one, only moderately modernized

by some minor alterations. The name is changed, for the worse

as to the contents of the volume, but for the better as to the

fashion of the day; the impracticable microscope of the original

frontispiece properly gives way to a cheap but useful instru-

ment of modern style; a rewritten preface and introduction

form connecting links between the name and the book; and the

Infusoria, though not rewritten, are somewhat rearranged by the

separation of the vegetable forms. The rest of the work is simply

reprinted, with scarcely more than a few verbal corrections. The

woodcuts and lithographs are scarcely equal in quality to the

original, and a considerable number are suppressed, including a

part of the interesting series of wood-sections and crystallizations,

the one section of a root being one of the loved and lost.

The treatment of Diatoms, and indeed ‘ Infusoria” generally,

of the influence of temperature on vitality, of deep-sea soundings

ad dredgings, and of the microscopic anatomy of the higher

Plants, gives no hint of the vast labor, and wonderful results of -

the last twenty years. The unfortunate haste with which this edi-

_ Hon was prepared, is further shown by an abundance of minor

errors, such as the failure to cut out all the allusions to the sup-

Pressed plates, and the reference of the second description of a fig.

to the Wrong cut (Fig. 2), which is given in the right place, in-

Stead of to the right cut (Fig. 3), which is given several pages be-

. Of course minute and technical criticism would be impossi-

me m regard to a book which scarcely claims to be scientific ; but

Such errors as the above should have been corrected, and it would

peveely be too much to ask a slight improvement in classification.

re }s a certain interest and advantage in giving, side by side,

the hairs of insects and of quadrupeds, and the scales:of insects

nd of fishes, and the crystals from plants, and those: artificially

e Upon slides; but there can scarcely be any advantage in

“ing the corpuscles of blood, tlie pollen of plants, and the

atomy of the flea, all into the same group.

Perea microscopists will want to place this name-sake book

ms na ~ of the really more serviceable Lankester’s Half Hours

ood’s Common Objects ; but intelligent general readers, and

“MER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 3

3854 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

natural history students are those who will find it of the most real

use. e are sincerely thankful to the publishers for the present

attractive edition of this lately unattainable work; though we

cannot approve of their economy in suppressing a part of the

plates, and cannot but regret that they did not induce the author

to give us a book written in the spirit of 1871, instead of repub-

lishing the ideas of 1850.— R. H. W.

REVISION OF SOME OF THE AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES.* —In ad-

vance of the publication of the volume on the Butterflies of New

England, upon which Mr. Scudder has been for some time en-

gaged, and which is not far from completion, the public is pre-

sented with this digest of the results reached by the author ina

revised classification and nomenclature of the butterflies of the

New England and Middle States.

The four years of almost continuous labor which the author has

devoted to the preparation of the volume above referred to, —the

abundant material which the kindness of friends has placed at his

disposal, the favorable opportunity enjoyed by him during å

two years’ sojourn in Europe for the study of large numbers of

European forms in connexion with our own, and a persistent

` determination to investigate personally, so far as possible, a

of the four stages of every species reviewed by him, — lead us cf

indulge the hope that the scheme submitted in the above pap

may be received by both American and European lepidopterists %5

more satisfactory than any which has preceded it. It is presen me

at the present time, to afford opportunity for examination

criticism, and for the correction in the forthcoming volume of ra

errors which may be discovered.

Although it has long been evident that many chan 3

essarily be made in the classification and nomenclature of o

diurnals, yet those introduced in this paper are so mane A

some of so radical a nature, that the entomological public Ue ay

startled at their presentation, and prompted to look for some

of escape from their unpalatable acceptance. gii

Of the butterflies occurring in New England and adjoining cere

i 1e8,

probably exceeding one hundred and twenty-five Spee see

those

ges must net-

. 2 s tal the 4

eleven of the number retain unaltered, in this revision,

; * AByevematioRevi ASJA Eaa aian a ae brief aoina tS

known to occur in Essex County, Mass. By Samuel H. Scudder.

the Peabody Academy of Science for 1871, pages 24 to 82 inclusive.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 355

under which they are at present recorded in our lists. It will

require some time to familiarize the tongue with the substitution

of Basilarchia Astyanax for Limenitis ursula, Doxocopa Herse for

Apatura Clyton, Papilio Antiopa for Vanessa Antiopa, Incisalia

Irus for Thecla Arsace, Strymon Titus for Thecla Mopsus, and

Euphædes Glaucus for Papilio Turnus. It will tax the memory to

charge it with the names of the forty-five genera in which our

Hesperidæ are arranged ; yet this, and whatever else is required,

should be cheerfully accorded, when convinced that the arduous

work of the author has been properly performed, for only through

serious disturbance is error to be eliminated.

Tt will bè observed that quite a large number of the generic

stoups of Hübner, with a few of Scopoli and Schrank, have been

reclaimed from their desuetude. This, the author informs us, has

been done, only after a critical study of the history of every genus

Proposed for butterflies down to the period of Hibner’s catalogue

in 1816, and in strict obedience to the laws of priority regulating

zoological nomenclature. Of the many new genera introduced,

the characters of two are presented in detail, drawn from the lar-

val, pupal and imaginal states, to serve, it is stated, as an illustra-

tion of the manner in which all the genera will be treated in the

Volume in preparation : these two genera are Papilio of Linnzus

(having P. Antiopa for its type), and Aglais of Dalman (with P.

urtice for its type) ; their details occupy ten pages.

The Classification of Mr. Scudder, exclusive of the generic

groups is as follows:

Families, Sub-families. Tribes.

[ OREADES Borkh.

TRIBUNI Herbst. Archontes Herbst.

NYMPHALES Li P i bst

Pinu. NAJADES Borkh. pee Borkh.”

Hamadryades Borkh.

fe HYPAT!I Hiibn. S

i Hübn.

RURALES Fabr. VESTALES Herbst. f Adotescentes Huon.

EPHORI Herbst. Villicantes Hiibn.

Fugacia Hiibn.

PAPILIONIDES Latr. restr, | DANAI Linn. restr. Voracia Hiibn.

*? EQUITES Linn. Frugalia Hübn.

URBICOLÆ Fabr.

mp Family NYMPHALES embraces the Satyridæ of Swainson,

of W mo Doubleday, N ymphalidz of Swainson and Lybytheidæ

ei Ek in equivalent to the Nymphalidz and Lemoniide

356 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

pars (subfamily Libythzinz of Kirby’s catalogue, 1871). It in-

cludes twenty-three genera, among which are several established

by Hubner in 1816, but to which our species had not hitherto been

referred, as (Eneis, Enodia, Minois, Megisto, Doxocopa and Poly-

gonia. Under Nymphalis is placed Vanessa J-album, as an inter-

mediate form between those which we have recognized as Vanessa

and Grapta. Vanessa Antiopa is made the type of the restricted

Linnean genus Papilio, while Vanessa is retained for Atalanta,

huntera and cardui. Argynnis embraces Cybele, Aphrodite and

lantis,—a new genus, Speyeria, being established for Idalia,

with Myrina and Bellona assigned to Brenthis of Hübner. Out

Melitzeas are grouped in four genera as Phyciodes Tharos and

Phy. Batesii, Charidryas Nycteis, Limnecia Harrisii, and Euphy-

dryas Phaeton — the last three generic groups being new. We

miss the original genus Melitea, the reason of which is not evi-

dent, but we presume that it has been retained for such European

forms as Maturna, Didyma, Parthenie, Artemis, ete. Our Limeni-

tides Disippe, ursula (= Proserpina Edw.) and Arthemis being

distinct from the European forms are assigned to the new genus

Basilarchia. Danais [Danius], Junonia, Euptoieta and Libythea

remain as before.

The family RURALES is a subdivision of the Linnæan group

Presen consisting of the smaller butterflies, of which those

marked with dark spots were denominated Rurales and those with

pellucid spots Urbicole. It is equivalent to the Erycinide and

Polyommatide of Swainson’s system, to the Erycinidw and Lycæn-

ide (Leach) of Westwood, Lemoniide pars and Lycaenidae a

Kirby’s catalogue. We note the following disposition of material

in this family :

Our only northern representative of the subfamily VEsTALES

Herbst (Erycinidæ of Swainson — Charis borealis Gr.-Rob., ,

referred to the genus Polystichtis of Hübn. The Theclas consti-

tute the tribe Armati of Hübner, with a division in six generi

Melinus, smilacis and Leta typify three new genera of a single

species each, viz., Callipareus, Mitouri and Erora. With ear

as the type, Augustus and Irus form the genus Incisalia M a

MS. Inthe original genus Thecla, are retained Ontario, Lipar?

( =strigosa), Edwardsii, Calanus (= inorata), and Acadian s

Mopsus appears as Strymon Titus ( Fabr.). “a

Of the Lycænidæ, our four species of the Argiolus typ°

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 357

referred to Cyaniris of Dalman ; Scudderii and Comyntas respec-

tively to the Hiibnerian genera of Lycsides and Everes; for

Pembina the new genus of Glaucopsyche is established having

Iygdamus for its type. The genus Lycena, after various limita-

tions and some misapplications, and the last restriction in 1832

by Swainson to species of the European Phileas type, is retained

for Americana and Epixanthe, leaving Thoe for the genus Chryso-

phanus under the specific name of Hyllus by which it was first

described by Cramer.

The family of PAPILIONIDES comprises the Danar and

Equires of Linnæus, and the Pieride of later systematists. In

it, fourteen genera are enumerated in the present paper.

The reference of Eubule to Catopsila of Hübner instead of

Callidryas Boisd., is in accordance with Kirby’s recent arrange-

ment. Coliasisretained for Philodice, Eurytheme and Keewaydin ;

rape and oleracea are removed to the genus Ganoris of Dalman ;

protodice and vernalis to Synchle of Hübner.

The dismemberment of Papilio reaches its greatest possible

extent in the assignment of our five species to as many genera,

established by Scopoli, Dalman and Hübner. Under their new

homenclatare they present themselves as Laertias Philenor,

terourus Troilus, Euphoades Glaucus, Iphiclides Ajax and Ama-

Tyssus Polywenes (= Asterias).

So long ago as in 1859, it was announced that Mr. Scudder was

engaged upon a monograph of our Hesperide. The result of his

study in this direction is given in part, in the systematic arrange-

ment now before us of the heterogeneous material which had been

Previously referred to the genera Eudamus, Nisoniades, Pamphila

"a Hesperia— the latter serving as a convenient receptacle for

Whatever species might not properly be located elsewhere. For

tie order evoked from so great confusion, we owe the author a

_ debt of gratitude.

Under the Linnean name of URBICOLÆ, our American Hes-

Peride: (including all the United States species together with a

which m Central America) are presented in forty-five genera, of

a number, thirty-two are new. The generic characters are

: ag m the present paper, that it might not be unduly ex-

G me 8 we turn the pages in hurried review, among much

a abl attention, we note the following : P!

thymele Proteus Linn., of the occurrence of which in New

358 . REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

England we were not previously aware, a range is ascribed through

Eastern North America as far north as Connecticut. Epargyreus

Tityrus (Fabr.) and Achalarus Lycidas (Sm.-Abb.) are credited

with an equally extensive distribution, viz., from Florida to New

England. Indeed, the range of the members of this family is in

such marked contrast with those of the other groups, that the

occurrence in New York or New England of any of the Southern

forms need not occasion surprise. Oligoria maculata (Edw.),

which, on page 61 of the paper under notice, is assigned to Florida,

has on one occasion been captured in New York, latitude 42%.

As ranging from the Gulf to the Eastern States, the following

Hesperians are recorded in these pages : Bathyllus, Pylades, Brizo,

Martialis, Horatius, Catullus, Numitor, vialis, Samoset, Logan,

Zabulon, Phyleus, Sassacus, Huron, Brettus (= Wingina), Ege

remet, Olynthus and Monoco. Additional information of distribu-

tion would undoubtedly materially extend the above list.

The species of Nisoniades, with the exception of Catullus,

which is made the type of a new genus, Pholisora, are referred to

Erynnis of Schrank, in accordance with Staudinger’s restriction

from its original extension over all the European Hesperians.

Hesperia is limited to the few species of the European malvæ types

our only northern representatives being H. tessellata nov. Sp- (Penn.

‘to Texas) and H. centauree Ramb. (= Wyandot Edw).

Some good service is rendered in the determination of synon-

ymy, as may appear from the following citations : Numitor Fabr.=

puer Hübn. and marginatus Harris; Samoset Seudd. = se ,

Gr.-Rob. ; Towa Scudd. = vitellius Sm.-Abb. ; Logan Edw. =

aware Biwa ; Ætna Boisd. = Egeremet Sandik: bimacula Gr E

Bar Anpapotma Scudd. ; Taumas Fabr. = E Harr. ; Accius

Sm.-Abb. = Monoco Scudd. and punctella Gr.-R

We welcome this revision as an exceedingly ee

able contribu-

ecursor.

2 r* It certainly

- A few Srpeemaphical errors ovcur oS ae

lenis red

Selenis: y p- 31, 1. 1, for riie a read MITOURA ; P. a í trans

LYGDAMUS ; p. 35, 1. 16, omit “ has never be described ; it ;” P- peat xe; p- }

No.2 to P on same page; p. 39% 1.6, for PALIDNE 7 :

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 359

reflects great credit upon the gentlemen under whose supervision

the paper was printed, that without the opportunity of revision by

the author, and from manuscript closely written on both sides of

thin paper, as we incidentally learn, so very few errors should have

occurred.

Brrps or Kansas.*—The present list, “though based upon the

personal observations of the author during a residence of six

years in Kansas,” does not purport to be a complete catalogue of

the birds of that State. It embraces the names of two hundred

and thirty-nine species, and contains short notes respecting the

relative abundance and special haunts of most of them. Whilst

of considerable value as a faunal list, it abounds in errors to such

an extent as greatly to impair its usefulness. Among the one

hundred species marked with an asterisk to show that they are

“known to breed in Kansas” we find Regulus calendula, Dendræca

coronata, Pinicola “canadensis,” Passerella iliaca, and Ægialitis

semipalmatus, whose southern limit in the breeding season is well |

known to be many hundred miles north of Kansas. On the other

hand such characteristic and abundant summer species as Calamo-

spiza bicolor and Coturniculus passerinus, and nearly twenty others

now well known to breed in Kansas, are without the asterisk.

Among the species one naturally expects to see in a list of the

pretensions of the present, we look in vain for Dendreca cerulea,

Vireo Noveboracensis, Plectrophanes ornatus, P. Maccownii, Guiraca

melanocephala, Spizella pallida, Peuceea ‘Cassinti,” Antrostomus

uttalli, Pedicecetes phasianellus and Ægialitis montanus, all of

Which are more or less common, whilst some of them are among

: the most characteristic species of the middle and western portions

of the state, Among the western species mentioned are Falco

Polyagrus, Colaptes “hybridus,” Poospiza bilineata, Passerella schis-

tacea, unco Oregonus, Icterus Bullockii, and Centrocercus wro-

Phasianus, all of which may occur of course as stragglers, though

Mot often seen in the latitude of Kansas, east of the Roc

Mountains. Perhaps for Centrocercus urophasianus the writer

_ meant to have written Pediccetes phasianellus, and for Ægi-

- hon, aie epee seem sehen ans eet a newer ee

o pik URYTHEME; p. 45, line 31, for Sees arei. r

PG read

pe Pay. Pityrus read E ; 25, for TH

ea, N ‘par. Tityrus: p. 50,1. 25, :

panan 12, for Endamus read Eudamus ; p. 59,1. 15, for Palatka read Pilatka; p. 62, 1 2,

$60, YAS read EUDAMUS; p. 62, 1. 9, for Buleuta read Bulenta.

' of the Birds of Kansas : now. Professor of Natural

Š Hist i or . By Fran :

` and Meteorology in the University of Kansas, Topeka,’1872. PP

; $

360 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

alitis semipalmatus, Æ. montanus, both of which species, as

already noticed, are omitted from the list, though it is hard to

suppose that in either case he could have mistaken the one bird

for the other.

While faunal lists of the birds of the western states and terri-

tories are so very desirable, they more than defeat their usefulness

unless prepared with a considerable degree of accuracy. If the

writer of the present list had restricted it to a smaller locality,

say for instance a single county, and had added from his note

books more explicit data, especially in respect to the times of

arrival and departure of the birds, his catalogue would have had

far more value as a faunal record, and would doubtless have been

as a whole much more accurate.—J. A. A

Newron’s ORNITHOLOGICAL Reeister.*—The pamphlet before us

is a description of a Record of Ornithological Observations made

by Messrs. A. and E. Newton for the years 1850-’59. Great ad-

vantage flows from a continuous series of such observations in any

department of Natural History, and the system devised and per-

fected for this purpose seems to us very praiseworthy. It is diffi-

cult to gain an idea of this unique register without inspection ji

an accompanying lithographic sheet representing a month’s record

in fac-simile; but it will suffice to say that the record is kept al-

most entirely by means of a few simple but expressive sy mbols, id

use and purport of which may be readily learned. By these signs

a day’s observations may be duly recorded in a few moments, and

the system reeommends itself for this if for no other reason.

Prof. Newton says that the benefits accruing were “out of all F

portion” to the time and trouble bestowed ; and not the least a

these, was the enforcing of a habit of close daily observation,

essential to the culture of practical ornithology. Many ya "a

valuable, and some novel, facts were ascertained respecting be

movements, the pairing, nesting, singing of birds, and their gen ne

habits. It was unexpectedly discovered, among other things, t r

the meteorological observations made in the hope that one nE

observations might throw light on the other, gave negative ee

no birds proving reliable weather-prophets. We should judge this

the digestion of the great mass of material accumulated m °°"

igre Newton:

*On a Method of Registering Natural History Observations. By A

From the Norfolk and Norwich Society’s Proceedings, 1870. + )

BOTANY. 861

way would be a matter of much time and care, but the same is

true of observations recorded in the usual manner.

We wish that a number of copies of this interesting brochure

could be placed on sale at the Naturalists’ Agency, so that our

ornithologists might have the opportunity of acquainting them- -

selves with the merits of the record, and consider the propriety

of adopting the system. — E. C.

BOTANY.

Tue GreocRrarmIcaL Disrripution or Comrosrræ. — Mr. G.

Bentham read a paper on this subject at two recent meetings of

the Linnæan Society, in continuation of his paper on the structure

of the same order of plants (Academy, vol. iii. p. 73). The genera

and species of this largest order of flowering plants are about

equally distributed between the Old and New World; of the

genera about 410 are found in the former and 430 in the latter ;

of species, about 4400 in the Old World and a rather larger

number in the New. Not quite 70 species are common to the two

hemispheres, and these mostly belong to the extreme northern

Tegions ; a few are common to New Zealand and Antarctic America ;

not more than a dozen tropical species are found in both the Old

and New World, and some of these are coast plants. The form

Which Mr. Bentham looks on as prototypic, and possibly ancestral

to the whole order, includes a few closely allied genera, distin-

Suished by their regular corolla, belonging rather more to the

American than the Old World distribution, being found in Chili,

With an outlying genus in St. Helena. Other types, apparently

3 x great antiquity, are found in Africa, Australia, and Western

: ETEN Since the separation of the Indo-Malayan and Austra-

Sy regions from one another, there appears to have been a conti-

mead of races of Compositz across the tropics from south to

of the The paper, which enters exhaustively into the distribution

“a ka ous tribes and more important genera, will be published

ome“ Journal of the Linnæan Society.” — Academy.

ae CoLorrse Marrer or Funat.— Mr. W. C. Sorby has com-

cated to “ Nature” a series of observations on the coloring

we” the fungi found in his own neighborhood (Sheffield in

“Of thei eh ; So far he has been able to determine, by means

‘thirt optical and other properties, the existence of at least

, kn, istinet coloring matters, and he believes the number will

eras larger. The majority of fungi contain at least two

362 ZOOLOGY.

and many contain several different colored substances which can

be separated or perfectly weil distinguished. Fully twenty have

such well-marked optical characters that they could be recognized

without difficulty in other plants; but of these only one is known

‘to occur in lant not a fungus. This is the fine orange

color, soluble in bi-sulphide of carbon, found in Calocera viscosa,

which agrees perfectly with the more orange-colored xanthophyll

of some faded leaves, and of the exterior layer of the root of the

carrot. Closely allied species sometimes contain two different

kinds of coloring matter in common, but very often one or more

differ; while at the same time species belonging to somewhat

widely separated genera are occasionally colored by identical

substances. Notwithstanding this, on the whole, there appears to

be a very decided connection between the general organization of

, the plant and the particular kind of coloring-matter developed

in it.— A. W. B.

New Sratrons or Rare Praxnrts.—Saxifraga aizoides. Warsaw

Glen, Wyoming Co., N. Y. Very abundant high up on shaded, wet

rocks. (Genesee Shales.) Also on the west bank of the Gene-

see River at Portage, Wyoming Co., N. Y. between the middle and

lower falls where it occurs, for nearly a mile, on the high cliffs.

Found also on the Gardeau Bluffs (425 ft. high) still further

down the river.

Lythrum Salicaria. Marshes at the head of Cayuga Lake.

Primula Mistassinea. South bank of Fall Creek, Ithaca, just

below the Triphammer Fall, — abundant.

Pinguicula vulgaris. — With the preceding,

places on Cascadilla Creek, Ithaca.

Sisymbrium canescens. Enfield Glen, Tompkins Co. ;

Glen, Schuyler Co., N. Y.

Phlox subulata. Everywhere about Ithaca.

deau Bluffs, Wyoming Co., N. Y. | six Mile

Sedum ternatum. A few specimens in the glen of >! jn

Creek, Ithaca — obviously indigenous.—D. S. JORDAN, Instruct

in Botany, Cornell University.

and also in several

Watkins

Also on the Gar-

ZOOLOGY.

A Rare Anrmat.—On Saturday, February 17, 1872,

brought to me an animal I had never seen before, &

thought was new to this region. In general appear?

ZOOLOGY. 363

much resembled a fox, except that it was smaller and more slender

in its proportions, and it had a ringed tail as long as its body.

The facial expression reminded me of a raccoon. Upon referring

to the “ Quadrupeds of America” I found it to be an animal of

which it was the sole representative both in genus and species,

for it proved to be the Bassaris astuta, the generic name being

derived from a word signifying a little fox and the specific name

having reference to its manners and habits. It is described as

an inhabitant of Mexico and Western Texas, was originally

found in the vicinity of the City of Mexico and referred to by

the old Spaniard Hernandez. It was first brought to the atten-

tion of naturalists by Mr. Deppe who, in 1826, sent a specimen

to Berlin from Western Texas. The first scientific description

was by Lichenstein, who named it as above. It is carnivorous,

subsisting on small animals, birds and insects. Red river, in

Texas, is given as its extreme northern geographical limit, and it

is an interesting fact in natural history to find such an extreme

Southern species existing in full size and vigor in this so much

more northern latitude, so far from what has been considered its

native habitat. It suggests some interesting questions. Is it

an accidental wanderer from its far-off home? This can hardly

be, for, although probably full grown, its teeth indicate it as a

young animal ; and the great distance to be travelled from Texas

to Central Ohio, and the time necessarily consumed in the journey,

as well as the obstacles of great rivers to be crossed, are against

the theory of a single and chance migration from its original

locality. Have we here, then, another example of the wonderful

Power of nature which enables the animal “in the struggle for life”

to. adapt itself to the varying conditions and circumstances with

Which it is surrounded? For our specimen is thickly clothed with

fur, while its progenitors, like most other warm climate species,

were probably thinly covered with hair, and this fact is against

my recent migration, for surely more than one season would be

required to convert a simply haired, into a fur-bearing ani-

mal. I conclude our specimen was native born in the locality

. te it was found, and if others of its species in Mexico and

: ®Xas are without fur, our animal is a descendant from those which,

a a apa, through many generations, have been gradually fitted

-m esidence in a more northern climate.

The little animal of which I have been speaking measured thirty-

vale 7 ZOOLOGY.

two inches from the end of its nose to the tip of the tail, and when

living would stand, I think, about seven inches in height. Its

body was sixteen and one-half and its tail fifteen and one-half

inches in length, with sixteen rings alternately black and white,

It was killed in Fairfield County, where I understand there were

two of them, and as this one is a male, the other was most prob-

ably a female, and it is to be hoped may yet be captured.—J.

Sutirvant, Columbus, Ohio. i

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF Bassaris ASTUTA.— A late num-

ber of the “ Ohio State Journal” contains an interesting account

by Prof. J. Sullivant, of the capture of this animal in Fairfield

County, Ohio, a locality considerably removed from the habitat of

the species as hitherto known. This curious creature, the only

American representative of the Viverride or numerous family of

the civet cats, etc., of the old world (though not belonging strictly

to that group of animals), has always been supposed to be a Mexi-

can form, restricted in its northern range to Texas, Arkansas and

corresponding latitudes, thence westward. (See Audubon and

Bachman, Quad. of N. A. ii, p. 314, pl. xeviii; Baird, Mam. of N.

A.,p. 147; Coues, Am, Nat. i, p. 351.) As corroborating Protes

sor Sullivant’s article, which gives, besides, several interesting

facts and suggestions, we may state that Mr. J. A. Allen, of =

bridge, during his recent explorations in the West, obtained

unquestionable .evidence of the occurrence of Bassaris m the

vicinity of Fort Hays, Kansas.—ELLIOTT COVES. |

Cororapo Poraro BeerLe.—I notice that, in the April No. of

the American Narvuraxist, my friend Sanborn Tenney is puzzl

to account for the sudden disappearance of the Colorado Potato

Beetle at Niles, Mich. The followtng extract from my f ot

Report may give him some light on the subject. They have

disappeared for good, however, but will doubtless pre sent them-

selves the coming season, though, mayhap, in greatly re%

numbers.

But if the bugs themselves were unprecedentedly nu

es. I passed through potato

merous, 8°

i i patches

ack

the

back of the.

s deadly pare a

h is the only $ 4

dee CRE ge Se Re Sena, mee Ran feel, OU ay

ZOOLOGY. 365

became about as scarce as it had been numerous before. All

accounts agree as to the sudden diminution of its numbers in the

month of June, and so far as Missouri is concerned, it did not

increase to any alarming extent during the rest of the year. The

disappearance was, in many sections, so thorough that it is very

questionable whether man and natural enemies should alone be

credited with the cause. The spring was uncommonly dry and

‘ rth to undergo their transforma-

tions, a great many of them will undoubtedly die if the earth con-

knocked from the vines on to the dry and heated ground, especially

if the vines have been well hilled ; and it is doubtless because the

msect cannot thrive when the thermometer ranges near 100°

C te of things occurred in 1868, and Dr. Henry Shimer, of Mt.

arrol], TIl., then attributed such disappearance to the dryness of

son.* We are justifiable, therefore, in concluding that

be very pleasant and agreeable to

Stvarxe Marrtanp Marmor.— For the last forty years the

fact of the common Maryland Marmot, or Woodchuck, being able

to sing like a canary bird, but in a softer, sweeter note, has been

Mite familiar to myself, and others who could be brought forward

e Witnesses. Mr. Lockwood seems to have an ear to hear, which

R Cut for the thousandth time our statement. Mr. Audubon

S ae only zoological naturalist who would lend a respectful

` * Am. Nat. vol. iii, pp. 91-99.

366 ZOOLOGY.

attention, to what profit we know not. For my part I am prepared

to believe in any amount of animal capacity ; not a tithe of what

is already known can be safely communicated to this generation

which we hope to show ere long. Neither ‘‘ the whistling of the

Woodchuck in its burrow,” by which we understand is meant the

surprise or alarm chuckle, nor the loud challenge or pseudo-bark

of the Marmot of the Sierra Nevada Mts. etc., are at all alluded

to in the following remarks.

When a lad we caught a very young Marmot. Mother prv-

dently forecasting care, etc., stoutly refused to allow the pet.

Knowing the warm side of a mother’s heart, we wisely resolved to

try a little finesse in order to gain parental permission, so my older

brother and myself took a saucer of milk, for we were sure, if she

saw it take hold with both infant paws like a little babe as we had,

the victory was ours. Brother got all things ready, and I insisted

she should just see it eat. Her kind heart yielded. ‘* Wouldn’t have

it die for the world ; it took hold of the edge with both hands so like

a little child.” It was raised. It had a seat in the little high chair

at the children’s table full oft. Its earnest and restless conci-

piscent purr as it scented sweet cake and fragrant viands was

wonderful. At length it became as familiar as the family cat and

finally burrowed under the doorstep. My impression is noW, a

has always. been, that it was a female. I used to watch the p“

very closely to see how it sang, as children are apt to do: There

was a slight moving of the nostrils and lips and consequently

whiskers with an air of unmistakable happy or serene enjoyment.

I question much if this is altogether unknown to others, a

excepting naturalists.— A. KeLLoce, M.D., San Francisco.

Tur POSITION OF THE CENTRE OF GRAVITY IN IxsecrsM

Felix Plateau has contributed an important memoir on this subject

to the “ Bibliothèque Universelle Archives des Sciences Physiques

et Naturelles,” of which the following is an abstract of the b

important conclusions arrived at. (1.) The centre of eee

an insect is situated in the vertical and medial plane whieh se?

along the longitudinal axis of the body. (2.) It occupies # a

tion almost identical in insects of the same species, the same bd

and in the same attitude. (3.) The exterior form of thè pe

rarely permits the determination of the exact position occupy

< A 2 not

centre of gravity without experiment. (4.) It does

=o S

ZOOLOGY. 367

the same position in the two sexes of one species. It is some-

- times less and sometimes more to the rear in the females than in

the males and its situation depends on the relations existing

between the different dimensions of the individuals. (5.) While

standing, the centre of gravity is placed at the centre of the abdo-

men, or in the posterior portion of the thorax, and usually in the

centre of the length of the body. (6.) When an insect is walking

its centre of gravity undergoes constant displacement about a

mean point, but the distances of displacement are too small to be

measured. (7.) The displacement of the centre of gravity when

an insect passes from a state of repose to that of flight, cannot

be ascertained except with those species where the wings lie

folded on the back when in a state of repose. The displacement

is horizontal, and from back to front. (8.) During active flight,

the centre of gravity oscillates continually about a mean position

which corresponds with the instants when the extremities of the

Wings pass the point of crossing of the S-shaped curve which

they describe in the air. (9.) In aquatic insects it is nearer to

the lower than to the upper surface of the body. (10.) During

Swimming, the movements of the posterior feet, acting like oars,

determine the oscillation of the centre of gravity around a mean

Position, which answers to the position of the swimming feet

placed at the middle of their course.— A. W. B.

Occurrence or rae SCISSOR-TAIL FLYCATCHER IN New JERSEY.

On the 15th of April last, a magnificent specimen of the “ Scissor-

tail” (Milvulus Jorficatus Swainson), was shot on the Crosswicks

Meadows, five miles south of Trenton, N. J. The specimen was

* male bird, in full health and feather ; weighing two and one-half

| Sunces avoirdupois, and measuring thirteen and one-half inches

_ itm the tip of the beak to the extremity of the tail. The bird,

: men Captured, was busily engaged in picking semi-dormant

‘MSects from the bark of the trees; creeping about very much as

the custom of the Certhia Americana ; and all the while, opening

q a shutting the long scissor-like tail. The stomach, on examina-

_ Proved. to be full of small coleoptera, insects, eggs and flies.

à — has been mounted, and will be forwarded to you in

T ys.

ie On reference to the Pacific R. R. Rep. vol. ix, page 168, we find

Mat Prof, Baird states that the allied species, Milvulus tyrannus

368 ZOOLOGY.

Bon. is entitled to a place in the United States Fauna, ‘on account

of two specimens in New Jersey, captured, at long intervals; and

one or two seen by Mr. Audubon in the South-west ;” but no

mention is made of this species we have taken here in New Jersey,

being found farther north than Texas, where it is quite abundant.

We have already called attention to the fact of New Jersey

being ‘‘a sort of neutral ground in the matter of geographical

distribution ;” and the occurrence of this southern flycatcher is

an additional proof of the fact ; the more so, because it was taken

when the weather was chiily, and during a spring more backward

than any for the past twelve years. It might perhaps have been

easier to account for the presence of this bird had the season

been far advanced, or had a southerly wind or storm prevailed for

a week or ten days previously ; but the very opposite of all this

had been in reality the case. — CHARLES C. ABBOTT.

Hasirs or tHe Youne Cucxoo.— Mr. Hugh Blackborn, of

Glasgow, Scotland, has published an account of a remarkable

contest witnessed between the young of the cuckoo and of the

common meadow pipit or titlark. The nests contained two

pipits’ eggs and one cuckoo’s, the former of which were hatched

first. Within forty-eight hours after the hatching of the cuckoo,

it had expelled both the pipits from the nests and on their

being replaced struggled about till it got its back under one of

them, when it climbed backwards directly up the open side of the

nest, and pitched the pipit from its back on to the edge, finally

forcing it off. After this had been done several times, the pipits ;

were at length found dead and cold, and when they bi then

replaced the cuckoo made no effort to eject them. The s! ap :

part of the affair is that the cuckoo was perfectly naked and plind,

while the pipits had well-developed quills on the wings and oe

and had bright eyes partially open; yet they seemed ape :

which looked amu" —

gh perfet

the nest, a

less under the manipulations of the cuckoo,

less developed creature. Each time, the cuckoo, thou

blind, made with unerring certainty for the open side of

the only part where it could throw its burden down the bank

which the nest was placed.— A. W. B. s

s Orton in bS-

ec., 1869, page ao

of the North

Great Aux (Alca impennis).— Professor Jame

article on the Great Auk, Awerrcan NATURALIST, D

540, says : —** Once very abundant on both shores

ZOOLOGY. 369

Atlantic, it is now believed to be entirely extinct, none having

n seen or heard of alive since 1844, when two were taken near

Iceland.”

While at Montreal in Aug., 1871, Mr. Alfred Lechevallier, a

naturalist who has collected largely in Labrador, informed me of

aspecimen in his possession cf this supposed to be extinct species.

It was found dead in the vicinity of St. Augustin, Labrador-coast,

in November, 1870, by some Indians from whom Mr. Lechevallier

obtained it while collecting there at the time. It was a mate, and

although in a very had state he preserved it and has recently sold

it to a naturalist in F rance, who is to send it to Austria.

Although it was a very poor specimen he realized two hundred

dollars. — Ruravien Deane, Cambridge, Mass.,

Acriviry or Tror axb Satmon.— Frank Buckland says of

the American brook trout: ‘ These American fish are much more

active and, I was going to write — it may be even so — intelligent

fish than the salmon or trout (English). Possibly they may have

imbibed some of the national American sharpness. I think I shall

Consult them on the Alabama question.”

I myself, while manipulating trout and salmon, at Orland, last

November, learned that the former, although not a quarter the

Size of the salmon, was the more difficult fish to handle. This

Was partially owing to the plump shape of the trout, which caused

the hand to slip off over the head or tail, and to a greater extent

to its superior activity. The facility with which salmon yielded

to manipulation was an agreeable surprise.— C. G. A.

Tae Carotma Hemiruampuus. — My observations confirm and

nd Dr. Coues note (Am. Naturalist, vi., p. 49,) on this

Species. According to my note-book the fish was first seen by me

Sept. 21, 1871, when several specimens were taken in a seine with

mullet, and became very abundant about the last of the month.

this season vast schools of the Bluefish ( Pomatomus saltator)

Were observed feeding upon the still vaster schools of the Hemi-

thamphus, which appear to be their favorite food. I have seen a

Bluefish, when drawn into a boat, eject from its mouth as many

33 eight good-sized Hemirhamphi.—H. C. Yarrow, M.D., U.S.A.,

Fort Macon, N. ©.

Povcnen Rat (Perognatus fasceatus).— This is not very abun-

dant in Texas, They dwell in burrows eight to ten inches deep,

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 24

370 ZOOLOGY.

with subterranean galleries, having several outlets. It has a large

head, full lustrous black eyes, teeth exceedingly sharp and well set.

Ears round and one-fourth of an inch long, tail two inches long,

clavate and tufted with short, stiff hair ; feet long, five fingers, body

well formed with muscular arms and thighs.—G. Lincecum, Long

Point, Texas. — Communicated by the Smithsonian Institution.

A New Biro to Tue Unrrep Srates. An esteemed correspond-

ent, Lieutenant Charles Bendire, U. S. Army, stationed at Tucson,

Arizona, writes to me concerning an owl of the genus Glaucidium

which he procured in that locality. It differs, be says, from Cas-

sin’s description of G. gnoma as follows: —‘‘ The tail-feathers,

which are brown, are distinctly barred with fulvous, or rather ru-

fous, fading into white at the edges of the inner webs. The feathers

of the head are ashy-brown with very narrow longitudinal stripes

of white. The quills of the wing are brown, their outer webs with

small triangular spots of pale rufous, the inner webs with larger

spots of the same shape, ashy white fading to pure white on the

edges.” He was thoughtful enough to enclose some of the char-

acteristic feathers, and on my showing them to Mr. Ridgway, now

our highest authority on American birds of prey, he pronounced

them to be those of Glaucidium ferrugineum, a form not hitherto

found within our limits. — ELLIOTT Coues.

Tue Nest, Eces, AnD Breepinc HABITS OF HARPORHYNCHUS

cRISSALIS. In a later communication, containing much novel and

interesting information upon the birds of southern Arizona, Lieu-

tenant Bendire furnishes a most excellent biography of this sP&

cies, which I lose no time in making public, since nothing of "e

cial consequence has hitherto been recorded. Although the bird

is still extremely rare in collections, Lieutenant Bendire took no

less than six nests with eggs during the fourth week of March me

“The nest,” he writes, “ is externally composed of dry nie a

some of which are fully a quarter of an inch thick; “= lining

consists exclusively of dry rotten fibres of a species of wild hemp,

_ or Asclepias ; in none of the nests did I find any roots, leaves +e

hair. The inner diameter of the nest is about three inches, er

a depth of about two inches. Taking it all together, it 15

very artistically constructed. None of the nests were mar p

three feet from the ground. In two cases I found nests 1n ad

bushy thicket of wild currant, twice again in willow bushes,

ZOOLOGY. 371

in another instance in an ironwood bush. The red-vented thrush

is very shy, hard to observe, restless and quick in its movements.

It appears to prefer damp, shady localities near water courses, and

confines itself principally to spots where the wild currant is abun-

mt. At present [Mar. 27], it appears to feed principally on in-

sects. Its flight is short— only long enough to enable the bird

to reach the next clump of bushes. It seems to have more

frequent recourse to running than to flying, and dives through the

densest undergrowth with great facility and swiftness. The usual

number of eggs laid by this bird (strange as it may appear) is

only two, of an emerald green color, and unspotted. The first set

I found [Mar. 22] contained small embryos, the third [next day]

Was only a single egg with a very large embryo; it was broken,

and must haye been laid as early as the tenth of March. From

the number of nests taken it would appear that this bird is

common; but this is by no means the case, and I believe I have

found every nest of it on the Rillito. I never saw the bird along

the Santa Cruz River, near Tucson, or in any other part of the

Territory where I have been, including a good portion of the Salt

River and Gila country.” Lieutenant Bendire is evidently ob-

serving and collecting with zeal, industry and discretion, in an

Interesting and little-worked field. Important results are to be

anticipated from his labors, and I am sure that other ornitholo-

join me in wishing him abundant success. — ELLIOTT Coves.

_ ISTELLIGENCE IN Monkeys. Ihave two species of Cebus in my

Study, C. capucinus and a half grown C. apella. They are

$ Jack” and “Jim,” and a friend inquires whether they are not like

the James and John of scripture, sons of Cebide (ee)? Jack

displays a thousand traits of monkey ingenuity. He is an admi-

rable catcher, seldom missing anything from a large brush to a

stain, using two hands or one. His cage door is fastened by two

372 GEOLOGY.

the buckle. He then used the strap in a novel way. He was ac-

customed to catch his food (bread, potatoes, fruit, ete.) with his

hands, when thrown to him. Sometimes the pieces fell short three

or four feet. One day he seized his strap and began to throw it

at the food, retaining his hold of one end. He took pretty correct

aim, and finally drew the pieces to within reach of his hand. This

performance he constantly repeats, hooking and pulling the arti-

cles to him in turns and loops of the strap. Sometimes he loses

his hold of the strap. If the poker is handed to him he uses

that with some skill in the recovery of the strap. When this is

drawn in, he secures his food as before.

Here is an act of intelligence which must have been originated

by some monkey, since no lower or ancestral type of animal pos-

sesses the hands necessary for its accomplishment. Whether origi-

nated by Jack, or by some ancestor of the forest who used vines for

the same purpose, cannot be readily ascertained.—Epw. D. Core.

GEOLOGY. .

A GracraL Paexomexox. — On Sunday afternoon the writer of

this visited the shore of Lake Winnebago,* at the foot of Wash-

ington street, and found the ice in the lake apparently solid, with

on the beach were broken square off, and in

torn out bodily by the roots and carried several rods-

half way between Washington and Merritt streets, & large bass

wood tree about two feet in diameter formerly grew On the beach

but a few feet from the water. Now its trunk and roots es a

distance of thirty or forty fect, carried there: by the irresist

et vam P T e

and ten wide, “p

*Lake Winnebago is in Wisconsin. Itis twenty-eight miles long occur

ering an area of two hundred and twelve square miles. Similar phenomen®

ANTHROPOLOGY. MICROSCOPY. 873

force of the glacial upheaval. At the residence of R. J. Harney

on the bank of the lake, the ice broke down and destroyed a

large number of valuable fruit trees and serious fears were at

one time entertained that the house would be carried away.

Hundreds of spectators have visited the shore to look at the

immense pile of ice which is now melting in the sun’s rays.— I.

A. Lapua, Milwaukee. — From the Oshkosh Northwestern.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Foss, Man in France.—We have a great find here — Mr.

Reviére of Paris has been carrying on excavations in a bone cave

here for all the past winter, digging it completely out. He has at

last obtained a nearly complete skeleton, skull perfect, of a large

sized fully grown man, at a depth of about ten feet in the accumu-

lated debris of the cave, and the bottom is not yet reached. Its

Position tells of probable burial, but at that depth it means some-

thing. The skull is well formed, judging from photographs before

me.—S. H. SCUDDER, Mentone, France.

MICROSCOPY.

Derep-spa Lire.— One of the latest contributions to our knowl-

edge of this comparatively new branch of science, comes in the

form of a Report on the Cruise of the School-ship “ Mercury,” in _

the Tropical Atlantic Ocean. The commissioners of public chari-

ties and corrections of New York, desiring that the practice

voyages of the above named ship, which is used as a reformatory

uring the early months of 1871. The microscopical interest of

the voy age belongs to the fifty samples of sea water, partly from

the Surface, and partly from a variety of depths, brought up by

means of a water collecting cylinder attached to a sounding line,

and to the specimens obtained on fourteen occasions from the’ bot-

‘om, by means of Lieutenant J. M. Brooke’s detaching apparatus.

Wea Henry Draper’s excellent and suggestive report, though

the f mainly to depths, currents, temperatures, etc., presents

ollowing in regard to organisms: ‘It needed no special

374 MICROSCOPY.

proof that organic matter was present in every one of these sam-

ples, for the clearest of them contained shreddy and _flocculent

material, some of them quantities of seaweed in various stages of

decomposition. With these vegetable substances were the remains

of minute marine animals. As bearing upon this subject, I found,

on incinerating the solid residue of a sample of water taken from

two hundred fathoms, that the organic and volatile material was

not less than eleven per cent. of the whole. Though the quantity

of organic substance diminished as the stratum under examination

was deeper, there still remained a visible amount in the water of

four hundred or five hundred fathoms. It is probable, therefore,

that even at the bottom of the ocean such organic substance may

exist, not only in solution affording nutriment to animals inhabit-

ing those dark abysses, as Professor Wyville Thompson has sug-

gested, but also in the solid state. Plants, of course, cannot grow

there, on account of the absence of light.” The spectroscope

revealed no hitherto-unknown element in these waters. Dr. Car-

penter, to whom were transmitted the specimens of the bottom ob-

tained from the quills of the sounding apparatus, writes: “As tar

as I can see, they consist of the ordinary Atlantic mud, chalk m

process of formation, with the ordinary types of deep-sea forami-

nifera.” The cruise of the Mercury furnishes, in several impor-

tant particulars, confirmation of theories drawn more or less Con-

clusively from the investigations of the preceding years. |

in his recent i

InrusortaL Lire.—Dr. J. Dongall, of "Glasgow,

her novel and

experiments on this subject, has reached some rat

probably useful conclusions. Of the various substances used to

prevent the development of animalcules, etc., in vegetable and

animal infusions, he found the metallic salts to be by

occupied the fifth place, not the first. Last follow

earths, which were all very low except bichromate

many purposes of disinfection, sulphate of coppe

eligible; and that chromic acid and bichromate

better than the fashionable carbolic acid.

Tue Nature or Miasm.—M. Bolestra has rept

searches upon this subject, to the French Academy of

MICROSCOPY. 375

The water of the Pontine Marshes, and of similar malarious re-

gions, he fonnd to contain invariably, along with the common

infusoria, a minute algoid vegetation with an abundance of trans- `

parent, greenish-yellow spores, qyyg mm. in diameter. This vege-

tation develops slowly in pure water and at low temperatures, but

rapidly in the heat of the sun and amid decomposing organic

material. It floats upon the water, giving an iridescent film when

young, and its spores are found in the air near the marshes, and

even at Rome, being most abundant in warm weather and after a

main or during a fog, and least so in a cool, dry atmosphere. Dr.

Bolestra regards these spores as the miasmatic agent in the pro-

duction of the intermittent fevers for which the localities are badly

celebrated. That “ miasm,” the hitherto unknown cause of inter-

mittent and remittent fevers, is a form of cryptogamic vegetation,

Was urged about six years ago by Professor J. H. Salisbury,

M.D., of Cleveland, Ohio. He published in the ‘‘ American Jour-

nal of the Medical Sciences, in January, 1866, an elaborate paper,

Proposing and sustaining this theory, and describing a number of

vegetable organisms not very unlike those of M. Bolestra’s paper.

“Eers” my Pasre.— Many young microscopists have been puz-

zled to obtain these curious and amusing creatures which the books

Fpresent to be of universal presence in sour paste. F. K. ex-

Plains in “ Science Gossip,” that the paste must be made of pure.

flour and water, boiled, and quite thick. It must be stirred every

day with a wooden spoor, and the “eels” will appear in a few .

days in warm weather, but after a longer time incold. The supply

may- be kept for years by adding a little fresh paste occasionally.

Tue Ortéry or “t Guano.” — The accepted theory of the nature

or this familiar fertilizer was combated by Professor A. M. Ed-

wards, at a meeting of the New York Lyceum of Natural His-

He considers it a sediment, consisting of both vegetable

and animal organisms, which formed at the bottom of the sea and

Was subsequently elevated as well as chemically changed. The

de $ preservation of the diatomaceous shells is adduced as evi-

nce in favor of this theory.

ÅRBORESCENT Sttver.— The beautiful specimens known by this

ae may be easily produced by the following method which is

t ned from “ Science Gossip.” A drop of a very weak solution

o ‘trate of silver is placed on the centre of a slide, and a piece of

376 MICROSCOPY.

fine copper or brass wire, suitably bent, is placed with one end on

the slide in the centre of the drop and the other end lying firmly

on the table. Crystallization commences immediately, and when

it is sufficiently advanced the wire is removed, the remaining

liquid poured off, and the crystals washed with a drop of distilled

water (containing a trace of gum to fix the crystals on the glass)

and mounted dry in a cell. The time required to obtain the best

results will be learned by a few trials, and a variety of specimens

may be obtained by varying the strength of the solution or the

size of the wire.

Artirictat Fossirs. — Metallic casts, preserving perfectly the

microscopic structure of the wood, may be formed by the defla-

gration of nitrate of silver on charcoal. The process, as described

by Dr. Chandler, consists in directing a blow-pipe flame upon à

piece of charcoal upon which a crystal of the nitrate is lying.

When deflagration commences, crystals may be successively

added, and the silver, as reduced, replaces the particles of char-

coal until a perfect copy, in metallic silver, is produced.

NOMENCLATURE or Oxsectives. — The following remarks arè

suggested by the points discussed in Dr. Ward’s paper om yer

subject in the March number of the Narcrauist. Dr. Ward well

says of the prevailing practice. ‘To call two lenses of identical

magnifying power respectively one-fourth and one-sixth -

lenses, is just as indefensible as to call two houses of equal height,

forty and fifty feet high respectively.” An apt illustration of this

is afforded by Dr. J. J. Woodward’s paper in the April number,

where he cites an instrument invoiced zy, which by actual ger

ment at the ‘open point’ was only a ṣẹ? But other objective?

by the same maker called ;4,, are known to be nearly <<

focus as 4 or less than 1, showing that no system is used in

nomenclature. Other instruments from other makers have it

similar results. With such discrepancies, and confusion, pres

copists have nothing to depend on in ordering or companha =

instruments. . +. the :

The points from which the measurements are to be edy the

question which is most obscure. Undoubtedly the best, - d

true theoretic plan is to measure from the optical centre ei

objective to the optical centre of the ocular, oF we woa

focus. This is the method of one maker of objectives: ;

MICROSCOPY. 377

cally it is next to impossible to apply the rule with mathematical

exactness. Mr. Cross says, ‘‘ because the compound objective has

no optical centre ;” but this is an error; several lenses combined

mast have an optical centre as truly as a single lens; but the dif-

fieulty is to find its place among the lenses first, and then to find

where that place is on the outside of the tube. But for high

power objectives it is so near the point between the front and

middle combinations, that if that point is taken, there can be

W hardly an appreciable difference from the truth in the result. The

optical centre of the ocular is the diaphragm, if that is in the

place where it should be.

But in the modern objective the optical centre is a movable

point by the collar for cover adjustment. The nearer the lenses

are brought together the more the combination magnifies. Shall

the objective be named at least power, or some other. I say the

least, because it is a fixed point, always to be found; because it

represents the least the instrument can do, and the owner knows

that the power increases from that point; and because it seems to

have been adopted in theory by most of the best makers, as but few

of their medium powers have ever been found “over named.” If

they did not proceed on that principle, their objectives were still

farther from what they were named than they have been found to

be by that rule. It would certainly be desirable that makers

should give the minimum as well as the maximum of focus for

each objective. The practice of most makers seems to have been

-to make certain lenses by rule of thumb, to be called e. g. a fourth,

Put them together, give them the name, and sell them without any `

lest of what their real focus should prove to be.

Angular aperture varies also with the change of cover adjust-

t, and the practice is to give that at its maximum only ;

Tolles, now, however, gives and marks sometimes both maximum

inimum. . Ward suggests that it should be given at the

same point as the name. It is usually at the minimum there ; but

may be anywhere else; Tolles can make it the maximum at

Pen point. i.

r ? The question has been raised in regard to objectives with two

9 enses, interchangeable, of different powers, as to what they

” m ld be called. Obviousl y they are practically two instruments,

_ i should have the names proper to each front. This may be

‘ ted thus: Tolles. will make an objective dry yo, and to

378 NOTES.

that put another front -Jy immersion, would it not be preposterous

to call the performance of the immersion front that of a i? —

His practice is to give two names; and as the originator of the

plan of two fronts, he may have the right to fix the rule of no-

menclature.—C. S.

Corrections TO Pror. TUTTLE’s Paper IN May NATURALIST.

In all the figures save the first, the secondary flagellum is repre-

sented as arising a short distance from the base of the first, in-

stead of from the same point with it, which is what I meant to

indicate in the drawings. The name of the genus which should

have been Uvella is given as “ Urella.” The specific name near

the bottom of page 286 should be glaucoma. — A. H. T.

NOTES.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE : —

We understand that the Committee having the next, meeting mM

charge are unable to make any announcement of arrangements

until they hear from the Loçal Committee in San Francisco.

Naturat History Epvucatrion ar HARVARD University :— The

changes which have been made in the departments of Natural

History at Cambridge within the last two years have been very

great, greater perhaps than in any other school within the net

time. As there are many persons of both sexes who are sees!

opportunities for study such as the University now offers, We pe

„a sketch of the plans of education in the different schools as far

as they concern the student of natural history. There arè e

schools in the University where natural history is taught A

College, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Botanie i

den, the Scientific School and the Bussey Institution. Let us trace

in a general way the course of a student in these depar tments.

The student who enters the college to-day is no er on

pelled to follow the one uniform road over which the boy of a

ty years past had to go; after his first or freshman yea? ge we

begin to turn himself into the paths of natural scien’ K by

commencement of his second year he may begin his a |

courses which lay the foundations of a knowledge of ehemm. :

taught in the Laboratory, of Physical Geography, ns! the

Meteorology taught by text-books, lectures and excursions wa

field. The time allowed for these studies during this yea 3

NOTES. 379

timated at twelve hours per week. It is expected that the student

_ will, in this year, lay the foundations for the work he may wish to

do during the following years, by getting that general idea of the

physics of the globe, which forms the necessary basis for the work

of the naturalist in any department of labor.

With the junior year the studies of a strictly biological char-

acter begin. One course includes the elements of comparative

zoology, with elementary teaching in microscopy, another the ele-

ments of botany, a third the elements of comparative anatomy.

The principle on which the teaching of zoology is based is that

the student should at the very beginning be put into the position

of an investigator. With this object in view the student is at

first required to do all his work upon natural objects. Beginning

with the solid part of a Fungia, or some other object of equal

simplicity , the student is then required to draw and describe the

specimen, aided only by such questions and suggestions as may be

necessary to get him over the worst obstacles ; as soon as he has

done the little he can do in the way of close observation, he is

given a Manacena or Agaricea which he proceeds to compare with

the Fungia, and so making at least diagrammatic drawings with a

dozen other specimens of Polyps, Haleynoid and Actinoid. Thus

the student gets some idea of the general relations which exist

among the members of that group; when, say, in thirty hours of

labor he has got through this work, a few lectures serve to supple-

ment and connect the knowledge he has obtained from the personal

_ Study of the dry parts, illustrated by a sufficient series of alco-

holie preparations, and helped out by such individual teaching as i

ĉan be given without weakening the habit of self-reliance. In this

way he goes through group after group, until, from a study of

if one hundred species, he has gotten a general idea of the

Organic forms above the Protozoa.. In this stage of the student’s

work, care is taken to avoid the use of diagrams, this avoidance

2 ng dictated by the conviction that the student remembers the

and not the object. During this year botany is also

_ “Sight with the same object and by much the same method. In

: SCN with the zoological instruction, the students are taugbt

eft to

t © second year courses are advanced zoology, palæontology,

nts of microscopy, the development of the subject being

the next year.

geology, geography and advanced botany. The first two

380 NOTES.

have one common feature; three lectures or readings are given

each week to the discussion of the history of zoology and paleon-

tology, with special reference to modern opinions concerning the

relations of animals. An effort is made to acquaint the students

with the character of the greater works in the science, by giving

them constant opportunities for consulting them in their studies

and by showing them the methods of the masters in the several

departments. Besides this each student is required to pursue some

special line of work. In the choice of subject the largest liberty

is allowed, but the student is, however, recommended during 4

half year to study advanced microscopy; in this work the aid of

an instructor is given for four hours a week. In this four months

he should acquire a sufficient knowledge of the practical manage

ment of the instrument in all ordinary investigations. The labo-

ratory is well supplied with instruments of instruction in this

branch of work. j

Besides the course in the history of the science, the student

who takes the elective in palæontology is required to traverse the

ground covered in that part of “ Dana’s Manual” which is entitled

historical geology, acquainting himself in a practical way with the

most important characteristic fossils of the several periods.

The greatest value in this work is set upon the keeping of fall

and accurate note books in both the last described courses. Te

rank of the student turns upon the condition of his note books,

as much as upon the quarterly examinations which he is required

to pass.

Those students who desire to contend for honors at the gr adua-

tion in zoology or in paleontology, are required to have taken e

sides their junior election in natural history, one election in phys :

eal science, and at least three natural history elections in the jas

year, in all of which they must have attained excellence. =

are, moreover, required to write an acceptable thesis which ”

contain an original discussion of some question in agin” 7

science. Hereafter the junior electives will consist of hs a

anatomy and physiology, one in zoology and one in botany: ©

the students in this as well as in the last year will be Ba

theses upon

The natural history education of the scientific school T pi.

dergone a great change within a year; hitherto the studeni i

NOTES. 381

worked with the professors of the several departments, giving their

whole time to any specialty which they might select. This plan

admirably- suited as it was to the needs of the trained student

who had fitted himself in other schools for the work of a special

department, was not adapted to the needs of those to whom this

teaching was to fill the whole office of higher education. With the

introduction of the doctor’s degree into the plan of the school,

it became necessary to make a change which has long been desir-

able by fixing a definite scheme of general scientific instruction in

Place of the imperfect system which had hitherto prevailed. A

three years’ course has been arranged which secures to the student

abroad view over the whole field of science and the advantage

‘which comes from a knowledge of the methods of research in use

in its several branches. It gives to those persons who may not

have the desire or the means to go through a regular college

course, a systematic training which will occupy their full time for

three years and give the best results of culture which can be at-

ined in any scientific course. Students who can pass the re-

quired examinations are admitted to the degree of bachelor of

Science. Graduates of colleges where science is taught in an

effective way should be able to enter this course in advanced

standing. Students of the college, graduating with honors in the

departments of natural history, should be able to obtain the

degree in this course in a year of study. The student is trained

in the important art of expressing himself clearly on the matters

Stons

ie study done, the preparation for the degree must be in some `

T lal department when the student will generally become the

iie kok pacity as an investigator or teacher in the science which

nt has made his specialt :

The res p y

Ources of the University for teaching science are, it is-

382 NOTES.

believed, not only unrivalled in this country, but unsurpassed in

Europe. The scientific departments have a list of twenty-four

instructors, and the material resources which they afford have

cost in the aggregate over a million and a half of dollars. There

are six museums in the University: the Museum of Comparative

Zoology, the Botanical Museum, the Museum of Comparative

Anatomy, Museum of Morbid Anatomy, the Museum of Mineral-

ogy and that of Ethnology. These collections are unsurpassed

by those of any educational institution in this country, and

taken together they furnish an efficient basis for the acquisi-

tion of the wide ranging knowledge on which a scientific career

must be based. The opportunities for contact and intercourse in

scientific societies are excellent. There is a working society of

natural history in the University, and the Boston Society of Nat-

ural History, one of the largest and most efficient of the American

institutions of this nature, is also open to all students of the

science. — N. S. S i

Tae Hasster Exrenitios :— We arrived here the 11th of April

and all well. We left Montevideo Feb. 28th, and after spending

several days very profitably in Gulf Matias we steamed south

with fair weather rounding Cape Virgin on the 13th of March

and anchoring the first night after in the Straits of Magellan.

Lateness in the season obliged us to put off the anticipated tip —

to Falkland Islands. We started from Possession Bay, our

anchorage, the day after, stopping at Elizabeth and Santa Magdi-

lena Islands and arrived March 16th at Sandy Point, which iar

only settled place on the Straits and contains a population

about one thousand. Leaving these on the 19th (Mar-) = :

steamed on, anchoring every night in some good harbor, passing F

Cape Froward, our most southern point, on the 20th and en

the entrance to Smyth Channel on the 27th when we turn

and left the Straits of Magellan. Our trip through was #

"interesting and charming one to us all, and many valuable ge% :

Our zoologic®

logical observations were made by Prof. Agassiz.

collections were ‘very satisfactory excepting the

owing to the steep rocky shores and abundance of kelp

our using to advantage our well fitted seines and we

` successful as we anticipated; the short stay there also

fishes W i t

collecting, but.as a whole the time spent there PH

and enabled us to reap much scientific information.

prevenia

were not $0 —

ery p! a

The Straits

ei e a I re a aah ee

NOTES. 383

are bordered on either side by mountains one or two thousand

feet high with their tops more or less covered with snow from

which were flowing glaciers. I could count six extensive glaciers

in sight above me at one time. In passing we had a favorable

opportunity to examine the rocks for eyidence of a once existing

Glacial Period, corresponding to that seen in the north, and Prof.

Agassiz made: his observations with perfect satisfactory results.

The mountains on both sides showed unmistakable evidence of a

large glacial mass of ice once pushing its way south northwards.

We stopped one afternoon at Glacier Bay to visit the grand glacier

which is moving slowly down the valley from the snow on the

mountains, the accumulations of winters, and from which the Bay

‘Teceives its name. The glacier was at least four miles long, two

hundred feet thick and one mile wide at the termination. The

progress of the mass down the valley was ascertained to be three

tighths of an inch per hour. All the necessary observations were

carefully made by Prof. Agassiz. From the Sraits of Magellan

We steamed inland up Smyth Channel and saw, for the first time,

the Pacifie at the outlet of Gulf of Pénas. Touching at two

ports on Chiloe Island we went to Lota for coal and arrived here

on the afternoon of the 11th inst. ` We shall remain here several

Weeks and there is a favorable prospect for our making a large

collection of specimens. —J. Henry Braxe. U. S. O. S. Steamer,

Taleahuana, Chili, April 13, 1872.

We call attention to the card of Mr. Sanborn, the well known

entomologist so long connected with the Massachusetts State

' of Agriculture and the Boston Society of Natural History.

a To one who has not had practical experience in the matter it will

: seem odd to be told that in order to receive an answer to inquiries

| miiting to “bugs” that a fee must be enclosed just the same as if

a Tep asking for information from a lawyer or a doctor, but when

remembered that the inquiries not only often call for several

hours of the valuable time of the person addressed, but, also, often

eg. Bteat pecuniary interests, the matter is put in its true

light While every scientist is ready to give such aid as is in his

bow Ower to

- The Academy, Nos.

334

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

I. B.. Milwaukee, Wis.— The earth sen

the love said to be there coull not be found.

fly. Tie a piece of gauze rou

eats) som of t! os insects when an ey de T Dp.

Am kd U, Pembina.— Not unless you send be

and2 Shannen to recog

erutus “DU. Bat ti ley shouid be collected aiter the fiuit 1

is Carex filifolia Nu

t in the box was so dry when received thet

They were probably lorve of a small

id the flower pot and upon tue stem of tue plant, and

Nos.1

nize. L aes at nae fe sar ae bae Bako 2, Cymopterns glom-

med. Same ot 3, wateh

etter specimens, neatly put up.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

‘iim pamph. i$ pa

The Development of yA pares hemus. By A. S. Packard bebe

Con tributions to the Fauna ws a ew ite Croton Water. Mic.

years 1870-1, By Charles F. sler. Pp. 23, wouleuts nadi

p eases poten by their growth upon

Vegeta le. Parasi 5 and the

pp. 50. Boston. 1872,

Nova a Re Jiæ Soe

1872. Trenton.

of ARo eant Remains of Pte i

the Dermal Scutes of Mosasauroid Reptil

iit., April. 1872.) By O. C. Marsh. Pe Bp

oO,

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club. No. 18. Apr., 1872.

Act tetatis Scientarum oe saliensis,

70, 4to pamph.

e Con tusissioners of fisher

By Henry Hartshorne, 8vo, Read before the

auria, with descriptions of new species.

ge the a ar. Jour

New Hav

Rape t of Me Geological Survey of the State of New ‘Hampshire,

to, 36 rvations duri

> plates. New York.

ge tg

dtu. 3.

8vo pamph. ashua, Boston Soe

‘an the Mode of the Natur al Distribution of Plants over the Surface of the Ear th. Tihica

t. Hist.: First Wa Iker Prize Essay.) By Alh rt N. Prentiss. 8vo pamph. A

m ice oF a New Species o adrosaurus. Iy Marsh. Received March 2ist So annual

The General Principles of Urgan m 0 Evolution of nic Forms. of Nash

ress before the Klam Society o f the medical department of the University

Delivered Feb, 23, 1870, By J a ore ying pamph. 1871. Don K. Price. BY

Edward a ks on a paper entitled “ ome Phases of Modern Philosophy,” by Eli ae

ward ope, 8yo pamph.

n the Mineral Res valsa a North Carolina, By Frederick A. Genth. 8vo pamph.

E ak sa Reng gri. Topeka.

Eleventh Ann l Report of the Educational Department of Kansas. 8v0. 1 p

elimi ary. "Dao tion of Hesperornis regalis, with notices of four other new. 1872.

cretaceous birds, Hë rof. O. C. Marsh (F om the Am. Jour. of Science cag on Wien.

Geologischen Reichsanstalt. Band xxi. 3. Juli, August, Bepts ember, Philadelphia.

Sod PE Aae the en Sciences. a o. 126, E ota rs

e ndlu: x eologischen Reic. ws talt. 8vo. oO. . 3%

Notice of the Address of T. TE s e the American Association at Indianapolis

ames D, Dana m the

Annual Report of the A Hines

Svo. St. Paul,

Concho.

Sept. 4, 1871,)

cord of a few Molds in the Collections of È. C. H.

Siros, Acad. Nat. ne hwy

12, The Field.

geese Playa By Thomas Meehan.

iste Canadien, "Vol. iv. Nos. 1

3, < ond 5, 1872, Quebec.

The Canadian Entomologist. Vol.iv. No. 2.

1872. London,

The ee a s —

Blo arny Magazine. No.

The. Taradi of. ‘Betany, "British and Foreign,

New Series. Vol-i. Nos. 109-113.

The Canadian Naturalist and Quarterly Jour-

, z Science. Ne w Series Nos.

The iien Journal of Science and Arts,

hird Series, Vol, M Ne 15. 1872. New

Nature. “Nos. to M. 2, 1872, London

r March and April, 1872.

Land and Water. . .

is, e ea Nos. from Jan, to May.

ical Memoranda. No. ix. By R. E. C. Stearns, (From Proc. Cal.

din N. F. 1872

owe foun adelphia.) 17% pele May. a

ndon

s. Vol.i, No.2. 1872.

Ridin Jeunes Ni Naturalistes.

1872.

ogra YA the die Nome No og.

to Apr. p E e Vol. |

America seers it 187

a” iene. Philadetp! No. vie |

rh Sh a ete

The “Geol cal Ma:

April, 1872, London

ite 56 pages. 3 plates. 1872,

man, By James ©, White.

Vol. vii. Fase. iii

ies of the State of New Jersey. Svo

American Phitosephical

poa

By ©. H. Hiteheock. 15.

Acad. Nat. Sci

A ee ee

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.—JULY, 1872.—No. 7.

~C-SROEDOD 3

THE FEDIAS OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES.

BY PROF. THOS. C. PORTER.

Agout thirty years ago, two Fedias with fruits of singular shape

were discovered by Mr. Sullivant, near Columbus, Ohio, and pub-

ished by him as new species under the names of F. umbilicata and

F. patellaria. They soon disappeared from their original station,

and no botanist seems to have met with either of them again

‘Until the Rey. S. W, Knipe of the Delaware Water Gap collected,

4 in the spring of 1870, a few specimens of F. patellaria, in West-

‘Moreland County, Pa., and early in June, 1871, a large supply in

the neighborhood of Columbia on the Susquehanna River, where

_ © grew in great profusion along with the F. radiata of Michaux.

i Specimens of this plant, placed in my hands by the collector,

= CxXhibited such diversities in the fruit as to suggest the idea that

both it ana F. umbilicata might in the end prove to be forms of

F. radiata, Dr, Gray, to whom the conjecture was communicated,

kindly furnished fruits from Mr. Sullivant’s plants, to complete

; i n of evidence, and the information that F. umbilicata had

“50 been rediscovered, last summer, on the Hudson River.

a The Manual of Dr. Gray contains five species of Fedia ; one an

oo from Europe (F. olitoria Vahl.), and four indigenous.

u of the

- gEntereg ;

5 SereNce, ne ang to the Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

fice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 5

ER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 25 (380)

386 THE FEDIAS OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES.

acters are constant and reliable, it will now be my endeavor to

show, aided by illustrations from the p neil of Mr. Knipe.

Fedia olitoria Vahl., Fig. 102. Fruit; a, side view; b, cross sec-

tion with the confluent empty cells shaded. The spongy mass (¢)

on the back of the fertile cell clearly separates this naturalized for-

eigner from our native species. It differs also Fig. 103.

in its more humble and diffuse habit, and the `

Fig. 102. pale blue color of its corolla.

Fedia Fagopyrum Torr. and

ray. Fig. 103. Fruit (from |

a West Penn.) ; a, side view; b,

=~ = cross section, with the two

Beneyt empty cells shaded. Despite

SELT the smaller number of stigmas,

C O0 the structural plan of the ova- N

Fedia olitoria, ry, as seen in the five well-de- <

‘fined dorsal sutures (103b, s), is quinary. A Pe

single ovule is developed and fills up the cavity of 70%% Fagopyrum:

the three posterior confluent cells. The two anterior sterile cells

are compressed laterally, until they almost meet in a sharp angle,

making the fruit triquetrous like a grain of buckwheat. Between

the sharp edges of the angle a narrow groove (103 b, a) runs from

base to apex. In a considerable number of matured fruits esam-

Fig.10t. ined, from W. Penn. and W. N. York, this groove Was

found uniformly present. All, too, were Fig 1.

more.or less downy under a lens, and in no :

case were the sterile cells confluent. These

are variations from the typical plant as n

characterized in Gray’s Manual, and yet

the peculiar shape of the fruit and its large

size (two lines in length) will probably ;

enable it to hold its place as a distinct

species. ‘

koa

a, side view; b, cross section, with the two empty si

shaded ; ¢, cross section of another fruit, with the two empty ¢¢

confluent. The fruit of this species is much smaller,

in length, and usually quite downy, but sometimes smoot”

quinary structure of the ovary is not so apparent. As m fell

Fedias the bracts are more or less strongly ciliated, or pe

THE FEDIAS OF THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES. 387

naked. In one particular the description should be amended.

Under favorable circumstances it often attains the height of thirty

inches, and its range of stature is about that of F. Fagopyrum,

‘one to two feet.

Fedia radiata Michx., var. patellaria (F. patellaria Sulliv.).

Fig. 105. Fruit (from Columbia, Pa.) ; a, side

View; b, cross section, with the two slightly

Fig. 106. divergent empty cells

Fig. 107.

seen in Fig. 104, a and b,

and appears to have been

derived from it by a mod-

erate extension of the

T. radiata var. patellaria. walls of the empty cells.

Fig. 106. Fruit (from Columbia, Pa.) ; a, side

View ; b, cross section, with the two widely dj- 7 "*iata: var. patellaria.

vergent empty cells shaded. Here the abnormal lateral extension

of the walls of the empty cells is carried to an extreme, and they

are so flattened in the centre and curved up on the margins as

readily to suggest the image of a minia- Fig. 108.

ture platter. This is exactly the form ,

of fruit in Mr. Sullivant’s

above; e, cross section, JF

vith the empty cells Sa

gh One specimen of

* Anipe’s last collection -has this re-

—. form of fruit throughout. It -

in Fj ° have been produced by the doubling of that represented :

8: 106. Two fruits have coalesced by the union of their

se empty cells, and the dissepiments vanishing have left a

: ag large cell in the middle. On one side the usually fertile

all the empty ; on the other, it contains a seed but in some cases

F. rađiata, var. umbilicata.

cells are sterile.

388 MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS.

Fedia radiata Michx., var. umbilicata (F. umbilicata Sulliv.).

Fig. 108. Fruit (from Columbus, Ohio) ; a, side view; b, another

side view, showing the cruciform opening caused by the ten-

dency of the cell in the abnormal expansion of its walls to split

along the sutures; c, cross section of the same; d, side view

of a more mature fruit, showing a further enlargement of the

opening into the empty cell; e, another side view. As the fruit

of the former variety came probably from that of F. radiata, with

two empty cells, as seen in Fig. 104, so this may have been de-

rived, by the operation of the same cause, from that of Fig. 104¢,

with the empty cells confluent. 5

In view of the decided disposition toward monstrosity evident

in Fig. 107, and the differences of the fruits iù size and shape, it

is questionable whether F. patellaria and umbilicata are worthy to

stand even as varieties of F. radiata; but, since no typical fruits

of the latter haye been observed intermingled with the aberrant

forms on the same stalk, they may for the present be i

as such.

MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS.

BY DR. H. HAGEN.

Havine observed that in treating of the interesting phenomen

of mimicry, writers have used indiscriminately very different se

tors, I shall try to give some preliminary ideas which I do not find |

published, and which I believe will be useful in explaining W

interesting subject. |

It will be best to consider the color and pattern separately.

There are three different kinds of colors: viz., colors p the .

` by interference of light, colors of the-epidermis, and colors of

hypodermi All three may either be wanting, Or all three, |

_ two of them may occur together in the same place. xed

Colors produced by interference are produced in two Cl

‘ways; first by thin superposed lamellæ, as in the wings of D ee

Neuroptera, ete., without any other color, as in hy aline wine®

connected with other colors as in the scales of Entimus #0" ak

There must be at least two superposed jamella to bring '

MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS. 889

colors by interference, and there cannot be more than four, as both

wings and scales consist only of four layers, two internal belonging

to the hypodermis, two external belonging to the epidermis. In

fact, if scales taken from dry specimens of Entimus are observed

under the microscope, many partly injured can be found, which

give different colors according to the layers of the lamellæ which

remain.

Secondly, colors by interference are produced by many very fine

lines or strive in very near juxtaposition, as in Apatura and other

color-changing insects. Colors by interference may perhaps be

Sometimes also produced in the same way as in the feathers of the

dove’s neck by very small impressions situated near together.

The colors produced by the interference of light are only optical

phenomena, differing in this respect from the other colors of the

body, the epidermal and hypodermal colors.

The epidermal colors belong to the pigment deposited in the cells

of the chitinized external skin, the epidermis. These colors are

mostly metallic blue, green, bronze, golden, silver, black, brown,

and perhaps more rarely red. The epidermal colors are very easily

recognized, because they are persistent, never becoming obliterated

or changed after death.

The hypodermal colors are situated in the non-chitinized and

pi lay er, called hypodermis by Weismann. They are mostly

brighter and lighter, light blue or green, yellow, milk white, orange

and all the shades between. The hypodermal colors in the body of

the insect fade or change, or are obliterated after the death of the

msect. A fresh or living insect when opened may easily be

deprived of the hypodermal colors simply by the action of a little

brush. I said hypodermal colors in the body, because there are

hypodermal colors which are better protected, being encased nearly

, ed of the epidermis and hypodermis which become so strongly

: glued together after the transformation into the imago state

Mta maceration of years tried by me showed no effect at all on

= wings. This fact is very interesting as it explains how

S, and even colored wings, can be found in palzontological

390 MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS.

layers in good preservation. The destruction of insects, which is

so peculiar to the secondary strata in England, proves, as I be-

lieve, that the bodies of the insects must have floated a very long

time before they were deposited. It is quite a rarity to find well

preserved insects there although many very well preserved wings

even of lace-winged flies have been described.

There is an interval after the transformation before the mem-

branes of the wings become inseparably glued togethers it is at

this time that the finishing of the colors takes place. For instance

in an Aschna, a Libellula depressa or trimaculata, if the wing is cut

off at the base, the two layers can be easily separated by manipu-

lation under water, and the wing can be inflated with a little tube —

by separating the borders with a knife. I can show specimens 80

prepared. But this is only possible as long as the wings possess

the appearance of having been dipped into mucilage, an appearance

which is well known in young Odonata.

The scales have just the same development as the wings. At

first they are little open sacs, communicating with the hollow of

the wing and the whole body, and at a later period are glued

together like the wings themselves.

In the wings and in the scales the hypodermal colors are formed

and finished before the wings stick together, and by this means

they are well preserved and safely encased. They have no pies

communication in the glued parts with the interior of the animal,

and are preserved in the same way, as if hermetically inclosed in &

glass tube. There are even here in the wings and scales many

epidermal colors, chiefly the metallic ones; but all the brighter

colors (for instance the somewhat transparent spots in the ely pe

of the Lampyridæ, Cicindelidæ, etc., and in the greater number

Lepidoptera) are, as I believe, hypodermal colors. iii

Finally there sometimes occurs outside of the animal, that 1$, on

the epidermis, a kind of color which I consider as hypode ete

color, such as the pale blue on the abdomen of many Odonata, die

white on the outside of many Hemiptera, the pale gray a8

elytra and thorax of the Goliathus beetle, the powder on i

others. Some of these colors are very easily resolved in è ee

_ and are apparently a kind of wax. I believe that these a

produced by the hypodermis and are exuded through —

channels of the pores (Poren Cancle). ;

The hypodermal colors are very often different ™

MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS. 391

females of the same species, the epidermal colors rarely differ so

far as I know; but there are genera with prominent epidermal

colors which are nearly always different in different sexes, viz,

Calopteryx, Lestes, some Hymenoptera, ete.

It would be interesting to know the different colors of the epider-

mis in such cases. So far as I know the change seems to be

between related and not between complementary colors. But my

observations are far from having any conclusive importance. The

same investigation would be. necessary for the hypodermal colors.

The hypodermal colors may change or be altered in some way

in a male or female during its lifetime, by sexual or other influ-

ences. The epidermal colors never change. By sexual influences

yellow is changed into orange, brown into red, and even sometimes

more changed. By other influences, for instance by cold in

hibernation, pale yellow is changed into red (Chrysopa). The

‘Aypodermal colors can be changed even by a voluntary act of the

animal, and the new colors disappear again (Cassida). The

hypodermal colors are the only ones on which the animal has any

influence either involuntarily by the action of the nutritive fluid or

Voluntarily. The epidermal cells are placed entirely outside of

any influences of the animal, when once established. It will per-

Perhaps be possible to prove that the so-called mimetic colors are

all hypodermal colors. es

The hypodermal colors seem to be produced by a photographic

erpcene (I know no better expression), the epidermal colors by a

chemical process of combustion or oxidation. Would it be possi-

ble to prove that by a photographic process even the colors of

the surrounding world could be transmitted, a great step towards

an undertaking of the phenomena would be given. The fact of

Course is very probable, at least in some instances.

In observing the mimicry, the pattern of an insect must be

= “UJ Separated from the color. In fact the pattern is not the

_ Product of an accidental circumstance, but apparently the product

A certain law, or rather the consequence of certain actions or

: eels in the interiur of the animal and in its development. The

: a 'S very easily afforded by the regularity of the pattern in

ace sia or a family of insects. If studied carefully and compara-

G y the pattern in a genus is the same or is only more or less

=" The number of such families is so exceedingly great

— Some example will readily occur to every one.

392 MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS.

Moreover a certain and constant pattern can be found for the

head, a different pattern for the segments of the thorax, and a

different pattern for the segments of the abdomen. This pattern

is in the different segments of the abdomen (Hymenoptera, Diptera,

Neuroptera, Orthoptera) always the same, only more or less

elaborated, and less finished in the first and last segments. In

some way the same is true for the thoracic segments.

In some few instances I was able to observe how the pattern is

produced. In the Odonata (Dragon flies) at the moment of trans-

formation the thorax is transparent, and shows no colors at all.

At this time the muscles are without importance and in process

of formation. The thoracic muscles as is well known are, in the

Odonata, very powerful, and also very extraordinary as regards

the shape of their tendons. Just along outside the muscles are

dark lines more or less well finished, and resulting from the action

of the muscles. Ubi irritatio, ibi affluaus. 1 believe that it would

not be unphilosophical to conelude that a powerful action in the

development of the muscles is in such a case the cause of a greater

combustion or oxidation in the neighboring parts. In fact on

the head of a Cicada, on the abdomen of an Æschna we find

similar patterns, in some way mostly representing the underlying

muscles. In the Gomphina the fact is striking and far more as

the stronger species mostly possess a larger dark pattern.

are some very small species which are almost entirely

there are no small species entirely black.

Should the fact, with the explanation, be admitted, a step far-

ther in the explanation of the different patterns would be made.

I know very well that in the Odonata there are patterns which do

not agree with my explanations, even some contrary to it, but

if some certain facts be explained, there are perhaps more factors

still unknown or unobserved. The explanation given for ocn”

facts would still be admissible, or at least not entirely objection’

ble.*

There

yellow ;

s far as 1 know the literature relating to the phenomena of mimicry, a

related differences are often confused, and I believe that in separating pagea

lowing the views above given, many facts would be better understood and j ‘

ing subject more easily advanced. ‘ -o is one more ;

Besides all the difficulties which oppose a clear and correct view, anne different :

which I do not find mentioned, i. e. the so called color-blindness exp “ nthrop®

Chapter. Persons who cannot distinguish ripe cherries upon

i MIMICRY IN THE COLORS OF INSECTS. 393

The patterns on the wings and elytra could not be the product

of the action of muscles, but I believe it to be probable that the

sudden rush of blood or even air, by the accelerated circulation and

respiration in the act of transformation may have the same effect.

In this way some patterns, otherwise not explicable, could be under-

stood. The eyespots in the caterpillars of some Papilionide have

been ascertained by Leydig to be epidermal colors, and I believe

that the various kinds of eyespots in the wings of the imago are also

epidermal colors. If a stream of blood meets a small obstacle

just in the centre, a funnel is formed; if this obstacle is a ring,

and behind it another obstacle we have two or more funnels, one

in the other, and the section of them will be circular or elliptical

according to the angle at which they reach the surfaces. Such

patterns in the elytra and wings are formed or preformed at the

time when the wing is a sac ; sometimes before the transformation,

and here is another circumstance which explains some patterns.

The walls of the sac are suddenly augmented and strongly dilated

in the transformation. Small patterns preformed in the sac will

also be altered and enlarged by the same process, and I know that

many patterns of Lepidopterous wings are in such a way very

easily explained. All the waved lines of the wings and other

marks belong here, and as the ribs or nervures seem to grow

faster in transformation, the waved appearance would be explained.

In fact the greater part of the patterns seem to be produced by

expansions or distraction of the pattern preformed in the wing at

Some period before the transformation.

re NSOE EA NEA

on the vine by their color re numerous than would be suspected.

vag mistakes in the color of green and red light by officers of the signal

He gives the statement that usually one in twenty, and in the soldiers exam-

fty was subjected to color-blindness. But these numbers show only the

eater num r less aff

In fact we have no means of measuring this physiological difference ; if two

there is no cama , and even compare the color with certain known objects

dent in © proof at all that they see just the same color. I think that it would be pru-

describing cases of mimicry, especially when they are extraordinary, not to

Sirsa, even the best observer may be unaware of this infirmity, and in fact the

horities on color-blindness always state that the greater number of persons

i ity,

Mare no idea of their infirmity

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

BY J. A. ALLEN.

Ill. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE VALLEY.

ERPE

We arrived at Ogden, Utah, September 1st, and spent the fol-

lowing five weeks ornithologizing in the northeastern portion of

the Great Salt Lake Valley. Although the vicinity of Ogden was

the principal field of our operations, we made several excursions

to the neighborhood of Salt Lake City, and to different points

along the eastern shore of the lake. During this time we collec :

or observed nearly one hundred and forty species of hirds, indi-

cating for this locality a comparatively rich avian fauna. From

the lateness of the season several of the summer birds had already

migrated southward, among these Bullock’s oriole and the white

pelican. The latter, from its great abundance in summer, forms

an interesting feature of the ornithology of the Great Salt Lake

alley. Other species were daily arriving from the mountains oF

from more northern districts. ee

The country about Ogden presents unusually varied conditions

of locality and climate. The Wahsatch Mountains rise abruptly

near the eastern shore of the lake, and some of the peaks are, adios

in summer, dotted with fields of snow. The broad expanse of

water formed by the lake is bordered at intervals with extensive

marshes, between which and the mountains stretches & broad

plain. The willows and cottonwoods that fringe the rivers T

erly constituted the only arborescent vegetation in the valley,"

now extensive orchards and the numerous trees planted for sh

and ornament furnish more favorable haunts for various hasnt

birds, which are every year increasing in number. While mee |

valley the summer is almost tropical, a journey of a few

may take one to the alpine region of the mountains ;— eer

burning sands of the arid plain to fields of perpetual snow- z

is thus as great a variety of localities and climate as Can be ‘

found in so limited an area. as vey 7

The heat throughout the month of September was me me :

oppressive, the temperature being that of a New Engl

and no rain, it is said, had fallen for nearly four months.

(394)

‘

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 395

the first week of October the first snow of the season began to

cover the higher parts of the mountains, extending lower with

each successive storm, till on the 7th of the month their whole

slopes were covered, and rain and sleet fell in the valley. The

winds became cold and chilling, and winter seemed to have suc-

ceeded summer without the intervention of autumn. Such indeed

this year was almost literally the case.

A little more than twenty years ago, as everybody doubtless

knows, the Great Salt Lake Valley was entirely a desert, its char-

acteristic vegetation being the “sage brush” and “grease wood,”

and such similar well-known plants as are found throughout the

more excessively arid parts of the West. During the time that has

since elapsed the mountain streams have been tapped by the indus-

trious Mormon emigrants, and a portion of their waters conducted

in ditches over the plains ; thereby literally transforming the bar-

ren desert into fruitful fields. Considerable areas have thus been

reclaimed, orchards and farms that rival in productiveness those

of the most favored portions of our country replacing the repul-

sive sage brush and its kindred plants. These changes have of

course greatly modified the fauna, increasing the number of all

the smaller birds, but especially the granivorous and frugivorous

Kinds, whilst the influx of settlers has materially reduced the

number of the water-fowl, although their abundance still forms

the most characteristic ornithological feature of the region. Three

Species are reported to have been recently introduced, which give

Promise of multiplying rapidly and becoming thoroughly natura-

- These are the European house sparrow (Passer domesticus),

ay mmon eastern quail (Ortyx Virginianus), and the California

ie (Lophortye Californicus), all of which, as I was informed,

= raised young the past season (1871).

„With these general remarks I now pass to a hasty enumeration

of the species that came under our observation ; premising, how-

: “ver, that the only previous paper especially devoted to the orni-

y of this region consists of a brief report by Professor

a Baird on the birds collected by Captain Stansbury’s Expedition,*

published į

| : = the family of Thrushes, we obtained but four species —the

n 1852, in which are mentioned thirty-one species.

in, the catbird, mountain mockingbird and hermit thrash.

only came down from the mountains about October Ist,

re a a Ra ia peace aren nna aaa ES

‘Stansbury’s Expedition to the Great Salt Lake, pp- 314-325.

396 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

and we saw but few specimens, but the others were abundant.

The robin was formerly rare, but being a general favorite with

the settlers it has been carefully protected and seems to be annu-

ally increasing in numbers. The mountain mockingbird, famil-

iarly known to the settlers as the “gray bird,” is said to have

similarly increased, but through its depredations on the smaller

` fruits—even the peach not escaping its ravages—it has become a

proscribed race. The catbird we found as numerous in the thickets

bordering the streams as we ever saw it in the East. The arctic

bluebird is well known as a spring and autumn visitor, but seems

to be most numerous in spring. The titlark (Anthus Ludovicia-

nus) abounds at the same seasons, being first observed by us

September 15th, though it probably breeds on the neighboring

snowy summits of the Wahsatch Mountains. Of the Sylvicolide

or wood-warblers, we collected about a dozen species. The

Maryland yellow-throat, the summer yellowbird (Dendræca œs-

tiva), and the yellow-breasted chat are probably commou summer

residents in the valley; the Blackburnian, Audubon’s, the Nash-

ville, the golden-crowned (Helminthophaga celata) Macgillivray’s

and the black-capped flycatching warblers, are all doubtless more

or less common at the same season in the adjoining mountains.

Nearly ali were common in September in the vicinity of Ogden.

The ruby-crowned kinglet became frequent about October 1st m

the valley, as it had been previously in the mountains. The Amer

ican ouzel (Cinclus Mexicana) was abundant along the mountain

streams, and the rock wren was very numerous everywhere on

the rocky declivities of the mountains about Ogden, above

upper terrace of the valley. The black-capped chickadee (Pen

atricapillus, var. septentrionalis) was an abundant inate

the willow thickets bordering the Ogden and Weber Rivers,

the reedy marshes were the favorite haunts of thousands of ea

wrens (Cistothorus palustris). All the swallows disappea™ fe

after our arrival; the most frequently observed species being G

barn swallow, though the rough-winged and the violetein

both frequently noticed during the first week of September.

nests of the cliff swallow seen adhering to the cliffs, espec!: Z

was also”

and —

species ©

Weber and Echo Caiions, indicated that this species

abundant summer visitant. The red-eyed, warbling,

vireos were all well represented and formed the only |

their family we saw. The cedar bird, the loggerhead shrike,

r aT T.

ally in :

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 397

the Louisiana tanager were each more or less frequent. The

horned lark, so characteristic of the Plains, was also numerous.

The Tyrannide were well represented, the western race of the

wood pewee being abundant, as were also two species of Empi-

fonax, one being the western race of the yellow-bellied, and the

other a representative of the least pewee of the East. The king-

ird and the Arkansas flycatcher were also both frequently

observed during the first half of September, and two specimens

of the olive-sided pewee were taken.

The great family of the sparrows and finches (Fringillide) was

represented by eighteen species, the greater part of which were

common. One half are strictly western, while the others are

common species in the Atlantic States. Among the latter were

the bay-winged, savanna, the yellow-winged, chipping, song and

Lincoln’s sparrows, the common gold-finch or yellow bird, and the

purple finch, all but the last named being either common or ex-

teedingly abundant. Of the western species, the western white

‘rowned, or Gambel’s sparrow, appeared in the valley in great

Numbers about September 15th; a few specimens of the slate-

colored sparrow (Passerella “ schistacea ”) were seen at about the

same date, and the Oregon snowbird became common towards the

Close of the month. Bell’s sparrow (Poospiza Bellii) was rather

humerous on the dry plains, keeping on the ground among the

brush. The western gold-finch (Chrysomitris psaltria) was

also quite numerous, associating freely with the common species ;

and a few specimens of the lazuli finch were also taken. The arc-

W towhee (Pipilo “ arcticus ”) was an abundant inhabitant of the

thickets, in habits strongly resembling the common towhee of the

“St; though its song is somewhat similar to that of the eastern

its call note is totally different, quite nearly resembling the

Call note of the catbird. Blanding’s finch (Pipilo chlorurus) be-

gan to appear in numbers about September 20th, from its breeding

haunts inthe mountains. The clay-colored sparrow (Spizella pal-

mis generally found in company with the chipping sparrow,

a? as almost equally abundant. The black-headed grosbeak is

mmer resident, but like its eastern congener, the rose-breasted,

tts early for the south, and had already migrated when we

poved. It is well known as the “ Pea-bird,” from its fondness

8reen peas, of which it is so destructive that it is considered

obnoxious Species,

398 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

The Icteride, or blackbirds, grackles and their allies, were rep- !

resented by five or six species, of which three, the yellow-headed,

red-winged and Brewer’s, occurred in immense numbers. The

yellow-headed and red-winged live in the marshes, from which at

this season they make excursions in great flocks over the neigh-

boring country, by their voracity and numbers causing no little

loss to the farmers, by destroying the ripening corn. The Brew-

er’s blackbird, though less an inhabitant of the marshes, to a

considerable extent associates with them, and is only less destruc-

tive because less numerous. The immense flocks of these associ-

ated species bring vividly to mind the descriptions of Wilson and

others of the hordes of red-wings and grackles that occur in autumn

and winter in the more southern portions of the Atlantic States.

The meadow lark is the next most abundant species of this group.

The cowblackbird, though perhaps occurring, was not observed,

but to our great surprise the bobolink was quite frequent. Bul-

lock’s oriole is also a common summer resident, taking the place

of our familiar Baltimore of the East.

Among the Corvide, the raven and the magpie were both com-

mon, the latter near the streams and the former more generally

distributed ; the great-crested, Woodhouse’s and the Canada Jays

were of frequent occurrence in the mountains, the former being

familiarly known as the “ mountain jay.” The common crow 18

said also to be common, but it escaped our notice.

Nuttall’s whippoorwill was abundant on the lower parts of am

mountains, and we heard scores of them near the mouth of Ogden

Cañon on several occasions, after nightfall. Though 50 pres

all our efforts to procure specimens were futile, as it did not usual y

manifestits presence till after it became too dark for it to be clearly

distinguished. We saw the last one October 7th, during a sev? -

snow-storm on the mountains north of Ogden, the snow bas

already accumulated to the depth of several inches. a

had probably surprised the bird as much as its own presence 0 de

such peculiar circumstances did us. The night hawk and t%

broad-tailed humming bird were both common through the ak

part of September, and the kingfisher is doubtless a common fY

dent throughout the year.

woodpeckers, owing to the scarcity of w

sparsely represented. Only two species were no

which, apparently the downy woodpecker, was seen once, *

ticed, one of ;

the

ee ee ee

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 399

other, the red-shafted, was only moderately common. Its evident

habit here of sometimes breeding in banks, in the absence of suit-

able trees, has already been mentioned.* The only owls noticed

were the burrowing (Athene hypogvea), which in the absence of the

prairie dogs lives in the holes of coyotes; and one specimen of

the long-eared owl; the great horned owl is said to be of frequent

‘occurrence, especially in the winter. The marsh hawk was abun-

dant, and often seen swooping down over the marshes at the black-

birds, but, generally unsuccessfully, the blackbirds rising in clouds

before it with a heavy noise not unlike low distant thunder, soon to

settle again in another part of the marsh. The pigeon hawk and

the duck hawk were both frequent, the latter preying upon the water

fowl. A ruddy duck, struck down and killed by one of these birds,

Was added one day to our game bag and made a good specimen

and the hawk narrowly escaped the same fate. The sparrow hawk,

| however, was by far the most numerous of the Falconide ; thirty

= Were seen in the air at one time near the mouth of Weber Canon,

engaged in the capture of the “ hateful grasshopper ” (Caloptenus

spretus Uhler), which everywhere filled the air, and which seems

at this season to form the principal food of this and other birds.

The red-tailed hawk, and the golden and white-headed eagle were

more or less frequent, and the fish hawk is said to be a rather com-

mon summer resident. The turkey vulture was also common.

The Carolina dove was abundant, and is said to breed here, also,

generally on the ground.¢ But few grouse were seen, though evi-

dence was obtained of the presence of four species ;—the dusky

and the ruffed grouse (Tetrao obscurus and Bonasa umbellus) in

the. mountains, and the sage cock and the sharp-tailed on the

Plains, specimens of the last two being obtained. The sage cock

| ind the sharp-tailed grouse were formerly very abundant, but this

: Feat we saw only about a dozen of each, and were informed that

t never was known to be so scarce here before.

ra - S e plovers, the killdeer was the only one seen, and was

hiai ngly abundant. About a dozen species of Scolopacide were

oS "ad, of which the greater part were numerously represented.

; Tne Journal, May, p. 274. i oh

a Z C. Marsh has informed me that he “ can confirm my statement [in the May

Colorado » }that the Carolina dove breeds on the ground. In Western Kansas an 7

shag > he adds “I have often found the eggs, and young on the ground. Once

Saa Who was covering a couple of very young birds on the ground,—not

ss Sut in a small depression on the bare ground.”

400 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

Wilson’s snipe was so abundant that Mr. Bennett bagged fourteen

in the space of afew hours. The red-breasted sandpiper became

common after September 25th. The greater yellow-legs and the

red-backed sandpiper were alsocommon; whilst the spotted, soli-

tary and least sandpipers and the lesser yellow-legs were only

occasionally met with. Wilson’s phalarope, the avocet, and the

black-necked stilt were abundant and characteristic birds, being

summer residents and breeding abundantly on the islands and

shores of Salt Lake. The last two are called ‘ white snipes!”

Of the avocet we saw flocks of thousands on the sand bars and

mud flats at the mouth of Weber River. The glossy ibis (called

“ black snipe!”) is now a common summer bird, but we were

assured it had only made its appearance here during the last few

years. The white ibis seems to be also a common summer species,

‘which we saw, however, but once; and the greater part of the

glossy ibises had migrated before our arrival. Of the seven spec-

imens seen we obtained five, although we found it an excessively

wary bird. ) ;

Of herons we saw the great blue, and obtained the night heron

and the bittern, all of which were tolerably common ; and cran

are said to occur in abundance in spring and fall. Of rails, the

Virginia, the Carolina, and the marsh hen (Rallus elegans) were

apparently the most common, though few of either were seen. -

mud-hen or coot, however, was found in all the ponds and lagoons

in great numbers.

The abundance of the swimming birds is even n

credible, though they are far less numerous and much more "a

than formerly. Thirteen species of ducks were obtained without

special effort, all of which were common, and about one- pe

were abundant, as follows :— the pintail, oreen-winged teal, ;

whilst the

breasted teal, gadwall and red-head were each abundant,

ruddy duck

Wea, A i:

fas) a eae 8, Se

ow almost in-

ous, and the snow goose or “ white-brant” began to arrive ar

siderable numbers about October 1st. Two specie

also noticed, the horned and the Carolina, the lat

dant. Three species of Laride were obtained, two of W gs gully

seen only after about October 1st. These were the Sabine $ on

Bonaparte’s gull. The three adult specimens taken of the

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 401

differ from the eastern representatives of that bird in having a

much shorter, thicker and less decurved bill. The Delaware gull,

or its western representative, is a numerous summer resident,

breeding on the islands insgreat numbers. At the time of our

visit these birds spent much of their time on the sand bars of the

Weber River, below Weber Cañon, and at certain hours of the

day rose into the air to feast on the grasshoppers, on which they

seemed at this time almost wholly to subsist. The stomachs of

those we killed were not only filled with them, but some had

stuffed themselves so full that the grasshoppers could be seen on

opening their mouths. But what seems most singular is the fact

that they capture them in the air (not by walking over the

ground, as has been stated), sailing around in broad circles as

though soaring merely for pleasure, seizing the flying grasshoppers

with the same ease that a swallow exhibits in securing its prey of

smaller insects while in rapid flight, but of course with far less

gracefulness of motion. i

Two other interesting birds found here are the double-crested

cormorant and the white pelican, the former bearing the singular

local name of “ black brant ° We saw. the cormorants only on

Weber River, but, according to Stansbury, they breed on the

islands with the gulls and pelicans. .The pelicans leave for the

south towards the endof August or early in September. Although

We saw no live ones, we found one on our first arrival that had

been killed but a few days before by gunners. Concerning the

abundance of this and other species of water-fowl on the islands

during his survey of the Great Salt Lake, Captain Stansbury, Un-

der date of’ Gunnison’s Island, May 8th, 1850, writes as follows :—

res by immense flocks of pelicans and gulls, disturbed now

a the first time, probably, by the intrusion of man. They liter-

Hy darkened the air as they rose upon the wing, and, hovering

‘cordant screams. The ground was thickly strewn with their

nests m

without motion. . . We collected as many eggs as we could

- That of the gull is of the size of a ben’s egg, brown and

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 26 '

402 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST.

spotted ; that of the pelican is white, and about as large as a goose

egg.” (Stansbury’s Report, p. 179.)

Again, on page 188, under date of Antelope Island, May 20th,

Captain Stansbury observes :— .

“ Before we passed around the point of Antelope Island, we

stopped for a few moments at the little islet near it, where the

number of gulls and pelicans was, if possible, greater than we had

seen on Gunnison’s Island. The whole islet was covered with

eggs, chiefly those of gulls, and with innumerable young birds,

just hatched, the most of which on our appearance instinctively

concealed themselves among the crevices of the rocks, while the

parent birds, in countless numbers, anxiously hovered over Us,

filling the air with their discordant cries. Some young herons and

cormorants were also found amid the colony of gulls — the former

fierce and full of fight, the latter timid and alarmed, running from

their nests to the water, where they endeavored to conceal them-

selves by persevering but abortive attempts to dive. We filled

half a barrel with the eggs, but most of them proved to be bad.

The waters of the Salt Lake, of course, afford these birds no

food. That of the pelican, says Stansbury (p. 193), “consists en-

tirely of fish, which they must necessarily obtain either from

River, from the Weber, the Jordan, or from the Warm Springs

on the eastern side of Spring Valley, at all of which places

they were observed fishing for food. The nearest of these points

is more than thirty miles distant, making necessary à flight of at

least sixty miles to procure and transport food for the sustenance

in the common habitat of the species. My own experien

been that at southern localities, the songs of certain spec

abbreviated, and generally uttered with less energy than at

north. In other cases, garrulous birds, like the jays

all at others, when in color or other features they differ but

s s ‘ . i i in their A a

if at all, there being as it were local dialects in ta that differ

languages. On the other hand, the songs of species + to deff

widely in color, are sometimes so closely similar as almos! e

by their songs i

the most discriminating ear to detect the species

and some A

others, have certain common notes at some localities not 20°. on

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE WEST. 403

though some of their call notes may be quite different. At other

times they differ in habits, especially in respect to the situation

and form of the nest, the same species at some localities breeding

always on trees and at others almost as uniformly on the ground,

in cases where the identity of the species is admitted by every

ornithologist. In like manner some that at some localities build

domed nests, at others build an open nest; others vary from a

somewhat elaborate bulky nest, to a much simpler and more slight

one; whilst in all cases the material varies in accordance with

the respective abundance of whatever may be most suitable to

the wants or habits of the species. Thus, on the Plains, many

species line their nests with the soft hair of the buffalo in place of

the down from certain plants they are accustomed to choose at

other localities.

The question of the occurrence of supposed hybridity among

certain of the birds of the West is one of constantly increasing

interest. The facts of the case are simply these :— that between

several congeneric but widely diverse forms occur individuals over

the region where the habitats of the two adjoin, which combine in

varying degrees the characteristics of both forms. These individ-

uals have been generally supposed to be hybrids between the forms

they respectively resemble, but whether such or not, in a technical

Sense, they are evidently fertile with either of the original forms,

and also among themselves. Furthermore, that on either side of

the area of « hybridity,” either form exhibits in varying degrees

an admixture of the characters of the other, the degree lessening

On either hand over an area of usually several hundred miles in

breadth, till each form assumes nearly constantly its maximum

divergence from the other. Such in general is the nature of what

I have termed longitudinal variation, or the differentiation of con-

Specific forms at localities differently situated in respect to lon-

&itude. Similar differentiation occurs at localities differing in lat-

arm which hybridity has never been assumed to explain, though

it is difficult to see why it should not be called in as well in the

_~ ©ase as in the other. In each case we have a similar grad-

ual differentiation over extensive areas. Hybridity has been gen-

my regarded as an unfailing test of specific diversity, but here

one of two things must be assumed :— either that hybridity fails

Sa test of specifie diversity, or else that these widely differing

ic forms are only geographical modifications of the same

404 LOCALITY OF THE NEW SPECIES OF ARCEUTHOBIUM.

species, resulting from at present only partially known laws of cli-

matic influence. To the latter I inéline as being the most rational

and the best supported by analogy and by facts.* i

—In the article on the Birds of Colorado, in the June number of this Jouraah T

omitted to add that peyeral specimens des the E eer wren (Cathe Te Mi ,

sis the first

time. apparently, that this specien. has been reported from. any point wth the

essay d T east of Southern Nevada (Ridgway). It possesses a voice of wonderful

ength penetration sot so small a bird, and seemed to deli igni in the si ii

apparently common near Colorado Cıty. As i is

the extreme southwestern portions of the United States, I should perhaps add that no i

specimens were taken, but as I was within a few aae rds of it on a number of occasions,

I cannot doubt the correctness of the observatio ;

is opportuni ty s correcting the flowing o On page 345, line 12, read

chipping for “ nipping;” 7, line 28, read Selas s for “ Selasophorus ;” p. 30,

line 3, read as ria oe “ griseinucha ;” p. 351, <i f p Actodromas Bairdii for :

“ Pelidna Americana : :

VISIT TO THE ORIGINAL LOCALITY OF THE

NEW SPECIES OF ARCEUTHOBIUM IN

WARREN COUNTY, N. Y.

BY C. C. PARRY, M.D.

Harrenixe to spend a few days in the vicinity of Glen’s Falls,

. Y., I concluded to improve the opportunity of visiting the

Tonig of the newly discovered species of Arceuthobium (A. min

tum Engel. ined.) parasitic on Abies nigra.

I accordingly called on Mrs. Lucy Millington of t i

to obtain the desired information as to the precise locality where

was first found. It is to this lady that the botanical a

indebted for the discovery of this interesting addition to w

of New York. Mrs. Millington’s first specimens were collec A

the 10th of August, 1871, and were then recognized by her ae

distinct parasite of which she could find no account in wer

botanical works at her command. Specimens were à ae

` *On climatic variation see Bull. Mus. Comp. Zodl., Vol. ii, No- 3, er

where the subject is aise aen, and where most of the facts on WAST

remarks a e given

A brief record p Mrs. ie discovery has been given on

volume of the NATURALIST.—Eds.

he above place,

page ps or is

LOCALITY OF THE NEW SPECIES OF ARCEUTHOBIUM. 405

transmitted to Mr. Leggett of the Torrey Botanical Club of N. Y.,

where it was first brought to the notice of Dr. Torrey. Later in

the season the same species was also found by Mr. Peck, in a

peat marsh near Sand Lake in the vicinity of Albany, N.Y. Sub-

sequently Mrs. Millington collected and transmitted numerous

specimens in different stages of growth, from the original locality

in Warren Co., N. Y., to Dr. Engelmann of St. Louis, who has

been engaged for some time, in working up a monograph of the

North American Species of Arceuthobium.

For the benefit of future explorers of the botany of this northern

district, I cannot do better than indicate the exact locality of this

interesting plant as first pointed out by Mrs. Millington, viz. :—

About two miles north of Warrensburg, Warren Co., N. Y., fol-

lowing the plank road leading to Chester, you pass on the right

hand (east) of the road, an extensive marshy track, which on pen-

etrating a narrow belt of timber, opens up into a wide sphagnous

swamp occupied with occasional clumps of Samarack, and bordered

by low stunted growths of black spruce (Abies nigra). Here the.

plant in question may be found without difficulty, the first indi-

cation of its presence being observable in distorted branches

showing at their extremity a massed growth of finely divided

‘Spray, having a somewhat faded foliage. These masses will, on

closer inspection, reveal the minute parasite, occupying the upper

or thrifty growing branches. Of other points worthy of mention,

I may note briefly.

lst. The period of flowering (different from most other species

of the genus) is in spring. At the time of my visit, May 1th,

the male blossoms were fully opened and the pollen mostly shed ;

the female flowers also well developed.

/ 2d. As far as my observation goes, the plant is strictly diœ-

fous, males and females occupying separate trees: not even

occurring on different branches of the same tree. The male

dae seem to be most frequent, though female plants are not

eè,

` 3d. The parasitic growth, whether male or female, seems to per-

meton the same branch extending upwards, year by year on the

= Y growing branches; leaving only the scars of previous-

Srowths on the lower portions of the limb; the distortion being

_ “vidently due to this cause.

4th. Neither male nor female plants persist beyond the pegiod

406 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

of flowering, or perfecting their seed, after which the minute

shoots (seldom an inch in length and very rarely branched) drop

off, leaving a persistent cup-shaped base.

The technical characters of this species will be fully developed

in Dr. Engelmann’s forthcoming monograph of the genus.

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

BY PROF. E. D. COPE.

Tue Wyandotte Cave traverses the St. Louis Limestone of the

_ earboniferous formation in Crawford County in south western Indi-

ana. I do not know whether its length has ever been accurately

determined, but the proprietors say that they have explored iis

galleries for twenty-two miles, and it is probable that its extent 18

equal to that of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Numerous

galleries which diverge from’ its known courses in all directi

have been left unexplored.

The readers of the Naruratist have freshly in their I a

e fauna

the interesting papers of Messrs. Packard and Putnam on th

of the Mammoth’ Cave and related species. The writer accompa-

nied the excursion so pleasantly described in the NATURA

obtained most of the species there enumerated as well as two oF

three additional ones which will be mentioned at the close i

article. On returning to Indianapolis at the request of Prof. E

T. Cox, state Geologist of Indiana, I made an examina

Wyandotte’ Cave, so far as two days’ exploration

such. Having prepared my report, I present a porti

permission of Prof. Cox, to the NATURALIST.

moth, and the former frequently have a worm OF

form, which is very peculiar. They twist and wind

tion of the —

could be called —

on of it, by us

pee

ons

LIST, and

of this

TEAN MEE

E A E

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA. 407

the locks of Medusa, and often extend in slender runners to a re-

remarkable length. The gypsum rosettes occur in the remote re-

gions of the cave and are very beautiful. There are also masses

of amorphous gypsum of much purity. The floor in many places

is covered with curved branches, and, what is more beautiful, of

perfectly transparent acicular crystals, sometimes mingled with

imperfect twin-crystals. The loose crystals in one place are in

such quantity as to give the name of “Snow Banks” to it. In

other places it takes the form of japanning on the roof and wall

rock.

In one respect the cave is superior to the Mammoth—in its vast

rooms, with step-like domes, and often huge stalagmites on central

hills. In these localities the rock has been originally more fract-

ured or fragile than elsewhere, and has given way at times of

disturbance, piling masses on the floor. The destruction having

reached the thin-bedded strata above, the breaking down has pro-

. œeded with greater rapidity, each bed breaking away over a

narrower area than that below it. When the heavily-bedded rock

has been again reached, the breakage has ceased, and the stratum

Temains as a heavy coping stone to the hollow dome. Of course

the process piles a hill beneath, and the access of water being

rendered more easy by the approach to the surface, great stalac-

tites and stalagmites are the result. In one place this product

Sa mass extending from floor to ceiling, a distance of thirty

or forty feet, with a diameter of twenty-five feet, and a beautifully

fluted circumference. The walls of the room are encrusted with

Cataract-like masses, and stalagmites are numerous. The largest

room is stated to be 245 feet high and 350 feet long, and to

fontain a hill of 175 feet in height. On the summit are three large

stalagmites, one of them pure white. When this scene is lit up, it i

is peculiarly grand to the view of the observer at the foot of the

ang hill, while it is not less beautiful to those on the summit.

“te is no room in the Mammoth Cave equal to these two. |

Se must not omit to mention the kind attention to the wants of

Suests constantly -displayed by Mr. Conrad, the present

proprietor of the hotel, and the equally useful guidance of Mr.

Roth

> ; T rock, the owner of the cave. Visitors will also find on their

MAF thither an American Auerbach’s hotel at Leavenworth, near

„© steamboat landing. This excellent house is not haunted, like

pean predecessor at Leipsic, by either a Mephistophiles or

> n, but by a landlord (Mr. Humphreys), whose charges are

408 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

low, and whose wife knows how, in lodgings and table, to satisfy

reasonably fastidious persons. >

An examination into the life of the cave shows it to have much

resemblance to that of the Mammoth. The following is a list of

sixteen species of animals which I obtained, and by its side is

placed a corresponding list of the species obtained by Mr. Cooke ~

and others at the Mammoth Cave. These number seventeen

species. As the Mammoth has been more frequently explored,

while two days only were devoted to the Wyandotte, the large

number of species obtained in the latter, suggests that it is the

richer in life. This I suspect will prove to be the case, as itis

situated in a fertile region. Some of the animals were also pro-

eured from caves immediately adjoining, which are no doubt con-

nected with the principal one.

Of the out-door fauna which find shelter in the cave, bats are of |

course most numerous. They are probably followed into their —

retreat by the eagle and other large owls. The floors of some of

the chambers were covered to a considerable depth by the castings

of these birds, which consisted of bats’ fur and bones. It would

be worth while to determine whether any of the owls winter there. '

I believe that wild animals betake themselves to caves todi ‘

and that this habit accounts in large part for the great collections

of skeletons found in the cave deposits of the world. After .

experience in wood eraft, I may say that I never found the hone

of a wild animal which had not died by the hand of man, lying

exposed in the forest. I once thought I had found the place wt

a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) had closed its career, om

edge of a wood, arid it seemed that no accident could have r

it, the bones were so entire as I gathered them up one by onè. a

last I raised the slender radius; it was broken, and the e :

jared bone. I tilted each half of the shaft, and from one 1 ae is

single shot! The hand of man had been there. One occasio i: n

ly finds a mole (Scalops or Condylura) overcome by ee

some naked spot, on his midday exploration, but x me I d

animals generally, we must go to the caves. In Virgie” ip-

remains of very many species in a recent. state ;- in ame

ing the Wyandotte I found the skeleton of the gray fox"

Virginianus. In a cavern in Lancaster Co., Pennsy

agricultural region, I noticed bones of five or six Ci , cattle,

many rabbits, and a few other wild species, with dog, horses

sheep, etc., some of which had fallen in.

vanja; iwan

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS

FAUNA,

LIST OF LIVING SPECIES IN THE TWO CAVES.

WYANDOTTE.

Amblyopsis speleus DeKay.

Erebomaster flavescens Cope.

Anthrobia.

Orconectes inermis Cope.

Cæcidoten microcephala Cope.

Cauloxenus stygius Cope.

Anophthalmus tenuis Horn.

Anophthalmus eremita Horn.

Quedius spelæus Horn.

Lesteva sp. nov. Horn.

Raphidophora.

Phor:

Spirostrephon cavernarum Cope.

MAMMOTH.

Fertebrata.

Amblyopsis spelæus DeKuy.

Typhlichthys subterraneus Girard.

Arachnida.

Acanthocheir armata Tellk.

Phrixis longipes Cope.

Anthrobia monmouthia Tellk.

Crustacea.

Orconectes pellucidus Tellk.

Cæcidotea stygia Pack.

Stygobromus vitreus Cope.

Insecta.

Anophthalmus Menetriesii Motsch.

Anophthalmus Se ag Erichs.

Adelops hirtus Te

Ruphidophora subterranea Scudd.

Phora.

Anthomyia.

Machilis. dend tai

mp a pi ae

Myriopoda.

Scoterpes Copei (Pack.).

The blind fish of the Wyandotte Cave is the same as that of

the Mammoth, the Amblyopsis speleus DeKay. It must have

considerable subterranean distribution, as it has undoubtedly been

Sawn up from four wells in the neighborhood of the cave. In-

deed, it was from one of these, which derives its water from the

Cave, that we procured our specimens, and I am much indebted to

my friend N. Bart. Walker, of Boston, for his aid in enabling me

to obtain them. We descended a well to the water, some twenty

feet below the surface, and found it to communicate by a side

Opening, with a long low channel, through which flowed a lively

Stream of very cool water. Wading up the current in a stooping

Posture, we soon reached a shallow expansion or pool. Here a

blind crawfish was detected crawling round the margin, and was

Promptly consigned: to the alcohol bottle. A little further beyond,

deeper water was reached, and an erect position became possible,

We drew the seine in a narrow channel, and after an exploration

under the bordering rocks secured two fishes. A second haul

; eed another. Another was seen, but we failed to catch it,

“on emerging from the cave I had a fifth securely in my hand,

oe “ST thought, but found my fingers too numb to prevent its freeing

be lf by its active struggles. pe

Tt these Amblyopses be not alarmed, they come to the surface

410 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

to feed, and swim in full sight like white aquatic ghosts. They

are then easily taken by the hand or net, if perfect silence is

preserved, for they are unconscious of the presence of an enemy

except through the medium of hearing. This sense is, however,

evidently very acute, for at any noise they turn suddenly down-

ward and hide: beneath stones, ete., on the bottom. They must

take much of their food near the surface, as the life of the depths

is apparently very sparse. This habit is rendered easy by the

structure of the fish, for the mouth is directed partly upwards, and

the head is very flat above, thus allowing the mouth to be at the

surface. It thus takes food with less difficulty than other surface

feeders, as the perch, etc., where the mouth is terminal or even

inferior ; for these require a definite effort to elevate the mouth to

the object floating on the surface. This could rarely be done

with accuracy by a fish with defective or atrophied visual or-

gans.* It is therefore probable that fishes of the type of the

Cyprinodontide, the nearest allies of the Hypseide, and such

Hypsæidæ as the eyed Chologaster, would possess in the position

of the mouth a slight advantage in the struggle for existence.

The blind crawfish above mentioned is specifically distinct jas

that of the Mammoth Cave, though nearly related to it. Its opu

are everywhere less developed, and the abdominal margins ant

cheles have different forms. I call it Orconectes inermis, separating

it generically from Cambarus, or the true crawfishes, on account of

the absence of visual organs. The genus Orconectes, then, is estab-

lished to include the blind crawfishes of the Mammoth and Wie

dotte Caves. Dr. Hagen, in his mdnograph of the American

Astacide, suspects that some will be disposed to separate the

but thinks

Vie

characters might be suspected of having been deriv

by modification, or assumed in descent. The preval

of the Amblyo?

explains the A

= *Mr. Putnam’s objection to my reasoning from the structure

mouth was based on a misconception of my meaning. The above

more fully.

f Origin of Genera, p. 41.

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA. 411

on which we have been in the habit of depending for discrimina-

tion of genera. The present is a case in point. So far also as

the practive of naturalists goes, this course is admissible, for the

presence or absence as well as the arrangement of the eyes have

long been regarded as generic indications among the Myriopoda

and Arachnida. Without such recognition of a truly structural

modification our system becomes unintelligible.

Dr. Packard described in his article already quoted, an interest-

ing genus of Isopoda allied to the marine form Idotea, which Mr.

ooke discovered in a pool in the Fig. 109.

Mammoth Cave. He called it Cæci-

dotea. I obtained a second species, >

in a cave adjoining the Wyandotte, A L aei Di. wake:

which differs in several Important ninsi akiiinis:

respects. The head is smaller and more acuminate, and the bases

of the antennæ are more closely placed than in C. stygia Pack. I

call it Cæcidotea microcephala. Both species are blind. The new

species is pure white. It was quite active, and the females car-

ried a pair of egg pouches full of eggs. The situation in which

we found it was peculiar. It was only seen in and near an empty

log trough used to collect water from a spring dripping from the

roof of one of the chambers.

The Lernæan, Caulogenus stygius Cope, is a remarkable creature. -

Fig.110. Itis a parasite on the blind fish, precisely as numerous

species near of kin, attach themselves to various spe-

Cæcidotea “O VETY Unlike some of these. It is attached by a pair

Cope. ts of altered fore-limbs, which are plunged uO the skin

palpi of vg of the host and held securely in that position by the

reed. The barbed or recurved claws. The position selected by

Hes above the the blind fish Lernæan, was the inner edge of the upper

and its Grigit lip, where she hung in a position provocative of at-

"48 not seen,

' t persuasion is better than force.” The little creature

-egg pouch suspended on each side, and was no doubt often

brought in contact with the air by her host.

This Position would not appear to be a favorable one for long

the body of the Canloxenus would be at once caught

life, as

EE AMPEG, eee ote nage Mae MN a eg

< is iC m y Hy ;

412 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

between the teeth of the fish, should its direction be reversed or

thrown backwards. The powerful jaw-arms, however, maintained

like a steel spring a direction at a strong angle with the axis of

the body, which was thrown upwards over the upper lip, the apex

Fig. 111. of the cephalothorax being be-

tween the lips of the fish. This ,

ji € 4 M position being retained, it be-

( ZS comes a favorable one for the —

ae B

oe ati sustenance of the parasite, which

is not a sucker or devourer of its

on Avbipopets Pr ead eana ee host, but must feed on the sub-

stances which are caught by the blind fish, and crushed between

its teeth. The fragments and juices expressed into the water

must suffice for the small wants of this crustacean.

But if the supply of food be precarious, how much more so must

be the opportunities for the increase of the family. No Fig. 1.

parasitic male was observed in the neighborhood of the

female, and it is probable that as in the other Lernwo- |

podide, he is a free swimmer, and extremely small. ~ ulorenis

must be augmented by the total darkness of his abode, jruzae more

and many must be'isolated owing to the infrequent and ee

irregular occurrence of the fish, to say nothing of the searceness

of its own species.

The allied genera, Achtheres and Lernewopoda, presen ;

tinct distributions, the former being fresh water and the latter w

rine. Lernæopoda is found in the most varied types of fishes an

in several seas; Achtheres has been observed on perch from Asia

t very dis-

Fig. 112. and Europe, and on a South a

ys Pimelodus. It is to the latter that

and from

loxenus is most nearly allied, mes

Viewed from below, with av intro.

lateral view of the cephalothorax. gy jts wanderin

‘streams. The character which distinguishes it from

one which especially adapts it for maintaining a firm

host, i. e. the fusion of its jaw-arms into a single stem.

Whether the present species shared with the Ambi ahi

history and changes, or whether it seized upon the ee "eel

at some subsequent period, is a curious speculation. Its 1° ae

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA. 413

at the mouth of the fish could scarcely be maintained on a species

having sight, for if the host did not reniove it, other individuals

would be apt to.

I may here allude to another blind Crustacean which I took in

the Mammoth Cave, and which has been already mentioned in the

Annals and Magazine of Natural History as a Gammaroid. Mr.

Cooke and myself descended a hole, and found a short distance

along a gallery, a clear spring covering, perhaps, an area ten feet

across. Here Mr. Cooke was so fortunate as to procure the Cæci-

dotea stygia, while I took the species just mentioned, and which I

name Stygobromus vitreus. The genus is new and represents in a

measure the Niphargus of Schiddte found in the caves of Southern

Europe. It resembles, however, the true Gammarus more closely,

by characters pointed out at the close of' this article. This genus

has several species in fresh waters, which are of small size, and

swim actively, turning on one side or the other.

Of insects I took four species of beetles, all new to science. Two

of them of the’ blind carnivorous genus Anophthalmus, and two

Staphylinidee, known by their very short wing-cases and long,

xible abdomen. Dr. Geo. H. Horn has kindly determined them

r me. One of them, the Quedius speleus Horn, is a half-inch in

length, and has rather small eyes.* It was found not far from

the mouth of the cave. Dr. Horn furnishes me with the following

list of Coleoptera from the two caves in question :

Anophthalmus Tellkampfii Erichs. Mammoth Cave.

~ — Menetriesi Motsch, angulatus Lec. Mammoth Cave.

mita Horn.

8 yandotte Cave.

k tenuis Horn. Wyandotte Cave.

a striatus Motsch. Mammoth Cave. Unknown to me.

PON _ Ventricosus Motsch. ‘Mammoth Cave. Unknown to me.

Ps Mirta Telik, Mammoth Cave.

These are the only true cave insects at present known in these

faune. Other species were collected within the mouths of the

caves, but which cannot be classed with the preceding, as cave

n. sp.? Wyandotte Cave.

Quedius spelæus Horn. Wyandotte Cave.

Lesteva n. sp. Wyandotte Cave.

oe another Alæocharide Staphylinide, allied to Tachyusa, also

_ Tom Wyandotte Cave. No names have as yet been given to

a e ee ee A pe i

*See Proceed. Amer, Entom. Soc., 1871, p- 332.

414 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

any of these excepting the second. A monograph of Catops has

already appeared containing many species from our fauna, and as

the work is inaccessible at present, I have hesitated to do more

than indicate the presence of the above species.

The cricket of the Wyandotte Cave is stouter than that of the

Mammoth and thus more like the Raphidophora lapidicola of the

forest. There were three species of flies, one or more species of

Poduride and a Campodea not determined.

Centipedes are much more abundant in the Wyandotte than in

the Mammoth cave. They especially abounded on the high sta-

lagmites which crown the hill beneath the Mammoth dome, which

is three miles from the mouth of the cave. The species is quite

distinct from that of the Mammoth Cave and is the one I deseribed

some years ago from caves in Virginia and Tennessee. I call it

Spirostrephon cavernarum, agreeing with Dr. Packard that the

genus* to which it was originally referred is of doubtful validity.

The species is furnished with a small triangular patch of eyes,

and is without hairs, but the antenne are quite elongate. Its

rings are quite handsomely keeled. The allied form found by

Mr. Cooke in the Mammoth Cave has been described by Be

Packard as Spirostrephon Copei. It is eyeless and is, on this

account alone, worthy of being distinguished generically adi ;

Spirostrephon, though the absence of pores asserted by Dr. rack

ard, would also constitute another character. Spirostrephon POS

sesses a series of lateral pores as I have pointed out in accordance i

with Wood’s view.t This genus may be then named Scoterp:

I look for the discovery of S. cavernarum in the Mammoth oara

Two species of Arachnidans were observed, one & true spim*?

the other related to the “long-legs” of the woods. A ee

similar to the former is found in the Mammoth Cave, and eth

in other caves, but in every instance where I have obtained pa

they have been lost by the dissolution of their delicate yee”

the impure alcohol. The other forms are more completely ee

inized and are easily preserved. They are related to the is

Gonyleptes found under stones in various portions of the ager

Dr. Wood describes a species from Texas, and I have taken se

in Tennessee and Kansas. In the Wyandotte Cave I found we ae

_ ber of individuals of a new species at a place called the ua mee

> oie Pa een Ri aa

* Pseudotremia.

+ Proceed. Amer. Entom. Soc. 1870.

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA. 415

This is a narrow passage between masses of rock, which rises

from the end of a gallery to the floor of a large room called the

senate chamber. Though living at a distance of four or five miles

from the mouth of the cave, this species is furnished with eyes.

Its limbs are not very long, but its palpi are largely developed,

and armed with a double row of long spines pinnately arranged,

like its relative of the Mammoth Cave, the Acanthocheir. This

species is described at the end of the ar-

ticle as Erebomaster flavescens Cope. In

its relationships it may be said to stand

tween Acanthocheir and Gonyleptes.

Besides Acanthocheir, another blind

Gonyleptid exists in the Mammoth Cave,

which I found several miles from the feazstuese oo er magni

mouth. It is blind like the former, but differs in having many

more joints to the tarsi, approaching thus the true Phalangia, or

long-legs. There are six joints and terminal claws, while Acan-

thocheir is said to have two and Erebomaster three joints. It is

larger than A. armata, and has much longer legs. Its palpi are

also longer and their spines terminate in long hairs. I have

named it Phriwis longipes.

Dr. Packard and Mr. Putnam have already discussed the ques-

Fis.u5. tion of the probability of the origin of these blind cave

; animals by descent from out-door species having eyes. I

haye already expressed myself in favor of such view, and

deem that in order to prove it, we neéd only establish two

\ or three propositions. First, that there are eyed genera

p Erebo- corresponding closely in other general characters with the

bres blind ones ; second, that the condition of the visual organs

ry mei is in some cave type variable; third, if the abortion of the

Mow. visual organs can be shown to take place coincidentally

Wita general growth to maturity, an important point is gained in

explanation of the modus operandi of the process.

‘First, as to corresponding forms; the Typhlichthys of the

Mammoth is identical} with Chologaster, except in its lack of eyes.

da tt engraver has rectly 1 th terior lateral border of the large

- bair oe Um The mandible should also have been represented as terminating in a

Pair of nippers.— Eps,

Trap tnam shows that the known species of Chologaster differ oe those of

whiichthys Im the lack of the ‘papillary ridges, which is probably another generic

Character er : , ‘ .

Similar to the loss of eyes. The absence in Chologaster of minute palatine

416 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

Orconectes bears the same relation to Cambarus; Stygobromus

bears nearly the same to Gammarus, and Scoterpes is Spiros-

trephon without eyes, and no pores.

Secondly, as to variability. I have already shown that in

Gronias nigrilabris, the blind Silurid from the Conestoga in Penn-

sylvania, that while all of several specimens observed were blind,

the degree of atrophy of the visual organs varies materially, not

only in different fishes, but on different sides of the same fish. In

some the corium is imperforate, in others perforate on one side, in

others on both sides, a rudimental cornea being thus present. In

some, the ball of the eye is oval and in others collapsed.: This

fish is related specifically to the Amiurus nebulosus of the same

waters, more nearly than the latter is to certain other Amiuri of

the Susquehanna river basin to which the Conestoga belongs, as

for instance the A. lyn; it may be supposed to have been enclosed

in a subterranean lake for a shorter time than the blind fishes of

the Western Caves, not only on account of the less degree of loss

of visual organs, but also in view of its very dark colors. A .

feature on which I partly relied in distinguishing the species, has ;

perhaps a different meaning. The tentacles or beards were dèe

scribed as considerably shorter than those of allied species. On :

subsequently examining a number of individuals, I was struck with =

the irregularity in their lengths, and further inspection showed a

that the extremities were in each case enlarged, as though yt

cicatrix. I have imagined that the abbreviation of the tentacles :

is then due to the attacks of carnivorous fishes which inhabit the a

subaérial waters into which the Gronias strays, from whom its

blindness renders it unable to protect itself.

Thirdly, it is asserted that the young Orconectes possess eye

and that perhaps those of the ~Typhlichthys do also. if ap a

statements be accurate, we have here an example of whatis ent a.

to occur elsewhere, for instance, in “the whalebone whales- ih .

foetal stage these animals possess rudimental teeth like other > oo

cea, which are subsequently absorbed. This disappuwwnt pe

eyes is regarded with reason by Prof. Wyman as evidence & ee

descent of the blind forms from those with visual organs: x ae -

suggest that the process of reduction illustrates the law of a

dation,” accompanied by another phenomenon. Where @N

teeth, and the presence of an additional pair of pyloric ceca, which he men

be apt to prove only epee’ fic.

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA, 417

which appear latest in embryonic history are lost, we have simple

retardation, that is, the animal in successive generations fails to

grow up to the highest point, falling farther and farther back, thus

presenting an increasingly slower growth in this special respect.

Where, as in the presence of eyes, we have a character early

assumed in embryonic life, the retardation presents a somewhat

different phase. Each successive generation, it is true, fails to

tome up to the completeness of its’ predecessor at maturity,

and thus exhibits “ retardation,” but this process of reduction of

tate of growth is followed by its termination in the part, long

before growth has ceased in other organs. This is an exagge-

ration of retardation. Thus the eyes in the Orconectes probably

onee exhibited at maturity the incomplete characters now found in

the young, for a long time a retarded growth continuing to adult

age before its termination was gradually withdrawn to earlier

stages. Growth ceasing entirely, the phase of atrophy succeeded,

the organ become stationary at an early, period of general growth,

being removed, and its contents transferred to the use of other

parts by the activity of “ growth force.” Thus for the loss of

late assumed organs we have “ retardation,” but for that of early

assumed ones, “ retardation and atrophy.” ;

In comparing the list of animals from the Wyandotte with that

of the Mammoth Cave, it will be observed that the representatives

1n the former, of two of the blind genera of the latter, are furnished

with eyes. These are the Hrebomaster and Spirostrephon, which

correspond with the Acanthocheir and Scoterpes respectively. In

the outer: part of a branch of the Wyandotte I took two eyed

beetles the Quedius speleus and a Platynus.

J out-door relatives of the blind forms are various. Those

having congeners outside are the Spirostrephon, Campodea, Ma-

chilis, Phora, Raphidophora. Those with near but few allies, the

colerpes, Amblyopsis and thé three Gonyleptide. Species of the

` œcidotea are marine. Those of the Caulozenus are partly

marine, and those of the Stygobromus fresh water and marine.

i The mutual relations of this cave life form an interesting sub-

ig Th the first place, two of the beetles, the crickets, the cen-

Pede, the small crustaceans (food of the blind fish) are more

ER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 97

418 ON THE. WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA.

or less herbivorous. They furnish food for the spiders, eraw-fish,

Anophthalmus, and the fish. The vegetable food supporting them is

in the first place fungi, which in various small forms, grow in

damp places in the cave, and they can always be found attached to

excrempntitious matter dropped by the bats, rats and other ani-

mals which extend their range to the outer air. Fungi also grow

on the dead bodies of the animals which die in the caves, and are

found abundantly on fragments of wood and boards brought in by

human agency. The rats also have brought into fissures and cay-

ities communicating with the cave, seeds, nuts and other vegetable

matters, from time immemorial, which have furnished food for

insects. Thus rats and bats have, no doubt, had much to do with

the continuance of land life in the cave, and the mammals of the

post-pliocene or earlier period, which first wandered and dwelt in

its shades were introducers of a permanent land life.

As to the small crustaceans, little food is necessary to support

their small economy, but even that little might be thought to be

wanting, as we observe the clearness and limpidity of the water

in which they dwell. Nevertheless .the fact that some cave waters

communicate with outside streams is a sufficient indication of the

presence of vegetable life and vegetable débris in variable quar

tities at different times. Minute fresh water alge no doubt occu!

there, the spores being brought in by external communication,

while remains of larger forms, as còonfervæ; etc., would occur

plentifully after floods. In the Wyandotte Cave no such coune?

tion is known to exist. Access by water is against the current of

small streams which discharge from it. On this basis rests an ani-

mal life which is limited in extent and must be subject to many

vicissitudes. Yet a fuller examination will probably add to the

number of species and of these, no doubt, a greater or less pe

ber of parasites on those already known. ‘The discovery of a

little Lernæan shows that this strange form of life has T

all the vicissitudes to which its host has been subjected- “of

it has outlived all the physiological struggles which . chang

light and temperature must have produced, and that it still prey”

on the food of its host as its ancestors did, there is n0. ae

The blindness of the fish has favored it in the “ struggle for®*

ence,” and enabled it to maintain a position nearer the: eo ae

sariat, with less danger to itself than did its forefathers.

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS. FAUNA. 419

Descriptions of Species from the Wyandotte Cave.

. ORCONECTES Cope.

Genu Similar to Cambarus, but with the eyes MPSA with the cornea

small oa abby favatted. The present g genus embraces two species, the O. inermis of the

Wyandotte and the O. pellucidus of the

0. INERMIS Cope, sp. nov: This species is near the 0. pellucidus, and differs as fol-

ars: oul proportions are Cya ally less slender, and the spines less developed. The

bly

ontal process is considera

flottar. the terminal spine Fig. 116.

i is Cope, nat. size.

Sa Spec ies. The shell of the Orconectes inermis

cale jog etiken kpa September was very soft on pig ples gay yy eaS but pe

i a „m =

ay Pi. trom the thorax marg siy Ds. Ton ett pe Neliform 8 cnet of first legs, .024; wic i

The single st! movable (last) segment of d lucidus

in the N use Pecimen it ae species has haka compared ais font Vfl oe ae "ty on

Ta e Academy Natural Sciences, one of whic ;

ERR wee to are constant. "They. vise also exhibited by Dr. Lagat a figure,*

pied by Dr. pcos the cheles, which is less than in our specimens. s figure

CÆCIDOTEA Picken

C. mr pai

oe 'Rocermara Cope, sp. nov. “Unknown crustacean with external egg-pouc

nn. Magaz. Nat, ‘Hist., 1871, November.

PET or the Museum Comparative Zoology, Monograph of the Astacide of North

420 ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE. AND ITS FAUNA.

Abdominal segments confluent into a single one; rani ic segments seven, well dis-

tinguished. Inner antennæ close together, situa ated betwe n the larger outer ones; both

issuing from below the margin of the dorsal plate of the Sepiii segment. The speci-

mens are in bad E ate pe lost their limbs, egg-pouches and the distal portions

< their antennæ.' The head is mA aa and oe longer me the first tho-

acic segmen The — en a all smooth and w t hairs or sculpture. -

laina] segment is quadrate-oval truncate posteriori iW s without rojection or mucro,

above regularly, but aan? ad Egg-p s wel teil, oval in form, mod-

erate in size. The limbs are giv on fro ne Pires extr nihon pe the segments, Bran-

chial laminæ extending n 2 extre eal of the prasapa segment, in poo thro:

out on the median o Color with egg-pouches, but with only |

four oe joint s of antennae, 5-1 dth o f re p= ey

cies is near the Cecidotea wipe of Dr. ye cai (American Naturalist, 1871,

pp. 731 3 pore as such, of much gs It has amu Emaor and more acuminate

head than the Cæcidotea stygia Pack oe ugh in general the species are not bag differ-

ent in other respects, and are of about the same 15 icrocepha abdo-

men is truncate, in the longer known species, angulate.

This — es may then be regarded as the representative of the C. stygia in the Wyan-

dotte Cay

CAULOXENUS Cope.

or or jaw-feet elongate, ar Lat Sr diously in brides Me mei origina-

em r

rounded, sack-shaped, not segmented. Egg-pouches short, i

This genus differs from its allies, Achtheres and pei aara n the fusion of the jaw-

limbs, between which a faint dividing depression only may be distinguished, when they

are viewed from below. The form of pnt be grits is me As as i , but seg-

mentation is baiia distinguishable. The wide e — s her ft in other genera

this family; they are well separated anc ia. ra filled. with large, globular eggs. gle

0 e ver

: pair of perhaps firs

is curved upwards and is without ‘etentaal rito o ook; a short proce: ea

ase may represent b nH ap ig age. teen inferior antennz are well marke id

is org without ap enda, Mhe e bodie es liorh ka heeh Prete

C. STYGIUS Cope. Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1871, p. 297. Oona or

as long as nobly mac oval, eda ie ag abdomen subround, subdepres: $

rated ah a rather long coustriction. Egg acks rounded, shorter ne a abi

short pedicels.. Jaw-limbs nearly. as wide a as the abdomen, and no

constr heren Rie geet ms os the point of origin of the anchoring orb Ey ic H

long a No derm rmal appen ndages of any kind. Rostral regio v8 AWA)

eiA Sua mbo prin a Color uniform whitish. Length (without anchor

m.003.

EREBOMASTER Cope.

nus novum, familiæ Gonyleptidarum. Cophalothorsot shield. extending ofr the

Gen

considerable part of the abdomen, which has seven nts, Tarsus W m

joints and a terminal claw. Palpi cia, five joints anda tee, the ephalot E shri

a ades a strong spines on nen =. Fr heey chelate. Ce p Pos i

edian conical eminen noi Adean has ellus on each side

trochanters ‘like the o ntl

This pan be engage to “the Acanthocheir of Lucas, which has 1 n bars is fee

in the Na Accordin to Wood that gen nus is eyeless. Dr. Pac

presen Fg ay TA ties. Thus the abdomen is not represe: ented as AE p

there is no Ponce hae seen pletion Poea; Don camel are represented ee on peat Erehe

From this uspect nthocheir should be p

wae ie ae Œ. ae

f e, ~* “ Opi Hems ah È Cope, cape es at the er

November, 17, S h nels th, limbs very minutely hairy. Tw ines at esment nt of

_ity of the eik Mier ti ibig, ‘ three or four jon pines Yat the base of the ter side. Spine?

the palpi, not longer than those of the third, which has four on the ne total jength of

of last joint longest. The longest limbs are 2 about twice as jtor as fi A nh OF head and

Mixi æ rather long. Color a light brownish yel '

imen the male organ is protruded and extends to the mandi -a so

it is not chitinized and appears to be twice segmented. It terminates "+ bristl

with mucro, which is flanked on either side by a point with two divers!

ANOPHTHALMUS Sturm.

in col

A. TENUIS Horn, Pale rufo-testaceous, shining. Head slightly darker than or. ore

and arcuately biimpressed. Thorax broader than the head, slightly longer

ON THE WYANDOTTE CAVE AND ITS FAUNA. 421

and sinnately narrowing to hind angles, which are exactly rectangular; median line

oe eer essen in its entire length, a Bye deep; base of thorax trun-

onga val, feebly co at base slightly flattened; two-thirds lon —

than broad, hu pais ded: “surface with feeble traces of irde and thre

dorsal orons. punctures on each elyt n or nearest to the position of | the third

stria. = ody beneath po — ar in color to the upper surface, legs somewhat paler.

Length .18-.24 in ch:

Three specimens of t nie serous h were collected. This species is closely allied to A.

Menetriesi stem aa. gre ). but pores by its more elongate and less robust

_ form and less con urfac: e elytra are smoother and with very feeble traces of

striæ. The is vs 3 differ peti ‘ie in ge yas of the hinder thoracic angles and

“ fain the angles are yy slightly prominent externally ete

the base of the thorax orgs prolonged, whi n the present pes me Pael a

Strictly oyayi and the bas e trunc: te. This pecies must be

just cited in my table of our species (Trans. Ent. Soe. , Phil., 1868, i 18),

he new p BeAT above described is the most slender in form of any in our cabinets.

„À. EREMI rn. — Pale, rufo-testaceous, feebly shining. He ad oval, ee

biimpres ed, i impressions ean asop, eT vening space feebly convex. Thorax

had iy dayaka portion th lon noderately r roundas in front, Eradan nar-

wed to Mis angles rA ngu ras bese truncate and a gr as lon h of thorax;

dise feeb cò ony median line distinctly Sapte veer basal § verse impression

moderate. Elyt pe ay ERY shining than thorax and ee Reeli with very short,

Lengt Sere striæ obsolete; three dor Sa unctures on the line of the third stria.

n 5m

men of this species was collected with preceding in Wyandotte Cave. ae

ony Species with which it wie be confounded is that Rranodety described by

er the name A. pusio, a ough differing very notabl oomparikon in Their

general aspect, the points of tutte rence are not easily made pla Pa yi adescription. The

presen t species is in at orpo beanie and ees s ceprpasec, without a convex as

in Menetrie, ae broader, less 1 behi ns, and the sides more

unded, The thy ache sn P peed nd the ge tate aks e m o. diettust, aibonan in

both species the pirk pras can only ba rina por by kokag ‘the specimen between

sn mi won ;

Q. SP

sing, ay impressed b me e ev n ft De two banem agar Sees aoe

rgi

e ase, t

more distant in the latter region. nal process behind the cox corneous. Scutel-

m a nipin 5 Els vite es longer cat the thorax, rather sae G and piee

hak pecies by oe color and thoracic punctu ras

ur species except jomeens

Two specimens were collected me bs "pea within the mouth of as Cave.

Descriptions of species from the Mammoth Cave.

s C

Genus noyum oa

en, whi z ida ic shield covering dorsum 0:

Palpi aana js hi a ioatea iy segmen Sep te racie Tarsi multiarticulate, pae

ap ual maxilla che

eyes.” *. fie” s t Erebomaster, differing in the multiarticulate tarsi, and aboot =

nearer t to TORE being like i it eyeless, but the latter accordmg

422 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Packarda’s figure (in AMERICAN NATURALIST, |. c.) has tarsi as in the first named genus,

one or two jointed. In Phrixis they are much as in Phalangium, which the species

also resembles in its long limbs.

PHRIXIS LONGIPES Cope, sp.nov. Legs eight times as long as the body, tarsus of the

te ter with five, thos “etic — Sag with six joints, those of the nape not tne

e first and secon very long; au shorter than fem COX® 8

pirli Legs with h scattered. “i rather rote hairs. Last tarsal pin di one e claw r

s fe i a

secon rtic

end directed inwards. Mandibles pubescent. Five narrow, sai one caramel, segments

of the fie ago the penultimate wider mag the others. Body pu pap Color v very

pale; ith a straw-colored shade. Length of body 1.17 lines, or m. ongest leg

: This species, though small, considerably exceeds the Acanthocheir armatus in dimen-

sions. i 7 ;

STYGOBROMUS Fi

Gen. nov. Gammaridarum. Near Gammaris. e first antennz with flagellum, faa

ninok eater than the ne Two pairs of iimbs “chelate by the pores n of the las

oe like segment; other limbs clawed. Terminal abdominal segment very short, spi-

‘ous; the CERNE ERAN seg behr with a URE Tim with two equal styles, os ae antepe-

nultimate peg eg t and n a Eye m the

This s nearer to the mmarus Shan: ge allied genus described fro zsa

Austria b Daven, the Ni iph yah rot Se hiödte.* In the latter the first antenne ane ier

larger. "wad the body terminates ds very ne serie ‘the last abdominal limb is Ghat

vided like that which precedes In Stygobromus the penultimate “Hmb is s like t iE

represented by Schiödte for Nipharnet, heats I am not certain whether it is gee

cally identical. The last limb is about equally divided, but the simple basis

mitts s just possible that the antepenultimate limb represents the basis and one sty

only. for in that of one side a slight process appears at the extremity of a vo reenrved

Ken though it is not visi bie o n that of the other. The terminal limbs “Th animals

= appressed to the last abdc ratni il patie fo ming a fulcrum o vig bence of

f this genns are r adunite and swim much as the common Gas nmari. Thea

oft

STYGOBROMUS VITREUS Cope. “Gammaroid Crustacean” Cope, A n. Mag. Nat.

Hist., aoe in Two last ope. í of li mbs appressed to last abdominal bristles an an of

near ly pau length, forming a brush. La gment of abiongi wit

bri stles ae gade p ine e fom the third pth vr neat

mbs

aatan nnæ half as lon ka the aari erate Galore: ce Heres segments, aoe of

pon as the last Sica abdominal segments. Total hia of head and body 21

There are few conspicuous hairs. the m which stand at the

of the last joint of the limbs, rising from the base of the claw: Color trautucen

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

VEGETABLE Parastres as Causes or Disease. ?— wn

these two papers’ gives the recent ideas, as seen py an an able =

advanced observer, in regard to those forms of cryp ptogamie veg" fe

tation whose growth is believed to be the cause of B the .

Favus, and a few similar affections. Dr. White discusses ce

* Proc, Entom. Soc., London, 1851, ;

t Vegetable Parasites, and aik te then caused by their grow wth a blet.

James C. Pi M.D., Prof. of Dermatology in Harvard University. e

Boston. see

tine thé Sa keraat of Vegetable Organisms within thé Thorax of Liv ware

-J Murie, F.L.S., etc.; Lecturer on Con bag Anat., Middlesex

vues the Royal Microscopical Society, Jan. 3,1

The first of

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 423

nature and history of these cryptogamia, their relations to each

other and to common moulds, and their importance as sources of

contagion ; while, with much good sense and rare judgment, the

question of treatment is quietly left to the professional books.

Dr. White’s general introductory view of the microscopic fungi

is clear and significant, and forms a convenient ground for the

comparison of views even by those whose ideas are inconsistent

with it. The nutritive system, or mycelium, consists of slender

cells or tubes, branched, intertwined, and furnished with occasional

transverse partitions. This may increase directly by subdivision

into cells with similar powers of branching and of self-multipli-

cation, or by the production at the ends of some of the branches of

minute spherical or ovoid cells inclosed in capsules called spor-

angia, or growing in bushes or bead-like chains, when they are

called conidia or spores. These conidia may be found detached,

- either single or in rows or compound cells, and are capable of re-

_ Producing the mycelium. Under certain conditions the substance,

called plasma, of these various forms may become cloudy and

divided into infinitely small free cells which multiply by self-divi-

sion and may exhibit peculiar movements. These cells or points,

if more or less spherical, are called micrococcus ; if somewhat elon-

gated and swollen at one end, bacteria; and if joined in minute

chains, -vibriones. They have been much and loosely discussed,

=~ ire supposed to be the primitive forms of organic life. In

Suitable fluids they develop into larger cells, single or united and

Sometimes elongating like mycelium, known as ferment cells.

This is the submerged form of fungus life, familiarly observed in

the yeast plant and other ferments ; and is capable of reversion to

mcrococeus, or under favorable circumstances may attain to

mycelial and conidial development: It closely resembles the

Spores of ringworm, ete.

: These forms make up the structure of the moulds, and their vary-

'$ Size, shape, and predominance have been regarded as specific

a characters ; but recent observations show that such variations may

ve to the nature of the soil and atmospheric’ conditions, and

e the recently recognized species are often varieties of well

ah he individuals, prevented from their usual development by

` "cumstances of position. This tendency to variation has been

ned pleomorphism.

. These low forms of vegetation occasion the processes of fermen-

424 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES:

tation by which important chemical products are obtained; and

they change dead matter (so called) into the state best fitted for the

support of future generations. They may also live at the expense

of the living tissues of plants and animals, although possibly only

upon those which are depressed by some cause below a full vital

energy. The muscadine of the silk worm and the oidium of the

Madeira vineyards are cited as examples of the importance of such

destructive agency.

The effects of such fungi upon the surface of men are never fatal,

or constitutionally hurtful, but they are greatly annoying and may

last for many years. Schcenlein in 1839 first recognized the cryp-

togamic character of the.crusts of Favus; and after much dispute,

the following affections are now safely referred to similar causes—

- Ringworm (in which the author includes as varieties Bezemé

marginatum, Tinea tonsurans, Sycosis, and Ringworm of the Nail)

and Pityriasis versicolor. Still a subject of dispute is Alopecia

areata, and Myringomycosis, both of which are often accompanied

if not caused by cryptogamic growths. On the other hand the

chignon-fungus and some other controverted cases are safely con-

sidered pseudo-parasites, ;

Several of these parasitic plants are common upon the domestic

animals, and in some instances may possibly have been originally

derived from them. 2 aia

On the question of the identity of the several vegetable pal

asites, and their relations to the common moulds, much study

s been expended, and with remarkably contradictory Tes 3

Equally safe observers reach the extreme opposite conclusions.

The methods of investigation are clinical observation, eee

inoculation, and development of the fungi by cultivation- ; 5

ically favus is distinct, and the others are separable with reason

standing the deceptive inferences which may easily pre

accidental coincidences : and cultivation, while it usually fu

an abundance of penicillium, aspergillus and other fa

is so liable to error from their accidental introducti

as yet, in the author’s judgment, furnished no suffici a a

admitting the identity of the subjects of the paper with ae Be

common moulds. tions

The vegetable parasites are an occasional cause of al ‘They

of the epidermis and its appendages, causing baldness, eT

;

) ;

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 425

are communicated by actual contact rather than by the aérial

transmission of spores; and are therefore usually avoidable by

ordinary care. With the exception of the varieties of ringworm,

they are comparatively rare. Some, but not all of them, are par-

ticularly liable to attack debilitated constitutions. Schools, and

especially orphan asylums, and barbers’ shops have heretofore

furnished most frequently the conditions essential to the spread

of these forms of vegetation.

A more curious branch of this subject is the occurrence of veg-

etable organisms within the closed cavities of living animals.

That organisms usually presumed to be dependent upon some

parentage for their existence should grow within cavities commu-

nicating with the external air, as the stomach for instance, is

really a case of external parasitism ; as the germs might be easily

introduced by the air or otherwise. Of far different importance

is the occurrence of such growths within tissues or cavities having

no external openings. The presence of parasitic animals in the

eye, brain, etc., and of mould within the thorax and other closed

Cavities of living animals, has seemed to many to have an impor-

- tant bearing upon the question of spontaneous generation. At

the present time, however, when the possibility of the passage of

Solid particles through uninjured living tissues is believed by

many if not by most microscopists, the entrance of the germs is

no longer incredible.

r. Murie reports three new cases of vegetable-like mould

found within the thorax of birds. Two of the three birds were

Own to be ill for a short time before death. No cause of

death, unless the fungus be considered such, was known. The

‘cryptogamic growth was in all the cases a greenish white patch

Upon a thickened and injected portion of the pleural membranes.

In one case the lungs exhibited spots of lobular pneumonia.

Under a microscope the vegetation revealed linear, interlaced

filaments and innumerable echinate circular cells, and under higher

Powers, oval or elliptical cells distinctly nucleated. Mr. Cooke

wnted the possibility that these growths were alge : but Dr. Murie

'S convinced that they are a species of Aspergillus, of the order

Mucedines, the microscopical elements above mentioned being the

mycelium and Spores of the fungus. Although such appearances

Gi been Sometimes considered as of post-mortem production,

he believes that the spores were introduced by the breath into the

426 BOTANY.

lungs, penetrated the moist and delicate tissues, and by develop-

ment occasioned the death of the birds; some antecedent state of

the system being admitted as rendering possible the developmen

of the fungus. i

Including these new cases, efghteen kinds of birds are recorded

as liable to attacks of fungi, either accompanying or causing fatal

disease. As they belong to many different groups of birds it may

be inferred that the whole class is predisposed to them under special

but yet unknown conditions; these moulds, as far as at present

definitely determined, belong to two or three species of Aspergillus,

and‘derive great importance from the interest at present attached

to the investigation and control of cryptogamic causes of disease.

—R. H. W.

BOTAN.,

EXUBERANCE or PoLLEN.— For many years I have observed with

wonder, in the early summer, or about the month of June, w ;

immense amount of pollen seattered in the vicinities where conife- i

rous trees and shrubs are abundant. On the Great Lakes I have

often: noticed the surface of the water covered for miles with a

thick coating of this yellowish deposit, looking as ìf it was strewn —

with sulphur, which in calm weather continued for days together.

At times, indeed, it is so difficult to get the water free from m :

pollen that it is rather unpleasant for drinking, cooking, oF ‘washing .

purposes. ; ee

yellow from the pollen.

plays on Nature’s part. It is difficult to conceive a us?

pollen thus spread over the land and the lake waters; " "©

there may be one hidden from us. ` po

This superabundance of the male principle, i

the rule throughout Nature, is a peculiarly interesting a E

tive fact, and worthy of more investigation and i

has heretofore received. gee

In’ plants, insects carry off a considerable quantity 0

pollen: bees, for example, to make bee-bread ; and we me

a few more instances of its use besides its legitimate ne : nske

ization. But all of these taken together would se

which seems to be

BOTANY. 427

more than a small fraction of the amount of this life-dust covering

with its thick sulphur-colored coat a single square mile of the

surface of Lake Huron or Lake Superior—Henry GILLMAN,

Detroit, Michigan.

Dovstr FLOWERS or RANUNCULUS RHOMBOIDEUS.—Specimens of

this are sometimes found in Floyd County, Iowa, with perfectly

double flowers. I have found several plants, and one of these I

transferred to a bed in the flower-garden, where it thrived finely

and increased to a clump six inches in diameter, which the next

spring was perfectly enveloped with the little bright yellow flowers.

Yo seeds were produced; and during the two or three seasons in

which the plant was cared for there was no sign of change to single

flowers, The plant was quite attractive; and as it blooms very

early and profusely, it would seem to have some of the qualities

required to entitle it to a place among cultivated flowers. — J.

C. Artur, Towa Agr. College.

[To be sure; being a dwarf species, it would be desirable, and

| f. A. might make a little money, while doing a good thing, by

Propagating the plant, and introducing it through the florists. In

i nowledgment of the hint, send us, please, a good root of it.—

“DS. |

Quercus ALBA, VAR. Gunnissonu.— In Watson’s report, Hall

and Harbor’s Rocky Mountain Quercus Douglassii var. Neo-Mexi-

“ana, is said to be Q. alba, var.. Gunnissomi. My specimens are

as much like Hall- and Harbor’s as if they had been taken from

_ the same plants. I can therefore speak of the living trees as I

SN them, and, without regard to their identity with Q. Gunnis-

cGy would suggest a doubt as to the propriety of their reference

— OW. alba,

oS Ihave had experience with trees in a living state of both Euro-

Pean and American species, and the idea left on my mind after

: Jouneying several days through tracts on which this oak in ques-

_ on grew, was that it partook more of the character of Quercus

than of Q. alba. Among the European species I have

as à remarkable tendency in some plants of Quereus cerris

~ aPproach Q, robur; and among these Rocky Mountain forms

vere many which. had the leaves and general appearance of the

oe much like Quercus cerris. This was especially the case

Co me low growing plants (about three feet high), about a

428 BOTANY.

day’s journey north of Pike’s Peak. South of Pike’s Peak were

some nearly fifteen feet high. None had the bark of Q. alba, but

in other respects favored Q. robur rather than Q. alba.

I know how easy it is to be mistaken. Though I do not think

Mr. Watson is right, I am by no means certain of my own view.

I write merely to suggest that full reliance be not placed on this

supposed relationship without a fuller examination. A few years

ago it would be deemed a matter of very little consequence ; but

as the question of evolution has risen to such magnitude, such

facts as these are worthy of the most careful scrutiny. As @

general rule it struck me that, accepting the theory of evolution

as true, the plants of the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado

favored a derivation from European rather than Eastern Americal

forms, and that this oak was one of the instances. —THomss

MEEHAN.

Tue Formation or Ozone sy FLowers.—It has been found

by Mantegazza (Rendiconti del Reale Istituto Lombardo, vol. ii.

fase. vi., abstracted in Der Naturforscher, 27th April) that many

essential oils, like that of peppermint, turpentine, oil of cloves, |

lavender, bergamot, aniseseed, nutmeg, thyme, and others, v

contact with the oxygen of the atmosphere in presence of sunlight,

develop very large quantities of ozone. The oxidation of these

oils is, in fact, a very convenient source of ozone, as they, waT

small quantities, ozonize much oxygen. The action is strong"

in direct sunlight, far less so in suffused daylight, and very we :

-= at an end in the dark. The development of ozone which be f a

begun in the light continues for a lòng time in darkness. © In! A

same manner act eau-de-cologne, hydromel, and other | es

tinctures on exposure to the solar rays. Experiments which Mai-

tegazza has made on flowers with powerful perfume, canara

narcissus, hyacinth, heliotrope, mignonette, and others, In * E

vessels, proved that they also form ozone. Those aoe all. :

perfume produced less ozone, those without scent none a

Mantegazza believes that this important source foe eee

hygienic value for the purification of the air of marshy

— Academy.

species has not yet been found in Colorado. ah

hills to the eastward of Pike’s Peak; not abundantly,

BOTANY. 429

with larger quantities of Juniperus Virginiana.. It here makes

but a low stubby tree of from fifteen to twenty feet high; but

with very stout trunk in proportion to its low stature. — THOMAS

MEEHAN.

Wio DOUBLE-FLOWERED EPIGÆA REPENS is received from

Worcester by Mr. Arba Pierce, who has gathered similar flowers

‘from the same plant for several years. The doubling comes from

the partial conversion of the stamens into petals, the outer and

most transformed series more or less coalescent into a tube.— A.

Gray.

EXPERIMENTS ON Hysrrpization. — Mr. J. Anderson-Henry, one

of our most skilful horticulturists, is contributing to ‘The Garden”

the details of some important experiments on pure hybridization,

or crossing distinct species of plants. He finds that in those

plants which possess two series of stamens, one long and one short,

the results vary essentially according as the pollen is used from

one or the other series to effect the fertilization. He uses the

rt stamens only in all cases where he wishes to cross a large

a small species, and with the most successful results. The

converse also he finds to hold good, remarkable hybrids being

Produced by using the long stamens where he wished to cross a

Small on a large species. The reason of this he considers to be

that the shorter stamens contain pollen of smaller grains, and

therefore better fitted to emit its tubes through the style to fertil-

= the ovules of the smaller species, and vice versd. The plants

chiefly Operated upon by Mr. Anderson-Henry are various species

eranium, Rhododendron, and Azalea. — Academy.

CALYPSO.

(A rare Orchid of the North.)

: BY W. W. BAILEY.

Calypso, goddess of an ancient time,

(1 learn it not from any Grecian rhyme,

And yet the story I can vouch is true)

Beneath a pine-tree lost her dainty shoe.

No workmanship of mortal can compare

With what’s exhibited in beauty there,

And looking at the treasure ’neath the tree,

The goddess’ selt I almost hope to see.

The tints of purple and the texture fine,

The curves of beauty shown in every line,

With fringes exquisite of golden hue,

Perfect the wonders of the fairy shoe.

430 ZOOLOGY. o

The goddess surely must have been in haste, Ht) F

Like Daphne fleeing when Apollo chased, y

And leaving here her slipper by the way,

Intends to find it on another day.

And will she t k it h or no?

he day is lengthening but I cannot go,

Until I see her bring the absent mate

' this rare beauty, though the time is late.

I watch, but still no classic fi I see,

me htt + +}

> th then tt

o ret

And so, for fear of some purloining elf,

The y i lic I secure myself.

ZOOLOGY.

New Birds iw Sovrnern ILLINors.— In the summer of 1871

the following species were noticed, and two of them obtained, by

the writer, in Richland and Wabash Counties, in the south-eastern

portion of Illinois, about latitude 38°, 25’: — Vireo Bellii, Pt pe

cea wstivalis, Cyanospiza ciris, Asturina plagiata and Falco Mes

canus. The Vireo Bellii was found to be a common, or at least not |

rare, species in the thickets on the prairies. It was first one

the 8th of June, when specimens were shot, and being then in full

at i

song, there can be little doubt that the species breeds there. The l

Peucæa estivalis—a bird heretofore found only in South hee 7

jes m

Georgia, Florida, ete. — was found to be a common spec

Wabash County, in old fields bordering on road-sides. As spec

mens of both old and young were obtained (on the 11th and Ht ‘

of August), and. the former being in full song throughout the wa —

mer, there can be no doubt that the species breeds there. C :

piza ciris was seen only once—on the 10th of June— when pe Be

the corner ofa

old weedy field. As the locality was not visited again, it is post a

1871,00 Fos

prairie, in Richland Co. I came across it while huntin mane

tailed and Mississippi kites (Nauelerus forficatus and Jetinia a :

sissippiensis), and while being annoyed by sev

well seen—it being immediately overhead—an fl

afterwards followed a long distance among the trees whioh 87”

ravine intersecting the prairie, but finally lost. There can ae

the slightest doubt as to the proper identification of the er

which I have been well acquainted with for years, and oP

d shot at; im

in cay

ZOOLOGY. 431

could not be mistaken upon such close observation of it as that

allowed for the individual in question. Falco Mexicanus ( = poly-

agrus Cassin) was seen near Mt. Carmel, on the 27th of Septem-

ber, and near Bridgeport in July, 1871. This species has been

observed, and also obtained, once before in Illinois, but in the

northwestern portion, at Rock Island, by Mr. J. D. Sargent. The

others are all new to the fauna of the state.-—Rozperr RIDGWAY.

Tue Axxstuetic SCHOOL. — Prof. Cope remarked at the meeting

of the Philadelphia Academy on May 21, that there were, and had

been for years, two schools of naturalists, whose modes of treating

Natural History subjects were quite different. In reference to

these modes they might be called the technical and natural schools.

As, however, the claim of the latter to better appreciation of

natural affinities and classification, appeared to him to be doubtful,

he thought they had better be called the pseudo-natural school,

while the so-called technical naturalists were such, on account of

their pursuing an analytic method. The pseudo-natural school

decided on the affinities of organic types by their “ physiognomy”

or their facies, habit and “toute ensemble,” reading nature with

an artist’s eye, and attaining opinions of systems, without the

trouble of much anatomical study. They protested against the

Strict adhesion to “ technical” (or structural) characters, saying

that they violate natural affinities” oftener than they support or

express them. Thus their systems become physiognomical, and

Please the eye by their appearance, rather than the mind by their

expression of exact structural relations. In accordance with this

system, species were always well distinguished and could not

have been derived from common parents, but that nevertheless

everything “ runs together,” and that the higher groupings are

mainly & opinionative.” In fact, that although nature has a

beautiful System we do not. yet understand it, and that it is “ too

“eon to generalize.” Perhaps this obscurity has its advantages,

48 it certainly shelters in its profundities any theory of crea-

tion its Supporters may choose to adopt. Hence they might be

called the Anesthetic school, or anæsthesiasts (or ařsðņe:s). The

“natural School think that the way of determining the origin

and relations of an object is to ascertain of what it is com-

Posed. This was to be accomplished by analysis of all its appear-

. -ances and an account taken of every character. In this way the

432 ZOOLOGY.

structure is learned and a system based on anatomy is established.

As anatomical systems are unnatural, and anatomical characters

very difficult to discover by the anezsthesiasts, they regard such

systems with disfavor, although they may constitute the only cor-

rect classification of bones, teeth, brains, ete. The analysts even

find that species having very close specific relationships occa-

sionally present different generic characters. This was proof

positive to the anzsthesiast of the errors of the technical school.

But it was still less to their credit that they laid stress on varia-

tions and monstrosities, which were mere accidents. The fact

that the analyzers believed in the development of species, showed

their systems to be unnatural. The speaker did not take sides,

but observed that in order to learn the relations of a species, he

usually examined it first.

- MICROLEPIDOPTERA. — I have read with much interest Lord

Walsingham’s paper in the May number of the NATURALIST;

and as I have given a good deal of attention to the Tinema and

have received several letters recently as to collecting them, I wish

to add a short note to Lord Walsingham’s paper.

When one is at home or at a stationary camp, infinitely the best

plan is to rear them from the larvæ and this is especially true of

the leaf mining species. With such species as leave the mine to

pupate, it is best to have a little moistened sand at the bottom of

the wide mouthed bottle used as a breeding cage. oil.

I have never found that the muscles were rendered rigid by .

the use of chloroform for killing the insect, as suggested by Lord

Walsingham, but I have found that the positions of the wings

and palpi are so variable when the insect is killed by chloroform

that they can not be safely used as generic characters.

As the slighest denudation frequently renders the ident :

of minute species impossible, and it is exceedingly difficult "

them without some slight denudation, I do not attempt pr

smaller species (Lithocolletidæ, Nepticula, ete.). For such pa |

I use the ordinary “ deep cell” of a microscopic slide (small d 4

shallow pill boxes will answer as well) laying a small ev

cotton or cotton wool on the bottom and covering the 7 :

with its top, or the cell with the ordinary glass cover rig”

by a small gum-elastic band. For observation under gf a

hold them in a small forceps by the legs.

ZOOLOGY. 433

For long collecting trips extensive preparations such as are de-

scribed by Lord Walsingham are necessary. But for a morning’s

work about home it will be found convenient to take a wide-mouthed

one ounce vial, a vial of chloroform, and a small paper box, say

two inches square by one-half of an inch deep, with a piece of

cottonbatting fitting into the bottom and another into the top of

it. Loosen the stopper of the wide-mouthed vial, and put one

or two drops of chloroform on.it so that the fumes will fill the

vial and then tighten the stopper again. When you find the micro-

lepidopteron resting upon a fence, or the trunk or leaf of a tree,

remove the stopper and invert the vial over the insect ; it will spring

back into the vial and in a moment will be quiescent ; it may then

be removed to the paper box (between the two pieces of batting,

which will hold it steady and prevent it from getting rubbed). A

drop or two of chloroform in the box will complete the work.

The box may be carried safely in the vest pocket and the insects

set upon return home. l

Lord Walsingham says nothing about collecting from fences,

ete., and recommends the late hours of the day as best for net-col-

lecting. But for collecting with the vial as above described I have

found the later morning hours, say from ten to one o’clock, the

best and the trunks and fences the best localities. Out of at least

one hundred and fifty species of Tineina which I have found here,

tally three-fourths have been taken resting upon the leeward side

- Of a board fence not two hundred yards Tong, at Linden Grove

Cemetery at this place.—V. T. CuamsBers, Covington, Ky.

On THE Occurrence or A Near RELATIVE or ÆGIOTHUS FLAVI-

ROSTRIS, AT Wattnam, Massacuusetts.— Mr. Wm. Brewster, of

Cambridge, Mass., some time since transmitted to the Smithsonian

Institution, a Specimen of a species of Agiothus which heretofore

not been noticed as occurring on this continent. It was

obtained Nov. Ist, 1870, from a flock of the common Æ. linarius,

of which six specimens were also killed at the same shot. The

Specimen in question agrees most closely with females of Æ. fla-

virostris, a European species; but differs in some very essential

respects, the most important of which is a tinge of sulphur-yellow

= Some places instead of tawny buff, which reminds one, at first

Sight, of the Chrysomitris pinus; the tail is also shorter than in

flavirostris proper. From the two common North American

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI 28

434 ZOOLOGY.

species (Æ. linarius, = fuscescens, rostratus and Holbollii; and Æ.

exilipes, = Æ. canescens, of which this is the smaller southern

race) it differs in lacking the red pileum, and in the total absence of

the dusky gular spot ; besides in many other minor respects. The

adult male of true Æ. flavirostris has the rump rosy, but has no

crimson on the crown ; and has the primaries and rectrices conspic-

uously edged with white. In view of the total differences from Æ.

linarius and exilipes —in all the numerous stages of plumage—

and taking into account its close resemblance to the female of Æ.

flavirostris, it seems reasonable to place this specimen near that

species; while at the same time, the features in which it does not

correspond with the latter are sufficiently important to warrant our

characterizing it as a different race which, perhaps, represents the

true flavirostris on our Continent; we accordingly name it Aigio-

thus (flavirostris var.) Brewsterii ; under which name it is noticed

in Professor Baird’s new work on North American Birds, now W

press.— Rogert RIDGWAY.

A Sprxe-norn MuULEDEER.— Prof. Cope, at a meeting of the

Academy of Natural Sciences, May 21, called attention to the

anterior curvature of the axis of the horn in the common deet,

Cariacus Virginianus, and said it was a point of interest to

determine whether the true axis or beam, was curved forwards

or not. On comparison with the Cariacus macrotis of the Plains,

it was found that the true beam was partly erect and was branched

(as already shown by Baird), while an anterior snag was d 0.

forwards, marking exactly the curved line of the axis of gored

Virginianus. The curvature of the latter was then shown ih

due to the predominant development of this large anterior ee

and the partial suppression of the true'beam. He then exhi

a spike, or second year’s horn of the C. Virginianus, and allue in

to the occasional occurrence of permanent ph

i i sai

the Adirondack region of New York. He on that regi

Lamberton, a gentleman who had spent much time i

confirmed the statements that had been made as to their simple

but said that they were rare. He then exhibited a pait penne

beams, or spikes, of two feet and a half in length, which : pi 2

taken from a black-tailed deer (C. macrotis), shot "n .

miles of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, in Kansas. Te í

dently belonged to an adult animal, and were the first a

ZOOLOGY. 435

of spike-horned deer of that species which had been recorded. It

was obtained by Dr. J. H. Janeway.

EconomicaL Entomo.tocy.— The plant lice affecting the vines to

such a fearful extent in France, and which in this country have al-

ready done considerable damage, is still attracting much attention.

The French Academy, as we learn from the * Revue Scientifique,”

has offered a prize of twenty thousand francs to encourage studies

to ascertain a remedy which shall protect the vine without destroy-

ing it. The best remedy against the Phyllowera, as it is called, is

the use of phenic acid, a substance much like carbolic acid. The

French Government has always been alert and liberal in this mat-

ter of practical entomology, a subject more important to agricul-

“ture than dreamed of in this country, where it is estimated that

we lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the at-

tacks of injurious insects, ete. Two states in the Union—Illinois

and Missouri have salaried officers, who, with a good knowledge of

entomology, do much by spreading facts about noxious and bene-

ficial insects among the people. But the leading agriculturists

of other states practically, with one or two exceptions, ignore the

matter. During the past summer the losses of wheat, corn, and

other crops in the Western States have been enormous.

farmers in one county in Massachusetts have lost at least fifteen

thousand dollars’ worth of onions, their most valuable crop, next

hay, from the attacks of a minute insect, called Thrips.

This annual loss, much of which could be now prevented, will ac-

Cumulate in intensity, and be most grievous a century hence, when

our country will become more densely populated and every grain

of food will be needed.

The foresight of the French people, despite the present gloomy

Views of the “ Revue Scientifique” and “ France Scientifique” over

the decadence of science among them, is conspicuous in their

Prompt and scientific treatment of the silk worm disease. Pasteur

and Quatrefages, and others whose names are illustrious as inves-

tigators, have been commissioned to study the causes of this dis-

“ase; and it is now thought, following out the suggestion of Pas-

teur — the result of profound studies on this subject — that if

healthy eggs be selected and those infested with the parasitic fun-

gus be destroyed, silk culture will be again restored in France and

m Europe. A single silk-raiser, whose worms this year

Beth

436 ZOOLOGY.

will produce thirty-two thousand ounces of eggs, hopes next year

to have a hundred thousand ounces, and the prospect of a profit

of a million dollars! It should be remembered that this remarka-

ble result is due primarily to the most minute researches upon mi-

croscopic plants by specialists, for the pure love of science.

cloister studies, put to practical account, save the destruction of

one of the largest agricultural interests in Southern Europe. In

like manner had the government or individual states of America en-

couraged the entomologist and botanist in their studies, and caused

them to be turned to practical account, we should not have had

to give up the cultivation of wheat in the northernmost states,

and our cotton crop could have been perhaps doubled, to say

nothing of fruits and vegetables. Increased attention is paid now

in England to economical zoology and botany. A botanist has

recently been appointed to the Royal Agricultural Society, and an

entomologist will soon be elected.

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF SETOPHAGA PICTA IN ARIZONA.— Lieut.

Charles Bendire, U. S. A., stationed near Tucson, has commun-

cated to Professor Baird the capture of the above-named species

near that post. It was shot April 4th, 1872, and was found “ run-

ning around the larger limbs of cottonwoods in search of lar®

and insects.” Its manners are stated to be “ considerably like

the Certhiade.”— Rozserr RIDGWAY.

ZooLocicaL Nomenccarure.— “ In the President’s Address ©

the Entomological Society of London recently given by g

Wallace, one of the points most fully discussed is the rules 0

zoological nomenclature. These rules are undoubtedly of gh

considerable, though indirect, importance to science and es + z

very satisfactory to find that great divergence of op D

what these rules are, or should be, still prevails amongst a 2

describers and cataloguers. : calle

Some years ago I was entrusted by the Entomological Cole- e

with the task of preparing a synonymical catalogue o: - f the

optera of our islands, to be published under the au —<— 7 to

Society ; my attention, therefore, has necessarily been direc’ bere

the questions under discussion in this matter, and I ae es

state the conclusions to which I have come. zoologic!

1st. That a committee to frame and publish laws pert” have

tee would ba

nomenclature is not to be desired. Such committee

ZOOLOGY. 437

no power whatever to enforce the laws it might make, and could

not be expected to put an end to discussion on these points. The

knot must be untied, not cut.

2nd. That the binomial system of nomenclature should not be

arbitrarily considered to have commenced at any given date; but

that recognisable names in all works in which this system is

methodically employed should be used according to the rule of

priority.

3rd. That it is not necessary to suppress a generic name in zo-

ology because it has been previously used in botany (or vice versa) ;

but that it is much to be regretted that any generic name should

thus be in double use, and it should always be made a matter of

reproach to an author that he has committed an act of this nature.

4th. That names must be Latin to the extent that renders them

capable of being written or used in scientific Latin; but that

classical emendations beyond this are entirely inadmissible ; no

line except this can be drawn between emendation, alteration, and

total suppression. The laws of classical languages bave per se,

no more right over scientific nomenclature than has the Hindoo

language, As regards the much talked-of ‘Amphionycha know-

nothing? it should be latinised in the simplest manner, as

Amphionycha knownothinga ; and I would further suggest that its

barbarian author be well hissed whenever he ventures to show his

“ar somebody else should do it.

Sth. That as regards placing an author’s name after a genus,

the name so placed should be that of the author who established -

the genus in the sense in which it is actually used. Carabus of

438 GEOLOGY.

Linneus included all the insects now comprised in the family

Carabide, at present divided into several hundreds of genera.

To write, therefore, Carabus Linn., when we mean something

entirely different, may be usual but is not desirable.

I may add, that I consider it useless to expect a perfectly

stable zoological nomenclature, until zoology itself is complete

and perfect; but that in order to reduce changes to a minimum,

classical and other secondary claims must not be allowed any

great importance.”— D. Smarr, in Nature.

GEOLOGY. 4

A New Genus or Uxevrares.— At a meeting of the American

- Philosophical Society, April 2nd, Prof. Cope stated that the largest

mammal of the Eocene formations adjoining those of Wyoming,

i.e., of the Wahsatch group of Hayden, was the Bathmodon

radians Cope, of about the size of Rhinocerus. It was an odd

toed ungulate, with peculiar dental characters. The incisors were

well developed above and below, as in the tapir, but. the dental

series was little interrupted. The crowns of the molars were

all wider than long, and presented mixed characters. On the outer

margin one only of the two usual crescents of Ruminants was

present, but a tubercle represented the anterior one. The on

which was present was very obliquely directed inwards. — inne

crescents were represented by two angles, the posterior forming

the inner angular margin of a flat table, the anterior a mere lng

lum at its anterior base. The arrangement of these parts F

stated to be of interest in connection with the relations?

between the types of hoofed animals. The single outer gay?

was a ruminant indication, while the inner table resembl i

interior part of the crown of Titanotherium. It differed, howe

in its early union with the outer margin, its edge be

sibly homologous with the posterior transverse crest m

The premolars had two or three lobes with erescen

arranged transversely. He regarded the genus as

cotherium. He stated that the mammalian fauna p “any Jet

Utah more nearly resembled that of the Paris Basin than. 7

discovered in our country, and that it contai

number of generalized mammalian forms. One of

of these was the genus Anchippodus of Dr. Leidy.

hive

tic section

ing thus po*

allied to (hal

f Wyoming d

TAr OSER

ned a still gre

the most marked

MICROSCOPY. 439

Bow.pers IN CoaL.—In the May number of the NATURALIST

(page 291), is an extract from the “ Report of the Ohio Geological

Survey,” in which Prof. Andrews describes the occurrence of a

quartzite bowlder in the coal of Ohio. This bowlder, he thinks,

must have been transported there by ice; and to account for the

ice he supposes a much colder climate for the coal period than

most geologists would be willing to admit. It seems to me that a

much simpler explanation, which dispenses with the supposed cold

climate, is quite sufficient to account for the facts. It is well

known that, during freshets, trees on the banks of streams are often

undermined, and floated away, bearing in their roots large stones,

which may thus be carried to great distances. In this way the

small bowlder found in the coal of Ohio might easily have been

transported. Similar instances of bowlders in seams of coal have

been observed in this country and in Europe.—O. C. Marsu.

Foon or Presrosaurvs.—At a meeting of the Academy of Nat-

ural Sciences, May 28th, Prof. Cope exhibited some vertebrae of a

Plesiosauroid reptile and those of a smaller species, probably a

Clidastes which were found in close proximity near Sheridan,

Kansas, by Joseph Savage of Lawrence. According to this gen-

tleman the vertebrate column of the Clidastes was found imme-

diately below that of the Plesiosauroid and in a reversed position,

as though it had been swallowed by the latter or larger reptile.

The largest vertebra of the Clidastes were about three-quarters

the length and one-fourth the diameter of those of the Plesiosau-

roid, and the animal must have furnished a large or, at least, a long

mouthful for its captor. The bones of the Clidastes were not in

good condition, but resembled those of C. cineriarum Cope,

though smaller. The Plesiosauroid was a species of over thirty

feet in length and was the third species found in Kansas. It was

new and was named Plesiosaurus gulo.

MICROSCOPY.

A New Erecrine Prism. — Mr. J oseph Zentmayer exhibited, at

a meeting of the Franklin Institute, a single prism which erects the

‘mage completely and in such a way that the incident and emerging

rays are parallel, which, as far as we know, was never accom-

Plished before. In connection with the microscope, as it was

shown, it interfered very little with the definition, and, although

440 MICROSCOPY.

the light is twice refracted and reflected, the loss of light is much

less than one would expect. With the microscope, the prism is

placed right above the objective, and the instrument may be used

in any inclined position. A pair of such prisms might be used

also for an erecting binocular microscope, of iak tive tae i

have the same inclination to the stage. i

Fig. 1 shows the front and profile of the prism. The projection

of the. front is a square, that of the profile an isosceles triangle.

The angles at the

base of the triangle

are 27°19 for crow

olass of a refracting

A 53, mM

index 1.99,

Fig. 2 is a view from above. The rays A, B and Cof nga f

2 are the identical ones, their dotted parts are whe projet a

the rays inside of the glass, and their course may be rem’.

followed in the profile, fig. 1, where the upper ray, mer?

the lower one, and the lower ray, C, as the upper One. :

As the ray A enters in the perpendicular line above the

rges as

lower

a a a a ees kena ee eee

MICROSCOPY. 441

edge, it will not be reflected out of its plane, while the rays B and

C, entering the left side of the prism, reach the inclined faces,

from which they are reflected to the opposite lower one, and are

changed in their course to the right, from here again reflected, to

emerge at the corresponding opposite point. Fig. 3 is a perspec-

tive representation of the prism. — Journal of the Franklin Insti-

SrerHenson’s Brnocurar.— Mr. Stephenson has reported to the

Royal Microscopical Society, some improvements in his erecting

binocular microscope. The lower prisms by which the light is

divided and the image laterally inverted, are made smaller than

before and placed nearer to the back combination of the objective.

They are now made .68 in. long, .412 in. wide, and .2 in. thick ;

and are inclined to each other at an angle of 42°, making the

angular divergence of the bodies 93°, and the distance of the

point towards which the eyes converge nearly fifteen inches. The

prisms of this size are mounted in a small tube which projects

beyond the nozzle of the instrument, and into the mounting of

the objective nearly to the posterior combination of glasses. The

quantity of glass in the prisms is greatly reduced, and powers as

high as 4 in. may be easily used. The standard length of body is

, Secured: and also an easy convergence of the eyes.

By altering the angle of inclination of the bodies to the perpen-

dicular from 75° to 664° the use of a Nicol’s prism as an analyzer,

which is quite unsatisfactory in a binocular, is easily dispensed

with. When polarized light is used the box containing the upper

Prisms (the original upper prism being now made in two parts )

'S withdrawn and an analyzing plate of highly-polished glass

substituted, reflecting the light at the polarizing angle of 567,

and Securing more light and improved definition.

it desired, the upper prisms may be likewise replaced by a plane

mirror silvered by the beautiful process employed by Mr. Browning

in the manufacture of his reflecting astronomical telescopes. Thus

bak Set rid of all the glass and of two surfaces, but obtain an

Meomplete reflection and a less permanent reflector.

Opaque ILLUMINATION UNDER Hren powers.—H. A. Johnson,

M.D., President of the State Microscopical Society of Ill., com-

oo to that society another method of producing this

—<ult effect. He employs Prof. H. L. Smith’s plan of making

{iF ARSE lta PORN +:

* We are indebted to the Journal for the use of the above cuts.

442 MICROSCOPY.

the objective its own illuminator; but instead of the silvered

reflector, thin glass disc, or reflecting prism, used by Prof. Smith

and subsequent experimenters, he employs the binocular prism of

Wenham’s binocular. A beam of light reflected down the oblique

body of the Wenham binocular, the prism being in position as for

ordinary use, is of course condensed by half the objective upon

the object in its focus; while the other half of the objective and

direct body of the instrument is used at the same time as a monot-

ular for viewing the object. A portion of the field is intensely

. illuminated, and definition is said to be better than with other

arrangements.

Cotiins’ Licut Corrector.— Mr. Collins, of London, has intro-

duced a modification of Rainey’s Light Modifier, to correct the

glare of too intense light or the yellowness of gas-light, lamp-light,

ete. A thin plate contains a rotating wheel with four apertures

one of which is empty while the others present in turn a ground

glass and two shades of blue glass. This contrivance, an illustra-

tion of which may be seen in the advertisements in ‘+ Science nia

sip,” is always ready for use, being simply laid, under the object,

upon the stage of any microscope ; though for use with an achro-

matic condenser it is somewhat better to have the correcting plate,

whether of ground or blue glass, below the condenser. :

form of Light Corrector may be obtained of Miller Bros. whose

address is given elsewhere in this number of the NATURALIST.

MEASUREMENT OF ANGULAR ApeRTURE.— For those students

whose stands have not a graduated rotating base, Prof. T. D. a

coe recommends a plan especially applicable to the larger cia

achromatic condensers which cannot be as conveniently @ per

for the method advised by Dr. Carpenter. He places the me

nation horizontally, with a gas flame several feet distant behi

to furnish nearly parallel light, holds a card across the Cen" ‘id

the front lens so as to bisect the cone of light, and seat r

pencil marks the edges of the illuminated portion of the "a

common protractor is used to measure the angle of the pe

drawn. Though chiefly useful to measure the eye-plec? ty used

achromatic condensers (Webster’s condenser, ete.) aS aoe „otimes :

with diaphragm, ete., in position, the method may be see ‘

convenient for objectives of low power. Prof. Bian pi reli- T

can be applied to objectives as high as 4 in. of 110 a -

able within one or two degrees. i,

MICROSCOPY. 443

OrGanisms IN Cutcaco Hyprant Water.—The “Lens” publishes

an interesting note on the subject by H. H. Babcock of Chicago.

While the Chicago river flowed into Lake Michigan, pouring into

it a slow current of almost stagnant water saturated with organic

matter, the hydrant water used in the city, taken from the lake at

a point two miles from the shore and where the water is forty feet

deep, contained an abundance, though a greatly varying quantity,

of organisms, such as diatoms, etc. When the current in the river

was reversed, so as to flow from the lake, the vegetable and animal

forms mostly disappeared from the hydrant water; and the im-

‘proved sanitary condition of the city, generally attributed to the

absence of the former noxious effluvia from the river, may be due

in part at least to the increased purity of the drinking water from

the lake. The writer at first suspected that the water of the river

had previously directly contributed the organisms found in the

water from the “crib,” but afterward was led to conclude that the

change in the direction of the river only acted by changing the

direction of the currents from other sources in the lake, thereby

leaving the crib in purer water than before. Much more investiga-

tion of this kind ought to be immediately accomplished in view of

the growing tendency, if not the imminent necessity, of supplying

to our cities water from lakes and large rivers.

Record or New Funer.—E. C. Howe of New Baltimore, N.

Y., has recently discovered and described several new species of

Fungi as follows :— Uncinula luculenta, U. Americana, Micros-

‘Phoera sparsa, M. finitima, Pestalozzia Zabriskiei, P. insidens, and

Phragmidium fallax.

„Ponura Scares. — American microscopists experience great

difficulty in obtaining a satisfactory supply of these objects. The

English Journals are agitating the same subject, and there seems

to be some mystery as to the source of the familiar “test” scales.

Mr. McIntyre suggests, not confidently, that they may be devel-

ped upon the common Lepidocyrtus curvicollis late in life. Mr.

Joseph Beck states that no amount of age will develop them upon

the common form of this insect, though they belong to an insect

entomologically identical with it but having a different habitat:

ome E.G... of Matlock, recollecting that the late R. Beck told

him that he found the Podura in the rockwork in his mother’s gar-

én, hunted for them in a cellar and found a lead-colored species

Which yielded scales equal to Mr. Beck’s. He admits, however,

444 MICROSCOPY.

that only one slide in twenty, perhaps one scale in five thousand, :

was of any use. In his slide prepared by Mr. R. Beck there are

only two well marked scales, which appear to be the exception and

not the rule. Dr. Josiah Curtis, of Knoxville, Tenn., has been

successful in collecting species of Lepisma, ‘‘Podura,” ete.

Tur Srupy or “ Dirricutt” Draroms.— Mr. J. Edwards Smith

of Ashtabula, Ohio, writes the following note which is suggestive

of the experience of many microscopists who study the finer dia-

toms without making a specialty of them.

“I find that Pritchard describes Navicula cuspidata as having

close transverse striz. I have slides of this diatom, mounted dry

„and in balsam, and with my Tolles’ 4 dry, or 45 wet, have no diffi-

culty in showing longitudinal striæ, far finer than the transverse;

indeed when mounted dry both sets can be plainly seen at once.

Is there anything remarkable about this?

I notice that Möller places Navicula crassenervis as the 18th on

his ‘Probe Platte’. I fail to discover striæ on this diatom either

in balsam or mounted dry. Pritchard says they are sometimes

wanting. The objectives above named show the fine lines in No.

17 (Cymatopleur elliptica) very nicely, but fail on Nos. 18, 1

and 20. Our friends here are interested to know what others are

doing with this ‘Probe Platte.’ Has Amphipleura pellucida been

resolved in balsam? When, by whom, and with what lenses?”

Ans.—Nothing can be more certain than the uncertainty of what

has been known, in regard to the markings and structure of diae

toms. It would be rash at present to pronounce any shell as!

from markings, and would probably be repeating a mee o

often made already. Different shells of the same spea i

eis necess®y

greatly in “difficulty,” but no explanation or excus wie

for a dry } failing to go entirely through the series on ps io

plate. It is by no means easy, though sometimes pit

resolve A. pellucida in balsam with dry lenses and ordinary! m -

nation. With immersion lenses, however, and na

illumination, there is no difficulty in accomplishing this with wn

tives of Tolles, Wales, Powell and Lealand, Beck, mar .

Nachet, and doubtless several other makers. About two cil -

ago Count F. Castracane resolved and photographed A. 7 For &

in balsam, with French lenses and monochromati¢ sunligh H i

a method by which this can be easily accomplished seë ==

ward’s paper in the NaruraLisr for April last.

NOTES.

AGAIN has science been called upon to give up one of her

brightest lights and most enthusiastic devotees, and many of our

readers have in the death of Dr. Witt1am Stimpson to mourn for

a dear friend. Dr. Stimpson was born in Cambridge, Mass., and

early became devoted to Natural History pursuits. He also had

the good fortune of being under the guidance of Agassiz and soon

became an original investigator and distinguished as a mala-

cologist. His first publication was on the marine shells of New

England, in 1851. From this time he pursued the study of

Marine Zoology with the greatest vigor, and dredged and collected

along our Atlantic Coast from Florida to Grand Menan, until he

became the authority in the lower forms of animal life, especially

in the classes of Crustacea, and Mollusca, and until Mr. Verrill

commenced his work on our Radiates, Dr. Stimpson was the

acknowledged authority in that group also. In the classes of

Mollusca and Crustacea of our Atlantic coast, Dr. Stimpson was

to the time of his death the acknowledged head of the able band

of workers in these departments, while his connection with the

Government Exploring Expedition to the North Pacific, as natu-

ralist, gave him a wide field of work in his most favorite study of

the Crustacea, in which he shared equally with Dana the honors of

the scientific world. As a dredger Dr. Stimpson early became

noted, and taking his first lessons in our own harbor of Salem,

under the guidance of Dr. Wheatland, he soon became the pioneer

ìn this science along our whole coast, and his very last work was

the superintendence of the deep sea dredging off the coast of

Florida under the direction of the Coast Survey. Dr. Stimpson’s

Connection with the Chicago Academy of Science, as the successor

of the lamented Kennicott, is known to all, and to the disastrous fire,

` which in one short hour destroyed all his material, manuscripts,

drawings, specimens and library, must we attribute. the close of his

i e at the age of forty-two years. For though suffering from lung

disease, there is little doubt but that for the fearful calamity which

So suddenly destroyed all his work and hopes, he would have lived

to have seen published the valuable works, which, owing to a fatal

delay on the part of government, are now ARON —

445

446 NOTES.

though the many descriptions and preliminary papers which he —

~- published, and his early works, will forever connect his name with

the marine zoology of the world.

Tue Committee to arrange for the next meeting of the Associa-

TION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE have informed us, just as

we go to press, that the meeting will not be held in San Francisco

as previously announced, but in Dubuque, beginning on

Wednesday morning, August 2Ist, at 10 o’clock.

We shall give all the details possible in our August number, and

the circulars to members will undoubtedly now be issued at once

by the Local Committee.

Ir will be noticed that the Herbarium of the late Rev. M. A.

Curtiss of Hillsboro, N. C., the veteran and highly esteemed

Mycologist, is offered for sale in our advertising pages. But a

few months ago we were in correspondence with Dr. Curtiss, relative

to the publication of his manuscripts and drawings on the edible

fungi of the United States, and though aware of his feeble health

we had no reason to suppose his life labors were so nearly overs

- the first intimation we received being the request to publish the

advertisement given inthis number. Dr. Curtiss has so long been

identified with the study of the important and interesting grop

of Fungi, and has so extensively exchanged and collected spect

mens, that his collection must be of the highest value as ap

authentic one in this most difficult department, and we trust that

it will at once be secured for some prominent herbarium where gz

life-long labors will be appreciated and made useful. F

4 of

“ Tr is with very great regret that we have to record the death

solo gt ty Gth of Mays

Mr. Georce Roserr Gray, which took place on the $

after a short illness. He was born in the year 1808, at Little

Chelsea, and was appointed an Assistant in the Zoological Departe

ment of the British Museum in 1831. At the time of his y

he occupied the post of Assistant Keeper of that dep +

e established his reputation as an ornithologist by his "Genet :

Birds,” a great work, in the production of which he was a .

for twelve years, from 1837 to 1849. From that time he pga :

princeps in this branch of science, to which he devoted st pa

almost exclusively. Only a short time before his death gg

pleted his invaluable **Handlist of Birds,” published in three Vo T

by the Trustees of the British Museum.” — Academy.

NOTES. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 447

Tue Boston Society of Natural History have very wisely rapes

to offer the Annual Walker Prize for 1873 for a memoir “On t

development and transformations of the Common House Fly,” oe

not only carrying out the liberal bequest of Dr. Walker, in offer-

ing pecuniary assistance to worthy investigators, but at the same

time calling attention to how little is known of the early life-his-

tory of one of the most abundant of insect pests. Trusting that

the prize may induce several of our entomologists to turn their

attention, for this year at least, to the much neglected group of

Diptera we refer to the advertisement for particulars.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

E. M The Diat tom of your figure and description may possibly be Tricer

spinos which has been obtained from Florida, and which varies so on a that

. Simin ‘described Beat ya several different t nanen We should like to have speci-

0 xam. aren ==

oy Si Societ w,” to ‘which are fitted all. American and a large proportio

of Euro ope an Shilectives, is is nihat rod ee ar pgp gee a erorar es A microscope at the

present day; E et it shou iP not be considered b pg oe dem pe in buying a

microscope. ove be added, by means of. on vrs costing Suoy one dollar, to any

“what t for rce aipe the e sitive plan The ment is a vital one — as

much s -pA as the mo am fs of our hand in w ma A Bu t the fore that moves Pom leaf-

stalks is, 8, again, on F tendo mat eta tension upon differen he ides. How une-

ypu Raenaion i is aeih about, if to be explained at all, cannot be explained in a word

Eni i, Jr. Amherst, _ —The capture of two specimens of the Cape May Warbler

ndræca won rag n in May of this year at Amherst, Mass., by Messrs. S. Dickinson and

ka e Ste Jr., is an rening. fact. Iti i properly regarded as a rare bird in this

Sate gece sparingly and at irregular intervals. (See Amer. Nat., Vol. II. p.

we kA N.—(Finds Dr. Woodward’s method of resolving Amphipleura pellucida to

a £ splendidly.) ) Should you mnoneed i in resolving the above diatom, in balsam, with

od — of less than ri a equi t focus, rated on the principle o bed 1 in. by 10,

A erare of be glad to kno particulars, including U the am ae pow r and angu-

larva o:

aa one trees, i is Hb atonal p Aa thee f emorata Fabr., you nd fax up i bet : the

nile ese Fayettevi a.— ung peach shoots

an Fayed erie Pa.—The e small Borers viel hat bisa Lig Bin ant ee tate

Small sl aa rve of a

baci Slate-colored moth — Anartia lineatella Zeller. We have ae it from peach-stem-

Is elirva of i and it has similar habit Europe, being common to b pouniries.

va of Gortyna nitela Guen., a nh h larger moth, also bores into peach stems.—

, Boston, Mass.— Your figure represents the Book-Scorpion or False-Scor-

pont G cuncroides Linn.). It pe yas and backwards as well een forwards;

c. w vr a bia sd Se oci) and is consequently not i cine NG ie ae

e s] age ao not

e specim e of the

Jes of this larve being that it loses, after the last molt, the Sik spots which

the ahaa it in the earlier stages. If Mr. Packard in his first Repo not given

i matic name, it is probably an oversight. he g w was iri med afin is and the 9

Dr. Fitch, b by St. Fargeau, who, of course, knew nothing of the insect ich "habits; and

singular oversight, subsequently adopted St. Fargeau’s 2 name.—

Fog

;

448 BOOKS RECEIVED.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Second Annual fos on ahd Noxious Insects of the State of Illinois. By William LeBaron.

8vo pamph., wily pri

ngfiel

Annual Report of the j RE of the Museum of C arai Zoology at Harvard College, in

Cambridge, together with the Report of the Director Ji 8vo pampli. — 1872,

Fourth Annual Report on the Noxious, Beneficial and einer Insects of the State of Missouri. By

Charles V. Riley Illustrated. 8vo pamph, 2. Jeff n City.

Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Vol ALL, "Nook Preliminary notice ofahy

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TE EE Su

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

KA Vol. VI.— AUGUST, 1872.— No. 8.

EI Ia NORN E

A NEW ENTOZOON FROM THE EEL.

` BY REV. SAMUEL LOCKWOOD, PH.D.

Ix the spring of 1869, while at work on the study of a question

_ nnected with the common eel, Anguilla acutirostris,* my atten-

tion was drawn to a small white speck embedded in a morsel of

fat on the intestine of that animal. As said above, its color was

White, while the fat of the fish is quite dark. It was this contrast

made it so easily observable, although it was of very minute

size ; for in its greatest length it was not much more than the one-

twentieth of an inch; and its breadth at the forward end, which

*This name, Anguilla EART is dne of the cha! and odd synonymes given

"o the common eel of Eur the name

; of A. vul garis. Dr. Gtinther refers a specimen 1 received from New rte Pe mg in nel

sam h

has been pyung under many names, though best kiia states’ that of

sis, as distinct from A. vulgaris of Europe, although identical with spec-

an,

comparisons of specimens collected by the hundreds from the ere

grea

iting them all under the name of Anguilla vulgaris, or the Murena Anguilla

us and the old writers. Either this must be done or almost every hundredth

™ collected must be regard ded as the type o of a distinct. — for a perfect

lips jut os an nk

tilrery color ¢ to Sea etc., ete t

of specific value emer finding them worthless for the purpose in

specimen taken in hand.— F. W. PUTNAM

the Vries

SClenc m ee ing to the Act of Congress, in the year 1872; by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

any Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

AMER. NATU URALIST, VOL. VI. 29 (449)

450 A NEW ENTOZOON FROM THE EEL.

was the thickest part, was about one-eighth of the entire length.

That it was an individual organism I had not the least suspicion.

It was solely its white color, in such direct contrast with the dark

adipose tissue, in which it was contained, that excited my curi-

Fig. 117. _ osity. On this account it occurred to

we -me that the microscope might reveal

some difference in structure. Having

put it under a lens of very moderate

power, I was surprised to see a vermic-

ular object, with the thick end trun-

cated. Nowa deep regret seized me;

for I supposed that in the dissection

of the eel, the most important part of

this interesting specimen had been u-

Anterior portion of Echinorhyn- Wivtingly cut off, The appearance thus

cus, gigas, showing the prolete presented in the microscope is shown

arena in Fig. 120, where it looks like a worm

with its anterior end excised. Thus regarding the object as Tk

ined by an untoward accident, I was about to cast it aside, when

lo! to my glad astonishment, the creature began a singular movè-

ment at the supposed decapitated end.

Astonishment is not the word—it was in ,

amazement that I gazed upon that strange $

movement. Such a sight could never be iss

forgotten. Who does not remember the S

childlike delight at seeing for the first

time a juggler draw the almost intermin-

able cornucopia out of his mouth, until the

mountebank’s head looked like that of the

fabled Unicorn? But. that was only a

smooth paper cone, after all; and the trick

of it’ every schoolboy well understands.

Not so with this feat of my puny capitve,

at whom I had the lone.privilege of gazing

through this wonder-peering instrument.

Like the sheriff, who was obliged on ac-

count of his pleasant bearing, to respect the unwele

whom he had just ejected ; so I must confess that this un

D l. @, seles.

tractile mu

compelled my admiration, by a singular grace

al.

protractile aa (From OWEN

ome tenant >

occupant whom I had ousted from its strange dyelling-pla® ond :

fulness of PPT

A NEW ENTOZOON FROM THE EEL. 451

movement, albeit certain outré and weird-like accomplishments.

With a slow, steady and uniform movement, a beautiful and tiny

structure rises up, until the truncated end is capped or surmounted

by a pretty little pagoda, with many circlets of hooks, the distance

from ring to ring, being uniform. It was as Fig. 119

if a miniature tower had risen out of.a little [Ry š

crater, and covered it with. ity base. The

whole structure is pellucid, like old milky-

white china. So that now the end that seemed

to be cut across is completed by having a cone

projected on it as a base, the apex terminating

almost in a point. At this extremity is a lit-

tle pore, which probably serves whatever of

oral function is needed, hence it may be called

its mouth. Fig. 121. The evolving of that

° ° the

pretty cone was not only a beautiful sight to muscular fibre. ec, triz

$ R angular spaces,

look at; but the method of its evolution was with parenchymatous

a d 5 matter. f, dorsal —

i i stis. g, Ven-

grand thing to see into. As it rose slowly, sack, or tes oS testis,

filled

atous

} tral ovary sac.

Ìt was a lengthening truncated cone, with a (From Owen)

crater at the upper, or smaller end. And this cone, although

without change-at the base, kept steadily lengthening at its sides,

and narrowing at the top, until at length the truncation, and the

crater disappear together.— the former in a rounded point, and

Fig. 120. the latter in a pore. Fig. 122, a, b, ¢, d.

But how could this be done? It should be men-

tioned that a similar extensile organ in other en-

tozoa has been called by naturalists, from sheer

poverty of language, the “ proboscis.” Hence

there is no help for it; and we must use the same

inexpressive word. ‘There is a species to which

our specimen is allied, which is known by the name

Echinorhyncus gigas. Its proboscis, w eh pro-

; truded, is of a spherical form, with a neck, or stem

reese” they in below i while at the top of the sphere is a slight

lng z ethe “truncated projection, around which are several rows, bi

i E rings of hooklets. In the centre of the ring that

Surrounds the top is the oral pore. Figs. 117 and 118, a. With-

out regarding form precisely, but rather looking to function, let

m liken the neck of the animal to the hand of a glove, and the

P toboscis to one of its fingers. Suppose that finger to be with-

452 A NEW ENTOZOON FROM THE EEL.

drawn, or inverted. There are two ways in which I can revert the

same. I may wish to do so by starting the tip end of the finger,

as if I should push it out by pressing the end of a wire upwards,

against the under side of the tip, which would in this way come

out first: or I could, if I wished, push the finger out at the sides.

This could be done, for illustration, by having in the hand part.

of the glove a tube or cylinder.of the proper size, down which

the glove finger has been neatly pushed, so as to fit snugly against

the inner sides of the cylinder. Now if the cylinder be gently

pushed upward, the glove finger will ascend on the outside of the

cylinder having, as it rises, a crater-like depression at the top.

The first of these methods illustrates the propulsion of the pro-

boscis of Echinorhyncus gigas: and the second

one shows the actual evolution of the proboscis

of our new entozoon. It is done by the pushing os

of abductor muscles on the sides of the everting

and lengthening cone. i

It is noticeable of our species, that when the

proboscis is returned into the body, the hooklets

are all turned inside the proboscis. Fig. 122, ¢

This is not true of Echinorhyneus, which keeps —

its hooklets external to the proboscis, whether

that organ is extruded or withdrawn. Figs.

117118.

Three real, and easily appreciab

Fig. 121.

Je distinctions

helmin ? e

They differ greatly in the form of the proboscl:

also in the method of propulsion of the same, & method requiring

for each differently adjusted muscles ; and they differ in oF wes

tion of the hooklets, when the respective probosces are myer”

It is plain then that our specimen belongs to a new

As to their ordinal relations; both are membe

second Class of the Entozoa, embracing the Sterelmint ;

worms; and both evidently belong to Duvaine’s Tye

thocephala, or Spiny Heads; and to Rudolphi’s

ars the same name. Now in this order there is but one 5

namely, Echinorhyncus, aJready mentioned ; therefore bai

the order a new genus, to which we give the name '

ing *“‘sheathed-head” and species Anguilla, because

common eel.

rot Anguilla, wit

proboscis projected, are now pointed out in these two

showing the rings of

hooklets, x

found int

A NEW ENTOZOON FROM THE EEL. 453

But the systematist may claim a word. If our name is to be

accepted, the giving must respect the methods which Science

regards as Orthodox. Accordingly the following is offered as

sufficiently technical to be precise; and yet perfectly appreciable

by the popular judgment.

KOLEOPS ANGUILLA Lockwood (gen. et sp. nov.).

Description— Solid. Form, ve

when in action the proboscis extended, making with, body two cones united at their

bases. Length, less than a line when at res se abo

of length. Proboscis encircled by rings of hooklets external to the cone and pointing

ckward; when the proboscis is retracted, the hooks are internal to the cone, and

point forward. Color tallowy-white, pellucid. At extremity an oral pore.

Habitat.— In adipose ti the entrails of the mon eel, Anguilla acutirostris.

Specimen taken from an eel caught in Raritan Bay, near Keyport, N.J. Spring of 1869.

As to the use of those spiny circlets on the proboscis. While

they can present but very little obstruction to the penetrating of

that organ, the hold thus given the little Fig. 122

parasite is very great; indeed it is cer- RREN

tain that any attempt to dislodge it must

fail, while these grapnels are buried in

the tissue, and but for the peculiar mus-

cular functions of the cone-like pro-

boscis, its extraction must be fearfully ce eS

lacerating, like the withdrawing of an E aee ARR of the

arrow with many barbs. Certain it is Pi proposeis when withdrawn,

that no human deyice could extract that cone. ee

tiara shaft of spiny rings, from the living tissue, without in-

flicting an agony beyond expression. When the butcher lifts

the meat off his shamble hooks, he does it with a motion suited

to the form of the hook, that he may not tear the meat. When

Koleops would retract its thorny shaft, the process is begun at the

extreme point, which of course is at the bottom of the wound ; and

how deftly, easily, yea, perhaps painlessly, this is done. Involu-

tion is begun at that extreme point. The end of the proboscis sinks

downward within itself. In fact, it is not a withdrawing in the

ordinary sense; for that would make the entire organism move at

ate) and every barb would tear. It is a gradual involving, begin-

ning at the point, and of course, the first circlet of hooks is by

this involving, everted from its hold, and inverted as respects the

deepening crater of the now shortening truncated cone. Given

eae, Fap of seamen pan a solution gu e

? Itis to be observed that the instan po

the proboscis reénters the neck on its return into the body, the

454 MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT. |

part without, or external to the neck, is a frustrum of a cone,

while the part now within, or below the neck, is a lengthening a.

cone, until the external frustrum wholly disappears, and the inter-

nål cone is complete ; and the animal is at rest. i

But little beyond conjecture can be said on the mode of use of

the oral pore. It may be a sucking organ, thus imbibing nourish-

ment. To me it seems that the entire external walls of the-

proboscis are functional in this direction; and during thè slow

‘inversion of this instrument, that is, while withdrawing from its

hold, as each ring of hooklets is released, and involved into the

crater of the returning cone, the limpid adipose flows over the era-

ter’s edge ; thus the cone when returned contains a supply of nutri-

ment. I hardly know how heterodox the view may seem to am

yet the idea presses me that the osmotic doctrine of a m

impulsion of the nutrient fluids and gases, plays an important

role in the nutritive system of these curious beings. ae

But my pen must stop with a confession. I must own that

during the study, whose results have been given above, the $

called repulsiveness of the subject was both unseen and unfelt, m

the reverent sense that came upon me; so that in studying this

singular organism, so lowly and so minute, with a functiol

structure so complete and complex, with adaptations 50 skilfully

adjusted to a mission so mysterious —I found myself, not with-

out emotion, repeating the sublime words of Saint A

Deus est magnusrin magnis, maximus autem in minimis.

peered

Microscopical Soviet

—8. L. ;

NOTE.—An oral account of my discovery, with some

given to the N, Y. Lyceum of Natural History, May 12, 1869.

a paper, giving the results of my study, before the New Jersey

From that paper the principal facts gi l I been

ON THE USE OF MONOCHROMATIC phe

; AN AID TO HIGH-POWER DEFINITION”

BY DR. J. J. WOODWARD, U. 5- ARMY-

A rew years ago I published, in the “ Quarterly Ta

eroseopical Science” (Vol. vii, 1867, p. 253), Some 7

on, March 91

Gore

* Read before the Philosophical Society of Washingt

HN SEBO OR Ee DUES Be ae BAL PEM ee mk St Reece Teel my Ae

Aus re Nees RTEA Misti er

MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT. 455

“On Monochromatic Illumination.” These remarks were sug-

gested by the perusal of a letter from Count Francisco Castracane

published in the same journal some time before. (Ibid. vol. v,

1865, p. 249.)

4 Count Castracane’s method consisted essentially in the use of a

= _ prism by which the sunlight was decomposed, and any selected

q color could be employed, blue or green seeming to him most

advantageous. Mine consisted in passing the sunlight through a

` cell containing a saturated solution of the sulphate of copper in

ammonia, which transmits a bluish violet light, admirably suited

to high power definition and less fatiguing to the eye than any

other color.

At the time I supposed Count Castracane’s method to be new ;

the one I employed I ascribed to Von Baer (“Einleitung in die

Höhere Optik” p. 48). I have since learned that I was in error in

both particulars. The proposition to escape chromatic aberration

by employing monochromatic illumination goes back in fact to a

very remote period in the history of achromatic microscopes, and

monochromatic lamps, as well as the use of the prism and of

glasses and colored fluids as absorptive media, were early suggested.

It would carry me away from my present purpose to go into a de-

tailed history of the various attempts made from time to time in

these directions. As the construction of achromatic objectives

continued to improve, these devices fell into obscurity and it is

only of late that attention has been directed to, them anew. As

for Count Castracane’s method, without going further back, a

full account of all the principles involved in the tse of the prism

for attaining monochromatic light to illuminate the microscope

will be found in Chapter vii of the article on the microscope in the

eighth edition of the “ Encyclopedia Britannica” (American edi-

tion 1857, Boston, Vol. xiv, p. 798).

The use of the solution of the ammonio-sulphate of copper to

exclude certain portions of the solar rays especially for photo-

graphic purposes, would appear to have been first suggested by.

one of our own countrymen more than thirty years ago.

: Professor J. W. Draper published in the “Journal of the Frank-

oi Institute” of Philadelphia, during the year 1837, a series of

Experiments on Solar Light” in the course of which several ob-

Servations on the properties of the ammonio-sulphate of copper

are recorded. In one of these papers (Loc. cit. Vol. xix, 1837, p-

456 MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT.

473) he states that the ammonio-sulphate solution absorbs the red

and yellow rays of the spectrum and with them so much of the —

heat that but ‘twenty rays, for every hundred that fell upon it,”

were transmitted. Ape

In the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine :

for September, 1840 (Vol. xvii, p. 217) the same gentleman pub--

lished a paper “On the Process of Daguerreotype and its applica-

tion to taking Portraits from the Life” in which he describes his

attempts to reconcile the chemical and visual foci of portrait ob- A

jectives, to-escape “the effulgence” of the solar rays thrown directly — ,

on the sitter, as practised at that time, “ abstract from them'theit

heat and take away from them their offensive brilliancy.” These @

are almost the very objects for which microscopists to-day resort to ,

the copper solution. Professor Draper employed in his experi-

ments “a large trough of plate glass, the interstice being an inch ;

thick” filled with a dilute solution of the ammonio-sulphate. Its

size was about three feet square. This was so fixed in the couse

of the sun’s rays, reflected from a mirror upon the sitter, that his

head and the adjacent parts were illuminated only by the light —

which had passed through the copper solution. By this device he

reports he obtained excellent results. -

In the spring of 1869 I received a letter from one of the nes

of Professor Draper (dated April 19th) calling my attention — :

above facts and transmitting several daguerreotypes of os

copic objects all bearing the marks of considerable age. The

writer (Prof. Henry Draper) states were made at various aue

from 1851 to 1856. A Nachet microscope was used and in every

case the ammonio-sulphate of copper is said to have been employed:

The results are not particularly good as compared with penne

photomicrographs, but appear to me not much inferior to ee ae

that could have been done by the daguerreotype method wit w

microscope used. The time was not yet ripe, and both microscop! <

objectives and photographic methods have vastly improved

_those days.

My present purpose does not permit me to give

to these reminiscences, the real object of this paper

groate

being "

ically the advantages of monochromatic su

definition.

: ) use of the

This object excludes a further consideration of the use’

PAN CLSIUGM faite Ute ii eee Cn r era SST ie WOM era ee eae BS eae:

y IE w Te neh UME E T N EN a are ane ERN $

` WEIN Y vet ae ee i

K n i EOE EA a, PYN

MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT. 457

prism. It does its work admirably as I know by repeated trial,

but the results are practically no better, even for photography,

than those obtained by the use of the dmmonio-sulphate cell, it

requires greater skill to use, and the necessary apparatus is more

expensive. For the same reason I shall say nothing in this article

on the use of artificial lights, further than that both the prism and

the ammonio-sulphate cell may be satisfactorily used with either

the Calcium, the Magnesium or the Electric lights by those who

are unable conveniently to secure the advantages of sunlight. The

light of ordinary coal oil or gas lamps, however, is not suitable

for the purpose.

Two very simple methods of securing the advantages of the

ammonio-sulphate solution will now be briefly described.

(a.) I suppose the observer to be possessed of a good micro-

Scope stand, with achromatic condenser and suitable objectives.

Then it is only necessary to prepare a proper ammonio-sulphate

cell and fix it between the plane mirror of the instrument and the.

achromatic condenser. The microscope should be set near a

window so that the direct rays of the sun fall on the plane mirror,

While the head of the observer is protected by a convenient screen

and all becomes easy.

(b.) A still better method for the resolution of lined test-

objects with the highest powers, and one which is almost as simple

as the foregoing is that described in my paper “On the use of

Amphipleura pellucida as a test-object for high*powers.” (This

Journal, April, 1872, p. 193.)

“ Erect a perpendicular wooden screen about two feet square on

= Me edge of a small table. Cut in this a circular hole an inch and

_ half in diameter at about the height of the under surface of the

Stage of the microscope. On the outside of this hole mount

à small plane mirror which can be adjusted by passing the hand

to the outside of the screen. On the inside cover the hole with

the ammonio-sulphate cell.” Now move the table to a window

ugh which the direct rays of the sun can fall upon the mirror,

and adjust this so as to throw the solar pencil nearly horizontally

ugh the ammonio-sulphate cell. The mirror, and achromatic

condenser, if the microscope has one, are removed and the micro-

“ope turned so that the solar pencil shall fall with the desired

degree of obliquity on the under surface of the object. It will

Senerally be best to condense the light upon the object by a small

458 MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT.

ordinary Jens, or still better by a low power objective mounted

like a bull’s-eye lens on a separate stand.

For prolonged observation, however, the motion of the sun

will render it necessary to readjust the mirror from time to time, _

and the use of a heliostat becomes desirable. This gives the

most ‘satisfactory results no doubt, but the cost of the heliostat

will, of course, prevent it from coming into general use except

among those who desire to photograph what they observe, and the

simpler methods above detailed will answer very satisfactorily for

every other purpose. a

The ammonio-sulphate cell used in either method should be x

made of two pieces of thin plate glass about two and a half inches

square, held apart by thin strips of plate glass, or by a square

of plate glass suitably drilled. The point is to obtain a layer of

the blue solution about 4 of an inch thick between two parallel

planes of plate glass. The best cement for the purpose according

.to my experience is old Canada balsam applied hot; but many

other devices may be employed. ‘The solution is made brati

r an

` A sheet of fine blue glass may be substituted for

sulphate cell but only with tolerable results; at least, pak

never had a sample of blue glass which was of just the right color:

The selection of the best condenser for high power aa ;

a matter which has recently elicited much discussion. an ;

general way I may say that any condenser will do its best ae

under the conditions above indicated if skilfully used. For ee

benefit of those who possess first class stands but have never ; ai

chased an achromatic condenser it may be stated that almost a

objective suitably mounted on the secondary stage can be m

answer instead, the best results being attained wh + of the

aperture of the objective thus used is rather less than pee

one employed to magnify the preparation, and when the ' gems

stage is capable of being centred or decentred at nee low

screws working at right angles to each other. An ordinate

_ power objective (of one to three inches focal length) pe x

a separate stand and used to throw the light obligo t pe

described is, however, perhaps the most convenient ane

mode of illuminating lined test-objects with high ean 7

As to the objectives suitable for monochromatic 1

MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT. 459

tlie best compound objectives of some first class maker ‘should be

selected. It is a mistake, to suppose, as some have done, that a

single lens can be substituted for the modern carefully corrected

compound objective, even if the pure monochromatic light of a

narrow portion of the solar spectrum as obtained by a prism were

employed. For the objective always requires to be corrected for

spherical aberration, and in the case of high powers must be

provided with a screw collar to modify the distance between the

posterior combination and the front one in accordance with the

different thickness of the covering glass of the preparation. Now

practically the spherical aberration is best corrected by the just

combination of crown and flint glass, and combinations very

hearly the same as those employed for white light would still be

necessary if the objective were made for exclusive use with mono-

chromatic illumination.

Under these circumstances I do not recommend the use of

Monochromatic illumination for low or medium powers except

When photographs are to be made. It is only as an aid to high

Power definition that I here commend it. With its aid objectives

Meapable of resolving certain difficult tests (such as Amphipleura

pellucida, Grammatophora subtilissima, etc.) with white light, show

them in a satisfactory manner, and those which even with white

light are capable of displaying the most difficult tests, exhibit

them with greater clearness and distinctness. I attribute this

460 SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA.

tric lamp. If the microscopist so manages his illuminating —

apparatus that the field of the microscope resembles in color and

intensity the azure blue of the sky on a clear day (and this is the

condition which should always be aimed at), I do not believe the

use of the method for any reasonable time will be found —

injurious. I have recently found, when a sheet of plate glass

backed with black velvet is substituted for the ordinary plane :

mirror in any of the above arrangements, that while the brilliancy :

of the light is much moderated, its desirable qualities arè —

unchanged and it is still intense enough for the adequate illumi-

nation of the highest powers. Those who find the light obtained

from the ordinary mirror too brilliant may resort to this contriv-

ance with advantage. ;

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA. j

tia. AE = =o ph

BY REV. H. J. BRUCE.

Oxe is greatly surprised at the number of birds found in India: i

Dr. Jerdon in his “ Birds of India,” published in 1863, descfibë

ten hundred and sixteen species, and since that time the wa a

been so much enlarged by new discoveries, that Mr. Allan 7 o

in the second part of his “ Rough Notes,” announces pater a

dred and sixty species as already acknowledged and wer

It cannot be supposed that this number includes all the avi- p

of India, Burmah and Ceylon; for new species are en >

being discovered and added to the list as the number of obser” B

is increased, and new localities are visited. nowy ;

India possesses almost every variety of climate, from ery” Mee

Himalayas on the north, to the arid plains and tabletin ae =

tropical south. The variety of surface, too, is very pe

and lakes or in the salt marshes, almost every

those conditions which are best adapted to its n

It is to be remembered also that this country form

ature

s the

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA. 461

most limit of the Asiatic continent, and it is therefore the winter

: _ residence of a vast number of species which migrate from the colder

_ regions of central Asia, and even from Europe. The Himalayan

_ Tange forms no impassable barrier to them in their journeyings

north and south; but, taking advantage of favoring valleys and

_ mountain gorges, they have chosen for themselves great highways,

_ over which they pass and repass as the changing seasons require.

_ Dr. Stoliczka has recently discovered one of these highways in the

valley of the Sutlej in the northwest Himalayas. This valley forms

- almost direct passage through the lofty mountain ranges, from

E the plains of India to the elevated table-lands of Central Asia.

E In a distance of one hundred and ten miles it ascends from one

_ thousand to thirteen hundred feet, and Dr. Stoliczka found there

_ many species of birds which one would not expect to find in such

elevated mountainous region.

= Rahouri is situated on the bank of the Mala river, in the broad

_ Valley of the Godavery, twenty-three miles northwest from Ahmed-

Muggur. The country round about is open plain, and the land for

: the most part is fertile. Immediately around the village are a

large number of gardens which are more highly cultivated and irri-

Sted by water drawn from wells by bullocks. There are a great

_ ‘many trees, of various kinds, in these gardens, and it is therefore

‘Attempting to include in this list all the birds found here, I propose

_ lorestrict myself to those which I have seen from my study window,

adin my own garden. In front of my window, one hundred feet

- dlistant, is a thick hedge of Milkbush (Euphorbia tirucalli) fifteen

feet high, and upon either side of the intervening space are a

_ Munber of acacias and other trees. The garden is a much larger

e, surrounded by the same hedge and containing many

"ees of different kinds. With limits thus circumscribed, our list

- will, of Course, include only a few of the most familiar birds.* i

= Neophron Ginginianus. The white scavenger vulture. This

_™s formerly supposed to be N. percnopterus, the “Pharaoh's

ken” of Egypt, but is now acknowledged as a distinct race.

i Hieraëtus pennatus, The dwarf, or booted eagle. Often Sei

among the common kites, and it so much resembles them in size

OP) ae Facey TE OY E ae ee RN RI TS, ee A ae ee Se ee ery eg al a ay Ee AR e E ey ye eee eS Me

y E

Tilin, Aak or three exceptions all the birds included in this list, and no fone

hc may be seen in the Museum of the City Library Association in Sp

462 SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA.

and general coloring that the inexperienced observer finds it diffiealt

to distinguish the two when flying at a little distance from him. It

is wary, but more predacious than the kites, not unfrequently seiz-

ing a chicken or some other small animal from the ground. But, as

Dr. Jerdon says, its depredations are usually laid to the charge of

the kites, for the reason that the common native people do not

distinguish it from them. It is wonderful how widely extended

the range of this eagle is. It is found throughout India and

Burmah, in Western Asia, Southern Europe and Northern Africa,

and has recently been reported from South Africa. Mr. Blyth also

thinks that the Australian Hieraëtus morphnoides, is not to be

distinguished from this species.

Poliornis teesa. The white-eyed buzzard.

Milvus Govinda. The common pariah kite. Among the -

objects that attracted my attention when I landed in India were

the kites and crows, and I have scarcely been out of sight of them

very long at a time since. They are very abundant in all parts of

India, and no representation of Indian scenery would be quite

complete without some of these birds in the foreground. e

common kite performs a very important office as & scavenger T

is generally seen sitting upon the ground, or upon houses eee

or sailing about with easy and not very rapid motion om

villages or cantonments watching for any bits of refuse were

serve for food. When these are discovered the kite does not we

rapidly down it seizes the prize with its claws; or if He.

swoop fails a second or third quickly follows. But after selz "e

: ‘mes rush

Others of his own species seeing his success, will sometimes

upon him and attack him with such fury that he is

the prize to escape from them. If unmolested, however, wr

devour his spoils either upon the wing, or seated upon eas

boring house or tree. It is surprising how quickly the ge have

discern an object and recognize it as an article of food.

myself thrown a small bird out upon the ground with COM” pite,

force, and alm it sto i the

po An ost before it stopped rolling upon 4

which was unseen before, swooped upon it and carr

triumph.

* a v re |

- The kites are sometimes exceedingly bold and often be almost

Some. The people in this country are accustomed to

Pi si

od it away ™ :

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA. 463

every kind of burden upon the top of their heads, and it is no

uncommon thing for a kite to make a sudden swoop and possess

himself of a part of their burden, when it is anything that he

desires for food. Ihave seen them attempt to seize food out of

the hand of a man. It was done so quickly that the audacious

tobber, whether successful or not, was far away before the aston-

ished victim could recover from his surprise. They consider it,

however, much safer to take liberties with children than with older

people. Several years ago my own child, then two years old, was

accustomed to take a piece of bread in his hand and go out each

afternoon to play in the shadow of. the bungalow. On several

Successive days we were suddenly aroused by a great outery from

the child, and on going to him found that a kite had unceremo-

niously robbed him of his food. I made every effort to shoot the

troublesome bird, but, as if aware of my purpose, it quickly

disappeared whenever I came in sight. At length, however, after

Several days’ manceuvring, quite contrary to its usual custom it

cautiously flew over my head, and—well! it troubled the child

0 more,

Mr, Hume says that.“ there are certainly two distinct species of

kites in India.” The second species is much larger than M. Go-

_ Wada, and Mr. Hume has named it M. major. It is “a wild wary

bird, very difficult to approach and is found only in the open fields,

" in swamp or jungle.” Hence very few specimens of this

larger kite” have ever been obtained, although it has been re-

Peatedly seen, recognized and pursued, both by Mr. Hume and

others. Besides this, Mr. Hume thinks that it is by no means im-

Probable that the Australian M. afinis and the Chinese M. mela-

notis may be found within our limits. The Indian kites seem never

to haye been examined with that thoronghness with which most

Other families of Indian birds have been. Certain it is that in the

Steat multitude of kites all about us, there is a vast difference in

ad of the individuals, both in respect to size and coloring ; but

rhether this is owing to a difference of speciés, or only to the

| “nditions of age and sex, can be determined only by careful ex-

: whe n of a large series of specimens. Milvus Govinda seems

, ° nearly confined to India, Burmah and Ceylon. A few spec-

Ne only have been recorded from the Andaman Islands.

o Brama. The spotted owlet.

Mpselus afinis, The common Indian swift. Very abundant

464 SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA.

at times, even entering verandahs and houses, and then again not

seen at all for many months.

Caprimulgus Asiaticus. . The common Indian nightjar.

Caprimulgus Nightjar. A single specimen shot upon

the ground close beside the bungalow. It is of a remarkably

light color, and apparently differs from any described by Dr. Jer-

on.

Merops viridis. The common Indian bee-eater. There are three

Asiatic varieties of this bird which Mr. Blyth thinks are “about

as well worthy of separation as is the African variety from either

one of them.” The blue-throated variety, or Hodgson’s M. tor-

quatus, seems not to be uncommon in this region.

Coracias Indica. The Indian roller. This beautiful bird is

regarded by the natives with great superstition. _ If the traveller

sees it sitting upon his right, and can pass without raising it, it

is a good sign; but if it is on his left he despairs of accomplishing

the object of his journey. Hence he will sometimes run with ;

his might across the neighboring field in order to leave the bird

upon the right hand side of his path.

Paleornis torquatus. The rose ringed parrakeet. Very abun-

dant and noisy, and destructive to the crops of fruit and gram.

It flies with great energy, and when on the wing always seems to

be in a hurry.

Hantholema Indica, The crimson-breasted barbet. The only

barbet found in this region.

Coccystes melanoleucus. The pied-crested cuckoo.

Centropus rufipennis. The common concal or crow p

Arachnecthra Asiatica. The purple honey-sucker. a

most widely spread of all the Eastern sunbirds. The yee

breeding plumage, with its glossy, purplish black eae pe

crimson and yellow axillaries, is a very beautiful object. — found

thirteen species of Indian honey-suckers this is the only. oner ae

in this vicinity. ;

Upupa nigripennis. The Indian hoopoe.

Lanius erythronotus. The rufous-backed shrike.

Lanius Hardwickii. The bay-backed shrike.

Pericrocotus peregrinus. The small minivet. :

Dicrurus macrocercus. ‘The common drongo shrike.. Jo speci-

Tchitrea paradisi. The Paradise flycatcher. A singie

men, a fine adult male, shot in the hot season of

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA. s 465

= mon in the more highly wooded districts along the Western

Ghauts.

) Leucocerca albofrontata. The white-browed fantail. An occa-

sional visitor to the trees in front, and always welcome for the

beauty of its song as well as the oddity of its manners.

Cyornis banyumas. Horsfield’s blue red-breast. The female

of this bird is not, as Dr. Jerdon supposes, “ olive brown above.”

I have repeatedly obtained undoubted females, determined by dis-

section, which differed from the males only in having the colors

slightly more dull. An allied species, C. ruficauda has been

found in this vicinity, but all my specimens have proved to be

females. It is still a question whether this last is a good species,

or whether it is the female of some other race.

Petrocossyphus cyaneus. The blue rock thrush. According

to Dr. Jerdon and the Rey. H. B. Tristram this, and not Passer

domesticus is the “sparrow” of Ps. cii, 7, that sitteth ‘alone

upon the housetop.”

Malacocireus Matcolmi. The large gray babbler.. Very abun-

dant and exceedingly noisy.

Pyenonotus pusillus. The common Madras bulbul. Distinct

ftom the P. heemorhous (Gmelin) of authors.

Oriolus kundoo. The Indian oriole.

Copsychus saularis. The magpie robin.

Thamnobia fulicata. The Indian black robin.

Ruticilla rufiventris. The Indian redstart.

Acrocephalus dumetorum. The lesser reed warbler.

Prinia socialis. The dark ashy wren warbler.

Drymoipus longicaudatus. The long-tailed wren warbler.

Phyllopneuste rama. Sykes’ warbler.

Sylvia afinis. The allied gray warbler. :

- Motacilla Dukhunensis. The black-faced wag tail. During

: he cold weather when this bird is with us its whole face to the

top of its head is pure white. The observer iy this latitude there-

fore fails to see the propriety of the English name that has been

_ Siven to it. a ;

_ Budytes viridis. The Indian field wagtail. ‘The green wag-

_ are very difficult of identification. Mr. Hume thinks that

: = are at least six species in India, only two of which occur in

_ AMER. NATURALIST, VoL. v1.

us culminatus. The carrion crow. Of the seven species

466 SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA.

of crows found in India only two are seen here. This species is

very common but not nearly so abundant as C. splendens. I have

never been able, however, to obtain specimens which approached

in size the measurements given by Dr. Jerdon. The largest speci-

men, I think, that I ever obtained, measured but nineteen inches in

length, whereas Dr. Jerdon gives its length as twenty-one inches.

Corvus splendens. The common Indian crow. The common In-

dian crow is everywhere found in surprising numbers, and it

retains all the wariness and cunning which are characteristic of its

class. It is amusing to see its excessive caution when it has

reason to think that one has evil designs concerning it. It stands

with its neck stretched forward and its wings partly spread ready

for instant flight, while its eye is cocked and it watches every in-

dication of war or peace. The slightest hostile movement, val

even a steady look will often send it away; but sometimes it

seems to know that it is being imposed upon, and then it merely

jumps upon a more distant branch of the tree, or if on the grou

flies a few feet away. It is exceedingly quick to comprehend the

situation of affairs, and to avail itself of any opportunity ©

secure its food.

I once saw, in the city of Poona, an old woman sitting by the

roadside with a basket of sweetmeats for sale. Not finding trade

very brisk, however, she had leaned her head against a tree

fallen asleep. The crows seemed to comprehend the case at once;

and they began to sidle up, in their own peculiar way, to z

themselves to the contents of the basket. Probably the ©

woman found them anything but profitable customers. e

There seems to be an element of justice in the constitution n

this crow, as well as in some of its congeners, at least they are

customed occasionally to inflict punishment upon certain os ý

members of their community. I was once fortunate enoug

witness their administration of justice. Hearing an unus i yü

motion among the crows in my garden I went out to see wha

ere

the trouble. A large number of crows were assembled and =

+t of them was :

pulling his feathers, while the prisoner meekly SI

punishment without trying to escape or to retaliate.

eS aa pat)

their ne

Nej x

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA. 467

learn what crime the prisoner had committed, but, judging from

the punishment he received, it must have been very great. When

the punishment had been inflicted and justice maintained, the

prisoner was released. After standing quietly for a moment he

flew away, and was probably ever afterward “a sadder and wiser”

crow. The court also adjourned, and the assembly broke up.

It is often mentioned of this crow that it roosts in company, in

vast numbers, assembling for that purpose from the whole sur-

rounding country. The late Capt. Beavan says, “At Umballah I

have observed crows in large numbers flying along the grand-trunk

toad over twenty miles of an evening, for the sake of roosting in

the station, returning in the morning the same distance.” There

are Some large trees in the Collector’s garden at Ahmednuggur which

Serve as a roosting place for these birds. From before sunset

‘until dark the crows may be seen in great numbers coming from

all directions for their night’s lodgings, and in the early morning

they return again to their various hunting grounds. I will venture

to say that they are the most industrious collectors of revenue

that emanate from that place.

Acridotheres tristis. The common myna. This is one of our

Most common and familiar birds, and it is rather a favorite, partly

because of its cheerful and dignified appearance, and partly because

it has such a great variety of notes; more than once have I heard

* Strange, unknown song, and on going to my window to discover

lts source have found only my old friend the myna. Some of its

notes are not very musical, it is true, but they are always so cheer-

ful, so rollicking, that it is a pleasure to have it about. There is

one striking peculiarity about this bird. It has a row of white or

“ety specks around its red-brown irises. This when seen near

* mand gives it a singular appearance. So far as I know, none of

lts allies has this peculiarity.

; The myna is by no means a timid bird. It is able to stand upon

” dignity and to defend its rights when occasion requires. Mr.

k E Speaks of a male in defence of his household treasures,

e shing after and soundly thrashing any chance crow (four times

his weight at least) that inadvertently passed too near him.” I

fi ii Seen a pair of them in front of my window attacking most

mously a medium sized cobra that came within a few rods of

st. His snakeship was making the best of his way to a

ing hedge, when, without waiting for the formality of

468 SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA.

putting on my hat, I seized a stick and ran out in the hot mid-day

sun to the assistance of ‘the brave birds. After a short conflict

the reptile was safely housed in a bottle of alcohol.

The common myna has been successfully introduced into the

Mauritius and Andaman Islands. Dr. Carpenter says of this bird,

“In the Mauritius, the increase of locusts, which had been acci-

dentally introduced there, and which were becoming quite a pest,

was checked by the introduction from India of a species of bird,

the grackle, which feeds upon them.” (Animal Physiology, Para-

graph 149.) Why might it not be introduced into the Southern

States of America? It thrives in Northern India in latitude equal

to that of the Gulf States, and at an elevation of five thousand

feet.

Temenuchus pagodarum. The black-headed'myna. This species

is more seasonal in its appearance, and is far more quiet and retir-

ing in its habits than the common myna. It is a beautiful little

bird, and, as Mr. Hume says, “there is something essentially gentle-

manly in his look; he is always so exquisitely glossy, neat and

clean, and he always looks so perfectly independent and so thor-

oughly good humored.” j

Pastor roseus. The rose-colored starling. The rose-colored

starlings are said to breed in Western Asia and in Southern Europ®.

They make their appearance here during the cold season in time of

harvest, and make great devastation in the fields of grain. In the

evening they assemble in countless numbers at their chosen roost-

ing places, either in trees, or in a thick growth of prickly-pear.

I have seen them in vast cloud-like flocks flying back and forth

over their roosting place for several minutes, and then they would

suddenly dart, like an arrow, into the prickly pear and settle them-

selves for the night. On one occasion one of these flocks T ce

fired into on two nights in succession, and on the third night, 2°

a starling was to be seen at that place.

Munia Malabarica. The plain brown munia.

Passer Indicus. The Indian house sparrow. One o

always have to look out of the window to get a glimpse” the

here, 2 ©".

Indian house sparrow. They are abundant everyW’

- house and out of it, and they are as mischievous and 1m p

they are common. They are exceedingly industrious = AE L

vering in their mischief, working away for days and s they have

little hole they may find in the walls and ceiling un

SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA. 469

enlarged it sufficiently to give entrance to themselves and the

rubbish which they require for their nests. Its chirp is loud and

shrill, and is continued with such pertinacity as to become ex-

tremely annoying. Indeed Dr. Jerdon pronounces this bird and

the common squirrel (Sciurus palmarum) “two of the greatest pests

in India.” The ill-mannered creature has no regard for sacred

places, but enters the churches and chapels with the utmost freedom,

screaming out its loudest notes, being provoked thereto, perhaps,

by the singing of the congregation. I have been almost distracted

when preaching to a native assembly, by half a dozen or a dozen

of these noisy creatures chirping with all their might over my

head and in every part of the room. It is of little use to drive

them out; for if they are driven out through the door they will

come in at the window, and if through the window they will return

at the door. Their persistence is more than a match for human

patience, nothing short of decapitation seems to be sufficient to keep

them from their mischief. I have suddenly closed the doors and

Windows upon them, and chased them back and forth until in their

fright they have fallen helpless to the floor ; have taken them in my

hand and done everything to frighten them, but out of sheer pity

have let them go alive, only to have them return to their work of

destruction at the first opportunity.

have been more particular in describing this bird because of

— the recent attempt to introduce a closely allied species (Passer

domesticus) into America. I confess that I look with some appre-

hension upon these efforts which I believe to be ill-advised and

mexpedient. The European house sparrow does not differ essen-

tially in its habits from its Indian ally, and so far as I can learn, it

Tuy generally regarded as a nuisance wherever it abounds. In

Ena parts of England a bounty is placed upon its head and con-

siderable sums of money are paid for its destruction. In Spain it

is said by Mr. Howard Saunders to be “as abundant and impudent

"a elsewhere.” The Passer domesticus is the common sparrow of

Syria, according to the Rey. H. B. Tristram, who says of it, “in its

Vestward migrations it has acquired neither additional impudence,

oe hor voracity.” Dr. Thomson also describes these same

_ Syrian sparrows in the following spirited style. He says: “ They

=a OY S tame, troublesome, and impertinent generation, and nestle

where ou don’t want them. They stop up your stove and

ater pipes with their rubbish, build in the windows and under the

470 SOME OF THE FAMILIAR BIRDS OF INDIA.

beams of the roof, and would stuff your hat full of stubble in half

a day if they found it hanging in a place to suit them. They are

extremely pertinacious in asserting their right of possession, and

have not the least reverence for any place or thing.” (Land and

Book, Vol. 1, page 58.)

If the sparrow is to be introduced into America to devour the

larve of insects it should be remembered that it is for the most

part a feeder on grain, seeds and buds and that it only makes &

business of devouring grubs during its breeding season. Ifitis

true, as has been estimated, that a pair of them will devour four

thousand caterpillars a week during their breeding season, still

that season continues but a small part of the year, during the

remainder of which they may cause a great amount of destruction.

I trust that those who have to do in this matter will act advisedly,

lest they should introduce that which will eventually become as

great a nuisance, in its way, as the cureulio and the cankerworm.

Of the five other species of Indian sparrows only one is found ie

-this region. The Passer flavicollis, or yellow-necked sparrow, 18

altogether more modest than the preceding, and is, indeed, a very

different sort of a bird. It does not intrude itself into the society

of man, but frequents thin forest jungle, groves of trees and gardens.

It has a very pleasing song which it pours forth from its golden

throat, seated upon the topmost twig of some lofty tree. |

Emberiza Huttoni. The gray-necked bunting. This can hardly

be called a familiar bird in the sense to which we have restricted

that term, although I have twice seen it gathering its food i

ground in front of my window ; I mention it here more particulary

to correct an error in regard to its supposed limited i

Dr. Jerdon gives its habitat as the N. W. Himalayas

may be “a rare straggler into Western India.” Mr. W.T %

ford obtained four specimens in 1867, in the vicinity of Nag

and Chanda, and reports them as having “not previously th

found so far to the South.” Rahouri is considerably farther poa

than the places mentioned by Mr. Blanford, and I have yee

here in large numbers during the past year. I cannot "i

explain the apparent suddenness of its appearance. a

to recognize it until two years ago, and then only s

but during the last cold season it was very common, wr z

localities of hill and plain.

Euspiza melanocephala.

The black-headed bunting wpa

APEE ene

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 471

in vast multitudes during the cold season, and this year (1871),

wp to the first week in April, a whole month later than is men-

tioned by Dr. Jerdon.

Columba intermedia. The blue rock-pigeon.

Turtur Cambayensis. The little brown dove. Very abundant

and tame, building its nest sometimes on the verandah within

reach of the hand.

Turtur Suratensis. The Spotted Dove. Occasional. Very

beautiful. ;

Turtur risoria. The common ring-dove. Very abundant.

This is a very widely distributed species. It is one of the three

common doves of Palestine, and is found in Asia Minor, and even

in European Turkey and Northern Africa. It has also been intro-

duced into New Zealand.*

Ortygornis Ponticeianra. The gray partridge. Often seen in

small companies about the hedges. ?

Anthropoides virgo. The demoiselle crane. A very common

and beautiful sight in the cold season is a flock of these magnificent

birds flying overhead. They are generally in a straight or wedge-

shaped line, and sometimes form a double line. They usually num-

ber from twenty-five to a hundred in a flock, but they sometimes

appear in astonishing numbers. Occasionally, too, they rise to an

immense height, so as hardly to be visible, or even to disappear

behind the clouds. During the day they sit in the sandy beds of

rivers, but they are very shy and difficult to approach.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Screntirrc Recorp.+— We are glad to see that the admirably

edited “ Scientific Intelligence” which the Messrs. Harper have

been Publishing of late in their Weekly and Monthly has been put

ee Te a aia

oe Observed a very curious habit of this bird which I never saw noticed in any

hed acco alling after some weeks of

dry weather

o en may aan rag a ga iaia their object

"a, pa dently: to ai pack. I watched them for some time = were Kaoa tha thigh

of the body under the wing. `

Record of Science and Industry for 1871. Edited by SPENCER F. BATIP.

assistance of eminent men of science. New York; Harper and Bros. 1872.

t Annual

the

472 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

in more permanent and accessible form, with the addition of a

good deal of matter, original and compiled, which was not suitable

for the columns of a popular periodical. Professor Baird, of

course, needs no introduction to the readers of the NATURALIST,

nor is any endorsement of the quality ‘of work he offers, required;

we may simply say that in points of perspicacity, comprehensive-

ness and thorough reliability, the present volume matches former

ones from the same high source. Those who have not seen the

“Record,” may be interested to know that it is a digested and me-

thodically arranged abstract of the leading scientific discoveries of

the past year, representing the cream of current literature in

Science and Industry. It will prove an extremely useful and con-

venient handbook to all who desire a general knowledge of what

is going on in the scientific world, and recommends itself particu-

larly to the large class whose tastes have made them readers and

friends of the Naturauist.— E. C.

Tue Bosron Socrery’s Ornrrnotoarcat CaraLoaue.*¥—We ae

informed by Prof. Hyatt that “a catalogue of the birds in the pos-

session of this Society is here begun” —a statement alone sufi-

ciently interesting ; and after a particularly thorough examination

of the first number, it is the more gratifying to learn that “sim

lar series of observations upon the genera and species will be pu

lished.” The value of even a bare museum catalogue is app"®

work on the Leyden museum has taken. With a due sense of si :

is implied in the remark, we judge that if Prof. Hyatt continues ae

work in the same vein, the Society’s “Catalogue” wil Of

rous touch bringing out some points that hav a

due attention. The author shows plainly the qualiti

trained naturalist, which have distinguished him in his pee

ialties. The specific determinations, to which we assent m” pe

instance, are the same, for the nine species in the col me:

1. sph

* Catalogue of the Ornithological collection in the Museum of the Society.

niscidæ.

- By Alpheus Hyatt. 1871

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. © 473,

those of Dr. Schlegel’s; the birds are, however, referred to four

genera, instead of one, and for this, excellent reason appears.

We would only remark in the matter of synonymy, that Apteno-

dytes “ Pennantii Gray” is antedated by “longirostris Scopo.t,”

while “ papua Forst.” should be cancelled, on the score of being

geographically inept, in favor of ‘‘tæniata Pearse.” Our own slight

connection with the paper, in the shape of some osteological mem-

oranda, must of course not stand in the way of our according the

high praise that Prof. Hyatt’s work merits. — E. C.

3 DESCRIPTION OF A SPECIMEN OF BALÆNOPTERA MUSCULUS.* — As

ìs well known, no mammals more rarely fall under the observation

of naturalists than the larger Cetacea, and hence the detailed and

careful description and illustration by figures, of the skeleton of

even a common species, is a valuable contribution to science. As

AA the Cetacea apparently present a remarkable range of in-

dividual var iation, in consequence of which both species and genera

have been unduly multiplied, a large number of supposed species

me at present known only from single and often imperfect spec-

mens, and in some cases merely from a few disconnected. bones.

Those who have had an opportunity of studying the largest number

at Specimens appear generally disposed to favor a considerable

reduction of the number of described species. In the present

PRN Dr. Dwight has given a detailed and very satisfactóry

description of the osteology of apparently our most common

Species of finback whale, which he believes to be identical with the

gae musculus of Van Beneden and the older authors, or

ie salus antiquorum of Dr. J. E. Gray.

me the The task undertaken,” the author observes, ‘is to add one to

rat of thoroughly described skeletons, and to endeavor to

is. at the range of purely individual variations is greater than

, Seherally admitted.” In addition to the description of each

: tt > and generally a comparison of it with the published descrip-

vey “a figures of other specimens, he has added an interesting

i A ag the comparative breadth of the skull and beak of

ety’s. “escribed specimens, which indicates that while the Soci-

Nae =. " the Whale (Balænoptera musculus Auct.) in the possession of the

MD — on the classification of Fin Whales. By Thomas Dwight, jt.,

Mem. Bost.’ i ; d 2 plates.

Tune jer e Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 11, pp. 203-230. 11 woodcuts and 2 p

; , 1872, (Read May 17, 1871.) 7 :

474 - REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

variation, in the proportion of the elements mentioned, amounts

to nearly twenty per cent. of the average. ‘In some cases,”

Dr. Dwight observes, ‘‘ both skull and beak exceed the average

breadth ; in others both fall short of it, and again, in others some-

times one part, and sometimes the other is out of proportion.”

From the general consideration of the subject, Dr. Dwight seems

to favor the opinion that the so-called Physalus Duguidii is hardly

distinguishable from the present species. He further remarks:

“ When the large number of points in which this whale is pect

liar is considered, it can not be denied that bolder feats in classi-

fication have been attempted than would be requisite to founda

new species on this specimen. Such a course, however, would be —

quite unjustifiable. It is to be particularly noticed that thon

variations do not point in any one direction ; that if in certain

aspects this specimen approaches a certain other, yet in others —

equally important, it may resemble a third which is quite unlike

the second, and in still other respects be different from both. A

slight study of the writings of the eminent observers so oñen

quoted will be sufficient to show that the same is true, to a greater —

or less extent, of perhaps every well described specimen of the

Species.” (p. 229.)

Besides the woodcuts illustrative of many of the bones, a large

lithographic plate is devoted to figures of the skull and oe

important osteological features, and in another plate are given

dorsal, ventral and profile views of the animal, accurately F

soon after its capture by Mr. J. H. Blake, of the ye

Comparative Zoölogy, and also a table of external measuremen™

—J. A. A.

Tue Hasrrs or tHe Orca.* — It is not often that we eo

popular magazines of the day, articles on natural history pe ie

containing original matter of a character that commends

the attention of naturalists. But in this very readable pape

five pages, Captain Scammon has given us valuable w se

respecting the habits, distribution and external ¢ me

ittle known group of marine mammals, — the Orcas, OF

nivorous Cetacea, of the Pacific Coast of North Americ a

on many years of personal observation. The apparently =

Daea eens

July, 1872, j ae

* The Orca. By Capt. C. M. Scammon. Overland Monthly,

with three outline figures.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 475

_ stories of the strength and voracity of the “killers,” popularly

current among seafaring men, seem now hardly exaggerations of

the truth. Though apparently only rarely attacking the larger

_ cetaceans, they prey with great rapacity upon their young and the

smaller species, as well as also upon seals and the larger fishes.

Even the powerful old male sealions and the full grown walruses,

are said to endeavor to avoid them, while their ability to kill the

largest of the baleen whales seems fully established. The species

_ of“ killer” chiefly referred to in this article appear to be the Orca

ater and O. rectipinna of Cope, though possibly a third species is

figured. The same enterprising magazine has at former times

: furnished us with other articles of value from Capt. Scammon’s

Nady pen, respecting other marine mammals of the Pacific

Coast, among them valuable papers on the Sea Otter (“ Overland

Monthly,” Vol. 1v, Jan., 1870, pp. 25-30), and the sealions and

seabears (Ibid., Vol. vir, Mar., 1872, pp. 266-23). We are glad

to learn from Captain Scammon (incidentally in a letter to the

Writer) that he proposes soon to collect his various articles on the

“als and whales of the Pacific and republish them in book form,

“companied with illustrations and much additional matter, —a

York which his long familiarity with them eminently qualifies him -

‘© prepare, and which will be heartily welcomed by naturalists,

*Swell doubtless as by the general public. — J. A. A.

: How Prayts Benave.* —Dr. Gray has just given us, under this

title, a most charming continuation of his Botany for Young Peo-

Commenced in the well known volume, ‘“ How Plants Grow.”

= that volume it gives a simple and well illustrated account of

i phenomena of plant life, all the more to be enjoyed, because

Premie scientific eminence guarantees its entire agreement

"4A the last established facts and theories in Botany. The plan

k S is thus stated in the preface :

while ere is a study of plants and flowers admirably adapted,

o Cxciting a lively curiosity, to stimulate both observation and

ht, to which I have long wished to introduce pupils of an

Pei The time has now arrived in which I may make the

Mpt, and may ask young people to consider not only ‘How

for fires has Young People: Part II. How they move, climb, employ insects to work

cago. Ivison By Asa Gray. . 46. 12mo, with 40 illustrations. New York and Chi-

Pgh Blakeman, Taylor, & Co

_are, they are not of a sufficiently high order for

poseless. And in the present case the eviden

476 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Plants Grow,’ but how plants Act, in certain important respects

easy to be observed,— everywhere open to observation, but (

other common things and common doings) very seldom seen

attended to. This little treatise, designed to open the way for

the young student into this new, and, I trust, attractive field,

may be regarded as a supplement to the now well-known book,

the title of which is cited at the beginning of this prefatory note,

If my expectations are fulfilled, it will add some very interesti

chapters to the popular history of Plant-life. i

“ Although written with a view to elementary instruction, and

therefore with all practical plainness, the subjects here presented

are likely to be as novel, and perhaps as interesting, to older

as to young readers. i

“To those who may wish to pursue such studies further, and

those who notice how much is cut short or omitted (as, for ii-

stance, all reference to discoverers and sources of information), L

may state that I expect to treat the subject in a different Ki

and probably with somewhat of scientific and historical b gi

in a new edition of a work intended for advanced students.”

The book contains three chapters of unequal length. Of these,

the first describes the motions of plants and how they a :

The third chapter takes up the very curious fact rat certi

plants, for the most part in their leaves, possess living ®

very efficient insect-traps. The Pitcher-plant and Sundew are ó

ured and described. In naming the volume si How Plants y

have,” Dr. Gray appears to recognize a personality in age À

least he is careful, all the way through, to show that eie k

which he explains are the result of the plant’s will; and thet

far as botanical science allows, he assigns the reasons for i

The following, from his account of the Venus Flytrap of

Carolina shows the ambitious hunger which may make

carnivorous : a

“ It cannot be supposed that plants, like boys, catch

pastime or in objectless wantonness. Living beings tho fe

that. It

incredible that such an exquisite apparatus as this ere

ce of the

of the meaning of the strange action is wellnigh wer

face of this living trap is thickly sprinkled with gl pE

in its texture, of elaborate structure under the micr?

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 477

large enough to be clearly discerned with a hand lens; these

glands, soon after an insect is closed upon, give out a saliva-like

liquid which moistens the insect, and in a short time (within a

_ Week or two) dissolves all its soft parts — digests them, we must

believe; and the liquid; with the animal matter it has dissolved,

_isreabsorbed into the leaf! We are forced to conclude that, in

addition to the ordinary faculties and function of a vegetable,

this plant is really carnivorous.”

But by far the most interesting part of the book is the second and

longest chapter, which takes up the Fertilization of Plants by In-

_ Sects. There are especially two things for which we have to thank

_ Dr. Gray, besides the general charm of his writing upon this theme.

€ has given us the simplest and most comprehensive statement of

- this great subject which we have seen, and it is no small advantage

to have the enthusiasm of a thorough student of Botany turned to

the work of instructing others. But in addition, he has taken his

illustrations largely from common flowers, such as the Houstonia,

Kalmia, Arethusa, Iris, etc., and has figured each with great

beauty and accuracy. He has a word upon each of the many pe-

culiarities in the arrangement of their stamens and pistils which

ee its present, and shows that instead of being limited to any

a one family, as to the Orchids, the agency of insects is very largely

_ “ployed by all families of plants. It is impossible to quote

: ftom this chapter where all is so interesting, unless we give a

Bate two of Dr. Gray’s summary, where the flowers: of an

git e theologian’s poetry are themselyes fertilized in the

‘terest of Science : i

: "The reciprocity of flower and flower, and of insects and flow-

Pia Something admirable. Insects pay liberal wages for the

ey Which flowers provide for them. ‘The familiar rhymes of Dr.

gente the attention of young people to the bee visiting

wer as a model of industry. With a slight change of a

? ais adapting it to our present knowledge and to the lesson _

OF mu

ual helpfulness, we may read :—

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour,

While gathering honey day by day,

Ma fortil a »

: The paper, print, and illustrations of this little volume are

f theyre, The vignette title page is an excellent grouping

“arious plants described within. — E. C. B.

478 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

ORNITHOLOGICAL Works IN Prospect. — The present year prom

ises to be a marked one in the history of North American Omi- —

thology, no less than four important works on the subject being —

already in press, and nearly all so well advanced that their publi- :

cation will probably not be long delayed. First, in respect to time —

of appearance, will apparently be the ‘Key to North American —

Birds,* by Dr. Elliott Coues, a gentleman well and favorably —

known to the ornithological public through his admirable series of —

memoirs on various groups of our birds. The greater part of this —

work is already in type, and its publication, may be expected early

in the coming autumn, the prospectus of the work having already —

been issued. Through the kindness of the publishers we have beet —

favored with advance sheets of the portion printed, and can hence 3

speak the more confidently of its character. The work is divided

into three parts, — a general ‘ Introduction,” an analytical “ Key

of the genera and subgenera, and a general “ Synopsis” of thpt :

cies. The Introduction gives a popular elementary exposition of :

the leading principles of ornithology, in which especial atenha:

is paid to the description of the external parts and organs of birds,

which are illustrated by appropriate figures. The definition of the

technical terms in common use in ornithological writing ts chad

ularly full and clear, surpassing in this respect any similar as

on the technicalites of the science with which we are acqua" —

The Key forms a novel feature in zodlogical manuals, oe :

an artificial analysis, in a continuous table, of the genera deu :

genera, similar in character to the analytical keys that have beet

So successfully introduced into botanical manuals.

with the definitions of terms contained in the Introduction,

dent is guided at once to the identification of any specimen spe

American bird he may have, however slight his previous ® e

ence. It hence forms an invaluable feature of the work to“

lectors and amateurs. In the Synopsis that follows, the spe"

are arranged in an approved systematic sequence, and eis

fully and concisely described, all the characters which are ™

distinctive and essential being given without confusing thee

with unimportant details. A large number of full length

T TS a alll roel age

the st

and fossil bird at present kn continent north of

*Key to North American Birds: containing a concise account of every

living sar own fr e ; 250 7

United States Boundary. Ilustrated by 6 steel plates and upwards +

By Elliott Coues, Assistant S United States Army.

em: N:

1872. Imperial 8vo, cloth.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 479

and over two hundred figures illustrating the head as well as the

feet and occasionally other parts, add greatly to the value of the

work. The higher groups are also quite fully characterized, and in

connection with their diagnoses much general matter of interest

is presented. Although the work is not to any great extent

biographical, the leading traits of the various groups and of

most species are tersely presented, and the geographical dis-

considerable reduction in the number of species that have hitherto

been generally accepted, assigning a few to the list of synonymes,

but by far the greater part of the reduction results from a judi-

cious discrimination between species and geographical varieties,

—a reform urgently demanded by the advance of science. By

this means the rank and relationship of the different forms de-

scribed is clearly expressed.

Another important feature of the work will be a synopsis of the

fossil birds of North America, which will furnish the student with

the first connected presentation of the subject that has been made,

embracing a summary of the different disconnected descriptions

of our fossil birds, which at present are to be found only in the

original memoirs scattered through the proceedings and transac-

tions of scientific societies.

The typographical appearance of the work is all that can be

desired, and would be a credit to any publishing house. It is

Printed on toned paper, and illustrated by six steel plates and

about two hundred and fifty woodcuts.

It 3 unquestionably destined to rank, as a text-book of North

PEN rnithology, as a work of equal importance, in its own

Province, with « Gray’s Manual of Botany” and Packarg’s “ Guide

D the Study of Insects,” in their respective fields, thus forming to

-< mexperienced student an invaluable guide, and a convenient

= of reference to those more advanced ; while its moderate cost

Places at Within the reach of all. While its limits prevent a com-

Plete citation of previous authors, all our general works are cited,

, ng the older works of Wilson, Nuttall and Audubon, and

oa S elaborate and indispensable general works, and numerous

k The Papers in the publications of scientific societies.

Sepsis North America. By Prof. Spencer F. Baird, with the coöperation of

rewer and Mr. Robert Ridgway. Little, Brown, and Co., n. 1872.

480 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

published or in prospect, is doubtless that recently announced by

Messrs. Little, Brown and Co., of Boston. This will be an

entirely original work, prepared by Professor S. F. Baird, Assistant

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with the coöperation of

Dr. T. M. Brewer of Boston and Mr. Robert Ridgway of Illinois.

The well known scientific attainments of these gentlemen will

warrant the’ public in anticipating a thorough treatment of

the subject, since their facilities are unequalled and their ability

unquestionable. That such a work is at present greatly needed

must be apparent to every one at all familiar with the sub-

ject, since our latest general treatise on the habits of the birds of

this continent is that of Audubon, published nearly a third of a

century ago, when the vast regions north of Canada and west of

the Missouri River weré almost a terra incognita, especially in

respect to ornithology. Fourteen years have also passed since the

publication of the last general work on the technical ornithology

of this country, during which interval our knowledge of the sub-

ject has vastly increased. In addition to an exhaustive treatment

of the technical portion of the science, the present work will comam

full biographies of the species, including a large amount of yei

nal matter. As announced in the prospectus, the object of ua

work “is to give a complete account of the birds of the whole of :

North America, north of Mexico, arranged according to the most i

approved system of modern classification, and with descriptions

which, while embodying whatever is necessary to the prope ae

nition of the species and their varieties, in as simple languag? pë

possible, exclude all unnecessary technicalities and irrelev e

matter.” The work is said to be in an advanced stage of mE i

tion, the first volume being promised by the Ist of December, | E

be followed by others during the winter, the whole to be comprised

in a series of probably four volumes, the land birds perhaps

pying three; all the volumes will be profusely illustrate® —

illustrations are to consist of a series of outlines of the wae of

_ bill and feet of each genus, with a series of full length wa a

one species of each genus, in addition to a series of plates. ‘thet

_ Work is to be furnished in two editions, one plain and u feel

With the plates carefully colored by hand. The pabi å

justified in promising a work that in many respects of’ 7

marked an advance beyond its predecessors as was that and

bon; and that in typographical excellence and in the accuracy *

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 481

beauty of its illustrations it will surpass anything of the kind ever

published in America or in Europe. From a careful examination

of advance sheets of the greater part of the first volume we feel

‘sare it will not disappoint the expectation thus awakened.

We are also promised the early appearance of a valuable original

work on the birds of Florida,* by Mr. C. J. Maynard of which

the prospectus was issued a short time since. This is announced

to be published in twelve parts, and to contain original descrip-

tions of two hundred and fifty species, with full biographical

notices, and to be illustrated with five plates drawn and colored

from nature. As Mr. Maynard has spent the greater part of

three years in Florida, devoting himself exclusively to ornitho-

logical pursuits, and has visited all parts of the state, including

the Keys and the Everglades, we are led to expect much valuable

information, in respect to the birds of that little known region.

While the biographical part is written in an animated, popular

style, the technical details will render it a work of importance to

the scientific student. It is to be issued of full quarto size, and

judging from the sample pages, its typographical execution will

be excellent.

A fourth work on North American Ornithology, now in press, is

a the Ornithological Report of Mr. Clarence King’s exploration of

the Fortieth Parallel, prepared by Mr. Robert Ridgway. This we

; understand will be shortly issued, in the same elegant style of

Mecution that has characterized the previous volumes of this

‘portant survey of which it will form the sixth of the ‘series. It

“overs a field hitherto scarcely explored, and Mr. Ridgway’s three

Years of field work in the country between the Uintah Mts. and the

CiM Count, leads us to expect, from the care and thoroughness

nn mark this author’s previous works, a volume of extreme value

ornithological science.

At ur request the author has kindly given us a summary of its

contents, from which we learn that it will consist of three

es ha first to be introductory, the second biographical, nhi

Ra Will consist ofa monograph of the North American

eo The introductory part will embrace a list, of the species

rer cat Se

hiv Species, with notes upon their habits, etc., by C, J- Maynard

Plates 4 C. J. Maynard. With five

822, “ition edi froni nature, by Helen S. Farley. Salem; Naturalists’ Agency

: NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 81

482 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

of the adjoining provinces not met’ with during the Survey; a

chapter on the ‘‘characteristic features of the Avifauna of the

Great Basin,” and on ‘‘the distribution of its local Avifaune.”

It will also treat of ‘ geographical variation in color and propor-

tions ,” of “ hybridism” and of ** certain so called ‘ individual’ vari-

ations.” Also a “systematic catalogue of the species obtained

and observed during the progress of the survey” will be given,

and a ‘‘ comparison of the Avifauna of the Truckee Valley,” in

spring, summer and winter, with other matter of a similar ¢

acter. The biographical section will contain an account of the |

habits, etc., of all the species observed (some 220 or more) with

measurements of specimens and other notes. The Appendix, as

previously stated, will be devoted to a monograph of the N

CEEA P EN E EE OS TE

hajina r

American Raptores. This is a work that has engaged Mr. Ridg-

way’s attention for several years, and in which we are promised &

new classification of the Falconide, materially different from that

and based almost wholly on osteological grounds. The genere

and subgeneric characters will be illustrated by accurate outline

figures, and the species of all the Raptores will be distinguished

not only by full descriptions of all their known stages of plumag®s

but synoptically in tables, in which they will be compared with all

their exotic allies.

The greater part of the work is said to be already in type, and

we look forward to its publication with unusual interest.—J. Å. å.

Pror. Sxow’s List or Kansas Brrps.— For one, Lies

press, through the Narurauisr, my obligations to Prof. Snow

his list of the Birds of Kansas, and to commend the principle ne

which he has scrupulously acted — to mention no birds in reg on.

the occurrence of which in the state, he had not positive — ia

Such local lists, at least in my opinion, are only of vam ye

thus made. I am glad to know that at least one compiler of # 1°

list has been able to resist the besetting temptation to gone?

catalogue by mere guess work, or by giving us a redul see the

birds that “probably will be” or “ought to be found” within ”

prescribed limits. So far as his list went, it was honest pii

ble, and one that can be easily increased by addenda aS °% ri

arises and the knowledge is given. But it has been my “^

i is irretrievable

that the error of including species that never occur, 18

Swainson’s warbler seems destined to figure forever |

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 483

Massachusetts with my name for the authority, and Dendroica

ea and Polioptila cærulea are continually quoted for New

England, without the slightest reason for so doing ; and now that

Prof. Snow has given us a reliable basis for an authentic list of

the Birds of Kansas, I for onè am not inclined to criticise that

list because of species that escaped his knowledge, or because of

a few misprinted asterisks, to mark as breeding in Kansas, birds

that probably go farther north. We would only advise Prof.

now when next he revises his list, to distinguish between the

birds found in Kansas during the breeding season and those the

nests of which have been positively found. This is often an im-

portant distinction, more so than would at first appear. Barren

and unmated birds are occasionally found where they do not breed.

Sr M: B.

In regard to the above, I wish to add a word or two. I agree

with “T. M. B.” that Prof. Snow has placed ornithologists under

obligations by his “List of the Birds of Kansas,” and especially

since the additions he makes below, and the correction of typo-

graphical errors, etc., in the new edition I understand he is about

to publish, will make it a correct exposition of the avian fauna of

ansas, as known at the present time. Professor Snow certainly

avoided the “ besetting temptation to swell his catalogue by mere

guesswork” for through correspondence with him I have been

gratified to learn that not a species was included except on good

evidence, and that many of the apparent mistakes to which I

called attention in the June number of the Naturaxist, in respect

to Species marked as’ breeding, were due to typographical errors.

Having had considerable experience in the use of local lists, I may

Perhaps be pardoned for still persisting that if he had restricted

his list to Eastern Kansas, or even to the birds actually observed

in the vicinity of Lawrence, it would have been a far more usefu

Contribution to geographical zoology. The fault of many lists,

“specially of those that are essentially merely nominal, is that

they cover too much ground. Almost any of our larger states

embrace portions of country very different in their climatic and

nal aspects, and it is hence quite insufficient to give merely the

oe of the species, without indicating whether they are acci-

a occur only over limited areas, or uniformly over the whole

“tea in question, My notice of Prof. Snow’s paper being a con-

ous review of its character as judged by its “ internal evi-

484 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

dence,” — for I could not be expected to discriminate between

typographical errors and those that were not,— I felt called

upon to notice the omission of species that were among the most

characteristic over half the area of the state; nor could I antic-

ipate the speedy additions and emetidations by which Prof. Snow's

first brochure seems about to be transformed into as complete

an exposition of the avian fauna of Kansas as our knowledge

of the subject at present permits.

The above remarks are perhaps due to Prof. Snow; and itis

likewise due to myself to state that if any unfairness of criticism

or lack of appreciation on my part of the value of Prof. Snow's

list is implied in the above remarks of “ T. M. B.,” I must beg

leave to state that I fail to see the justness of any such implica- |

tion. — J. A. A. :

Since publishing my Catalogue of the Birds of Kansas, Mr.

Allen’s article in the May Narvraist has appeared, containing 18

species not on my list, and he has also informed me of others.

Prof. Baird also has kindly gone through the Smithsonian colle

tions and sent me 23 more species, represented there but not ent-

merated in my catalogue, and Mr. E. A. Popenoe of Topeka has :

added one other. This gives a total addition of 45 species, swell-

ing the list to 284 species (or 282 species, if Nos. 9 and 10 a

Nos. 12 and 13 are considered identical). The names contained :

in the following addenda * will be incorporated in a revised edition

of the catalogue. — Frank H. Snow, Lawrence, Kansas, May 15.

* Additions to the Catalogue of Birds of Kansas t

Baird:—3a, Hypotriorchis Richardsoni, Richardson’s Merlin; Baird. i ]

POELE eee Kite; Baird, 44a, Antrostomus Nutt i, Poor-will;

8 45a, Chordeiles Henryi, Western Nighthawk; Allen,

46a, vadai forteatas, grira gy aiy Baird, seen at Ft. Riley-

Pallasii, Hermit Thrush; Baird. Americana, Blue Yellowback; :

Leavenworth. , 68a, hasin Poids Allen. 70a, Helminthophag oe :

winged Yellow Warbler 70b, H. chrysoptera, Golden-winged psi

0c, H. capilla, Sash ah bler; Allen, na e amea iea Blackoumie, A

. ,

l » 94a, Vire Allen. 95a.

Troglodytes hyemalis, Winter Wren; Baird. 105a, Sitta Canadensis, ;

hatch; Baird. 118a, Puehphacies pictus; Baird. 118b,* P. ornatus, a

Bunting; Alien, near Ft. Hayes. 118¢, P. Maccownii, Maccown’s Lo

Ft. Hays. 118d, P. Preem; ‘Baird. 132a,* Spizella palli

Allen, near Topeka. 135a, Peucæa Cassinii, Allen, near Ft. iocetes phasis

lanocephala, Black-headed meni ak; Allen, at Ft. Hays. Jia ne montanis,

nellus, Sharp-tailed Grouse; Allen, north of Ft. Hays. 177a,* Ægi ae

BOTANY. `

Boraxy Forry Years Aco.— In a Washington book-stall, was

found not long since, a copy of a book, probably now becoming

rare. ‘Flore Columbianze Prodromus Exhibens Enumerationem

Plantarum que hactenus Explorate sunt: or A Prodromus of

The Flora Columbiana, Exhibiting a List of All the Plants, which

have as yet been Collected. Compiled by John A. Brereton, M.D.,

USA. Washington. Printed by Jonathan Elliot, and sold at his

store on Pennsylvania Avenue, 1830.”

The preface states that in 1825, was formed “The Botanic

Club,” consisting of Wm. Mechlin, Wm. Rich, Alex. McWilliams,

M.D., John A. Brereton, M.D., and James W. Robbins, M.D.,

having for its object “ to explore and to investigate, de novo, the

indigenous plants growing in the District of Columbia. .

As the result of five years’ exploration, this Prodromus is pub-

lished, giving a list of four hundred and thirty-eight genera with

nine hundred and nineteen species, a large number for one locality.

But again quoting from the preface, ‘‘ The erudite Botanist will be

astonished to perceive the names of several plants, in this Prodro-

mus, which he is well aware, belong to other localities ; but when

he considers the various and alpine sources of our majestic

otomac, on whose stream their rudiments are borne, and deposited

along its bank, his astonishment will cease.” The plants are ar-

ranged according to the Linnæan System, while in an appendix is

Siven * An Exposition of the Natural System of Jussieu.”

This little work gives a pleasant picture of scientific interest and

Rite: So long ago, and carries us back to the early days of Amer-

‘an Botany. In the list of authors, we find no mention of the

name of Dr. Gray (to-day it would be like the play of Hamlet with

the part of Hamlet left out), but instead, Clayton, Walter, Michaux,

m O

Mountai é -Pai

p sntain Plover; Allen, western Kansas. 178a, Æ. melodus, Piping Plover; Baird.

Tib, : inga Americana, Red-

ii; Baird. 197a,

venworth. 186a, Actodromas Bairdii; Ba f

oss Hudsonica; Baird. 198a, Numenius Hudsonicus; Baird. 198b, N. = an

ux Curlew; Allen, a single specimen seen. 202a, Gallinula galeata; Baird.

emicla Hutchinsii; Baird. 226a, Mergus serrator; Baird. 56a,* Empidonax

P; > Green-crested Flycatcher; Allen, E. Kansas. 76e,* Dendroica discolor,

Prairie Warbler; Allen, E. Kansas. 122a, Coturniculus Henslowii, Hen: low’s Bunting;

"noe, Topeka. 201a, Porzana Jamaicensis, Little Black Rail, Allen, wee

486 4 BOTANY.

Rich, Pursh, Bigelow, Nuttall, Barton, Elliot, Torrey and Dar-

lington, the latter of whom is spoken of as giving them his assist-

ance, while a member of the House of Representatives.

Should such an example be imitated, and Natural History Socie-

ties spring up in every city or even village, not ambitiously

seeking to accumulate large collections, but simply to make as

complete as possible local collections of the fauna, flora, etc., of i

the vicinity, how many youthful naturalists might be trained, and

what valuable additions might be made to our stock of knowledge

respecting the inhabitants of our fields, woods and waters!

Another item of interest is found in this little book, “ It would

appear from recent observations, that some plants are periodical in

their eflorescence; or from some unknown cause, disappear for

several years at a time; for instance, Orchis spectabilis was found

‘by members of the late Botanical Society, eight or ten years agd;

and although the most diligent search has been made for it, for at

least five years past, it has not been discovered until this season,

when it is very abundant, and has been found in various parts of

the District, by different individuals. I have also observed that

Arethusa bulbosa is very abundant some years, and during others

extremely rare. About five years since, Batschia canescens, Wis

found in great abundance, near the Race-course, but has _

been seen since.’ b

The writer has had many similar experiences. In TA

found Subularia aquatica, growing very plentifully, on the e

banks of a canal basin, near Portland, Me., but has never been #

to find a trace of it since. oe ride .

Cypripedium arietinum was found some years ago, Several

ity of Portland, quite plentifully, by Dr. Wm. ec eae 2

times during the next five years we visited the | ality, is ns. 3

not a plant, till 1869, when we gathered some twenty Bier in :

Again, the writer botanized in the vicinity of Seneca per "

Company with Prof. Wm. H. Brewer of Yale ae sered

summers, and collecting over seven hundred species. sappari :

biks, Per

Ranunculus Purshii, Aplectrum hyemale, Orchis apoen

spora andromedea, and others not now remembered.

ee RET Cm a ee TPR RCE oe AE Ae, AE EESE nd DET dee al BN bet ea E S

ZOOLOGY. 487

Probably every careful botanist would be able to relate similar

experiences.— J. W. CHICKERING, Jr. Washington.

Moosewoop Fisre.— At a recent meeting of the California

Academy of Sciences, Dr. A. Kellogg presented specimens of the

bark of a shrub Dirca palustris (Moosewood) of stronger fibre

than any hitherto known, obtainable in this vicinity by tons and

in the valley of the Mississippi by millions of tons.

The bark presented was in the crude condition as it came from

the Ramie machine. The entire shrub, wood and bark, is suitable

to work into fine quality of paper.

If desirable to separate the bark, it is done in the easiest man-

ner possible. On the State University grounds may be seen a

tree four and one-half to five inches in diameter. Mixed with

silk the fibre is superior to Ramie. Even for coarse fabrics it may

prove a substitute for jute, of which a very large amount is annu-

ally imported into the Southern States for baling cotton. The tree

is familiar to us as Moosewood, but has not heretofore been

brought forward, so far as we are aware, as material for paper.

Ostoxe SucktEyana Torrey.—In our Colorado collections last

Year we find this plant, perhaps the first time gathered so far

north.— Tuomas MEEHAN.

Borantca, Norasii1a.—E. A. Thompson of North Woburn an-

nounces a wild double-flowered state of Saxifraga Virginiensis.

We have heard of this in only one instance before. ev V. Col

age finds at Grand Rapids, Michigan, a Trillium grandiflorum

with six sepals and fifteen petals, all green.” This chlorosis

monstrosity occurs occasionally, but we have never seen so many

floral leaves. Also Ranunculus Purshii with leaves all dissected

although the plants were strictly terrestrial, rooted in merely

Moist grou

Correcrroy, — In my remarks, in the last number, on’ Quercus

alba var. Gunnisonii, I wrote, ‘ some of the trees have the bark of

Q. alba,” not none of the trees, as was printed. — Tuos. MEEHAN.

ZOOLOGY.

ARE GREGARIOUS Rat or Texas (Sigmodon Berlandierit). —

"wa burrowing, gregarious rat, and like the Prairie dog lives

488 ZOOLOGY.

in towns on the prairie. They dwell together in families. They

prefer light sandy soil on the prairie, where the shivered limy

sandstone crops out, but when the prairie is enclosed and culti-

vated, they take possession of the fencing, and burrowing under

the bottom rail, excavate sufficient cells and construct their copious

grassy beds there. Out on the prairie, in the wild state, they

_ make one principal burrow, in front of which they pile up the earth

that comes from all their subterranean galleries. They rarely

extend their main burrow more than eight or nine inches in depth,

while their underground passages are seldom more than four ot

five inches below the surface. They also construct several secret

outlets, opening ten or twelve inches from the main hole, whieh

opening they very ingeniously conceal by strewing a few grass

blades over it; and so, when the rat hunter attacks the citadel the

inmates escape through some of the concealed passages. Eight or

nine inches deep and turned a little to one side in the main hole, is

a cavity seven or eight inches in diameter, filled with fine, soft grass :

- blades, which must be quite warm and pleasant, serving the family n

for winter quarters. During the hot months, they construct oe

grass beds in a basinlike cavity, which they dig out, under the

sides of large tufts of grass, or little heaps of brush. The above

is about the average customs of the distinct families in. referent :

to the manner of making their homes, and in the same district i

in suitable soil, they construct many such family residences, ant

cut out very nice, clean roads from one to another in all directions.

The grass, weeds, dewberry briers and everything in the way: —

cut out and carried away leaving the road about two inches all m i,

underrunning the grass and other rank growths that may e . ;

the way. I have traced some of these roads fifty or sixty pee 2

upon which there had been so much labor expended that it a ca

not have been the result of individual enterprise. These eee

~- which bear the indications of much travel, are evidently ori

of a unanimous governmental effort. They are found unive

in their cities, and passing from house to house there aie aT

cross roads. <

This Rat has a large thick head, nothing remarkable about OF

mouth and nose, eyes full, black and ‘lustrous, ears half of x

ZOOLOGY. 489

no grooves about the incisors, not very long hairs or “t smellers ”

on the nose. Coloration a brownish gray. — G. Lincecum, Long

Point, Texas.— Communicated by the Smithsonian Institution.

Nores on Cemiostoma. —I desire to correct a statement made

by Mr. Mann in the June number of the NATURALIST, p; 339, viz.,

that Cemiostoma coffeellum is “the only species of Cemiostoma

which is known outside of the limits of Europe.”

This is a mistake. In the “ Transactions of the London Entomo-

logical Society,” Ser. 2, Vol. v, pp. 21 and 27, and in Ser. 3, Vol.

ii, p. 101, certainly two, and if my memory is not at fault, three

species, are described from India, and in Vol. iii, p. 23, of the

“Canadian Entomologist,” I have described a species, as C. albella,

which I had then found mining the leaves of poplar trees (Populus

aba, P. dilatata and P. monilifera). Since then I have found it

also mining the leaves of willows (Salix alba and S. Babylonica).

It resembles O. susinella very closely and as Susinella mines the

leaves of P. tremuloides in Europe, I shall not be surprised if it

proves to be that species. It would be difficult, if not impossible,

ne to ascertain the original food plant of C. susinella (if albella is

identical with it), But it would not be very surprising if it fed on

the Weeping willow, and has followed its migrations from a time

perhaps anterior to that when the Hebrews hung their harps upon

the willows by the rivers of Babylon.

If therefore C. albella is only a synonyme of C. susinella, it is a

European or Asiatic species. And judging from the food plant,

C. coffeellum is also an Asiatic (or African?) species. It would

thus seem that we have as yet no indigenous species of Cemiostoma.

Mr. Stainton, Dr. Clemens and others, mention a ‘‘ spring brood,”

a fall brood,” etc., of Microlepidoptera. At page 184 of Vol. iii,

Can, Ent., I have stated as the result of my observations that

the Lithocalletidee (in which family I would include Lithocalletis,

Lencanthiza, Philocnistis, Cemiostoma, Tischeria, and perhaps

Synctia) continue to propagate their species as long as the

eang remains warm enough: so that the number of gener-

ons in a year is (subject to the length of time passed by each

Son as larva, pupa and imago) a mere question of climate, and

l SEG different generations overlap each other so that vap is wae!

Z thing as separating them into distinct broods. This is like-

“ise true of some species of Gracillaria. Ido not know how it is

490 ZOOLOGY.

as to Lyonetia of which we have but one species described by Dr.

Clemens from a single captured imago. But I am glad to see that

Mr. Mann’s observations as to the number of broods of O. cojfeel-

lum, confirm mine as to the Lithocalletide generally.

Mr. Mann writes the termination of the specific names of the

Tineina, ellum instead of ella. As a matter of grammatical purity

this may be well enough, but the termination ella has been so uni-

versally adopted, and in use so long that it is too late now to

change it,and as a matter of convenience it had better be retained.

—V. T. C., Covington, Ky.

Tue RATTLE or tHe RATTLESNAKE. — Being interested in the

controversy now in progress in the pages of the Naturalist

relative to the use of the caudal appendage of the rattlesnake, and

knowing that all the facts concerning it must be duly considered

before any definite conclusion can be arrived at, I have presumed

to proffer my mite and suggest some inquiries, the consideration

of which may throw some light on the subject. ‘

All movements of the animal are accompanied by the pe

sound; at least, such is my observation and I have had ample

opportunities for observing. The more forcible or rigors

movement the louder the rattle. When moving through tall s

grass the sound emitted is much louder than when the movemen ”

are not so retarded. This peculiarity I noticed two yo i

when on the frontier in this state. One day while sitting '™ '

door of my tent, a large rattlesnake appeared on the Nr

ground in front. He seemed to be moving “‘ leisurely ” grr

movements being attended with a “gentle” rattle. After wa

him about two-thirds the way across the tramped gr ound, i gr

toward him, when he increased his speed and the rattling

correspondingly increased in frequency and character. el

Inquiry A. Is the rattling produced by vital oF we tarded

means? The increased rattling when the movements are re fue

would seem to indicate the latter. The rattle of the as rat

When moved, emits the same peculiar sound, or shaking sound

tle in the closed hand is attended with a like result, e coro

being somewhat muffled in character, dependent upon peo

veyed through the hand. The greater the number of ees

the rattle the greater the sound; the larger ones eae

louder sound but being of a lesser pitch than the smaller ;

ZOOLOGY. 491

Inquiry B. Does the fact of the increase of the number of

_ Segments with the age of the animal militate or substantiate the

theory of “Natural Sélection” as applied to the phenomena? The

older the animal the louder the rattle. It seems to me that this

fact tends to disprove the mimetic claim of Prof. Shaler and the

“self-protective” feature of Mr. Henderson. Both of these features,

Mimicry and Protection, may be included, but neither, nor both

combined, will account for the whole of the phenomena, in rela-

tion to this fact —the young requiring greater facilities for obtain-

ing food and more extensive measures for protection. — T. W.

Deere, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Vexomous Fiso.—It is generally known that the wounds in-

cted by the weevers ( Trachinus) of our coasts, and by the sting-

rays, are rendered poisonous by a mucous excretion adhering to

the spines of the head, back, and tail of these fishes; and a most

perfect poison-organ, analogous to the poison-fang of snakes, was

described some years ago by Dr. Giinther in two fishes ( Thalasso-

phryne) from Central America. Dr. Le Juge has found at the

Mauritius another still more dangerous kind of venomous fish ; it

Was long known to ichthyologists under the name of Synanceia

verrucosa, and is readily recognized by its monstrous appearance,

the head being deeply pitted, and the body scaleless and covered

ant warts. It is by no means scarce, being found throughout the

Indian Ocean, and known at the Mauritius as the “Laffe.” There

are thirteen spines in the dorsal fin, each provided at its base with

4 bag containing the poison, and with a pair of deep grooves along

Which the poison is guided to the wound. As in all the other fishes

of this kind, the poison-apparatus is merely a weapon of defence,

and comes into action when the fish ‘is seized or trodden upon.

on action of fish-poison upon the human organism appears to be

ess rapid than that of snakes; though patients who neglect to

“pply remedies similar to those used for snake-bites expose them-

“ae to serious consequences, which may terminate even fatally.

One case a fisherman died on the third day from a severe wound.

x Le Juge mentions that the fishermen of Mauritius successfully

*PPly poultices of the leaves of a composite plant, Mi icrorhynchus

sarmentosus. (Transact. R. Soc. of Arts and Sciences of Mauri-

tus, 1871.) — Academy.

Viraurry or REPTILES.— I wish to draw your attention to some

“periments by the Rev. William Buckland, as well on account of

492 ZOOLOGY.

their interest as to prevent their needless repetition. I do not 4

recollect where I found the account of them, but I give the

substance from memory. Twelve frogs tere carefully weighed —

and placed in holes drilled in limestone, and the holes were covered

. with glass lids, cemented with clay, and the glass protected by A

slate, also cemented with clay. Twelve were treated in the same

way in a block of compact sandstone, and another lot were placed

in holes drilled in the trunks of trees. At the end of a year they —

were examined. Those in the wood were dead and partly decayed,

as were those in the sandstone. About half of those in limestone —

were living and of these all but two had lost weight ; and two had |

increased in weight. The cement closing the cell of one of these |

was cracked so that small insects may have found their way

into it, and served as food; and although no crack could be found :

in the cell of the second it was probably fed in the same way,

in a third cell, also without any discoverable crack, in which the

frog was dead, several small insects were found. The living frogs

were closed up again, and at the end of the second year, all were

dead. The frogs were examined frequently, during their confine

ment, by removing the slate without disturbing the glass, and inall :

cases the living ones were found not torpid, but awake and active:

— W. K. Brooks, Suspension Bridge, N. Y. -

CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE IN WATER CONTAINING Reeta

FertLizepo Suan Eces.— In the September number of the Natt

RALIST, 1871, the question was asked, “ Can any one give Oe

explanation of the fact “ that, as reported by A. 5- Collins, wie

shad eggs swell after impregnation, the water in the pan 2v

about 10° colder?” Such a fact requires, of course, careful and He

peated observation to establish it. But, in connection with

following (from “Nature,” January 18, 1872) has some in

At the Academy of Sciences, Paris, January 2d, “a note

heat absorbed during incubation, by M. A. Moitessier, e

municated by M. Balard. The author finds that the sper

of fecundated is less than that of unfecundated eggs when

in the same manner, and infers that a portion of the heat

by the former during incubation is transformed.”

According to the recognized use of the term

it is obvious that this statement should have been,

cific heat of fecundated eggs is greater than that of

ones; as heat is said to be absorbed by the former. :

unfecus"

The 7

ZOOLOGY. 493

formation, however, which is referred to, is exactly what occurred,

to the mind of the writer, upon reading the item concerning shad

eggs; but he was diffident about expressing it, until meeting with

the above confirmation, both of the fact and of the explanation.

There are few cases more satisfactory, in favor of the correlation

between life-force (growth-force, bioplastic force) and the other

physical forces, than heat. — H. Hartsnorne, Philadelphia.

Axoraer Nore on THE Same.—My idea is that germination in

the seed of plants requires heat, so does the impregnation of the

eggs named. Hence the absorption, so to speak, of the heat from

— the water. We all know that conception in the animal requires

heat, making the conclusion above obvious. —N. COLEMAN,

Otsego, Michigan.

: Nest ayp Ecos or Hetamxruornaca Luciæ.— This interesting

little bird was discovered in Arizona, and first described, by Dr.

Cooper (Proc. Cal. Acad. 1862, 11, 120) and afterward written

about by the same gentleman (B. of Cal. 84), by Bard (Rev. 178)

and by ourselves (Ibis, 1866, 260; Proc. Phila. Acad. 1866, 70) ;

= is its record, up to date, the nest and eggs remaining unknown.

Lieut Charles Bendire, U.S.A., writing to us from his camp near :

Tueson, Arizona, May 19, 1872, says: “I found to-day the nest

of a very small warbler, four inches long, which has a bright chest-

nut spot on the crown, and the tail coverts of the same color, the

e upper parts cinereous, the lower parts dull white. I cannot

be it in Baird’s work. The eggs, four in number, are nearly

globular in shape, and hardly larger than those of a hummingbird,

White, with fine red spots on the larger end. I am afraid I shall

brie to save them, as they contain large embryos. The nest

AS placed between the bark and main wood of a dead mezquite

tree, about four feet from the ground.” — Exirorr Cours.

Fl or Covcn’s FLYCATCHER IN THE UNITED STATES.

Em Same valued correspondent speaks of finding this bird near

oe i it has not, I believe, been hitherto taken north of Mexi-

ü t is a slight northerly variety of the Tyrannus melancholi-

SS; a species of wide distribution in Central and South America.

~aELlorr Covgs.

The Foon or THE Brack Brear.— A few days ago I secured

494 ZOOLOGY.

‘for the museum of this college a fine specimen of the Black Bear

(Ursus Americanus) caught in the neighboring town of Pownal,

Vermont. In his stomach there was not, apparently, a particle of

animal food, but that organ was well filled with vegetable sub-

stances, the stalks and corms of the Indian Turnip (Arisema tri-

phyllum) being among the most abundant. The bear was very fat,

but whether his excellent condition was brought about wholly by

vegetable food is not known. — SANBORN TENNEY, Williams Col-

lege, June 12, 1872.

A new Locaurty ror Zonites cellarius Müller. Living speci-

mens of this imported species were received by me, last fall, from

Mr. Samuel Powel, of Newport, R. I. They were found by Mr.

David Coggeshall in his cellar. As is well known, the species

has already been detected in almost every seaport, from New

York to Halifax.— W. G. Bryney.

Tue Brinn Crayrisu.— In the last number of the NATURALIS,

p- 410, Prof. Cope proposes the genus Orconectes for the Can-

barus pellucidus of the Mammoth Cave and his supposed new

species from the i bacco Cave, “on account of the absence

of visual organs,” and states that ‘‘ Dr. Hagen’s view [in regard-

ing the species as a Cambarus] may be the result of the objections

which formerly prevailed against distinguishing either e

genera whose characters might be suspected of having been deri

from others by modification, or assumed in descent.

vailing views in favor of evolution will remove this objection.”

My objection to the separation of Cambarus pelluci ne .

the other species of the genus simply because the eyes pepe

mentary, was based on the fact that there are known cave jia

as for instance the genus Machaerites with seven species, iu w

the females are blind, while the males have well developed ees 1 very

did not mention the fact in my monograph because its disco

was nearly ten years old, often mentioned and well know?

those who have studied the cave insects band id

Would Prof. Cope have the cruelty ‘to separate hu of (hem

wife so far as to put them in different genera because ye favor of

Sh Pere OS tee ee

evolution demand such a separation, would it not be more atl

and perhaps more courteous to the feminine sex;

while until the poor males shall be able to follo

GEOLOGY. 495

adyanced wives? It is rather hard for Nature to follow, or even

compete, with the fast driving of the evolutionary disciples, but as

she is after all a very good natured old lady I have no doubt she

will do her best not to stay too far behind the prevailing views of

evolution.

Concerning the new species, “ O. inermis,” the description of

the single specimen does not give any character by which to sep-

arate it from the old species, C. pellucidus. I have not seen Prof.

Cope’s type, and, though he states that his specimen is a male,

he omits to inform us to which of the two forms of males it

belongs, but his description applies perhaps to the second form of

the male, the characters of which are always less marked than in

the first— Dr. H. HAGEN.

GEOLOGY.

New anp RemarKaBie Fossirs.— We copy from the “ College

Courant” the following summary of the latest published results

of Prof. Marsh’s expeditions to the West ;—The extensive collec-

tion of fossil vertebrate remains which were made in the West by

the Yale expeditions of 1870 and 1871, are yielding, in the hands

of Professor Marsh, results of the greatest value to palwon-

tological. science. Ten important papers upon the new material

thus obtained have already been contributed by ‘ this indefatigable

palæontologist” to the “ American Journal of Science,” the last

three of which relate exclusively to the collections of 1871. The

first of these later papers, published in April, contains a descrip-

tion of some Pterosaurian remains, additional to those discovered

by the expedition of 1870, of which an account was pub-

. t a year ago. To the gigantic species of ptero-

dactyl then obtained, Professor Marsh gave the name Pterodac-

tylus occidentalis. The expedition of 1871, in exploring the

iginal locality in Western Kansas, not only obtained further

Portions of the same skeleton, but secured other specimens which

Prove the existence of two other gigantic pterodactyls during the

i Cretaceous. The characters of Pterodactylus occidentalis

derived from the study of portions of five individuals. They

Sow clearly that the species belongs to the short-tailed or true

erodactyls, and that it contains some of the largest “ flying

ons” yet discovered, the spread of wing in these individuals

496 GEOLOGY.

being from eighteen to twenty feet! Its large tearing teeth

clearly indicate the carnivorous and predaceous habits of the spe

cies, and its food was doubtless fishes which it captured, probably

by plunging into the water like the pelicans and other similar

birds. Two new species, P. ingens and P. velox, are also described

in the same paper. The former was even more gigantic than the.

one just mentioned, being at least double its bulk and measuring

from tip to tip of the expanded wings fully twenty-two feet!

P. velox was about two-thirds this size, having a spread of wing

of from twelve to fifteen feet. The great interest attaching to

these fossils lies in the fact that, up to the time of their discovery,

no remains of these flying Saurians had been detected in this

country, although they are found abundantly in the Cretaceous

of Europe.

_ In the same number,’ Professor Marsh announces that the

-Mosasauroid reptiles were protected by osseous dermal plates.

Specimens belonging to the genera Edestosaurus, Liodon,

dus and Clidastes have been obtained with these plates attached. a

These dermal “ scutes,” as they are termed, are quadrilateral a

form, with the margin of the upper side more or less bevelled,

so as to admit an imbricate arrangement; alternate TOWS of dif-

ferent sizes and shapes thus producing a complex pattern. The

cranium was probably not thus protected. ae

In the May “ Journal of Science” Professor Marsh describes -

remarkable gigantic swimming bird, discovered in Western Ee

sas, to which he gives the name Hesperornis regalis. Te is

tons of five individuals of this species, more or less complete, We

obtained. From these, it appears that while Hesperomis ers

widely from all known birds, recent or extinct, it has its N te

living allies in the Colymbide, or divers. The skeleton COME the

would measure about five feet nine inches from the apex of t

bill to the extremity of the toes. The extreme rarity of s

the Cretaceous formation, even of any kind, renders this d

of great importance. But it is especially 50, when it pie

bered that all the birds hitherto discovered, either wee

ceous of this country or of Europe, are of comparative

size, and belong to still existing families; such as we qa

bird (Laornis), the wading birds (Paleptringa), the sae

tornis), and the cormorants, (Graculavus), which profesar ay

has already described from the American Cretaceous-

MICROSCOPY. 497

But the most valuable of Professor Marsh’s papers is the last,

which appears in the “Journal of Science” for June. It is a re-

view of the ‘“ Structure of the Skull and Limbs in Mosasauroid

reptiles,” made possible only by the richness of the Yale Museum

inthe remains of these remarkable animals. Though this paper

is almost entirely a technical one, yet the results are obviously

of high scientific interest. Prof. Marsh shows that the quad-

tate bone of the skull as given by Professor Cope should be

reversed, by finding a skull of Lestosawrus with this bone in posi-

ion. Moreover, his explorations have discovered the stapes, the

columella, the quadratoparietal arch, the malar arch and the

pterotic bone, belonging to the cranium; and have proved the

exact character of the anterior limbs and the presence of poste-

rior limbs in these reptiles. They also show that the neck in the

Mosasaurus group was unusually short. Two new genera, Lesto-

saurus and Rhinosaurus, are described; under the former, four

new species are included. Rhinosaurus micromus Marsh an

Edestosaurus rea Marsh, are also here described. The paper is

illustrated by four admirable lithographic plates.

MICROSCOPY.

_ CELLs ror Movuxtine Opsecrs.— A recent discussion on this

Subject at the Queckett Microscopical Club in London, developed

several important suggestions.

; Lead cells. Mr. James Smith introduced the subject by a paper

On Cell Mounting.” He used cells of sheet lead; flattening

the sheet on a plate of glass by rubbing with an ivory paper knife,

and cutting or punching cells which were subsequently flattened

by pressure between two ordinary glass slides. Dr. Matthews

Suggested flattening the lead upon a plate of glass, by rolling,

and cross rolling, with a piece of barometer tube. The Chairman,

Henry , Esq., remarked that Dr. Bowerbank had for years

used exclusively tea lead for his smaller cells and common plumb-

— — for his larger cells: all his large collection of sponges

a ic Successfully mounted in this way. The secretary, Mr. T. C.

hite, had been in the habit for many years of using cells of thin

sets known as “ pattern lead” used by dentists ; the cells being

easily: stuck on with marine glue, and not melting if the slide

wuld be made nearly red-hot.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 32

498 MICROSCOPY.

Tin cells. Mr. Richards had used cells of rather thin tin foil, ;

cut out with two punches with a piece of tube between to keep

them the right distance apart: these cells were fastened on bya :

solution of glue and treacle dried on and. then moistened enough i

to stick them, the cells being so thin that any liquid cement would "

have run in. The chairman commended the tin cells introduced

by Mr. Suffolk; he having used them, fastening them on with

marine glue with great satisfaction: Dr. Matthews, however,

objected to them because they melt so easily if the slide be over-

heated. 7 ;

Zinc cells and vulcanite cells were favorably mentioned by Mr. ,

White, the former bearing great heat without melting, and the

latter resisting the action of acids: but Mr. McIntire found they :

had a tendency to chip off. $

[The expensiveness of glass cells, when used in large quantities,

is the continual occasion of a demand for some good substitute. ;

Tin cells are largely used in this country, being often fastened on 4

by gold size whose only fault is that it dries so slowly that the

cells require to be fastened on long before using, or with dammar

varnish or Bell’s cement. Doubtless the lead cells will hereafter

be used by many who desire to preserve a great many specimens :

but cannot afford to spend unnecessaril y on an elegant mounting.

It would seem that some of the dealers might prepare and sell

them at a price that would be remunerative to themselves, and

at the same time an accommodation to buyers. |

Tue Common PARABOLOID as AN Immersion INSTRUMEN

Notwithstanding the introduction into use of special on

as immersion paraboloids, it may not have occurred to all wn ú

the microscope that the ordinary form of parabolic ilumin

capable of being used wet with excellent results. Placing a

microscope in a vertical position, and greasing the rod in the the

tre of the paraboloid to keep the water from running out pe

side of it, the cup of the paraboloid is filled with water heap anti

as far as can be without running over, and then brought up"

the water comes in contact with the under surface of piae”

The direction of the rays leaving the paraboloid is not We pore

this arrangement, but dispersion at two surfaces is av? and at

the rays enter the object slide without the usual refrachon™ y

such an angle as to suffer total internal reflection before 7 © —

MICROSCOPY. 499

the objective. With the highest objectives generally used with

black ground illumination, as a jth of 75° to 110°, the object seems

no brighter than usual, but the field is free from the foggy diffuse

light, otherwise present, and the object appears, beautifully dis-

tinct, upon a jet black ground. Even a ith or 4th of 130° gives

the same effect of a deep black background, and shows the object

with good stereoscopic effect in Wenham’s binocular. With ob-

jectives of 170°, the main effect is that of a dark background,

though not so perfect as with the lower angles.—T. D. B

Bicuromatic Viston.— Mr. J. W. Stephenson, inventor of the

recent binocular microscope which bears his name, has noticed

that if different colors are presented, simultaneously, to the two

eyes, the sensation produced will be that of neither of the two

together. If the colors presented are strictly complementary, the

effect will be that of common white light; as the two bright col-

ored disks produced in the field of a microscope by a double

image prism and a selenite plate, become white where they over-

lap. The effect is best studied with the binocular microscope and

Polariscope. A plate of selenite is introduced so as to give both

fields of a bright conspicuous color; and then a film of mica is

tnterposed in the course of the rays supplying one tube, of such

thickness and position as to give, by retardation, a color as nearly

aS Possible complementary to the first. One field, for instance,

may be a bright red, and the other a bright green, while the

observer, viewing both at once, will see only a colorless field. By

an ingenious changing of the plates by which the colors are

Produced, both fields may be gradually changed to totally different

colors, the complementary character being maintained throughout

the change, without any knowledge of the change on the part of

the observer. If the color of one field is entirely removed, the

observer becomes slowly and feebly conscious of the color of the

other. The optical and physiological bearings of this discovery

are obvious and interesting. ,

: New Arrangement or Spring Curps.— Miller Bros., of 1223

Broadway » N. Y.. are manufacturing a contrivance which must be,

rrian purposes, a very nient substitute for Dr. Maddox’s

“Pring clips. It consists essentially of a mahogany strip, of

grooved upon its upper surface and protected with

500 MICROSCOPY.

pins in such manner that a dozen slides can lie, side by side,

securely upon it. An equal number of thin brass wires spring

from one side of the block, and are bent down so that they can be

easily made to press upon the centres of the covers, to hold them

in position while the balsam or other mounting material is hard-

ening. Little cork disks are furnished to place upon the covers

and beneath the springs. For some uses the corks would doubt-

less be dispensed with, and when needed they would probably be

more convenient if attached to the wires by passing the wires

through them. An additional groove should be cut in the wood

under one end of the glass slides to facilitate the removal of one

slide without disturbing the others.

Since Froxt Opsectives.—Mr. Wenham believes that the prin- |

cipal use of the late discussion upon the working angular aperture :

of immersion objectives viewing balsam-mounted objects, whieh a

angle he still maintains is necessarily limited to 82°, although Mr.

Tolles cannot see the difficulty of its exceeding that figure, Con-

sists in the dissemination of the information that the best Amer

ican objectives, both dry and immersion, are now made M

single fronts. As the originator of this style of construction,

though having at the time no knowledge of its importance "o

expectation of the success it has since attained, he naturally feels

an undisguised interest in its success. The triple-front objectives

he considers already obsolete. f

ocraTION.— During

Microscopy AT THE AMERICAN MEDICAL Ass ee

the Philadelphia meeting of this society, this summer, an m

reception was given at the Academy of Natural Sciences, * io se

music and sociability were supplemented by the entertainm’?

afforded by microscopic specimens. One hundred microscope

were used, and novel accessories exhibited.

STRUCTURE or Draroms.— Prof. Adolf Weiss, of Lemberg: n a

published some researches upon this well-studied but still ee ee

subject. He regards the silicious envelope as capable of pe itrated

light, and as consisting of a cellulose coat more or less inf pee”

with silex. He does not consider the individuals oneal

finds the valves composed of cells from .008 to 00025 ae

diameter. These cells are furnished at their centres we

which appear as striæ under low powers and as moniliform

MICROSCOPY. 501

ings under high powers. The large cavity between the frustules is

regarded as equivalent to the embryo-sac of higher plants, and

the formation of new individuals has been observed within it. An

alternation of generation is indicated by the observations made.

Orterxn or Cancerous Derposits.— Dr. J. J. Woodward dis-

cusses this question in a report to the Surgeon General. His

observations of structure do not differ materially from those of

other recent observers, though the cell walls of the cancer cylin-

ders, described by Keester, he is able to detect in only a portion

of the cases. He reviews the theory of Kester who regards the

nucleated cylinders as transformed lymphatics, and of Thiersch

who explains them as outgrowths from the lower layer of the

epidermis and from the epithelium of the glandular apparatus.

The latter view was originally applied to epithelial cancer, but

has been extended by Billroth to cancer generally. Dr. Wood-

ward is manifestly unwilling to commit himself to any theory,

but rather favors Keester’s on account of the well known similar-

ity of the morbid growths when affecting different organs, and on

account of the manner in which the cell cylinders anastomose,

Which points rather to the lymphatics than to the gland: tissue.

He Seems not unwilling ‘to regard the cancer cylinders as COR-

sisting of transformed white corpuscles accumulated in the lym-

Phatic passages. The presence or absence of a cell wall he

justly considers unimportant, it being only an indication of age

m cells which, according to our present knowledge, consist origi-

nally of only a nucleus embedded in a mass of protoplasm.

Tue “Nerve” or tae Toors.— Mr. T. C. White has read

: Y interesting paper on this subject before the Queckett

Microscopical Club. Though considering it a painful subject,

and not to be touched upon except very lightly, he nevertheless

considers it interesting to know something of its structure aní

es.

The pulp, or so called nerve of a tooth, should be obtained from

à tooth of the temporary set removed in a state of health to make

room for the advancing permanent set. A longitudinal groove is

a be filed around the tooth, which is then to be very carefully

mashed, and then split with a pair of wire nippers. The pulp

Will thus be fully exposed, and may be stained by soaking for

Wenty-four hours in an ammoniacal carmine solution as recom-

502 MICROSCOPY.

hours, and finally flattened by gentle pressure in a compressorium

for a few hours more until it is sufficiently thin to be examined by

a ith inch objective. It is also advised to soak an entire tooth for

a few weeks in the carmine staining fluid, then decalcify it by

immersion in hydrochloric acid, and cut thin slices through the

whole which will show the pulp and decalcified osseous tissuein

their natural relation to each other.

Thus studied, the “ nerve” appears to be a mass of areolar or

connective tissue, through which ramify the nerve, vein, and

artery. It not only constitutes a very delicate sensory organ,

but originally was the means of building up the dentine; and

even in adult life performs an important part in sustaining the

vitality of the tooth, and is capable under certain stimulating

influences of developing dentine again. [The unsatisfactory

nature of a tooth whose “nerve” has been “killed” would seem

to be confirmed and explained by these views of its functions. ]

mended by Mr. Beale, washed, soaked in glycerine for a few

pager Ser

Misyamixne Opsectives.—[Although the controversial part of ;

this question has occupied too much time already, we publish the

following note from Mr. Stodder who seems entitled to an oppor

tunity to correct the idea that his having previously written ov®

initials implied an unwillingness to assume full responsibility for

his statement. The editors of- this Journal are not responsi

for anything credited either by name or initials to any sas

authority.—Eps. ] The brief remarks of mine, printed over thai

tials C. S. in the March number of this Journal, were copied amm =

tially in the “ Monthly Microscopical Journal” for April. In the :

May number of that periodical Mr. Wenham writes a reply. ne fe

aremarkable paper not only from the eminence of the writer, a8

authority on microscopy, but from his evident loss of temper ®”

by the terms to which he refers to Mr. Bicknell and to C. $-

these circumstances I must ask for a little space for aTa ‘abe

to my share; I have nothing to say for Mr. Bicknell as he 18 * F

to take care of himself. soi

Mr. Wenham commences his paper which he calls a 5

with this, —“ to correct a misstatement that I [Mr. wm

paper in reply to one of Mr. Bicknell’s; I did not commit t

to such an extent.” This is a mere quibble, unworthy ' a

author. The very caption of the paper had Mr. Bickn ee ae

MICROSCOPY. 503

init. I should not have noticed this, had not Mr. W. unfairly,

as I think, charged me with a misstatement.

Next, Mr. Wenham couples C. S. and Mr. Bicknell together as

if they acted in concert, and were joint writers. I can assure

Mr. Wenham that it is not so. Mr. B. is not responsible for any

thing I have written, nor am I for him. Neither had seen ‘the

other’s writing until it was public.

Next, I have no “ plea or atonement” to make “for expressions `

hastily or inconsiderately written.” My expressions were used

deliberately and after full consideration of their import. :I still

hold the same opinion, namely, that selling an objective by a name

that does not approwimately indicate its focus (i. e. 4 for 4, 2/5 for

ts or, as I have known, sẹ for gy, as in the case of an eminent

French maker ; or, as in another instance, a jẹ for a zy; OF, as in

the case of an English objective that I have recently heard of, a

A zy for a 4) is an “ imposition,” or a fraud if that term is preferred,

A not applying it, however, as Mr. Wenham represents, to a partic-

ular firm, but to all, of any country, who practise such “ impo-

sition ;” and that Mr. Wenham in his paper, by stating that “ {ths

Were 4ths or +1,ths, and some now approach 7yths in power,” with-

out disapproval, was practically defending the custom, and that he

does not now deny. His paper in reply to Mr. Bicknell was pub-

lished in December. In May he writes, “ no one knows better than

myself the difficulty of adopting a nomenclature that shall exactly

denote the power of all the highest object glasses sent out”—some-

: thing has evidently produced some effect on him since that time.

The complaint was not of want of “ exactness,” but of gross mis-

namers of twenty or fifty per cent., such as he named in the De-

r paper, not in regard to the highest powers alone but

applicable to the lowest powers as well. Such was what I called

àn imposition, and I call it so now.

In the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,” October

1862, Capt. Mitchell gives the measurement of the focus of several ©

London objectives; most of them being undernamed. Capt. M.

complains of this; he says “ when I buy a 4th, I want a 4th, not

Something else.” He calls those correctly named, honest ; by im-

Plication, those not so named, dishonest.

a Wm. B. Carpenter (“The Microscope,” fourth ed., 1868, p

í Says, “the designations given by the opticians to their objec-

ves are often far from representing their focal length, as esti-

mated by that of single lenses of equivalent magnifying power, &

504 MICROSCOPY.

. temptation to underrate them being afforded by the consideration —

that if an objective of a certain focus will show a test object as

_ well as another of higher focus, the former is to be preferred.

Thus it happens that what are sold as 4 inch objectives are often

more nearly 45, and that what are sold as } are not unfrequently

more nearly 1.” I presume that I am justified in assuming that

Mr. Wenham was fully aware of both the above, that Capt.

' Mitchell termed the custom dishonest in 1862, and Dr. Carpenter

that it was the result of “ temptation” in 1868, yet he did not

feel called on to ‘practically defend” the want of honesty, or the

yielding to temptation. Was he not then as now “a witness

in behalf” of those he calls the “most respectable portion of the

body?” Was it only censure from this side of the Atlantic that

was “ worth caring for?” It certainly looks so. .

For some twenty years I have watched Mr. Wenham’s con-

tributions to microscopy. I have used and admired his mge

nious inventions and appliances and have looked upon him as one

of the foremost leaders and authorities in the mechanical and

theoretic departments of the science. It was with regret that I

saw that he did not disapprove of the fictitious nomenclature.

It is with greater regret that I find that he has in his haste used

the arrogant expressions that he has. ;

The question of nomenclature is now being agitated, the atten-

tion of microscopists is attracted to it, and one consequence will

be that the “honest” makers will be appreciated.— CHARLES

Stopper, Boston, May 27th. :

Nomencrature or Opsectives. — Dr. J. J. Woodward's Ln

on this subject in the June number of the “ American Jo same

Science and Arts,” goes over a considerable part of ba pee

ground as Dr. Ward’s paper published in the NATURAL T

months before; though that paper had not been m per

Woodward at the time of writing the principal part of be hough

Both authors are laboring for the same result, uniformity, t n ie

with some important minor differences of which we n | ives

another time. Both have proposed the naming of ot aa

their amplifying powers; but it is greatly to be desired DS

one shall adopt such a plan until some distance of _ aiferel™

can be agreed upon by all. We have enough individual a

ces to reconcile already. |

NOTES.

A meETING of the Chicago Academy of Sciences was held on

June 11th, in honor of the memory of its late Trustee, Director of

its Museum, and Secretary, Dr. William Stimpson. A sketch of

the life of Dr. Stimpson was given by President Foster. Letters

were read from Prof. Joseph Henry, Mr. George C. Walker and

others, and remarks were made by members of the Academy,

bearing witness to the great and faithful labors of Dr. Stimpson

in the cause of science and in the work of the Academy. Mr. E.

W. Blatchford offered a series of resolutions in honor of the mem-

ory of Dr. Stimpson and providing for the publication, in the

Transactions of the Academy, of a Memoir on his life, and the

entering of the following tablet on the records:

IN MEMORIAM

WILLIAM STIMPSON, M.D.,

Born FEBRUARY 14TH, 1832 ;

Diep May 26TH, 1872. °

At a meeting of the Essex Institute held on June 12th, Presi-

dent Wheatland alluded to the death of Dr. Stimpson and called

attention to the fact that his first experience in dredging, in which

artment of investigation he afterwards became so noted, was at

a field meeting of the Essex Institute, of which he was a member.

a Putnam remarked on the great loss which science had met.

with in the death of Dr. Stimpson, and on his suggestion a commit-

oo appointed to express, by a series of resolutions, the loss

Much the Institute experienced by the decease of its late member.

Mi abstract the following notice of Major Lyon from the

AR Courier Journal” of June 25th : —

fe Paint S. Lyon, one of the most noted gel :

Paralysis: ine his residence in J effersonville, Ohio, yesterday 0

> the result of wounds received during the ak =

(

“

ologists in the

SS ee eee”

| roll-book of fame.

tory. There has been discovered in late years,

506 NOTES.

Major Lyon was born in Cincinnati in the year 1807. He came to

Louisville while a young man and supported himself for a time by

2 Side fed Naturally of a studious cipo and having

vil e

g. ith the

ýt ishe, he applied stirs elf ‘at home and soon obtained a remark-

able proficiency in the science; so great, indeed, had been his —

gpphention and improvement that he was ' appointed by the Gov-

rnment, surveyor of the public lands in Texas. This exploration

Sound i up to him another science that was just in its pete

There were few works on geology ote Mr. Lyon commenced the |

study, but he ‘ learned from the roc i

n his return from Texas he was peie on the State geolog-

ical survey of Kentucky with Dr. D. D. Owen, Prof. E. T. Cos

Leo Lesquereux and others, and it was on this survey that his

eminent abilities as a geologist and topographical engineer wete

first made known to the scientific world. | When hostilities com-

menced between the North and South, the United States Govern-

ment secured the services of Mr. Lyon and he was attached to the

command of Gen. Morgan, of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, ®

chief of the Engineering corps, and by his skill and particularly

by his knowledge of the topogr aphy of gien ree

service in the first campaign of the wa g this cam- tle

paign, at Cumberland Gap, he rrue ‘enced aaa from

effects of which he never recovere

_ The home of Mr. Lyon on the Falls of the Ohio offered him “i

i sod =

ialty, and his collection of crinoids is sokiai pie to

world. r. Lyon contributed several articles and rain of ie

genera and species of crinoids, found at the Falls of the SMM |

the Philadelphia Academy of Science. A large portion of the The

of the Kentucky Geological Survey was also from his pen

report of the Smithsonian Sea for 1870, araa : fe

ual

Mr. Lyon was eminently a self-made ma pe de M

earnest study, aided by a naturally fine intellect, he mate tions 0

ne of the first scientists of this country, and his contri

scientific knowledge have earned for him a lasting Tec?

Tue Royal Danish Society of Science proposes ne si

questions for competition for the year 1872:— Questi ee

and northern parts of Europe, an astonishing quantity of

and demi-Roman antiquities of the first centuries of the

NOTES. 507

era. In the march of civilization, these ‘ finds” throw light on

certain interruptions and oscillations which seem to proceed from

great wanderings of peoples who, in their turn, appear to be con-

nected with the definite establishment of the iron age in the north,

and with the first complete colonization of the Scandinavian penin-

sula. In order to explain this question, the Society asks for a

description of the principal Roman and demi-Roman “finds” in the

countries of the central and northern parts of Europe, which were

situated beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, and also desires

that this description be accompanied by an argument based as

much upon these archeological data as upor historical documents,

from which may be known the extent and importance of the

current of Roman civilization in the countries mentioned and

especially the changes which its interruptions and final cessation

have brought on, in the civilization and colonization of the north.

Natural History Question. — It is now a hundred years since the

celebrated observations of O. F. Miller on agamous reproduction

(gemmiparity) of the Naiades was published, and although there

S ho reason to question their perfect accuracy on all essential

points, it is very desirable to have them resumed in the actual

light of science and with the means which it possesses to-day.

Schultze, Leuckart and Minor have furnished history with valuable

contributions of the manner of reproduction of the Naiades prop-

erly called, as Claus and Lankester have of Chætogaster ; never-

less, science ought to be in possession of materials sufficient

for intelligence on all points of which it is necessary to keep

account, It is not known definitely what is the first origin of buds

or, first individuals, and the relations between the modes of gem-

parous and scissiparous reproduction consequently need to be

uestion is almost at the same point. For these reasons, the

desires to urge a thorough research, and one answering the

508 NOTES.

actual demands of science, of agamous reproduction and all the

points pertaining to it, of one of the groups of these setiferous

Anellides. It therefore offers its gold medal as a prize to the one —

who shall solve this question in a satisfactory manner, either for

one or several species of the group of Naiades (comprising Chate-

gaster) or for one or several species of Syllides or Tubicolides.

The papers should be accompanied by the necessary drawings 4

explaining the points on which the researches have especially ‘

borne. The answers to these questions may be written in Latin, —

French, English, German, Swedish or Danish. The papers must

not bear the name of the author but a motto, and must be

accompanied by a sealed note, furnished with the same motto,

enclosing the name, profession and address of the author. _

members of the Society who live in Denmark do not take partin

the competition. The prize awarded for a satisfactory answer to

either one of the questions proposed, is the gold medal of the

Society (value, about $100). Papers must be addressed before the

end of the month of October, 1873, to the secretary of the So- i

ciety, Counsellor J. Japetus Sm. Steenstrup, Copenhagen.

the disadvantages, our trip there was a pro :

paid us for the trouble. Our course was a direct line “ g

Fernandez and back to Valparaiso, thus forming 4 ae

track and soundings were made both ways, the ee kind

2,410 fathoms. The weather was very beautiful and just t |

for enabling us to carry on our work to advantage. | iparais0

May day on the island and with a fair wind reached Valp al

on the 5th. We intended to remain here only e day ae

long enough tò take on board our coal, but owing tO AI the

; delays we shall be obliged to remain here onè week. complete

time here will be improved by the party to make 28 i me

_ 2 collection as the time will allow and we are in hopes t0

in that direction, há

NOTES. 509

We shall proceed from here to Callao where I suppose we shall

arrive in hine days, from there to Panama, then Galapagos, ete.

Soundings and dredgings will be continued and we hope to

reap much scientific knowledge. Professor Agassiz is very well,

= excepting somewhat fatigued from his overland travel, and all the

rest of our company are enjoying good health. The Professor was

most successful in collecting during his travel from Taleahuana,

—J. Henry Braxe. Valparaiso, May 11th.

i Tne meeting of the American Association for the Advancement

4 of Science, as announced in our last number, will be held in

Dubuque, Iowa, on Wednesday, August 21st. The meeting will

_ be called to order at 10 A.M. by President Gray. After the usual

: formalities of organization, the general meeting will adjourn and

_ the members will meet in their respective sections for organiza-

_ tion, and as soon as this is accomplished, the reading of papers

_ will be in order. The order of the last meeting, by which the

: retiring president will preside during the first day and deliver his

a Address in the evening, will be followed at this meeting, as it

ems appropriate to have the president’s address, and the for-

mal resignation of his chair to his successor, on the first day of

the session. We trust that at this meeting of the Association,

Members will not forget the important bearing which a proper

organization has upon its scientific success, for certainly at several

former meetings sufficient attention has not been given to the

formalities required by the carefully prepared Constitution of the

Association, Especially should care be used in the nomination of

the one members of the Standing Committee, the Permanent Chair-

man, Secretaries and Committees of the Sections. Every year there

been more or less complaint in regard to the admission of

Papers which were not-worth the time they occupied, and at times

* Papers have undoubtedly been excluded that had better claims for

: admission than others which were allowed to be read. This will

— pi be the case to a certain extent, from the very nature piigi

, Association, but we feel convinced that if the following clause

of the Constitution were strictly adhered to, many of these com-

= ts would be avoided.

tional ¢ i ” Paper shall be placed on the programme unless admitted by the Sec-

Presented to tee; nor shall any be read, unless an abstract of it has previously Met

the Secretary of the Section, who shall furnish to the Chair e titles o

Which abstratts have been received.

510 NOTES.

Still another Rule of the Constitution, if properly attended to —

by the Standing Committee, would certainly save the Association

from the discredit of publishing afew papers which a good natured

committee had admitted to be read and discussed (sometimes with —

the hope that the discussion on the paper would induce its author —

to withdraw it from publication), but which have not the merit of —

“ advancing science.” The execution of this duty of the Stand-

ing Committee would also probably save the Permanent Secretary

much disagreeable correspondence during the “ printing period” 4

after the meeting, and though it might reduce the size of the

annual volume, it would certainly add to its value as well as tothe —

credit of the Association. We allude to Section 11 of d

RULE 4. Before adjourning, [it shall be the duty of the Standing Committee] t i

decide which papers, discussions, or other proceedings, shall be published.

Another important item in regard to the success of the meetings, a

and one to which every member having a paper to present and the

Standing and Sectional Committees should give their hearty CP

eration, is that of the daily programmes. The Constitution “1 :

quests” members to send the titles, with abstracts of their papan a

to the Permanent Secretary, at least a day previous to the com ;

mencement of the meeting; but there is often great delay ce

getting the list of papers presented in type, and still apes A

arranging the programme for each day. This might be # lst, 7

by passing a vote providing that papers on the Secretary's T

at the meeting of the Standing Committee the evening ar a

the first general session, should have precedence over all 7 P 1

in making up the programmes by the Sectional Commit ae :

would also greatly facilitate matters if the Sectional Commi je a

were obliged to give their programmes for the day toer

the Permanent Secretary by 4 o’clock in the afternoon pre a

and the programme for the first day immediately sw

gramme for the day; for it is almost always owing K

-Confusion in calling up the first papers, without prop e aoe! Pa

ment, that renders it so difficult to get smoothly st able the

scientific work, while a recess of ‘an hour to =

Committee to prepare the programmes would save mney

time to the section than thus taken, and would pe

bers a chance to greet each other before real work comem

NOTES. 511

The following are the officers of the Dubuque meeting. Presi-

dent, J. Lawrence Smith of Louisville, Vice President, Alex.

Winchell of Ann Arbor. Permanent Secretary, Joseph Lovering

of Cambridge. General Secretary, E. S. Morse of Salem. Treas-

wer, W. S. Vaux of Philadelphia. The Standing Committee con-

sists of the above named officers and the following officers of the

preceding meeting, Asa Gray of Cambridge, G. F. Barker of New

Haven, and F. W. Putnam of Salem. (Six more members of the

Standing Committee are elected at large from the Association on

the first day, and the Permanent Chairmen of the Sections become

members of the Committee.) Local Committee. —H. T. Wood-

man, chairman; C. A. White, 1st vice chairman; Asa Horr, 2d

vice chairman; Samuel Calvin, local secretary; E. D. Cook,

assistant secretary; R. A. Babbage, treasurer; and 205 other

gentlemen. We are convinced by the cordial tone of the circular

of the Local Committee and from private letters received, that the

: Citizens of Dubuque are resolved to spare no effort on their part to

; make the 21st meeting of the Association a decided success. We

= Mote the following items from the circular : —

On the evening of ipe Aee st 21st, a reception will | be oxin - a

aeie r the Hon. Wm. B. Allison, U. S. Sena

enator elect,

- Response te the Association, after wh h Prof. A "n

i to the members, we can Po enS promise that all can be entertained at

alla — , free of charge, The Local Committee, therefore

: amestly request those intending to be present to notify the Local Secretary by letter

pcan

: n as possible. Members and those intending to become members will report

O tely upon their arrival at the Rec ception Room of the Local Cs ommitteė mag

: Sister their names, when they hi

ere Not ee Local Commi sehen

be postéd at ice of the location of the Reception Room of the L om ey,

bates or e tiikeoes depots, s aian landings, and in the street cars and om i

make it am city. Negotiations with the railroads have now progressed 50 BPS - s

maey noet ' Certain that we shall Ł he | ipa

the cit th f their lines

og to localities o of special interest. Btemabaaiee on n the Mississippi river have

tendered for a similar r purpose. Arrangements for a number of xcursions

made, ata the approval of the Aaoi Carriage aa rsions to

"n ‘oe caves, smelting furnaces, and to the exposures of fossiliferous

provided for. Microscopists will confer, as soon as possible after

ival, with the Curators of the pagers Institute of Science and Arts at the Recep-

i om of the Local C Comittee re of any instruments or spec-

ens they may have for exhibi a

steed for June 20th opens with a résumé of the discoveries

vepantinestone, and gives an account of the latest authentic

“Ports, which place him at Unyanyembeh, where stores were

512 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

being’ sent him under charge of his son. It is rival

purpose to go southward and discover the outlet to the great

basin of the Tanganyika, extending from about 3° to 10° 5. lat

and 27° to 39° E. long., which he had discovered, and oan

on all sides except the sortlesinat cits

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

F. C. H., Yell ed Springs, i o.— It is not at all improbable that some Tachina.

site infests Coreus tristis De Geer. Itis well an that beetles in the i Gua a

sometimes i parasitized, te we have bred a smë ne Tachina-jly from cui

cea Fabr. ee also AMER. NaT.,Vol. V, p.217. We should like specimens from

iristis is iy

Mrs. P. H, New Haven. ee ere cimens of insects you sent to the NATURALIST,

Whiok ro found i in such nu s on May 20th, are doubtless the T

deman (order Neuroptera), mi rt e called the American white

females ae — and wingless. The males, which are mostly blac:

in May and June and for a few days are often seen in countles

live in pa hey decaying w Life only, and doubtless found a congenial home

doorstep mentioned. — :

BOOKS RECEIVE}.

Proceedings of the California Academy of Science. Vol. iv, Pt. iv, 1871. supe

Recti Senpai of ak ai Fada * paki sis of ‘tha pomi oe Naiades of Nor :

Tsaac Lea. as New Edition. /Philadel phia. 1572. 2 “ending 180.

Ee of ihe intomologica Society of the Province of Ontario, for the yea j

na and portions f

Hayde Unites

Jun poan J. G

a, etc. By T. M. B, Cross, M.D. Svo

ew Species of F 5 isfrom the vicinity y Ber tite

ections of D James Knapp g ville. BY

p: May, i:

ypotheses, By F.J. Finois. Paka “pam „ Dp. 82

panes

Nes Silicon Steel, 8vo pamph, Benet he

MS conga ws Report of the Boston Society 7 Farai aliari ti

sto:

Remarks on ‘the Nomenclature of Achromatic Objectives for the Com ompo ung er

Oy Diodes abies ward, U.S.A. 8vo pamph. (from the American Journal

une, 1870.

On Reversi samong the Ammonites. By Prof. A. Hyatt. Svo pape, te

Catalogue p7 Tig ata By see Hyatt. Svo pa p t

Nat. Hist., May

Monograp. e da dprsepne de

yy des “Annals of t

r s aT of mand

wisiana ye sversity

Saage the Bost. KOC.

War Depa

ach.

of Louisvill lle, Ky. Erom :

ae re (oara none fo :

e America; roy ‘dournal

y Third Series, July 2, coy tiny

Taa Nos, for June a Aaly. 1872. ‘London.

ia ne and duly, 1872,

The Field. No. for July, 1872, London.

po he Torrey B

iiie s i June, ar

Journal of Botany.

London.

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

DOLIO D

THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF A BUTTERFLY.

BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER.

Or all American butterflies Brenthis Bellona presents the

strangest history. Everybody knows that butterflies pass through

several stages of growth, from the egg, caterpillar and chrysalis

" the butterfly — a cycle of changes which succeed each other

with perfect uniformity from year to year; it is also known to

most who read these pages that many butterflies pass through this

Jele twice or even thrice in the course of the year, while others

“gain are “ single-brooded.” If one should assert that Brenthis

: i ma was single-brooded, most, if not all, observers would say

_ “Was an error; do not butterflies of this species, fresh from the

- Sirysalis, appear late in May, again in July and still, once more,

y in September? true, and yet, properly speaking, the insect is

le-brooded.

a this genus — at least in B. Bellona and B. Myrina— occurs

phenomenon, which, so far as I know, is quite unique among but-

"les; there are two sets of individuals, each following its own

a " changes, apparently with as little to do with the other

asif it were a different species; each set has its own distinct

pe and thus gives rise to the apparition of two or three suc-

: paai broods ” in the course of the year. ii :

ee * the very end of the season this butterfly will be found laying

| Set Watch hatch in a few days; the little caterpillars, after

of the Librarian of Congress, at Wash

E, in the nuk, the Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

AMER, NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 33 (513)

514 THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF A BUTTERFLY.

devouring their egg-shells, refuse further food and undoubtedly

hibernate in this state— which is nearly equivalent to remaini

in the egg; for eggs of Lepidoptera may be found in midwinter

in nearly all stages of development, according to the species.

These juvenile larvæ represent the hiemal condition of one of the —

two sets of individuals above mentioned; this we will term the ;

æstival series; for by the end of the following June, the cater —

pillars have attained their growth and, passing through the chrys-

alis state, emerge as butterflies about the middle of July ; these

are the butterflies of midsummer, continuing upon the wing until

the end of September. In this butterfly, the eggs are wholly

undeveloped at the birth of the female, and in the æstival series

are not deposited until September; they hatch in from five to

nine days and the young caterpillars, as we have said, pass directly

into a state of hibernation, making the cycle of the year’s changes

complete with a single generation. This history is quite similar to

that of the New England species of Argynnis, all of which pi

single-brooded, appear in early summer, lay their eggs m early

autumn and hibernate as juvenile larvae ; but these have not super

added the second series of individuals which form so striking :

feature in the natural history of some of our native species of

Brenthis. se.

This second set of individuals, which we will term the MARE

in contrast to the estival series, hibernates as half-grown pe

pillars and produces the earliest brood of butterflies ; these

their appearance about the middle of May, although yarn

occasionally seen earlier; they are hardly common before. J w

of the month and are as long-lived as their companions pe

æstival series; they do not lay their eggs until the latter p

series are becoming common ; the eggs hatch and the

grow as usual for a few weeks, sloughing their integun

beyond this point all the caterpillars do not develop

continue in what would appear the natural way ;

low them — it will be to their grave! As caterpliars s ay

chrysalides they sleep and then appear in September

frolicsome butterflies— doomed to an untimely end. -

of the stival series are busily laying eggs to perpemua’™

i ly, one

* For the phenomenon of midsummer is now repeated inversely;

iting, the other emerging from the chrysalis.

COO a eo a VON RNY ON Neen rr RINE

SS ed Navan ane ne Rea ee bi aes

THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF A BUTTERFLY. 515

but to them is this boon denied ; the cold autumnal blasts sweep

them away before the eggs are half developed in their ovaries. It

is, in fact, a vain effort of Nature to develop a second brood which,

in a more southern climate, with a longer season, would prove

successful.

But we have said that this was the history of some only; and

this fact proves the salvation of the vernal series; when about

half grown, in the middle of August, while the weather is still

2 hot, a portion of the caterpillars suddenly cease to eat and fall

3 into a state of lethargy. Something similar to this, if we may

trust the observations of Vandouer, as related by Doubleday, has

been noticed in a European species of this genus, but earlier in

the season, when it would seem to be more unaccountable, because,

so far as we can see, less necessary. ‘Having succeeded,” says

W. Doubleday, “in obtaining some eggs of this species (B.

Euphrosyne), which were laid about the middle of May, I fed

the young larve produced from them until'the end of June, when

they all fell into a state of complete torpidity, in which most of

them remained until the following spring. But in August a por-

tion of them woke from. their sleep, fed with voracity, changed

their skins twice, became pupz and in a few days perfect insects.

Tt was only at the end of the following February that the others

commenced feeding, changed their skins twice and after the first

week in April became pup, from which the perfect insects

appeared at the usual time.” By this account, the butterflies lay

their eggs on their first appearance ; either they differ in toto from

their congeners in America or there is some error in this statement.

The state of lethargy into which our August caterpillars sometimes

fall may perhaps be better denominated premature hibernation,

for they do not arouse themselves until the following spring, when

hey again resume the cycle of changes peculiar to the vernal

_ Series, and by this extraordinary habit preserve its history.

_ Here we have two independent series in the same species, each

Single-brooded, but one making an effort toward a second genera- `

“oy invariably ending in disaster; the butterfly may therefore

be Properly considered as “ single-brooded,” although differing

tig from other single-brooded butterflies, by presenting three

oe distinct apparitions of the perfect form. Whether, by any lethar-

Bic freaks, the caterpillars of the two series even unite their faces

nd finally have a synchronous and parallel development, we are

516 THE CURIOUS HISTURY OF A BUTTERFLY.

as yet unprepared to say; but that the blood of both series ever :

commingles, through the union of the perfect insect, is very improb-

able because, although the generations overlap, the males-of a

brood are the first to disappear and the females the last to appear,

and at best there would be few that could thus mate; moreover,

since the eggs of the freshly enclosed females are not fully devel- A

oped for weeks, or even months, the effect of such a union would

be questionable. Yet, if there is no union between the two series, l

there are the vernal and æstival groups practically as distinct .

from each other as any two species! Nature strives toward the

formation of a double brood in the vernal series; may We not

suggest that she has already made considerable progress toward

the development of a new species, in producing the vernal series

at all? Pass in review ‘the histories of different species of the

and you will find

same genus or even allied genera of butterflies, ,

in them a remarkable similarity — trace of a law of unity in habits

and seasons as pronotinced as that of unity in coloration and

structure, extending not only to the number of broods, but also

to their seasons. In the æstival series of Brenthis we find iD :

something very similar to what occurs in „Argynnis, and this m

therefore be considered the normal series ; but, in addition, we have

. a second set of individuals maintaining a totally distinct a

by other means (lethargy or premature hibernation), passmg *

winter in a different condition, and even attempting an ad o

generation — showing a difference such as usually m

somewhat distant genera. Will not Messrs. Cope pae i

claim this as a new argument in favor of their theories of the a

gin of species? eo

Whether any colorational or structural features distinguish ue

butterflies of the vernal from those of the æs al

unable to say and must leave to those who can follow pat?

in the field; it is a question worthy of investiga eee

spring and autumn broods of butterflies often present OY

- so well marked that the broods have been described wae :

species. ye :

` Some one will ask whether these different apparitione ie

butterfly cannot be accounted for on the supposition

series of individuals, with lethargy on the part of the 7 or

as in the case of the European Euphrosyne. Plainly 2° alk y

have in our butterfly three apparitions instead of tWOr'

fl SRST: RCN RE. SEN OE ea Ee ToT A a

THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF A BUTTERFLY. 517

_ depositions of eggs in place of one; moreover, the fact is suffi-

ciently established, that some of the caterpillars of the vernal series +

hibernate when half grown, after a period of lethargy and that the

wstival series can only pass the wiriter as caterpillars just from the

egg ; so too is the period of oviposition ; these facts being granted,

and the apparition of the butterflies known to all observers as

occurring at the times stated, any other interpretation seems

impossible.

In all plural-brooded butterflies, with an extensive distribution

in latitude, the number of generations varies with the length of

the season. I am not aware that the mode of this variation has

ever been studied; are the changes sudden or gradual? and do

they involve any waste of energy on the part of Nature, as-in

Brenthis Bellona? A little consideration will show what the

result would be in the species under discussion; should the season

be so long that the second brood of the vernal series could lay

eggs, these eggs would at once hatch, for their normal period being

often as short as five days, weather which could induce a butterfly

to lay eggs would at once ripen the embryo; the caterpillars would

then be forced to hibernate as those of the æstival series and

become members of that series the next year; while the vernal

Series would be kept up by means of those caterpillars of its first

ood which, in the previous year, had gone into premature -hiber-

nation. Thus the vernal series would continually feed the æsti-

val; yet it would suffer no greater loss than it does at present in

the practical sterility of the September butterflies; it would be

Subjected to no infusion.of blood from the æstival series and any

Variation of structure from the normal type of the species, induced

by its isolation, would not be lost. Were the season still longer,

the vernal series would become double-brooded and independent,

the caterpillars having time to attain half their size before hiber-

basen: the lethargic propensity would be retained only by the

æstiyal series, which, by this time, would probably have assumed

the position our vernal series occupied at the beginning.

If, on the other hand, we suppose a shorter season, such as

actually exists in some parts of the country where Brenthis Bellona

Occurs, undoubtedly the first change would be the entire elimina-

Hiss of the September butterflies and the hibernation of all the

vernal caterpillars when half grown; this is probably the actual

State of things in the cooler parts of Canada; but what would

518 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

the further backward steps toward the simple condition of Avepia

—that is, toward the extinction of the vernal series—it would

be hard to conjecture, without treading on insecure ground; —

rather let us leave that to the future development of paia —

— Menton, France, April, 1872.

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNE

AND THE NEIGHBORING PARTS OF THE

SHORES OF NARRAGANSET BAY.*

BY PROF. N. S. SHALER.

GENERAL Torpocrapny.— The contour of the shore at this po

of our coast at once indicates some peculiar features in the hist

of the rock masses in which it lies. A great indentation of the

coast line having a width of twelve and a depth of over t "

miles, cut here and there with narrow islands and running up}

the land in long river-like arms for many miles beyond the

of its main area, Narraganset Bay, leads us to seek for

forces operating in its formation which were not at work, at gr

with the same energy, in the region of shore more to

ward and westward. A glance at the general topograph,

show us more clearly what is to be regarded. as peculiar

requiring an explanation from the ancient history of this i

Nearly the whole of the excavation of N Narraganset Bay

a region commonly known as Carboniferous. f l

vations of the Chesapeake and Delaware lie altogi

a region of soft, easily disintegrated material and are

not comparable with what we have here. The valleys ©

Connecticut, the Hudson and the Thames, nearer to the

are studying, are in the same sort of rocks, Or besa

equivalent hardness, and are therefore more likely to

Measure for the forces acting here. But we find that

* This and the papers to be hereafter published in the ame AE Coast

a Report to Prof. Benj. deod SARE of toe Ua

are made publ is

tit will hereafter be shown ik a very large part of this eget

rele ates isin all enpsaid of a very much e arlier age.

show a member of the Cambrian series.

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 519

indentations have the simple structure of river excavations present-

ing, it is true, the character of valleys which have been subject

to other eroding forces than those which have come from flowing

water, but still being single and rather narrow indentations in the

axis of considerable streams. As we go to the north and east be-

yond Narraganset Bay, we find indentations of the same general

character ; at first, obscurely on the southern shore of Massachu-

setts, but in great abundance snd of a perfectly comparable shape

on the coast of Maine and the whole shore of the continent to the

northward. Thus we see that this Bay is, in fact, the southernmost

point of the fiord structure on our coast and is on this account a

favorable point for the examination of the causes of the formation

of that type of coast line. If we take a number of sections

across the whole of the Bay at several points, say at the mouth,

five miles from the southernmost point of land, again parallel

thereto through the centre of the town of Newport, and further on

in succession in an east and west direction through the upper part

of Newport island and the island of Prudence; through Bristol

and lastly through Fall River, we shall see’ by these diagrams

i that the bay gives us a number of furrows and ridges having each

| & width of from half a mile to five miles and a height or depth

from the bottom level of from one hundred to four hundred and

fifty feet.* If, however, we take a section in a general north and

South direction through any of these channels of Narraganset

Bay, we shall find that it presents us with essentially an inclined

plane sloping pretty gradually from the northern or inner en

toward the sea on the south. The indentations of these channels

into their shores are comparatively few and of no great depth.

At ome points the original islands have been soldered together by

marine drift materials so as to destroy the original simplicity of

arrangement, but usually throughout the Bay the contours show

"Sa predominance of north and south reliefs. As will be seen

by examining the contour lines of the coast survey map, On the

= Of tobvo, the nearer ridges of the principal island con-

m in course in a general way to the trend of the shores of the

ang islands ; showing thereby that it is to some very general

TR that we owe the existence of these north and south trends.

ne NORE ean apa ane SG RES og eee

that each we ese transverse sections are given in the diagram PI. 6. It will be seen

from which | channel is a broad but relatively shallow excavation. The drawings

‘Coast Sury the sections were made were carefully prepared from the records at the

; vey Office in Washington.

_ 820 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

It will be noticed that the island has no streams of consider-

able size ; none, in fact, which could have been competent to create

the wide and deep depressions we find in the larger valleys of the

island by direct abrasion. In some of the minor valleys near the

shores, as at the glen on the east side of the island, we have real —

stream valleys with the normal V-like excavations, but in the —

larger depressions occupied by the streams the form is very much

more rounded and the size usually many times as great, giving

broad U-shaped troughs, in which the streams, though in fully

close contact with the bed rock, have very little effect upon it

They are manifestly incapable of creating the valleys in which

they flow. To account for these depressions we are forced to

suppose either of several things; we may suppose that the valleys

are the relics of the topography which may have existed here before :

the Bay was formed, and that the streams which made them gath- :

ered their volume in the land which then occupied the space where :

the waters now lie and a part of the region beyond; we may seek

an explanation of their formation in the action of the sea during

a former period of partial submergence, a probable source of

valley-making, according to the view of many geologists, or e

may perchance find that to the erosion of the ancient si

streams we owe the development of what the brooks only began.

The first supposition is manifestly inapplicable toa number

that which owing to the want of any well established

been termed the north valley. being that occupied by thes :

which debouches just south of the Aquidneck coal mines, an

extend across the island but has its head within fifty feet of

highest hill. On the part of the island to the south of this `

we have several considerable depressions of the ean

Only one of these, that which lies immediately to the:

Newport, is continued clear across the island, but Oe

central part of the valley lies so high as to afford hardly s

able impression of its having been the valley of an anei

A careful consideration of the question has led me to

that this hypothesis is inapplicable to any of the valie

island. The question of the marine origin of these mE

easily dismissed. If competent to produce these valleys We

find the sea still at work extending their contours a

contact of sea and land. It is sufficiently evident n

action is now going on. The sea is now making slight ;

€

SURE Ee Meg ee a

y n A

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 521

the land along nearly the whole shore of the island, but the slight

waste is not taking place in any greater measure at the mouths

of these valleys than at other points. I am inclined to think it

eminently probable that these valleys are the result of the am-

plification of the original stream excavations, by the action of

the moving sheet of ice which we shall see there is abundant

reason to believe to have rested on this region during the drift

period. Long before the present topography was established, prob-

ably at a time so remote that the present surface was buried more

than one thousand feet beneath accumulations, which have since

been worn away, the island had already been separated from the

main land. The ice period found certain valleys already cut in the

rock, their general course coinciding pretty closely with the direc-

tion of the flow of the ice, as will be seen by examining the indi-

cated direction of the ice as determined by the glacial scratches.

It is eminently probable that the glacial sheet was pretty nearly

: level on its upper surface, not having that surface conforming to the

; hills and valleys which lay beneath. Itis evident that where the

es _ Stream lay deepest the wearing would have been the greatest, for

the rate of motion being the same, the wearing of a glacial stream

‘is in proportion to the weight it brings upon equal areas. Thus

2 the valleys would have been deepened and widened until out of

7 proportion to the magnitude of the streams of water which course

r through them since the glacial sheet went away.

: The importance of this consideration has been overlooked ; it

heeds to be considered if we would form clear ideas of the cause of

Ue irregularity in the excavations of all glaciated regions. Some-

2 times this great difference in the erosive action may be in part

attributed to the difference in hardness of the rock acted on.

7 But that this is not the principal cause is shown by the great irreg-

ularity of glaciated surfaces and underlaid by the most uniform

| Syenites. In ordinary ærial erosion the beds of the streams are

_ Senerally kept away from the rock by a padding of debris; but

= ' glacial action these protective agents in running streams

r become the very sharpening of the ice tool and do the work of

_ĉrosion instead of protection. By reference to the diagrams (Plates

$ and 7), it will be seen that the channels between the islands have

a average depth of about one hundred feet below the water line.

They gain their depth quite suddenly and then preserve their

Sentle slopes across their whole breadth. Their variations in

“aoe ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK,

depth may sometimes be connected with a variation in the hardness _

of the material in which the excavation is made.* att

Since the formation of these depressions a considerable amount

_ of filling has been going on which has doubtless done much to

modify the form of the bottom and diminish its depth. There an

not expressly made for’ that purpose, the diagrams also show that

the land surfaces are considerably more irregular than those

caused by water; water action when the land is buried beneath it

effect when it acts upon the land lands. There are reasons N

believe that the channels to the east and west of the island were

occupied by distinct glacial streams for a short period towards the

close of the last ice time. The duration of these local glaciers

must have been short, inasmuch as the distinct termina lor lateral

moraines are few and indistinct. m

Excepting the extreme ends of the island the topography is of the

simplest character; the broad valleys have slopes of rem eal

similarity showing that the material in which they are excavated

must have a tolerably uniform consistency. The extreme sonièr

west and northeast ends of the island have contours which

trast remarkably with the middle region. The region £no

the neck, lying just south of Newport and the harbor thereof

one of the most irregular surfaces in New England. A

sight it seems a mere confusion of ice-worn rocks and tra

masses piled without order. A little examination shows,

that here too we have a set of valleys which have à |

‘north and south course, the sides and bottoms of which gre

worn into the irregular shapes, which give the chaotic look

surface, by the action of the flowing water and the old

The rock being of very varied hardness has worn wit

how:

mation, materials as homogeneous as the others are Vé

homogeneity in the character of the latter rocks has ©

*The great valleys which now form the Bay were doubtless wee sia

cant troughs of small streams which have been developed under te ©”

indicated.

t These diagrams will be gi in the next number of this Journal.

ae ah OR cee

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 523

to wear uniformly and so to give a very even surface to the coun-

try they underlie. This uniformity characterizes all the region

between the Lilly Pond and Almy’s Pond on the south and the bay

known as Blue Bill Cove on the north, with the exception of the

strip lying east and west between the Paradise and Purgatory

rocks on the east and Miantonomi Hill on the west, wherein there

are several exposures of conglomerates and slates which, wearing

unequally, have given a broken and irregular character to the

surface.

At the extreme northern end of the island, between Blue Bill

Cove and the portion of Narraganset Bay known as Mount Hope

Bay, there is a small area of the same character as that to the

south of Newport, brought up by a fault into contact with coal-

bearing rocks. Here also the irregular hardness of the rock has

caused it to wear very irregularly.

The continuous sheet of superficial accumulations hereafter to

be described does not have any considerable - effect in altering

the contour of the surfaces except in the finer details of particular

points. On the west shore of Blue Bill Cove there is a surface

of about one hundred acres which shows a type of topography

which occurs at a number of points on our New England shore

and is very difficult to understand. The general surface is very

nearly a true plane and is underlaid to the depth of more than

thirty feet, or below low tide mark by unstratified drift com-

posed principally of materials less than one foot in diameter.

The surface of this plain is broken at a great number of pdints by

depressions which recall the character of the sink holes of many

imestone countries, though no such explanation will possibly ap-

Ply to their formation. These depressions vary much in size

ome of them being several hundred feet in diameter, though

usually they do not exceed one hundred feet across, and twenty feet

m depth. Generally their outlines are rudely circular, though

m some cases they exhibit considerable irregularity of form. At

Some points these cavities are so crowded together that they en-

‘reach upon each other and the plain becomes converted into a

_ “atped surface of a singular degree of complication. A precisely

: ‘Similar Surface occurs on the low terrace to the south of the town

of Quincy , Mass. The conditions both of material and environ- ;

Tayak are the same in both cases.

“ere are a few possible means of accounting for this arrange-

524 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

ment which suggest themselves ; none of them, however, seem quite .

to satisfy the facts. The most natural conjecture seems to be that

the irregularity was made at the time of deposition of the materi-

al. Had it taken this shape afterwards the only possible suppo-

sition would be that marine currents had produced the excavation —

during a period of depression. This, however, is distinctly negi-

tived by the fact that the coarse as well as the fine material has

disappeared, there being no such mass of boulders on the bottom

of the depression as would exist on this supposition; moreover, —

it is really impossible to account for the existence of such

great eddies in the positions where these great excavations —

occur, at points remote from large obstacles such as could set great

tidal currents whirling. Limiting ourselves to the conditions :

which could cause irregularities in the deposition of the drift, we

still find the matter beset with difficulties. In the first place, itis >

difficult to see what could have ċaused such lacunes in the diate .

bution of drift matter, within or on the surface of a glaci ; :

The most satisfactory explanation seems to be that the greater

part of the drift which lies here was borne on the surface of the

glacier and that these openings in the moraine matter answer

gaps in the ice on the surface of the glacier, caused perhaps by

action of streams such as are often seen to originate on the oe

of a glacier and then to find their way in straight shafts .

base. Such cavities would remain even after they becam pe

or disused, being covered with drift or quite bare, and at ae

of melting their place would be marked by just such va l

these. A fe

Other depressions exist on a larger scale at the points ae

by the several ponds of the island ; none of these ponds seem x

complete rock basins all having, or having had, deep channels ¢

necting them with the sea. Blue Bill Cove seems ote

formed by the drift masses which surround it, oxee Te

syenite rock makes a part of its northeast border. oob

Pond, near Newport, is the next depression to the aed

We have one of the valleys of the island cut down by i

stream until its mouth lay beneath the level of the

the ice disappeared the valley constituted a fiord-like i

action of the sea seems to have made two successive. Ta

‘the valley, one about one-half the distance from p per

to the head of the pond, the other forming the Pr?

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 525

beach of Newport. South of this point we have two considerable

ponds, Almy’s and Lilly pond ; both of these and the marshy pond

just to the west of the latter are glacial excavations. The last is

closing by the accumulation of vegetable matter, its waters having

become shallow enough to bear an abundant vegetation, which is

rapidly converting it into a peat bog. The island is singularly

free from perfectly level lowlands, such as are formed by the filling

up of old ponds, and the few sheets of water which remain are not

disappearing with the rapidity usual in New England.

The process of occlusion in these ponds can be studied to ad-

vantage in the marshes between the Lilly pond and Bateman’s.

= The vegetation, consisting of a variety of marsh plants, begins

its growth at the shore where there is a sand beach and bold

water, but it may be a long time before its foothold can be made

' l. Some accident such as a landslide or a fallen tree makes

4 little shelter, so that the plants get a hold in the water. Ina

short time they make a bed a foot or more in thickness; their

roots go so deep that soon they can stand a considerable beat

= Ofthe wave. The commotions in the water tear away and dis-

tribute over the floor of the pond a part of the mass, but it con-

tinues to grow and gains on the clear space, often at the rate of

several inches a year. Where the circumstances are favorable,

we find the mat of plants extending from the shore over the pond,

without, touching its floor, sometimes for only a few feet, again,

at times, covering many acres with its growth. The accumulation

of sediment under these. conditions takes place in a singular

fashion ; the mat of vegetation floats upon the surface of the pond,

and sinks deeper and deeper as it grows until, finally, it rests upon

the bottom. It then continues to grow until it has gotten itself

80 far above the water, that the vegetation no longer has the neces-

Sary amount of water.* ;

The topography of the island, as a whole, is remarkable for the

small extent to which it expresses the structure of the rock below.

NN T E oP Se a oe a et es

a BE easy

= ep rat ie ees

CR a pet e a A A TAS Pe es Og E A GAE

jtnries

_*This proce a : a ag = : :

et implements of man: where a stone tool remained on the surface itwas likely to

cos od again, and used until its very chips were worn away- Falling into

tes mg through some crevice in its top érust, it sank to a secure hiding place.

easta ents can penetrate so deeply into bogs makes them very untrust-

"i ad ape eg . An implement of the stone age may get buried in the solid

hed feet from the surface, while a modern piece of work falling into a more

oe may sink far below it. When the bog comes to be excavated the deeper

bject is naturally, but mistakenly, taken for the older. l

526 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

When we come to study the disposition of the underlying rock we

shall be struck by the great amount of perturbation the beds have

suffered ; they are thrown into real mountain irregularities, Few a

parts of the Alleghanies are more seriously disturbed, but the sur

face preserves no semblance of mountain forms. It does not dit —

fer from the shape which horizontally lying rock would give. a

If the character of the surface had been given by water action,

then we should have had something very different from this. The —

valleys would then have mapped for us the attitude of the strats

and the elevations would have been much greater and differently

disposed from what they are now. But under the sheet of ice

these details of structure lose their value; the ice cannot turn and

twist as the water does, only a slight deflection even under the

most important resistance can be permitted. The result necessarily

is that the glacial stream wears away without much reference

to the disposition of the beds beneath the surface. This is a point

of more than local importance; it may serve often as & general

guide to the determination of the question whether any l

country shows the result of glaciation. When the topography of

any region does not express the structure of its underlying g a

rials, in the fashion common to all surfaces of purely aqueots o

erosion, then there is reason to suspect the action of ice. So

suspicion may amount to a certainty wherein the whole topography

has been created with the great independence of internal condi-

tions which it here exhibits. S

There is a general absence of sand and pebbles in the ere

about this island; this is, probably, primarily due to the yer

drift bas not been enough washed over by the sea to remo

arenaceous matter. The sand mass of Nantasket or Lym ne

alone much exceeds all that exists in the spits and bese R7

Narraganset Bay. The small extent to which the drift: has |

robbed of its sands is due to the original slight sub s

this district; only about ten to twenty feet of emergence aad

cated, so the region has not been so much washed ie i

region more to the north. There are great bodies of san

shores to the north and south ; its comparative per `

be explained by the want of recent great movements pi

and the deep water which prevents its movement along

from the east or west. As we go south of this region i

ial period.

into the area of positive subsidence since the glac

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 527

change of land is quite as favorable to the collection of sand

_ along the shore line as the process of elevation. In general the

_ existence of great quantities of sand along an ocean shore may

be taken as probable evidence of recent geological movements

_ which have enabled the sea to work over a great amount of débris,

of which it has left the heavier part where it found it, and has

heaped up the lighter parts where its currents naturally swept them.

Bay has less drift than exists in the regions further to the north-

ward; it also has few stretches of shore which furnish quantities

of sand to eroding agents and none of those great rolling beaches,

such as abound to the northward where thousands of tons of peb-

bles, rushing to and fro under the beat of the waves, are gradually

ground into sand and mud. The rocks exposed about Narragan-

set Bay to the full surge of the ocean are mostly stubborn resist-

ers of the waves, and where masses break away they generally

fall into deep water where they are not ground up by the waves.

There are no currents working along the shore, which are capable

of transporting sands from either the Cape Cod shore or the great

masses of Long Island. - We see that circumstances have cooper-

ated to keep the inlets of this diversified and beautiful region of

_ ur shore free from the overwhelming sands, which in the regions

è little to the east or west would have soon closed or effaced

them, Nothing can be more strikingly contrasted than the topo-

graphical results of water in its solid and its fluid states. Where

W moves from the land in the solid phalanx of the glacier it rends

a coast into shreds, as ragged as a cloud blown out by the wind.

“n the sea with the ever varying action of waves and currents, it

_ Works to restore the uniformity it destroyed before. Its waves dig

down the heights and fill up the hollows, its currents build moles

cross. the inlets and give them over to the agents which speedily

fonvert them to marshy plains. i

pat the close of each of the many great ice periods in the earth’s

“ory the fretted line of the fiord zone was probably swept

clear of its débris of all kinds. Then began the process of occlu-

"A Which continued until the ice came again to renew its work.

| Fecognizing the harbors and inlets of Narraganset Bay as

al work, we get an example of the agent which has given

northern part of Europe have been universally maritime is

It will hereafter be shown that the whole region of Narraganset .

aa , iths of the havens of our seaboards. That the people of -

528 THE NEW IMMERSION ILLUMINATION.

due, in no small degree, to the recurrent ice action of the northern

hemisphere, so close is the connection between this most destruc-

tive agent and the highest life. E

EE E

THE NEW IMMERSION ILLUMINATION.

BY R. H. WARD, M.D.

Tue new illuminating lens, introduced by Mr. Wenham recently, .

has proved to be a sufficiently important accessory to the micro :

scope to command more attention than it has yet received in this

Fig. 123.

SSCA Se

the central part of its curvature stopped off with

and for convenience the part intended to be th

‘may be ground away as shown in Figs. 123 and p l

surface being subsequently painted black. The lens j et

is temporarily attached by some highly refracting medium:

Gn o l

THE NEW IMMERSION ILLUMINATION. , 529

glycerine or oil of cloves, to the under surface of the slide. It

becomes, manifestly, an immersion spotted lens; though it has lost

so much of its angular aperture, to say nothing of the difficulty of

placing the object in its focus, that it can no longer be used as

= ch, Its available action is that of enabling us to throw light

obliquely into the slide at such an angle, ordinarily impracticable,

that it shall-suffer total internal reflection from the top of the slide

(Fig. 123), or from the top of the glass cover when that is opti-

cally identified with the slide, as when we examine an object in

balsam, glycerine, etc. (Fig. 124).

For many years our best means of producing this effect was a

prism, as shown in Fig. 125. A small prism is attached to the

under surface of the slide, temporarily, by soft balsam or by oil

or glycerine in the case of mounted specimens, or permanently,

Fig. 125,

n balsam be a blank slide which is to be used for the occasional

of unmounted specimens. This arrangement gives

oY little light, and so little control of the angles at which the

; ight meets the axis of the object and the axis of the instrument,

: that it has been but little used and with indifferent results.

q Mr. Wenham’ s lens removes all these difficulties. It is easy to

> a enough for moderately high powers; and the light can be

| from n upon the object at a considerable range of angles and

any side or from all sides at once. When light is to be sup-

> a ftom one side only,it may be directed by a rectangnlar prism

a a S prism, or an (inclined) achromatic condenser of long

while jae small angle—such as a two-inch or three-inch objective ;

: glass ™m all directions at once it is best supplied by the common

— Sid. The latter effect ae be obtained, as explained

T; VOL. VI.

530 THE NEW IMMERSION ILLUMINATION.

by Prof. Biscoe, by the common paraboloid alone, it being con-

verted into an immersion instrument by filling its cup with water.

These means of illumination, now for the first time available,

may act in three distinct ways, one of which is new.

The new method is applicable only to objects mounted dry, and

is illustrated by Fig. 123. It has been called, by Rev. S. Leslie

Brakey, Internal Illumination. All the light suffers total internal

reflection from the upper surface of the slide except that which

meets the surface at the points of contact of the object, and the

rays thus excepted enter and illuminate the object. Of course the

object must lie upon the slide, and beginners are often puzzled by A

Fig. 126.

kone

failure, not suspecting or rerhembering that the object may bare

been mounted upon the under surface of the cover. a

The two other methods are the common opaque illumination

dark-field illumination, which are illustrated together in Fig

as they are usually employed together in practice.

applicable only to objects mounted in some medium, im Me

the top of the cover becomes, optically, the first rosin 4

by the light after entering the lens. The upper rey e

represents this method of opaque illumination, the ray

reflected by the cover upon the object. The lower Ye

the dark-field effect, the object being illuminated por

the common paraboloid, only the field is darkened net

obliquity of the rays passing through the eover but !

that they are reflected back by it.* Hence its greater

i anas, M

* This illumination is not exactly represented in the a f the object, ad

reflected down by the cover is that which passes by the aide © ut simplifie! Fig:

which passes through the object. This is shown in Fig. 125,

THE NEW IMMERSION ILLUMINATION, 531

ness and its applicability to large angular apertures. Its effect is

superb with powers as high as J of 130° or 140°, especially when

used with the binocular.

In practice it is not easy, nor: often necessary, to separate

the latter two methods. They separate themselves according to the

character of the object. With an absolutely opaque object the

opaque illumination will alone be accomplished, the dark-field effect

(lower ray of Fig. 124) being necessarily suppressed ; and success

will probably be difficult and only indifferently good. With suffi-

ciently translucent objects the opaque effect would be insignificant,

but the dark-field effect easy and. excellent. Objects just opaque

enough to answer equally to both methods give a confused result,

which might possibly be valuable in exceptional cases.

The latest contrivance (Mr. Wenham’s, of course) for an immer-

sion illuminator is a glass cylinder half an inch long, one side of

which is ground off at an angle of 64° and polished to furnish

an internally reflecting surface. The upper end approaches the

bottom of the object slide, the interval being filled with water as

in the use of an immersion lens, and the lower end is ground to

à convex surface whose refracting effect on the pencil of light

18 supplemented by a plano-convex lens placed below it. In fact

we have something like a Wollaston’s doublet for a condenser,

whose cone of light is twice bent by internal reflection so that its

apex is in the position of the object between the cover and the

slide. In the diagram (Fig. 126) only a central ray is repre-

Sented ; but in use nearly all the light falling upon the lower lens

4s brought to a focus on the object, giving an abundance of light

and remarkable results with high powers. The apparatus is so

Mounted on the sub-stage as to rotate around its own focal point

aS a centre; and excels the former appliances in giving a more

intense one-sided illumination, in confining the light to the object

instead of lighting up everything in the neighborhood, and in

allowing the slide to be moved or changed with facility.

_Tnmersion achromatic condensers for transparent (bright-field)

illumination have not yet received sufficiently extensive trial to

*Scertain their exact degree of usefulness; but they seem likely

2 come into use as a means of increasing the available angular

_Merture of immersion objectives, if not for other purposes.

lia

‘

ON THE CAUSE OF DETERIORATION IN SOME OF i

VINES HAVE SO GENERALLY

FAILED WITH US.

Br O. YV. RILEY. T

* THE GRAPE-LEAF GALL-LOUSE (Phylloxera viti fiet Fitch.).—

The experience of the past year, enables me to add much of

interest and importance to last year’s account of a above insect.

This experience has already been made public in an article pub-

lished in the “ Rural New Yorker,” and reproduced in the “ Rural

World” of St. Louis. I am pleased to know that the views there

set forth receive the indorsement of such an experienced

practical man as Mr. Geo. Husmann, the well known grape ai-

thority in our State, and editor of the vineyard department of

the last named journal.

It is well known that nearly all the varieties of the Europea

grape-vine ( Vitis vinifera) have, in the end, proved valueless when

introduced and cultivated in the eastern half of the United States.

The majority of them grow well at first, and a few excep pork

cases might be mentioned where some of them, such as the

Hamburg and Chasselas, have even -fruited succe

years, especially when isolated or trained south walls;

, State of .

1872, and have to thank Mr. Riley for the use of the cuts.—EDs.

ae will agree wit

The pres ent is, perhaps, just such a case; for as m ed it, that he cann

Fitch ime sed 80 80 little of the inspecta true characters, when he nam which Wa?

be said ti it to its pro r genus W b

erected to receive it. His name will, ae A doubtless give ne ieee

loxera vastatriz, which Planchon first gave to the root-intia bidaa Aa anot :

has generally acas recognized pa road. fahe same may be ee 1868, in

Peritymbia vitisana, which was also proposed for the same fas

nication to way Ashmolean Society of Oxford, England.

(532)

GRAPE DISEASE. 533

they more generally do well when isolated in cold houses. But

the general truth of the first statement holds good. It is also

well known that some of our native vines, which for a while were

universal favorites on account of their productiveness, vigor and

other excellent qualities, have of late years sadly deteriorated.

Among such the Catawba was for a long time the popular grape ;

but its cultivation is now entirely abandoned in many parts of

o the Mississippi Valley, and even at Hammondsport and other

F parts of New York, and Nauvoo, Illinois, where it is still largely

cultivated, I learn from experienced grape-growers that it is fast

on the decline. ,

This deterioration — this failure, has been attributed to a variety

of causes, for in the absence of anything definite and ascer-

tainable to keep it within Fig. 127

bounds, the speculative ees

turn of our minds is sure ee

one

to have full scope, and n)

grasping at every shadow

of probability, leaves no A ark g; \ a

Possible theory un- ae 3? r Soe

searched. As in all such Get a a

a4 one a) =

$+ Ia:

fake aS ey

tý ey als q

EAA

diy OP

t and mysterious

change of climate we are

at last Satisfied to attrib- Leaf covered with galls,

me the change though, if the meteorological records were carefully

examined, they would probably show no difference in the mean

se Condition of our climate during the past half century.

It is very natural to suppose that vines of European origin

should be legs hardy in this country than our native varieties,

that as in the case of the Spanish Chestnut, the English Goose-

mrad » etc., etc., there is something in our climate which precludes

i wishing as well here as there. I would by no means deny

a is the case, for it is this very comparative tenderness

berry UIRE them the more to the destructive agent of

am about to speak. Yet when we consider that in some

534 GRAPE DISEASE.

parts of Europe, where the Vine flourishes, the extremes of heat

and cold are as great as here; that we possess a great variety o

soil and climate, and that by covering and other modes of pro-

tection in winter, we may, where necessary, counteract the rigor —

Fig. 128, of the latter—it

g would appear that —

we certainly have —

attributed too —

much to climatic —

influence: and —

such a view is —

strengthened by —

the fact that our

Grape Gall-] mhe r

newly hatched gall-inhabiting type, ventral view; e, ine to

tion of a gall; g, the tubercled root-inhabiting form; /, :

mother gall louse at the height of her fertility, ventral view; f, dor- parts, om

sj , differently veined wings of the Oak Fes Learnt both-

ella All these figures are greatly a the na adapted, an

soil and climate, to the cultivation of the Vine. Lin Cal

. ell in

One of the reasons why the European vines peat

outside of and beyond the more favorable clime Aig ie feci

the continent is, no doubt, because the insect whit of the Roc

them, like many other species common on this side 0° ©" —

GRAPE DISEASE. 535

Mountains, has not yet crossed to the other side. If such is the

case, our California neighbors should take warning from Europe,

and guard, if possible, against an invasion.

The announcement that I have at last ascertained one of the

principal causes, if not .the sole cause, of this decline, and

that, knowing the cause, we may in a measure obviate it, wil

= doubtless cause many a grape-grower to wonder. Some may even

= pooh-pooh the idea, and deem it impossible that they have so long

~ ‘temained in ignorance of so important a fact, that a‘ bug-hunter ”

should discover it at last. Let the facts speak.*

This destructive agent 1s none other than the little insect we

are now treating of.

The general history of the louse, and. the habits of the gall-

inhabiting type were sketched in my last Report, and need not be

i repeated.

s FURTHER PROOF OF THE [IDENTITY OF THE AMERICAN Insect

_ WIH THe European.— That the two are identical there can no

co longer be any shadow of a doubt. I have critically examined the

living lice in the fields of France, and brought with me, from that

country, both winged male and female specimens, preserved in

acetic acid. I find that the insect has exactly the same habits

here as there, and that winged specimens which I bred last fall

from the roots of our vines, accord perfectly with those brought

over with me. In the different forms the insects assume, in their

Work, and in all other minutia, the two agree.

HY I CONSIDER THE ĢGALL-LOUSE AND ROOT-LOUSE IDENTICAL.

— First, wherever this insect has been noticed in England, both

the gall-inhabiting and root-inhabiting types have been found.

In France, the galls occur abundantly on such of our American

i is really amusing to witness how the facts here set forth have been received b

who n I Metini pereo por bject in their lives. In the silk-

Worm disease that has of late years been so prevalent in Europe, M. Pasteur, after the

ed instaking and elaborate experiments, at which he sacrificed his health, unrav-

yateries, gave to the world the true pathology of pebrine, and what is more,

er: a e

Were very slow to believe the hard, dry facts which had been snatched from

s Toa AA

were inclined to

i iiini Co" as something mysterious — something altogether beyond man’s

fit “ng, and consequently uncontrollable. The most ignorant are always the

tos dag call I might mention several parties who have expressed their opinion

simply p rere has no connection with di or decline in the Vine. To such, I

ety BAY: exam ASS ini m I might

E a a ae EE Me a Cane aaor, che

8ay: read t, — reason chaps a A

imilar opinion in my mouth. To these last, I

by no means jump to conclusions!

g6 GRAPE DISEASE.

varieties as are subject to them here ; while a few have occasionally

been found on their own varieties. Secondly, I have successfully —

transferred the leaf-lice on to the roots, while M. V. Signoret has

succeeded in obtaining leaf-galls from lice hatched on the roots.

Thirdly, the winged form obtained by Dr. Shimer from the galls —

in this country agrees in its characters with those from the roots, 2

Fourthly, the nodosities on the roots are, as already stated, pe

fectly analogous to the galls on the leaves, and differ only in just

such a manner as one would expect from the difference in the

plant tissues —a view greatly strengthened by the fact that when

the gall-lice are forced, by their excessive numbers, to settle om

the tendrils or leaf-stalks, they produce swellings and knots ap-

proaching more nearly .to those on the roots than to the galls.

These facts sufficiently attest the identity of the two types, and

we have here another case of an insect possessing two distinct

habits.. It is also like many others of its family, polymorphic,

i. e., it exists in different forms; yet we have to do with but one

species. a

Furrer Facrs Resprcrixe Tue Hasrrs or THE Roomisii® -

form; which, as it moults, becomes tubercled, and more elonge™

or pear-shaped, as shown at Figure 129,j. So Be a

cled individuals remain without wings, while others seem ge :

destined from the first to acquire wings. The young, "i 3

taching themselves, become in a measure stationary, and which :

one very much of young bark-lice. The fine hair-like ag

in their functions and elasticity are analogous bane shown

become loosened from the more fleshy rostrum or sheath, Lace

at Figure 129, j, and are often so firmly inserted

that the louse, if disturbed from its place, gener

them. Three of the threads of this tongue are § ie

spicuous, but there should be from analogy, four. The 5 and their

the roots seem to be less prolific than those in the galls, am

eggs if anything are rather larger. These eggs ar? , with the

bright yellow color, and, on the dark root, are detec or of a dull

naked eye as readily as the lice, which become darker ae

orange as they grow older. during the summer

The insect is found on the roots in all stages

+. Art a State Sage EE y

GRAPE DISEASE. 537

months. In the winter it is found dormant, principally in the

larva state, and no eggs are to be seen. ith the circulation of

the sap in spring, the activity of these young recommences, and

Fig. 129.

: weil haonad healthy root; 5, i king, representing the knots and

Pootle p by their punetures ; v as pet tusk hie. pak Aaii by them, and where the

e, female e commenced to decay: d, d, d, shows how the lice are found on the larger roots;

Ventral views 7 (orsal view; 7, same, ventral view: g, winged female, dorsal view; j, same,

„EBES on roots: Magnified antenna of winged insect; j, side view of the wingless female, laying

Sets &, shows how the punctures of the lice cause the larger roots to rot.

a aort time afterwards eggs are deposited again. At this

TRA li the punctures of their little beaks produce very decided

wi “ings and an excess of moisture at the wounded parts. The

hs m forms are by no means uncommon and commence to issue

538 GRAPE DISEASE.

from the ground perhaps as early as July. When I last examined —

the roots before my departure, or about the middle of May, no

pup were found; but winged insects were obtained as early as

July in France, and after my return I had no difficulty in ob-

taining all I wished, especially during the latter part of Sep-

tember. The pupz are easily recognizable with a good lens, by

the little dark pad-like wing-sheaths at the sides of the body —

(Fig. 129, e, f)—and the sexes may even be distinguished at this

stage by the greater constriction of the body near these pads in

the female, compared to the male, her abdomen being larger.

Before giving forth the winged insect, these pupæ become quite

restless and active, and in a state of nature they no doubt issue

from the ground. :

The winged female (Fig. 129, g, h) seems to be much more

common than the male, and is distinguished by her more length- i

ened abdomen — the wings, when closed, extending not much a

more than its length beyond the tip, while in the male they extend ae

more nearly three times its length. ‘The dusky thoracic band is .

not so distinct and the abdomen is more produced at the oe a

the male; and there is also a slight difference in the venahon of

_ the wings of the two sexes, which venation is best seen " ¢

= fresh specimens, as it becomes in a measure obsolete in cre :

In the abdomen of the female two or three large eggs are plainly

visible, especially after being soaked in acetic acid. The ei zi

jointed tarsus or foot is also plainly visible in such specimens, ©”

I have found the joint movable, while M. V. Signoret, of wee

has obtained the skin of the tibia or shank with the we

of the tarsus hanging to it. Prof. Westwood also refers to y aie!

basal tarsal joint in the gall insect which he described. er

SUSCEPTIBILITY or DIFFERENT VINES TO THE A be

Lovse.—I have carefully examined a great many diffe

of vines within a circuit of thirty miles of St. Louis, ee

Cole, Jefferson and Boone counties, in this State, and ae

mary which follows indicates the susceptibility of the ‘

varieties to this disease. There may be objection Ki ee Le

some persons to the placing of some of the varieties "i

lowing tables and the opinions both of botanists and vine

Li:

GRAPE DISEASE. 539

are so at variance that I shall give in the subsidiary note * my

reasons for so placing them. I am familiar with the views of

many of the leading grape-growers of the country, and have had

an opportunity of studying the genus by the excellent herbarium

*CLASSIFICATION OF TH . GRAPE-VINES.— In few genera : Aing s is it more

nec essary “a accumulate ate material in order to arrive at correct classification

tha the io. Vitis. The species are with difficulty deined, as they vary in a

rked manner in different sections of the country; and the foliage of the same indi-

vidual vine ftoi varies greatly at different ages and seasons. naiak ed leaves are

id , from

the wood to the different leaves, the blossom, bunch, hes and te th e Lov which

he (or

to Dr. Engelmann, some of the most permanent distinguishing traits between the

It is interesting to know that not a single real species has been added to those hanes

ing to the old territory of the United States, east of the Mississippi river, since the tim

of Linneus and Michaux; though a Bis kopriet and perhaps others, ada

— = =e eee a great many m

The n tible fruit t,* now considered specie es by the best

botanists i in n the tart kory of the United States, is limited to 9. They may be tabulated

as follow

I. VINES WHICH ARE OF PRA Pian „Copano AS HAVING YIELDED OUR

DIFFERENT ETAD VARIE

fe]

bag |

Pabi Linn. Southern Fox, or ‘Muscadine:

I. VINES oF acd OF OEO, AND WHICH HAVE THUS FAR GIVEN NO CULTI-

ci VARI

ole eee Michx. Winter or Frost Grape.

Catifornica Benth. Confined to California.

the last

“on

-s

4 t C Mustang Gra

Rupestris Scheele. ‘Bush i or Sand Grape.

aee 9 species only 4 grow wild in our own state, viz; æstivalis, cordifolia, riparia,

$ stating last year (8rd. Rep. p. 90) that our cultivated varieties had been re

pati r Prios ncluding cordifolia and omitting riparia, I fol rowel the later editions,

*ay’s Manual, in which the latter is considered as a variety of the former.

has been k adopting a different course will be found in Ak following synopsis which

kindly prepared for me by the author.

kri

THE TRUE GRAPE-VINES OF THE OLD UNITED STATES.

BY DR. GEORGE ENGELMANN OF ST. LOUIS.

l. GRAPE-

BY Mon AID 0: “VINES WITH LOOSE BARK (AT LAST SEPARATING IN SHREDS), CLIMBING

ai : F BRANCHED TENDRILS, OR (IN NO. 4) SCARCEL Y CLIMBING AT ALL.

Berries smait, small, 3—6 or rarely 7 lines in diameter; seeds obtuse, with the a 4 or cord)

more or less pr Prominent (except in No. 4) over the top. All the species of this group,

gia wee ee a a aA

Species forming the sections (or, according to others, genera)

rt Which are sh classed w ith Vitis ; De they bear no edible

erwise easily distinguished from the true grape-

540 GRAPE DISEASE.

of Dr. Engelmann. It is gratifying to know, therefore, that the

position given to such cultivated varieties as obtain in this herba-

rium, agrees with that given to them by leading grape-growers—

the views of the botanist and the practical man coinciding.

- just like the seperge dap spins opsnenes on well grown shoots a regular alterna-

tion of two leaves its equivalent, an inflo Orona oo

to them, ith f ha ike Sales

J. VITI ROOLIA Michanz — Usually et oe high, pirt bes rarely 6—9

inches in diameter 1, heart-shaped, mostly en ly slightly

trilobed, w aloy broad teeth, usually pin and pre on ith re eae

ones so ah aes slightly downy below; berries among the smallest; in large bunches,

black without a bloom, maturi rh late in the fall, usually with only one ges. and broad

seed marked by a prominent raphe. n

This is a common plant get ae! of the river-bottoms, and well known under the

name of Winter grape, Frost grape or Chicken grape. It is found from New k

to Texas, ne, igi! ard to the western limits of the wooded part of m bye a

valley. In alle ey, at least, the fruit has a strongly- an tic taste,

No ican eatiotion of the species are ki

. VITIS RIPARIA Michaux— Mostly a ater plent than the last, but with larget ;

and more or less cut-lobed glabrous shining (or rarely when Bhi Bese downy)

leaves, the setn long and pointed; the teeth diS more pointed th in cordifolia; i

berries as small, or usually larger than in the last, mostly vith s blot m, in smaller

bunches, mostly 1 or 2 seeded; poss with a less AEUR nt pie oe

This species rhea thickets or rocky soil on ks

is easi

approaches more closely to this ‘ask das. ‘wie which Prof. Gray in th

adi

_ of his Manual has united it. The fruit ones Polen than that of xs is brought z

5 ch pl npepe In 7 e a variety found on the galas “ this spè

r of cultiv sted varieties - referable

aon >

ce ‘among a the yah Bullit, the Delaware and the Clinton, are

ashes and

TIS ASTIVALIS Michaux — Smaller than the first, climbing pee

never shining like the preceding ones; berries usually large

when well grown, in compact aes coated with a Aetia bloom;

2 or 3 with a very neni rap e and

is the well known Summer igi common fronin middle

large leaves which retain their rusty down at full maturity b b shy than i

rusca, Which does grow in our State. Anothe ie is Viti L n

ing, with deeply lobed rusty-downy learen, and very sweet fruit, iS a peculiar “m

of the sandy soil of Louisiana and Texas.: This species es witout poom ana

approaching F. cordifolia through “a on black berries

larger vances: when it gets into shady. woods with rich il. Son re a

ashy-white, downy, scarcely lobed leaves, and fruit like the last me a pat :

grows in our bottoms, often climbing high trees, or growing over te >

of PE gat nee d by the name of cineria. Itisn p E

guish such forms from the other species and perhaps less so to Un!

GRAPE DISEASE. 541

When we find it so difficult to properly separate the wild species,

we can no longer wonder at the difference of opinion as to the

nature of many of our cultivated varieties; for some of them

have become so modified that they furnish scarcely any indication

of their parentage. If those grape-growers who take interest in

such matters will send specimens of such cultivated varieties as

they wish to properly classify, to Dr. Engelmann, either directly

or through me, they will at least get the opinion of one who is

single amp æstivalis, unless the essential characters above aaia be closely

attended to, and the numberless gradual transitions from one form into the other be

watched.

We cultivate many varieties of this valuable species, the most important of which

a ‘oon seedling,the Cynthiana and the Herbemont.

"Yr ESTRIS Scheele—A small bushy n me often without any pein Beni

shat i tere leaves small (2—3 inches wide) mostly broader than long eart-

, Scarcely ever aie y s ited. with ROR coarse teeth and usua mm an pte aptly

elongated point, glabrous, and of a rather light green color; berries middle-sized, on

i ve

s roetly 3—4 e raphe.

very peculiar er is found only west of the Mississippi, from the Mis-

dw rd In our State i

called Sand grape, and in Arkansas, it grows on the gravelly banks and over-flowed

of mountain streams; in Texas also, on pfa» plains, whence the Latin name; it

roche also known under the name of Sugar grape. Its luscious fruit ripens with us

Itis ania yet iù cultivation but may in future prove of value.

ò: Berries large, 7-9 or even 10 lines in diameter ; raphe scarcely visible on the more or

tess deeply n notched top of the seed.— These plants on well grown shoots bear a tendril

5. Hi tants A “oie ape fo ee not large, climbing over bushes or

small trees, t h occas: sag reaching the tops of the highest trees, wit (4-6

Reali ide) a s ey thick, EP sometimes deeply lobed, very slightly dentate leaves,

bone when young with a thick rusty, or sometimes whitish, w boa’ festa K of

€ wild plant remains on the lower sd but almost disappears in sat’ al

Some cultivated varieties: berries large, in rather small or mitalesied mune

2 or 3 or sometimes 4 seeds. ‘or-grape

This plant, usually kn. nown as the Fox-grape or Norther esheets

Wet thi of the continent from New England to South ee a

Ra; it extends into the Alleghany mountains and here an Ae cee ee

tant varieties of this grape-vine now cultivated in our (such as ‘atawba,

species d , and do of ol are the offspring of this

by the Sai are all easily recognized by the characters above given and more readily

°y the peculiar arrangement of the tendrils as above described. -

VINES WITR À ADHERING CH DOES NOT SCALE OFF;

— A FIRML’ HERING BARK, WHI

es TE NMOST ALWAYS SIMPLE; BERRIES VERY L. LARGE cI LINES IN DIAMETER),

à SEED <KLES OR SHALLOW GROOVES

3 ox roras > S

aie VULPINA Linneus—Bushy or sometimes climbing high, with h small (2 or at

ome inches wide) eae heart-shaped, firm and glossy dark green leaves, smooth

Y slightly hairy on the under sas with ¢ isthe large or shallow teeth.

542 GRAPE DISEASE.

good authority, and such action may be mutually profitable. :

Specimens should be sent at flowering time, and should include

the whole shoot with full sized and young leaves, blossom, and ;

tendril ; and after the fruit is ripe a bunch of the berries and seeds a

from the same stock should follow.

The proper classification of our different varieties is of more

importance in this connection than would at first appear. Since

the publication of some of the facts set forth in this article, a few

enterprising French grape-growers, in the districts desolated by

the louse, have conceived the idea of importing from this country

such varieties as are most exempt from the attacks of the Phyl-

ogera, and M. LeFranc, the Minister of Agriculture, has likewise

expressed his intention of so doing. Already a number of vaie

ties, and especially the Cunningham, Herbemont, Norton’s Virginia,

Concord, Hartford Prolific, Clinton and Martha have been shipped

to M. J. Leenhardt, of Montpellier, France, and others to Swit-

zerland, by Messrs. Isidor Bush and Co. If America has given

this plague to England, why should she not in return furnish her

with vines which are capable of resisting it? At least nothing :

ut good can come of the trial, for though our grapes: are gene

rally sneered at on the other side of the water, we have i

such rapid improvements in viticulture during the last ten years

that they scarcely know anything of our better kinds; and many

of those which do well in Missouri will doubtless succeed in

France. Such of our vines as -have already been cultivated ee

are often differently classified by their writers to what per are

American authors, and confusion consequently ensues. + ee

of my correspondents, M. Laliman, of Bordeaux, who has al

Clinton

vated a number of them for several years, classes the VTT

Bullace

This southern species known under the name of Southern Fox eae Carolins

Bullit-grape is found along water-courses, not gare north. than

ggle in

rkansa Missouri A

cultivated varieties, especially the white aint fag highly ee the

but do not perfect fruit. in the one of St. Lou of

I recognize only three other species of the true grape-vines in the ue

United mone jew om t PIR sie these is he Mustang ag of ded, almost tooth-

dicans Enge V. Mustangensis Buckley), with rather la

ibas, s rarely deeply- lobed leaves: White woolly on the under side, = ens beries

sate only sie grape of California, “ig s rounded downy ear sad “ee Bo ‘

not made u s far as is kno Vitis Arizonica Engelm., sim f the

glabrous, as midsize oriak ehes to be of a luscious | aie

shows a prominen a on the seed, so that this character is pee

es here seo Per

GRAPE DISEASE. 543

Taylor as estivalis, and the Norton’s Virginia and Delaware as

I will now indicate the susceptibility of different varieties to

the disease.

Vitis vinefera (European).— All European varieties with roots

badly affected. In many instances decomposed and gone, with

the vines about dead. No leaf-galls.

V. riparia (River Bank). Clinton — Leaf-galls extremely

abundant. Root-lice only moderately so. Taylor—Where leaf-

galls are few, root-lice abundant ; where galls are abundant fewer

root-lice. Delaware —A few leaf-galls; lice abundant on roots.

Othello (hybrid with vinefera) — Both leaf-galls and root-lice, the

latter tolerably numerous. Louisiana (some say a seedling

of vinefera, others again believe it cstivalis)—Leaf-galls and

root-lice, but neither bad. Alvey — Few leaf-galls; plenty of

root-lice. Cornucopia (hybrid with vinifera)— No leaf-galls ; roots

badly affected with lice. Wild vine —Numerous leaf-galls and a

few root-lice ; much in same condition as Clinton.

V. estivalis (Summer). Cunningham — No leaf-galls, but a

ew root-lice. Cynthiana—Occasionally a few galls; lice abun-

dant on roots. The vine has a vigorous growth and the roots are

large and strong. Herbemont — A few leaf-galls, and scarcely

any root-lice. Norton’s Virginia — No leaf-galls, but some root-

ce."

V. Labrusea (Northern Fox). Isabella, or seedlings of Isa-

bella—No leaf-galls ; a few root-lice: roots strong and vines flour-

ishing. Martha—No leaf-galls ; very few root-lice. Hartford—

No leaf-galls ; very few root-lice. Ives—No leaf-galls ; lice toler-

ably abundant on roots. North Carolina—No leaf-galls; very

few root-lice. Maxatawney—No leaf-galls; root-lice quite abun-

dant. Creveling—A few leaf-galls ; root-lice abundant. Catawba

—No leaf-galls ; root-lice very numerous, abounding even on the

larger roots as on the European vines. Gcthe (hybrid with vini-

Sera)—No leaf-galls but lice on roots very numerous. In t

vineyards of Messrs. Isidor Bush & Sons, of Bushburg, Mo., this

Vine was very vigorous and thrifty in 1869 and 1870, but has

i poorly the present year. Dracut Amber—No leaf-galls ;

few root-lice. Wilder (hybrid with vinifera—No leaf-gails ; not

* Etude sur les divers Phylloxera,

544 GRAPE DISEASE.

roots affected but moderately. Diana—No leaf-galls, but plenty

of root-lice.

V. vulpina (Southern Fox or Muscadine)—As it is not grown 3

in this locality, being considered absolutely worthless here, I know

little about it.

From this experience it would, appear that no vines of those

named, are entirely free from the attacks of the root-louse; but

that the European varieties are most susceptible to it; the

Northern Fox, next in order, the River Bank grape next, and the

Summer grape being the least affected. It would likewise appear-

that galls are occasionally found on all of the species except the

European, and as they have, in a few instances, been found on this

species in Europe, it cannot be considered entirely exempt.” 7

Nevertheless, in general terms, the River Bank grape must beai

sidered the species which the gall-louse prefers. Experience on

this point will, no doubt, vary in different parts of the country, and ;

more extended experience may modify some of these deductions.

We thus see that no vine, whether native or foreign, is exempt

from the attacks of the root-louse. Yet, on the principle pek

small dose of poison may prove harmless or even beneficial pared

an over-dose will kill, we find that a small number of en

produce no serious effects upon a vine; and that it is only ee

they are very numerous, and cause not only the fibrous roots a

even the larger ones to waste away, that their evil piee

perceptible. With most of our native vines when the condi

are normal, the disease seems to remain in the former mild pee

and it is only with the foreign kinds, and with a few of the v

under certain conditions, that it takes on the more acute form.

In France, according to M. Laliman, the American Taylor,

which have resisted the root-louse best are the oine Be

Herbemont (known there as Warren), and some others whic®

considered valueless here, such as the Pauline, Eleimbomys hie

Mustang of Texas, and a kind of York-Madeira ; while those "

succumb are the Isabella, Scuppernong, Concord,

_ ginia, Maxatawney, Hartford Prolific, Cynthia, etc. ea

ence differs a little from ours, but shows that the Labruscas

most there also. — To be continued.

*Since this was written I have been informed by Mr. be gine Nana

Agriculture, that the leaves of certain European vines, in green as late

‘amburg and Madam Pince, were crowded with the galls, + cael

cat Hi

and they had begun to spread on to the Sonora and the Due de Mi

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

= Socrery or Naturat History.* — We have in this brochure of 17

pages, the first of a series of papers on the magnificent collection

of birds contained in the Museum of the Boston Society of Nat-

ural History—the second in size, in respect to number of species,

in America. The collection is particularly important as con-

taining the types of most of the species described by La Fresnaye, P

whose large collection of birds, gathered at a great expense, was

_ Purchased by the late Dr. Henry Bryant, and by him generously pre-

_ Sented to the Society. It is the aim of the Society to eventually

publish a complete catalogue of the birds in its Museum, in a series

of papers, treating of the different groups in a more or less revis-

ionary or monographic manner ; and with this auspicious beginning

itis to be hoped the work will be pushed rapidly forward. Prof.

Hyatt briefly discusses the general affinities of the genera and spe-

cies, and arrives at the conclusion that the larger part ‘‘ come to a

focus in Spheniscus minor, which appears to hold a strictly inter-

mediate position, but presents a nearer approach to the lower mem-

bers of the genera Pygocelis, Eudyptes and Aptenodytes than to

any other existing form.” He finds three modifications of the fam-

ily “which presumably take place upon the basis of the organiza-

a tion of Spheniscus,” diverging in radiating lines from S. minor,

which is regarded as closely related to the “ancestral form.” After

some general remarks on the structure of the feathers and other

: es of the external anatomy, a somewhat detailed analysis of

the genera is given, and also of the literature of the Spheniscide.

The genera recognized are Aptenodytes, Spheniscus, Pygocelis

and Eudyptes. The Society has specimens of nine species —ap-

_ Patently all but one or two of the known tenable species of the

Stoup. The synonymy is given only so far as to establish the

ae of the species, and give reference to one or two of the best

Published figures. Generally, remarks are added respecting the

_. ctive features of each, their peculiar changes and vari-

_ “Sof plumage.

Gage Of the Ornithological Collection in the Museum of the Boston Society

teeny a oT: T Spheniscide, by Alpheus Hyatt. With Notes on the Osteology of

i _A. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. xiv, pp-17-

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 35 (545)

546 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Dr. Elliott Coues adds some highly important observations on

the osteology of the family, and compares their more prominent ;

skeletal modifications with those of the other groups of the Pygop- _

odes. Any one of a large number of individual bones, he asserts, ;

is of itself characteristic of the family. ‘‘ A remarkable breadth —

and flatness of different bones,” he observes, ‘is the dominant —

characteristic ; it marks several bones that are cylindrical in all _

other birds and hollow in most ;” and adds that “ foremost among —

, the diagnostic skeletal characters of the family comes the partly

confluent condition of the metatarsals, which in all other exist-

ing birds are completely fused.” The compound metatarsus —

“ shows its composition in the two lengthened fenestre that indi

cate the three original metatarsals ;” and Dr. Coues suggests that |

“this may afford a useful hint in any search for the ancestral stock

or primitive type of the Spheniscide ;” yet one of these fenestre

is apparently common to many of the lower water birds; while —

the primitive distinctness of these bones is indicated by the med- ;

ullary canals that are readily seen in a transverse section of the —

distal extremity of the metatarsals. ; z

This carefully prepared paper, by Prof. Hyatt and Dr. Coues, 1$

lina, by Dr. Elliott Coues, based on two y

locality. The groups thus. far fully reported upon are Pe o

mals, Birds and Reptiles among Vertebrates, the Crus 15

Radiata, and Mollusca, and also the Brachiopoda of the por

The lists refer almost exclusively to the small island 0n ;

Fort Macon is situated, and to the waters immediately § i Ed

ing it, thus rendering the paper, by its restriction to a SMa

nal features, including about four pages res

(Didelphys Virginiana). A wide range of in in connection

color, size and proportions of parts is pointed out, or

* _N. C., and Vicinity: =

Notes on the Natural History of Fort Macon, , a July, 187

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1871, pp. 12-49, 120-148, May an

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 547

with which is discussed the, affinities and alleged points of differ-

ence between the D. Virginiana of the East and the D. * Califor-

nica” of the West. The conclusion arrived at is that the two

forms are specifically identical, — an opinion we had ourselves but

a short time previously expressed.* Respecting their variations

Dr. Coues thus remarks: ‘‘ The more specimens I examined, the

more I was struck with the variations that depend upon sex and

age, as well as those that different individuals corresponding in

these conditions present. An examination of these points, in the

natural history of a single animal, may give results of general

application; and yet in calling attention to the variability of

the opossum, I do not wish to be understood as supposing that the

animal is not as constant as many or most others, for I believe it

to be no exception to a general standard or average in this respect.

I doubt that one could study any mammal, as closely as I have

the opossum, without being similarly impressed” (p.15). To the

writer of the present notice, who has made individual variation in

both mammals and birds a subject of special study for several

years, this is cheering testimony, being corroborative of much that

he had formerly to support almost alone. +

The list of birds embraces the names of one hundred and forty-

two species, with quite extended notes on their habits, and

memoranda of their times of arrival, breeding, departure, etc.,

rendering it highly satisfactory as a faunal list. There is also an

‘extended notice (p.34, foot note) of the pteryle of Rallus crepitans.

A list of the reptiles concludes the first part, and numbers

eleven species. No species of batrachian was noticed on the island,

though several were observed on some of the neighboring islands,

as well as on the adjoining main land.

Part II begins with an apparently nearly exhaustive list of the

decapodous crustacea, part of which were obtained by dredging.

Sado species are enumerated, and one cirriped and one

gre tracan, accompanied by full notes respecting their rela-

: s abundance, habits and conditions of occurrence. Most of the

Lay were determined by Prof. S. I. Smith, and the remainder

acne Dr. Wm. Stimpson, whose loss to science naturalists

recently had cause to deplore. The Brachiopoda, next in

* Bull. Mus. Comp. Z $ „ii ;

uae Mus, Comp. Sa ech esc ae and Vol. ii, Nos.1 and 3 (Oct.

548 : REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

order, consist of the single species, Lingula pyramidata Stimp.,

which was found in great numbers at a particular locality on the .

southern side of Bird Shoals. ie

The list of the Mollusca seems particularly full, upwards of one —

hundred and fifty species being enumerated, all but seven of which

are marine. ‘The marine species were referred for determination

to Mr. Sanderson Smith, who has added various remarks respect- A

ing the peculiarities, etc., of the specimens examined. A

of the species were obtained with the dredge, these being collected

jointly by Drs. Coues and Packard and Prof. Morse, who together

thus quite thoroughly explored every part of the harbor. Dr. fe

Coues has added important notes respecting their several stations,

abundance, etc., which add greatly to the value of the paper.

While a few species obtained at this locality by Drs. Stimpson

and Gill, in 1860, were not observed, some thirteen were added to

Dr. Stimpson’s list. .

The partial list of the radiates collected embraces ten species

and the occurrence of nearly as many more, not fully identified, is

indicated. Preceding the list of the mollusca isa quite detailed

description of the locality explored, including

shoals, with other interesting general remarks.

changeableness of the locality recalls to us some i

respecting the influence of sometimes single storms upon | the faun

of some of our coast inlets. Some years since, a heavy westerly

February gale depressed the water in a little bay

Cod, to such a degree that large portions of the

ered:at low water were laid bare, and remaine

hours. The temperature at the time being in the

F., a crust of ice formed over these exposed flats,

time literally filled with living Mya arenaria, '

species of ‘‘ razor-fish.” A few years later, on visiti

hardly a living specimen of either of these specie

but just beneath the surface the dead shells occu

abundance, standing on end in their natural positions, ent

having been killed, undoubtedly, by the chilling conseq"

the exposure of the flats during the storm

A similar destruction of molluscan life,

came to our notice last summer (1871) near G |

Utah, where the water of Sulphur Springs Lake, near ll a

City, became so reduced in volume by evaporation | as to

off Orleans, Cape

flats usually v

ing the

but from another

reat ~ It

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 549

shells, through the excess of saline matter held in solution by the

water. These shells embraced several species, which were abun-

dantly represented. Such facts as these seem to explain the

occurrence of beds of fossils under circumstances which show that

they died from some sudden, though not very evident, cause.

Dr. Coues’s paper forms a highly valuable contribution to the

natural history of Beaufort harbor, and one that students of geo-

graphical zoology will heartily welcome. — J. A. A.

Giepet’s Tuesaurvs.* — Close upon the notable “ Hand-list,” of

which we were lately called upon to speak, comes another general

work of greater aims and claims. We have as yet only the first

twenty-five signatures, constituting the first ‘‘balbhand ;” and we

may sincerely say we wish it were necessary to wait for the whole,

before judging the work, in the hope of some decided improvement

becoming manifest. But as what we have in hand finishes the “Rep-

ertorium” and fairly opens the ‘“ Nomenclator,” the character of the

work is fully exposed. We had been led to expect great things of

the Thesaurus, and opened it with perfect confidence; at the close

~ of our examination—the longer protracted because our convic-

tions became the more painfully prominent, and we were anxious

to find ourselves in the wrong — we could not but regret that the

fruits of such immense labor should be marred for lack of the

care necessary for the compilation of works of reference. Dr.

Giebel is sure of a storm of hostile criticism, that his work singu-

larly invites if it does not actually enforce ; for the simple reason

that it is thoroughly unreliable. We have never seen a work of

any considerable claims and merit, that more richly deserved the

epithet “slovenly.” It fairly bristles with misstatements ; probably

this whole number of the Naruraiist would not more than suffice

to point out and correct them. The more’s the pity, too, that this

monument of laborious research should be defaced, not by lack of

ability, not by erroneous opinions, not particularly by ignorance,

but simply by carelessness. Yet, honey-combed with inaccuracy

as it is, the work will, we are glad to say, become indispensa-

ble ; it will find its place at the elbow of every working: ornithol-

gist; it represents too much hard work for any other result to

be possible. | To

logie. Repertorium der gesammten ornithologischen literatur,

550 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Of the “ Nomenclator” we shall have nothing to say untilitis

finished, beyond the remark that this is of the nature of a diction-

ary, in which the genera are arranged alphabetically, those that Dr.

Giebel considers synonymous being referred to what he considers i

to be a tenable name, the others being typographically distin- z

guished ; under the former being’ ranged alphabetically the species

originally described by such name, under the latter those thatthe

author regards as valid, each with its synonymy and geographical

distribution. The “ Repertorium” undertakes to be an index of

ornithological literature from the earliest times to date. Probably

those who are not specialists hardly realize what a mass of litera-

ture exists in every department of ‘knowledge. Ornithology is one

of the more circumscribed studies, hardly impinging on general

affairs outside its agricultural and venatorial points of contact;

yet its literature is, it seems, too voluminous to have ever been

thoroughly digested. In the present work, we estimate that some

seven thousand works and papers, relating wholly or in part to

birds, are collated by title. Of just what this implies in the way of

work, probably no one but the author himself has a very acute pe

ception. That the list is a perfect index is not to be expected, and

probably is not claimed ; we could supply a number of titles our-

selves, and of course better informed ornithologists could add e

more ; but it is certainly the nearest approach to a complete pete ;

logue extant. The great trouble is, that the author has i .

ously, ingeniously and successfully hidden away the indiv

titles by a remarkable system of enumerating them. a m

arranged alphabetically according to authors’ names, but peace

thirty-three separate headings. We cannot stop to emin

these, but ifour reader will try to think up as many differen rei r

tion, and not the rule, that any given paper falls hat so fat

out its salient features, if it has any ; and though wee

we are glad to see, a happy knack in this regard, yet t $

reverse is too often the case; and besides this, the 2

BOTANY. 551

blunders are simply wonderful. For fair examples, picked up at

random : —‘‘ Notice of a collection of Bird skins from Hayti,” and

“Ornithology of the Bermudas” are placed under Australia and

Oceanica! ‘Ueber die Aptenodytes und Diomedeaarten Süd-

Georgiens ” under America septentrionalis! ‘ List of birds, etc.,

of the District of Columbia” under America centralis! Finally, to

endorse the words of a late reviewer, “misprints abound to

such an extent, that the work reads not unlike ‘first proofs just

issued from the hands of a careless printer.

The defects of the work are glaring, and of the peculiarly exas-

perating nature that detains the most lenient critic against his

will; but we must not allow them to blind us to the value of Dr.

Giebel’s labors, which they may overshadow but cannot eclipse.

=E. C.

BOTANY. e

ÅCCLIMATIZATION or Prants.—In the “ Archives des Sciences

Physiques et Naturelles” of Geneva for J une, Alph. De Candolle

ils a series of investigations of the question whether the

habits of plants are changed by the action of the climate acting

through a succession of generations. For this purpose he obtained

seeds of plants which are widely dispersed over Europe from dif-

ferent localities, Edinburgh, Moscow, Montpéllier and Palermo, and

sowed them simultaneously and under similar conditions at Geneva.

The general results of a somewhat limited series of experiments were

that the seeds, obtained from the more northern localities, germi-

hated on the whole somewhat earlier than those derived from

a southern latitudes, and were also rather more rapid in

atriving at maturity. The difference was still more observable in

the second generation; but sufficient variation was shown in the

Seeds obtained from the same locality to make the results of but

small value without a much larger series of observations.—A. W. B.

g Errecr OF THE Eruption or Vesuvius oN VEGETATION.— An

; interesting paper appears in the “ Accademia delle Scienze Fisiche

the recent eruption of Vesuvius on the plants in the neighborhood.

The newest vegetation has suffered from contact with the ashes,

ugh the effect has been neither a scorching nor drying up. The

action has not been a mechanical one; for a mere closing of the

552 ZOOLOGY.

pores of the epidermis could not have caused death in so short a

time. The closing of the pores and stomata is undoubtedly a

secondary cause of death, but only after the lapse of some days. —

No change was observed similar to that produced by the vapor of

boiling water. The scorching action of a high, dry temperature —

occurs only in the immediate vicinity of the volcano, Neither an

acid nor alkaline reaction is shown by any change of color in the

flowers or leaves, except a few instances of a change to blue of

rose, orange, or violet colored organs, which might be attributed

rather to an alkaline than an acid reaction; but these are few and

doubtful. Many phenomena concur in pointing to chloride of |

sodium as the chief agent in the destruction of vegetable tissue.

The salt was present in sufficient quantity in the falling ashes to

be readily discernible to the sight, and is also met with as am

efflorescence in the ashy soil. —A. W

ZOOLOGY.

CALCULI rrom Tae Sromacu or a Horse.— A gingular and

interesting collection of so-called “stones” was recently taken

from the intestines of a horse in North Ferrisburg, Vermosh a

I did not see the animal, but am told that the largest calculus had ‘

broken through the large intestine, while the rest were lying a =

in its cavity. There was in all, as nearly as I can wade

about a pint of the calculi, of which the largest and twelve other

entire specimens are before me, and fragments of shear pe

others. Only the largest is regular in form. This is al p :

perfectly spherical, being nine and a quarter inches in circum : Troy .

on To

oad |

ence and 2.9453 inches in diameter, and its weight is elev ;

ounces or 864.45 grammes. ‘The rest are very mach oe a

quite irregular in form, little less so than any chance larget

pebbles, and as they are smaller they are less regular. e

two, excepting the large one just mentioned, though p jr

approach a spherical form with two opposite sides con pi 2

flattened, the circumferences being respectively 27 inches cae

inches in one direction and three inches and 24 inches grat 68

and the diameters .93 and .96 inch for the longer and AY pet =

inch for the shorter. The rest are all more or less inferior ee 1

in size and approach a pyramidal form, the smallest m ie

definitely of this form with each side of a different SIZ% —

ZOOLOGY. 553

tance from the apex of each side to the middle of the opposite

face being .25 inch, .375 inch and .46 inch. The calculi are, in

appearance, not unlike the common clay stones of the Connecticut

River Valley though darker in color. They are composed of a

series of concentric Jayers, which are quite a dark brown at the

centre, but of lighter shades towards the outside, so that the

color and appearance of the fractured surface is quite like the well

known “ Gibraltar Rock.” The layers do not seem to differ in

any other respect than depth of color. They are of somewhat

variable thickness but for the most part they are from .01 inch

to .03 inch and are much more distinct near the exterior than at the

centre, where it is with difficulty that they are seen. The surface

of all is smooth and polished and of a greenish brown color.

The fracture is uneven and glassy. A chemical analysis of sev-

eral by Mr Collier showed their composition to be somewhat pecu-

liar, as they were found to be a triple phosphate of ammonia and

Magnesia with a little water and traces of lime and uric acid.

All that were broken contained some foreign substance as a

nucleus. In two instances this nucleus was a carpet tack, in the

others a bit of stone. The specific gravity is 1.724 and the

hardness somewhat less than calcite and rather more than selenite.

The horse from which these objects were taken was sixteen years

old and was sick only twenty-four hours before it died and, until

the calculi were discovered, was supposed to have Bots. I am

unable to find any mention of calculi as occurring in either stom-

ach or intestines but I am told that similar ones to those described

have been found in the stomach of the sheep in more than one in-

Stance, and Prof. Collier has handed me a fragment of one, which

he Says came from the stomach of a cow which when freshly broken

has precisely the same appearance as those just described from the

and is of nearly the same specific gravity, being 1.7049. Tf

the mass, of which this piece is a fragment, was a perfect sphere,

it must have been eighteen or nineteen inches in circumference.

The following table gives the dimensions and weight of ten of

of the calculi :—

name daei Wet. eee de Wa

inches inches grains, inches inches grains

2.94 2.94 5.625 No: 6. 62 43 40

96 68 160 uF, 60 Ad 30

93 66 140 i 8 51 32 23

68 5T 55 “ 9 46 -

63 40 43 * 10. .46 25 15

554 ZOOLOGY.

Balls of hair very compact and smooth are of common occurrence in :

the stomachs of cattle, but stony concretions seem very rare.—

G. H. Perkins, Burlington, Vermont.

ANIMALS OF THE Mammoru Cave.—[Since the account of the

Blind fishes of the Mammoth Cave was published in the Natural:

ist for January, 1872, I have accidentally met with the letter by `

Prof. B. Silliman, Jr., printed in the Amer. Jour. of Science, vol.

ii, 2d series 1851, p. 332, giving an account of his visit to the cave

in 1850. As there are several points of interest referred to in re-

lation to the animals of the caye-which I should have quoted in my

article had I known of Prof. Silliman’s at the time, I now make

the following extract, especially calling attention to the statement

relating to the fish with color and eaternal eyes, in the hope that 7

urther information may be obtained about this otherwise unknown

species. Is it the “ black fish” of Tellkampf ?

The account of the rat found inthe cave and incapable of sight

special interest in connection with the cause of ee

animals of the cave, and may be used as an argument that simple

disuse of the organ of sight does not necessarily bring a ;

atrophy of the eye, and that we must look to other than exter -

conditions for the cause of the non-development of the eyes 1 a

many of the animals of the cave. — F. W. P è

are comparative

the lar gest diek

‘burrowing in the nitre earth. There are some small w three vials

also which I suppose are Crustacean. Unfortunately, Jost with

containing numerous specimens of these insects WORS E

my valise from the stage coach, and I fear wil aes d

Of the fish, there are two species, one of which has pree a whichis

by Dr. Wyman in the ‘ American Journal of Science; be Sis

P3 also it is said the fish of Green river are to be aei re S0

in the rivers of the cave. Among the go :

ZOOLOGY. 555

We caught two of them, a

chief points of difference from the common rat in external charac-

ters, are in the color, which is bluish, the feet and belly and throat

a white, the coat which is of soft fur and the tail also thinly furred,

: while the common or Norway rat is gray or brown, and covered

with rough hair. The cave rat is possessed of dark black eyes, of

the size of a rabbit’s eye and entirely without iris ; the feelers also

neommonly long. We have satisfied ourselves that he is

entirely blind when first caught, although his eyes are so large

and lustrous. By keeping them, however, in captivity and diffuse

light, they gradually appeared to attain some power of vision.

hey feed on apples and bread, but will not at present touch

animal food. There is no evidence that the cave rats ever visit

they were or were not found there by the persons who first entered

glance satisfied us that it is quite safe to estimate them by millions.

ese gloomy and silent regions where there is neither change

of temperature nor difference of light to warn the revolv-

ing seasons, how ey know when to seek again the outer air

` Dur Orossum.— This species of marsupial, seems to be widely

: distributed in every portion of the United States. Its original

_. Bame in the Choctaw language is ‘¢shookhutta” ; which signifies

that he is the father or rather the originator of allhogs. It is not

very swift of foot, neither is it very wild. I haye frequently,

When hunting in the woods, passed within a few steps of them

and they did not seem to regard me. Our turkey buzzards have

Somehow found it out, and will alight near where they find the

556 ZOOLOGY.

opossum feeding in the woods and running up on him, flap their

wings violently over him a few times, when the opossum goes —

into a spasm, and the buzzards very deliberately proceed to pick 4

out its exposed eyes and generally take a pretty good bite from a

its neck and shoulders ; the opossum lying on its side all the time

and grunting. I have twice seen a buzzard do as described, and —

once I found a poor creature trying to find something to eat with —

one eye out and one shoulder entirely gone, evidently caused bya —

buzzard. ; :

They dwell in hollow logs, stumps and in holes at the root of the —

trees. They do not burrow or prepare dens for themselves, but i‘

find such as are ready made. I have seen them carrying into

their holes, at the approach of cold weather, considerable bundles

of dry leaves rolled up in their tail; they understand the signs of a

the coming spells of bad weather, and they prepare for it by make

ing for themselves a good warm bed. They do not hibernate, but

little caution. Hence they are often found in the poultry houses,

chicken coops, smoke houses, and even in our dining 1000$,

rattling about in search of something to eat. I have often pn

had travelled three

- directed by the crowing of the roosters. They will catch

hen and drag her off squalling at the top of her voice pá

not abandon her until the dogs which have been aroused by a

bones. They

will eat bacon, dry beef, carrion, any kind of fowl, rabbits, any

sort of small game, almost all the insects,

riety. They voraciously devour the muskmelon,

` cies of mushrooms; in short they are nearly omnivorous:

The only case in which it manifests any respectaus Ta

cautiousness is when it is hunted at night in the forest z

ing the din and moise of the hunters, it with some difficulty ™

shift to climb a small tree or sapling, where, bigest peor

i $ Je the flesh is °

approaching dogs and hunters. By many peop .

sidered delicious. In Galveston, Texas, in oe Fen

a good fat opossum will sell for $1.50. Its flavor M" "4 is™

of the flesh of a young hog, but is sweeter, eto i

doubt a more healthy food for man. A dog will "i

ZOOLOGY. 557

than eat the flesh of an opossum; negroes and many other per-

sons are exceedingly fond of it.

During their rutting season, the males are very rampant and

belligerent. Numbers will collect around a female and fight like

dogs. Twenty or thirty years ago, I witnessed a case myself in

the forests of Mississippi. The female was present, there were

three males, two of them were fighting, while the third was sitting

off a little piece, looking as though he felt as if he had seen

enough. They were fighting hard and had been, from the signs

in the wallowed down grass, for three or four days. Kicking over

the female, who immediately went into a spasm, I made a slight

examination of the pouch.

ey are exceedingly tenacious of life. I have many times seen

the dogs catch them and chew and crack, seemingly, all the bones

in the skin, leaving them to all appearances entirely lifeless ; and,

going out the next morning for the purpose of removing the dead

thing, would find that it had left its death bed and putting the

dogs on its track trail him a mile or more before overtaking him.

He would, to be sure, be found in a bad fix, but at the same time

he lacked two or three more bone crackings of being dead. They

cannot, like the raccoon, be so far domesticated as to form any

attachment for persons or their houses, though I have two or

three times found them under the floor of dwelling houses, where

they had been for some time and had evidently taken up winter

quarters, but they did not remain there long, nor do I think they

dwell long at any one place. They swim very well when it is

hecessary.— Gipzon Lincecum, Long Point, Texas. — Communi-

cated by the Smithsonian Institution.

_ Haers or Trortc Birps.—“ For our owi part, not believing

n our queen Moé as implicitly as we ought to have done, we began

shooting the tropic birds as they flew over us, but we soon gave it

up, for two reasons : — first, that we found that if we got a rocketer,

the chances were ten to one that we cut the scarlet feathers out of

his tail; and, secondly, because we discovered that, by diligent

peering under the bushes, we might pick up as many live unin-

are Specimens as we liked. I never saw birds tamer or stupider,

Which tameness or stupidity may be accounfed for by the extreme

Smallness of their brain, which is really not larger than that of a

“Patrow. They sat and croaked, and pecked, and bit, but never

558 ZOOLOGY.

attempted to fly away. All you had to do was to take them up,

pull the long red feather out of their sterns, and set them adrift

again. Queen Moé was right. On Tubai you may pick up tropie

birds as easily as a child picks up storm-worn shells on the sea

shore. It was really no small comfort to be able to get specimens

of this beautiful bird without betraying their confidence by shoot l

ing them from the schooner. Small-brained as they are, they are

gifted with an extraordinary amount of inquisitiveness, particu-

larlyʻin the early morning. As we bowl along before the flashing ;

trade-wind, we hear a few harsh screams, and up come a pair of

‘bosens’ with their bright scarlet tail feathers glowing in the mom- —

ing sun. They make two or three sweeps around us, evidently

comparing notes, and then away into the deep blue, on their own”

private affairs. They fish generally like the tern, to whom Isus —

pect they are cousins-german ; but they have a way sometimes of

hovering perpendicularly, with the bill pressed against the breast,

that I have never observed but in one other bird, the black-and-

white kingfisher of the Nile. When the ‘bosen’ has sighted his

prey in this position, he turns over in the deftest manner, and goes

down straight as a gannet, up to his neck, no further, and Te

mounts for a fresh hover. I have never had the good fortune .

see the white-tailed phaeton fishing, often as I have looked ~ m

him; indeed I have rarely met him out at sea at all. The deme a

I have seen were hanging about the high cliffs of the Society a

Islands; and I do not exaggerate when I state that Ihwomh

more than one with a glorious waving white tail feather, mo 4

feet long though the bird itself was not much larger than a blaci a;

headed gull. What they do with their tails when they feed i

my comprehension.

bush; the latter really handsome creatures, :

herring-gull, beautifully marked with black and, white ae w

con). The bill at this stage of their existence is black, WY” ai

When you find your young friend under a bush, he 1s ® and his

in a small basin of coral-dust, without any nest at alh come

surroundings show him to be a cleanly thing. wa yn

upon him suddenly, he squalls and croaks and wabbles 4 drive è

is as disconcerted as a warm city man when you try to nits

ZOOLOGY. 559

new idea into him unconnected with money. But he sticks stoutly

to his dusty cradle, and never attempts to escape, saying plainly

enough, ‘My mother told me to stop here till she brought me my

supper; and here I am going to stay.” — EARL or PEMBROKE in

South-Sea Bubbles, p. 143.— Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION. — At the meeting of the Boston

Society of Natural History on June 19, Mr. J. A. Allen made

some further remarks on ‘‘ Geographical Variation in North Amer-

ican Birds,” a subject to which he had called the attention of the

Society at a previous meeting, at which he exhibited specimens

illustrating the general facts of geographical variation. He briefly,

referred to the smaller size, generally darker colors, larger beaks,

longer claws and longer tails characterizing, as a general rule,

individuals of the same species living at the southern borders of

their respective habitats as compared with those living further

northward, and the paler tints òf those inhabiting the arid portions

of the interior of the continent, as compared with those of the

moister adjoining districts. He alluded to the changes of nomen-

clature that must naturally result from the now known intergra-

dation of forms formerly regarded as specifically differentiated,

such intergradation showing them to be geographical races and not

Species; and called attention to the coincidence of the occurrence

of the brighter colored birds, not only as respects the avian class

as a whole, but in respect to families and genera, within the

tropical and subtropical regions, and also the occurrence within

the same regions of all forms in which the bill or tail was

remarkably developed ; and finally passed to a consideration of

the bearing of the general facts of geographical variation upon

the question of the genesis of species. While admitting the laws

so-called natural and sexual selection to be potent influences in

the differentiation of animals, he thought that they were secoridary

rather than primary agencies, and that the conditions of environ-

ment, and especially those of a geographical or climatic character,

exercised a greater influence than evolutionists were generally

wating to admit, and also that the “ laws of acceleration and retar-

dation,” as shown by Professors Hyatt and Cope, were necessary

to explain a certain class of phenomena presented by “ modifica-

tion by descent.”

_ Although some of the modifications of color were undoubtedly

560 ZOOLOGY.

“ protective,” — the paler tints developed in dry regions better

harmonizing with the pale gray tints of the vegetation at such

localities, — yet the transition was as gradual over the intervening

districts as were the climatic changes themselves over the same

areas; while it was claimed that evidence of the direct influence

of dry heated winds upon color was abundant; and that the

gradual transition between diverse forms was so uniform and

general that it pointed to constant and general laws of geograph-

ical variation. When the known transitional stages between |

formerly supposed specific forms were exceptional, it was more

or less common to regard them as the result of hybridization, but :

the gradual, almost imperceptible, stages of transition between — |

well-marked forms differently situated in respect to latitude ren-

dered such a theory now highly untenable, and scarcely pes

probable as applied to intergrading forms occupying localities

widely separated in respect to longitude. In regard to species as

distinguished from varieties, it was deemed proper to regard as

species such groups of individuals as did not at present intergrade,

and as varieties such groups of individuals, though more or less

diverse in their extreme phases, as were found to thoroughly inter-

grade, — which, he remarked, is only what many and probably the

majority of naturalists are practically doing.

Nore on tHe Tureap Worm (filaria anhinge) FouxD IN THE

arkable par-

Brarn or tHE SNake Brrp. — An account of this remarss” 7

asite was given in the *“ Proceedings of the Boston Society 9

Natural History ” Oct. 7th, 1868, showing that it was present z

seventeen out of nineteen birds examined, and always one

the same place, viz., the space between the cerebral lobes :

cerebellum. It was also shown that these worms arè "URT 5

their oviducts containing eggs in all stages of developmen ood

the egg just formed to the mature enibryo. In the lower porti :

of the oviduct the young were hatched and :

During the last i when in Florida, I had an ope

through the kindness of my friend G. A. Peabody, Esq», T i

ining ten additional birds. The proportion of the infec

was less than in the previous examinations, nO worms being of

in four. Two of these were not mature birds, but of soa w w

the other two I have no record. Of the six in KERS "i ae 7

while two had Ov

i ao AE

ready for exclusion.

found, four had both male and female Filariz,

ZOOLOGY. 561

females, viz., one had one and the other three. In the instances

where both sexes were present, the eggs were found, as before, in

various stages of development, while in the others, where females

only existed, the oviducts were full of eggs and in the same

numbers as in the others, but there were no signs of impregnation

and consequently no developmental changes.

rom these facts it seems almost certain that impregnation

takes place in the head, and, unless both sexes are present there,

the brood fails. It is also probable, on the supposition that these

worms are migratory, that it is in the head of the Anhinga the

sexual organs are developed, the young arriving there in an imma-

ture state.

Every attempt to find traces of this worm in other parts of the

body, or even of the brain failed. —J. Wraan.

Viviparous Minnows.—Specimens of a species of Peecilia, found

in some brackish lakes in the interior of the Island of New Provi-

dence, Bahamas, have been kept in an aquarium for the last three

years. When first obtained they were about an inch long. The

female grows in confinement to about double that length, and the

male to something less, but is not one-half the bulk of his mate ;

both are semi-transparent and the backbone is clearly visible.

The anal fin of the male consists principally of a long spine. In its

normal position this spine lies close under the body and reaches

backward nearly to the commencement of the caudal fin, and is evi-

dently the intromittent organ. It is furnished with a hinge joint

and is capable of being thrown forward at an acute angle, being also

“usceptible of a slight lateral movement. The act of copulation

takes place by the male rising perpendicularly under and a little to

one side of the female and making a dart at her with the spine,

which is brought laterally forward at the instant of connection.

€ act is almost momentary and is hardly noticeable without the

closest attention. Two of the females gave signs of being with

y Bee and one morning a small fish about one-third of an inch long

r discovered, but it was evident the rest had been devoured by

` males, for on a subsequent occasion when a female again

became Stavid the males were all removed and on the next day the

‘gravid fish had nine young, all born alive; these were placed

together with the above mentioned one in a finger basin ; they were

ect fish, and had no appearance of the yolk being attached, as is

NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 6

562 MICROSCOPY.

the case with other fish. The day after their birth they ate raw beef

shred very small. These ten fish are now nearly six months old

and are all females; the two old ones have each had young since;

one had three alive and four dead, the other four alive and four

dead ; neither of these latter broods lived over a month and were

unable up to the time of their death to rise from the bottom of the

aquarium. Between the birth of each litter there was a period of

about ten weeks. Those which are alive are all females and the

succeeding litters were to all appearances males. It will be a curi-

ous circumstance, and a subject for future investigation, should

` every alternate litter prove to be of an opposite sex to the preceding

one. No fish have yet been bred from those born in the aquarium

and therefore it is not known at what age they begin to reproduce.

C. Fitz Geraro. — Lieut. H. M., 1st W. India Regt., Nassau,

Bahamas, March 11th, 1864.— Communicated by the Smithsonian

Institution.

.MICROSCOPY.

PHOTO-MECHANICAL Printinc. — Incidentally to a pathological

report to the Surgeon General, Dr. J. J. Woodward calls attain

to the familiar disadvantages of the usual means of representing

in publications the magnified appearance of microscopie objects ,

by etchings, lithographs and woodcuts. All such hand p :

laborious and wasteful of time if done by the investigator,

liable to omit the most important points if intrusted to pe 4

artist. Even the microscopist himself, being unable to repe

. i - ; ives to be of

all that he sees, is obliged to select what he penne than

his R

importance, and thus represents his own theori 3

severe facts. [If, however, his theories are correct,

enables him to give a distinctness and compl f

lacked by the photographic camera.] The advantage O! %

i rints afe

i the side of photo-micrography, but silver PMY m

ness is on the side of pho graphy, and the reproduction 4

ired. Two ae

from the negative by the action of light, 4

“ intaglio” is produced by pressure. ;

colored gelatine films, which constitute the prints,

MICROSCOPY. 563

mechanical means. Thus was reproduced the photograph of

Amphipleura pellucida in the last April number of this Journal.

In the Albertype process a printing surface (not a relief) is

produced through the negative on a gelatine film by the action of

light. The prints thus produced are, at present, less expensive

_ than the Woodbury prints, and more convenient for book work,

but the edition is less uniform. On enamelled paper the prints

are handsomer, but will not bear much handling.

Lenses Dry or Immersion. — Dr. Thomas Birt writes to the

“Monthly Microscopical Journal” an enthusiastic notice of a

“new” 1th by Ross, arranged to work wet or dry by screw collar

adjustment and without change of front, a peculiarity shared only,

as far as he (Dr. Birt) was informed, by Powell and Lealand’s jth.

If the Ross tth is like some other recent lenses by the same house,

it would be difficult to say too much for its excellence as an objec-

tive: the one thing that could not be said of it is that it has any

possible claim to priority in respect to the peculiarity mentioned.

This expedient, like that of double fronts, is undoubtedly an

American innovation. Objectives with double fronts and with

double backs were made by Tolles and by Wales years ago, and

Were taken to -London and exhibited there in advance of any

knowledge of such a contrivance there. Lenses to work either

wet or dry, by cover adjustment. only, have been so generally

made and familiarly used in this country as to be not now looked

upon as an innovation at all. The question of priority is possibly

a difficult one, but both Wales and Tolles made and sold them

freely, long before any claim to any such arrangement was made

* by any foreign maker. Wales, as early as August 1867, made

two objectives of this kind, to work both wet and dry with the

Same front, and they were exhibited at the Fair of the American

Institute in New York, and received a first premium medal and

diploma bearing date of October 1867; he was advised to patent

; improvement at the time, but did better than that, and cer-

tainly ought to be favorably remembered for having given it to us

for nothing. Tolles also constructed these objectives about the

_ Same time, having made such an objective and delivered it to a

T as early as-June 29th, 1868, and the objective of the

above date is still in existence, and is considered one of the best

that have yet been constructed on that plan by its maker.

564 MICROSCOPY.

ANGULAR APERTURE OF OBJECTIVES. —Īn communications which

have appeared in the Narurarisrt and in the ‘ Monthly Microscop-

ical Journal” of London, different writers have treated of the

improvements made in the construction of apparatus, and espet-

ially of objectives, and have chosen their own method of express-

ing their ideas, and of commenting upon the expressed opinions

of others; but where the end aimed at is truth, and the result

sought for is an advance in the quality of appliances, minor

matters and side issues in the controversies are to be overlooked.

All lovers of progress in scientific research feel much pleased

with the labors of investigators who make good use of the exter

sive means at their control, as well as also with the results which

have emanated from the patient thought and close study of such

men as Mr. Wenham and others abroad. We are very apt;

however, to give too little credit to the intelligent instrament

maker himself. The mind which combines science with practice

in its application has great advantages and should be both respected

and encouraged.

How we have been forced to modify our opinions, since an angle

of aperture of, say, 150° in microscopical objectives was consid-

ered absolutely unattainable! No doubt the very men who —

and firmly believed those things impossible which are now qui |

familiar, were as glad as any one, when they became con

facts, that they had been in error. ; a

Equally gratified, probably, will be Mr. Wenham, i n +

shall see for himself that an angle of more than 82 ae :

attained through balsam. Within a few days, I hari make

good opportunity to see a qth objective of Mr. Tolles a

give an angle of 92° through balsam with tank arrang pe

Mr. Wenham. I feel disposed, however, to let Mr. Toilen k

of this in his own words, the more so as my time 8 ea ee

limited. — J. C.

: a

recently whee

Dr. JOSIAH Curtis, Dear Sir:—At my request, you were wont when immersed i?

measured the angular aperture of an immersion 1-10 in. a, the tank method of

balsam. You verified the results gained at that time. We use

Mr. Wenham ( see M. M. Journal, August, 1871). o (upwards):

The 1-10 in. tested, I stated to you, had iù air angular ap. of 170° (ap ! ui

In water we found the angle to be 110°-+. Jame, thin, for light, 7

In balsam the angle was fairly 95°, using petroleum lamp ith "sunlight I got two

darkened As you will remember I remarked that W . 4d

s more, others, to hear of res

t will, I know, be of interest to you, and I am sure to some n bere the angle of aP

of test of angle in ther cases. Iwill, therefore, set dow

MICROSCOPY. 565

ture found to pertain to some of my immersion objectives in balsam, in water and in

air.

Air, Air, Water. Balsam,

Single Front. 1-18 in. 170° 120° 87°

T “ 1-18 in. 170° 110° 88°

Compound Front. 1-10 in. 175° ur 95°

iy ST 1-13 in. 175° 105°

r z 1-6 (high) 172° 106° 88°

Single r 1-5 in. 175° 127° 110°

evarying diff between the water and balsam angles can, in a general way, be

nted for from the formulas of construction differing iderably, each one from

any other. ;

1l tl bjectives tł t effective (especially when its low power is considered)

is the 1-5 in. of 110° in balsam. This is true of its use for objects mounted in balsam, as

Rhomboides, small. But notably so as to its work on dry A. pellucida. My London

Specimen of this, received through the U. S. A. M ve

Shine, I may say. The illumination I used was petroleum lamp flame, no conden-

Bal With the same means al? the objectives show A. pellucida with the same illu-

mination, but with a difference.

With sunlight and a blue cell no doubt the higher powers would have their proper

advantage, :

Itis proper to mention that the 1-5 in. of 110° balsam angle was constructed on the

plan proposed by me in the Lon. “ Month. Micr. Jour.” for March 1872, where I have

made use of a diagram by Mr. Wenham of a 1-8 in. of his construction, to indicate

modifications such as would give more than 81 ° or 82° in balsam.

With proper appliances below the balsam-slide (as pointed out by me in the Lon

large angle must have access to and throngh the balsamed object from below; in the

next place the objective must be capable of receiving and transmitting that dimension

of pencil to the which thing previous to my own demonstrations has not been

own to have been done.

With much respect, yours truly,

Bostoy, July 8, 1872. ROBERT B. TOLLES.

OrGantsms in Croron Warer.— Chas. F. Gissler’s pamphlet

on this subject can be obtained of the Naturalists’ Agency, though

not so stated on the title page. While microscopists gener-

ally are now approaching this question of water supply from a

utilitarian direction, seeking hints of healthfulness or pestilence

ate the organisms they detect, the author looks upon the Croton

with inquisitive eyes, deeming the water New Yorkers drink a

charming field for chasing rotifers and crustaceans, water-bears

and worms, and scarcely giving a thought to their dietetic value.

As far as can be gathered, he judges them healthy enough, with

araea comparatively unimportant exceptions. The pamphlet con-

tains some very attractive plates, which are well calculated to

accomplish the author’s avowed object, giving encouragement and

Popularity to this branch of microscopical study.

z Distripvrron AND Action or Nerves.— Dr. L. S. Beale and

Dr. E. Klein have contributed valuable papers on this subject to

566 MICROSCOPY.

the Royal Microscopical Society and to the Memoirs in the Quart.

Journ: of Microscopical Science. Interesting incidental discus-

sions may be found in the Proceedings of the Royal Microscopical

Society in recent numbers of the Monthly Microscopical Journal.

Dr. Beale, in reporting his progress on this subject, offers no

methods of investigation, different from those already published, _

but hopes for improvement in practical details, and consequently

inresults. He has demonstrated the distribution of nerve fibres to

capillaries in nearly all the tissues of the frog, and is convinced of

their similar arrangement in the higher animals. These delicate

nerye fibres are seen to branch directly from the dark-bordered

nerve fibres, and are often so close to the capillary as to be seen

distinctly only when the vessel shrinks after death; and they may

often run along on each side of the vessel, or form a plexus

upon its surface. They may originate from ganglia or from sensi-

tive and motor nerve, trunks, and have intimate relations to some

of the nerves of special sense, and to nerve fibres distributed to

the voluntary muscles. They never, according to the author's

observations, come into structural relation with the active elements

of other tissues, notwithstanding the growing belief that they do

so; and their influence is not dependent upon continuity of sub-

stance. The author is quite certain that muscular contraction may

. depend upon changes in a nerve running near the muscular fibre

but distinctly separated from it. A nerve fibre often passe for

some distance by the side of a cell and then is lost to view by -

passing behind it, or is hidden by a pigment cell, leading to the

conclusion that the nerve fibre has become continuous with he

substance of the cell. Such errors can be avoided only by study-

ing extremely delicate specimens in a viscid fluid in which ter

position can be changed; hence the author’s preference for glye

erine as a medium for these investigations. A fine nerve so :

less than zosbe0 Of an inch in diameter may often be traced for 8 :

long distance, its edges being well defined, and nuclet occurring

at certain intervals. These fibres, demonstrated by

“

plexuses. He admits that these are sometimes, and pro ey

always, compound fibres, but does not ad

another plexus of far finer fibres as claimed by some

ers, preferring to discuss the bearing of what he has

MICROSCOPY. 567

demonstrate in a variety of cases, rather than to reason upon the

observations of others.

Dr. Klein, on the other hand, by modifying the common method

of staining by chloride of gold, brings the finest nerve fibres into

view so clearly that they can be easily studied with powers as low

_as 250 to 800. The cornea of a rabbit or guinea pig is very

slightly stained with chloride of gold; and sections cut, with a

razor, are examined in glycerine. Oblique and horizontal sections

are examined, and the binocular microscope exhibits easily the

relation of the different plexuses to each other. Only the nerve

fibres are colored, but the cells of the epithelium are distinctly

seen. Dr. Klein confidently claims to demonstrate non-nucleated

- nerve fibres far finer than the ultimate plexus of Dr. Beale. The

latter observer admits that his ultimate fibres are compound and

that the nuclei are somewhat to one side of the main fibre. Dr.

Klein looks upon all nucleated nerve fibres as sheathed, the nuclei

belonging to the sheath, and finds no nuclei in the finer and sim-

pler fibres. By the carmine and glycerine method no more has

been demonstrated than the plexus of nucleated non-medullate

nerve fibres ; but with the gold method the existence of non-nucle-

ated nerve fibres among the epithelial cells is shown with certainty.

The anatomical continuity of these with the larger nerve trunks

can be positively seen.

Dr. Berkart agreed with Dr. Beale in throwing some doubt on the

Supposed influence of the nervous system on nutrition. Atrophy

of the muscles, for instance, might be due directly to causes oper-

ating directly on the muscular tissue, though generally ascribed,

at present, to the influence of the nerves. The influence of the -

nerves on secretion was, however, well established in many cases.

Dr. Murie regarded Dr. Beale’s paper a rare and valuable con-

tribution to microscopic anatomy. In the rete mirabile of the

porpoise, we have vessels of considerable size supplied with nerves

ramifying in a manner similar to those demonstrated on the cap-

illaries by Dr. Beale in his minute dissections. The electrical

organ of the torpedo has an arrangement of nerves, visible to the .

naked eye, much like that described as occurring in the mole’s

nose. If there was, in the remarkable fish referred to, “a vast

electrical battery supplied by nervous influence of gigantic power,

Was it not very probable that the, same kind of thing obtained in

the arterial capillaries, modified of course to the limited exigencies

568 _ MICROSCOPY.

of their contractile powers?” He inclined to agree with Dr, Beale

that nerves did not enter those epithelial tissues where the epithe-

lium is continuously thrown off, as they would then be unfa-

vorably exposed.

Mr. Stewart had examined Dr. Klein’s specimens and was

convinced of the “ existence of a fine plexus of nerves between

the cells of the conjunctival epithelium, directly continuous with

the coarser plexus of nerves situated in the middle layer of the

cornea.” In reference to the close analogy between nerve force

and electricity, and the influence of the former on the circulation,

he instanced the fact that if an electric current be passed through

a capillary tube filled with water, the water will flow out: elec-

tric currents also influenced the passage of fluids through dialyzing

membranes.

Dr. Lawson thought that our views of microscopical anatomy

had been very much advanced by Dr. Beale’s paper. In experi-

menting on the effect of certain substances on the capillary circu-

lation of the frog, he had always reached the results shown by Dr.

Beale — “ that the effect on the blood vessels was due entirely to the

action of the nerves, and not to the influence of the substance

employed in the experiment.” .

Mr. Hogg valued Dr. Beale’s treatment of the nerves of the

capillaries, because microscopists had not hitherto been able to dis-

cover any contractile power in the walls of the capillaries nor to

settle the question of the cause of the circulation through the cap-

illaries. Dr. Beale believed that the nerves acted rather on the

muscular fibres than on the walls of the capillaries. He Nes

think, however, that the action was directly upon the cap pF |

vessels. In the cornea the nerves probably exist for the sua :

of preventing the entrance of blood into its structure. tigt

Dr. Leared thought Dr. Beale’s views would throw some ak k

on the question of sleep, and the action of such drugs aS bio :

of potassium, which probably exert their power by controlling thë

cerebral circulation. ee ;

Dr. Beale explained, and stated his adherence to, his ae :

statement of doubt, whether the nerves acted directly on ati jn

laries or the elementary cells of secreting glands. He e the

positive that the statement that the nuclei always belong e

sheath was a mistake, as in many of his specimens nuclei a

demonstrated in hosts of fine nerves, which came off sai

awe e ee eS a ee

pects

er ee

;

MICROSCOPY. 569

medullated fibres. He claimed priority of discovery in many

cases, where it had been awarded by Dr. Klein to the German his-

tologists. Many details of structure were given in his elaborate

rawings, which are not explained at length in the text, for English

readers will not read long and minute descriptions of such things.

CRYSTALLINE Forms IN Grass.— The beautiful fern-like clusters

of acicular crystals which are liable to form in a vitreous mass

slowly cooling, have been described by the t Monthly Microscop-

ical Journal ” and by “ Science Gossip ” as produced artificially in

blowpipe beads and in porphyrine, and as occurring naturally in

pitchstone. Such a crystallization often takes place as an accident

in a mass of slowly cooling glass, as when, at glass works, the

melted contents of a retort become accidentally ruined and they are

allowed to cool and be thrown away. ‘The crystals produced under

such circumstances are generally confused and merely form opaque

masses or layers in the brilliant glass; but sometimes, as in a

beautiful mass kindly furnished to the writer by Mr. Harding of

the glass works at Berkshire, Mass., the crystalline clusters form

distinct stars or rosettes imbedded in perfectly clear glass and

looking wonderfully like what almost every microscopist has

Wished he could make — snow-flakes perfectly and permanently

preserved. The beauty of these objects is realized only when they

are examined on a black field and by the binocular, and preferably

by reflected light.

Tur Levucocyrrs.— Dr. J. G. Richardson’s report to the Amer-

ican Medical Association, “ On the Structure of the White Blood

muscles,” was essentially a reassertion of the previously pub-

lished doctrine of the identity of the white corpuscles of blood,

-Pus and saliva. He is satisfied that they all act essentially alike

in saline solutions, and that the salivary corpuscles are not only

like white blood corpuscles distended by endosmosis when immersed _

i a fluid less dense than serum, but that they may, when acted upon

by a dense saline solution, contract to the size of the white blood

corpuscle and exhibit like amæboid movements. He also strongly

isists upon the presence of a cell-wall, a question which loses

much of its definiteness as well as its importance in view of the

fact that the discussions of Dr. Beale have led many if not most

investigators to the belief that the cell-wall, in general, is only an

accident of age and circumstance, rather than an indispensable and

570 : NOTES.

primary element of structure, from which we deduce that its pres-

ence may often be a question of degree rather than a question of

absolute fact.

As water distends, and finally ruptures and destroys, the white

blood corpuscles, it is suggested that in surgical operations, much

less harm would be done to the living tissues by washing or

sponging them with, instead of water, a solution of about fifty-five

_ grains of salt to the pint of water.

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. — Dr. J. C. Dalton’s very able lec-

tures reviewing this subject, close with the reflection that now, as

always, the idea of spontaneous generation is confined to those

organisms of which we know least; obscurity commencing where

our definite knowledge fails. Although such production would

naturally exist, if at all, among the smallest and simplest organ-

isms, still the imperfect organization of these minute forms may

be only apparent, and there is every evidence that at least their

regular and normal mode of production is from germs disseminated

in the atmosphere. Hence they are to be regarded as eryptogame

vegetable organizations, with a definite place in the organic world.

NOTES.

Ar a meeting of the California Academy of Sciences, held June

5th, Mons. Octave Pavy, the Arctic explorer, was introduced by z

Dr. Stout, who also presented the letter of the American Geograph- |

ical Society of New York, introducing and warmly commending

the gentleman. Professor Davidson hoped to hear M. Pavy's

views concerning the geography of the Polar regions. He z

nounced that a great current, not marked on any of "e ppe

had been discovered off the northwest coast of the continent, an

that only the present week he had received from Alaska — i

_ confirmation of the discovery.

M. Pavy then addressed the Academy upon his proje p

dition. He said he had no doubt of the existence of an A

passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic — though one asi

course impracticable for purposes of commerce.. The. ee

referred to the various expeditions from time to time sent John

explore the Polar regions. He said that since that of a y

Ross, the routes of the expeditions had all been from the per

NOTES. 571

passage hitherto untried. He believed that the Polar centre was

an open sea in summer and winter, surrounded by a belt of ice,

and that the great difficulty in reaching the Pole was the penetra-

tion of this belt. He believed this could be done by discovering -

the channel traversed by the warm ocean current from the South.

There were six entrances to the Polar Basin—those eastward,

between this continent, Greenland, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla,

were impracticable, because at a certain latitude powerful currents

were encountered, sweeping down from the North and bringing

ice with them, against which a ship could not be navigated.

Through Behring’s Strait, however, a warm current flowed to the

North, and a clear passage through the ice-belt to the open sea

must there be discovered. r. Kane had come to the conclusion

that the ice-belt which had barred his progress in Smith’s Sound,

must have been the formation of not less than eighty years. All

expeditions by the eastward had been stopped by impassable ice.

The members of the Russian expedition, last year, had thought

that they had reached the Polar Sea, but a comparison of their

reckonings had shown that they had only entered a bight in the

ice-belt created by the warmth of the Gulf Stream and already

entered by navigators. The Gulf Stream, M. Pavy believed,

sank as it expanded, and met the cold and heavy current from the

North ; but that it came to the surface again on reaching the Polar

Sea; and retaining its heat unimpaired, maintained an open polar

Sea, and a moderate temperature at the Pole. In the latitude of

80° and southward of that, land birds were rarely known to stay,

` Consequence of the extreme cold; but they had been seen flying

northward over the belt of ice; and in higher latitudes had been

Seen in great numbers. M. Pavy then traced on the chart the

Course which he intends to take. He said that passing through

Behring’s Strait he would take a direction to the northeast, reach-

ing Wrangle’s Land north of the coast of Siberia.. This land he

believed to be a continent stretching away toward the Pole, and

reaching into the milder climate which he expected to find. In

1812 the Russian Government had started an expedition to explore

Wrangle’s Land. Several attempts were made to cross it by

sleighing over the ice, but on each occasion they were baffled by

the ice becoming thinner as they went farther north, until they

came to open water. The great eastern ocean current, flowing

Upward through Behring’s Strait, and rounding the shores of this

572 NOTES.

unexplored continent, Wrangle’s Land, whirled eastward into the

Polar basin. Then uniting with the waters of the Gulf Stream,

the southern currents were formed which swept through the straits

leading into Baffin’s Bay and down upon the shores of Spitzbergen

and Nova Zembla. The woods common to the shores of Siberia

were found strewn upon the coasts of these islands, and confirmed

the theory. A portion of the great Japan current branched off,

M. Pavy said, to the south of Alaska, and produced the fine

climate, enjoyed along this coast. Another evidence of an open

polar sea, to the north of the ice-belt, was the fact that one species

of whale, commonly passed northward at the approach of winter,

seeking clear water and avoiding the perils of a frozen surface.

M. Pavy said he expected to reach Wrangle’s Land by the 1st of

September, and would occupy the time from that date until May

1873, in crossing northward by means of sledges and dogs, over

the continent, which he supposes Wrangle’s Land to be. On

reaching the open sea, he will abandon his sledges, turn his dogs

loose, and launch the India rubber raft, which he takes with him,

set sail, and steer for the axle of the earth. Having achieved the

triumph of reaching it, he will shape his course by that of the

great polar currents, and steer southeast for Cape Alexander,

passing through Smith’s Sound, down Baffin’s Bay, and out M

the Atlantic Ocean. a

Professor Davidson opposed some of M. Pavy’s theories. He :

said that he would as soon expect to find an ice-cream moui-

tain in Africa as a warm Polar basin. He said that his T

Arctic explorations had shown a different state of facts yo ;

cerning the direction of the currents, than that assumed by

. Pavy. The Gulf Stream, he believed, flowed northward :

between the sliores of Greenland, Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla,

and, rounding the Polar Sea, flowed southward again through the

straits leading into Baffin’s Bay. He denied, also, ie

any reason to believe Wrangle’s Land to be a continent. He had

instances in which the “ false horizons” of northern latitudes, 4° —

caused erroneous observations to be taken by explorers. H

sidered the latest European charts of the Arctic regions, app

through Behring’s Strait, erroneous in important particulars.

thought that M. Pavy would meet with more difficulties pe

had anticipated. He said that M. Pavy had greatly over pai

ted the magnitude and effect of the current as it passed SHO"

NOTES. 573

Behring’s Strait. ‘‘ Knowing the size of a dog’s throat it is easy

to tell what he can swallow.” Behring’s Strait is twenty-five

miles wide, and has an average depth of twenty-five fathoms.

The rate of the current is from one and a half to three knots an

hour. The current, therefore, must be of little account, and

entirely inadequate to produce the effect attributed to it by M.

Pavy. Still Professor Davidson felt sure that the expedition

would result in great benefits to the cause of science, and he was

only sorry that M. Pavy had decided to return by the Atlantic

instead of by the Pacific.

[To show the diversity of opinion that exists in relation to

this subject, we copy the following from the Proceedings of the

Royal Geographical Society of April 22d, as given in ‘* Nature.”—

Eps. |

“On Recent Explorations of the North Polar Region, by Cap-

tain Sherard Osborn, R. N. Captain Osborn commenced by allud-

ing to his advocacy of a Polar Expedition via Smith Sound in

1865, and stated that the Duke of Somerset, then First Lord of the

Admiralty, though apparently sufficiently favorable to the general,

proposal of a Government Expedition, urged upon him by a depu-

Owing to the difference of opinion which then reigned with rega

to the best route to be followed. The alternate route to Smith

Sound was that by the seas of Spitzbergen, advocated b

(Captain Osborn) and the promoters of the Expedition were

Content to wait the result of efforts made soon after by the Swedes

and Germans to carry out the views of the German geographer.

Se ars h psed, w

that the advocates of the Spitzbergen route had been proved

ei Wrong, whilst those who believed Smith Sound to be the

A winter in East Greenland, the most careful observation of these

mighty masses of ice, their movements and formation, and of the

le condition of temperature, have radically cured me, and all

O74 NOTES.

my companions of this idea. . . . If the principal object be the

nearest possible approach to the Pole, I am quite of Osborn’s

far as the 82nd parallel. Along this coast one would have to work

one’s way in spring with dog-sledges. I consider it a wild under-

taking to penetrate towards the Pole by ship between Spitzbergen

and Nova Zembla.” No one could undo the effect of evidence so

honest and conclusive as this. The Duke of Somerset rested his

decision to delay action on the importance of first being furnished

with the results of the Swedish Expedition then on its way to

Spitzbergen. The Swedes during the last seven or eight years had.

sent no less than four expeditions to the verge of the Polar region ;

and the conclusion of their scientific leader, Von Nordenskiold,

is that in summer it is not possible to penetrate by ship through

the pack, and that an open Polar Sea is a mere hypothesis desti-

tute of foundation. The Swedish authorities farther state that

of o i

then, are the results for which the First Lord of the Admiralty in

1865 desired to wait. After a review of the voyage of the Aus-

trian Lieutenants Payer and Weyprecht last summer, in which they

found open sea a little to the north and west of Nova Zembla,

and which discovery is to be followed up by a second expl

in the present summer, Capt. Osborn concluded by an eloquen

appeal to the English people not to allow the final laurels of Polar

discovery to be wrung from them by the sailors or explorers of any

other nation. In the discussion which followed, Dr. J. D. er

spoke of the important questions in the science of botany whic

North Polar Expedition alone could elucidate ; such as the a

sion nearer the Pole of fossil plants like those of Disco m cna ‘

land, which indicate a former temperate climate in 70 north. VT

stated that he entirely approved of the Smith Soun

one best to be adopted for a North Polar Expedition. Richards

pold M’Clintock also spoke to similar effect. Admiral ir

` explained the interest attaching to the completion of the ge?

phy of Greenland, which ought to be achieved by the

ini a Government expedition,

NOTES. 575

Spitzbergen this summer, winter in the islands to the north, and

attempt'a journey towards the Pole in May, 1873, with reindeer-

dges. `

Tue HassLer ExreDITION.— Here we are north of the equator

again. We arrived at this port on the 25th, all well. We have

touched at many places along the western coast of South America.

At Payta, the last place on the coast before going to the Galapa-

gos Islands, a large collection was made considering the time we

remained there, and among the fishes were two specimens, male

and female, of a Cestracion ; these we also found at the Galapagos.

All the collections we had on board at that time were sent to

New York by the U. S. S. Ossipee which sailed the same day we

did. We left Payta on the 6th inst, sailing directly for Gala-

pagos arriving there on the 10th inst. We anchored the first night

in Post Office Bay, a little haven on the north side of Charles

Island which is one of the most southern of the group. r

leaving Charles Island, we stopped at Albermarle, James, Jervis

and Indefatigable Islands, collecting more or less at every stopping

place. Our collection at the Galapagos is very satisfactory,

being very large, and includes, in fish, fifty-two species. We found

in great quantities the two large species of Amblarhynchus, so

accurately described in Darwin’s “Voyage,” etc., and obtained some

thirty of each species. Some of the land species were three or

four feet long and one weighed thirteen pounds. We have twenty-

five birds’ skins and many birds in alcohol, three seals’ skins and

a number of skulls. Jervis Island seemed to be quite an exten-

sive seal rookery and we saw hundreds of land seals on the shore.

They were very tame, thus giving us a favorable opportunity to

Study them. There was one family group on the beach which

We looked at as long a time as we pleased, being only a few

feet from them. The mother appeared not to be alarmed as long .-

as we did not touch her two young ones: they were walking about

on all fours like a dog, their hind and fore feet bent forward. We

found inhabitants (seven persons) only on Charles Island, of

those we visited, although other islands are inhabited. We left the

Islands on the 19th, making nine days’ stay—J. Henry BLAKE,

_ “tana, June 30th. [Since the receipt of this letter, Count Pour-

tales has returned to Cambridge, and we understand that Professor

sassiz and other members of the Expedition will soon return

me by the way of San Francisco.— Eps. ]

;

576 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOOKS RECEIVED.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

L. M., Norwich, Conn. — The singular moth found on tl ber vine is the Ægeria

cucurbite of Harr

.M. B » Templeton, Mass.— The plant is Marchantia polymorpha, one of the Hepat-

lew, or iwo

C. W., Weth erste, Conn. — The chrysalis in the re of the brad is that of the

common Curr Borer Sipe i andes e Linn.) — mportation from Europe.

It is, of party necessary that the Se of Nematus irte pagre undergo their

last moult before they can SeN i —C.

——, Lonsdale, R. I. The hie tent is Corydulus cornutus, noticed p. 436, Vol. i, of

the NATURALIST.

EXCHANGES.

Pollen of Passiflora, and various Podure spat in exchange for Microscopic

specimens. — SWAN M. BURNETT, M.D., Knoxville, Te

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Pe 3 pir arkan dourhal z i oe Sciences. pay; KI puraga R,

early Abstract of the Medical Sciences. July, . hilade r

‘tds ft for Populære Fremstillinger af Naturvidens skaben. Binds 4 Heft 2. ni aye

berhava orth American Myriapods. By O. Harger. 8vo, pp. 6 and plates. July, 1

Proksa of the Lyceum ir Tanal History in the City of New York. Vol. i. “pages 12. ;

Report of the Museums and Lecture Rooms Syndicate for 1871. University of Cambria ee

ne n the Be eon monic Vatne of C of Certain ipsa eames ge ns ed r Cultivation in e

Ni aris on a History on al Me ort Macon, N. C., and vicinity. No.2. By Elliott ieee

sree Dorin of fo try Ment, pagt 7 Pr 0-0 Mies MA E

On the Address before the merican “Asso ociation of Prof. T. Sterry Hunt. By James D.

No 2, pp. 10. Au: CB c. 18 mo.

Dir ections for ce Collection of poets Ale for the use of beginners. By eo. Dimmock. z

pp. 26. Spri oming and

Notes of an O ical Reconnoissance of portions of Kansas, Colorado, Wy

Tish. By J. A. ‘Alien, miletin M.O0.Z. Vol.3. sot July, 1872. a Aix en Provence

Dese npin d'un Nouveau Papillon Fossile (Satyrites Reynesii), trouve

By Sa 1 H. Scudder, at , and plate. Paris. Sr. 20th

one eedings of the American Association for the ^ Cunoridge of Eie h ence, ; s

dia olis, Indiana, August i871. 5 vo. pp. 491. Cambr . ° Edited by M.

Gresifies, a lee ord oj Cryptogamie Boing ara HI s Literature. pe!

» No,lJu Sa 8vo. pp. 16 and colored p

Pi ilar gea Monih Nos. for Airut and Hoptempi "1972. New pietei md

der kon PAi physikalisch-okonomischen Gesellschaft zu Konig: ue

1870. 4 pamphlets, 4to. Konigsberg, 1869-771. gvo pamph. Nos.

and 11, 1869, 18:

Verhiandtungen der or Raparlichen koniglichen geologischen Reichsanstalt.

Entomologische Zeitung, Svo pamph, Jahrgang 32. Stettin. 1871. sist March

ne oe yeaa cae the s Belfas t Naturalisis Field Club (ss the year ending

1871. Svo pamph, Belfas st a Jika tea pe i 1872.

ote ity. es . < with f

r rA Question or 4 A dag a the evonian Rocks o o Torra; wiih A

Note on the set ions, By ames Hall and R. P. Whitfield PP.

saque. Nos

The American Journal of Science La Revue ngr ry aiat

Third ; July At 1872, New aera: Jul are

Nature, Nos.for July and Aug. 1872. London, Bulletin 0 ie Torrey fotar

Nos. for : don, itl July, ts. Ner 1872.

id, Nos, for Aug.. 1873. London. l of Botany.

The

The Lens, July, 1872. hicago. onam.

The Scottish ‘Nab turalist. July, 1872, Perth, Le Naturaliste Canadien. July, 1872.

cee

T e

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

_ Vol. VI.— OCTOBER, 1872.— No. 10.

EELDAS

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

AN ADDRESS BY PROF. ASA GRAY, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN

ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE,

DELIVERED AT THE MEETING HELD AT

DUBUQUE, IOWA, AUGUST, 1872.

Tue session being now happily inaugurated, your presiding

officer of the last year has only one duty to perform before he

surrenders his chair to his successor. If allowed to borrow a

simile from the language of my own profession, I might liken the

President of this association to a biennial plant. He flourishes

for the year in which he comes into existence, and performs his

‘appropriate functions as presiding officer. When the second year

comes round he is expected to blossom out in an address and dis-

appear. Each President, as he retires, is naturally expected to

Contribute something from his own investigations or his own line

of study, usually to discuss some particular scientific topic.

Now, although I have cultivated the field of North American

$ tany, with some assiduity, for more than forty years, have re-

Viewed our vegetable hosts, and assigned to no small number of

them their names and their place in the ranks, yet, so far as our

own wide country is concerned, I have béen to a great extent a

Closet botanist. Until this summer I had not seen the Mississippi,

Ror set foot upon a prairie.

To gratify a natural interest, and to gain some title for ad-

dressing æ body of practical naturalists and explorers, I have made

TONES Ad

Entered accordi

SCIENC ng to-the Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

CE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 87 (577)

578 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

a pilgrimage across the continent. I have sought and viewed in

their native haunts many a plant and flower which for me had long

bloomed unseen, or only in the hortus siccus. I have been able to

see for myself what species and what forms constitute the main

features of the vegetation of each successive region, and record—

as the vegetation unerringly does—the permanent characteristics

of its climate.

Passing on from the eastern district, marked by its equably dis-

tributed rainfall, and therefore naturally forest-clad, I have seen

the trees diminish in number, give place to wide prairies, restrict

their growth to the borders of streams, and then disappear from

the boundless drier plains; have seen grassy plains change

into a brown and sere desert — desert in the common sense, but

hardly anywhere botanically so; have seen a fair growth of conif-

erous trees adorning the more favored slopes of a mountain

range high enough to compel summer showers; have traversed

that broad and bare elevated region shut off on both sides by high

mountains from the moisture supplied by either ocean, and longt-

tudinally intersected by sierras which seemingly remain as naked

as they were born; and have reached at length the westward

slopes of the high mountain barrier which, refreshed by the Pacific,

bears the noble forests of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range,

and among them trees which are the wonder of the world. As I

stood in their shade, in the groves of Mariposa and Calaveras, and

again under the canopy of the commoner Redwood, raised on cok

umns of such majestic height and ample girth, it occurred to.

that I could not do better than to share with you, upon this sa

sion, some of the thoughts which possessed my mind. In m

development they may, perhaps, lead us up to questions of consi®

erable scientific interest.

~ I shall not detain you with any remarks (which

trite) upon the size or longevity of these far-famed ai

or of the sugar pines, incense-cedar and firs associa we

of which even the prodigious bulk of the dominating Son i n

not sensibly diminish the grandeur. Although no account pee :

photographic representation of either species of the farat

Sequoia trees gives any adequate impression of their pai iid ;

majesty — still less of their beauty — yet my interest in ge a :

not culminate merely or mainly in considerations of their § to be :

age. Other trees, in other parts of the world, may es

would now be

Sequoia trees, :

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 579

older. Certain Australian gum trees (Eucalypti) are said to be

taller. Some, we are told, rise so high that they might even cast

a flicker of shadow upon the summit of the pyramid of Cheops.

Yet the oldest of them doubtless grew from seed which was shed

long after the names of the pyramid builders had been forgotten.

So far as we can judge from the actual counting of the layers of

several trees, no Sequoia now alive can sensibly antedate the

Christian era.

Nor was I much impressed with an attraction of man’s adding.

That the more remarkable of these trees should bear distinguishing

appellations seems proper enough: but the tablets of personal

names which are affixed to many of them in the most visited

groves,— as if the memory of more or less notable people of our

day might be made more enduring by the juxtaposition,—do

Suggest some incongruity. When we consider that a hand’s

breadth at the circumference of any one of the venerable trunks

so placarded has recorded in annual lines the lifetime of the indi-

vidual thus associated with it, one may question whether the next

hand’s breadth may not measure the fame of some of the names

thus ticketed for adventitious immortality. Whether it be the man

or the tree that is honored in the connection, probably either would

-live as long, in fact and in memory, without it.

One notable thing about these Sequoia trees is their isolation.

Most of the trees associated with them are of peculiar species,

and some of them are nearly as local. Yet every pine, fir, and

cypress in California is in some sort familiar, because it has near

relatives in other parts of the world. But the redwoods have none.

redwood—including in that name the two species of ‘‘big-trees id

—belongs to the general cypress family, but is sui generis. Thus

isolated systematically, and extremely isolated geographically, and

80 wonderful in size and port, they more than other trees suggest

questions,

Were they created thus local and lonely, denizens of California

Only; one in limited numbers in a few choice spots on the Sierra

Nevada, the other along the coast range from the Bay of Monterey

to the frontiers of Oregon? Are they veritable Melchizedecs,

without ae or early relationship, and possibly fated to be

Without descen :

Or are ca now coming upon the stage (or rather were they

Coming but for man’s interference) to play a part in the future?

580 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

Or, are they remnants, sole and scanty survivors of a race that

has played a grander part in the past, but is now verging to ex-

tinction? Have they had a career, and can that career be ascer-

tained or surmised, so that we may at least guess whence they

came, and how, and when?

Time was, and not long ago, when such questions as these were

regarded as useless and vain,— when students of natural history,

unmindful of what the name denotes, were content with a knowl-

edge of things as they now are, but gave little heed as to how they

came to be so. Now, such questions are held to be legitimate,

and perhaps not wholly unanswerable. It cannot now be said

that these trees inhabit their present restricted areas simply be-

cause they are there placed in the climate and soil of all the world

most congenial to them. These must indeed be congenial, or they

would not survive. But when we see how Australian Eucalyptus

trees thrive upon the Californian coast, and how these very red-

woods flourish upon another continent; how the so-called wild

oat (Avena sterilis of -the Old World) has taken full possession of

California ; how that cattle and horses, introduced by the Spaniard,

have spread as widely and made themselves as much at home on

the plains of La Plata as on those of Tartary, and that the car-

doon-thistle seeds, and others they brought with them, have mul-

tiplied there into numbers probably much exceeding those extant

in their native lands; indeed, when we contemplate our one leas

and our own particular stock, taking such recent but dominating

possession of this New World; when we consider how the ged

enous flora of islands generally succumbs to the foreigners phen

: t

come in the train of man; and that most weeds (i. €., the prepotent

not “to the manor

abandon

f plants

plants in open soil) of all temperate climates are

born,” but are self-invited intruders ;— we must needs

and animals to their habitats, which may stand in lieu

tion, and so preclude our inquiring any farther. The

Nature and its admirable perfection need not be regard

ible and changeless. Nor need Nature be likened to

acast in rigid bronze, but rather to an organism, with pi ole.

adaptability of parts, and life and even soul informing the ae

Under the former view Nature would be “the faultless mo

which the world ne'er saw,” but inscrutable as the Sphinx, ‘ther:

it were vain, or worse, to question of the whence and W

harmony of

ed as inflex-

of explana-

whom

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 581

Under the other, the perfection of nature, if relative, is multifa-

rious and ever renewed; and much that is enigmatical now may

find explanation in some record of the past.

That the two species of redwood we are contemplating origi-

nated as they are and where they are, and for the part they are '

now playing, is, to say the least, not a scientific supposition, nor

in any sense a probable one. Nor is it more likely that they are-

destined to play a conspicuous part in the future, or that they

would have done so, even if the Indian’s fires and the white man’s

axe had spared them. The redwood of the coast (Sequoia semper-

virens) had the stronger hold upon existence, forming as it did

large forests throughout a narrow.belt about three hundred miles

in length, and being so tenacious of life that every large stump

sprouts into a copse. But it does not pass the Bay of Monterey,

nor cross the line of Oregon, although so grandly developed not

far below it. The more remarkable Sequoia gigantea of the Sierra

exists in numbers so limited that the separate groves may be reck-

oned upon the fingers, and the trees of most of them have been

counted, except near their southern limit, where they are said to

be more copious. A species limited in individuals holds its exis-

tence by a precarious tenure; and this has a foothold only ina

few sheltered spots, of a happy mean in temperature and locally

favored with moisture in summer. Even there, for some reason

or other, the pines with which they are associated (Pinus Lamber-

tiana and P. ponderosa), the firs (Abies grandis and A. amabilis)

and even the incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) possess a great

advantage, and, though they strive in vain to emulate their size,

wholly overpower the Sequoias in numbers. ‘To him that hath

Shall be given.” The force of numbers eventually wins. At least

in the commonly visited groves Sequoia gigantea is invested in its

last stronghold, can neither advance into more exposed positions

above, nor fall back into drier and barer ground below, nor hold

its own in the long run where it is, under present conditions ; and

a little further drying of the climate, which must once have been

much moister than now, would precipitate its doom. Whatever the

individual longevity, certain if not speedy is the decline of a race

“i which a high death-rate afflicts the young. Seedlings of the

me trees occur not rarely, indeed, but in meagre proportion to those

of associated trees; and small indeed is the chance that any of

these will attain to “the days of the years of their fathers.”

582 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

“ Few and evil” are the days of all the forest likely to be, while

man, both barbarian and civilized, torments them with fires, fatal

at once to seedlings, and at length to the aged also. The forests

of California, proud as the State may be of them, are already too

scanty and insufficient for her uses. Two lines, such as may be

drawn with one sweep of a small brush over the map, would cover

them all. The coast redwood,— the most important tree in Cali- —

fornia,— although a million times more numerous than its relative

of the Sierra, is too good to live long. Such is its value for

lumber and its accessibility, that, judging the future by the past,

it is not likely, in its primeval growth, to outlast its rarer fellow-

species.

‘Happily man preserves and disseminates as well as destroys.

The species will probably be indefinitely preserved to science, and

for ornamental and other uses, in its own and other lands; and the

more remarkable individuals of the present day are likely to be

sedulously cared for, all the more so as they become scarce. =

ur third question remains to be answered : Have these famous

Sequoias played in former times and upon a larger stage 4 more

imposing part, of which the present is but the epilogue? We cannot

gaze high up the huge and venerable trunks, which one crosses -

the continent to behold, without wishing that these patriarchs of

the grove were able, like the long-lived antediluvians of sa

to hand down to us, through a few generations, the traditions of ,

centuries, and so tell us somewhat of the history of their race.

Fifteen hundred annual layers have been counted, or satisfactorily :

made out, upon one or two fallen trunks. It is probable that oio

to the heart of some of the living trees may be found the cina i

records the year of our Saviour’s nativity. A few generhhom

such trees might carry the history a long way back. But the groun

ical change

they stand upon, and the marks of very recent geologica

and vicissitude in the region around, testify that not ve

unbroken series. When their site was covered by :

Sequoias must have occupied other stations, if, as there is } ‘

_ to believe, they then existed in the land.

country of their abode, and none of their genus , fee

Perhaps something may be learned of their genealogy PY ° ‘patio

of such relatives as they have. ‘There are only two of BBY

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 583

ular nearness of kin; and they are far away. One is the bald

cypress, our southern cypress, Taxodium, inhabiting the swamps

of the Atlantic coast from Maryland to Texas, thence extending

‘into Mexico. It is well known as one of the largest trees of our

Atlantic forest-district, and, although it never (except perhaps

in Mexico, and in rare instances) attains the portliness of its

western relatives, yet it may equal them in longevity. The other

telative is Glyptostrobus, a sort of modified Taxodium, being about

as much like our bald cypress as one species of redwood is like

the other.

Now species of the same type, especially when few, and the

type peculiar, are, in a general way, associated geographically, i. e.,

inhabit the same country, or (in a large sense) the same region.

Where it is not so, where near relatives are separated, there is

usually something to be explained. Here is an instance. These

four trees, sole representatives of their tribe, dwell almost in three

Separate quarters of the world: the two redwoods in California,

the bald cypress in Atlantic North America, its near relative,

Glyptostrobus, in China.

It was not always so. In the tertiary period, the geological

botanists assure us, our own very Taxodium, or bald cypress, and

a Glyptostrobus, exceedingly like the present Chinese tree, and

more than one Sequoia, co-existed in a fourth quarter of the globe,

viz., in Europe! This brings up the question: Is it possible to

bridge over these four wide intervals of | space and the much

vaster interval of time, so as to bring these extraordinarily sepa-

tated relatives into connection. The evidence which may be

brought to bear upon this question is various and widely scat-

red. I bespeak your patience while I endeavor to bring to-

gether, in an abstract, the most important points of it.

Some interesting facts may come out by comparing generally

the botany of the three remote regions, each of which is the sole

ome of one of these three genera, i. e., Sequoia in California,

Taxodium in the Atlantic United States, and Glyptostrobus in

China, which compose the whole of the peculiar tribe under con-

sideration,

: Note then, first, that there is another set of three or four pecu-

liar trees, in this case of the yew family, which has just the same

Peculiar distribution, and which therefore may have the same expla-

nation, whatever that explanation be. The genus Torreya, which

commemorates our botanical Nestor and a former president of

584 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

this association, Dr. Torrey, was founded upon a tree rather lately

discovered (that is, about thirty-five years ago) in northern Flor-

ida. It is a noble, yew-like tree, and very local, being known

only for a few miles along the shores of a single river. It seems

as if it had somehow been crowded down out of the Alleghanies

into its present limited southern quarters; for in cultivation it

evinces a northern hardiness. Now another species of Torreya is

a characteristic tree of Japan; and the same, or one very like it

indeed, inhabits the Himalayas, — belongs, therefore, to the East-

ern Asiatic temperate region, of which China is a part, and Japan,

as we shall see, the portion most interesting to us. There is only

one more species of Torreya, and that is a companion of the red-

woods in California. It is the tree locally known under the name

of the California nutmeg. In this.case the three are near brethren,

species of the same genus, known nowhere else than in these three

abitats. ;

Moreover, the Torreya of Florida has growing with it a yew

tree ; and the trees of that grove are the only yew trees of Eastern

America ; for the yew of our northern woods is a decumbent shrub.

The only other yew trees in America grow with the redwoods and

the other Torreya in California, and more plentifully farther north,

in Oregon. A yew tree equally accompanies the Torreya of Japan ,

and the Himalayas, and this is apparently the same as the common :

yew of Europe.

So we have three groups of trees of the great

which agree in this peculiar geographical distrib st

woods and their relatives, which differ widely enough to be te H

a different genus in each region ; the Torreyas, more nearly à ; ‘ :

merely a different species in each region; the yews, pe we as

the same species, perhaps not quite that, for opinions differ # a .

hardly be brought to any decisive test. The yews "a

World, from Japan to Western Europe, are considered wee -

the very local one in Florida is slightly different; pai w

nia and Oregon differs a very little more; but all 0 ie

within the limits of variation of many a species. Howeve’ "o

may be, it appears to me that these several instances „nd, if 10 :

same question, only with a different degree of onp w

be explained at all, will have the same kind of ae pa a

the value of the explanation will be in proportion aid ys

of facts it will explain. : ith which 2

Continuing the comparison between the three regions WH" =

ire

‘

coniferous order

ution; the ree

To 7 Se ee

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 585

we are concerned, we note that each has its own species of pines,

firs, larches, etc., and of a few deciduous-leaved trees, such as

oaks and maples; all of which have no peculiar significance for the

present purpose, because they are of genera which are common

all round the northern hemisphere. Leaving these out of view,

the noticeable point is that the vegetation of California is most

strikingly unlike that of the Atlantic United States. They possess

some plants, and some peculiarly American plants in common,—

enough to show, as I imagine, that the difficulty was not in the

getting from the one district to the other, or into both from a com-

mon source, but in abiding there. The primordially unbroken

forest of Atlantic North America, nourished by rainfall distributed

throughout the year, is widely separated from the western region

of sparse and discontinuous tree-belts of the same latitude on the

western side of the continent, where summer rain is wanting or

nearly so, by immense treeless plains and plateaux of more or less

aridity, traversed by longitudinal mountain ranges of a similar

character. Their nearest approach is at the north, in the latitude

of Lake Superior, where, on a more rainy line, trees of the Atlan-

tie forest and that of Oregon may be said to interchange. The

change of species and of the aspect of vegetation in crossing, say

on the forty-seventh parallel, is slight in comparison with that on

the thirty-seventh or near it. Confining our attention to the

. lower latitude, and under the exceptions already specially noted,

we may say that almost every characteristic form in the vegetation

of the Atlantic States is wanting in California, and the character-

istic plants and trees of California are wanting here.

California has no Magnolia nor tulip trees, nor star-anise tree ;

no so-called Papaw (Asimina) ; no barberry of the common single-

leaved sort; no Podophyllum or other of the peculiar associated

genera; no Nelumbo nor white water-lily; no prickly ash nor

sumach ; no loblolly-bay nor Stuartia; no basswood nor linden

trees ; neither locust, honey-locust, coffee trees (Gymnocladus) nor

yellow-wood (Cladrastis): nothing answering to Hydrangea or

Witch-hazel, to gum-trees (Nyssa and Liquidambar), Viburnum or

Diervilla ; it has few asters and golden-rods ; no lobelias ; no huckle-

ies and hardly any blueberries ; no Epigæa, charm of our earli-

est eastern Spring, tempering an icy April wind with a delicious wild

fragrance ; no Kalmia nor Clethra, nor holly, nor persimmon ; no

Catalpa tree, nor trumpet-creeper (Tecoma) ; nothing answering to

586 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

sassafras, nor to benzoin tree, nor to hickory ; neither mulberry nor

elm ; no beech, true chestnut, hornbeam, nor ironwood, nor a proper

birch tree; and the enumeration might. be continued very much

further by naming herbaceous plants and others familiar only to

botanists.

In their place California is filled with plants of other types, —

trees, shrubs and herbs, of which I will only remark that they are,

with one or two exceptions, as different from the plants of the east-

ern Asiatic region with which we are concerned (Japan, China and

Mandchuria), as they are from those of Atlantic North America.

Their near relatives, when they have any in other lands, are mostly

southward, on the Mexican plateau, or many as far south as Chili.

he same may be said of the plants of the intervening great

plains, except that northward and in the subsaline vegetation there

are some close alliances with the flora of the steppes of Siberia.

And along the crests of high mountain ranges the aretic-alpine

flora has sent southward more or less numerous representatives

through the whole length of the country. ‘

f we now compare, as to their flora generally, the Atlantic

United States with Japan, Mandchuria, and Northern China, t ¢»

stern North America with Eastern North Asia — half "e

earth’s circumference apart—we find an astonishing similarity.

The larger part of the genera of our own region, which I have ent-

merated as wanting in California, are present in Japan or Mand-

churia, along with many other peculiar plants, divided between w

two. There are plants enough of the one region which have n0

representatives in the other. There are types which appear to

haye reached the Atlantic States from the south; and there 18 a

larger infusion of subtropical Asiatic types into temperate Chis

: $ : n the two

and Japan ; among these there is no relationship between ts :

countries to speak of. There are also, as I have already said, no

small number of genera and some species which, being =

all round or partly round the northern temperate zone, have Ris

special significance because of their occurrence in these two E7 =

podal floras, although they have testimony to bear upon the o : |

that many or even most of the genera and species which 7 -

liar to North America as compared with Europe, pi Califor- o

peculiar to Atlantic North America as compared with the either

nian region, are also represented in Japan and Mandchuria, ae

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 587

by identical or by closely similar forms! The same rule holds on

a more northward line, although not so strikingly. If we: com-

pare the plants, say of New England and Pennsylvania (lat. 45°-

47°), with those of Oregon, and then with those of northeastern

Asia, we shall find many of our own curiously repeated in the

latter, while only a small number of them can be traced along the

route even so far as the western slope of the Rocky Mountains.

And these repetitions of East American types in Japan and neigh-

boring districts are in all degrees of likeness. Sometimes the one

is undistinguishable from the other ; sometimes there is a difference

of aspect, but hardly of tangible character; sometimes the two

would be termed marked varieties if they grew naturally in the

same forest or in the same region; sometimes they are what the

botanist calls representative species, the one answering closely to

the other, but with some differences regarded as specific ; sometimes

the two are merely of the same genus, or not quite that, but of a

single or very few species in each country ; when the point which

interests us is, that this peculiar limited type should occur in two

antipodal places, and nowhere else.

It would be tedious, and except to botanists abstruse, to enum-

erate instances ; yet the whole strength of the case depends upon

the number of such instances. I propose, therefore, if the Asso-

ciation does me the honor to print this discourse, to append in a

note, a list of the more remarkable ones. But I would here men-

tion two or three cases as specimens.

Our Rhus Toxicodendron, or poison ivy, is very exactly repeated

in Japan, but is found in no other part of the world, although

a species much like it abounds in California. Our other poisonous

Rhus (R. venenata), commonly called poison dogwood, is in no

oy represented in Western America, but has so close an analogue

a Japan that the two were taken for the same by Thunberg and

Linnæus, who called them both R. Verniz.

Our northern fox-grape, Vitis Labrusca, is wholly confined to

ead Atlantic States, except that it reappears in Japan and that

regi

The original Wistaria is a woody leguminous climber with showy

_ blossoms, native to the Middle Atlantic States; the other species,

Wa we so much prize in cultivation, W. Sinensis is from China,

48 its name denotes, or perhaps only from Japan, where it is cer-

tainly indigenous.

588 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

= Our yellow-wood (Cladrastis) inhabits a very limited district

on the western slope of the Alleghanies. Its only and very near

relative, Maackia, is in Mandchuria. }

The Hydrangeas have some species in our Alleghany region; all

the rest belong to the Chino-Japanese region and its continuation

westward. The same may be said of Philadelphus, except that

there are one or two mostly very similar species in California and

Oregon.

Our blue cohosh (Caulophyllum) is confined to the woods of

the Atlantic States, but has lately been discovered in Japan. A

peculiar relative of it, Diphylleia, confined to the higher Allegha-

nies, is also repeated in Japan, with a slight difference, 80 that it

may barely be distinguished as another species. Another relative

is our twin-leaf (Jeffersonia) of the Alleghany region alone; &

- second species has lately turned up in Mandchuria. A relative of

this is Podophyllum, our mandrake, a common inhabitant of the

Atlantic United States, but found nowhere else. There 1s ee

other species of it, and that is in the Himalayas. Here ny e

most peculiar genera of one family, each of a single species in the

Atlantic United States, which are duplicated on the other side of

the world, either in identical or almost identical species, Or ip z

analogous species, while nothing else of the kind is known i any

other part of the world. pp

I ought not to omit ginseng, the root so prized by the et

which they obtained from their northern provinces and yE

chutia, and which is now known to inhabit Corea and Norther

Japan. The Jesuit Fathers identified the plant in Canada oa

Atlantic States, brought over the Chinese name by which we

it, and established the trade in it, which was for many Y°"* —

: : . "hi robably has not

profitable. The exportation of ginseng to China p

yet entirely ceased. Whether the Asiatic and the sib

American ginsengs are exactly of the same species or pe pi

what uncertain, but they are hardly, if at all, distinguishab E

There is a shrub, Elliottia, which is so rare and local tha)!

known only at two stations on the Savannah River, 1P. ai

It is of peculiar structure, and was without near. relative

me itas

one was lately discovered in Japan (Tripetaleia), "a the

hardly to be distinguishable except by having the ae g pot

blossom in threes instead of fours,—a difference a

: A pies.

uncommon in the same genus, or even In the same spec

and the

ears most

Atlanti¢ :

itis

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 589

Suppose Elliottia had happened to be collected only once, a

good while ago, and all knowledge of the limited and obscure

locality were lost; and meanwhile the Japanese form came to be

known. Such a case would be parallel with an actual one. A

specimen of a peculiar plant (Shortia galacifolia) was detected in

the herbarium of the elder Michaux, who collected it (as his auto-

graph ticket shows) somewhere in the high Alleghany Mountains,

more than eighty years ago. No one has seen the living plant

since or knows where to find it, if haply it still flourishes in some

secluded spot. At length it is found in Japan; and I had the

satisfaction of making the identification.* One other relative is

also known in Japan; and another, still unpublished, has just

been detected in Thibet.

Whether the Japanese and the Alleghanian plants are exactly

the same or not, it needs complete specimens of the two to settle.

So far as we know they are just alike, and even if some difference

Were discerned between them, it would not appreciably alter

the question as to how such a result came to pass. Each and

every one of the analogous cases I have been detailing — and

very many more could be mentioned — raises the same question,

and would be satisfied with the same answer.

These singular relations attracted my curiosity early in the

course of my botanical studies, when comparatively few of them

were known, and my serious attention in later years, when I had

humerous and new Japanese plants to study in the collections

made (by Messrs. Williams and Morrow) during Commodore

Perry’s visit in 1853, and, especially, by Mr. Charles Wright, in

Commodore Rodgers’ expedition in 1855. I then discussed this

Subject somewhat fully, and tabulated the facts within my reach.

This was before Heer had developed the rich fossil botany of

the Arctic zone, before the immense antiquity of existing species

of plants was recognized, and before the publication of Darwin’s

now famous volume on the “Origin of Species” had introduced and

familiarized the scientific world with those now current ideas

Tespecting the history and vicissitudes of species with which I

attempted to deal in a moderate and feeble way.

My speculation was based upon the former glaciation of the

sorthern temperate zone, and the inference of a warmer period

* Amer. Jour. Science, 1867, p. 402; Proceed. Amer. Acad., 8, p. 244.

t Mem. Amer. Acad. vol 6.

590 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

preceding and perhaps following. I considered that our own

present vegetation, or its proximate ancestry, must have occupied

the arctic and subarctic regions in pliocene times, and that it had -

been gradually pushed southward as the temperature lowered and

the glaciation advanced, even beyond its present habitation; that

plants of the same stock and kindred, probably ranging round

the arctic zone as the present arctic species do, made their forced

migration southward upon widely different longitudes, and receded

more or less as the climate grew warmer; that the general differ-

ence of climate which marks the eastern and the western sides of

the continents,— the one extreme, the other mean — was

less even then established, so that the same species and the same

sorts of species would be likely to secure and retain foothold in —

the similar climates of Japan and the Atlantic United States, but —

not in intermediate regions of different distribution of heat and

moisture; so that different species of the same genus, as in

Torreya, or different genera of the same group, as redwood, Taxo-

dium and Glyptostrobus, or different associations of forest trees,

might establish.themselves each in the region best suited to its

particular requirements, while they would fail to do so in any other.

These views implied that the sources of our actual vegetation and -

the explanation of these peculiarities were to be sought m,

and presupposed, an ancestry in pliocene or still earlier ue

occupying the high northern regions. And it was thought that

the occurrence of peculiarly N orth American genera in Europe ®

the’ tertiary period (such as Taxodium, Carya, Liquidambar, inal

safras, Negundo, etc.), might be best explained on the assumption —

of early interchange and diffusion through North Asia, rather tha

by that of the fabled Atlantis. as in

The hypothesis supposed a gradual modification of species ae

different directions under altering conditions, at least to ™

extent of producing varieties, subspecies and pre singe

species, as they may be variously regarded ; likewise

and local origination of each type, which is now almost ee

ally taken for granted. call

The aa facts in regard to the Eastern American M

Asiatic floras which these speculations were to explain, ae

increased in number, more especially through the sa < and

lections of Dr. Maximowitz in Japan and adjacent ooantti ;

the critical comparisons he has made and is still engaged bi

eh ees

ite

FLEET me edits Se OEM a a mega sn

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 591

I am bound to state that, in a recent general work * by a distin-

guished European botanist, Prof. Grisebach of Gottingen, these

_ facts have been emptied of all special significance, and the rela-

tions between the Japanese and the Atlantic United States floras

declared to be no more intimate than might be expected from the

situation, climate, and present opportunity of interchange. This

extraordinary conclusion is reached by regarding as distinct

species all the plants common to both countries between which any

differences have been discerned, although such differences would

probably count for little if the two inhabited the same country, thus

transferring many of my list of identical to that of representative

species ; and, then, by simply eliminating from consideration the

whole array of representative species, i. e., all cases in which the

Japanese and the American plant are not exactly alike. As if, by

pronouncing the cabalistic word species the question were settled, .

or rather the greater part of it remanded out of the domain of sci-

ence ;—as if, while complete identity of forms implied commu-

nity of origin, anything short of it carried no presumption of the

kind; so leaving all these singular duplicates to „be wondered at,

indeed, but wholly beyond the reach of inquiry!

Now the only known cause of such likeness is inheritance ; and

as all transmission of likeness is with some difference in individ-

uals, and as changed conditions have resulted, as is well known,

in very considerable differences, it seems to me that, if the high

antiquity of our actual vegetation could be rendered probable, not

to say certain, and the former habitation of any of our species

or of very near relatives of them in high northern regions could

be ascertained, my whole case would be made out. The needful

facts, of which I was ignorant when my essay was published, have

how been for some years made known, — thanks, mainly, to the re-

searches of Heer upon ample collections of arctic fossil plants.

hese are confirmed and extended by new investigations, by Heer

and Lesquereux, the results of which have been indicated to me by

the latter,

The Taxodium, which everywhere abounds in the miocene form-

ations in Europe, has been specially identified, first by Geeppert,

then by Heer, with our common cypress of the Southern States.

It has been found, fossil, in Spitzbergen, Greenland and Alaska,

ee ee A EA E a a a a

* Die Vegetation der Erde nach ihrer klimatischen Anordnung. 1871.

592 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

—in the latter country along with the remains of another form, ;

distinguishable, but very like the common species; and this has

been identified by Lesquereux in the miocene of the Rocky

Mountains. So there is one species of tree which has come down

essentially unchanged from the tertiary period, which for a long

while inhabited both Europe and North America, and also, at some

part of the period, the region which geographically connects the

two (once doubtless much more closely than now), but has sur-

vived only in the Atlantic United States and Mexico. }

The same. Sequoia which abounds in the same miocene forma-

tions in Northern Europe has been abundantly found in those

of Iceland, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Mackenzie River and Alaska.

It is named S. Langsdorfii, but is pronounced to be very much like

S. sempervirens, our living redwood of the Californian coast, and

to be the ancient representative of it. Fossil specimens of a sim-

ilar, if not the same, species have recently been detected in the

Rocky Mountains by Hayden, and determined by our eminent

paleontological botanist, Lesquereux ; and he assures me that he

has the common, redwood itself from Oregon in a deposit of terti-

ary age. Another Sequoia (S. Sternbergii) discovered in ana gt

deposits in Greenland, is pronounced to be the representative of

S. gigantea, the big tree of the Californian Sierra. If the T pr

of the tertiary time in Europe and throughout the Arctic regions

is the ancestor of our present bald cypress,— which is assumed .

regarding them as specifically identical, — then I think we rad

with our present light, fairly assume that the two redwoods: see

California are the direct or collateral descendants of the te

ancient species which so closely resemble them. nee “oe

The forests of the Arctic zone in tertiary times con sal S

least three other species of Sequoia, as determined by fe

remains, one of which, from Spitzbergen, also much sore

common redwood of California. Another, “which appears to g

been the commonest coniferous tree on Disco,” was om

England and some other parts of Europe. So the Sequoias, i oe

remarkable for their restricted station and numbers, ey gee

their extraordinary size, are of an ancient stock ; thet a ae

and kindred formed a large part of the forests which which

throughout the polar regions, now desolate and ice-clad, - m :

extended into low latitudes in Europe. On this continent aA i

cies, at least, had reached to the vicinity of its present B

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 593

before the glaciation of the region. Among the fossil specimens

already found in California, but which our trustworthy palæ-

ontological botanist has not yet had time to examine, we may

expect to find evidence of the early arrival of these two redwoods

upon the ground which they now, after much vicissitude, scantily

occupy.

Differences of climate, or circumstances of migration, or both,

must have determined the survival of Sequoia upon the Pacific,

and of Taxodium upon the Atlantic coast. And still the redwoods

will not stand in the east, nor could our Taxodium find a congenial

station in California.

‘ to the remaining near relative of Sequoia, the Chinese Glyp-

tostrobus, a species of it, and its veritable representative, was

contemporaneous with Sequoia and Taxodium, not only in tem-

perate Europe, but throughout the Arctic regions from Greenland

toAlaska. Very similar would seem to have been the fate of a

more familiar gymnospermous tree, the Gingko or Salisburia. It

is now indigenous to Japan only. Its ancestor, as we may fairly

call it, since, according to Heer, ‘it corresponds so entirely with

the living species that it can scarcely be separated from it,” once

inhabited Northern Europe, and the whole Arctic region round to

Alaska, and had even a representative farther south, in our

Rocky Mountain district. For some reason, this and Glyptos-

trobus survived only on the shores of Eastern Asia.

Libocedrus, on the other hand, appears to have cast in its lot

with the Sequoias. Two species, according to Heer, were with

them in Spitzbergen. Of the two now living, L. decurrens, the

incense-cedar, is one of the noblest associates of the present red-

Woods ; the other is far south in the Andes of Chili.

The genealogy of the Torreyas is more obscure; yet it is not

unlikely that the yew-like trees, named Taxites, which flourished

with the Sequoias in the tertiary Arctic forests, are the remote

ancestors of the three species of Torreya, now severally in Florida,

ìn California, and in Japan.

As to the pines and firs, these were more numerously associated

with the ancient Sequoias of the polar forests than with their

present representatives, but in different species, apparently more

like those of Eastern than of Western North America. They

must have encircled the polar zone then, as they encircle the

Present temperate zone now.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 38

594 SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY.

I must refrain from all enumeration of the angiospermous or —

ordinary deciduous trees and shrubs, which are now known, by —

their fossil remains, to have flourished throughout the polar regions _

_ when Greenland better deserved its name and enjoyed the present —

climate of New England and New Jersey. Then Greenland and

the rest of the north abounded with oaks, representing the several —

groups of species which now inhabit-both our eastern and western ;

forest districts ; several poplars, one very like our balsam poplar, i

or balm of Gilead tree ; more beeches than there are now, a hom- —

beam, and a hop-hornbeam, some birches, a persimmon, ada

planer-tree, near representatives of those of the Old World, at least

of Asia, as well as of Atlantic North America, but all wanting

in California ; one Juglans like the walnut of the Old World, and —

another like our black walnut; two or three grapevines, one near :

our Southern fox grape or Muscadine, another near our Northern

frost grape ; a Tilia, very like our basswood of the Atlantic States :

only; a Liquidambar; a Magnolia, which recalls our M. grandi- =

flora; a Liriodendron, sole representative of our tulip-tree; anda

sassafras, very like the living tree. :

Most of these, it will be noticed, have their nearest or their only 7

‘living representatives in the Atlantic States, and when elsewhere,

mainly in Eastern Asia. Several of them, orof species like them,

have been detected in our tertiary deposits, west of the Missi

sippi, by Newberry and Lesquereux. fees

Herbaceous plants, as it happens, are rarely preserved ina .

fossil state, else they would probably supply additional ii

to the antiquity of our existing vegetation, its wide diffúsion ad

the northern and now frigid zone, and its enforced migrati

under changes of climate.

Concluding, then, as we must, that our e

continuation of that of the tertiary period, may we suppose ing

it absolutely originated then? Evidently not. The pret fossil

cretaceous period has furnished to Carruthers in Europe a

fruit like that of the Sequoia gigantea of the famous

' ciated with pines of the same character as those that a% w

xisting vegetation y>

groves, asso

the present tree ; has furnished to Heer, from Greenland, tW0

Sequoias, one of them identical with a tertiary speciesy pes

nearly allied to Sequoia Langsdorfii, which in turn 18 ê wee

ancestor of the common Californian redwood; has fon jent

Lesquereux in North America the remains of another n i

Sa Bier pee a ae er Se Se

SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY. 595

Sequoia, a Glyptostrobus, a Liquidambar which well represents

our sweet-gum tree, oaks analogous to living ones, leaves of a

plane-tree, which are also in the tertiary and are scarcely distin-

guishable from our own Platanus occidentalis, of a magnolia and

tulip-tree, and “of a sassafras undistinguishable from our living

species.” I need not continue the enumeration. Suffice it to say

that the facts justify the conclusion which Lesquereux—a ver

scrupulous investigator—has already announced: ‘that the es-

sential types of our actual flora are marked in the cretaceous

period, and have come to us after passing, without notable

changes, through the tertiary formations of our continent.”

According to these views, as regards plants at least, the

adaptation to successive times and changed conditions has been

maintained, not by absolute renewals, but by gradual modifica-

tions. I, for one, cannot doubt that the present existing species

are the lineal successors of those that garnished the earth in the

old time before them, and that they were as well adapted to their

surroundings then, as those which flourish and bloom around us

are to their conditions now. Order and exquisite adaptation

did not wait for man’s coming, nor were they ever stereotyped.

Organic nature —by which I mean the system and totality of liv-

ing things, and their adaptation to each other and to the world —

With all its apparent and indeed real stability, should be likened,

not to the ocean, which varies only by tidal oscillations from a

fixed level to which it is always returning, but rather to a river, SO

vast that we can neither discern its shores nor reach its sources,

whose onward flow is not less actual because too slow to be

observed by the ephemere which hover over its surface, or are

borne upon its bosom.

Such ideas as these, though still repugnant to some, and not

long since to many, have so possessed the minds of the naturalists

of the present day, that hardly a discourse can be pronounced or

an investigation prosecuted without reference to them. I suppose

that the views here taken are little, if at all, in advance of the

average scientific mind of the day. I cannot regard them as less

Noble than those which they are succeeding.

An able philosophical writer, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, has

Tecently and truthfully said :*

* Darwinism in Morals; in Theological Review, April, 1871.

596 THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

“It is a singular fact, that when we can find out how anything.

is done, our first conclusion seems to be that God did not doit. —

neficent result, if we can but catch a glimpse of the wheels its

ivine character disappears.”

I agree with the writer that this first conclusion is premature

and unworthy ; I will add deplorable. Through what faults or in-

firmities of dogmatism on the one hand and skepticism on the other

it came to be so thought, we need not here consider. Let us hope,

and I confidently expect, that it is not to last ; that the religious

faith which survived without a shock the notion of the fixity of the

earth itself, may equally outlast the notion of the absolute fixity

of the species which inhabit it;—that, in the future even more

than in the past, faith in an order, which is the basis of science,

will not (as it cannot reasonably) be dissevered from faith in an,

Ordainer, which is the basis of religion.

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. '

[Concluded from June number, p. 341.]

BY B. PICKMAN MANN.

Abundance.— Some idea of the abundance of these insects may

be given by stating that, although, as I was frequently told, tey

were much less destructive than usual during the year 10 W <

I observed them, yet from one tree, which I chose for an er

. ment as not exceptional unless by reason of its size, I picker

one hundred and fifty-three leaves in the course of nineteen pe |

utes, endeavoring at the same time to select only those age

which contained living larvae, and to leave those from ee

larvee had escaped. Of these leaves forty-four contained ree

mines, but the larve had escaped; ninety contained one b sue

and twenty-two mines still inhabited ; the rest contained old ae

or blotches made by a fungus which also attacks the gE

Manner of Devastation. — The injury caused by this of

due to the destruction of the digestive and respiratory ap :

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. 597

the plant. The larva “absorbs the sap, obstructs the circulatory

channels, and impedes the vegetable respiration” (Madinier, l. c.

p. 33), thus depriving the plant of its food, or preventing the

food from becoming fit to sustain life, in consequence of which

the plant becomes exhausted, and either dies, or bears fewer and

smaller fruit.

Amount of Devastation. — Guérin says (Mém. ete. p. 12;

[Dumeril, Rapp.,] p. 33) that in the Antilles ‘‘all the coffee-trees

were feeble and languishing: they bore only small and stunted

fruits, their leaves were spotted or blackened, in [great] part

ied up, and although dead, remaining upon the branches, * >

which rendered these shrubs languishing, and had even caused the

death of many of them.” Madinier says (l. c. p. 33) that owing

to the attacks of insects, of which this is the most noxious, the

culture of the coffee-tree was abandoned in the island of Marti-

nique. This insect is said to lessen the coffee-crop of Brazil by

at least one-fifth. f

Enemies : Fungus.— The leaves of the coffee-tree sometimes turn

yellow at the tip or some portion of the edge. The spots thus

formed increase in size until they cover the whole leaf, gradually

turning to a brown color, by which time the leaf has become dried

up. These spots may be easily distinguished from those made by

the larva, because the two skins of the leaf which is attacked by this

disease cannot be separated, and the color is more uniform,

appearing equally on both surfaces of the leaf. I was told that

this was the work of a fungus. It attacks leaves which have or

have not been injured by the larva, but seems to find more ready

lodgment on such part of the leaf as has been injured previously.

It appears in these cases to kill the larva within the mine, as many

_ mines recently begun are found to contain the flat and empty

in of the larva, with no indication of another destroyer, but

I may have been misled in my judgment by seeing the interrupted

labor of the Eulophus of which I will speak next.

Enemies: Parasites. — I have found two ichneumons parasitic

Upon the insect: one upon the larva, the other upon the pupa. I

have also found great numbers of mites (Acarina) living in the

mines. The first of these ichneumons, which feeds upon the

larva of Cemiostoma coffeellum, was found several times under

à small roundish blotch of a grayish-brown color (about the same

color as the fungus-spot), which was dotted with black dots, as

598 THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

if a lichen had grown upon it. These black dots may have been —

the frass of the larva, which showed through the epidermis.

Where the ichneumon had escaped from these dotted blotches,

it had cut out an oval or rounded hole in the upper surface of the

blotch. Once, before I broke open one of these mines from which

the ichneumon had escaped, I found the pupa-skin in situ, with its

broken end just touching the hole, through which it could be seen.

The hole was about 0'2 millimeter in diameter.

I found several of these blotches which had no hole in them,

and yet I found no ichneumon within, but the larva-skin flat and

empty. This led me to think that the fungus which I have men-

tioned may kill and exhaust some larve.

According to Ratzeburg (Ichneumonen der Forstinsecten, i,

(1844), p. 158), this ichneumon belongs to the genus Eulophus, a

the family of Chalcidide. I have not been able to make a satis-

factory figure of it, owing to the injured condition of the only three

examples which I succeeded in preserving. It may be call

Eulophus cemiostomatis, if it has not been previously described.

he imago is metallic green or coppery; the wings are trar

parent, somewhat iridescent ; the fore wings crossed by a brownish

cloud beyond the middle. The fore wings have no other Mage

than a double one near the front margin, which is bent at about

one-quarter, and ends in a fork at about three-quarters of the

distance between the base and the tip, sending one prong of

fork in line with the vein, and the other towards the inner angle

of the wing. The inner margin of the fore wing is also thi wi

for a short distance near the middle; and the front margin of ve

hind wing is thickened along more than half its length a

base. All the wings are fringed around their margins, ani ij

wings as well as the different parts of the body and legs *

pubescent. The antennæ are eight-jointed, thinly haired ; the 2"

ovate-conical club; the intermediate four joints ovate-cy auil

‘he abdomen is elongate-oval, attached to the thorax by 2 gee

neck, and is turned up at the sides. The tarsi ae a ihe

The length of the head and body is about 0'8 mil m

expanse of wings about 1:5 millimeters. ` m be

The pupa when seen through the pupa-skin ~ all are

longer than the imagos. — The pupa-skins look pei occi-

alike ; one or two were sufficiently transparent to allow |

BAe lui SES al one te

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. . 599

t to be seen, which was much narrower than the pupa-skin.

From one pupa-skin I hatched one of these ichneumons. I

found them during all the time (April to June) in which I studied

the Cemiostoma. In the one hundred and fifty-three leaves men-

tioned I found eight mines containing these insects. Afterwards

I obtained two from a box containing leaves. i

The second ichneumon parasitic on the Cemiostoma coffeellum,

inhabits the larva while it is still in the mine, as I learned by

finding an immature example dead within the thin and dried skin

of a nearly full-grown larva, but I believe that it usually does

Fig, 130.

Bracon Parasite of the Coffee Moth.

not kill its victim until after the Leaf-miner has become a pupa.

It then completes its work of destruction and cuts a hole in the

upper side of the cocoon, through which it escapes.

It belongs to that subfamily of the ichneumons called Braconi-

de ; consequently I will call it Bracon letifer ; but as far as I have

examined its characters, it corresponds more nearly to the genus

Rogas than to any other genus described in Curtis’ “ Britis

Entomology i

venation of the wings, nearly related to Exothecus exsertor, a8

given in Wesmael’s “‘ Monographie des Braconides de Belgique”

in the Nouvelles Mémoires de l Academie de Bruxelles, xi (1838),

P- 73, and accompanying plate, fig. 10.

600 THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

The perfect insect (Fig. 130) is honey yellow, except the eyes,

ocelli, and sometimes the ocellar space, which are black. The

antennæ ‘are also black, and consist of twelve slender, sub-equal,

uniformly cylindrical joints beyond the scape,-which seems to

consist of two short, stout joints, making fourteen in all. The

head is transverse; the front projects slightly beyond the eyes;

the hind margin of the vertex is emarginate, the emargination

filled with the upper edge of the occiput. The three ocelli are

arranged triangularly ; in some examples they are approximate,

in others distant, which may be a sexual difference. Then is

distinct; the back of the mesothorax sub-hexagonal, rounded,

tapering anteriorly. In some of my examples the abdomen

is elongate, subclavate; in others it is rotundate. I think the

shape given in the figure is the most lifelike. In some examples

the veins near the extremity of the wings are very feebly devel-

oped. The wings are fringed. The legs, abdomen, thorax, head,

antennæ and wings are pubescent. Length 1:9 millimeters;

expanse 4:7 millimeters. The immature example, or pupa of the

Bracon, which I found as stated above, bad wing pads instead

of wings. These were dark, smoky black, 0°5 millimeter long.

The antennz are honey yellow, instead of black, as in the devel-

oped specimens. They lie along the breast, and reach to the end

of the posterior femora, which is about the length of the whole

body. The first two joints are retracted within a ca oe ce -

front of the head, which seems to be the result of a doubling ™

of the front. Only the two posterior ocelli are visible, distant,

and though enough of the front remains to contain the me

ocellus, it seems as if it must be still farther forward a? go

imago. The hind pair of legs is stuck straight out behind. ie

abdomen is broken off.) ‘The first and second pair of ke D

the femur folded forwards; the tibia and tarsus lie pane a

end of the body. This example lay within the skin of the lav

with its head towards the head of the larva.

A possible enemy is a greenish-yellow spider

the edge of a coffee-leaf on the under side, and spin

from this edge to the surface of the leaf, leaving eac

nest open. “ie

which draws dow?

ga light web .

pend

Geographical Distribution. — As we have stated, M. P inthe

met these insects in the Antilles; M. Madinier found "a

island of Martinique; and I observed them in the

=e ee eae

oe ee ei eee met RCo atk tre Ae

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. 601

Rio de Janeiro. They are said to extend over the whole coffee-

region of Brazil.

History. — Dr. Christovao, and his brother Col. Antonio Corréa

e Castro told me that the coffee-trees were first introduced into

Brazil by the Brazilian Minister at Paris, who sent two plants to

the city of Rio de Janeiro, where they were planted on Mount

Tijuca. From these two plants many others were obtained, which

were kept in gardens as ornamental shrubs. Some of these were

afterwards distributed to the plantations to be cultivated for com-

mercial purposes. From them sprung the coffee-plantations of

Brazil. Until about twenty years ago these plantations were free

from all noticed pests. About that time, owing to the general

exhaustion of the coffee-trees through long bearing, the Govern-

ment imported quantities of new plants from the Antilles and

from the isle of Bourbon, and distributed them all over the coun-

try. It was noticed during the very next year that the leaves of

the coffee-tree were attacked by the larva of the moth, whose history

is given here, which has ravaged the coffee-plantations of Brazil

ever since. It cannot be doubted that the insects were brought

from the Antilles with the plants, and that a proper examination

of the plants at that time, by any person familiar with the appear-

ance and habits of the enemies of the coffee-tree, would have

prevented the introduction of so great a pest.*

Remedies.—The entomologist, like the physician, finds it much

S's penne

* Bibliography. 1. Guérin-Méneville et Perrottet. Mémoire sur un Inse

Champignon qui ravagent les Caféiers aux Ant illes. Paris. Rainer de denis,

e Revue Zoologique. 1842. p. 126-127. Contains a notice of “No. i

3. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. 1842. T, XI, Bulletin, p. 11.

f No.1.

aa i Matomologioa.. 18 1848. T. III, p. 250, 972-273; T. II, tab. II, fig.

tig Establishes the genus Cem

5. Sta Wve Naira History opti Tineina. 1855. Vol. I, p- 284-334, tab. 1. Con-

a Siva Si deans ations 0 n the genus Cemiostoma,” and the history of C. sparti-

gi the West Indie es. >»

Midis Revista Agricola do Imperial. pan Fluminense de ie nearer

“9 p.29 et seq. Brief notice of the Coffee- tainin ecount of the

habits of an insect called “ noctuella,” which ea be the C.c fee vellum

(The asterisks before the titles of the args works indicate that I have taken the

titles and references directly from the works cited).

602 i THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

more difficult to choose a proper remedy for a disease with which

he is familiar, than to trace out the nature and progress of the

disease. But at this day the science of entomology, particularly

in its practical application, is of such recent origin, that it suffers

under a disadvantage from which the practice of medicine is free,

namely, it possesses no treasury of results drawn from experience.

The practical entomologist can only recommend measures to be

put to the trial, and in this way gradually gather a body of experi-

mental facts which may serve as a guide in the future. a

The most obvious remedy which suggests itself is the collection

and destruction of the leaves which contain the living larvæ.

If this was done thoroughly, it would no doubt result in the

complete extermination of the pests, a result the value of which

would be incredible. J

Towards this end Guérin recommends (Mém., etc., pp- 18-20) 4

that “the branches of the coffee-trees which are loaded with :

[infested] leaves should be ‘cut off in all parts of the country “ i

one time, and burned, while the insect is in the larva state.

If this were done, he says, “ these coffee-trees should be cut down :

in such manner that the vegetation could resume its ordinary COE

shortly after the operation, to the end, if it were possible, of not :

having to regret but one crop of coffee. * * To attain this condi-

tion more promptly, the operation in question should be =

with a cutting instrument, and at a height which should be et .

mined by the proprietor himself (a metre and a half). Care shoul

be taken to preserve here and there some young and vigorous

branches, which would tend to maintain the equilibrium of the oF

in all parts of the plant. * * Afterwards the development of eu! st

leaves ought to be watched with the greatest exactness, and F

there should appear from place to place some spotted leaves, ax! :

should be destroyed promptly.” :

It will be seen that Guérin expects to cause

crop of coffee in his endeavor to exterminate t Hee i

tainly the issue of the experiment, if successful, would a a oo

worth the loss of an entire crop, but I think the same Bene

be obtained in a preferable way: entailing much more la oe

avoiding at the same time the loss. Probably not a e

would be free from infested leaves, so that it would be , es! of

to find some other means of killing the larve in theher

those branches which remained. On the other hand, many ™

;

the loss of one

he insect. VO

THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER. 603

leaves would be lost, if whole branches were cut off. I think it

would be better to pick off all the infested leaves, and burn them,

leaving the healthy leaves to support the tree. Guérin says [Mém.

etc., p. 19] that ‘ the epoch which it would seem ought to be the

most favorable for this operation would be that which immediately

follows the winter season, or that during which the temperature is

the lowest, because the larva finds itself then as it were benumbed,

and cannot be transformed into a moth until the return of a softer

temperature.” The time appointed for picking off the leaves

might be, for the obvious purpose of saving labor, that at which

the smallest number of old leaves remain upon the trees, if there

is any such time. If the leaves were picked at such time as to

take the greatest number of larvæ when they were about two

weeks old, it would not be difficult to select them, as the size of

the blotches would make them very noticeable.

I have made a theoretical estimate of the expense which would

be incurred in picking off the leaves as I recommend, and of the

relative increased yield of coffee which would result on a planta-

tion of given size. Testing this theory by the numerical data

given to me by Dr. Christovao Corrêa e Castro, and making large

allowances for unfavorable circumstances, I find that the expense

would be more than met by the next year’s crop; but even if

this should not be the case in the second year, it must be remem-

bered that such a thorough and expensive war upon the insects

never need be made more than once, and that with vigilance the

trees could be kept in good order and the increased yield maintained

continually afterwards. But vigilance must be exercised. One

Picking would not entirely exterminate the insects, however thor-

oughly it were done. The planters should also make experiments

at all times, and seek other means of destroying not only this

but all the enemies of their crops. They alone have the facili-

ties for increasing and utilizing all the knowledge which can be

guned upon these subjects. ;

Another remedy which Guérin recommends is “to kindle fires at

all points of the coffee-plantations, at the time when the moths

begin to issue from their cocoons. It is well known that many

insects, and above all the nocturnal Lepidoptera, are attracted by

ight, and come whirling around a fire until they are burned there.

Certainly a great number of individuals would be thus destroyed.

At the same time, and to attain this object more promptly, lighted

604. THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF- MINER.

torches might be carried through the plantations in the evening.

Thus a crowd of moths, hidden in places to which the light of

fixed fires could not penetrate, would be attracted, and killed.”

Although this measure would not be absolutely efficacious, unless

practised for a long time and together over the whole country,

which would be dificult to accomplish, yet it would repay all the

labor expended upon it, if adopted at the time when the moths

were abundant.

I will also recommend again the use of Col. Sorsby’s process,

which I have described at length in my report upon the enemies of

Maize, drawing the description of it from the Report of the United

States Commissioner of Patents for the year 1854, Part iii, p. 65.

l have thus stated all the direct means which have been sug-

gested for the suppression of these pests. It is evident that —_

of them can be adopted without. the expenditure of much time

and labor. If other measures, less direct, could be employed,

which would add to the efficiency, or take the place of tham

already suggested, the benefit would be great. Whatever meas

ures are employed, however, must be founded upon certain paT

principles, in order to insure their success. What those principles

are must first be learned, and then in what detail they can be

applied. It is only in this way that we can determine —

there is any mode of opposing our insect enemies which will not

cost more than it is worth. ;

Men gain time to advance in civilization and prosperity,

tering the laws of nature, and converting natural forces into $

which do their work automatically as it were. Nature met 8

vided enemies for the moth whose history we have been pa chs

Let us only learn how to cherish and encourage these oe

friends of ours, and they will work for us thoroughly. They

made to work for us whenever we should learn how basta. Hy

them. fa

I recommend that before the picked leaves are burned ae

placed in an apartment from which the moths cannot ~ o

there allowed to lie until the insects have developed. if opady

apartment should be made with sides of glass, and rE ee

guarded entrance, it would be easy to capture the ae sh

they rested on the glass, and to liberate them in the Je might

or transport them to other parts of the country where : oa

be needed more, At the same time the moths could wee .

by mas-

American Naturalist.

MANN, ON THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER,

(Corrected.) (605)

606 THE WHITE COFFEE-LEAF MINER.

and killed. Or the sides of such an apartment could be made of

gauze, fine enough not to allow the passage of tlte moths, but yet

large enough to let the parasites out. ` Such a building could be

placed in the midst of a plantation. I believe that eventually we

shall have to rely mainly upon such indirect measures as & pro-

tection for our crops. It might even be worth while to undertake

a positive cultivation of the parasites, at least at those times when

the race has greatly diminished in numbers. It has often been

observed, in studying the history of those insects which are sub-

jected to unnatural conditions by man’s cultivation of the ground,

that there is an alternation of years or of series of years in which

the insects are found to be very destructive, or to have almost

entirely disappeared. These alternations are partly due to the

influence of the seasons, but largely to the attacks of other insects.

At first the destructive insects are found to be very numerous, but

an examination will show that they have already been attacked by

parasites which kill them, while the parasites themselves develop.

This process goes on until the parasites have so far outnumbered

their prey as nearly to exterminate them, when they will no longe

be able to find food, and will themselves perish. Then once more

the destructive insects will have an opportunity to multiply, and 0

the rotation will be continued. Now it is at the time when the dt

structive insects have been reduced to the smallest numbers that the

enlightened agriculturist will find it most practicable to adopt such

measures that their numbers may never again increase. Knowing

how rapidly these insects increase, when not held in control by y

forces of nature, he will feel that every effort of his to stop ue

the first step will be an investment of labor at compound interest

for a long time to come. Who then would count the trouble? ed

he must know what to do. a.

P.S.—I desire to correct an error in the former part of this biT : reat :

pointed out to me by Mr. V. T. Chambers, of Covington, Kentucky, 07 =" d

volume of the A N . On p.338, I said that C. caffedlnn

£ 1: Sh, F

the only p i fth g ae taia th f urope : 7

While I was in Brazil, Mr. Chambers described in the Canadian Entomolog!

p. 23-25, a species from the United States, called C. albella. wrong. | x

As all but one of Mr. Chambers’ references, in his note of ont a

a : é ; thers. of the g% ge

must, in order to be able to compare his species with the 0 abe the silvery

i angle. If

spot of the fore wings as apical, instead of at th = than

sition is correct, C. albellum seems more nearly related to C: aaa

t at the inner

other species, but may be known from it by having the spo as

fore wings silvery gray metallic, with very distinct black mar

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FACE URNS IN BRAZIL. 607

behind, and an indistinct pale golden streak along the base of the fringe from the costa

not quite to the inner ‘angle; while it seems not to have the two oblique lines of black

seales described in C. coffeellum, nor the golden band which partially surrounds the

Mr. Chambers says also, in his note of correction, that “in the Transactions of the

London Entomological Society, Ser. 2, Vol. v, pp. 21 and 27, rhe in Ser. 3, Vol. ii, p. 101,

certainly two, es, pine my me pearap od’ s not at fault, three species [of Cemiostoma},

are desc India.” ve examined the pages to which he evidently zee

to refer, and find tiat se th rH species mentioned, C. wailesellum and C. lotellum

said to come from England.

I have had a new ey of the apene er struck off, because the former

One contained some errors introduced by the t, who transfe my figures fro

Some of the figures are ineomplet, because sey have only drawn what I

could see. This is especially the case with the larv

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FACE URNS IN BRAZIL.

BY PROF. CHARLES FRED. HARTT.

“Os my visit last year to Brazil, my good friend, Senhor Fer-

reira Penna, showed me in the Museum of Pará a remarkably

fine, well-preserved, and curiously-shaped burial vase of the

class called by the Germans gesichtsurnen, or face urns, which had

n obtained from a cave on the Rio Maracé, a little river in the

Province of Pará, emptying into the Amazonas some fifty miles

above Macapá. Of this urn, at his desire, I made the accom-

Teel rough sketch with a few notes for publication in the Niru-

Constructed as to rest on the ground. The arms kr their origin

4 distance from the top of the body of the urn less than a

: Bog measurements given in this article are approximate, but were carefully esti-

608 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FACE URNS IN BRAZIL.

quarter of its height. They extend downward at an angle of 45°,

more or less, and diverge a little. They bend abruptly downward

at the elbow, the fore arm being perpendicular. The hands, rest-

ing on the knees, project forward like feet and are cut off squarely,

the fingers, five in number, being indicated by scratches. This

awkward turning forward of the elbows recalls the similar position

of the arm of an Indian warrior, in the well known picture of the

“ Marriage of Pocahontas.” The arms of the vase are cylindrical

like the legs and not only longer but thicker than they. An arm-

let is represented just above the knee-like elbow, and a bracelet

two or three inches above each wrist. Just above and between

the shoulders are two short prominent ridges, shown in the

engraving, which may be intended to represent clavicles. On

each side, just back of the shoulder, is a similar ridge curved into 4

loop, the two ends of which are turned forward. On the back,

coinciding nearly with the middle third of the mesial line is a thin

finlike crest ornamented with lines drawn perpendicularly to the

body. The figure is furnished with a carefully moulded, erect

phallus. On the thigh is a low, cylindrical prominence, concave

on the summit, shaped like the centrum of an ichthyosaur.

The head, answering as a cover, is in a separate piece, forming

a hollow truncated cone 9-10 inches in height, the base being m

outside measurement a little smaller than that of the upper part

of the body of the urn. The top of the head is flat, with a pre

jecting rim like a narrow brimmed hat and on the surface area

large number of sharp points, arranged in regular quincunx aa

On the front of the cover is represented a face, the general arrang

ment of whose features is well shown in the sketch. Tho r

line, eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth are all in high aa

and were applied after the head-like cover had been mow” í

Around the base of the head-like cover are six holes to pe

other perforations in the rim of the base correspond. "i ;

intended for strings used in tying on the cover, after W!

brown wax was used to lute the two together. Of this g

be palm straw. . i

olid and supported

the whole

block aad

EBL e a Aa EE SATE A S E NE tial So Me EES E A o E E N,

by two upright, transverse pieces like sled runners;

resembling one of the curious stools hewn out of a solid

used by the Amazonian Indian nowadays.

ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FACE URNS IN BRAZIL,

Fig. 131.

609

610 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF FACE URNS IN BRAZIL.

The material of which the urn is composed is a very coarse

clay full of sand and consequently brittle when burned. The legs _

and arms are broken in several places. The surface of the vase

is moderately smooth and the greater part is without ornamen- ;

tation. The face has received a wash of ochre yellow clay. Near

the base are a few white lines difficult to trace out, but which

resemble the ornament on the burial vase, Fig. 65, in my little ,

paper “ On the Pottery of Marajó,” in the Naruratist for July of a

last year.

The urn, as it at present exists in the Museum of Pará, contains

part of a human skeleton, showing no trace of burning. The cra-

nium is wanting. It is impossible now to say whether the vase

ever contained the whole skeleton. From the small size of the

urn I should suppose, however, that it did not.

Senhor Penna visited, in February of this year, the locality

where this curious urn was found and sent me a few notes on it.

He-says that several leagues up the Rio Maracá, at a short distance

from the river, there is an immense flat mass of friable sandstone,

in which is a large crevice, expanding, in one place, into a large

grotto. Near by and on a plain, to reach which it is necessary to :

climb a steep hill covered by wood, is another small grotto lighted

by a large opening above. On the floor of this last grotto, Senhor

Penna found several urns, mostly broken, but of which two = d

entire. Some of these were of the same form as that I have m

described, but others were shaped like armadillos and tortoises

(Jabuti), though all had human countenances. Senhor sb

ji K

says that all the tubular vases, like the one just described

the organs of sex, male or female, carefully and P hye

represented. : E

Since the above was sent to press I have succeeded in paee

a magnificent female gesichtsurnen from the Ilha do pa l pe

Lake Arary, Marajé. In this urn the upper part is rounded oil 2

to represent a head with human features. Besides this there ”

in the collection made last winter, by my assistant, MY

fragments of two other urns of the same class, one of W ae

furnished with two faces on opposite sides of the urn. et

together with the new collections will shortly be described. “al

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK

AND THE NEIGHBORING PARTS OF THE

SHORES OF NARRAGANSET BAY.*

[Concluded from page 528.]

BY PROF. N. S. SHALER.

Gracia, Deposits AnD Ice Marxs.—The contour of a surface

alone is generally sufficient to establish the. former existence of

glaciers, if they have ever worked upon it, but it is not to these

indications alone that we must look for the evidence of the work

of this great agent in this region. Every mass of rock exposed

to view shows the rounded, smoothed and scored surface so char-

acteristic of ice work. Every part of the island, level enough to

carry such material, is buried beneath a coating of detrital material

from two to forty feet in thickness. We propose to study these de-

posits of glaciated matter with a view to determine some of the more

important features connected with the work done by moving ice.

These deposits have a composition which varies considerably

according to the position in which they are found. At the extreme

northern end of the island, all the pebbles found in them are from

rocks which belong beyond its limits. The greater part of the

pebbles can be referred to rocks which are in place on the shores of

Mount Hope Bay to the northward, though some seem to come

from points as far up as the neighborhood of Taunton. Only a

small part cannot be readily referred to materials in place in the

basins of the streams which flow into Narraganset Bay. It is of

course impossible to assert that none of these unreferred spec-

mens came from more remote regions to the northward, but inas-

much as there is a very wide difference noticeable between the

glacial material in the basin of the Charles River and the other

streams which flow into Massachusetts Bay, and this drift on the

north of Aquidneck island, there can be little doubt that the

transportation of erratics, from limits more than fifty miles away,

has been very slight indeed, if it occurs at all. A large part of

drift mass is made up of boulders of a conglomerate, which

: Thi ONYE z s de to Prof. Benj. Pierce, Superintendent of the

nited States Coast Survey, and is published by his permission. (611)

612 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

reminds one of the pudding stone in the neighborhood of Boston,

but it differs from that-rock in the comparative abundance of the

matrix, and scarcity of pebbles of large size. The pebbles are,

moreover, composed of different sorts of rock from those in the

Boston conglomerates. After a careful inspection, I am compelled

to conclude that none of the conglomerate masses are from that

set of beds, which extend over the country to the north and east

of the Blue Hills near Boston. :

On the northern part of the island, a few of the syenite cliffs,

which rise at steep angles from the plain, are the only points which

have no drift matter upon them. Between these cliffs and thè

north slope of Butts Hill is a. plain much indented by singular

depressions already described (vide supra p. 523). The drift here

has an unknown depth; it is known to be more than fifteen feet

in thickness, and is probably at some points as much as forty

feet thick. The pebbles here are with very rare exceptions less

than six inches in diameter and are heaped together with only

imperfect stratification. The cementing matter differs in no way

from that which is always found in our boulder deposits, being &

mixture of all the kinds of materials which go to make up

pebbly part of the deposit. There is no trace of true “ay :

heaps, such as fill the valleys in front of existing glaciers, in this :

part of the island. All the drift has, more or less, the character

described by Agassiz, and by him referred to the melting a

great ice sheet, and the deposition, in a great unstratified pe o

all the pebbles which it had torn from its bed. Followms i -

drift southwards, we find that without much change of volume Eo

constituents become greatly altered in character. A large part aie 2

the materials which are found in it at the extreme northern end .

í ;

appear, and are replaced by fragments from the rocks which ee ia ,

in the immediate neighborhood. This is very clearly ia per

beds which overlie the portion of the island which coat a

The matrix or cement of the mass is here much darker than a fe

drift near Blue Bill Cove; a large part of the fragments ae

slate of a carbonaceous character. This blackish color

to the drift found to the south of the coal field, though it De" of :

boulders behind us aś we go from north to south. Fr rife nest |

less and less marked as we go away from the source aa

the coal. On the eastern shore we gradually leave the 53 :

this sort of rock, which made up about one-half of the

;

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 613

Anthony’s, become rare when we get as far south as the glen,

and are almost entirely wanting at Sachuest Neck. The conglom-

erate, with very much compressed pebbles, which does not occur

north of the east and west line drawn from Black Point to Law-

ton’s valley, is not found in the drift to the north of that line,

though not infrequent in the beds of that age at all points to the

southward of it. The north end of the island has a great quan-

tity of conglomerate erratics but they belong to the type of that

rock found to the north of Somerset on the Taunton River, and

probably at other points in the direction whence came the glacial

stream.

It will be shown further on that at various points the under-

lying rock of the island is traversed by veins of white quartz

often having a thickness of many feet; the position of these veins,

even when the rock in place is hidden, is often made evident by

the trains of quartz blocks which lie mingled with the boulder

mass, to the south of the outcrop of the vein. The actual

thickness of the drift diminishes pretty steadily.as we go south-

ward; this is doubtless to be attributed to the soft character of

the rock which underlies the island. That which the glacial

stream rent from the bottom, in that part of its course which lies

just north of the island, was of a much more resisting character

than that which it encountered in its course over the island itself;

naturally the endurance of the rock masses ground beneath the

glacier was in proportion to the hardness of the material of which

they were composed, so that where the rock was very soft the

rapid disappearance of its fragments would prevent a great accu-

mulation of débris.

Professor Agassiz has already called attention to the essential

difference in the character of the débris of the wearing in the two

modes in which glaciers may act. 1st, where the ice is in the form

isolated streams bounded by distinct rock walls, as in the existing

glaciers of Switzerland. 2d, where the ice is spread broadly over

the surface of the continent, attaining to a depth which quite

deprives it of all bounding walls, giving us a sea of glacial matter

in place of the rivers of ice in the other condition. In the first

Condition of the ice, the rock boundaries of the streams furnish

Comparatively the larger part of the material transported by the

acier; something is torn away from the bed by the moving

Stream, but its comparatively thin mass gives it no such abrading

614 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

power as is’ possessed by the far thicker continental glacier.

This last named form of the action can only take up masses

material from the base over which it grinds; its ability to rend

fragments from the rock beneath it would always be far greater

than the stream glacier, on account of its superior thickness and

therefore far greater crushing

Examination of the materials deposited by these two forms of ice

action shows us enough difference between them to enable us to

determine to which of the two any given mass of glacial material

belongs. Where alarge part of the fragments are angular, showing

no trace of grinding against the bottom of the glacier, we may

assume that the ice which carried the material was a local stream

which received the mass of its load from that part of the sides

of the valley in which it flowed which were above the level of the

ice; where on the contrary the whole of the débris is more or less

rounded, a large part polished or scored, and all showing the effect

of the abrasion which must occur when the fragments are dr

from their bed by the moving ice, we must conclude that the sheet

had no side barriers from which a supply of débris could be fur-

nished by falls and avalanches, as the existing glaciers in Swit-

zerland are fed, but obtained their whole load from the bed w

I am well convinced that all the débris on the island of Aquid- a

neck has been deposited by ice acting in the last of these two 3

methods. Possibly there may have been a little action of a more :

local character, but the evidence forces us to the conclusion that a

the principal part of the drift found here has been deposi" *

the melting of a mass of ice in which it was held, rather er <

transported renders it the more likely that all the material pi

local origin. Rock masses resting on the surface of a ore

in a position favorable for transportation to the greatest pace

that the stream can flow; not so the detritus which rests

the mass of ice and the bed rock. All the material torn "P

its bed by the glaciers must remain permanently near to the ist

relative level in the ice mass, close to its base, for be ne

possible means whereby they could become lifted into be action

parts of ice. Here they would be exposed to the wearing "4

which results from continual grinding against the ee ead

stream or constant friction against each other; this m

petweet

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 615

to their speedy destruction. We thus see that by far the larger

part of the eroded materials of the ancient continental glaciers

must have been rapidly converted into mud which would have been

easily swept away by the sub-glacial streams, which would have

coursed beneath the great ice sheets of this region, just as they

now flow beneath the Greenland glaciers and bear their tide of

muddy water to the sea.

here are only two points where the glacial deposits seem

capable of any other interpretation. Two-thirds of a mile north

of the coal mines on the west side of the railway, there is a mass

of drift having a form which strongly suggests that it might have

‘been deposited as a terminal moraine. It is in the form of a

ridge a few hundred feet long, and by its position, shape and struc-

ture is likely to have been the mass accumulated during the retreat

of the ice stream when it paused for awhile with its termination

at that point. The other point is at Portsmouth Grove, a few hun-

dred feet to the south and east of the railroad station, where the

drift is piled in a number of conical hills which lie in a general

north and south direction. The internal structure is not shown

by sections as at the other point, but there can be no reasonable

doubt that the whole mass is of drift material. It is pretty clear

that these hills have been formed in a different-way from, the rest

of the drift ; there seems no other reasonable explanation than to

not readily determined ; there is some interesting evidence, how-

ever, to be gained from a study of certain instances of wear found

616 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

on Aquidneck Island. Wherever there is a mass of rock which juts

abruptly from the general surface, it shows some of the peculiar

marks of southward moving ice; besides the universal smoothing

and scoring of the surface, each of these projections shows us

the phenomena of “shock and lee sides,” and the northern enl

is always more worn than the southern end. All the precipitous

slopes of any considerable area are upon the faces away from the

northern side of the masses to which they belong. This sort of

evidence is visible in most regions which have been subjected to

glacial action, but at two points on this island it takes a shape

which has not been observed at other points on our coast. In the

felsite district south of Newport Harbor there are many admit

able specimens of rounded bosses of rock, the “ roches moutonée”

of the French geologists. These, one and all, show on careful study |

more or less of the shock and lee sides. There is one of these fek

site masses which has its northern end riven into massive fragments

which have been pushed around towards the south in such a fash-

ion as to make the direction of the force very evident. We see

here the prodigious rending force of the glacier, for there =

been separated at one moment a mass of rock sufficient to furnish |

at least one hundred tons of boulders to the ice current. j

The mass of conglomerate and associated materials known 4S

Paradise Rocks also shows some interesting phenomena. These ‘

rocks consist of a set of ridges of steeply inclined beds of varying :

hardness, which owe their position to a number of parallel ei a

extending in a north and south direction with a considera

rise at shap

throw, so that the projecting edges of the rocks x w

angles to the height of from fifty to one hundred an fifty ae

ks in the direction —

above the sea level. Carefully tracing these roc : :

comes evident

in which they are continued to the northward, it be ade

that, at the time when they were formed, the ridges conum

several hundred feet to the northward of the base of the “i

which lead down to the comparatively low land which now bonm"

them on that side. We cannot resist the convicti |

erful agent which has cut away these solid masses of

ice stream which has so clearly scored their surfaces s

marks of its power on every square foot of their |

surfaces. de

Very little of the surface of the island remains in precisely

condition in which it was at the time of the coming of e

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ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 617

men ; there can be no doubt, however, that it was quite uniformly

covered with boulders of varied size. The thousand miles or

thereabouts of stone walls which are found upon the island attest

the original abundance of these surface boulders. Most of the

larger masses have been broken up in order to be used for building _

purposes, but there still exist several thousand erratics having a

_ diameter of more than three feet which have been deported from the

cultivated fields, or lie in the regions which are too barren for cul-

tivation. If we examine the sections in the drift, visible at various

points, and notice the comparative variety of large boulders, it

seems no easy matter to account for these numerous surface erratics

without resorting to some such agency as floating ice operating

at the close of the principal glacial period. This method of ex-

plaining the abundance of surface erratics is much in favor with

many European geologists. There are many arguments against it,

however, which make it in the highest degree unlikely that it was

the main agent. On the highest hills these boulders abound the

most ; now there is every reason to believe that there has been at

the most not over forty feet of subsidence on this shore since the

beginning of the glacial period; a depression so considerable as

to have lowered the level of the highest hills of Aquidneck island

beneath the level of the sea, must have left some recognizable

evidence of its existence. There is, however, no evidence sufti-

cient of such a change of level. We can more satisfactorily

account for the facts by assuming that these boulders of large

size owe their abundance to the following causes. The rock

masses in the glacier which were furthest from the rock bed would

receive the least attrition and therefore remain the largest in size ;

moreover, the continual wear to which the upper part of the drift

bed has been subjected has served to wash away a large quantity

of the mud, which forms a great part of the mass, leaving the

Pebbles of various sizes accumulated on the surface. These great

boulders should, on account of their superior position, have been

tiven from their parent rock at a greater distance from their

Present position than the other which lies below them. It is a

tolerably safe conclusion that the lowermost pebbles in the mass

which were riven by the ice from the bed rock, would be the

last additions to the accumulation. Each successive accumulation

Would lift the débris which was already in. existence, so that while

in the time immediately after its separation from its bed the

618 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

fragment of rock would be subjected to great wear, it might, by

the subposition of fragments more recently sundered, be gradually

lifted out of the level of greatest attrition into a level where it

would be carried without much wear. When the rock over which

the ice flowed yielded fragments more rapidly than they were

ground up, the conditions would be the most favorable for distant

transportation; when, on the other hand, if the grinding of the

pebbles went on more rapidly than they were supplied, the chance

of distant transportation would be small. This is well illustrated

over the southern part of Aquidneck island. When the glacier

swept over the friable slates, the drift drawn from the northern

end of the island kept in security in the upper part of the débris;

when it passed on to the southern part of the section where the

hard felsites and argillites were encountered, the packing of soft

shale was quickly ground up, and then the syenite pebbles were let

down upon the bed rock and soon reduced to fine material. The

result is that the region known as the neck, south of Newport,

has a very thin coating of drift matter.

All the boulders, of whatever size they may be and at all posi-

tions in the débris, show evidences of abrasion which cannot be

explained without supposing that they were derived from the fog

of the ice mass, and passed through the inevitable jostling which

must occur while they were at the bottom of the pack.

There can be no question but that the retreat of the ice across

the section given in this island must have been, in a geological oa

sense, very rapid. The evidence is clear that at one um 4

extended far to the seaward of the southern end of the island,

so far indeed, that we can find no distinct evidence at this point of

the great masses of débris, which must have been de wis

the outer border in the shape of a great terminal moraine. A w

ice went back, if its retreat had been by successive steps, ol

which brought the edge of the ice across this island, ee go

would have been the formation of a distinct terminal morain®

cannot be said that such a mark would have been obliterated by

subsequent changes, for the scratches which cover the up

pebbles of the drift would surely have been worn away sis

erosion which could have had great effect on the contour of E so

face. We are therefore justified in supposing that the pee

retreated rapidly and steadily, when it passed from the sure

this part of our shore. It does not seem as if the term ™

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 619

could be used with propriety for the simultaneous melting, which

appears to have taken place in the whole section here. I am

inclined to think that the ice stream, no longer fed.with glacial

matter and probably wasted by great rains and a strong heat,

gradually came to rest, and then the same process of decay slowly

separated the water from the stones, dropping them into their

present resting places.

The evidence of a readvance of the glacial matter, not in the

form of a great sheet, but in the shape of separate streams, is by

no means so clear here as it is to the northward. If it came at

all it only lasted for a short time, and produced no considerable

effects.

I am inclined to think, however, that both the east and west

channels gave passage to ice streams which returned to them long

after the main sheet had disappeared. These local’ glaciers did

not, however, reach farther south than the middle of the islands.

The scorings upon the surface of the rock tell the same thing

in all parts of the island ; the general course is from the north by

west towards the south by east, but the individual differences are

considerable. Many scratches depart widely from this range. In

the rude jostle which took place at the point of contact of ice

and rock, there would necessarily arise just such changes of direc-

tion as are indicated on the rock surfaces. There is also a certain

accommodation of direction of slope to contour of surface before

4 stout boss of rock, where the flexible stream would turn a little

for an easier escape.

The cutting of the scratches is not as deep as in more northern

regions ; there is nothing like the long deep drawn grooves of north-

ern Vermont, or the region about the Great Lakes. This may be

due as much to the prevailing weakness of the cutting tools, the

Pebbles, as to a difference in the energy of movement of their

Setting, the ice. On Price’s neck, a singularly good specimen of

glacial erosion, the scratches are quite distinct and the amount

of surface which shows ice action unusually large. The point of

greatest interest connected with this locality is found in the evi-

dence it affords concerning the depression of this region since the

me when these furrows were graven. If it had been for any

Considerable time beneath the sea it would have surely been

ed from its present character. I believe that most, if not

all of it, was beneath the sea at the time when the glacial sheet

620 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

passed away, but the reélevation was so quick that even these

faintly traced lines were not worn away. Equally strong is the

evidence they give concerning the nearness of the time when they

were made. Although the rock is not the most enduring, haying

a considerable tendency to shatter, they stand almost as fresh as

the carvings on Egyptian stones.

In attempting to measure the influence of the glacial action

upon this region the first question which arises is whether we are

to refer the whole of the erosion which is Clearly to be attributed

to this agent to the action of the ice time which immediately

preceded the present geological period, or must look upon it

as having been in part the work of more ancient glacial

periods. Besides the general argument that there is a great

improbability in the supposition that there has been but one glacial

period in the-earth’s history, we have other reasons for believing

that glacial action has been a constantly recurring element in. the

successive geological stages. The hypothesis of Mr Croll, which

up to the present time is the most satisfactory theory that has

been presented to account for the coming of the ice time, makes the

change depend entirely upon the alteration in the eccentricity of

the earth’s orbit, and the change in the place in that orbit when the

northern and southern hemispheres get their winter and summer

exposures to the sun. Whether these hypotheses prove well

founded or not there can be no doubt that the past geological

record shows us evidences enough of glacial action. Every great

conglomerate is in itself such evidence ; nothing but a glacial poria

is competent to produce or transport, into their present poo

such masses of pebbles as make up the conglomerate which is foun

in the carboniferous rocks of this island. At almost every pee m

the earth’s history we have the same sort of accumulations. — T pe

abound in the primordial, are frequent in the palaeozole

mesozoic, and numerous in the tertiary. The Roxbury conglome-

rate found in the town of that name, and over a large se

the south and west shores of Massachusetts Bay, is 5° mach fi

the modern drift, that at one point, where it is rather, wee

herent than usual, the eye does not at first readily detect the

ference between the glacial beds of the geological age o

the underlying conglomerate of the primordial time, 50 Ee by :

the physical connection of these beds which are separa -

nearly the whole life-bearing section of the earth’s crust.

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 621

The fact noticed in the paper on the Topography of Aquidneck

Island (see Vol. vi, page 518), that the streams on this island

have the arrangement natural to a local water system, shows that

the channels which separate it from the main land had been exca-

vated before the last glacial period. Now, as we have already

seen, these channels have a shape which can only be accounted for

by supposing that they were formed by the excavating power of ice.

Therefore we are compelled to suppose that there was an ice action

anterior to the glacial period which gave way to make our present

time. If this be true of this section of our fiord zone, it is likely

to be true for a large part of the topography of our shores which

is dependent for its shape upon ice action. It would be imprudent

to rest so large a determination upon such a small basis of obser-

vation; the question is, however, one which invites the consid-

eration of all those who are interested in working out the

history of our continent. Nor is the problem one of local

interest alone; our whole conception of the conditions under

which life has been developed and the successive sheets of

strata laid down will be greatly modified by such a view of the

past as would be forced upon us when we recognized glaciation as

a constant factor in the evolution of the physical and vital his-

tory of our earth. e need some conceivable agent whereby the

life of the past could have been subjected to ever varying conditions.

If it has been driven in endless chase from equator to poles

by the alternating changes of heat and cold, these variations would

have succeeded each other with startling rapidity. This view is

consonant with all we know of life in the past ; it furthermore seems

in the highest degree fitting that life, the product, the localization

of solar energy, should find the spur that drove it onwards an

upwards in the changes of its motive force.

ON THE CAUSE OF DETERIORATION IN SOME OF

-OUR NATIVE GRAPE-VINES, AND ONE OF THE

PROBABLE REASONS WHY EUROPEAN

NES HAVE SO GENERALLY

FAILED WITH US.

{Concluded from page 544.]

BY C. Y. RILEY.

Means or CONTAGION FROM ONE VINE TO ANOTHER.— The

young lice, whether hatched upon the roots or in the galls, are

quite active and crawl about for some time; and that they will

spread from one vine to another, either under ground upon the

roots or on the surface of the ground during the night, is highly

probable. Such, however, cannot be the mode of spreading from

one vineyard to another; for were it so, the malady could not

possibly have assumed such proportions in so short a time as it

has done abroad. One method of transport is upon the roots of

seedlings and cuttings, but the insect cannot in this manner find

its way to an old vineyard, and there must be still another means.

Here we come to that part of the natural history of our louse

which must assume the form of hypothesis until further observa-

tions shall be made. In this country the malady is general, ar 7

in France, where it is still spreading from one

finds that it always commences at certain circumscribed pom

and spreads from these points in more or less regu 27%

There is no way of accounting for these nuclei— hese ante

points in the centre of an old vineyard that never showed T

the disease before, except on the hypothesis of the winged 1

having flown there and started the colony- ; $

7 the root-inhab-

iting type become winged. Why these individuals become

while others never do, is, perhaps, not for us to unders

noret ventures the Lamarckian suggestion that the ne

i e reason,

ting roots that are already destroyed may be on ‘chal rs

pup are certainly found more particularly on badly

All plant-lice multiply agamically during the §

)

ed of quit- a

GRAPE DISEASE. 623

while they are abundantly nourished, but towards winter when, by

this mode of reproduction, and by the diminishing nutriment in

the dying foliage, the lice become, so to speak, exhausted, then lo

and behold winged males and females appear! Numerous other

facts in insect life such as the production of drone bees solely from

unfertilized eggs, etc., indicate that the winged male may be, in

some way or other, connected with defective vitality; and Mr.

Thomas Meehan, of the ‘‘ Gardener’s Monthly,” has so frequently

observed such to be the case with plants, that he considers it a

law “ that with a weakened vitality comes an increased power to

bear male flowers.”* But this throws no light on the production

of winged females, and here, as in thousands of other instances,

nature tells us plainly to be satisfied with the facts without the

explanation.

Our winged female is a reality! What, then are her functions?

In the breeding jars she invariably flies towards the greatest

light, and her large compound eyes, and ample wings indicate that

she was made for the light and the air. We have also seen that

she is burdened with two or three eggs only, and my opinion is

that after meeting her mate, her sole life duty is to fly off and con-

sign her few-eggs to some grape-vine or grape-bud, and that the

lice hatching from these eggs constitute the first gall-producing

mothers. :

Lam led to this opinion by the fact that about the middle of

May, in looking for the galls, I always find but two or three to a

vine, and generally but one to a leaf. These vernal galls, as one

would expect from the greater vitality of the young from ferti-

lized eggs, and the greater succulency of the leaves at that season

are much larger than the ordinary summer form, and generally

have a decided rosy tint on one side. Similar galls have also

been found in France. Just as many other insects prefer certain

Species of plants, or even certain varieties of a species, so our

winged Phylloxera shows her preference for the Clinton and its

close allies. She occasionally deposits her eggs on other varieties,

as I have found the large vernal galls on Concord, Hartfo

Prolific, ete., and it follows that she must do so where no riparia

vines occur. But, except on the varieties of the latter species, the

young lice hatching from her eggs do not seem to be eapable of

at ae oe

: *Proc. Am. Ass. Ady. Sci., 1869, p. 256. :

624 ; GRAPE VINES.

Only in this manner can we account for the galls abounding so

much more on some varieties than on others. ;

Some persons may wonder how a minute insect with such deli-

cate wings, braced with so few simple veins, as those possessed by

our Phylloxera can manage to fly through the air to any, great

distance; and those who have not witnessed them in flight are —

very apt to underrate their powers of volitation. There is a.

conical gall very common on the upper surface of the leaves of

our Shell-bark hickories. This gal is made by a louse very

closely allied to our Grape-leaf gall-louse and was named Phyl-

loxera caryæfoliœ by Dr. Fitch.* This louse occurs abundantly in

the winged form, and furnishes an excellent illustration of the

power of the insects of this genus to fly. Let any one watch

these winged gall-lice, as they issue, during some warm day in

June, from the fimbriated mouth of their gall, and he will be

struck with astonishment at the facility and power with which

they fly off. They are no sooner out of the gall than the wings

begin to vibrate so as to become invisible, and the insect suddenly

darts away with wonderful force. They must likewise often be

carried great distances by the wind. :

Again, it would at first sight seem almost impossible for the

female to deposit her loose eggs which have no viscous property,

upon a swaying leaf, but this very feat is accomplished by another

little louse of the same genus, which may be found depositing its

eggs all through the summer months, on the under side of

leaves of our young Post oaks.

PROBABLE Reason WHY ITS INJURIES ARE GREATER

THAN WITH Us.— It is a well recognized fact among

observers, that in the natural state there is a greater harmony

between the fauna and flora of a country than in the more arti-

ficial state that civilized man induces by cultivation. Through &

long series of ages, the species least able to contend in the struggle

for life ‘* go to the wall,” until at last by a process of amen

‘the balance is struck and we find the animal and plant a

O iiaia oiae e

* Rep. III. § 166.

t This is a species of Phyllozera, which is yet undescribed put which M. J.

proposes to call Ph. Rileyi. It infests the leaves of our Post oak very

same manner as the European Ph. quercus infests their oaks — call

kled apy f the upper side of the leaves. It

d i f the

Snecies in th “1 +}

nena A ieee E

in EUROPE

nala ana.

eS a eee ree

cen eS Pe ea ee

eon DE

a E Or ae eh aos SRE ere eee penal ep Le! | eee te Bee EM ed Shee ieee es ae eee ge Oe

B een eee

GRAPE DISEASE. 625

vines which now flourish in this country are those which have

fought the long battle in the past and have best resisted the enemy.

They are, in short, best adapted to the circumstances, and by

their more vigorous nature resist the hypertrophy of the bark

caused by the punctures of the lice, and form new bark under

it. The European v`nes, on the contrary, are not only of a more

highly improved and tender character, but have not been accus-

to! to the disease. They consequently succumb more readily,

on the same principle that many diseases that are comparatively

harmless among civilized nations, acquire greater virulency and

play fearful havoc when introduced among savage or hitherto

uncontaminated peoples.

There may be other reasons such as the different modes of

culture and differences of soil ; for in the French districts, so badly

affected, the vines are either grown with a single stake or no stake

at all, and their soil is generally much poorer than ours. In

America, also, we know that there are several natural enemies of

the louse, and these checks have, in all likelihood, never been

imported into Europe with their prey. That the louse will in

time find enemies and lose its acute power of doing harm even

in Europe, is highly probable; and M. Planchon has already

noticed that the infested vines in the latter invaded departments

of Gard and Herault retained a comparatively greener color

than in that of Vaucluse, first invaded. Such has been the

history of the Hessian fly and a number of other insects im-

ported into this country. These are the explanations I ven-

ture, and whether they be generally accepted or not, the facts

in.

OUTWARD AND MORE VISIBLE Errects OF THE Root DisEASE.—

As long as the lice are confined to the more fibrous roots which,

in a measure, are renewed each year, the vines show no ecided

outward signs of the malady, which may then be considered in its

incipient stage. As they become multiplied and fasten on to the

larger roots, their work becomes more visible in a sickly, yel-

lowish appearance of the leaf; and a reduced growth of the vine

is the result. As the roots waste away, these symptoms become

more acute, and at this stage of the disease the lice have gene-

_ Tally left, so that when the vine is about dying it is often difficult

to find any trace of the cause of death. On the rotten roots

little eight-legged mites are frequently met with, and they are

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 40

626 GRAPE DISEASE.

also to be found in the galls. They may always be distinguished

from the true lice by their white, or dirty-white, color.

Practica, SuGcrstions.—Last year, from the knowledge we

then had of this insect in this country I recommended the destruc-

tion of the Clinton vine, where other and better varietigs suc-

ceeded as well. This advice was given in order to get rid of the

galls, and wherever it has been followed it has had the desired effect.

It was given, however, under the impression that the lice would

not attack the roots except where the leaves were covered with

galls ; whereas, in truth, the roots would appear to be less affected

(at least during the growing season) where the leaf-galls are

abundant than where they are scarce; while they may be abso-

lutely ruined where no signs of galls exist. | Consequently there

is no longer any urgent need of, or good reasons for, destroying

our Clinton vines. By doing so we may diminish the number of

galls, but we can never exterminate the root-lice. Future exper-

iments will no doubt show that good results will attend the graft

ing of such varieties as are known to be most seriously affected,

on to the roots of less susceptible varieties.

The insect should be especially watched, as it is apt to be moat

troublesome, on poor, gravelly or clayey soils. In deep, rich soils

think there is less danger. In France it has been found to be

less troublesome on sandy soils, and in my studies I have always

noticed that minute, soft-bodied insects do poorly in sand.* The 7

greater the growth of vine the greater the growth of root, and

consequently vines that are trained on walls and which thus me

nearly approach the wild state, or which are rendered vigorous

by a rich soil, are least susceptible to the disease. '

_ Remepies.— Destruction of the Gall-Lice.— From what we have 2

seen, we may justly infer that this insect cannot of itself spread

from one vineyard to another without going through ` T i

n .

into a

invariably the first signs of its advent, by natural a aa

vineyard not previously attacked. By natural means, :

: : : iy ' introd

without the aid of man’s assistance, by which they age

from one place to another on the roots. If these galls, =

s ; inois, where 5%.

* In examining the vine roots this fall in some parts of Northern pe e

formed a prominent portion of the soil, I found very few root-lice} neral h A

vines whose leaves had been covered with galls. Even on thes f , and

ness of the roots indicated that they had not been infested 3

that tha tt ici a fe the last calls of the n

hee PICT ec Sa are ee en Coie eae it Se mai ses gt etc foe Leet ep ees ele E

ee Se ee Be ee aR O

GRAPE DISEASE. 627

could only be found and destroyed, it would be one way of effec-

tually heading off the evil; and in a new vineyard a little vig-

ilance in searching for these galls might save much subsequent

loss and labor. I shall not treat here of the natural enemies of

the louse, which are of such a nature that they cannot be practi-

cally controlled and increased.

Destruction of the Root-Lice.— I hope next spring to institute

a series of experiments on the root-lice, with a view to the discov-

ery of a practical remedy. It were to be desired that others

having opportunity and occasion would do likewise. Here is an

excellent chance for our different agricultural colleges, which have

greater means and facilities than any one individual can possibly

have. As a guide to such experiments, and to profit as much as

possible by the experience of others, I will synopsize the results

of trials in France. From these results, which I give below, we

may learn that no reliable and cheap remedy, that will destroy

all the lice after they have become numerous, has yet been

discovered ; and the best advice that can at present be given is to

guard against the insect’s introduction into new vineyards by

carefully examining the roots before planting. If knots and lice

are found upon them the latter may be destroyed by the same

means used against the Apple root-lice —i.¢., by immersing the

roots in hot soap-suds or tobacco-water.

Preparations of carbolic acid have, so far, given most satisfac-

tion, and I have great hopes of benefit from the saponaceous

compound prepared in this country by James Buchan & Co., of

New York. This compound is not yet manufactured in France,

where they have to use the pure acid or the crystals.

Carbolic acid added to water at the rate of one-half to one per

cent. has been successfully employed, and M. Leenhardt, of

Sorgues, has -by its use, succeeded in keeping his vineyard alive

and bearing, while all those around him are destroyed. He uses a

heavy bar, thickened and pointed at the end, wherewith to make

two or three holes, a foot or more deep, around the base of each

vine. He then fills these holes with the liquid, which gradually

permeates the soil in all directions. A good post-hole auger, such

as we use in this country, would work more rapidly, with the

advantage of compressing the earth less, but it would do more

injury to the roots.

Oil of Cade.— This empyreumatical oil, which is common and

628 GRAPE DISEASE.

cheap in France, when dissolved in any alkali (the urine of cows

being good enough) and applied in the same manner described

above, has also given good results. A mixture composed of lime

and sulphur boiled in water at the rate of about five pounds lime

and five pounds sulphur to one gallon of water, and applied when

hot, has been found good.

Alkalies seem to invigorate the vines, but do not affect the lice.

They are also too costly. Salt.— Vines on lands strongly impreg-

nated with salt have been found to resist the attacks of the lice.

Acids generally are neutralized by the lime which most soils

contain.

Sulphur has been. thoroughly tried without any good results,

either upon the leaf-lice or root-lice.

Sulphuretted hydrogen.— They have tried to pump this into the

soil, but the pumps always break and no one would think of going

to such trouble here.

Sulphate of Iron is of no account. Sulphate of Copper destroys

the roots. Numerous other chemicals have been experimented

with, but with very little or no success, and they are besides not

applicable on a large scale. .

Irrigation and Submersion have been pretty thoroughly tested,

and it is doubtful, even where they can be employed, whether they

have any other effect than that of invigorating the vines, as the lice

are, many of them, found alive after a submergence of mouths.

These methods must be considered conservatives rather than

curatives.

_ Résumé or tue Insecr’s Hisrory.—We have had i

from time immemorial, an insect attacking our native vines, ani

` forming galls on the leaves or gall-like excrescences On the pee?

This insect is polymorphic, as many others of its family 5

known to be. It also exists in two types, the one, which may

termed radicicola, living on the roots, while the other, which go

be termed gallecola, dwells in galls on the leaves. The latier

2 i : ies, while the

found more especially on the Clinton and its allies, por

former is found on all varieties, but flourishes ate on as

belonging to the vinifera species. ‘The gall-inhabiting pee

in 1856, but the root-inhabi™®

in this country,

noticed and imperfectly described mu 179mm ee

far back as 18%, me

* I have been able to trace them with absolute certainty as this state in

herbarium of Dr. Engelmann is a specimen of wild riparia gathered in SH" Ts

that year, the leaves of which are disfigured by the very same gall.

AN Be ee er Se eee or = J =

SE) Pag te a at a E ere ee! =

ha ae ee on cee Se em Pe OR Page an sp

eS Oe Sere: ig ee ae, Een) bn LAS nae

GRAPE DISEASE. 629

type, being less conspicuous, was unknown in this country till

last year.

Such an insect is very readily transported from one country to

another on grape roots, seedlings, etc., and just as our Apple,

root-louse (Eriosoma lanigera Hausm.) was imported into Europe

towards the close of the last century. so we find that our Grape-

louse was similarly imported, in all probability within the last

decade. The mode of transport will become all the more intel-

ligible when I state that M. Signoret showed me, last July, the yet

living progeny of some lice which he had placed in a tightly-

corked glass tube the year before; and that he had managed to

keep a few alive for study through the siege of Paris up to the

time mentioned.

Nothing would be more natural than its introduction at Bor-

deaux, where M. Laliman has, for a number of years, been assidu-

ous in the cultivation and trial of our different American vines.

Or it might have been introduced at the nurseries of the Audebert

Bros., near Tarascon,* where all sorts of American plants have

been cultivated ; and, if I mistake-not, M. Planchon with commend-

able zeal, has so thoroughly sifted the history of the subject in

France that he can trace the first invasion, with tolerable certainty,

to a point near this place, Tarascon. It doubtless existed in

France a few years before its injuries attracted attention, and the

first notice of its work was made in the vineyard of M. de Penar-

van, at Ville-neuve-les-Avignon, in 1863. The scourge soon

increased and spread, and in 1868 and 1869 acquired such dimen-

sions as thoroughly to alarm the great grape-growing districts of

beautiful France. At first all sorts of hypotheses were put forth

as to its cause. Some book-worms even thought they had found

in this root-louse the Phtheir of the ancient Greeks, but the intel-

ligent labors of M. Planchon dispelled all such illusions, and

and proved that the Phtheir of the ancients was a true bark-louse

(Dactylopius longispinus Targ.) of a totally different nature and

still existing in the Crimea.+

shows that this nursery has not

reclude the possibility of the

ate, if the spread of

e, without attracting

aea a

_ *M. Laliman, in the essay already mentioned (p. 63),

existed for nearly fifteen years; but this fact does not p

„lonse having been first introduced there. d only indic

the disea be traced from that point, that it existed in Franc

attention, at an earlier epoch than is generally supposed

_tSee an Essay entitled La Phthiriose on Pédiculaire

Bulletin de la Soc. des Agr. de France, July, 1870.

de la Vigne chez les Anciens.

630 : GRAPE DISEASE.

In this manner our root-louse was known and studied in a

foreign land before its presence was even suspected in this—its

native country. `

Conciuston — No Neep.or Unnecessary ALARM.— Knowledge

of the facts I have here brought forth need not alarm the grape-

grower any more than correct knowledge of some indisposition,

hitherto incomprehensive and consequently uncured, should alarm

the human patient. It was only a few years ago that our eyes were

opened to the true character of the entozoon known as Trichina

spiralis, and there can be little doubt but that previous to our

knowledge of this parasite many a death occasioned by it was

attributed to other unknown causes. It may not be more easy to

cure the disease now than it was formerly, but we are, by under-

standing its nature, enabled easily to guard against and prevent it.

“ Full knowledge of the truth,” says Helmholz, “ always brings

with it the cure for the damage which imperfect knowledge may

occasion.” The Phylloxera has always existed on our vines, and

those varieties which in the past have best withstood its attacks

will be very likely to do so in the future. The presence of a few

lice on such varieties need cause no fear, for the idea of ever

entirely exterminating such an insect from the country must w

perfectly utopian, and all we can do is to watch and more partic-

ularly care for those varieties that most easily succumb. In the

future, the vineyardist will be enabled, by the revelations here

made, to trace to a definite cause many a failure which has hitherto

been wrapped in conjecture and mystery. :

In thus calling the attention of the grape growing community

to this interesting little insect, which is sapping the roots of their

vines, my intention is to do good and not cause unnecessary

consternation. Let me hope that others may be induced to study

the microscopic plague and thus not only assist to fill the gaps

yet occurring in its natural history, but help us to become aan!

masters of it. Only those who have witnessed ,

it has made abroad, where in three years it caused a ope

25,000,000 francs in the single department of Vaucluse, Frances

can fully appreciate its importance and its power,

circumstances, to do harm.

I must remind those who live outside of

observations in this country have been confine ,

of this State and apply more especially to this portion

Missouri, that my

Pre Te ee chime a ae nS EY ae ee

under favorable

J to different parts

RN en ES 25 sr

aos AE aie a DN cog ce) ot Leah Re gre ene ee RE ie eee nal | ee Sy gM Steg EE re

Psat we

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 631

Mississippi Valley. The insect occurs, however, very generally

over the country east of the Mississippi river, even into Canada ;

and there are strong indications that it produces similarly injurious

effects elsewhere. To give a single example :—according to the

records, most of the vineyards on Staten Island which were flour-

ishing in 1861, and which were composed principally of Catawba,

had failed in 1866, and Mr. G. E. Meissner, of Bushberg, who

then owned a vineyard on that island, informs me that he had

noticed the nodosities, and that the roots of the dying vines had

wasted away.* I cannot conclude without publicly expressing

my indebtedness to Messrs. Lichtenstein and Planchon, of Mont-

pellier, France, for the cordial and generous manner in which they

gave me every facility for studying the insect there, and witness+

ing experiments in the field.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Recenr DISCOVERIES IN OrnirHoromy.— The authors’ courtesy

places two very notable papers on our table. I. Prof. Morse’s

embryological studies + have furnished one of the most important

contributions ever offered in this country to our knowledge of the

structure and development of birds. His entirely original re-

searches, conducted with scrupulous care, in the most candid

spirit, not only confirm the late determinations of Gegenbaur and

other European anatomists, but take a long step beyond. We

have from time to time been apprised of the author’s progress in

the investigation, and since its close have

Closest scrutiny. In stating the points we

has established, we must also indicate those that we hold to be

still questionable.

Prof. Morse finds four tarsal bones. Three of these have been

very generally recognized of late, although rejected or at most not

_ *Since the above was written, I have listened to am essay 0” ‘Grapes, eE

Manny, of Freeport, Stephenson county, Illinois. In this essay, which was read before

the Ilinois State Horticultural Society, the writer states that his Delaware, Iowa and

— vines lose their lower roots. He attributes this loss of roots to = tenacity of

soil (th + ies f A n } measure

i a Y Owi

by grafting on Clinton roots.

t On the Carpus and Tarsus of Birds. By EDWARD S. MORS®,

Nat. Hist., N. Y., X, 1872.

Ph.D. Ann. Lyc.

632 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

fully accepted, by such an eminent authority, for instance, as

Owen, whom the author very properly arraigns for his unphilo-

sophic handling of the carpal-tarsal homologies. They are twonear

bones, anchylosing together, and with the tibia, serving to form the

characteristic avian bitrochlear malleoli; and one far bone which

unites with the metatarsals. For these Prof. Morse accepts the

determinations implied in Gegenbaur’s nomenclature, calling them

tibiale, fibulare and centrale (astragalus, caleaneum and naviculare).

Many interesting details of the form, time and mode of fusion,

etc., in different species are given. The fourth bone is a “new”

one, the recognition of which as an integral element of the avian

tarsus we owe to Prof. Morse. Authors have described a so

called “ process of the astragalus” in certain birds, and it has been

stated that the astragalus of higher vertebrates represents the

tibiale and the intermedium (of reptiles), connate ; but it remained

for Prof. Morse to determine that a certain “ pre-tibial” bone of

a species of heron, noted in Prof. Wyman’s manuscript, ae

published, as finally uniting the astragalus to form a “ process

identical with that described by Huxley, is a distinct tarsal element

which, for anything appearing to the contrary, must be identified

with the reptilian intermedium. We consider this view entirely

reasonable —in fact, we know of no other warrantable conclusion

from our present data, und we are thus prepared to adopt all of

Prof. Morse’s views respecting the composition of the avian tarsus,

without reserve or qualification. ,

If we must think that he has not been equally suc ae

determining the structure of the carpus, we are at least prep™

to show cause for our lacking faith in some of his pe

Respecting this segment the author writes: “In the fore 4

or wing there are at least four carpal bones, two

mal series, and two in the distal series. -a

carpals occur, as in the” etc. The two of the near series sae a”

that persist free in the adult carpus, well known as pan

(or “ scapholunar ”) and *‘ cuneiform,” or, in better ope ae

radiale and ulnare. The two far bones come of Paste fae

resolution of the so-called “ epiphysis of the metacarpal pas ae

carpal elements, one capping the mid-metacarpal, the ool

annularis. Since the metacarpals of higher vertebrates; a

that of the pollex, are well known to lack a proximal ep!P:

part in question was early determined to belong to the .

cessful in

in the prost

When more than four

hysis, the :

REVIEWS AND BOOK: NOTICES. 633

though it has been generally recognized as only a single bone.

Prof. Morse’s figures show plainly that there are always two

ossific centres, and that the ossicles are often as distinct from

each other as are the metacarpals they respectively cap. This

important point may be considered as established. The author is

uncertain of the homologies of these two far bones, querying whether

that one capping the mid-metacarpal be intermedium and centrale

connate, or carpale iii (“ magnum ”) ; but he provisionally holds

it as carpale iii, and the other as carpale iv, as marked in all his

figures.

The sentence we have italicized above will be met with surprise

if not with suspicion, and we cannot believe, upon the data fur-

nished, that more than four carpals occur. Indeed, the author

himself explicitly records his uncertainty respecting the “ extra”

carpals mentioned as apparently present in Tyrannus and Den-

dræca. The piece marked “c” in figure 47 (Tyrannus) is doubt-

less “ the result of accidental pressure” which separated it from

carpale iii, while that marked “2” in figure 48 (same bird) seems

unquestionably pressed apart from radiale; in each case we would

emphasize the author’s words: ‘‘it is safe to reject its occurrence

for the present.” In the case of Dendreeca, we think that the diffi-

culty of the supposed extra carpal can be satisfactorily explained.

Prof. Morse has been led to believe that “ the ulnare may unite

with the ulna,” because he several times observed a close mutual

_ appression of the two bones, and failed to find an ulnare at all in

two instances. But in figure 43, where no ulnare is represented,

we are satisfied that the missing bone simply escaped the field of

the microscope; while in figure 44, the bone marked “i” and

Supposed to be an additional carpal on the radial side is, in our

judgment, the ulnare itself accidentally displaced to the right. In

this last figure, it will be observed, the author queries the ulnare

as having anchylosed with the ulna; but unless we are altogether

misinformed, no such anchylosis ever occurs. In all birds, so far

as we know, the ulnare persists free, and gives an insertion to the

Jlexor metacarpi ulnaris (just as is incidentally shown in fig. 34).

Accounting as above for the respective disagreements of figures

43, 44, 47 and 48 with the others, all the figures show clearly the

four carpal bones that the author may justly claim to have

established.

Respecting the carpal-tarsal homologies, of which the author

634 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

does not specially treat, we should say that, while the antitypy of

tibiale and ulnare and of fibulare and radiale appears unquestion-

able, observations are wanted to show the relations of the remain-

ing tarsal bones with those of the distal carpal series; for if

Prof. Morse correctly identifies the latter as carpale iii and iv, these

do not correspond with those of the tarsus determined as interme-

dium and centrale.

This remarkably able paper is illustrated with two colored plates

containing forty-eight figures from the author’s accomplished pen-

cil, representing exactly what he saw. We trust that Prof. Morse

will continue his admirable embryological studies, and show us

more new things. Ornithology has plentiful need of workers of

his stamp.

II. Although we only undertake to give a complete record of

American papers relating to ornithology, we shall have frequent

occasion to notice foreign publications of general interest or special

importance. Prof. Reinhardt* makes an important announcement

respecting ‘l’os crochu” (os uncinatum) observed by Magnus m

Pheenicophzeus, and which, he states, is the same as the ossiculum

_lacrymo-palatinum described by Brandt in Tachypetes and various

Procellariide. He further states that this bone is highly charat

teristic of the Musophagide, having found it in all the genera and

nearly half the species of Turacous. He describes its peculiarities

in detail. Among the Cuculide, besides Phenicopheus, hebat

seen it in Zanclostomus, Rhinortha and Eudynamys, whilst it 18

wanting in Centropus and several American forms. 4 the Ae

nder fal-

that the frigate alone of Steganopodes is petrel-like in supe

aspects. The bone appears to be as characteristic ae

iide as of the Turacous, occurring in nearly all of the gene BE

that family, though among the “* stormy petrels ” (Thalass :

vcr.) it is merely represented by a ligament; Reinhardt

relationship it may indicate does not appear. Prof.

agrees with Brandt that the function of the bone

the olfactory than to the visual apparatus.

relates rather z

* Om en hidtil ukjendt Knogle i Hovedskallen hos Turakoerne cimao ne

J. pr. Vidensk. Meddel. f. d. Naturh. Foren. Kjöbenhavn. :

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 635

The author takes the opportunity of correcting Huxley’s hasty

o NA respecting the absence of basipterygoids in Procel-

æ-an error which, however, had been already exposed.*

Méhough these processes are absent in Diomedea and rudimentary

in “ Thalassidroma,” they are well developed in other genera; and

the fact is, that basipterygoids are highly characteristic of the

Procellariide.— ELLIOTT Cours

GUIDE To THE Srupy or Insects.t— A third and revised edition

of this work has appeared with a few changes and additions

of considerable importance. The author calls attention to the

change in his views as to the number of segments in the head of

six-footed insects; there being four instead of seven. A brief

account of the recent discovery of Parthenogenesis in the pupa

of a Chironomus is given ; and also of wax-secreting glands lately

found in wax-producing insects, 7. e., the bees, aphides and bark

lice (Coccide). Moreover a correct figure of the caterpillar and

chrysalis of Melitea Harrisii, takes the place of the incorrect

representation in the first two editions, while a short notice of

e worm-like mites, Linguatulina, is inserted.

The Appendix consists of illustrated notices of the early stages

of certain ichneumon parasites ; of the embryonal membranes of in-

sects ; of the development of the louse : the mode of formation of the

Wings of insects ; of Paolia, a remarkable fossil carboniferous insect

and of abdominal sense organs of certain insects, while sketches

of Schiédte’s new classification of the Hemiptera, and Thorell’s

arrangement of the spiders are presented. Two plates are added,

Uustrating injurious and beneficial insects. Two other steel

plates, one of lice, the other of Thysanura are added, and several

_ new species of insects referred to.

Tue Desmips.{ Microscopists will welcome this beautiful

memoir on the desmids of Sweden. It will be invaluable to

erican observers, as there is so much similarity between the

*By = Som ESTREETS. Proc. Phila. Acad., 1870, 85.

o the Study of hiisak and a Treatise on those injurious and peneficial to

Crops: for the use of Colleges, Farm-Schools, and Agriculturists. By A.S. Packard,

Ts Poe With 15 plates and 670 woodcuts. Third edition. Salem, 1872. 8vo. pp.

midiaceis, pai in Suecia invente sunt. Observationes critice. Auctore

tDe

P. M. regan Cum tabulis V, pp. 100. Nova Acta of the Royal Society of Sciences of

636 BOTANY. ZOOLOGY.

desmid floras of the two countries. It is written entirely in Latin.

Five excellent plates illustrate the paper.

BOTAN.:

LEMNA POLYRRHIZA.— While botanizing last week on the Platte

river in Nebraska, I found, near Fremont, large quantities of Lemna

polyrrhiza, and upon close inspection to my great joy found many

specimens in bloom. As this is rarely found in bloom, it may per- _

haps be deemed worthy of record. I secured specimens which I

shall be glad to distribute. I may as well mention also that in the

same trip I found Euphorbia marquiata in great abundance in

western and northwestern Iowa, though Prof. Gray puts it as far

west as the “ plains of Kansas and Nebraska.” —C. E. Bussey, Towa

State Agricultural Coll.

New Borantcat Works. — A new part of Bentham and Hooker's

“Genera Plantarum” is in the printer’s hands, as we learn from

Trimen’s “Journal of Botany,” and is expected to be out by the

end of October. It will comprise Rubiacæ, Composite, and the

intervening orders.

Mr. M. C. Cook’s new journal “ Grevillea,” devoted to Crypto-

gamic Botany and its literature, contains much that will interest 3

American botanists. The August number continues Mr. C. A. F

Peck’s “New York Fungi,” and announces that a series of papers

on North American Fungi, by Rey. J. M. Berkeley will be begu

in the September number.

We have received the first number of the “ Transactions of p

Imperial Botanic Garden at St. Petersburg,” an octavo of 1

pages, printed partly in Russian and partly in Latin.

ZOOLOGY. ca -

TORNARIA, THE YOUNG STAGE OF BALANOGLOSSUS- = abil l =

opment of Tornaria has at last been solved. As 18 i it a stale —

Müller, Krohn, Fitz Müller and myself have considered Tanai

fish embryo. The analogy between a Brachiolaria = the jatter ig

seems complete and no one questioned the position T ornaria t0 :

till Metznikoff in 1870 was fortunate enough to ti it changed

a later phase of development — to his astonishm :

into an annelid. Of course, in view of the affinities

wR Moat

ZOOLOGY. 637

ted by Huxley) of the worms and echinoderms, it was most

important that Metznikoff’s observations should be repeated, and

if possible the genus of annelids, of which Tornaria was the

young, accurately ascertained. The annelid raised by Metznikotf

was most peculiar and, in absence of other evidence, he suggested

the possibility of its being a young Balanoglossus. I have been

able this summer to raise Tornaria and to obtain young annelids

somewhat older than those observed by Metznikoff, tracing at the

same time the development of the branchie as diverticula from

the esophagus, and also to find the young annelid of Tornaria a

species of Balanoglossus (of which the adult is quite common at

low water mark at Newport and at Beverly, Mass.), but slightly

older than those raised directly from the Tornaria stage. The

details of this interesting embryology will shortly be published.

—A. AGASSIZ

Tue Pecurtar Cororatron or Fishes, mentioned by your cor-

respondent Richard Bliss, is, it appears to me, susceptible of easy

explanation. The pigment-cells containing the brilliant crimson,

orning the skins of cyprinide and other fishes, are rea ily

opened and closed under excitement and other influences. When

brilliant Cyprinid are confined in aquaria they speedily lose

their color by the closing of the cells, but it may be readily re-

stored by scratching the surface with the point of an instrument,

Which reopens the cells. Even specimens freshly placed in weak

alcohol may sometimes be made to display bright color by the

same process. When the alcohol is strong, it may so contract the

surrounding tissue as to expose the contents of the cells, as in

the case observed by Mr. Bliss. —Epw. D. Core.

A New Species or PASSERCULUS FROM EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

In December, 1868, I took a sparrow at Ipswich which was then

supposed to be Centronyx Bairdii. In the autumn of 1870, I took

two more of the same species, also at Ipswich ; but upon visiting

the Smithsonian Institution this spring and comparing these speci-

mens with the original C. Buirdii, I have come to the conclusion

that they are specifically distinct. They are closely allied to the

Savanna sparrow and evidently belong to the same genus; I

therefore propose to name the Massachusetts bird Passerculus

638 GEOLOGY. MICROSCOPY.

see no good generic character by which it can be separated. A

description and figure of this new Passerculus, will be found in the `

“ Naturalists’ Guide” (page 112) under the name of Centronys

Bairdii, with a history of the capture of the first specimen and also

an account of how this name came to be applied to it. It will like-

wise be understood that the name of Centronyx Bairdii, given in a

notice in the May number of the Naturaxist (page 307) by Mr.

Brewster, should read Passerculus princeps.

The Thalasseus Havelii, mentioned by Mr. Brewster in the same

article, should also read Sterna Forsterii, for I have become con-

vinced by carefully studying a large number of specimens that the

Thalasseus Havelii = Sterna Huavelii of authors, is the young of

Sterna Forsteriit. — C. J. MAYNARD.

GEOLOGY.

OIL Creek PETROLEUM KNOWN IN THE LAST CenTurY.—At à

meeting of the California Academy of Sciences, July 15th, Mr.

. C. Stearns presented a communication, embodying be

following extract from the Massachusetts Magazine published in

the year 1789, Vol. i, p. 416, showing that the existence of

petroleum in Pennsylvania was known at that period :

“ In the northern part of Pennsylvania, there is a creek —

halted at this spring, collected some of the oil and bathe

joints with it. This gave them great relief

with which they were afflicted. The water o

drank freely operated as a gentle purge.”

MICROSCOPY. yrs

Succrsstve Porarization or Licat.—This curious S0% “

procedure has been accomplished in connection with the —

polarizing microscope, by Mr. J. W. Stephenson. ne gre

fitting of the polarizer, between the polarizing prism and the

he places, mounted so as to have a rotating movement py the

a truncated glass prism having its broadest face pipt Ts

sugar of milk process, and its other faces so situated eer

polarized by passing through the Nicol’s prism m oe

of itso%

NOTES. 639

parallel to the silvered surface, is refracted, on entering the prism,

' meets the silvered surface at an angle of 72° and is, after reflec-

tion, refracted on leaving the prism into a course parallel to that

at which it entered. Some of the curious effects produced are

mentioned in the Transactions of the Royal Microscopical Society.

A Douste Erecrine Brnocutar.— In the Report of the Croy-

don Microscopical Club, it is stated that at its last annual meeting

there was exhibited an erecting binocular on Mr. Stephenson’s

plan, made double so that two persons could examine the object

at the same time.

ANGULAR APERTURE or THE Eyr.—It having been carelessly

assumed that in order to obtain a perfectly natural effect, the

lenses of a photographic camera must be reduced to a linear aper-

ture 2, in., the average diameter of the pupil of the human eye,

and that a large aperture gives objects differently from ordinary

vision, Mr. G. S. Cundell observes, in the “ Monthly Microscop-

ical Journal,” that the ocular focus is only about s in., an

therefore only four times its linear aperture. A corresponding

size of camera lens having 12 inch focus would be 3 inches, not

inch. Such a lens, so far as aperture is concerned, would be as

free from aberrations and “ distortion” as the human eye. For the

sake of stereoscopic effect he would use a lens of 2} inches diam-

eter, that corresponding with the average distance apart of the

human eyes, and reproducing the object, a head for instance, as

We see it in nature, without the hard, cutting lines of monocular

Vision, which all painters deprecate and avoid.

NOTES.

We take pleasure in calling the attention of our readers to the

publication, in another portion of this number, of the several

memorials made to the Commissioners of the Central Park in New

York, relative to Dr. Hawkins, and the restoration of his work so

wantonly destroyed by order of Mr. Hilton, who, we understand,

is no longer in charge of the works of art and nature which he

evidently did not have the education fully to appreciate. As these

memorials are the expression of the most cultivated and influential

class of citizens of New York, and can but meet with a warm

response throughout the country, we trust that the present Board

Of Commissioners will fully realize the importance of restoring

640 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. BOOKS RECEIVED.

Dr. Hawkins’ work and of allowing him to extend the very instruc-

tive series which he had planned. Not only does it devolve on —

the Commissioners to render justice to Dr. Hawkins, but also, by

the restoration of the work and the reinstatement of Dr. Hawkins,

to remove a blot from the fair fame of American science.

It seems as if the interference with the work of scientific men and

their snubbing by the “ Heads of Departments ” had been epidemic

of late, for not only have we to regret the treatment of Dr. Hawkins

and Dr. Parry in this country, but also the equally outrageous

treatment of Dr. Hooker by the Head Commissioner of the Kew

Gardens in England, as lately made public in “ Nature. ” Are

we really going back to the early days of science, when a scientific

man was looked upon as a subject for the mad house, or is it owing

to the fact that ‘* brains are scarce in high places?” i

We take this occasion to correct an impression which we find is

held by some of our readers relative to the American Museum of

Natural History, which is supposed by many persons not acquainted

with the complex system of the Central Park, to be under the

same government as that which Mr. Hilton represented, and that

its officers were in a measure responsible for the outrage perpe-

trated. Such is not the case, and we should feel grea

any remarks of ours had been construed to the disadvantage of

that institution, which we believe to be doing. good work an

worthy of all assistance from scientists throughout the country-

i obliged

[Wishing to give the address by Prof. Gray in this number we have ame ]

to postpone a large amount of Miscellaneous matter which was in type.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

C. B. G., New York.—The spider is Epeira spinea of Hentz.

BOOKS RECEIVED. eye”

unas iii. By Prot A P. ioin al

1372, (Received Aug

uly 16, 1872. PP. w

Preliminary Description of new Tertiary Mamma a Fr

lished Aug- 13, 1872. (Heoeived, Aug. 14, 1872.) 8vo 9

gy pe d Arts. sept. 15872. t A,

inoceras anceps, By se Cc. Ma brah iái Augus

P om Oct.

ngs Aca pr A Natural Dilan, le riladelphia. Syo. pp. 13-88..

Procee:

Transactions of the To perial Botanic Garden of St. Petersburg. er is i, pern Edited

Gr seilen. o ' Pony ecord of Cryptogamic Botany. August, F

Mice of some New Tertiary and Post-Tertiary Birds. By a one pps

ice o sey ew Tertiary an ost- Tertiary k : y -

ug. ¿ 2. Received Aug. 31.) From the Amer. Tonk Se ar 1M boa Part I por

Sept. 6, 1872, a.” (keceived d Sept Dd 91872) From Amer. FA Arte y lished August

Preliminary Desc Tertiary Mam 12.

1872. From ‘American al of Science. Sept, 18 1871. Svo. PP: 36.

Die Grundlagen des ean Journ gesetzes, Von G. R.v, "hun pn gvo. pp. 16

Die Wirbelfauna Niederosterreichs. Von G.. E vy, Frauen!

Der Vogeischutz. Von G, R. v. Frauenfeld. Wien. 1871. svo.

THS

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.— NOVEMBER, 1872.— No. ll.

EEEO D ON

NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS

i « PLUMMETS.”

BY JOHN G. HENDERSON.

Ar various points in the United States from the Atlantic Ocean

to the Pacific, the curious aboriginal relics which form the subject

of this paper have been found. In the absence of any other name

for them they have been generally designated as “Plummets,” a

name suggested by their similarity to the implements of that

name, used by civilized man, for the purpose of determining

perpendicular and horizontal lines. They are made of copper,

stone and iron ore, and are found both upon the surface of the

ground and at various depths in the earth, sometimes as many as

thirty feet below the surface. They have been found in the

mounds of Ohio, at the foot of the “ Bluffs” of the Mississippi in

apparently undisturbed drift clay, and in the auriferous deposits of

able Mountain, California.

A ‘singular almond-shaped flint implement, found among the

other relics. of art of the mound builders, for a long time puz-

zled archeologists, but at length the problem was solved by

finding a number of them in an Ohio mound, lying side by side,

Indicating that by having strips of wood securely fastened on

each side, they had once formed part of a sword-like weapon, like

What was found in the hands of the natives when Cortez landed in

Mexico, and proved so effective, that a man could be cut in two with

3 i aa dela i a al ARREST SLES SRN EEE

SCIENCE, i rding to the Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

n the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 41 (641)

642 NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS.

it, or a horse killed at a single blow. It is described as a “ two-

handed staff, about three feet and a half long, in which at regular

distances, were inserted transversely, sharp blades of itzli (obsid-

ian).” Some accidental discovery of this kind may sometime

indicate to us the use of these strange ‘* plummet” implements,

wrought with so much care, and bearing such a striking similarity

to each other, whether found in the débris of the mountains of

California, the mounds of Ohio, or on the banks of the Missis-

sippi. In the meantime we can only speculate upon the uses made

of them, and in this paper I propose to enumerate, describe and

figure some of them, show the circumstances under which they

were found and offer some conjectures upon their uses.

Fig. 132 represents what may be styled the typical form of

these implements. It is made of iron ore, ground down and

polished, until it is almost as smooth as glass. It is one of eight

found by Henry Root, Esq., of Quincy, Illinois. ‘They “=

found two miles north of Quincy, at the foot of the Mississipp!

Bluff, about two feet from the surface, embedded in solid clay. 4

Two were found in digging one post hole, and six others within

a few feet.” The one figured * above is in my possession, another

one of the same number very much like it, is deposited in the

State Geological collection at Springfield, Illinois. Prof. Worthen

informs me that the iron ore, out of which they were manufac-

tured, was obtained from Iron Mountain in Missouri.

A fragment of one found in Scott County, Illinois, upon the

surface of the earth was also made of iron ore.

are very much worn, as if ground down by hand or by time. A

' Another one (Fig. 133), having the general shape of wr p?

except that it is much wider in the widest part, was sipo a

on the surface of the earth near the Illinois River in Scott County:

The dotted lines are the restoration of the sm

broken off. This was found in a field on top of the bl

ardner. Within a mile of where it was picked up 1$

axes, etC-

the site

` found. In the burying ground, upon a hill near by, a

of funeral se inayat ceed practised by the Indians of

this locality, when discovered by

the seventeenth century. Upon opening &

in diameter and three feet in height, I foun ite

* All the cuts here given are of the exact size of the implements.

d as many 89 OB

The broken ends

all end, which was —

uff by Mr.

= are

an old. Indian village, where pottery, arrow heads, apre :

art al

the French in the latter part 2

mound about wn.

NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS. 643

skeletons, all showing distinctly the marks of fire. They were

own together. without any regularity whatever. There were

no ashes nor cinders in the mound, which led me to believe that

the bodies had been burned near by and the charred remains

thrown upon the tomb of the person whose remains were found

below them. The bones of this single individual were found at

the base of the mound. He (or rather she, for from the skull

I judge that it was a female) was buried originally in a sitting

Fig, 182,

Tron Ore (natural size). Gray Crinoidal Limestone (nat. size).

posture, but the weight of the superincumbent earth had forced

or crowded the vertebra of the neck into the bifurcation of the

lower jaw, and had twisted the head down to one side, so that

When found the skull was resting on its side with the face to the

east. A skull remarkably flattened by artificial means, or distorted,

Was found, similar to that of the Peruvian Child, plate No.

10, of Dr. Mortons “ Crania Americana.” We here see evi-

dence of two practices, that of sacrificing the living upon the

644 NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS.

grave of the dead, and the distortion of the skull, both of which

were common among the Natchez and other „tribes upon the

lower Mississippi, but neither of which was practised by tribes

living upon the banks of the Upper Mississippi, since its discov-

ery. Whether the “ plummet” found near their village belonged

to them, or to some older population, can only be a matter of

conjecture. The implement is made of a whitish limestone con-

taining numerous small joints of Crinoids.

A much smaller implement, but evidently used for the same

purpose (Fig. 134), was found sixteen feet below the surface of the

Fig. 134. Fig. 135. Fig. 136,

——"

ee es

Aee

Zee

a +, í

', and Silver

Copper PPR

„mat.

earth, in Brown County, Illinois. It is made of green stone

With it were found a small stone scraper and a small disk. | seats

locality where it was found was the bed of a ravine which i

been filled up by soil washed from higher ground. pee

The one represented in figure 135 is copied from Schoo! |

work, Vol. IV, 175. He describes it as “a fisherman’s sinker, 0

the Penacook tribe, accurately wrought in stone.” “<a

In amound at Marietta, Ohio, ‘ near the feet of a skeleton in

found a piece of copper (Fig. 136) weighing three ounces (20W

t. size) Stone (nat. size).

NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS. . 645

the Museum of the Antiquarian Society of Worcester). From

its shape it appears to have been used as a plumb or for an orna-

ment, as near one of the ends is a circular crease or groove for

tying a thread; it is round, two inches and a half in length, one

inch in diameter at the centre, and half an inch at each end. It

is composed of small pieces of native copper pounded together ;

and in the cracks between the pieces, are stuck several pieces of

silver, one nearly the size of a half dime. A piece of ochre or

paint, and a piece of iron ore (hematite) which had the appearance

of having been partially vitrified (polished) were found.” “ The

body of the person here buried was laid upon the surface of the

ground, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the south-

west. From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal and bits

of partially burned fossil coal, and the black color of the earth, it

would seem that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire ;

and while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat

stones had been laid around and over the body. * * *

“The mound had every appearance of being as old as any in the

neighborhood and was, at the first settlement of Marietta, covered

with large trees. It seems to have been made for this single per-

sonage, as the remains of one skeleton only were discovered.

The bones were much decayed, and many of them crumbled to

dust on exposure to the air.”*

About ten years ago one of these implements was found, under

remarkable circumstances, in Woodbridge County, California.

From a paper read by Dr. J. W. Foster before the American Asso-

ciation for the Advancement of Science, at Chicago, 1868, I extract

the following description. ‘The workmen after digging thirty

eet below the surface struck a plummet composed of sienite, ground

smooth and formed into a double cone, showing that it was sus-

pended by a string and used to determine perpendicular lines.

It affords an example of the lapidary’s skill superior to anything

furnished by the stone age in either continent.” The well was

sunk by Jeremiah Wood, on the premises of Mr. McNeely. But

if the depth in the earth, at which this specimen was found, 18

calculated to impress us with the great antiquity of these imple-

ments, what shall we say of those found in Table Mountain, 1n

the same state? Ina paper read by Professor W. P. Blake, before

* Aboriginal Monuments of New York, by E. G. Squier.

646 NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS.

find the following description of the mountain and the relics of

art found in it, among which were ‘‘some instruments resembling

plummets.” Where the mountain now stands was a valley trav-

ersed by a river. Here ages since, there commenced a deposit

with gold, pebbles, mud and sand. Volcanic action encrusted

these with ashes, and at last all was covered by the lava. As the

valley filled up, the water of the river cut on each side of the

accumulating mass a channel commencing at the base of the

deposit of lava. In time it washed its way until the Table

Mountain stands erect and two valleys are formed, one on either

side of it. This mountain extends with its flat summit for miles,

its surface edge being a bold bluff of black appearing rock, with

little or no vegetation upon its plane. The thickness of the entire

deposit averages from one to two hundred feet, the height of the

lava above the newly formed valleys being from one thousand

to fifteen hundred feet. The miner seeking the auriferous deposit,

having, by sinking a shaft, ascertained the greatest depth of the

whole deposit, tunnels from the side of the valley, and this prices

has brought to light teeth of extinct mammalia as well as relics of

human art. Among these were two stone objects which were ve

posed to be shovels used in cooking, by placing them upon or ino

the burning fuel; a mortar or dish, some instruments resembling

plummets, and several spear heads.” *

In all the specimens thus far described, no effort whatever was

made by the artist to modify the form of the implement for the

sake of either ornament or novelty, except the Marietta speci-

men, which had silver worked in the crevices. Whether of stone,

: ‘ j : with the

copper or iron ore, it consists simply of a double cone,

bulge nearer the base than top, and a very slight groove p wie

the small end, for the purpose of tying the string by which it

suspended. Not even a line or mark is found upon their sm ee

polished surfaces, but the following relic (Figs. 137 and maser

exception to the above rule. The profile is neatly cut 2s artical

: pos ; instrument.

artist had worked with a sharp cutting 1n to it a strong

occiput, retreating forehead and massivé jaws, give

that the aboriginal artist was attemptin ae

trait, or at least, that he had succeeded in presenting t

teristic features of the Red Indian.

*AMERICAN NATURALIST, vol. II, P. 388.

The streaks of black paint 4

a eas is Jas cre heey EAE o

NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS, 647

above and below the eyes, the black eye-balls and scalp-lock, give

to it a hideous look which, perhaps, caused it to be looked upon

with reverential awe by its superstitious aboriginal owner, or the

modern Indian who perhaps found it, a relic of some older race,

and finished it to his own liking by the addition of the black paint.

A glance at fig. 138, which is a back view of fig. 137, shows that the

primitive artist preserved as far as the nature of his design would

admit, the general plummet form shown in the other implements

Fig. 137. Fig. 138.

Dark Limestone (nat. size). Back view of Fig. 137.

figured, while the slight groove around the small end shows plainly

that it was to be suspended by a string, and I think fully war-

rants the conclusion that this implement is but a modification of

the plummet, and that they were all used for the same purpose.

It was found on the surface near the Illinois river, in Scott County

and is now in my possession. Upon the left side a small piece

represented by the dotted lines, is broken out and lost. When

this is restored as seen in figure 138, the regular oval form of the

Plummet implements is plainly seen, when viewed from behind.

648 NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS.

I can imagine six different uses which might have been made of

these implements.

lst. They might have been used as sling shots, a string being

attached to the weapon and to the wrist, while the implement

itself was grasped in the hand. While it would make a very

formidable weapon by the addition of weight to the fist, or by

holding to the string and striking with it, after the manner of

civilized roughs, a war-club would be much more formidable, and

would be preferred where there was no motive for concealment;

besides, it requires.a considerable degree of civilization to invent

and fully appreciate the virtues of a sling shot! The Brown

County implement (Fig. 134) is evidently too small for anything

of this kind, unless, like the little flint arrow points, it was used

by the small boys.* |

2d. They might have been used as sinkers for fishing tackle.

Schoolcraft seems to think that the Penacook implement (Fig. 135)

was used by that tribe for this purpose. If this is correct, it does

not prove that they were originally intended for that purpose. I

myself, by casting, made of lead an exact counterpart of fig. 182,

and used it for a sinker for a trout line, and it answered. the pur

pose admirably. I did not try the original implement, becaus?

of the danger of losing it, the smallness of the groove rendering

it impossible for the fingers of a white man to attach it so firmy

to the line as to remove the apprehension of its loss. The amouat

of labor bestowed on the Marietta, Quincy and Woodbridge spe- `

imens, and the inability to fasten them securely to 4 line, a

account of the smallness of the groove, would lead us to believe

that they were not used for this purpose. but

əd. They might have been used in playing some game,

this is only a possibility. We have no account of any ars

played by either savage or civilized men (so far as I know)

which any instrument of this kind is, or could be, used. a

4th. They might have been used as a sacred implement 12

ve v wi ation of a sling st02%

r ; ith the following description ;

Ne = e writing the abo Iy Iha e met with e erbia

eV LHe Weel

th Sea, use in fight a war-like instrument that is very uncomme

plenty of horses, they always attack their enemies on horsebac: iy wrought:

selves with no other weapon than a stone of middling size, curions ie a little above

they fasten by a string, about a yard and a half long, to their righi ei

elbow. These stones they conveniently carry in their ide hi speed, rever

enemies, and then swinging them with great dexterity, as they T 188

fail of doing execution.”—Carvers’ Travels in North America. 1776, P

ter te Diana ea SSS hs a a= Sa aa

;

‘

;

NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS. 649

performance of some religious ceremony. This, like the preceding

supposition, is only a possibility, there being no evidence what-

ever from which we are warranted in deriving such an inference.

5th. They might have been worn as a personal ornament. If

they were used for this purpose, it would seem to me that imple-

ments worked out of iron ore, with the amount of labor which

was bestowed on the Quincy specimens, would be ornamented

with lines or figures. Their very plainness would seem to indicate

the practical use for which they were intended. Besides, the

weight of those made of iron ore would, at least, in the estimation

of a white man, render them inconvenient personal ornaments.

6th. They might have been, and probably were, used for

plummets. Their shape and the groove at the small end suggest

at once, to the eye of a civilized man, that they were used in the

first instance for obtaining a perpendicular line, and then as a

level by drawing a horizontal line, at right angles with the first.

This would easily be accomplished by the use of a wooden or

other square. It has been suggested, that from the nature of the

aboriginal ruins throughout the United States, the primitive

people who made these implements would have had no use for

plummets but it seems to me that the fact that this implement

can also be used as a level, has escaped attention. Indeed the

plummet, suspended to an upright fastened to a horizontal bar, is

-used among us asa level. That the mound builders had the abil-

ity to make the square above suggested, we know from the math-

ematical accuracy of squares and circular enclosures of earth

found everywhere in the Mississippi Valley. Whatever might

have been their use, their great antiquity will not be questioned.

The Brown County, Woodbridge and Table Mountain specimens

indicate that they rank among the very oldest relics of man found

upon this continent, while from that found in the mound at Mari-

etta, we see that they were at least not unknown to the mound

builders, and, if Schooleraft is right, the Penacook specimen

shows it to have been used by the modern Indian.

[EDITORIA

shown by the hundreds of varieties of the pear itself. Local archæologists here in

general consider them as “ sinkers,” principally from their shape and from :

they are more often found along the seashore than in the interior, though no unfre-

650 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE. VALLEY OF QUITO.

quently met with at a distance from the coast.: The very large size of some of the

specimens would perhaps i Saray ome different use from any prope osed by. Mr. Hos-

derson, and in fact some of them idedl

as “ pestles ” that it is almost impossible to raw sa line between ‘the two groups,

which are well marked by their prata epa liar bmi of these instruments has

o caused them to rega

i=]

fe)

®©

cag

fe)

rd t

which they could manufacture by some process akin to weaving, the use of these

implements as weights seems very josin pore as senate EA they would

often be more or less elaborately finished or carved. For my own part I have for

i idered g

-O

i=}

®©

<=.

èr

or l ce

sizé, material, shape and finish, Ist, Pestles, 2d, Sinkers, 3d, Spinning weights, 4th,

Ornaments. That their principal use was as “ plummets” may be perhaps questioned,

o gr

as there are far too many em found, an too great a variation in size to le

us to infer that med were used mainly for that purpose.. Though if it was necessary,

in ancient archit e, to establish a perpendicular line, the impl ats were at hand

as “ Sae a ie ions attached. — F. W. PUTNAM. |

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

THE VALLEY OF QUITO.—No. II.

BY PROF. JAMES ORTON.

——q7“o9:-—-——

ARTICULATES.

Or crustaceans, the only representative, we believe, is & a small

cray-fish abounding in the filthy, stagnant waters about Quito;

its name is undetermined.

In regard to the character of the insect fauna of the Vallo

we quote from a letter addressed by Andrew Murray, Esq-, lie

Packard. ‘It is thoroughly Columbian. It would be natur z

expect that northern types should run down the Andean a a

high elevations like Quito; but I have not found the effect to :

much the presence of such types more there than in the pes

the Columbian district (in which they are very largely intr i

as I think), as the absence of tropical looking species, whieh ws sith

lower down in Venezuela, Cayenne, etc. Not t that there PET

large and gorgeous species, but that the mass seems minute pare also

and of little brilliancy, but still such genera and forms a .

met with in Columbia itself.”

af AS ee gt Sake Se Sinn 78 as a eke ie fat ie ae eee Al > i aes

: 7 A ? oS

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO. 651

The Valley is not rich in insects, and in this respect is in strong

contrast with the Pacific and Napo slopes, where there is no lack

of vegetation, heat and moisture. Collectors have generally con-

fined themselves to these prolific regions, so that the Valley has

not received the attention it deserves. Still more, they have gen-

erally failed to note the vertical and horizontal ranges of the spe-

cies —important data in illustrating distribution and affinities.

A systematic exploration of the equatorial Andes, such as has

been given to Amazonia and Central America by Bates, Salvin

and Godman, will throw much light on the migration and rela-

tion of species and the effect of physical barriers. Messrs.

Hewitson, Walker, Butler and Murray have done most towards

researches of Bates show that the north-western part of South

America constitutes quite a distinct province, having a consider-

able proportion of species peculiar to itself and a general specific

dissimilarity from the adjoining region of Guiano-Amazonia.

The insects of the Valley are not only few in number, but are

dull; there is nothing, e. g., to compare with the magnificent beetle

Hiophord chri STETA of Napo, which is on the same line of

latitude, but eight thousand feet lower. It would be interesting

to know whether the generalization of Bates and Wallace, that

coleoptera are brighter near the tropics than at the equator, is

truer of the high altitudes than of the lowlands.

It would be premature to draw any geological inferences from

our present data, but the change of species seems to show, as

Bates observes, that the Columbian highlands (including the An-

des of New Granada and Ecuador) were formerly separa from

those of Guiana and Mexico.

The following list must be very incomplete.

enoptera. Lepidoptera.

Bombus? funebris S Smith. Pyrameis carya Hiibn.

D pn us Smith. Anartia amalthea Linn.

Apis (sp. Thecla atymna Hew

= ht andak Pack. Dædalma inconspicua Butler.

hophora pilifrons Pack Colias Semperi

Halictus am Pack re eluina ai

&colia bisignata Amphirene Epaphus Latr.

ompilus vin ae Pas Euptychia nossis Hew.

Montezumia Andeus Pick « harmonia Butler

) ari 6 tiessa Butler.

Hypoclinea ursus Mayr

E lï

Catagramma ceryx Hew.

652

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO.

Eueides jara Hew.

Heter “a a Hew

er ii

serie etn Latr

Deltochilum Burmeisteri Har.

TT. 7 + Har

~ D

omala marginicollis De:

a (sp. ?)

Colinus subviolacra G. and P

Chalcolepidius limbatus Esch.

Lampyris (sp. ?

«& pronophila Feld. ? py

Devara ( ?) ees ts lk. Astylus lateralis Buq

Epilais melda B Callichroma Masog: Fabr.

Bombyx mo cist (wht ?) Steirastoma bre n.

Hyperchiria , nyctimina Walk. ee suming Deyr.

pyra regalis Boisd Hippod

Tephrosia litharia sie PA r Burm. ?

politia Cra

es tetragonata ‘Gea.

Cheero: Tzeniotes marmoratus Thom,

asa succedens Wa

Heterolocha ruminaria ‘age:

papi exular al Hemiptera.

Scordylia unanimaria Walk. one capitis De G.

Sybarites loa Guen.

Mo a no s Walk

EHER insana Guen,

piit acti Linn

iieii ismi Stal.

oe tgs immaculata Walk.

longip

pes Walk.

“ stipata Walk.

Diptera. “ lumbea Walk

Pangonia ocellus “ decorata Walk.

Tachina transiens

Tauon lagna Macq.

Per

Walk.

testaceiventris Macq.

Walk.

Triquetra sobria Walk

Hoplophora proxima Walk.

Zammara (sp. ?)

nus Macq.

Toor irritans 1 ‘linn

pene ainn. 7

Disceratus nubiger Seudd.

Coleoptera. Panacanthus varius Walk

Oxygonia Vuillefroyi Chaud. Phasma (sp. ?)

` m ob Ta-

Doubtless many species credited to “ Columbia, eet a i

e vak

nada,” “ Ecuador” and the “ Andes of Quito” occur in

ley; but I have rigidly excluded al

Want of certainty in a given case is in

I have not attempted to elimina

localities.*

interrogation point.

1 such in default of precise

dicated by 2

te introduced

sandy localities, 38

species. The jigger is confined to the lower, flies

at Ambato. In my ascent of Pichincha, I observed large i

near the summit (fifteen thousand five hundred feet) but

unable to give the name. The spiders, of which a hairy species

(Mygale) occurs at Quito, are also undetermined.

peer are cov"

LANTS.

dorian

While the east and west slopes of the Ecua potweell the

ered with a rich, subtropical vegetation, the Valley

“ Ecuador.”

* Kirby gives a list of 227 Diurnal Lepidoptera from

is ie Ria ae te eA ara AAT eh PON IT lage as eet

ag Ay ee si f i aT a a

esi P f a Y su re aie

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO. 653

Cordilleras, including their synclinal sides, is singularly barren.

; he birch-grove of Banos and the cinchona wood of Loja furnish

; the nearest approach to a forest. Herbaceous vegetation pre-

dominates over the arboreal. The “plain,” or bottom of the

Valley, is generally covered with vast quantities of volcanic ashes,

mud and trachyte, with little to relieve the dreary landscape but

hedges of agave, cactus and heliotrope. The neighborhood of

Quitois the most verdant part of the whole basin. The paramos are

treeless, rolling steppes on the shoulders of the mountains, having

an average elevation of twelve thousand feet, and overgrown with

paja, a species of Stipa. High up, reaching even to the snow-limit,

is the peculiar shrub chuquiragua, while the gulleys are sprinkled

with rigid tufts of Valeriana, Viola and Geranium. The last zone

of vegetation consists chiefly of yellow-flowering Composite, the

ruling order throughout the Valley. Last of all the trees is the

Polylepis, reaching the altitude of nearly fourteen thousand feet.

The most common tree in the Valley is the “ Aliso” (Betula acu-

minata) ; and the most abundant moss is the Tayloria erythrodonta.

Flowers are found in Quito all the year round, but the most favor-

able months are December and May. Yellow and blue are the

predominating colors. The higher the altitude the brighter the

hues of any given species. Thus, the Gentiana sedifolia is a

a small, light blue flower in the lowlands, but on the Assuay it has

OFS Pearce See a 2i re Geter cone arcane: Cee) et cae See Ye cee ere rege Sh ah

(5)The large proportion of flowers of intense hues. (

deficiency of spiny and stinging species.

To this I may add what is characteristic of insulated table-

lands as well as oceanic islands, the remarkable absence of large

groups of plants; in other words, the great ordinal and generic

*Tae s. Boussingaultii occurs on Chimbor2zo at the height of sixteen thousand feet.

654 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO.

boldt says: ‘‘' The character of the flora of the elevated plateaux

of Mexico, New Granada and Quito, of European Russia and of-

Northern Asia, consists, in my opinion, not so much in the rela-

tively larger number of species presented by one or two natural

families, as in the more complicated relations of the coexistence

of many families and in the relative numerical value of their spe-

cies.”

The flora of islands and highlands are strikingly akin in their

present features and also in their origin. Both resulted from

migration, for since the great mountain chains are recent up-

heavals, evidently our Alpine plants must be only altered forms of

lowland species.

The flora of Quito has some bearing on the question of a glacial

winter within the tropics. The identity of many plants on moun-

tain summits, separated from each other by hundreds of miles of

lowlands where the Alpine species could not possibly exist, is well

known. The peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees show a number 0

plants like those in Lapland, but nowhere found in the intervening

plains. The flora of the top of Mount Washington is identical

with that of Labrador. Mr. Wallace tells us that the isolated vol-

cano of Pangerango, in Java (which has the same latitude and

altitude as Quito), presents a vegetation closely allied to that of

Europe, and Forbes has shown that the mollusca of Britain mi-

the New World it would follow that by the time the cold

reached its maximum, the now temperate regions of pager

States would be covered by an arctic flora, while the plants indig

enous to the latitude of New York would be driven into or”

and the Isthmus;—as when our winter creeps down from '

. ; Te-

north, our summer birds travel southward. As the warmth

perate plants, unable to bear the returning

lowlands, would scatter,—many species returning t

northern quarters, some of which could not survive ,

perishing utterly, and others, naturally seizing upon the

tg EN EE TAE E aoe ees | ae Ue Ss Say

Na eT 4 ee eS u ome iy (Ae SS oe i áj

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO. 655

mountains, ascending higher and higher as the cold receded, till

they found an asylum at the altitude where the climate. corre-

sponded with that of the latitude of their native home. As the tide

leaves its drift in horizontal lines, so would the living waters leave

their living drift in isothermal lines on the mountains of the

equator.

If, then, a vast glacier covered North America from the Pacific

to the Atlantic, and from the Pole,to the Ohio River, or still more

southerly, the depression of temperature would be sufficient to.

allow some temperate plants to sojourn in the Isthmus, and even

to reach the equator. We should, therefore, look with some con-

fidence for some remnants of our flora on the highlands of New

Granada and Ecuador, or at least for some allied and representative

forms. There would, of course, be some stragglers from the south :

but, as Hooker has remarked, many more plants have migrated

from the north to the south, than in a reversed direction. We

have excellent evidence, says Darwin, that the glacial epoch was

an enormous age, so that there was time enough for such a migra-

tion. Doubtless, there was time also for modification, and some

of these wanderers might exist in their new habitat, as new vari-

eties, or even distinct species. Still they would be plainly related

to their brethren of the Temperate Zone.

The climate of North America 36° 30’ and northward cor-

responds to the climate of the equatorial Andes at the altitude of

eight thousand feet and upwards. The intervening land of Cen-

tral America is too low and tropical to allow the passage of tem-

perate plants by ordinary migration. But if this region was

turned into a temperate zone in the glacial epoch, the chasm is

bridged. Comparing the exogenous flora of the Valley of Quito

with that of our Northern States east of the Rocky Mountains and

eliminating those species which occur in both localities, but are

indigenous to neither, such as chickweed (Stellaria media), straw-

berry (Fragaria vesca), goose grass (Galium aparine), mudwort

(Limosella tenuifolia), black night-shade (Solanum nigrum), pansy

iola tricolor), and peppermint (Mentha piperita), we find the fol-

lowing which are. native to the United States, and also pomar at

Quito :— ( 1) The bellwort (Specularia perfoliata). This isa tem-

Perate plant, and would not be likely to endure the transit of the

tropics as they now are:. We may suppose it was intentionally

introduced by the Quitonians, but this is not probable, as it 1s not

656 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO.

a showy or useful flower ; or that it was accidentally conveyed to the

valley, which is possible. He who doubts it must believe in a spec-

ial creation or the glacial theory. (2) The evening primrose (@no-

thera biennis) ; but as this is found only in the cultivated parts of

the valley, it was doubtless introduced through Europe or down the

western coast, as it occurs also in California. (8) The

nosperm (Ephedra Americana) is found by the shores of Great

Salt Lake, yet appears to be a native of Quito, though Dr. Torrey

doubts their identity. (4) The Erigeron gnaphalioides of Gray

grows in Texas and about Quito. I know no other species appar

ently indigenous to Quito and the United States.*

If we take a more general survey, we shall find that the largest

order in Quito, as in‘the United States, is the Composite. But

here the correspondence ends.

The following list of orders shows their relative importance in

the two countries :—

United States. Quito Valley.

1. Composite. 1. Composite.

2. Leguminosz. 2. Scrophulariacee.

3. Rosaceæ. 8. Labiate.

4. Scrophulariacez. 4. Leguminose.

5. Ranunculacee. 5. Cruciferz.

6. Labiate. f 6. Rosaceæ.

7. Cruciferz. 7. Ranunculacee.

The Composite have one hundred and fifteen genera in the

United States, and fifty-six at Quito, nineteen of which are com-

mon to both, but no species alike. The Leguminosae have fifty-

four genera in the United States and just half that number iD

Quito, sixteen being common. The Scrophulariace have thirty-

five genera in the United States and fourteen in Quito, half of

which are common ; Cruciferæ, thirty genera in the United States

Solanaceæ, thirteen gen-

four of which are

country is remarkable for its Solidagoes, outnumbering

5 , : one.

any other region; in the whole valley of Quito there 18 a

nogami bly of Mexico);

> ies 0)

*It is fair to state that according to Hooker, sixty Arctic American spec

c plants are found o e tropica 3 aan

: 2 g, thistles an! me

fair to ask why none of our hardy, diffusible plants— our peor : ec anil Tris-

o in Tasmania

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF QUITO. 657

The botany of our Pacific states (California and Oregon), so far

as it is known, reveals no nearer affinity to that of Quito — although

the near relatives of Californian plants, when they have any in

other lands, are in the Mexican plateau. Quito has plenty

of Bignoniads, Acanthads and Lobelias; on our Pacific slope

there are none. In Quito the Composite are mainly Heleniz ; on

our Pacific coast there are few, if any, Heleniz, but the ones

tends chiefly to Senecionide.

The recent researches of Griesbach prove the absence of tem-

perate American species or types of plants on the loftier moun-

tains of the West Indian Islands. These rise in Jamaica to eight

_thousand feet, and yet with the exception of a few naturalized

` plants, as Fragaria vesca, Ranunculus repens, etc., we find

scarcely any North American temperate genera or species. Of

nearly eleven hundred West Indian genera, only thirty are de-

cidedly northern. This almost total absence of typical North

American plants in the highlands of the West Indies, is a feature

le with their having shared in the effects of a glacial

migration

[Parts I and II of these “Contributions ” are given in Volume V of the NATURALIST,

commencing on pages 619 and 693, — Eps.

Co gpa

ppendix. The Weasel, M. aureoventris Gray, mentioned on p. 622, Vol. v, is

Sei from the Valley. The a Birds should be added to the list giyen in ‘ie

NATURALIST, Oct. 1871, Vol. v.

Phentions aureoventer Se í Cynqutiens Ri gag

en scus nigrieapillus Tatr a D. e

Orthoëca citrinifrons Phavthornis piee bei

Misoserontus parey Me 2 Heliotrypha Parzudakii L. et P.

henu eaae Sel. shige te or oat G.e tM.

Stenopsis riacest x Sel. cyanotis Bourc.

Nyctibius J amn Gm. ? Bourcieria torqua a erie 5.

Eutoxeres heternra Gould. rochroa Bougieri Boure.

rostilbon melanorhynchus G. Sycalis arvensis sh read

Panoplites Mathewsi si Lodd. Sycalis luteiventris Mey.

Helian

ngelus micraster Gould.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 42

NOTES ON THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER

WABASH VALLEY.

BY ROBERT RIDGWAY.

1. THE FORESTS OF THE BOTTOM LANDS.

Taar portion of the valley of the Wabash River and its trib-

utaries lying south of latitude about 38° 25' contains a sylva

peculiarly rich, and also remarkable for combining within one area

many of the characteristic trees, as well as other plants, of the

northern, southern and southwestern portions of the United States,

besides supporting the vegetation common to the whole Atlantic —

region or “ Eastern Province.” In this section of the country

many species of the botanical districts named, in receding from

their several centres of abundance, overlap each other, or reach

their latitudinal or longitudinal limits of natural distribution;

thus with the beech, sugar maple, the various oaks and other trees

of the north, grow the bald cypress, the tupelo gum and the water

locust of the south, and the catalpa and pecan of the southwest;

while other trees such as the buckeyes, honey locust, black locust,

coffee-bean, etc., especially characteristic of the country west of

the Alleghanies, reach here their maximum of abundance. At

the same time other trees of more extended distribution, our

scarcely anywhere else to such majestic size as they do here = is

the rich alluvial bottoms, the deep soil of which nourishes a q

astonishing dimensions.

reach a maximum height of over twenty feet; Tn the

uted through about twenty-five orders and fifty genera —

heavy forests of the rich bottom lands more than mks ae

usually grow together, though in various localities differen

are the predominating ones. bie

The trees which usualy attain the largest size are eet”

ing species, named nearly in the order of their wpe ilip

sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), tulip-poplar (irion (Que ii

ifera), pecan (Carya olivæformis), over-cup Or bur-pas Iw

(658). ;

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. 659

am macrocarpa), ‘Spanish oak” (Q. coccinea var ?), white ash (Fraxinus

Americana), bald cypress ( Taxodium distichum), sweet gum (Ligq-

uidambar styraciflua), black walnut (Juglans nigra), white elm

(Ulmus Americana), honey locust (Gleditschia triacanthos), cot-

tonwood (Populus monilifera), beech (Fagus ferruginea), shell-

bark hickory (Carya alba?), and white oak (Quercus alba). All of

these often exceed one hundred and fifty feet in height, while the

first three are known to go beyond one hundred and seventy-five

= feet, and no doubt sometimes nearly approach, if they do not

es actually reach, the altitude of two hundred feet. The principal

trees of the second magnitude (i.e. which do not often grow more

_ than one hundred feet high, and are more usually seventy feet and

: upwards), are hickories (Carya sulcata, C. amara, C. tomentosa

and C. porcina), red oak (Quercus rubra), water oak or pin oak

(Q. palustris), swamp white>oak (Q. bicolor), swamp chestnut

(Q. prinos), linden or bass-wood (Tilia Americana), sweet

buckeye (Æsculus flava), sugar maple (Acer ¥ccharinum), red

maple (A. rubrum), silver maple (A. dasycarpum), black locust

(Robinia pseudacacia), coffee-bean (Gymnocladus Canadensis),

Water locust (Gleditschia monosperma), black cherry (Prunus

serotina), sour and tupelo gum (Nyssa multiflora and N. uniflora),

blue ash (Fraainus quadrangulata), black ash (Fraxinus sambu-

cifolia), hackberries (Celtis occidentalis and C. Mississippiensis),

black and yellow birches (Betula nigra and B. lentd), etc. Some

ofi these trees, as the oaks and hickories, occasionally attain a

Very large size, equalling those of the first magnitude; but as a

- general thing, they do not grow much, if any, beyond one hundred

feet in hei

The more banian or characteristic of the middle-sized trees, or

those usually growing from forty to seventy feet in height, are the

a following : :—box elder (Negundo aceroides), fetid buckeye (Æscu-

a lus glabra), persimmon ( Diospyros A Sembee (Catalpa big-

~ "Onioides), red ash (Fraainus pubescens), sassa fras (Sassafras offici-

eo aa red or slippery elm ( Ulmus ‘fuloa), winged elm (U. alata),

es berry (Morus rubra); butternut, or white walnut (Juglans cin-

: erea), Post oak (Quercus obtusiloba—not frequent in the bottom-

- aD willow oak (Q. phellos—rare), and laurel oak (Quercus

ria). The underwoods, composed of small trees from

Be enty to forty feet in height, are chiefly of the following species :

aa (Asimina triloba), ce ash (Xanthorylum America-

660 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

num), hop tree (Ptelea trifoliata), stag-horn, smooth. and poison

sumacs (Rhus typhina, R. glabra and R. venenata), redbud (Cercis

Canadensis), wild plums and choke cherries (Prunus Americana, P.

Pensylvanica and P. Virginiana), hawthorns, or “red haws”

(Cratægus coccinea, C. tomentosa, C. crus-galli, and C. flava),

crab apple (Pyrus coronaria), June berry (Amelanchier Canaden-

sis,) witch hazel ( Hamamelis Virginica), dogwoods (Cornus florida

and C. alternifolia), Viburnum (Viburnum lentago), black haw (V.

prunifolium), green ash (Fravinus viridis), iron-wood, or hop horn-

beam (Ostrya Virginica), hornbeam, or water beech (Carpinus

Americanus), etc.

The shrubby undergrowth or “underbush” is extremely varied

and often so dense as to be nearly, if not quite, impenetrable. In

the bottom lands it is composed in the main of spice bush (Lin-

dera benzoin and L. melissefolia?) and buttonbush ( Cephalanthus

occidentalis), which are the predominating species, the former gen-

erally distributed, and the latter mainly confined to the banks and

ends of lagoons; but both are mingled with other shrubs far too

numerous in species to mention, or nearly replaced by dense

brakes of the small cane (Arundinaria tecta), and rank herba-

ceous plants, in almost endless variety.

In the heavy forests of the bottom-lands, which in many places

have entirely escaped the ravages of the axe, the magnitude of

the timber is such as is unknown to the scant woods of the eastern

states, the stiff monotonous pineries of the north or the scrubby

growth of other portions. The river flows for the greater part

between dense walls of forest. which stand up to the bias a

and generally Screened in front with a dense fringe of willows, bk

a belt of cottonwood and sycamores behind it. Viewing this fo ;

wall from the opposite side of the river, there is seen a co” i

mass of verdure, the trunks of the trees being often hidden by.

fronting belt of willows, which are often overrun by lu say

masses of wild grape or other vines, often falling down ie

very water’s edge, so that even the bank itself is wholly conce

If the forest is viewed from a high bluff, it presents ue pie

ance of a compact, level sea of green, apparently almost en B

but bounded by the line of wooded bluffs three to une! ae

back from the river ; the tree-tops swaying with the pee ae

and the general level broken by occasional giant yee " miles of ;

their massive heads so as to overlook the surrounding "°° —

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. 661

forest. The approximate height above the ground beneath of the

average tree-top level is about one hundred and thirty feet—

the lowest estimate after a series of careful measurements— while

the occasional, and by no means infrequent, ‘t monarchs” which

often tower apparently for one-third their height above the tree-

top line, attain an altitude of more than one hundred and eighty

feet, or approach two hundred feet.

Of the ninety to a hundred species of trees of the lower Wabash

Valley, about seventy exceed the height of forty feet; forty-six

(perhaps fifty) exceed seventy feet in height, and about thirty are

known to reach or exceed the height of one hundred feet.: Of

the latter class, as many as nine are known certainly to reach, or

even exceed, the altitude of one hundred and fifty feet, while four

of them (sycamore, tulip-poplar, pecan and sweet gum), attain,

or go beyond, an elevation of one hundred and seventy-five feet !

The maximum elevation of the tallest sycamore and tulip trees

is probably not less than two hundred feet.

Going into these primitive woods, we find symmetrical, solid

trunks of six feet and upwards in diameter, and fifty feet, or more,

long to be not uncommon, in half a dozen or more species; while

now and then we happen on one of those old sycamores, for which

the rich alluvial bottoms of the western rivers are so famous,

with a trunk thirty or even forty, possibly fifty or sixty, feet in

circumference, while perhaps a hundred feet overhead stretch out

its great white arms, each as large as the biggest trunks them-

selves of most eastern forests, and whose massive head is one of

those which lifts itself so high above the surrounding tree-tops.

The tall, shaft-like trunks of pecans, sweet gums or ashes, occa-

sionally break on the sight through the dense undergrowth, or

_ Stand clear and upright in unobstructed view in the rich wet

_ Woods, and rise straight as an arrow for eighty or ninety, perhaps

over a hundred, feet before the first branches are thrown out.

; The following summaries of measurements, made in the summer

a and fall of 1871, in the vicinity of Mt. Carmel, Illinois, and

= Mostly within a radius of ten miles, will serve to show pretty well

. pei usual size of the large timber in that neighborhood. The

‘Measurements in the first column do not by any means represent

sader maximum height of these species of trees in the Wabash

a CY, Since it was not often that trees of the largest size were

3 Prostrate so that the total height and length of the trunk

662 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

could be measured satisfactorily. Very many trees seen and for

these reasons not measured would materially swell the figures in

the first two columns.

TABLE OF MAXIMUM SIZE ACCORDING TO TAPE LINE MEASUREMENTS.

Length of Circumference

Total Height. | trunk to first) at 3 to 5 feet

branch. from g H

Sycamore Entada occidentalis).* 168 68 : BBG eee eeeeenveee

Tulip Poplar (Liriodend ipifera) t182 91 p

Pecan (Carya olivæformis) 175 90 llena

White Ash (Fraxi Americana) 144 90 Iheeesrsrreneee

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) 120 60 aaoi eetk deas

“Spanish Oak” (Q tinctoria?) 150 75 goa

Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) 162 70 welDDengeceeenenene

White Oak (Quercus alba) 142 60 RE UTE SE

Cottonwood (Populus monilifera) t..... 165 TB pesnercseeres ero

Honey Locust ( Gleditschia triacanthos). 120 n EEE E 3 a

Sweet Gum (Liquidambar sty iflua) §. (144 70 Beis Meann bias

Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 108 i. cok See aE E

Bart o Aa a a N oer e ea a arenes Meret i

Sassafras (Sassafı ficinale) * los 1 75 So see

Mulberry (Morus rubra) 60 20 seii

TABLE OF AVERAGE DIMENSIONS. >

SYCAMORE (Platanus occidentalis).

pai be ge i (Only one tree measured).

Cire. ne ti “Mean of 9 trees.

This is certainly the largest, both in height and bulk, of all oo

trees of the Mississippi Valley. Its form is very yar’

See | have

*Only one tree measured for height, and this by no means A ta one T

_told on the very best authority of trunks forty feet in circumfer wa ere ce, and bare

I know of on ty-two pot in cire eve

t one, not —— by myself, thirty pp is thirty-ere™

been. or of a stump in Posey County, Indiana, which aroun

feet in

or more

“tthe tallest cottonwoods are no doubt one hundred and eighty feet

much more in ele

‘§The tallest sweet gums are certainly 160-180 feet, perhaps

With clear shafts of over a hundred feet in length.

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. 663

trunk being sometimes a tall arrow-like shaft, equalling the finest

Conifere in straightness and gradual taper, the first ‘branches

being ninety to a hundred feet above the ground; but oftener,

on the other hand, it is short and bulky, ten, fifteen or even

rarely twenty feet in diameter, and only fifteen or twenty feet

high, where three or four gigantic trunks separate and rise into a

lofty massive head. The tallest of these sycamores rise appar-

ently for one-third their height above the tree-top level of the

forest, and are thus probably not less than two hundred feet in

height.

TULIP TREE (Liriodendron tulipifera).

Height 1427y feet. Mean of 19 trees.

oink. Gof. _* tee ee ae

Cire. 193 ‘r E ipe

The second tree in size and very commonly of the above dimen-

sions. The finest individual found prostrate was one cut for lumber

near Timberville, Wabash County, Illinois ; it measured one hun-

dred and fifty-eight feet in total length, while the trunk was

twenty-three feet in circumference three feet from the base, and

eighteen feet in circumference at seventy-four feet further up,

where the first branch grew ; the trunk perfectly sound and symmet-

rical throughout. ;

PECAN (Carya olivæformis).

Height 170 feet. Mean of 3 trees.

Trunk 85 66 ee ee

“Cire. 152 66 ee a

One of the most symmetrical and majestic of all our trees; the

trunk clean, straight and long, and the head spreading And slightly

drooping, usually elevated sixty to ninety feet from the ground.

warre Asu (Fraxinus Americana).

Height 1403 feet. Mean of 2 trees.

Trunk 794 (z3 t ugo t

Cire. 14 & tras u

Also one of our finest trees; the trunk long and slightly taper-

ing, though generally less straight than that of the pecan and

_ “Spanish oak,” and with the top less spreading.

664 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

BLACK WALNUT (Juglans nigra).

Height 125 feet. Mean of 2 trees.

Trunk 50 (z3 oe oo 66 ce

Cire. 184 6e 66 “6 3 (z3

Trunks of fifteen feet in circumference and forty or fifty feet

long very common, so much so that in one locality in the

“ bottoms ” five trees of this size stood within sight all at the

same time in the thick woods.

t SPANISH OAK” (Quercus coccinea var?).

Height 1202 feet. Mean of 6 trees.

Trunk 584 oo 66 «5 «6

éé tc

Circ. 17% j g 6

The most stately and symmetrical of all our oaks; trunk

straight and columnar and top massive and dense, reminding one

in its appearance of the pecan. A more usual size is one hundred

and fifty feet high, the trunk fifty feet long and fifteen feet in

circumference four feet from the base.

BUR OAK (Quercus macrocarpa).

Height oe feet. Mean of 5 trees.

Trunk 66 (73 6666 6s

Cire. oo c6 eng (23

The most massive, in proportion to its height, of all our oaks.

WHITE OAK (Quercus alba).

Height 115} feet. Mean of 6 trees.

Trunk 481 ‘“ 66 ve a

Circ. 143 c 66 iy

COTTONWOOD (Populus monilifera). r

a 142} feet. Mean of 4 trees.

Trunk 13 66 66 wg

Cire. 154 i U AG

SWEET GUM (Liquidambar styraciflua).

Height 117% feet. Mean of 7 trees. o

Trunk 622 6s hye ee ae a

Cire. Hg ~” w go

FOSSIL INSECTS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 665

The tallest tree in proportion to its girth. The largest shafts

are probably over one hundred feet, and the greatest circumfer-

ence about seventeen or eighteen feet; while many trees no doubt

exceed one hundred and sixty feet in height.

SASSAFRAS (Sassafras officinale).

Height 713 feet. Mean of 3 trees.

Trunk 524} «“ Pet Ax Ghee

Cire. 72 te 6 «g 6c

Though usually considered one of the “ underwoods,” this tree

is not unfrequently of these dimensions in very rich woods.

FOSSIL INSECTS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER.

SEVERAL years ago, Professor William Denton discovered in

shales lying near the junction of the Green and White Rivers in

Colorado (?), the first traces of tertiary insects on this continent.

They were found in two distinct localities, sixty miles apart, the

Specimens from one place differing from those of the other, not only

Specifically, but also to a very great extent in the general character

of the whole assemblage.* Reports of these discoveries attracted

the attention of those who afterward explored parts of the Rocky

Mountain region, and repeated inquiries were made concerning the

exact location of the insectiferous beds. These explorations have

resulted in the discovery of more fossil insects in the same gener:

region by Mr. F. C. A. Richardson, who accompanied Major

Powell’s exploring party, and by Dr. Hayden in some of his

humerous and fruitful researches. The latter brought home only

three Specimens, two flies and an ant, but the collections of the

former are more numerous and afford material for the present

notice,

Some doubt exists as to whether the insects discovered by Prof.

tma See Proc. Bost. Soc, Nat. Hist., xi, 117-118. A detailed and illustrated Report upon

ese fossils, which Mr, Denton kindly lent for a long period of examination,

666 FOSSIL INSECTS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

Denton were found in Colorado (as stated) or Wyoming Territory.

Those now under consideration purport to come from the latter

district,* as stated in the subjoined letter to the editors, though

far removed from the vicinity of Chagrin Valley or Fossil Cañon,

the two localities explored by Professor Denton. About one

hundred slabs, mostly of very small size, were brought away;

these contain at least one hundred and seventy-five specimens,

including in that number all the reverses. Of these specimens

thirty-five cannot be referred with certainty to any subordinal

group, since they consist merely of abdominal segments or blurred

and distorted fragments, the affinities of which can only be rudely

surmised. The remainder are referable to nearly forty species,

belonging to the following groups, mainly arranged in the order

of numerical] superiority :

Diptera, thirteen species, sixty-six specimens

Coleoptera, twelve hae fifty-two

ymenoptera, three c five s

Hemiptera, ‘ four

Orthoptera u four s

Neuroptera, tw: i tw i

Ea three $i six of i

Myriapoda, one “ one he i

Of the Diptera, one-half the specimens belong to a single or

possibly two heavy-bodied species of small size, which, although

invariably wingless, are presumed to be so only by mutilation,

since exceedingly few wings are preserved on any of the stones;

of the other half, two-thirds are Tipulidæ or Mycetophilide

+“ T discovered and collected the fossil insects on the Green River in Wyoming

tory on the line of the Union Pacific Rail aa about forty mi

Salt Lake Ci Or, to be more precise, the locality is five pai w cal

City a on the railroad track. — _— and longitude as near as sTcanm 109° 50!

from very imy lows, Latitude 41° w north, Longitudea g

west. Ihadash f i

no stra spot where any number could * onained: Iwas se with piece o

explorer, Mater Powell, and left the fossils with him. I returned a stratum

account of poor health), ad, while looking for fossil vee and hee ri ‘rom

some two or three inches thick exposed in a railroad e o the

the appe rance. spo fossil sop geme leaves and frot turalists and

Tam ore indebted.”—F. C. A. pac Pres. Chicogo #

Aug. 5, 1872.

FOSSIL INSECTS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 667

and include five of the species, while the remaining sixth comprises

about half the species and belongs to various groups. Of the

Coleoptera, fully one-half the species and about seven-tenths of

the specimens belong to the Curculionide; the others mostly to

the Staphylinide and Carabide. These twosuborders, flies and bee-

tles, comprise the bulk of the determinable objects—nearly six-

sevenths of the specimens and more than five-eighths of the species.

The Hymenoptera consist of a small ant, a Pteromalus-like insect,

and one rather obscure form. The Hemiptera are represented by

an insect resembling Issus and another apparently belonging to

the Tingide. In the Orthoptera there are only legs of a Locusta-

rian about as large as our common Phylloptera and a cricket,

perhaps of the genus Nemobius. Two Phryganeids are represented

by wings, one of them doubtfully located in this family. Of the

gally worm and spiders little can be said.

The interest in these objects is greatly increased when they are

compared with the others brought from the same region. In the

first place, the shales from “ Chagrin valley ” and ‘‘ Fossil Cañon,”

are dark gray in tint, while those containing the insects now

under discussion are of a reddish clay-color ; the former are much

more closely grained and of a firmer texture, resembling litho-

graphic stone, and the objects are consequently better preserved —

indeed on some slabs the hairs along the edge of a wing in a

Thrips may be counted.

Again, the faunæ of the several localities differ. We have already

remarked in a previous paper that this is the case with the speci-

mens from Chagrin Valley and Fossil Cañon, although the stones

themselves are similar in character. Mycetophilide and other

Diptera are found in both places, ‘‘ but in Fossil Canon, the yari-

ety and abundance are proportionately greater ; the ants, the moths,

the Thrips and nearly all the smaller Coleoptera are restricted

to Fossil Cañon, while the larvæ come from Chagrin Valley.”

— The same is true of Mr. Richardson’s specimens; not a single

‘Species can be definitely referred to any of those found by Prof.

i Denton, and the assemblage of species is different: thus, a single

fragment of an elytron is the only Curculionid in the Chagrin

Valley Shales, and probably it is generically distinct from all those

Mentioned above. The type of fly spoken of as so abundant in

* ‘Shales collected by Mr. Richardson is represented in the

_ Previous collection only by a single specimen from Fossil Cañon,

668 FOSSIL INSECTS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

probably belonging to a different genus. The two forms men-

tioned under the name of Issus, one from Richardson’s shales and

the other from Chagrin Valley, are not congeneric; and the same

is probably true of the ants from these shales and from Fossil

anon. It is in the Mycetophilide and Tipulide, however, that

we find the closest resemblance between the different collections;

in the comparative abundance and variety of these insects, the

shales worked by Mr. Richardson may best be compared to those

of Fossil Cañon, but in the former the specimens are too poorly

preserved to make a close identification very satisfactory ; the genus

Dicranomyia is apparently found in all three localities. Compar-

ing the assemblages of species, we find that Diptera and Coleop-

tera are the prevailing forms in each,* but that within these

groups the types differ in a remarkable manner, according to their

several localities ; the Orthoptera and Neuroptera, the spiders and

Myriapoda of the later discovered beds are wholly wanting in the

earlier ; the Lepidoptera and Physopoda are found only in Fossil

Cañon, and no trace of ants appears in Chagrin Valley, though

occurring in the other two places and also in the locality examined

by Dr. Hayden. :

` These results should not surprise us, since in the two rich

quarries of GEningen, Baden, one of which is only a mile distant

from, and about one hundred and fifty feet above the other, the

insects are found to be specifically distinct throughout. Probably

some of these conclusions will be modified by a more searching

study of the remains under examination; unquestionably they

will be altered by further researches in the field; and certainly

these tertiary beds of the Rocky Mountains appear exceedingly

rich in insect remains, and are worth careful exploration ; that

they extend over several successive geological stages seems p?

able from the great diversity of character in these fragmentary

collections, and also from Prof. Denton’s statement that the shales

in which they occur have a thickness of a thousand feet.

* All the insects as a rule are rather small in size.

THE GEOLOGICAL AGE OF THE COAL OF WYOMING.

BY EDWARD D. COPE, A.M.*

Is his Geological Survey of Wyoming, Professor F. V. Hayden

thus describes the great coal area of Wyoming. “About two

miles west of Rawling’s, springs begin to appear again, and at

Separation Platanus Haydenii, Cornus acuminata and other unde-

termined species of plants occur. This point forms the eastern

: rim of a basin which extends about one hundred and ten miles to

the westward. A new group comes in which I have named the

Washakie group, from the fact that near this station are beds of

calcareous sandstone and limestone, composed of an aggregate of

fresh water shells. As they are mostly casts it is difficult to

identify the species, but Mr. Meek has named the most abundant

kind, Unio Vasakei. Soon after leaving Bitter Creek, coal strata

of Eocene age rise to the surface from beneath the surface of the

Miocene beds of the Washakie group, with a reversed dip, Here

we find numerous beds of coal, and in the rocks above and below

the coal, are great numbers of impressions of leaves, and in the

clay, oyster shells of several species. At Black Buttes Station

eight hundred and fifty miles west of Omaha, we find Sabal Camp-

bellii, Rhamnus elegans, etc. At Point of Rocks farther west, Plat-

nus Haydenii, Cornus acuminata, etc., occur. At Hallville the

black slaty clays forming the roof of one of the most valuable of the

coal beds of this region, are crowded with bivalve shells, two spe-

cies of which Mr. Meek has named Cyrena fracta and C. crassatelli-

Sormis, regarding them as Tertiary. They are undoubtedly brack-

ish water forms, and show a sort of middle position, that is middle

or upper Eocene. That there is a connection between all the coal

eds of the west I am prepared to believe, yet until much clearer

light is thrown upon their origin than any we have yet secured, I

‘Shall regard them as belonging to any transition series or beds of

Passage between the true Cretaceous and the Tertiary. It will be

Seen at once that one of the most important problems in the geol-

8y of the West awaits solution, in detecting without a doubt the

ancement of

* Read at the Dubuque Meeting of the American Association for the Adv

‘ . Aug., 1

ug., 1872, (669)

Science.

670 THE GEOLOGICAL AGE OF THE COAL OF WYOMING.

age of the coal series of the west, and the exact line of demare-

ation between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.” (Report

1870 pp. 164-5.) Thus Prof. Hayden left the subject at that time.

In passing over the region from Ft. Bridger to Black Buttes

during the present season, I traversed successively the strata of

the Bridger and Green River epochs. Near Rock Spring Station

the coal group makes its appearance, rising from beneath the

Green River strata, as it appeared to me without instrumental

aid with some degree of uncomformability. This forms the west-

ern border of an upthrust of rocks of which Dr. Hayden has treated

in the above extract. At Rock Spring eleven coal beds have been

struck in shafting, of which the upper and thickest is ten feet

in depth. The rocks are buff sandstone néarly worn, alternating

with gray sandstones and shales. They descend again near Point

of Rocks and remain nearly level at Black Buttes. At Hallville

I obtained isolated scales of numerous species of fishes. At

Black Buttes I learned that Mr. F. B. Meek had visited the

neighborhood, and had discovered the bones of some large animal.

I went to the spot and found fragments of large bones lying m

a bed of fossil leaves. On excavating, other bones were obtained

including sixteen vertebrae, the sacrum, both ilia and other pelvi

bones, with ribs and bones of the limbs. The position of the

bones was in a bed of gray sandstone, above one coal bed and

below two. They were covered with the leaves. which had evi-

dently falien upon them, and filled the intervals between them,

and occupied the angles between the processes, the neural canal,

etc., just as they had been pressed in when soft. The skeleton had

fallen on the shore, for the leaf bed passed gradually into a

bed, which included mostly thin bivalved species.

The pelvic and sacral bones, in fact every part of the skeleton

proved the reptile to have been a Dinosaurian. The a

dorsal vertebra was twenty-eight inches in height and the ilium

between three and four feet in length; both extremities arè

straight, the one massive, the other dilated and thin, with a supè

rior process. It resembles that of Cetiosaurus more than any —

other but presents well defined differences. It is named Aga

thaumas sylvestris.

This discovery places this group without doubt within the limi

of the Cretaceous period, and to that age we must now refer the

great coal area of Wyoming. It is surrounded to

a ee oO En Nat

EFFECTS OF EXTRAORDINARY SEASONS, ETC. 671

south and perhaps to the north by Eocene Tertiary beds, and the

appearance of the country indicates that a smaller lapse of time

has separated the periods of their deposit than is usual. Never-

theless no traces of Cretaceous types of vertebrates have yet been

found in any of these Tertiaries.

EFFECTS OF EXTRAORDINARY SEASONS ON THE

DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS.

BY PROF. N. S. SHALER.

WHATEVER throws any light upon the nature of the means

whereby the changes in the character and distribution of organic

forms have been effected, has for the student of geology the keen-

est interest. I therefore venture to call attention to the peculiar

effects of the last year upon the forests and probably upon some of

the animals of New England. The year preceding the winter of

1871-2 was one of the dryest on record in this region ; the rainfall

was not only much less than usual, but came in such a fashion

as to leave the ground very dry when winter came. The snowfall

during the winter was slight and did not lie well upon the ground,

melting and drifting in such fashion as to leave a large part of the

surface quite unprotected. In this state the long continued and

steady cold froze the earth to a great depth, and at some points the

frozen ground was found as far as five feet from the surface.

Over the whole of New England it was doubtless deep enough to

involve the whole of the roots of the vegetation of our forests.

It is doubtful whether it was the intensity of the cold alone which

produced the effects which have been observed all about us, but

more likely that it was in large part due to the deficiency of sap

in the plants, in connection with the low temperature ; as the frost

left the roots, they remained for some time in contact with rela-

tively dry earth, thus causing a shock too great for their vitality

to withstand. I do not see clearly just how the cold and drought

cooperated in bringing about this destruction, though I have no

doubt they worked together.

The tree which suffered most is the arbor-vite ( Thuja occident-

alis) for more than half of these are dead and a large part of those

672 EFFECTS OF EXTRAORDINARY SEASONS ON THE

yet alive are in a critical condition. The red cedar (Juniperus

Virginiana) is also a great sufferer in some regions, most of the

specimens being dead or dying, while in others the greater part are

unhurt. The yellow and white pines (P. mitis and P. strobus)

are also much injured in many places, though in most cases

immediate death has not resulted. All the other coniferous

trees about Massachusetts Bay have suffered more or less. The

greatest amount of damage seems to have taken place in sandy

soils. So far as I have been able to observe, the trees placed so

as to receive the greatest amount of moisture have on the whole

withstood the crisis the best. The deciduous trees appear to

have come out without damage; I have not yet been able to find

any evidence of unusual loss among them. The same may be

said for our herbaceous plants which, so far as my limited knowl-

edge goes, show no signs of damage.

The only change in animal life which I have noticed is the

comparative scarcity of snakes. In about two hundred miles of

walking in the fields and woods I have encountered but three; of

course, in a matter where it is so difficult to be sure of compara-

tive numbers in different seasons, it will not do to make positive

assertions, but I am strongly inclined to believe that the same

amount of walking would have shown me several times as many

snakes in former years. I am sure that this is the first year that

I have gone until July spending at least one day in the week in

the open air, without seeing a black snake. Toads seem to me

also much less common than usual.

The most interesting point in this connection is the question as

to what would have been the effect of carrying this accident

of climate a little further. Small as the destruction of forest -

trees is, it will doubtless add several per cent. to the deciduous

trees of New England, and remove an equal amount of conifers.

The conifers seem to be relics of an old time and not competent

to wage a successful war with their younger and more elastic

competitors, the oaks, beeches and other deciduous trees. Every

gap that is made in our forests of cone-bearing species is filled

not with their legitimate successors, but by forms from the othet

class of trees. Let us suppose that the shock of the last me

had been great enough to kill off the whole of our pines, t i

result would have been a complete change in the character of a

forests ; oaks generally would take the vacant place. This wou

’

‘

DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 673

affect the character of the undergrowth very materially, for the

lesser plants of a pine wood are very different from those which

flourish beneath oaks. This would have had a very great effect upon

_ insect life, and more or less directly influenced the number and

character of the birds and the mammals. Even the climate would

_ be in some small measure influenced, for a pine forest retains the

_ Snow better than one which loses its leaves in the winter and thus

tends to secure a more equable temperature in the region where it

lies.

Thus we see that an accidental drought might bring about a

change in the assemblage of vital conditions on the surface of

the land, as great as those which, when recorded in strata, we

_ Accept as indicating distinct geological formations.

It may not be amiss in passing, to call attention to the fact

that the rate of change in land life, as far as change depends upon

variations of temperature, must be far greater than in the sea.

e sea knows no such frequent accidents of heat, cold and

moisture as are at work on the land.* The difference in these

_ Conditions is well measured by the range of migration of species.

Our Liquidambars, Liriodendrons, and other forest trees of the

Mississippi Valley have, during the later stages of the Tertiary

Period, ranged as far as Greenland, or through over forty degrees

of latitude. The greatest range of marine forms, as far as I am

_ Ware, is not more than one-third this amount in the same limits

‘ime.

It is very desirable that abundant observations on the influence

of the last winter on animal and vegetable life should be put on

record. The author of these remarks would be glad to hear com-

Munications on this subject. Any information of importance will

be printed in this journal with the proper acknowledgments.

aa lane

. m the sea.

: idents may produce great chang perati

berg is readily conceived by the following example. The destruction of Cape Cod

ela lower the average summer temperature of the region about Vineyard Sound by

i tei orso. The result would be the expulsion from that region of at least

i of the marine forms now found there.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 43

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Corats AND Corat Istanps.* —This delightful book is not

the work simply of a zoologist, or a physical geologist or geog-

rapher, but of one who combines to a remarkable degree the

qualities of each. The book will interest and instruct not only

the student in each of those departments of science, but so simple

and yet so comprehensive is the author’s presentation of an intri-

cate subject that it will be pleasant reading to any one

The names of Darwin and Dana will always be associated with

the study of coral reefs, and it is pleasant to learn of the ingen-

uous and enthusiastic admiration with which the American speaks

in the following passage of the earlier labors of the English natu-

ralist :

“Our cruise led us partly along the course followed by Mr.

Charles Darwin during the years 1831 to 1836 , in the voyage of

his r route, it took us over scenes, similar to his, of coral and

canic isla nds. Soon after reaching Sydney, Australia, in 1839,

. Darwin’s theo

Sein. a which still ¢ tus

ane) is mentioned. The Gambier Islands in the Paumotus,

sophic caution, had been ready to adopt. His wor is sh

Reefs” appeared in 1842, when my report on the lnsione

c regions of elevation and subsidence, topics W eae

wide tae of travel over, the Pacific brought directly and

stantly to my attention.” (Preface

* Corals and Coral Islands. By James D. Dana, LL.D. New York.

1872. 8vo, pp. 398. With maps, plates and numerous woodcuts.

(674

Dodd & Mest, :

=f eres

Sita

Reet :

St ae eae pected

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 675

The chapters treat of ‘‘ Corals and Coral Makers ;” the “ Struc-

ture of Coral Reefs and Islands ;” the ‘‘ Formation of Coral Reefs

and Islands, and Causes of their Features ;” the ‘* Geographical

Distribution of Coral Reefs and Islands ;” the “Changes of Level

in the Pacific Ocean ;” and ‘Geological Conclusions ;” with an

Appendix, giving explanatory remarks on geological time, radi-

ates, protozoans and a list of the names of species in the author’s

report on zoophytes, the latter prepared by Professor Verrill.

While the first chapter gives an exhaustive and richly illus-

_ trated account of corals and coral polyps, we pass to some of the

more general results of the author’s studies. In speaking “a

good word for coral reefs,” the dread of navigators, he remarks

that besides affording fishing grounds and harbors, “the wide

coral banks and the enclosed channels greatly enlarge the limits

tributary to the lands they encircle. Besides being barriers

against the ocean, they are dikes to detain the detritus of the

hills. They stop the water of the streams and cause it to drop

the silt they were bearing off, and thus secure an addition to the

They prevent, therefore, the waste which is. constantly

going on about islands without such barriers; for the ocean not

only encroaches upon the unprotected shores of small islands, but

carries off much of whatever the streams empty into it. The

delta of Rewa on Viti Levu, resulting from the detritus accumu-

lations of a large river, covers nearly sixty square miles. This is

an extreme case in the Pacific, as few islands are so large and

Consequently rivers of such magnitude are not common. But

there is rarely a coral-girt island which has not at least some

= “arrow plains from this source; and upon them the villages of

_ the natives are usually situated. Around Tahiti these plains are

: “om half a mile to two or three miles in width and the cocoa-nut

‘ and bread fruit groves are mostly confined to them.” -

7 After having shown that atolls, and to a large extent other coral

_ Teefs, are registers of change of level, he shows that a large part

f the Pacific Ocean must have undergone great oscillations in

a recent geological time. As proofs of elevation, he cites (1) “the

existence on coral or other islands of patches of coral reef and

; deposits of shells and sand from the reefs, above the level where

Y are at present forming.” (2) On islands not coral, the exis-

ex >of sedimentary deposits, or layers of rolled stone, inter-

stratified among the layers of igneous or other rocks constituting

676 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

the hills. ‘‘ But the areas of subsidence, which covers an extent

of fifty thousand square miles in the Pacific, and which commands

so much interest from its bearings on geological questions, are

indicated by” (1) ‘the existence of wide and deep channels be-

tween an island and any of its coral reefs; or in other words, the

existence of barrier reefs; (2) the existence of lagoon islands or

atolls; (3) the existence of submerged atolls; (4) deep bay

indentations in the coasts of high islands as the terminations of

valleys.”

‘Each atoll” says the author, * could we measure the thickness

of the coral constituting it, would inform us nearly how much

subsidence took place where it stands; for they are actually so

many registers placed over the ocean, marking out, not only the

sight [site] of a buried island, but also the depth at which it lies

covered.” As to the extent of the subsidence we are told—

‘It is very evident that the sinking of the Society, Samoan

and Hawaiian Islands has been small, compared with that required

to submerge all the lands on which the Paumotus and the other

Pacific atolls rest. One, two or five hundred feet, could not have

buried the many peaks of these islands. Even the one thousand

two hundred feet of depression at the Gambier Group is shown to

be at a distance from the axis of the subsiding area. The groups

of high islands above mentioned contain summits from four

to fourteen thousand feet above the sea; and can we believe it

possible that throughout this large area, when t í

islands now sunken were above the waves, there were none 0

them equal in altitude to the mean of these heights, or nine

e thousand

thousand feet? That none should have exceeded nin :

within probable bounds, we shall not arrive at a more

change of level than our continents show that they ae

gone; for since the Tertiary began (or the preceding perio“ ded

Cretaceous, closed) more than ten thousand feet have uae" ue

to the Rocky Mountains, and parts of the Andes, Alps an a

alayas.

Between the New Hebrides and. Australia,

the reefs and

h may have et

simultaneously in progress. The long reef of one a ‘a wide

ty miles from the north cape of New Caledonia, an

barrier of Australia is proof of great subsidence,

border of that continent. But the greatest amoun 0

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 677

took place, in all pr spt labs over the intermediate sea, called the

“Coral Seas” where there are now a considerable number of atolls.

The facts surveyed Rite us a long insight into the past, and

exhibit to us the Pacific once scattered over with lofty lands,

where now there are only humble monumental atolls. Had there

n no growing coral, the whole would have passed without a

record. These permanent registers exhibit in onene characters

some of the oscillations which the “ stable” rth has since

undergone.”

While the island of Ponape is cited as affording evidence of a

Be local subsidence in progress, the downward movement is not now

general, and the period during which it took place “extends back

to the Tertiary era, and perhaps still further back.”

Geologists and paleontologists will be grateful for the grand

generalization in the final chapter entitled, ‘Geological Conclu-

sions.” Facts bearing in an interesting way on lithology are

stated in the section on the ‘“‘ Formation of Limestones,” where the

writer concludes that the “ reef-formations illustrate that not only

coral conglomerates, or coral-rag may be made of corals, but also

the very finest and most compact unfossiliferous limestones ; that

fine compact limestone, as flint-like in fracture as any of Silurian

time, is one of the most common of coral-reef rocks and is

nothing but consolidated mud, or fine sand of coral origin.”

_ These coral-reefs, which through subsidence became in some cases

_ at least two thousand feet thick, are happily termed ‘beds of lime-

stone with living margins,” the living part furnishing material for

its horizontal extension outward, and also, if a slow subsidence in

Progress, for its increase upward. ‘In the case of existing coral-

reefs, there is yet no evidence that the species of the lower beds

differ from those of the top. There is also no evidence, in any

part of any ocean, that there is a set of cold water corals fitted to

‘Commence a reef in deep water and build it up to such a level that

another set of species may take it and carry it up higher ; the facts

| thus far gathered are all opposed to such an idea. Should it be

; er proved that the corals of the inferior beds differ in

: species from those now existing, it will probably be found that

= ule predecessors of those now living were also mano water

^ oad so that the subsidence in any case was necessary.”

"€ now come to the solution of some questions bearing on the

: held by perhaps the majority of naturalists, that the

“Present Ocean beds were formerly continents. So far as we are

678 “ REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

aware Professor Dana was the first * to call attention to this pop-

ular fallacy, which gives rise to so much crude theorizing to

account for the present distribution of life and land on the surface

of the globe. He shows from the fact “ that the sediment or débris

from a shore is almost. wholly thrown back by the waves against

the land where it originated, or over its submerged part in the

shallow waters, and that is not transported away to make deep

sea formations,” the important conclusion that * lands separated

by a range of deep ocean cannot supply one another with material

for rocks. The existence of an Atlantic ocean continent—an At-

lantis—-has sometimes been assumed in order to make it a source

of the mud, sand, and gravel, out of which the thick sedimentary

formations of the Appalachian region of North America were made.

But if this Atlantis were a reality, there would still have been

needed, in addition to the presence of such an ocean continent, a

set of freight carriers that could beat off the waves from their

accustomed work, and push aside the ordinary oceanic currents;

or else Atlantis would get back all its own dirt.”

Professor Dana reasons from the existence of a Jurassic

reef in England, that the “ Gulf Stream has had, from the Jurassi¢

period in geological history onward, the same kind of influence

on the temperature of the north Atlantic ocean which it now has.

Before the Cretaceous period began the waters cooled somewhat,

as there were no coral reefs in the British Cretaceous se, though

as late as the Miocene Tertiary, there were reef corals in the seas

of northern Italy.

coral

e Atlantic, of any

absence from the American coast of th

als, see

coral reefs of the Cretaceous beds, and of any reef cor

to show that the oceanic temperature off this coas

able for such corals ; and if so, then the li

least 20° further north on the European side of the aer mem

by similar facts. + Qalitic

the Gulf Stream had its present position and force m gam

Cretaceous, and Tertiary times, then the ocean had, throug

these i anic character;

eras, its present extension and oce

* Proceedings Amer. Assoc. Adv. Science, 1856.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 679

further, no barrier of land extended across from South America

to the Canaries and Africa, dividing the South from the North

Atlantic, but all was one great ocean. Such a barrier would not

annul entirely the flow of the Gulf Stream ; yet the North Atlantic

n ocean, that if left to itself its system of currents

would be very feeble.”

We would have liked if space allowed to reprint the whole of

the section entitled ‘‘ The Oceanic Coral Island Subsidence.” We

reproduce portions, however, for the most part in the author’s

= own words. While he has shown that coral islands are records of

_ slow changes of level in the ocean’s bottom, they are also records

of the contour of the ocean bed, as they indicate submarine linear

ranges of mountains ‘‘the whole over five thousand miles in

length,” the whole area of subsidence being over six thousand

miles in length, with a width equalling that of North America, thus

forming an example of one of the “great secular movements of

the earth’s crust.” The subsidence was in progress during the

Glacial era, while the more northern continental lands, ‘* at least

those of North America,” were being elevated, preparatory to, or

during that era of ice: and this elevation of land northward “ may

have been a balance to the downward oceanic movements that

resulted in the formation of the Pacific atolls.”

There was a similar subsidence in the West Indies. “The penin-

sula of Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas look, as they lie together,

as if all were once part of a greater Florida, or southeastern pro-

longation of the continent.” Professor Dana believes that a very

large number of islands, more than has been supposed, lie buried

in the ocean, and he cites the interesting example of the “lonely

Bermuda atoll.” “Its solitary state is reason for suspecting that

great changes have taken place about it; for it is not natural for

islands to be alone.” r

We quote the following paragraph, believing, that it is the key

to many of the laws of geographical distribution of plants and

Animals, as it opposes many crude theories of the existence of

former continents and continental bridges which naturalists assume

to account for the present distribution of life on opposite shores

a eee

d EN

te 7

‘While thus seeming to prove that all the great oceans have

‘her buried lands, we are far from establishing that these lands

Were oceanic continents. For as the author has elsewhere shown,

‘unhesitatingly the calculation as tc the age of the

_ the age of the bones found in the cypress swamps

680 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

have always been oceans. These lands in all probability were,

for the most part, volcanic islands or summits of volcanic ranges,

for of this nature are all the islands over the interior of either

ocean that are not of coral origin.”

‘The extracts we have given, rather than any words of the

reviewer, attest the clear and comprehensive manner in which the

author treats of a difficult, and abstruse theme. The publishers

have issued the volume in a most attractive style.

MAN IN THE Past, Present AND FuturE.*— We are assured by

the modest author of these lectures that their publication was the

result of ‘‘the extraordinary favor which the public has hitherto

manifested towards all the literary productions of the author with-

out exception.” They seem to be a digest, with liberal quotations,

of the writings of Huxley, Schaffhausen, Vogt, Haeckel and

others, on man and his origin. The main facts as to the antiquity

of man are given, with a chapter on his simian origin, while the

future of man occupies the last third of the book. We have not

been able to find that the author is an original investigator in

anthropology, and with his hearty contempt for philosophy and

pity for any one who believes in such infantile notions forsooth

as the immortality of the soul and the existence of God, we doubt

whether his superficial mode of treatment is calculated to win the

regard of his readers to anthropological studies.

The crude and sophomoric style of the third chapter is more sub-

dued in those on the antiquity and origin of man. But even here In

matters of detail the author is not invariably reliable. He accepts

portions of

the human skeletons found in the “coral rock” of Florida, though

it has been stated in this journal (vol. ii, p. 343, Oct., 1868) by

M. De Pourtales, the original discoverer of the specimens, that

they were not from a coral formation, but that he took them me

a “ fresh water sandstone on the shore of Lake Monroe, associated

with fresh water shells of species still living in the

date can be assigned to the formation of that deposit at Jo

: : yhether

from present observations.” It has also been questioned s ‘

of Louisiana 1$ 8°

e N0

f recent

* Man in the Past, Present and Future. A popular account of the ror a ê.

scientific research as regards the Origin, Position and Prospects of the: ti

the German of Dr. L. Büchner, by W. S. Dallas. London 1872.

J.B. Lippincott and Co. 8vo, pp. 363.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 681

well determined as Dr. Biichner seems to think. On the other

hand he does not seem acquainted with the discovery of the human

skull under Table Mountain in California, though these remains

are probably more ancient than any human relics yet found in

Europe.

Otherwise the work is a good digest of the leading facts and

arguments on the scientific topics of which he treats, which the

ordinary reader will not find in any available work.

The translation certainly does not gloss over the literary crudi-

ties of the original, while the book abounds in gross typographical

~ blunders,

Tue Birps or tHe Tres Maras anp Socorro Istanps..*—The

Tres Marias form a group of several small, heavily wooded islands,

situated off the Mexican coast, opposite the port of San Blas and

about one hundred miles distant from that point. Socorro, the larg-

est of the Revillagigedo group, is a barren volcanic island wbich

Tises abruptly to the height of two thousand feet, about three hun-

dred and fifty miles southwest of the Tres Marias, and about the

same distance from the Mexican coast. From their small size and

their distance from the mainland, the fauna of these islands presents

features of more than usual interest. Under the auspices of the

Smithsonian Institution and the Boston Society of Natural His-

tory, Col. Grayson made several voyages to these islands for the

purpose of exploring their natural history. In the present paper

_ We have some of the results of Col. Grayson’s labor, prepared from

__ his notes and collections by Mr. George N. Lawrence. The paper

Contains copious and valuable notes respecting most of the species

mentioned, with quite a full account of the physical characteristics

of the islands. The Tres Marias list embraces fifty-two species,

Collected by Col. Grayson in 1865, 1866 and 1867. In general

character the avian fauna of these islands closely resembles that

of the adjoining main, though several strongly marked insular

‘Taces are easily recognized, and is hence decidedly tropical. The

only northern United States species recorded are such as have a

Wide range of distribution or are semitropical, the majority being

tial birds. But one aquatic species (the sooty tern) is given,

- *0On the Physical Geography and Natural History of the Islands of the Tres orn

oT , off the western Coast of Mexico. By Col. Andrew J. Grayson. l pena

‘ ge Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. Vol. xiv, pp. 261-303. EN

871).

(Read June Ta

682 BOTANY.

contrary to what one would anticipate, and the waders number

only six species. Seven hummingbirds are reported, five being

given by Mr. Lawrence on the authority of Capt. J. Xantus.

The list is hence evidently more or less. incomplete, Col. Grayson

mentioning only such as he actually obtained or observed. Unfor-

tunately no dates are given in the notes, and we are hence left in

doubt as to the season of occurrence of the birds mentioned.

Socorro Island was visited twice by Col. Grayson, but the chief

part of his collections there seems to have been made during the

last ten days of May, 1867. The list embraces fourteen species,

only five of which were found at the Tres Marias. Several appear

to be known as yet only from this island,* and others only from

this and the Tres Marias, though each has near relatives on the

Mexican main. Among those of special interest obtained here

were several specimens of Whitney’s owl ( Micrathene Whitneyt

Coues) known formerly only from the single specimen obtained

Dr. Cooper at Fort Mohave, in 1861, but since found also at

Mazatlan by Grayson, and in Arizona by Bendire. |

The itinerary + given of Col. Grayson’s voyages on these expedi-

tions conveys a vivid picture of the dangers as well as annoyance,

to which the enthusiastic naturalist is often exposed in the pursuit

of his treasures. Though shipwrecked at Socorro, he seems not

to have been daunted in his explorations, but extending his

researches to other localities, he fell a victim to a fever contract :

while collecting at the Isabel Islands, in the summer of 1869.{

To Col. Grayson ornithologists are chiefly indebted for our present

knowledge of the ornithological fauna of northwestern Mexico,

and in his death science lost a devotee of rare zeal and industry.

A.A

BOTANY.

Law or ANGuLAR DIVERGENCE IN THE BRANCHES OF PLANTS”

Mr. Thomas Meehan said that of all the problems that faced p

botanist, few seemed more impenetrable than the law whit ee

erned the angular divergence in the branches of plants. Sam

grew quite prostrate and others, though closely allied species

might be strictly erect. At the present season of the year

* See Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y. x, pp. 1-18, March, 1871. P

t Also published in the Overland Monthly,” September,

ł See “ Overland Monthly,” February, 1870.

we may —

EEs E E E a E EE E E A AE ENA ye ORL

EOE a A

ing

;

ven

seni

;

BOTANY. 683

note plants with prostrate leaves or branches, which in spring will

have them of a sharp, upright angle. The Verbascums at the

present time, especially V. blattaria, had their root leaves so

firmly pressed against the ground, that on lifting they would fall

back with a spring; as soon as the central axis grew, the leaves

from that would be almost upright. In some respects, erection

or prostration became almost specific characters. The Rubus

villosus usually grew erect even from infancy, and the Rubus Cana-

densis generally trailed; yet the last named would sometimes

throw up strong erect stems, which could scarcely be distinguished

in that stage from R. villosus. Again, the same species of tree

would often produce individuals quite erect, and at other times

very pendent, and hence we had in horticulture the class of weep- -

ing trees. All trees seemed to have this power of producing pen-

dent individuals. The oaks, ashes, poplars, elms, all furnished

familiar examples.

It was usual with botanists to pass these things over as “ weak-

nesses.” But the term weakness explained nothing. To say

that these plants had lost the power of erection was simply re-

stating the primary fact. Moreover, some of these prostrate forms

had apparently more vigor than the erect ones. Rubus Canadensis

was weaker than R. villosus, truly ; but, on the other hand, some

of the Russian trailing junipers were far more vigorous than any

of the upright forms. ‘The weeping beech also was in appearance

more vigorous than the ordinary forms. All beeches had their

young growth pendent. As the growth matured, the branches

became erect ; but in the weeping form erection did not come with

maturity, and hence it remained pendent. In the ashes, however,

there was no pendency in the young growth; but thé ‘* weep-

ing ash” was one of the most decided of all drooping trees. In

such cases as these, the law which governed the angles of diver-

gence must either be different in each case, or operate at different

Stages of the development of the branches.

In his late travels in the Rocky Mountains, he came on a tract

Covered profusely with one of the small creeping Euphorbias,

Probably Æ. cordata, in which a large quantity grew perfectly

erect. Sometimes only a portion of the plant exhibited this

character, at other times all the plant was upright. The speci-

mens he exhibited were of the erect class. In all these cases the

_ Plant was attacked by a small fungus, Æcidium euphorbiæ, the Æ.

684 BOTANY.

hypericefolia of Schweinitz. He thought that the fact that this

little fungus should be able to make a usually creeping plant,

rooting from every joint, entirely lose this character and become

erect, was worthy of some notice by students in this branch of

botany. — From remarks made before the Philad. Acad. Sciences.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE GRAY Prve.—In the last edition of

Gray’s “ Manual,” the gray pine (Pinus Banksiana Lambert) is

classed, according to Dr. Engelmann’s arrangement of the species,

with P. inops Ait. and P. mitis Michx., etc., in the group with

the fertile catkins and cones lateral. Now, at Tawas Point,

Michigan (Lake Huron), I find (June, 1872) this tree in an abun-

dance of instances, with young, half-grown fruit, as well as others

with female flowers, bearing them, one or a pair at apex, thus

again a few inches lower down, and again farther down along that

same branch. .

It would be important to know how frequently the female flow-

ers and the fruit are apical (i. e. above the leaves)’ and how often

lateral. The facts here given would seem to require a correction

in the classification of this tree, placing it, perhaps in an inter-

mediate group, between the two groups already erected. Speci-

mens sent by me to Dr. Engelmann have elicited his surprise a8;

though he had had plenty of material of P. Banksiana from

Lake Michigan, he had none showing this disposition of the fruit

The trees at Tawas Point are, for the gray pine, remarkably

large; in many cases reaching the height of fifty feet, the trunk

being frequently over a foot in diameter and occasionally eighteen

inches through. The specimens collected, however, were from the

more stunted usual form, ranging from five to twenty feet high,

and which grow on the extremity of the point. I do not thi

the cones were either as frequently or as much curved as I have

observed them to be on this tree further north, for instal’? at

Marquette on Lake Superior — Henry Gutman, Detroit, Michigan.

Tur Veceraste Nature or Draroms.— The Rev. M. J. pi

ley notices in the “ Academy” a memoir by Dr. Pfitzer on `

toms, which fully confirms the important observations which wes

made by Mr. Thwaites, and which “ at once settled the ae

as to the vegetable nature of their singular organisms. the

point of special interest in Pfitzer’s paper is the elucidation p

mode in which the two portions of the outer silicious envelope

BOTANY. 685

overlap each other, thus facilitating the multiplication of the

individual as distinct from the fructification. Few matters are

more interesting as regards microscopical observation than the

mode of propagation, and when the different species of Biddul-

phia can be readily procured as on our southern coasts, they will

afford ample food for many a morning’s investigation. The two

original halves remain exactly in statu quo, and it would be inter-

esting to know how long they would subsist while new interme-

diate pustules are developed; and the same observation applies

to many Desmidiacee.

Orrice or Bup Scares, erc.— Mr. Thomas Meehan referred to

some observations made by him last spring before the Academy of

Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in regard to the office of bud scales

and involucral bracts. The general impression was that they

were formed for the purpose of protecting the tender parts beneath.

At that time he exhibited branches of Frawinus excelsior on which

some of the buds were entirely naked, and others clothed with

scales inthe usual manner. They could scarcely be for protection

in this instance, as hoth were equally hardy.

He now had to exhibit an ear of corn which had been produced

without the usual involucral bracts or husks, and yet was as per-

fect as if clothed in the usual way, showing that the husk was of

not much importance as a protecting agent. An interesting point

was that this ear had been formed on the end of a male panicle or

tassel. It was not uncommon to find scattered grains of corn

amongst male flowers, but a perfect ear like this he had never be-

fore seen. The ear was eight-rowed, and contained two hundred

perfect grains. It was the variety known as ** popcorn.”

_ Sreps as Prosecrites. — Mr. Thomas Meehan, at a late meeting

of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, said that

While travelling through a wood recently he was struck in the face

by some seeds of Hamamelis Virginica, the common witch hazel,

i with as much force as if they were spent shot from a gun. Not

ne Sware before that these capsules possessed any projecting power,

he gathered a quantity in order to ascertain the cause of the pro-

( i ting force and the measure of its power.

eta the floor, he found the seeds were thrown generally fou

feet, and in one instance as much as twelve feet away. The cause

Of this immense projecting power he found to be simply in the

r or six

Laying tlie capsules ~

686 ZOOLOGY.

contraction of the horny albumen which surrounded the seed. The

seeds were oval and in a smooth bony envelope, and when the

albumen had burst and expanded enough to get just beyond the

middle where the seed narrowed again, the contraction of the al-

bumen caused the seed to slip out with force, just as we would

squeeze out a smooth tapering stone between the finger and

thumb

Avrine FLrowers.—Dr. Parry, having devoted the whole summer

to a third botanical exploration of the Colorado Rocky Mountains,

has prepared beautiful sets of the more remarkable and novel

Alpine flowers of the region, consisting of above a hundred species.

A limited number ‘of these sets, interesting as souvenirs of travel

as well as to botanists, may be obtained for twelve dollars a set

upon application to Dr. Parry at Davenport, Iowa, or to the Natu-

ralists’ Agency in Salem.—A. G.

ZOOLOGY.

Tue Zootocica, Station or Naries.— An undertaking which

cannot fail to have an important influence on the progress of zool-

ogy has been started at Naples. A zoological station to be in

charge of a permanent zoological observer and opened under

certain restrictions to all workers who may wish to avail them-

selves of its facilities. It will form the natural complement or

the advantages zoologists and anatomists now derive from the

great zoological gardens of London and Paris, which constantly

supply so much yaluable material for study to the members of

the Zoological Society of London and the Professors of the Jardin

des Plantes. Hitherto all the work done on the seashore has neces

sarily been more or less interrupted; usually a stay of a few weeks

at one place has been the utmost length of time which naturalists

have been able to devote to one of the most fruitful branches of

research in Zoology. Occasionally a more favored ee

spends afew months on the seashore, but these are exceptions. 2

who have had occasion to pursue embryological studies on ged

seashore, or to trace the habits and study the anatomy of our pe

. animals, know how difficult it is to obtain just the material whi r

is wanted. To make a complete embryology of a single ee

animal often requires several years of unremitting devotion to 0

subject and, in order to obtain missing links, one must study on

We ts E iE tt ee eee ee at

ZOOLOGY. 687

seashore what he happens to find. It is impossible to obtain certain

stages of growth except at stated seasons, which are not always

the time when the seashore is accessible. The value therefore of

permanent stations cannot be overestimated. The zoologists in

charge will little by little learn the habits of the more common spe-

cies and by making the materials accessible to special research save

an immense amount of time now devoted to exploring the ground.

A zoological station on the seashore will become for biology, when

fully equipped, the equivalent of first class observatories, and when

other stations are established on well selected points along the

coasts of different countries we may hope to gain the materials for

the solution of many most interesting problems in Natural History

which individual exertions could hardly hope to solve.

A better spot than Naples could not have been selected to

make a start; rendered classic by. the important memoirs which

have been published upon the animals of its bay, the student will at

once have a guide and models to follow.

May we not hope that the noble example given by Dr. Dohrn

will be imitated in this country and that in connection with some

of our leading Universities, Practical Schools of Biology will be

established, where Professors and Students will find abundant ma-

terial to pursue their favorite studies? — A. AGassiz.

The “‘Spener’sche Zeitung” (Berlin) publishes the following ex-

tract from a private letter: — On the narrow strip of coast which

separates the park of the Villa Reale from the sea, a large stone

building is at present being erected at Naples, quietly and almost

unnoticed ; at least the Neapolitan press has paid no attention to

it. The strength of the foundations— it has taken three months to

lay them — shows that they are intended for an edifice of consid-

erable size and durability, and- on making inquiries I have learned

that this is the Zoological Station which has been occasionally

mentioned by Italian, German and English journals ‘during the

last few months. It has been organized and is being built by 7

young German naturalist, Dr. Anton Dohrn of Stettin, who until

4 few years ago was a private teacher at the university of Jena.

He has paid nearly the whole of the expenses, which amount to

about 50,000 thalers (£7500) out of his own pocket, the only assist-

_ ance he has received having come from a few personal friends,

who have lent several thousands of thalers for the purpose. The

following is a short sketch of his plan. The ground floor of the

688 ZOOLOGY.

building, which covers an area of about 8000 sq. ft., contains a.

great aquarium, which will be opened to the public. Dr. Dohrn

hopes that the money thus obtained will not only suffice for all

the expenses of the aquarium, but also afford a surplus to be em-

ployed in covering a part of the requirements of the upper story,

which is to be exclusively devoted to scientific purposes. Besides

the officials and servants employed in the aquarium, several young

zoologists will be attached to the station and receive a regular

salary from the Director, Dr. Dohrn. Thus a number of new po-

sitions will be opened up for young scientific men. But this is

not all. As the only duty of these zoologists will be to devote

themselves to certain branches of scientific work, and their exer-

tions will be carefully directed and organized, as has long been

the case in astronomical and meteorological observatories, there is

every reason to hope that scientific research will be greatly facili-

tated and advanced by their labors. In the upper story of the

Zoological Station, laboratories will also be prepared for the use of

naturalists coming from other parts of Italy and from abroad. For

this purpose a large scientific library will be founded, Dr. Dohrn’s

very considerable private collection serving as a nucleus ; and about

twelve tables fully furnished with the necessary appurtenances

established. Each of the latter will be provided with a number of

tanks supplied with a constant stream of sea-water. Sea fishing

and dredging will be conducted on an extensive scale by means of

several boats to which, if the necessary means are forthcoming, a

small steam-yacht wil be added. The animals taken will be given

to the zoologists for scientific treatment. It is more than doubt-

ful, whether all these rich and expensive conveniences can be

furnished to zoological visitors without any pecuniary compen®

tion, but I hear that Dr. Dohrn has drawn up 4 plan which will

: Boas ; mo of

enable even naturalists of limited means to enjoy the adv goe

varl

once be placed at the disposal of any naturalist who bri

cate from the government, university, or scientific body

table has been let. This plan, among its many other advan’ ji

seems to be a successful attempt to solve the difficult qen

to how it is possible to unite a complete self-administration 0? Bar

part of scientific bodies with the reception of pecuniary assista

A ie v eee ai eS cata

Re se eae

ZOOLOGY. 689

from their Governments. Dr. Dohrn speaks in the most grateful —

manner of the assistance rendered him by the German authorities

in Italy, especially by Mr. Stolte, the Consul-General at Naples,

while at the same time he warmly acknowledges the interest in his

undertaking, displayed by the government of Italy, more particu-

larly by Signor Correnti and Signor Sella, the late and the present

minister of Public Instruction. The difficulties in the way of the

execution of his plans were neither few nor small, as may be gath-

ered from the fact, that in spite of the readiness displayed by the

municipal authorities of Naples, more than two years elapsed before

adefinitive contract could be concluded between the town and Dr,

Dohrn with respect to the cession of a suitable site for the building.

[We are happy to add our testimony to the great value and

importance of such a biological station as this. Late in May one

of the editors of this journal visited the foundations of the Naples

aquarium, and was surprised at the magnitude of the building, and

the admirable natural advantages of the situation, and he predicts

a grand success to the undertaking ; the Italian gover t will un-

doubtedly cherish and protect the institution when its value shall

be demonstrated. We hope that the success of this station may

lead to the establishment of a zoological station on the American

coast. Surely the zeal and money would not be wanting with us,

if some one would take the lead; and such a station properly

conducted and with due regard to popular watts, would be un-

oubtedly self sustaining. Indeed it is not a little surprising that

Public aquaria and zoological gardens on a large scale have not

been established in the United States before this, as those of

London, Paris, Hamburg, Berlin, etc., are, we believe, well sus-

-— Eps.] 7

tained. —

FausaL Provinces or tHe West Coast OF AMERICA. — Àt a

recent meeting of the California Academy of Sciences, Mr. Stearns

Called the attention of the members to certain provincial divisions

Mm the marine faunæ of the west coast of America suggested by

- Prof, Verrill in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of

Sciences for 1871.

Mr. Stearns remarked, more particularly regarding the coast '

from Cape St. Lucas northward, that to divide this portion upon

data at present made known, so as to make provinces which

Should correspond with those of the Atlantic side, is not warranted

_ AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 44

690 ZOOLOGY.

by the knowledge possessed at the present time ; that the topography

and geology of that portion of the west American coast, specified

by him, was much more uniform in its character, as well as in the

temperature of its waters, than that of a corresponding section in

extent of the Atlantic coast, to say nothing of the influence of the

coast currents which upon our coast are peculiar, and which enter

largely in the matter of distribution of species ; furthermore that

the manuscript data in his possession, which were, to say the

least, fully as important as what had already been published, and

quite likely more authentic, indicated a greater range of coast to

each province and therefore a less number of provinces than sug-

gested by Prof. Verrill. ;

Though much had been done by himself, and other members of

the Academy cooperating with him, in the accumulation of data

bearing upon the geographical distribution of the mollusca of our

coast, still so much remained to be done in order to make the

work thorough and reliable, that it would be merely arbitrary and

necessarily require frequent readjustment to propose at this time

any new divisions or subdivisions of the coast into zoological

provinces.

As to that part of the west coast of North America from Cape

St. Lucas, including the Gulf of California, thence southerly to à

point a few miles south of Panama, with the exception of collec-

tions made at a few places in the Gulf of California, also at San

Juan del Sur and its immediate vicinity on the coast of Nicaragua,

and in the Bay of Panama, almost nothing more is known of this

vast reach of shore line than was known years ago.

collected’ by himself and colaborers here could be compiled,

proposed to refer to this subject again.

the data

SouTa

On ZOOLOGICAL BARRIERS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO $ #

hains and bro

America.— How far the present lofty mountain-c ties

rivers arrest dispersion is an interesting and important eee is

Every fact throwing light upon it is a valuable contribu $ od

science. It would seem that in temperate regions the mou

are greater barriers than in the tropics. Mr. Darwin says *™

er p the organic be

ings on the opposite sides of the Andes than on oppo! corrobó-

the ocean. My own observations on the equatorial Andes

AEE NEES SEN ae AE LEE AE AE E g EE cote S| A A

;

ZOOLOGY. 691

rate this statement, though it is more strikingly true of the Chilian

Cordilleras and, as Mr. D. has remarked, is truer of quadrupeds and

reptiles than of birds and insects. I know of fifty-six species

occurring on both sides of the Andes of Ecuador, excluding all

highflying Accipiters and all species ranging north of Panama.

Mammals, one monkey and one pachyderm; of Birds, one

thrush, two wrens, one vireo, five tanagers, two antcatchers,

two flycatchers, five hummers, one trogon, one sawbill and one

wader; of Reptiles, ten ophidians, two saurians and one batra-

chian; of Insects, seventeen lepidopters; of Mollusca, three

Bulimi. .

The Amazons, the Rio Negro and the Madeira divide the great

plain into four districts, apparently similar in vegetation, climate,

ete. Yet these rivers act as barriers to several species, and native

hunters, understanding the fact, cross the river to procure certain

animals. Five species of monkeys are confined to the north

bank of the Amazons, and two to the south side. The blue

macaw, green jacamar and curl-crested toucan never cross the

Great River, though butterflies are known to fly-over it. What is

_ the cause of this isolation? Not the forest, for there is not a

Single tree which is not found both on the northern and southern

banks. — Prof. James Orton.*

_Apsence or Eyes In Cuassreication.— Dr. Hagen’s objection

to the generic estimation of the lack of visual organs in the cave

crustaceans is even less weighty than I had supposed ; viz., the

fact that in certain cave insects, the female sex only is deprived

of eyes, the males possessing them. No one knows better than Dr.

agen, that in many genera and even families and higher groups

of insects the definitive characters are only to be found in the

sex; and I believe that in some crustaceans it is the female

Which exhibits the greatest departure from the embryonic starting

Point. In each case the most extensively developed sex must of

hecessity furnish the characters which determine the status of the

Species, But it is unnecessary to refer to special cases of this

kind, for as I have already shown, the developmental status of the

= Yes in the blind catfish is very variable in both sexes and opposite

Sides of the head. This would have been a far better reason for

- "ejecting the recognition of this character as generic. But on

* Abstract of a paper read at the American Assoc. Adv. of Sci., 1872.

692 ZOOLOGY.

the same grounds we must reject all characters now regarded as

generic, for there is scarcely one which cannot be found to be va-

riable in some species in some more or less remote region of the

animal kingdom, recent or extinct. Hence, as I have often urged,

it is the constancy of a character in the group of species where it

exists that determines its value. This is the philosophy of uni-

versal custom. The same remarks may apply to my Orconectes

inermis. Though I could not make it agree with Dr. Hagen’s sec-

ond form of O. pellucidus, it may be such, as Dr. Hagen’s knowledge

of these animals is much greater than mine, and I would at once

accept his determination in the case. But what are these “forms”?

If inconstant they are only varieties ; if constant, species. — EDWARD

D. Core.

Viratrry AND Sex.— Prof. Riley mentioned at the meeting of

the American Association a few interesfing entomological facts in

support of Dr. Hartshorne’s paper, and to show that in some way

or other the male element is connected with defective vitality. In

studying Phylloxera vastatria, or the grape-root louse, he had al-

ways found the male pupæ most abundant on such roots as had

been most depleted and where the insects were already beginning

to die off for want of sufficient nutrition.

In the common oeyster-shell bark-louse of the apple tree (My-

tilaspis conchiformis), whith had been increasing and spreading for

many years past in the northwestern states, something similar

occurred. The male of this species had been sought in vain for à

quarter of a century both by entomologists and horticulturists ; and

they were forced to the conclusion that the species multiplied

agamically and despaired of ever finding the male. But for the

past three or four years this insect has been rapidly dying out m

those sections where it once flourished, until at last it is no longe!

dreaded by the orchardist. Under these conditions of peng

vitality the male element suddenly appears, and Mr. Riley h

the satisfaction of discovering it the present summer.

the NATU-

tt Sprxe-HORNED MULEDEER.” —In the July number of

f a spike-

raist, Prof. E. D. Cope refers to a supposed specimen 0

horned muledeer (Cervus macrotis) obtained in Kansas.

questioning the probable occurrence of ‘* spike-horns” 1 C. "a

tis, the size of the horns mentioned by Prof. Cope seems to Sa

the reference of the specimen in question to C. macrotis somew

Without

pT Ale Say SAN Oak OAS Pepe Sy Ah Sem ag) tn hy ST

ZOOLOGY. » 693

open to doubt. The length of the spike in this case is said to be

two feet and a half, which is enormous when itis considered that

the fully developed antlers of old bucks of this species rarely

much exceed two feet, measured along the curvature of the beam

to the end of the longest point. On the other hand, it is just such

a spike as is usually developed in a two-year old buck elk (C.

Canadensis), an animal also common in Kansas along the Kansas

Pacific Railway.

The occurrence of spike-horned bucks in C. Virginianus, which

has of late attracted so much attention, seems in no way remark-

able. Prof. Baird, in writing of the O. Virginianus in 1857, says,

“Sometimes a perfectly adult, full-grown male will have but a

single slender spike, thus resembling the buck of the second year.”

Mam. N. Amer., p. 647.) —J. A. A

Since the above was written I have learned from Prof. Cope

that he at first also regarded the horns as those of a two-year old

elk, and only referred them to C. macrotis on being assured that

the elk did not occur at the locality (Fort. Hays, Kansas) where

these horns were obtained. From personal knowledge, however,

I am able to affirm that the elk is of quite common occurrence

Within a few miles of Fort Hays.—J. A. A

Tue RATTLE or THE RATTLESNAKE, — At a meeting of the

Essex Institute in May last Mr. F. W. Putnam gave a description

of the structure of the horny appendage to the tail of many

snakes, especially developed in the genus of Rattlesnakes, and

controverted the idea of natural selection having anything to do

with its peculiar development. He also thought that the suppo-

sition that the rattle was a benefit to the snake, as a means of

enticing birds, by its sound imitating that made by the Cicada, as

Suggested by a writer in a late number of the Narorauist, could

not be accepted. The Cicada, during the few weeks that it existed

in the adult state; at which time the males made their peculiar

drumming, was not a ground insect, and was not very abundant,

even among the trees, in such localities as were most frequented

by the rattlesnake. Secondly, the sound made by the snake was

Very slight under ordinary circumstances, and the rattle was not

Sounded to any extent unless the snake was ‘disturbed by some

cause. His own observations on these snakes, in their natural

habitat, led him to believe that it was not at all their nature to

694 é GEOLOGY.

set up a rattling for the sake of enticing birds to them, but that

they would slowly and cautiously approach their victim, or else

lie in wait ready to give the fatal spring upon anything that came

near. He believed that the rattle was in reality a detriment to

the snake, except in so far as it served to call the sexes together,

which he thought was most likely its true function.

Fires as A Means or COMMUNICATING CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.—

Prof. Leidy remarked at a late meeting of the Academy of Natural

Sciences of Philadelphia, that at this time, during the prevalence

of small pox, he was reminded of an opinion he had entertained

that flies were probably a means of communicating contagious

disease to a greater degree than was generally suspected. From

what he had observed in one of the large military hospitals, in

which hospital gangrene had existed, during the late rebellion, he

thought flies should be carefully excluded from wounds. Recently

he noticed some flies greedily sipping the diffluent matter of some

fungi of the Phallus impudicus. He caught several and found

that on holding them by the wings they would exude two or three

drops of liquid from the proboscis, which, examined by the micro-

scope were found to swarm with the spores of the fungus. The

stomach was likewise filled with the same liquid, swarming with

spores.

GEOLOGY.

Extinction oF Brrps IN MAURITIUS, rTc.—I believe I have

demonstrated, by the’ examination of the bones which have been

found in the recent deposits in the Mascarene Islands, an

_ belong, for the most part, to extinct species, such as the dodo,

solitaire, the aphanapterex (Fulica Newtoni), large parrots, ett,

that these islands have once been part of a vast extent of land,

that these lands, by little and little and by a slow depression, have

been hidden under the waters of the ocean, only leaving visible

some of their highest points, such as the islands of Mauritius,

Rodriguez, and Bourbon. These islands have served as a refuge

for the last representatives of the terrestrial population of these

ancient epochs; but the species, confined in too limited a space

and exposed to all causes of destruction, have disappeared by

degrees ; and man has in some measure aided in their extinci®®

Madagascar evidently was not in communication with we

islands ; for when Europeans visited them for the first time, y

the

d which ©

Be oe eS Cee

aE es ie tc | he elie. ala TE

a) PE RSE N EE A A E EEES SE E An it) T R l

eee ee eee ee T

at Pre a Fe Ie ee bs atte es aaa ee 2 S

e. D. Corg, * A.M

GEOLOGY. 695

did not find there any Mammalia, with the exception of some

large bats; none of those remarkable Lemuride peculiar to the

fauna of Madagascar existed in the Mascarene ‘Islands. The

study of fossil birds leads to the same result; and three species

of Æpyornis which Mr. A. Grandidier and I have been able to

recognize among the fossils collected in the swamps of the south-

west coast have enabled us to establish the relationship which

connects these birds with the Dinornis, the Palypteryx and Aptor-

nis of New Zealand. All these species belong to the same zoo-

logical type, and make us feel that at a more or less remote epoch

there may have existed some cOmmunication between these lands

so far away from one another; perhaps groups of islands, now

submerged, formed intermediate stations, of which unfortunately

we have no trace. — A. MILNE-EDWARDS, from American Journal

of Science and Arts.

Tue Eocene Genus SYNOPLOTHERIUM.— This genus rests on a

single species of about the size of a black bear, from the southern

Wyoming Eocene. Many parts of the skeleton are preserved, and

furnish the following characters. The toes of the fore foot are

four, the outer materially shorter than the others; the claws flat,

ovate, and deeply fissured above; the tail slender; the head with

a flat muzzle with anterior nareal exposure and premaxillary bones

much contracted below, and with a wide lateral vertical groove.

Immediately behind this projects a huge canine tooth, and the outer

face of the outer incisor is exposed in its bottom. There are three

_ Upper incisors, the median two much smaller than the external,

Which is as large as many canines. The mandible had six molars,

the last shorter than the penultimate. They are separated by a

toothless interval from the incisors, which are very large and

directed upwards and forwards like those of 4 rodent. They

Oppose the outer incisors at the extremity, and the canine superi-

orly and laterally, performing thus a double service.

This form is evidently allied to the genera Anchippodus of Leidy

and Psemotomus Cope, as well as to the larger Loxolophodonts

and are either forms of Proboscidia or represent those connecting

this-group with the Perissodactyla. They are thus of interest, and

their full analysis cannot fail to be of value to zoology — EDWARD

"SS hn: eee a

* : we

: Read at the Dubuque Meeting of the American Association

Science, Aug., 1872.

for the Advancement of

"7:

696 ANTHROPOLOGY.

GLACIAL ACTION IN FuEGIA AND Paraconta.—Professor Agassiz

of the Hassler Expedition, as we find in the ‘‘ American Journal

of Science and Arts,” gives an interesting account of land ice

action in these countries, describing rounded and polished rocks,

boulders, and glacial scratches. Prof. Agassiz concludes from

the character of the north and south sides of the summits in

Fuegia, and from other facts, that the movement of the ice was

towards the north, and independent mainly of the present slopes

of the land. The region over which he states that he observed

glacial phenomena in southern South America includes all of the

continent south of 37° of south latitude both on the Atlantic side

(Bay of St. Matthias) and the Pacific side.

New Lanp SHELLS FROM tHe Coat Mrasures.— Prof. F. H.

Bradley describes and figures in the August number of the ‘ Amer-

ican Journal of Science and Arts” two new land shells from the

coal formation of Illinois. It will be remembered that Dr. Daw-

son found many years since a pupa (P. vetusta) in the same for-

mation in Nova Scotia. The new pupa is called Pupa Vermilio-

nensis. The other shell, referred by Messrs. Meek and Worthen

to a marine family (Rotellidze), Mr. Bradley considers as a helicid,

and describes it under the name of Anomphalus Meekii.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

A REMARKABLE Inpran Rec. — Having a few days of leisure,

I started on Monday last, in company with my friend, J. F. Bly,

Esq., to visit the fish-breeding establishment of Jazael Robinson at

Meredith Village, N. H., hoping to make some pleasant additions

to my rather limited knowledge of Natural History, to refresh i

memories of beautiful scenery about the lake, and breathe agam

the air of the mountains. :

The process of fish breeding and raising was elucidated by n

guide with so fascinating an interest that we ceased to wonder g

the prevalence of “fish fever.” Some five thousand trout mM the

lower pond were a foot or more in length and ravenous for some

thing to bite. A finger held within an inch of the surtant pe

sure to be jumped at and seized — as was a gentleman s me

which happened incautiously to be held too near the water. Ż

On returning to the village we inquired for any obj ct of ee

tific interest which might be worth seeing, and were told at boi

ANTHROPOLOGY. 697

a wonderful sculptured stone which had been found the week

before by some workmen of Mr. Seneca A. Ladd. As Mr. Ladd

is quite a naturalist, and has already an extensive private collection

of relics and specimens, he was delighted with the new discovery, `

; and exhibited and explained the really remarkable relic with an

enthusiasm which only the genuine student can feel.

The stone was found at a depth of about two feet, in the sandy

PAET L r EENE ENI ISEE ATN) EN O EA

ses

‘

drift at the head of the lake, where the ground apparently had

not been disturbed for centuries. The location is at the point

Where Lake Waukewan (“ Measly Pond”) originally emptied into

ake Winnipiseogee, and was, no doubt, a favorite fishing ground

for the primitive tribes that formerly inhabited that region. The

_ Water has been diverted from this channel, and now flows through

-a chnal furnishing the remarkable water power of forty feet per-

brushes, the coating of clay was removed and he was seid

d If in

698 ANTHROPOLOGY.

pendicular fall, which carries on the hosiery and other manufacto-

vies here. About the first of June Mr. Ladd was causing the

digging of post holes for a fence, when one of the laborers threw

out what was apparently a lump of clay some six inches in thick-

ness. The occurrence of such a body in this ‘soil attracted Mr.

Ladd’s attention, and a slight examination revealed a section of

the stone. After a careful cleaning process, with water and

Fig. 140.

eT oe

ne Oe ae ae ee a t

~~ a

to find himself in possession of as interesting an archieolog

relic as yet found in New England. It is not to be wol

hat = takes pride in showing it, and preserves it -a

care. We were kindly allowed to make sketches 0

and tin haa the illustrations engraved to which w

fer. b 4

ANTHRPOOLOGY. 699

The stone is of an oval form, smoothly finished upon the surface,

and of as perfect contour as if turned in a lathe. Its dimen-

sions are 3% inches in length and 23 inches in thickness. The

material is a silicious sandstone of a greenish clay-drab color and

of fine grain. The sculptures are mostly in bas-relief, upon a

ground sunk below the surface of the stone and of a higher grade

of art than usual in Indian workmanship. It is difficult to con-

Fig. 141.

og ee

ee e

me x

es ce ae

ceive that such work could be done without the aid of metal tools.

A hole was drilled through the longest diameter which tapered

_'niformly from 3 of an inch at the larger end to 3 at the smaller,

the use of which was probably the same as in the class of stones

‘oy as “ gorgets,” to which we should refer it. Around the

à erture at each end was a border of points like a star, as will be

Seen by figure 139, 3

700 ANTHROPOLOGY.

Figure 139 is intended to give an idea of the form of the stone,

the figures at the sides being the profiles of Figs. 140 and 142.

The Indian ‘mask’ has the characteristic outline and projecting

mouth seen in other specimens of Indian art. The wavy lines on

the forehead are supposed to indicate the hair. The finish of the

whole is quite elaborate.

In figure 140 the dotted line is intended to indicate the position

Fig. 142, è

ERE

- Py

~~ ee

-- —

~ener

of the picture on the stone. The lines of the ‘ wigwam’ are T a

larly drawn, and the surface is “ pricked up” or roughened. pu .

circle below is perfectly rounded and supposed to represent es

own theories in regard to the significance of the symbols. ie

Figure 141 has a delineation of four ‘arrows’ inverted. p 1.

neath this is a ‘new moon,’ and two round dots that may ei

ANTHROPOLOGY. 701

sent ‘stars.’ Below this are two ‘arrows’ crossed and a convolute

or coil which may be a ‘serpent.’

_ Fig. 142 shows an ‘ear of corn,’,nicely cut, and in a depressed

circle are three figures, the central one representing a ‘deer’s leg,’

and the others of doubtful interpretation. a

As an illustration of the surmises of those. who are interested

in deciphering such inscriptions we give the following, which is

certainly ingenious and even plausible.

Itis suggested that the stone commemorates a treaty between two

tribes. The reversed arrows in Fig. 141 symbolize peace ; the moon

and stars the date; the crossed arrows a union of the two forces

for aggressive or defensive purposes, etc. The wigwam might

indicate the place where the treaty was consummated, and the

corn and other emblems the feast by which it was commemorated.

It is to be hoped that the stone, or, at least, casts and photo-

graphs of it, may find their way into our collection at Salem. — D.

J. TAPLEY.

a E ES. ea

a a a a S, es oe

Tue Boomeranc.— The earliest inhabitants of the globe as they

spread themselves over the earth, would carry with them the rudi-

ments of culture which they possessed, and we should naturally

expect to find that the most primitive arts were, in the first

instance, the. most widely disseminated. Amongst the primeval

Weapons of the Australians I have traced the boomerang, and the

rudimentary parrying shield — which latter is especially a primitive

implement—to the Dravidian races of the Indian peninsula an

to the ancient Egyptians, and although this is not a circumstance

to be relied upon by itself, it is worthy of careful attention in con-

nection with the circumstance that these races have all been traced

by Prof. Huxley to the Australoid stock, and that a connection

. between the Australian and Dravidian languages has been stated

to exist by Mr. Morris, the Rev. R. Caldwell, Dr. Bleek, and

_ others.* And here I must ask for one moment to repeat the reply

_ Which I have elsewhere given to the objection which has been made

“ » my including these weapons under the same class, “that the

Dravidian boomerang does not return like the

The return flight is not a matter of such primary :

= Constitute a generic difference, if I may use the expression, the

utility of the return flight has been greatly exaggerated; it 1S

_* Journal of the Anthropological Institute, No, 1, vol. i, July w

702 ANTHROPOLOGY.

owing simply to the comparative thinness and lightness of the

Australian weapon. All who have witnessed its employment by

the natives, concur in sayingsthat it has a random range in its

return flight. Any one who will take the trouble to practise with

the different forms of this weapon, will perceive that the essential

principle of the boomerang, call it by whatever name you please,

consists in its bent and flat form, by means of which it can be

thrown with a rotatory movement, thereby increasing the range

and flatness of the trajectory. I have practised with the boome-

rangs of different nations. I made a fac simile of the Egyptian

boomerang in the British Museum, and practised with it for some

time upon’Wormwood Scrubs, and I found that in time I could

increase the range from fifty to one hundred paces, which is much

farther than I could throw an ordinary stick of the same size with

accuracy. I also succeeded in at last obtaining as light return of

flight ; in fact it flies better than many Australian boomerangs, for

they vary considerably in size, weight and form, and many will

not return when thrown. The efficacy of the boomerang consists

entirely in the rotation, by means of which it sails up to a bird

upon the wing and knocks it down with its rotating arms; bi!

few of them have any twist in their construction. The stories

about hitting an object with accuracy behind the thrower are

nursery tales; but a boomerang, when thrown over a river or

swamp will return and be saved. .... To deny the affinity of

the Australian and Dravidian or Egyptian boomerang on account

of the absence of a return flight would be the same as denying:

the affinity of two languages whose grammatical construction br

the same because of their differing materially in their vocabularies.

— From the Address of Col. Fox before the Anthrdpological Section

of the British Assoc. Adv. Sci., Aug., 1872, in “ Nature.”

Antiquity or Man in France.— The International eee"

of Anthropology and: prehistoric Archeology held its sixth jost

ing at Brussels in August last. The editor of “La Revue

= i i ium

tifique ” thus notices what had been done in France and pos

to establish the high antiquity of man. ‘ Indeed, if pn

there was announced for the first time in 1829, by three

geologists, De Christol, Tournal and Emilieu Dumas, the 3

ing proposition that man was living at, the same time as the ;

animals of lost species whose bones fill the soil of caves;

stound-

if it

MICROSCOPY. 703

is to the indomitable perseverance of a French savant, Boucher

de Perthes, that we have seen this proposition become established

in science ; if it is to the regretted Thompsen and other savants of

Scandinavia that we owe the first attempts of a classification of

thesé times forgotten by history ; it is a Belgian, Schmerling, who

has definitely demonstrated, and placed beyond controversy, the

proposition of our geologists of central France. In 1834 he

, Showed that in the caverns of the province of Liége there existed

some very ancient land slides which had recovered some palæonto-

logical beds with human bones, these having been thus removed

from all subsequent handling, so as to place the contemporaneity

of the débris they contained beyond all doubt.

MICROSCOPY.

Crassirication Or Microscopic Onsects.— Dr. James Murie,

of Middlesex Hospital, England, has contributed two elaborate

papers on this subject to the Royal Microscopical Society.

In the arrangement of objects in a microscopical cabinet he

adopts the following excellent rules, which are equally applicable

to any system of classification. 1. Do not needlessly multiply

Similar specimens. 2, Do not, on feeble grounds, separate natu-

rally allied objects. 3. Maintain, as far as possible, a uniform

= style of nomenclature and size of slide. 4. Endeavor to place in

_ the cabinet good: typical specimens well prepared. 5. Reject all `

lumber, which only weakens a collection.

In arranging objects belonging to the organized kingdoms, it is

customary to begin with a series of elementary tissues, either

Preceding the main collection with this, or developing it from

this: Thus advise the writers on histology, and thus are arranged

- the great histological collections. Such a classification, which

may be advisable in collections (as in books) used for teaching the

elements of histology, and in small private collections where little

more than types of the different kinds of cells are present, 1s

unnecessary in large collections designed for consultation and refer-

_ ence by those who are somewhat familjar with the primary elements,

and undesirable from causing an unnecessary duplication of speci-

Mens and from marring the general harmony and sequence of the

grouping. The elementary tissues can generally be conveniently

arranged along with the organs they help to build up ; or, at most,

704 MICROSCOPY.

each natural kingdom may be preceded by a few typical slides

illustrating, not exhaustively, the material of which it is built.

In the mineral kingdom, micro-chemicals precede micro-minerals,

but there seems to be no gradation of minute forms upon which a

classification could rest. The systems employed in the text-books

may therefore be followed. Polarizing objects form a convenient

subsection. Several specimens of the same substance may be

arranged geographically. There should be no microscopical geol- _

ogy, but its subjects should be scattered through the gen

collection according to their biological relationships. To every

natural division should be appended a series illustrating its appli-

cation to the arts and manufactures, showing its utility, purity,

adulterations, etc.

In the vegetable kingdom the natural orders should, as far as

possible, regulate the general arrangement, while the subsidiary

divisions should be of a physiological character. Often the lower

organisms can be viewed in ‘their completeness in a single slide,

while the higher can only be illustrated by a succession of sub-

BE PN Pe ee eee aN Be, Sr S

eR rae ee ae te el ee

Pe ee a

series. The lower forms, almost up to the ferns, should be prima- .

rily grouped according to their genetic affinities, the subdivisions .

being physiological. The higher forms, however, monocotyledons

and dicotyledons, should be primarily divided physiologically ’

according to organs and apparatus, the secondary divisions being

dependent on genera, families, etc. Thus the roots, stems, flowers,

ete., must be grouped together and not separated that each genus

may be separately illustrated. Fossil forms should be placed with

the rest. Specimens of unknown affinities may

logically, geographically or according to t

Teratology should follow physiology. Fabrics, adulterations, se

should conclude the series.

general

The animal kingdom should be arranged on the same

principles as the vegetable kingdom.

The cabinets for the retention of objects are be

and in a cubical form so that any number of them may be de

up to form a large cabinet. The slides should lie flat sig Nene k

containing but a single layer.. Some of the English opeet

cabinets of polished deal, which are a cheap and excellent s0 ™ aa

st made small

re Sage

Re eae

Se ES xB i eM E eh a

tute for the elegant mahogany cabinets ordinarily "i ai w

greater cheapness is required, trays of tin or of pasta plans

used, piled up in boxes of convenient size according to TE

AS z base Ee ~

RE Ee an Paka a yee eo ck ESS nS rte eben gic MU cag) ea = ae

, MICROSCOPY. 705

of Mr. Henry George and Mr. Piper. The cabinet may be fur-

nished, at the bottom, with some deep drawers for the reception

of large objects in deep cells; the heavy objects thus brought

together being represented in the classified collection by blank

slides properly numbered and labelled, and referring to the drawer

in which the object is to be found. Slides not exceeding three

inches square are easily arranged in the regular drawers, and if

any exceed three inches they should still be placed in their proper

position, the partitions being cut away so as to allow them to occu-

py a double interspace.

A Lire Stipr.—The accompanying engravings represent front

= and side views of a form of life slide for the microscope, designed

4 and used with much success by Mr. D. S. Holman. It is con-

structed to retain the greatest quantity of material under the

smallest cover glass, and is designed to be used with the highest

powers of the microscope for studying the Bacteria, Vibriones,

and other very low forms of life.

The slide consists, as will be seen from the cuts, of a central

polished cavity, about which is a similarly polished bevel ; and from

the bevel outwards extends a small cut, the object of which is to

afford an abundance of fresh Fig. 143. _

air to the living beings within, |

as well as to relieve the pres- Soe

sure, which shortly would be-

as to cause the destruction of

the cover glass. i

= No special dimensions are

stated for the central cavity. ny

The bevel is usually 4 inch in diameter (the cut is 3 of natural.

size) ; the small canal is cut through the inner edge of the bevel

or annular space, outwards, for the purpose named above.

_ Tt is found, upon enclosing the animalcule, etc., that they will

învariably seek the edge of the pool in which they are confined,

and the bevelled edge permits the observer to take advantage of

this disposition ; for when beneath it, the objects are within range

(Of the glasses of high power.

a Another very important feature in the device is the fact that a

_ AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 5 ;

706 MICROSCOPY.

preparation may be kept within it, for days or weeks together,

without losing vitality, owing to the simple arrangement for sup-

plying fresh air.

We have repeatedly had the opportunity of witnessing the use

of this slide, and are convinced that nothing of the kind has yet

been devised which can equal it in excellence, either for observing

or generating the lower forms of life—Journal Franklin Ins itute.

To Bracken Brass. — The following methods are given by

anonymous correspondents in the “ English Mechanic and World

of Science.” Though not new they will be useful to readers, who

desire to give a dead-black finish to adapters, diaphragms, ete.

Warm the brass over a gas flame or spirit lamp, and plunge it

while hot for two or three seconds into nitric acid. Then heat

again until it blackens, brush off the blisters, and lacquer if a

lustrous surface is desired. Instead of the nitric acid the follow-

ing fluid may be used: a mixture of two parts of arsenious acid,

four parts of hydrochloric acid, one part of sulphuric acid, and

eighty parts of water. ;

MONOCHROMATIC SUNLIGHT, BY MEANS OF GLASS Prartes.— Mr.

J. Edwards Smith, of Ashtabula, Ohio, has obtained light with

which he is perfectly satisfied by means of a light sky-blue od

darker green glasses. He prefers to use one blue glass combin

with two or three green ones, the best shades being ascertained

by trial. Several such sets, of different depths of color, may ™

mounted in a series, like magic lantern pictures, 80 that either

set can be brought easily over the hole in the shutter. By sunlight

transmitted through such a combination of glasses, and without

condenser or apparatus of any other kind, he “‘ resolves ” all the

shells of the Probe Platte with perfect ease. He considers ers

light thus modified as good as the more nearly monochromatle

light of the troublesome ammonio-sulphate cell.

tific American ” thinks the photographic camera might be a P

of gaining an unlimited magnifying power. He would pho h pay

an object and then take a series of enlarged views, each OF.

representing on an enlarged scale, a portion of the preceding an

Evidently he is not accustomed to the use of magnifying pares

Campnor 1N Pararrtn Lames.— Mr. Jobn A. Perry; of

MICROSCOPY. 707

pool, calls attention to the fact that about fifteen grains of

camphor added to the paraffin in an ordinary sized lamp about an

hour before using, will greatly increase the brilliancy of the light.

Mountinc SmALL OpJects IN Batsam.— A correspondent in the

“English Mechanic and World of Science,” who has been troubled

by the balsam washing away from the centre of the slide small

objects, such as starch grains and diatoms, advises that the balsam

be placed on the slide in the form of a ring around the object, so

as to run in upon it from all sides and not drift it away. A

better contrivance is to wet the object and allow it to dry upon

the slide, after which it will not easily be misplaced. A trace of

gum arabic may be added to the water if, as will seldom be the

case, it should be found necessary.

Bone Dust 1x Soar.— If any kind of soap seems irritating to

the skin, particularly the cheaper kinds of ‘* Old Brown Windsor,”

try the microscope for the detection of fine particles of ground

bone which have not been separated from the fat of which the soap

was made.

Tue Fresh Warer Porree. — Mr. James Fullagar gossips

pleasantly about the Hydra vulgaris in “ Science Gossip.” He

as no difficulty in multiplying his specimens by cutting up the

= animals; though the parts do not lead an equally favored life,

_ for the head-part proceeds to eat immediately, while the stalk is.

obliged to wait patiently several hours, fasting, until a new head

and tentacles are developed. The polypes contracted and dissolved

into a confused mass of granules in December. None could be

found during the winter, but very small ones appeared in the

Spring, and still tater these assumed a large size and began to mul-

tiply by budding. The earliest that appeared, much smaller than

those produced by budding, he believed to be produced from eggs,

though their origin escaped him, as it had escaped previous

Observers.

_ Repropvuctioy or Sroxcrs.— In a memoir on two New Sponges,

ete., in the Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., Mr. H. J. Carter re-

marks that he last year confirmed Prof. H. James Clark's discovery

of a “collar” round the cilium of the sponge animal, which must

_how be regarded as the animal of the sponge, as much as the polype

: is regarded as the animal of the coral.

708 MICROSCOPY.

The animalcule of the sponges is described, in its passive form,

as “a minute globular cell, apparently filled with ‘granuliferous

plasma, bearing a nucleus and two contracting vesicles, provided

with a rostrum or projecting cylindrical portion supporting a delicate

fimbriated collar, in the midst of which is a single cilium, and, in

its active state, will take into its body crude material (that is,

particles of indigo) if they be presented to it. The collar and ros-

trum possess the power of polymorphism; and, when necessary,

the whole body can be thus transformed. The latter is about

soo inch in diameter in the calcareous sponges, and only half

that size in those of the siliceous ones that I have examined ; and

they are arranged in countless groups on the living sarcode of the

areolar cavities of the sponge.” Of other familiar animaleules

this resembles most the Difflugia, a kind of Amæba which throws

out its pseudopodia from one particular part of its globular form;

and if the zygosis among the Difflugie is a true conjugation, there

is strong reason for believing any similar union of the sponge

animalcules to be of the same nature. Though the author does

not positively assert that the zygosis of the Difflugiz is a means

of reproduction, he seems inclined to that belief, partly because

that procedure is always confined within the limits of species ;

and he seems to have traced a corresponding link in the history

of the sponges.

Finally, the author, having noticed a tendency to speak mor~

decidedly in microscopical inquiries than our powers seem to him

to justify, condemns as unphilosophic the usage of those who call

the parts of the lower organisms structureless. A wall or layer

may be so dense and conspicuous as to be readily observed and

named, yet it would be unphilosophic to call it wanting if only

infinitely delicate and therefore imperceptible. The leg of Euplotes

is “ probably” complicated in its muscular structure, and there

are textures in the Spongiadæ, he doubts not, which are distant

and misty hints of development, which in the higher animals are

recognized by the coarsest sense.

MULTIPLICATION or WHEEL ANIMALCULES BY BUDDING. ~ 3

Greef has no difficulty in confirming the asexual reprođugtid" Q

the Vorticellæ by fission, but reaches a very different conelorigi

in regard to the formation of the budlike structures which he a

are not buds at all, products of their bearer, but the products

Py Sa Ae ee ee er

NOTES. 709

several times repeated fission of other individuals, which attach

themselves from without and thus become united to the larger

individuals. Stein has already traced this remarkable process

and named it gemmiform conjugation. A full discussion of this

process is given in the “ Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.” for

June, 1872.

Spicutes or Sponces.— Dr. J. E. Gray, in treating of the

Classification of Sponges, in the “ Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,”

remarks that the order Coralliospongia presents the greatest abun-

dance and the most diversified forms of spicules. The spicules

that form the greater part of the skeleton of these sponges are

generally joined together by a siliceous substance. Dr. Bower-

bank has repeatedly denied this explanation, and calls them

siliceo-fibrous sponges; but the perfect form of the spicules and

the thin layered additional siliceous deposit which unites them

can be well seen in a section, or in a portion of the skeleton

disintegrated by the heat of a spirit lamp.

ome sponges have a fashion of collecting and imbedding in

their sarcode spicules which are the remains of other sponges ; and

therefore care is necessary to determine which spicules really

belong to the organism in which they are found. Some species

even exercise a selection of certain kinds of spicules for this

singular kind of absorption.

Though the form and arrangement of the spicules afford impor-

tant means of classifying the sponges, the external form 1s an

equally important character which cannot be disparaged, as has

been done by some distinguished observers. It is true that some

of the species are very polymorphous ; but the same iş true of

Some alge and zoophytes which are still classified with some

reference to their general forms.

: NOTES.

Tue twin peaks, known as Torrey and Gray’s Peaks, the highest

of the Rocky Mountains, so far as yet ascertained (being consider-

ably over 14000 feet), were last summer visited by the discoverer,

Yr. C. C. Parry,-who first ascended and name

1862, and by the two botanists whose names he gave to them. A

full account of the ascent of Gray’s Peak, on the 14th of August

st, by Dr. Parry, Dr. Gray, and numerous citizens of Georgetown,

710 : NOTES.

with other travellers, was published in the ‘‘ Colorado Miner,”

edited by the Rev. Professor Weiser, who made an encomiastie

address upon the occasion, upon the mountain’s summit. The

visit of Dr. Torrey was a few weeks later. Gray’s Peak being

the easier to surmount, is ascended almost every fine summer day

from Georgetown; and when a better bridle-road replaces the

present rude trail of the last two miles the whole ascent may be

made with wonderfully little toil. As Gray’s Peak is the one

commonly visited, and as it has never received any other name, it

has come to have more celebrity than its equally picturesque and

perhaps rather loftier fellow, and sometimes the name is applied

in the plural number to both culminations, or else the name of

Irwin’s Peak is used to designate the western one. But it is un-

derstood that Mr. Irwin’s exploration of this peak was a few

years later than Dr. Parry’s ascent of both and his dedication of

them, one to his botanical master, and the other to Dr. Torrey’s

associate in publication, Dr. Gray. The citizens of Georgetown,

as represented by a numerous deputation, assembled upon this twin

mountain upon the occasion referred to, and took the opportunity

to do an act of justice, no less than of well deserved compliment, by

formally resolving that the original name of the western peak, as

assigned by Dr. Parry, ought to be and should be restored ; that,

as the one is everywhere known as Gray’s, the other should in the

future, as at first, be known as Torrey’s Peak, and so our botani-

cal Nestor be no longer defrauded of the honor which was spe

ially intended for him in the original naming. We wish it could

be added that Dr. Torrey had accomplished the ascent of his own

beautiful mountain upon the occasion of his recent visit; but un-

propitious weather prevented his reaching the summit.

An incomparable distant view of these peaks is to

from the summit of Mount Parry, which rises between the v

in which Empire City lies and the Middle Park.—A. G.

B. PERRY,

d of Octo-

be had

alley

We regret to announce the death of Professor JOHN

which took place at his home in Cambridge, on the thir

ber, in his forty-sixth year.

Proressor Agassiz’s stay on the Pacific coast is having good

results in awakening an interest in natural science among d

people. We notice by the “ Sacramento Daily Union ” of On

which contains a very full report of a lecture by Prof. Agassi”

NOTES, i 711

and an account of a reception given to him, that steps were taken

to organize at once a Natural History Society in Sacramento by

Dr. Logan and others.

Amone the recent improvements in our colleges for enlarged

facilities in science-teaching may be mentioned the new laboratory

erected at Colby University, Waterville, Maine, at an expense of

$30,000. It is 48 by 56 feet long, and two stories in height. The

lower story will be devoted to chemistry, the upper to a museum

of Natural History. Provision has been also made to establish a

chair of Natural History and Astronomy.

Ar Bowdoin College also, Hon. P. W. Chandler is to refit Mas-

sachusetts Hall as a Natural History Museum, in memory of the

late Professor Cleaveland, at an expense of $8,000 to $10,000, the

work being partly done. It is hoped that the graduates will take

a pride in sending rare specimens of animals, plants and fossils

to fill up existing vacancies.

We have received the first number of a new monthly bee jour-

nal, “The North American Bee Journal” published by Moore and

King, Indianapolis, Indiana. Its appearance indicates the popu-

larity of bee keeping, and while Wagner’s « American Bee Journal,’ ’

published at Washington, is by far the most scientific and ably con-

ducted that we have seen, there is undoubtedly room for more. By

the way, when shall we have observations made in this country on

the development and mode of growth and habits of the honey bee

Comparable with those of the best German apiarists? Is it not

time for the appearance of an American Dzierzon and Siebold, or

Must we wait another century? Cannot science and practice

among apiarians be united in America as well as in Germany?

A regular meeting of the California Academy of Sciences was

held Monday, August 6th. Many valuable specimens of. aborig-

inal skulls, minerals, petrifactions from near Salt Lake City were

presented to the Academy.

Mr. Stearns called the attention of the Academy to the death

of Major S. S. Lyon of Jeffersonville, Indiana, and referred to

the ability and distinguished services of the deceased.

_ Dr. Blake exhibited a specimen of an apricot which wae spotted

Upon the surface with a blight probably the same which attacks

the grape, and further remarked that the peaches and nectarines

712 NOTES.

this year, particularly in the valley of the Sacramento, appeared

to be quite generally affected by it. :

Mr. Stearns submitted specimens and a description of a new

species of Truncatella, which he had named T. Stimpsonii; it

differs from the .only other species of Truncatella credited to the

Californian province in having longitudinal ribs, the other species

being smooth.

Dr. Gibbons announced the expected arrival within a few days

of Dr. John Torrey and Prof. L. Stone, the latter visiting the

coast for the purpose of investigating the salmon in connection

with the introduction of the best variety in the rivers of the

Eastern States.

Tuer French Association for the Advancement of Science held

its first session at Bordeaux, in September, about eight hundred

members being present. The association is divided into fifteen”

sections. Many papers were read and various excursions were

made in the vicinity.

Tue British Association met at Bristol, in August, and though

upwards of two thousand members were present, and a goodly

number of papers were read, yet there seems to have been some

special cause that has led the press to consider the meeting as not

so successful as some others. The address of Dr. Carpenter on

“ Man as the Interpreter of Nature” and Sir John Lubbock’s ad-

dress on the “ Origin of Insects,” (not yet published) were perhaps

the most noteworthy productions of the session.

Tue Swiss Association of Naturalists (Société helvétique des

Sciences) assembled this year at Fribourg, on the 19th, 20th and

21st of August, and met with a hospitable reception from the

inhabitants and authorities of the little city. There is no place of

half its size in the Confederation but has greater cause to boast the

number of its scientific students and yet nothing was left undone

to make the meeting successful. On the evening of the ko

most of the visitors had arrived and greeted each other informally

in the Tivoli gardens, a public resort just outside the city 1 a

regular proceedings opened the following morning at ten o'clock,

when the President, Dr. Thurler of Fribourg,* welcomed pi

association in a few words, recounted the part Fribourg had play

EE E N E

| oade hid

* The President is apparently selected from the town where the meeting ÍS he

K eae eee

Pig aie ins Menna

NOTES. 713

in the history of Swiss science and drew attention to its public

works of scientific interest.

As an appropriate introduction to the scientific communications,

Prof. Gilliéron of Basle gave an account of the Fribourg Alps,

lying in four concentric arcs between the lakes of Thun and

Geneva. He passed in review the successive deposits and gave an

admirable sketch, rapid, clear and concise, of their relations to

one another, dwelling with especial force on some points of local

interest.

Dr. Gros then exhibited a collection of objects of considerable

importance belonging to the bronze and stone ages obtained from

Locraz, Lake of Bienne, during a recent partial draining of the

lake.

M. Favre read a report of progress made in the preservation of

the large erratic blocks of Switzerland. The cantonal govern-

ment assume the protection of these, according as they are recom-

mended by a standing committee of the association.*

The session closed with an account by Dr. de Saussure, of the

last eruption of Vesuvius and the consequent changes in the

phy: siognomy of the mountain, illustrated by a map and specimens

obtained on a recent visit.

The following day was devoted to sectional meetings, which

opened at the early hour of eight. Dr. de Saussure presided over

the zoological section, where the first communication was made

by Prof. Vogt; he gave a detailed account, accompanied by

numerous enlarged sketches, of the transformations of Artemia ;

Special attention was drawn to the fact that in the young, the

second pair of articulated members are natatory legs, similar in

both sexes, which afterwards become complicated and enormously

developed claspers in the male, and abortive organs in the female.

M. A. Forel (who received, at the general session of the pre-

vious day, the Schafily prize for an exhaustive essay on the struc-

ture and habits of Swiss ants) gave a very interesting account of

the habits of certain ants of mixed colonies; these he divided

into classes, the first comprising ants of different species, which

live in actual communism and perfect harmony, one as slaves of

the other ; the second comprising those which sustain a perpetual

Warfare, the one living in passages mined in the walls of the

; isdicti mains

_ * Ought not the state governments to exercise similar jurisdiction over such re

M our own country ?

714 NOTES.

other’s formicaries ; in this case, sapping is sometimes carried on

so extensively as to ruin a portion of the common abode, whence

ensues a sanguinary combat, the smaller, weaker mining species

only saving itself by taking refuge in narrow passages where the

foe cannot follow.

M. Fatio followed with an account of exotic bats which have

been known to occur in Switzerland.

Dr. Vouga next read a paper on the Mentone skeleton, and

compared the formation of-the bone cave where it was found to

that of the Grotto of Four, where implements of the stone age

have been discovered ; he considered the powdery soil of both to

have been produced mainly by the incessant fall of flakes of lichen

from the ceiling of the cave, and argued from the comparative

depth of these deposits that the probable age of the Mentone skel-

eton was four times that of the implements in the Four Grotto.

The same subject was discussed in the geological section, where

M. F. Forel maintained that the Mentone Cave relics should be

referred to the period of the reindeer, although no bones of that

animal had been found in it; he believed the skeleton to be that of

an old man, belonging to a wandering tribe of hunters.

The foregoing account embraces that portion of the early

proceedings which would especially interest readers of the Natu-

RALIsT; but we cannot pass over some other features, suggesting,

perhaps, desirable changes in our own plan of procedure. in a

first place, the Swiss Entomological Society takes this opportunity

of assembling its members. Why might we not still further nation-

alize our “ American” Entomological Society, which never holds

a meeting out of Philadelphia?

Again, the eminently social character of this annual as

is in pleasing contrast with our more formal meetings.

mornings only are given to ‘ papers ;” two or three hours each day

are devoted to a “banquet” in a large hall, at which the president

of the association presides. The annual assessments are ma

large enough to cover the additional expense and in this instance

the wine was provided partly by the ‘‘ Fribourg section p F the

society, partly by the ‘* Conseil d’Etat” of Fribourg. «Vind pe

neur” was the new name given to the Yvorne. Toward the con®

sion of the first day’s repast, toasts followed in rapid

Prof. Vogt favored the assembly with a truly American

which “ la Liberté” was toasted. In accordance with as

sembly

The

speech in

uggestion

succession. —

NOTES. 715

of Prof. Desor, who recalled the pious custom at ancient festivals

of evcking the names of departed friends, all rose in silence at the

mention of two most distinguished members, lately deceased —

: Pictel de la Rive and Escher von der Linth. Dr. Dor greeted the

= foreign men of science present at the reunion, prominent among

4 whom were Milne-Edwards of Paris and Volpicelli of Rome, and

brought the former to his feet amid much applause. Rival cities

and rival sections then vied with each other in the interchange of

= compliments, amid which the hilarity came to an end. All the

= speeches were voluntary and none occupied more than five minutes.

After dinner each day excursions were made in the vicinity,

where, in some private grounds, an unannounced collation awaited

the guests; one evening was spent in the cathedral, listening to

the far famed organ; on-the other evenings the members assem-

bled in the Tivoli gardens, where supper and music were provided.

No ladies were present on these occasions nor were there more than

two dozen in attendance in the gallery of the main hall at the

opening of the general session.

At the meetings, both general and sectional, hand specimens and

microscopic objects were freely exhibited, the members constantly

crowding to the platform to examine them during pauses in the

remarks, the presiding officer joining with them, until, by return-

ing to the chair, he indicated the wish of the speaker to resume.

_ Excepting the introductory remarks of the President there were

no set addresses whatsoever, in marked contrast with the custom of

the British Association, where the president of each section inflicts

alabored discourse upon his auditors. Perhaps we have struck

the goklen mean, but the Swiss custom has much in its favor.

Printed lists of the persons present each day were supplied ng

all in the evening. Each guest was also furnished, on arrival,

with dinner tickets, a guide book and map of the city ; lodgings

were provided free for any who wished to accept. The meeting

next year will be held at Schaffhouse, under the presidency of

: Dr. Stierlin. — Special Correspondent.

ie pies

Specie iu Ae

Tur recent Meeting of the American Association for the Ad-

ed forth more

= Yancement of Science held at Dubuque has call

Criticism than has usually been given to the annual gatherings of

this important and truly national body, and much that has been

said has been adverse to the meeting in a scientific sense. Though

}

716 NOTES.

the association has perhaps deserved a little censure for some

of its acts, which it is well thus to check before they take root, yet

we think that some of the remarks in the daily press have been

made through ignorance of the real work of the association, and

the special cause of the supposed failure in the ‘‘ science” of the

recent meeting.

It must be remembered that the association has one great object,

as expressed by its name; and science is advanced not only by

the discussion of papers and facts brought before the association

by laborers in its many departments, but also by meeting first in

one section of our vast land and then another, thus bringing the

workers of all regions together and, by actual contact, cementing

the knowledge of the East, West, North and South into a true

American Science; and not only is the.cementing process to be

accomplished by the reading and discussion of scientific papers by

the members, but also by bringing the scientists into immediate

contact with the people at large. When we take this broad view,

which is, we think, the basis upon which the association was

founded, we do not think that any meeting can be called in the

least degree a failure because not all the brilliant lights of Amer-

ican Science happen to attend, and the papers which are read

happen to fall short of the usual number, or fail in presenting

startling discoveries and novel facts and theories.

That there was a comparatively small attendance of old mem-

bers from the eastern and even from the central states was un-

questionably owing to the fact that it was generally understood,

until almost the last moment, that the meeting would be held in

San Francisco, and as the time and expense of attending à meet-

ing there would be far greater than many members could afford,

they made arrangements for passing their summer 1m other

regions, giving up all thoughts of going to the meeting this yew

and when it was decided to hold the meeting at Dubuque itwa

too late to change plans made for the summer and prepare Pra

for reading at a meeting which they had given up all hope a

attending. But even this has had a good result, for we think t i

association, with this experience, will not again leave the place 0

the next meeting unsettled at its adjournment. ially

That the Dubuque meeting was in many respects, opa the

socially, a decided success cannot be doubted ; for sera

greatest interest was evinced by the people of Dubuque and a0?

NOTES. 717

ing places in the objects of the association, and we have seldom

seen such hearty good will and fellowship extended to scientists

as were given by the citizens and by the great railroad corpora-

tions of the west. If appreciation of scientific work by the multi-

tude is one step in advancing science, the results of the last

meeting must be considered as most favorable. i

Neither can we review the papers received and discussed, and

glance over the names of the members present, without feeling that

in these respects also the meeting was successful; though admit-

ting that there was not that sharp overhauling of some crude

papers which has sometimes taken place to the purification of

science. In fact, the only drawback to the meeting was the lack

of critical discussion of some of the papers, which were read and

allowed to drop without the criticism they would have received at

a larger meeting when more persons working in the same field

would have been brought together.

The small number of members present (about 188) left several

of the subjects which usually have a goodly number of adherents

very limited in their support, and though about half of the hun-

dred papers admitted to a place in the programme were referred to

the Natural History section, to which we shall confine our remarks,

there were not enough to cause the division of the section into

subsections, and the bulk of them fell as usual under the head of

Geology, In Botany there was but one, and that was the able

address of the retiring President, Prof. Gray, which we gave in

fallin our last number. In Zoology there were the three by Prof.

Morse on the “ Oviducts of the Brachiopods,” the “ Embryology of

Terebratulina,” and ‘ Observations on living Rhynchonella ;” the

very interesting and carefully prepared paper by Prof. Riley “On

à new genus of Tineidæ and the singular connection of the insect

With the fructification of the Yucca,” which was one of the best

Papers read in the section; that on “ Organic Vigor and its rela-

tion to Sex,” by Prof. Hartshorne ; and one on “ Zoological Barri-

ers,” by Prof. Orton. In Paleontology, the two papers by Prof.

Sope and one by Col. Foster were important in presenting pew

discoveries ; while the paper by Dr. Day on the “ Eye of Trilo-

bites,” gave an opportunity for a discussion on the position of the

Trilobites among the crustaceans.

fe In Geology, the papers read by President Smith, Messrs. White,

_ Perry, Alex. Winchell, N. H. Winchell, E. W. Hilgard, Andrews,

718 NOTES.

Hitchcock, Kerr, Cope, Cox and Forshey, presented recent work in

the field and laboratory, and were not only in most part ably dis-

cussed, but were most instructive résumés of work accomplished

and theories advanced. Under this head must not be forgotten the

remarks on the recognition of the value of the State Geological

Surveys by Prof. Peirce as Superintendent of the United States

Coast Survey, which resulted in a memorial to Government calling

attention to the desirableness of compiling the results of all the

state surveys and publishing them with suitable maps; a most

important step for the proper understanding of the geology of the

country.

In Anthropology, Col. Foster’s paper on the ‘ Crania of the

Mound Builders,” of which we shall give an abstract in our next

number, was the most important, while the short communications

by Messrs Woodman and Putnam helped to keep up an interest in

this subject. In Microscopy but little was done, though the few

microscopists present separated, under the usual subsection, from

the Physical section, and had a number of discussions and papers

by Messrs. Ward, King, Hilgard, Babcock, Tuttle and Wescott.

The more than usual care with which the Standing and Sectional

Committees passed on the papers that were entered on the general

list before allowing them a place on the daily programme will be

hailed by all members as a step in the right direction. Though a

most disagreeable task to perform, it is one that, if carried out to

the full extent that it should be as required by the constitution;

will do more than any other thing to make the association an

exponent of the science of America, and we trust that the example

set by the last Standing Committee will be followed next year, 50

that not only will worthless papers be excluded, but the rule

providing for the presentation of abstracts of papers be enforced

before allowing papers to go over to the Sectional Committees. —

The Committee appointed at the Indianapolis meeting to report

if any amendment to the constitution was required regarding

membership rendered their report, in which they stated “that they

found the constitution fully provided for the points which they had

been requested to consider, but that its provisions had been pi

lated, and that they considered a strict adherence to the constitu

tion of vital importance to the association.” The clause to whic

the report was specially directed was that relating to the gal

classes of members, the active and the associate, and it is under-

NOTES. 719

stood by the present Standing Committee that the elections next

year will be made in accordance with the provision ; and it was very

generally expressed that all present members should notify the

Permanent Secretary as to the position they wish to hold, either as

an active or associate member, it being understood that the class

of active members was to contain all who were specially interested

in scientific work, while the associates were to be those who joined

the association for the purpose of attending the meetings in order

to gratify their own tastes or to give pecuniary or personal aid in

advancing its objects; the only distinction made between the

two classes being that the active members alone could hold office

or vote on any matter pertaining to the management of the asso-

ciation.

Among the votes passed was one proposed by Col. Foster, the

chairman of Sect. B., providing for a classified index of all the

Yolumes of the proceedings, which would render them of much

greater value than now.

n the general discussions which took place among the members

much was. said regarding the importance of having an official re-

port of the proceedings, which should embody all the discussions,

printed daily. The accomplishment of this would be a great

advantage to the public as well as to the association, and arrange-

ments could unquestionably be made for it by the employment of

regular stenographers, which the rules of the association state

Shall be employed when practicable.

During the session, excursions were made to the lead mines,

_ Spar caves, and other places of interest in and about Dubuque,

and a very enjoyable trip was made by rail to the “ painted rocks”

Some 80 miles up the river, and continued ‘by boat to the town of

McGregor, where the members and friends of the association were

most cordially welcomed and provided with a repast, after which

they returned by rail to Dubuque. After the adjournment, quite a

number of members accepted the kind offer of passes from the

officers of the Illinois Central R. R., and were in succession the

guests of the citizens of Ft. Dodge, Springvale and Sioux City,

: receiving at every place the most generous of welcomes, and as-

_ Ststed in securing the special specimens each was after.

Of this note will never forget the aid and kindness he received

: while pursuing his ichthyological and archeological researches

The writer

nong the rivers and mounds of Iowa, and he knows that all

720 BOOKS RECEIVED.

others who were on the excursion unite with him in thanking the

many friends they made for the true western hospitality extended

and accepted.

The twenty-second meeting of the association will be held at

PortLAND, Maine, beginning on Wednesday, AuGcusr 20, 1873,

and we believe that the association made a most judicious choice

in selecting a place not only easily reached from all sections of

the country, but one which will offer the extra inducement of a

probably cool season, however hot the discussions may prove, and

there will not be the ‘bugbear’ of ‘too hot a place to go in

August” which has prevented many members from attending the

western meetings.

he officers elect for the next meeting are President, JOSEPH

Lovertne of Cambridge; Vice President, A. H. Worruen of

Springfield, Ill. ; Permanent Secretary, E. W. Purnam® of Salem ;

General Secretary, C. A. Warre of Iowa City; Treasurer, W. S.

Vaux of Philadelphia; Standing Committee, ex officio, in addition

to the above officers, J. Lawrence Smit of Louisville, Ky. ;

Avex. WincHett of Ann Arbor; E. S. Morse of Salem.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Ueber die Weizenverwusterin Chlorops teniopus und die Mittel zu ihrer Bekampfung. Von

Prof. Dr. M. Nowicki, Wien. 1871. 8yo. pp. 48,

Die unseren Kulturpflanzen schadlichen Insekten. Yon G.Kunstle. Wien. 1871. Svo, pp. 96 a

Die Pflege der jungen bei Thieren. Von G. R. v. Frencuteld.. Wien. Rai ene pp. S

Tanang der K. K. Zoologisch. botanisch. Gesellschaft in Wien. 1871. xxi Band.

Wien. 1871. 8vo.

Bulletin Sepa ogique Mensuel de ? Observatoire del? Universite d’ U] psal. Vol. i. Nos. l-

12. Dec. 1868 to Nov. 1869. Vol.iìii. Nos. 7-12. Juin-Nov, 1871. Upsal, 1871. 4to.

Nova oho Reg. Societatis Scientiarum, Upsaliensis, Series - viji,

Bulletin de la Societe Imp. des Vaturdihates de Moscou. oe fee 3, ie Moscou, 1872. Sve. 5

Bremen, 1 en herausg. vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereine zu Bremen. Band iii, Heft.

Monographie des ‘Chrysometides de ? Amerique. Par C. Staal. Parts 1-111. Upsal, 1862-65. 4to.

Bulletin Mensuel de la oeu d’ Acclimatation. Jan.-May, 1872, 8vo. Paris. i

Iiou gsberichte der Naturwissensch. Gesellschaft Isis in Dresden, Oct.-Dec., 1871. Jan. to.

Cor orrespondenzblatt des Zoolog. mineral, Vereines in Regensburg, 25 Jahrg. 1871. 8yo.

Archiv fur Anthropologie. Band 5. Vierteijabrhett 2 Brannsonwelg. 1 72. to. A

oe: No.1, zu nao Fogg ope ungen des Ni sch. Vereines zu P Brom 1871. %5 š

Memoires pour serv P Histoire Na Seia, pie Mosg ue des Antines et pee Oats Tinks. :

ad Sansare, ime. Mem. Ma ntide es Americains ye tn e2me. Prem, Part. Geneve et Bale.

0. 4t

Opal sigt lag K. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Forhandlingar. 26, 1869. 27. 1870. Stockholm. ores

kal Vetenskaps-Akad ns Handtin y Fo§d. Band vii, Haft 2. Band viii,

1868; 1869, 1870. Stock intra a ao ‘andlingar olj ua

teorologiska Jaktlagelser i ag HE utgifna af K. Svenska Vetenskaps-akademien. A °

Bome. Bond i Oar E "Eri a a t Rigo Stockhol 1870, 8vo. pp. 23.

ning ofver E eijer arlson, Stockholm.

Lefnadstecknigar ofver K. E esii Vetenskaps- Akademiens efter aar 1854, aflinda Ledamoter.

Tont ns 2, Stockholm. 1870. 0,

PUBIE verichte Pl k oe fesellschay r yadi orschender Freunde zu Berlin, 1871. Berlin. 1871. 8V0.

Behr ur dg Ge Gesamenten 1 ore haften. Bà, ii, iv, 1871. Berlin. 1871, 8v0.

s azin August. 8vo.

Feuille des Jeunes Fakira istes. z st 1. F Par is, 8vo

pan a i a E ae

* Mr. Putnam will not enter upon the duties of his office, except so ap as relates to

arrangements connected with the Portland meeting, until next summer, all com

f. Lo are

aa a AE sae

T ERG

AMERICAN NATURALIST.

Vol. VI.— DECEMBER, 1872.— No. 12.

~LERAGMWO)ODO->

THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND CARPENTER-BEE.

BY REV. SAMUEL LOCKWOOD, PH. D.

——_+#O4e—_——

Dovstiess the ancients were as honest as the moderns. But

_ Were they as painstaking and therefore as trustworthy? Those

Olden treatises on Nature stood upon a sort of exacting didactic

dignity of their own, even when they discoursed of marvels akin to

“ The Anthropophagi and men whose heads

Do grow beneath their shoulders !”

Ithas always been easier to imagine than observe. Thus has

__ Instinct too long been regarded in the beast as the functional equiv-

alent of reason in man ; as if man had no instinct, and the beast no

_ Teason.* And how vitiating an element has this proved in our

Soipatered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872. by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF

: DENGE, in the Omics of the Lees Congress, at Washington.

natural theology. How many believe the pseudo-axiom that of

a cessity every bird builds its nest to-day as did its ancestors six

y Ousand years ago? Is not instinct transmitted, or inherited

habit? And so there may be relatively new instincts as well as

old Ones. The trained animal—the setter, the pointer, the re-

_triever—transmits to its offspring those traits which have become

the habit, the resultant of long training. The cow migrates to

Norway and, contrary to the bovine instinct, eats the fucus off the

“ea rocks, and finally becomes an eater of fish. Her offspring

take to it naturally, that is, instinctively. The mountain parrot,

(Nestor notabilis) called by the Maories, Kea, is a simple honey

* pD, A

“Pythagoras taught that animals had reason but no mind.—Eds.

ON | OS a spe a een

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI (721)

(22 THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND CARPENTER-BEE.

eater. This bird has lately found out that mutton is good; and

actually combines in flocks to attack sheep, eating the live flesh

from the animal’s back and sides.

But what has all this to do with orioles and bumble bees? Let

us see.

At the beginning of June, I received a small package from Rey.

Dr. Campbell, President of Rutger’s College. It contained several

carpenter-bees, each with its head detached. All the president

could teil me, was that they were picked up under a tree in the

college campus ; and an explanation was asked of the phenomenon.

_ A good deal puzzled, I ventured a provisional statement, a sort of

hypothesis which, at least, had the merit of seeming probable.

It was shot at a venture and, like such shots generally, it hit wide

' of the mark. I had just closed quite a long course of lectures on

natural history in the grammar school of that institution, and

this question, becoming somewhat general, made me feel like one

put on his mettle, so I went at it resolved to work out the case if

possible.

In the campus were two beautiful horse-chestnut trees, scu-

lus hippocastaneum. They were large trees, and resplendent with

their dense panicles of bloom; every one, as it stood gorgeously

upright, seemed a thyrsus worthy the hand of a god. These trees

formed the great attraction of honey-seeking insects. It was only

under these trees that the headless bees were found, but there they

lay in hundreds; the ground was literally speckled with them.

Strange to say, the slain insects consisted of but one species and

one sex. They were carpenter-bees, of the species Xylocopa Car-

olina, and all were males. Now these males are stingless, and

have a white face. I picked them up by handfuls, all headless,

the heads lying on the ground. I searched diligently for a head

without that characteristic white face which designates the sting-

less male, but could not find one. Indeed, I entertain no doubt

that, of the large number of these decapitated bees, every one Was

a stingless male. One fact was now apparent, the massacre was

made up among the flowers, while the insects were i quest of

honey. But what had done it? How was it done? And for what

purpose? On these three questions the whole case rested. If

they could be answered, the mystery would be solved.

It appeared under the microscope that the severance of the head

from the body was clean and not bunglingly done. The head was

THE BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND CARPENTER-BEE. 723

‘not pulled nor twisted off, but cut or snipped off and always at

one place, the articulation. But so far the whole affair seemed the

result of sheer wantoriness, much as I have seen some vicious

children beheading flies. The case had become intensely puz-

aling ; for Nature is neither wanton nor wasteful. It seemed to

that no bird would do it, for what could be the object of such

waste? Again, it seemed that no strictly aérial insect could do it.

Indeed, for an insect to capture and decapitate this great carpenter

bee while on the wing or among the flowers, it would require a

Tare combination, a powerful apparatus for attack and uncommon

facilities of flight.

_ And now was disclosed another wonder. On opening one of

these headless insects the body was found to be hollow. Then a

number were opened, and every body was found in like manner to

Separation of the head. Not a wound nor a mark could be found

anywhere on the body. I now began to suspect that the whole

_ Was the work of birds. Inquiry was made of the German jani-

_ tor who seemed pleased to be able to give a direct answer, to the

effect, that ever since the horse-chestnut flowers had come out,

three or four very beautiful birds had come every day to the trees

and had been killing the carpenter-bees. Under the circumstances

this information was very opportune. He was not able to give an

intelligible description of the birds; so I asked him to watch and

oot one for me, which he did the next day. It was a Baltimore

oriole or golden robin (Icterus Baltimore). The specimen was a

beautiful male, a last summer’s bird, hence hardly a year old. Its

Plumage was perfect, but the colors not so deep as those of a more

mature bird.

The Baltimore oriole is an insect and berry eating bird. But

here was a new habit of a curious and interesting character. If

he Kea turns from honey to flesh, we find our oriole preferring

honey to insect food, and resorting to the most singularly ingenious

and outré methods to procure it—and with what intelligence!

hen a boy, in common with his schoolmates the writer often

tured the humble-bee, extracted the honey sac and sucked

mt its luscious contents. How did those four golden robins

find out our boy secret? We should rather have said secrets

724 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

—for not only did we boys know where the honey lay, but

we prided ourselves on knowing that the white-faced carpenter-

bees could not sting. As we have shown, our orioles found out

this fact also. In their operations they caught the bee on the

flower. This of course was done with the bill. The victim was

then transferred to one foot and securely held in the claws, while

the head was snipped off; then the sharp, narrow bill and tongue

were applied to extract the sac containing the valued sweets.

From every point of view this new habit appears to us extraordi-

nary ; and if these orioles generally get into the secret, it must .

needs go hard with the carpenter-bees ; at least with the stingless

ones or, as Patrick observes, those of the male persuasion. An

then when we look at the similarity of the acquired new habits in

the two cases mentioned, how remarkable the parallelism of the

epicurean instincts of the Australian and the American birds!

In both cases is there a singular change of the food propensities,

and an equally seeming cruel wantonness in gratifying the same.

As the poor victims lay before me, I was drawn to think of the old

legal barbarity expressed in the judgment, ‘‘ to be hung, drawn,

and quartered ;” for, pitiful sight, in my very hand lay these decap-

itated and eviscerated objects still manifesting a vestige of life in

the automatic movements of the legs of the body and the palpi

of the head. May it not be asked, if the birds are learning the

secrets, dnd practising the ways of men, and even like them

acquiring more refined tastes, whither will the march of intellect

lead? At any rate does there not seem to be some connection

of our opening homily with orioles and bumble-bees?

- NOTES ON THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER

ABASH VALLEY.

.BY ROBERT RIDGWAY.

_ II. PECULIAR FEATURES OF THE BOTTOM-LANDS.

Axout the middle of September, 187 1, I visited Foote’s Pond, in

Posey County, Indiana, and in company with my botanical friend

Dr. Jacob Schneck, of Mt. Carmel, Illinois, spent a day in exploring

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. 725

its vicinity. This pond isa fine representative of a peculiar feature

of the bottom-lands of the western and southern rivers, locally

termed bayous,* lagoons or ponds, and in all essential respects

is like hundreds of others in the alluvial bottoms of the lower

Wabash. Following an old, almost abandoned road through the

_ primeval forest, guided partly by the directions of the people in

_ the neighborhood and partly by the memory of Dr.. S. who had

been there several years before, we at length discovered, by an

opening in the tree-tops, the close proximity of the pond. As we

emerged from our tiresome passage through the tangled thickets

of button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) which filled up that

end of the pond and grew about 10 or 12 feet high, and stood

upon its bank, a beautiful view opened before us. Entirely hemmed

in by the surrounding dense forest which extended for miles in

every direction, and into whose depths the fronting screen of

rank and varied undergrowth prevented the eye from seeing —

hiding even the trunks of the foremost rank of trees, there

stretched away from us a narrow sheet of water, the calm

surface of which was studded with a variety of beautiful aquatics,

and its shores ornamented by a belt of extremely diversified

herbage, which for variety and luxuriance we have nowhere

seen surpassed outside the tropics. Along the shallow margins

of the pond were acres of the magnificent Neluwmbium luteum,

its broad circular leaves supported on upright stalks, 2 to 4 feet

high, and appearing like a plantation of vegetable parasols, or

else resting upon the surface of the water, with the stalks sub-

merged; the wet banks, from which the water had gradually

subsided during the summer by evaporation and absorption, were

covered by a rank and varied vegetation consisting mainly of Po-

lygonacece, —among which the drooping racemes of rose-colored or

Carmine flowers of the Polygonum amphibium gave a gay and

prevalent color,—and of tall and beautiful grasses and sedges of

numerous species ; while mingled with these prevailing forms grew,

_in the moister spots, patches of plants with striking and beautiful

foliage and often handsome flowers as the Sagittariæ, and Hete-

-tanthera with white flowers, Pontederia with similar habit and

blue flowers, Echinodorus, “ blue-eyed grass” (Sisyrhynchium Ber-

mudianum), tufts of flags (Iris), ete. As we passed along,

wading knee-deep, sometimes waist-deep, through this rank herb-

* Pronounced bi-o.

726 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

age — often overtopped by tall stalks of marsh mallows (Hibiscus

Moscheutos and H. militaris) bearing large and showy white or

rose-colored flowers — we finally found a canoe tied to a willow tree

on the bank; this we appropriated for the purpose of investigating

the pond itself, and accordingly launched out upon the flower-

studded water. We paddled smoothly along at first, over the still,

deep water, almost coffee-colored from the decomposition of vegeta-

ble matter, but still transparent, and looking down into its depths

we could see only a tangled mass of submerged weeds of a moss-like

or stringy form; then we brushed through water-lilies and, reach-

ing out, plucked the beautiful snow-white, fragrant flowers of the

lovely water nymph (Nympheea odorata) or the yellow ones of the

more unpretending ‘ spatter-dock ” or yellow pond-lily (Nuphar _

advena). Little yellow, star-like flowers resting on the surface of

the water, with their cypress vine-like leaves submerged, were _

found to be the Cabomba Caroliniana, a common aquatic of the

Gulf States, and not before found beyond them ; while very curious

peltate leaves, looking somewhat like miniatures of the great lotus

or “ yonkapins”” (Nelumbium) beside them, but less circular in

outline, were Brasenia peltata. As we passed plants of the

Nelumbium, our canoe would now and then brush against the edge

of one of their floating circular leaves, and set it revolving on

the water like a wheel. Many leaves of this latter species which

we measured were found to be 3 feet in diameter; this species

was not then in flower, the blossoms having developed into those

peculiar “toruses,” or top-shaped seed-cones, containing the edible,

acorn-like seeds. Often we had the greatest difficulty in poling

our canoe through the intricately tangled mass of floating and

submerged weeds,* which appeared to be in almost endless variety,

and among which we recognized, besides the species alr eady men-

tioned, various species of Utricularia, Podostemon, Lemna, Wolf-

fia, Potamogeton, Limnobium and Spongia. Having satisfie

ourselves with our examination of the pond itself, we then took

leisurely views of its banks, as we passed along over the water.

A fronting growth of graceful willows, 20 or 30 feet high, formed the

most prominent feature of the shore vegetation, and in the arms

of the pond a jungle of Cephalanthus of a lower and denser growth,

Say Goat ee

Blew 5 ia connection it may be well to mention that this pond received its pe) ame

in his hand, and b i TE W DNES i "i ane

a ott aun 5' weeds Was ULOHY

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. 727

with the lower branches bearded with black moss-like pendent tufts

of Ramalina. Back of this, on every side, stood the dark tall

wall of forest, against which the white arms of the huge old syca-

mores shone out in striking relief by the strong contrast. Arriving

at the shore, and going out into the woods, we found them to be

almost completely primitive in their condition, and so dark and

silent that one could easily imagine himself in a wholly uninhabited

= Yegion, there being few traces of the work of the axe, which mar

so sadly the beauty of the forests in more thickly settled districts.

_ The fine old trees still stood in all their majesty, above the luxu-

tiant and tangled undergrowth of a virgin forest. The largest

trees were, of course, the gigantic sycamores (Platanus occiden-

_ talis) with trunks 25 to 30 feet in circumference, and of varying

length, and a total height of 160 to near 200 feet; but the bur

oak (Quercus macrocarpa) was very abundant, and had attained

an unusual size, very many trunks measuring 18 or 20 feet in

circumference, above the larger base, and supporting a wide-spread

head of astonishing massiveness. owhere else had we seen

= the sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) growing in greater

_ abundance and to such magnificent proportions. In the damper

parts of this forest it formed the prevailing growth and seemed

to vie with the majestic pecan (Carya olivæformis) in its tower-

ing height, and on the tall, slender, and perfectly straight trunk,

Supported a spreading, umbrella-shaped top. Many of these gum

trees were, no doubt, 180 feet, or probably more, in height, while

the longest shafts appeared to considerably exceed 100 feet in

length, and were 16 or 17 feet in circumference. The white elm

(Ulmus Americana) and honey locust (Gleditschia triacanthos)

also approached the sweet gums and pecans in size; the height of

the largest individuals being carefully estimated at 130 to 150 feet,

Pie oe A EN aa ea PS E Be e Ce N ee ee ce ea Pee eee la e

parasitic mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens) which plant evinces

in this region a striking partiality to these trees. The beautiful

Catalpa, or ‘cigar tree” (Catalpa bignonioides), grew as a com-

mon species among the underwoods and attained a common size -

of 60 feet in height and over 2 feet in diameter; its foliage was

ery luxuriant, a leaf plucked from a large tree measuring 18

inches in length by 13 in breadth. The other underwoods were

728 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

chiefly pawpaw (Asimina triloba), mulberry (Morus rubra), sassa-

fras (Sassafras officinale), red-bud (Cercis Canadensis), iron

woods (Carpinus Americanus and Ostrya Virginica), mixed with

numerous other smaller trees, as Amelanchier Canadensis, wild

plums, crab apple (Pyrus coronaria), several species of haws or

thorn apples (Crategus), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida),

black haw (Viburnum prunifolium); while the shrubby under-

growth, which was frequently too dense to penetrate without

cutting, consisted in the main of prickly ash (Xanthorylum

Americanum), hop tree (Ptelea trifoliata), bladder nut (Staphylea

trifolia), burning bush or ‘ Wahoo” (Euonymus atropurpureus),

Crategus spathulata* and several species of Cornus, besides

numerous other shrubs. The prevalent undergrowth, however,

consisted of spice wood (Lindera benzoin) which grew 10 or 12

feet high, its branches often forming a complete canopy overhead,

which entirely shut off the view of the tree-tops.

_ Inthe “hollows” parallel to the river, the small cane (Arun-

dinaria tecta) formed dense brakes and grew 10 or 12 feet high,

the canes matted with thorny “green brier” (Smilax several

species) and mixed with tall stinging nettles (Utrica and Lapor-

tea) ; or where the cane was scant or absent, the ground bristled

with Equisetacee. In the more open portions of the woods the

herbaceous vegetation was more luxuriant, consisting, in the main,

of rank nettles (Urtica and Laportea), tall iron weeds (Vernonia)

and silk weeds (Asclepias), associated with an apparently infinite

variety of other weeds of similar habit. |

In lower spots the “lizard-tail” (Sawrurus cernuus) was the

predominant plant, and when in flower imparted a pleasing fra-

grance to the locality. In the more open glades numerous vines

flourished in great luxuriance ; grape-vines (of half a dozen spe

cies) canopied with their foliage the smaller trees, or ascended to

the tops of the very tallest. The winter grape (Vitis cordifolia)

often grew to a great size, many vines measuring 24 and some

inches in circumference several feet from the ground, — sometimes

dangling from’a branch a hundred feet overhead, as often stretch-

ing like a cable from one tree to another, or twisted in fantastic

` and intricate contortions as they wrapped the trunks or swayed

from them. The gaudy trumpet creeper (Tecoma radicans) with

its vivid clusters of large and conspicuous tubular orange-red

* Heretofore considered of more southern habitat.

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. 729

flowers accompanied the grape-vines in their riot among the

= branches, or with the luxuriant poison vines (Rhus radicans)

_ adorned the trunks ; it was growing to a remarkably large size, a

trunk of this species which we measured being 41 inches in cir-

= cumference at several feet from the root. The splendid Wistaria

= frutescens climbed up the trees and draped their branches; the

graceful cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) crept perpendicu-

3 larly up the larger trunks, its dark green, lanceolate leaves,

= arranged symmetrically in right angles with the stem, and its

clusters of trumpet-shaped carmine and yellow flowers, or long

_ pendent pods, the flowers being then nearly all gone, rendering

this fine creeper an object of striking beauty. The old decaying

__ trunks, on every hand, were encased in a thick matted covering of

the Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), and appeared like

huge columns draped in green. Smaller woody vines, as the

Cocculus Carélinus, moonseed (Menispermum Canadense), wax-

work (Celastrus scandens), green briers (Smilax rotundifolia, S.

glauca, 8. tamnoides, S. Walteri! S. lanceolata! and perhaps one

: or two other species), pipe vines (Aristolochia) and many others

_ Screened the shrubbery or festooned the underwood, while a great

variety of herbaceous vines, far too numerous to name in full,

trailed over the undergrowth or ran up the shrubbery. Chief

among these were the virgin’s bowers (Clematis Pitcheri, C. viorna

wild cypress vine (Quamoclit coccinea), wild blue morning glory

(Ipomæa nil), Rutland beauty (Calystegia sepium and C. spith-

amea) balsam apple (Echinocystis lobata), wild hop (Humulus

lupulus), wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) and carrion flower (Smilax

herbacea). Besides these were the several species of dodder (Cus-

Cuta) which spread a carpet of orange-colored yarn, as it were,

Over the herbage, and numerous species of delicate Leguminose,

with handsome pea-like flowers, nestled meekly beneath the ranker

herbage, or accompanied the other vines in their spiral ascent.

Very often the smaller vines twined around the larger; and in one

mstance we noticed five species thus ascending one tree. They

Were Rhus radicans, Tecoma radicans, Smilax rotundifolia, Celas-

_ trus scandens and Menispermum Canadense.

In this neighborhood we found no cypress swamps and did not

; hear that any occurred there. But about twenty or thirty miles to

the northward, just across the mouth of White River and on the

730 THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY.

point of land known as “‘the neck” between that stream and the

Wabash, is a cypress swamp of very considerable extent, embrac-

ing, according to the report of the Indiana Geological Survey (p.

179), an area of 17,000 acres! I have visited this swamp, but as

yet have only just entered its borders, a penetration into its centre

being almost a matter of impossibility; and, if possible, is at-

tended by great difficulties and fatigue. In June and July, 1871,

I made several attempts to explore to my satisfaction these cypress

ponds, but partly from want of familiarity with the locality, and

partly from the great difficulties encountered in penetrating the

almost impassable undergrowth and débris, became tired out

before I had fairly found myself surrounded by cypresses. In

these swamps, the bald cypress (Tazodium distichum) is, of

course, the prevailing growth; but the gigantic pillars of this

species overtop a smaller growth of such trees as Nyssa uniflora,

Liquidambar styraciflua, Gleditschia monosperma, and such others

as require a boggy situation. Though the finest accessible trees of

the cypress had been long destroyed, there were yet a few stand-

ing which appeared to approach, perhaps to exceed, 150 feet in

height, while there were trunks, with immense conical bases, more

than 10 feet in diameter. I have no doubt, however, that the

almost inaccessible recesses of the swamp contain trees of this

species of far greater dimensions. In the portion of the “swamp”

which I was able to penetrate, the ground was not overflowed, but

moist, or in a few spots boggy, with now and then a lagoon of

clear water — clear of trees, but filled up with aquatic plants.

One must penetrate sucha place before he can appreciate its dif-

culties; then before he has penetrated fifty feet he is likely to

have stumbled over a dozen logs, butted, every few steps, against

a cypress “knee” concealed in the rank weeds, and thereby

tumbled head-foremost into a thorny bush, or mired in the black

mud. After such an experience, stopping on a prostrate log to

rest, I prepared to contemplate my surroundings as calmly as I

could while wiping ihe sweat from my eyes, and panting with the

rough treatment I had met. Except upward, a view in any direc-

‘tion could not possibly extend beyond a few rods. The tall

Cypresses stretched their arms overhead, though often they were

concealed by the intervening growth of smaller trees, or py the

close canopy of button bush (Cephalanthus) and spice wood =

(Lindera). The fallen trunks, in every position, from an angle.

THE VEGETATION OF THE LOWER WABASH VALLEY. T31

5°, as when arrested in their fall by another tree, to the prostrate

log, were in every stage of decay. Some, as they lay rotting on

the damp ground, were as high as the head, and all completely

oyerspread by a varied growth of weeds, which here take a hold

upon every available spot, covering as completely the logs and

rubbish as they do the ground.

Emerging, in a somewhat dilapidated condition, from this un-

derwood, a beautiful and entirely different scene lay before me;

a “pond,” but instead of a sheet of dark stagnant water, there

spread out before me a sea of green vegetation, with the grasses

and sedges waving, and the Nelumbiums nodding, in the gen-

tle breeze, while the graceful, delicately foliaged willows, which

fringed its borders, swayed with every impulse of the wind.

Above the latter reached upward the spires of the tall cypresses,

Which stretched out their arms, clad in their fine light green feath-

ery foliage ; but even these were overtopped by occasional gigantic

Sycamores which overlooked the entire forest, stretching out for

miles on every side. This pond, which occupied an area of about

_ ‘mile and a half in length by a maximum breadth of perhaps half

amile, was at this time nearly dry, in consequence of the protracted

summer’s drought. The bed from which the water had entirely dis-

appeared was covered with a luxuriant growth of handsome and

Varied species of grasses and sedges, while in the damper spots

‘Stood tall blades of Scirpus and Typha; and, in the dryer places,

_ patches of tall marsh mallow (Hibiscus militaris and H. Moscheu-

_ tos). Toward the centre of the pond the ground grew gradually

moister, and sustained a growth of Pontederia, Sagittariz, etc.,

then miry, and supporting the broad circular leaves of Nelumbium,

r and finally formed pools of shallow water, filled with Nuphar,

7 Nymphæa and other plants, which, being inaccessible to us, we

Could not determine. As we walked along, about knee-deep in

s the grasses and Polygonacee of the dryer border of the pond, we

Shot a large specimen of Nerodia erythrogaster, as it lay on the

black mud, from which I did not distinguish it until almost stepped

Upon, As the moister portions were neared, the great blue

herons (Ardea herodias) would fly up, startling the intruder with

their horridly discordant squawk, sometimes accompanied in their

Tetreat by great white herons (Herodias egretta) ; and once a flock

of a dozen or twenty wood ibis (Tantalus loculator) were dis-

‘urbed in their rest upon the branches of an old dead sycamore

732 THE CALIFORNIAN TRIVIA.

that overhung the bank, by a shot which we hazarded at some as

they flew from a pool a hundred yards or so ahead of us. In

the solitude of such places as this, these birds find secure retreats ;

and from the half dried-up pools have their fill of fishes, crustacea

and reptiles which, when the water becomes nearly exhausted by

the summer’s drought, are so numerous in the little pools to which

they are confined as to keep the water in constant agitation.

THE CALIFORNIAN TRIVIA AND SOME

POINTS IN ITS DISTRIBUTION.

BY ROBERT E. C. STEARNS.

Ix the month of March, 1868, Mr. W. G. W. Harford and

myself made a short visit to Monterey for the purpose of collect-

ing, devoting most of the time to an investigation of the outer

Fig. 144, or ocean shore of Point Pinos in the vicinity of the

lighthouse. Here are great numbers of granite

boulders which have been thrown up by the sea; by

wading in at low tide to a depth of two or three

feet, and conveying to the shore such stones as

could be lifted by us, we were able to make a de-

liberate and careful examination. Upon the under

side of some of the heavy boulders, we found

numerous colonies of the corals, Paracyathus Stearnsti and Bala-

nophyllia elegans (Fig. 144), described by Prof. Verrill of Yale;

when first taken from the water and therefore alive, these corals

are of a beautiful red color, a shade between orange hie

and scarlet, and vivid as a coal of fire; when dead the __, v

stony portion soon fades and becomes a dingy white.

Upon these brilliantly colored coral animals, th

animal of Trivia Californica (Fig. 145, shell, enlarged

Balanophyllia.

145.

tas)

Sometimes upon the jelly-like portion of the living sponges.

- The animal of Trivia Californica (Fig. 146, enlarged twice) —

is of the same color as the animal of B. elegans; the mantle and

THE CALIFORNIAN TRIVIA.

body a vivid orange-scarlet; the body proportionally very much

shorter posteriorly and narrower than in Trivia Europea Mont.

(Fig. 147, natural size), as figured in Adams’ Genera, Vol. iii,

_ pi. 28, fig. 5; towards and at the end of the proboscis, the color

_ tones into a reddish-brown ; the eyes are upon slight protuberances

upon the outer base of the tentacles; the color of the mantle

= (which is quite thin and almost transparent) when extended over

_ the back of the shell is neutralized by the purple color of the

latter, and the edge of the mantle appears to be slightly waved,

= and is alternately closely dotted with small whitish and brownish

_ Spots; small whitish papillose spots may also be seen irregularly

_ placed on the surface and sides of the mantle; the animal is quite

-= active; from a fancied resemblance Fig. 146. Fig. 147.

= to beans, our Spanish Californians

= also found in the Gulf of California.

_ An interesting fact pertaining to

the distribution of this and quite

likely other related species is worthy

of notice. Bodega Head, where in

June, 1867, accompanied by Dr. W.

= Newcomb, I made’ a collection, is

— about one hundred and forty miles :

north oË Point Piños, and consists of Trivia Californica. Trivia Europea.

an abrupt but not very extensive outcropping of coarse granite

_ Similar to the rocks of Point Piios; at Bodega I detected the

Same species of corals and the Trivia, subsequently collected at

the Monterey station; the corals seem to affect the harder rock,

for at the intervening points where I have made collections, I

ve been unable to find either of the corals or a solitary Trivia,

2 coast being composed almost exclusively of the sedimentary

rocks.

The common shore shell, Littorina planaxis, also appears par-

tial to the granite, though sometimes found on the shales. !

_ From the above it may be inferred, other requirements being

Present, especially the proper temperature of the water, that the

trence of the corals is coincident with the presence of the

granite, that of the Trivia with the corals upon which it feeds ;

ao ee ee d

SE ie ee ae a 7h as Ue E Ae eT E RE AET ROR e s AIA

Siete =

734 THE ALPINE FLORA OF COLORADO.

it may be that the Littorina, the animal unlike that of the Trivia

being a vegetarian, finds its favorite food in some marine vege-

table form peculiar to the granite, or that some form of vegetation,

which grows upon the shales as well as the harder rock, has some

quality imparted to it by the granite which renders it more pala-

table to the Littorina, and hence its apparent preference for a

granitic habitat or station.

THE ALPINE FLORA OF COLORADO.

BY REV. E. L. GREENE.

By means of the collections made and distributed a few years

since by Dr. C. C. Parry and Messrs. Hall and Harbour, the

botany of the Alpine region of the Rocky Mountains is very we

represented to the few who have been able to avail themselves of

sets of specimens made by these collectors. Dr. Parry has been

collecting in this region again during the past season, and will

probably soon be ready to distribute sets that will very beautifully

represent this Alpine flora of our West. For the pleasure of

many interested parties, who may fail to procure these rare and

valuable collections, we purpose giving, through our common

friend the Naruratist, a brief sketch of some of these beauties

of the higher mountains, as they appear to one who has more than

once visited them in their Alpine homes.

At the altitude of nearly eleven thousand feet, as one passes

upward among the pines and spruces which become more scatter-

ing in numbers, and more and more dwarfed in stature, because —

we are rapidly approaching the limit of trees, no one who notices

flowers will fail to observe first of all, the brilliant painted cup

(Castilleia), the scarlet flowered varieties of which might at first

be mistaken for the common Castilleia coccinea. But this plant 1s

of a quite distinct species; and notwithstanding the exceeding

brightness of its flowers, at this particular altitude, passing as they

do into almost every possible shade of red, and sometimes to a

beautiful mauve or purple (so that it is difficult to find two differ- a

_ ent roots producing the same color of flower), its true name 18

THE ALPINE FLORA OF COLORADO. 735

Castilleia pallida, or pale painted cup; for in the marshes below,

say at an altitude of seven thousand feet, and from that point

_ upwards to near the timber line, wherever the plant grows, it bears —

handsome pale cream-colored flowers. Also above the timber'line

where it again appears and continues in a very reduced form to

flourish at twelve thousand feet, the flowers are pallid again,

though with a more decidedly yellowish cast, in the very dwarf

and high-alpine variety.

7 One seldom meets with such exceedingly beautiful wild flowers

= asare found in just this region of the last of the trees. From

= their sources on the borders of snow fields just above, noisy

streamlets corhe dancing down, their banks often fairly crowded,

and their foaming waters hidden by the luxuriant foliage, and

pendent blue flower-clusters of Mertensia Sibirica. Where the

stream is broader and the water shallow, the splendid Primula

Parryi almost startles you as you come suddenly upon it, so

_ tropically rich are its light green, showy leaves, and its heavy

umbels of large, magenta-purple flowers. Altogether the finest

plant of the Rocky Mountains, it seems almost strange that it

should have selected its home so near the everlasting snows, and

the Mississippi; but this Alpine species bears only one flower

+a stem, the color of which is bluish outside and white within.

or must we omit to mention the beautiful perennial larkspur

phinium elatum), whose deep blue spikes are another decided

ent to this region; nor the two very pretty purple-flowered

ecies of Pedicularis (P. Greenlandica and P. Sudetica); nor

“arnassia fimbriata with its beautifully fringed white petals.

th drier soils, among the now dwarfed and scattering pines

(Pinus contorta and P. aristata), we find plenty of a very pretty,

Small, blue-flowered Polemonium (P. pulchellum), and likewise a

tosa

736 THE ALPINE FLORA OF COLORADO.

variety of EHriogonum umbellatum, with cream-colored umbels.

And here we must leave unmentioned almost countless species and

varieties of Senecio, several interesting saxifrages and crowfoots,

and daisy-like Erigerons, and pass upward toward the snows.

Leaving below the last of the stunted specimens of spruce and

pine and rising to those vast, treeless, grassy slopes that lie just

above the limit of trees, we enter upon a new field. Woody plants

are yet represented by straggling willows of several species,

growing possibly to the height of one or two feet, and often

monopolizing considerable tracts of land. One may chance also

to find a patch of the rare, high-alpine laurel, attaining a height

of perhaps one inch, but bearing beautiful large red flowers. This

is supposed to be a form of Kalmia glauca. It is however seldom

met with. Of herbaceous flowering plants, here at an altitude of

twelve thousand feet, there yet remain some splendid examples.

Polemonium confertum, in its typical form, is one of the finest of

this handsome genus; yet this is surpassed by a variety (P. con-

fertum, var. mellitum) of the same species. The first mentioned

form, growing on bleak, open ground, either level or sloping

northward or westward, is smaller every way, except in the dark-

blue corolla, The variety grows taller, has a luxuriant foliage,

and usually pale or almost white flowers. It has gained some

excellent points of character by selecting for its abiding places

the shelter of high rocks, on the south sides where it is well

protected from cold winds and driving storms of snow, which not

unfrequently visit these sublime heights, even in August, the

flower month; and that, to the greater inconvenience of flower

gatherers, than of the flowers themselves. The largest plant of

these altitudes is a coarse, hoary composite (Actinella grandiflora),

yellow flowers as large as those of the wild sunflower of the

plains. Here, where so few things rise to the height of more than

two or three inches, this species becomes very conspicuous. It

usually grows on very exposed situations, and the large heads of

flowers, borne upon stout and well clothed stems, turn their backs

to the storms, and remain stoically indifferent to the peltings of

every sleeting blast that sweeps over their dreary abode. Merten-

sia alpina is one of the most elegant of these tenants of the

heights. With its stems, three or four inches high, bearing

bunches of deep blue, nodding flowers, it looks remarkably pretty,

THE ALPINE FLORA OF COLORADO. 137

and is withal quite showy among so many plants of smaller growth.

- Here we find two very interesting Alpine clovers, Trifolium dasy-

Phyllum and T. nanum. The former is much reduced in size,

_ the stems, two or three inches high, supporting the-large heads of

_ pink and purple flowers, are conspicuously longer than the leaves.

_ T. nanum grows chiefly on very bleak and barren summits, and is

yet far smaller. It can scarcely be said to have even a flower-

= stalk. The flowers, too, are not producéd in heads as in other

= species, but grow either singly, or two together; they are very

large, of a pink color, and lie as closely as they can to the matted

leaves. The pale green spreading masses of the minute Phlox

_ Hoodii, when out of bloom, would very likely be passed by for

_ patches of moss; but now they are dotted all over or fairly whi-

tened with pink-eyed flowers, and are perfectly charming. Silene

acaulis is another of these matted, mossy, Alpine beauties, with

almost stemless, purple flowers. Saxifraga serpyllifolia, almost

the smallest saxifrage one meets with here, has remarkably large,

golden-yellow petals. And now, just a little above us, begin the

long, white lines or extended fields of never-melting snows. We

hasten to their borders, curious to see what floral beauties have

chosen to bloom there ; and we find not a few very notable ones.

Within six feet of the snow grows the small but bright-eyed

moet pretty Primula angustifolia ; Lloydia serotina, a rather small

_liliaceous plant, with solitary white flowers; Gentiana aR

‘ handsome gentian with large corollas, white, marked an ed

with blue, and which are not afraid to expand. paper rans areti-

oides is a most elegant, forget-me-not-like plant of about this

altitude, growing in very small, silvery masses and sending out

_ very short stems with the very prettiest bright blue flowers. The

showiest of all is Ranunculus adoneus, a crowfoot with rather stout

Stems, small and finely divided leaves, and remarkably large and

well-formed golden petals. It is certainly one of the very finest

Species of its genus, and even shows some inclination to produce

ble flowers. Snow banks that are shut in closely by high

surrounding mountains seem as if bordered with gold by the

bundance of. this plant.

On yet higher and drier points are many more very interesting

es, of which we will speak of one here and there. Among

of the highest cliffs one finds in the crevices of the rocks

beautiful small- giles Giura a variety of Aquilegia

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL.

738 THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

vulgaris. Claytonia Arctica, var. megarhiza, with large tufts of

broad, fleshy leaves, grows on some very barren summits among

the rocks, and by the freshness of its appearance in such a place,

away above the range of the most dwarfed of high-alpine ‘plants,

almost astonishes you. The flowers are quite similar to those of

Claytonia Virginica, and the whole plant is rather fine looking.

It has a marvellously large fleshy root, from which it was named

by Dr. Parry, C. megarhiza. <A little, yellow-rayed composite,

with heads of flowers scarcely raised above the surface of the

rocky ground, is Aplopappus pygmæus; a pygmy indeed in contrast

with some of its kindred species of the lower mountains and of

the plains. A. Lyallii is another very dwarf, high-alpine species

less frequently met with.

Talinum pygmæum is a fine little dwarf, looking very like a

Claytonia, but producing among its tufts of narrow fleshy leaves

numerous very bright purple flowers.

There remain yet many of these Alpine flowers well worth

notice; but we are now far above the ‘ music of the pines,”

looking downward over many a silvery lake, and over many 4

wide-extended field of dazzling snow. Eastward lies the blue line

of distant plains, and near us in the west are piled range on

range of snow-streaked, rocky Mountains. The flowers that bloom

at our feet we shall forget a moment, and enjoy the wondrous

grandeur of this sublime landscape into which our botanizing has

so delightfully led us.

MOUND-BUILDERS.

BY J. W. FOSTER, LL. D.*

CERTAIN os Ee IN THE CRANIA OF

Tue “Kennicott Mound,” near Chicago, yielded three frontal

bones—the only parts of the skeletons capable of preservation —

* An abstract of a paper read before n Sayr Meeting of the Amen Associ-

ation for oe Advancement of Science, A ounds in :

er giving ah account of the ancora’ pases that he had aai from m illus-

: Indiana, 1 Tlinois and sly with a comparison of them with various other culls as

trated drawings, Dr. Foster gives his conclusions ere he

ea characters ir rede crania of the mound-building race, which W quote entire,

preceded by a copy m drawing of the singular skull from the

and his remarks upon i Wen regret that we are unable to print the paperin

trust that it — soon sil in the volume of the Proceedings of the mee ting-—

THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 739

= which were also indicative of a low type. In two instances there

was a rapid narrowing in the temporal region; the plates were

extraordinarily thick ; the superciliary ridges were massive, stand-

ing out like ropes; the orbital processes were profoundly notched ;

and the frontal bone was much prolonged towards the coronal

Suture. Figure 148, reduced one-half, represents one of these

bones. No one, I think, can view this fragment of a skull

with its superciliary ridges projecting far beyond the general

contour. both laterally and in front, and the low flat forehead

with its thick, bony walls, without coming to the conclusion that

its possessor was a ferocious brute. The prize-fighter of this

day might envy such a

frontispiece, adapted

to withstand any de-

gree of pommelling, or

almost even to turn a

musket ball.

Fig. 143.

| Distinctive CHAR-

__ ACTERS. — The skulls

which I have described

possess peculiarities

Le)

pean. They belong in

One respect to what Frontal portion of a Skull from “ Kennicott’s Mound,” near

Dr Pritchard calle the Chicago, a, a, Superciliary ridges.

2 Pyramidal type, but in other respects they present characters

_ Which are sui generis. The pyramidal form, seen in cross section,

arises from the peculiar conformation of the malar bones, giving

an outward sweep to the zygomatic arches.

I append a synopsis of what I regard as the distinctive charac-

_ ters of the Mound-builder’s skull, selecting for the purpose the one

eS cae pe eS RP eal an aps

aei i S

hest forms ; and that the reader may compare these peculiarities

with those of the idiot as given by Humphry, I shall, as far as con-

Venient, follow his order of description. It is ta be regretted that

mall my specimens, with a single exception, the facial bones are

Wanting,

740 THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

In examining this skull in its general outlines the observer’ is

struck by the scantiness of brain capacity, seen in the narrow fore-

head, the receding frontal bone, and a similar recession in the re-

gion of the lambdoidal suture, which give to the vertex an undue

prominence, and to the longitudinal arc an outline approaching

in form a Gothic arch. `

That portion of the occìpital bone behind the foramen magnum,

Fig. 149.

a, Glabella. d, Occipital crest.

* — 8, Coronal suture. e, Squamosal suture

c, Lambdoidal suture. J, Foramen magnum.

Typical Skull of the Mound-builder.

instead of being continued in a straight line, as in the well-devel-

oped European skull, curves up to the occipital crest. The occip

ital condyles are small, and “ the basilar portion of the occipital

bone ascends with unusual obliquity from them.” “t The foramen

Magnum and the other foramina for nerves at the base arè

comparatively large; the foramina for vessels as well as the —

grooves for the sinuses are, on the other hand, comparatively

small.” The post-glenoid process, as in the negro, is strong

marked. The occipital crest is highly ridged, and arched cor

vexly like the figure m, and the point where these arches intersect

THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.’ 741

forms the extremity of the skull. The temporal fossz are deep

and the temporal ridge is prominent. The apex is about midway

between: the coronal and lambdoidal suture. The parietal plates

instead of swelling into a rounded outline, are flattened. The

suture connecting the squamous bone with the parietal is less

convex than in the European, and in this respect approaches that

of the chimpanzee and the lower animals, which is nearly straight.

The superciliary ridges are strongly marked and project beyond

the general contour of the brain case, and the glabella forms the

extreme point of the anterior portion of the skull. The orbits,

where bounded by the superciliary ridges and the nasal septum,

owing to the deep supraorbital notch, are of a quadrangular shape.

‘The frontal eminences are very slight, which make the superciliary

ridges more conspicuous, and the forehead more retreating. The

zygomatic arches swell out beyond the parietal walls, which in the

European skull so far overhang as to conceal them in the vertical

view. From this point of observation it may be said that all the

exterior prominences are visible, —the occipital protuberance, the

zygomatic arches, and the superciliary ridges.

_ The frontal bone is of great strength and slopes backward,

_ encroaching on the parietals and giving origin to a low forehead.

In the lower animals this bone becomes nearly horizontal and is

placed behind the eyes. ‘In proportion,” says Humphry, “as

=the cranial portion slopes backward, so do its facial buttresses —

_ the nasal and angular processes— slant forwards; and in propor-

_ tion as the brain is well developed and the cranial part of the bone

is upright, so are the facial processes directed perpendicularly

i downwards. In the lower animals for instance, they grow directly

_ forwards, in the lower races of mankind they grow downwards

and forwards, and in the best formed human skulls they grow

almost vertically downwards.”

Such are the characters which seem to predominate in the

Mound-builders’ skulls,—characters which distinguish them from

the negro on the one hand and the Teuton on the other. Indi-

vidual variations occur, as might be expected, for we are not to

ippose that all have been cast in a single mould. All the

specimens indicate a low intellectual organization little removed

On comparing the figure with a European skull, these anatomical

its will be apparent by contrast ; particularly the increased

742 THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

development of the frontal and parietal regions, the outward

curving of the occiput, the horizontality of the line between the

occipital ridge and the foramen magnum, and the convexity of

the squamosal suture.

It is the preponderance of the brain case over the facial por-

tion of the head that gives to man his superiority as compared

with the lower animals; and we estimate the intellectuality and

capacity for improvement in the several races of men by the same

standard. The skull in size and outline has a general- conformity

to the enclosed brain. The bony walls take their shape from

the nervous tissue, as the shell of the oyster is shaped to accom-

modate its living tenant. The brain is undoubtedly the seat of

mental activity; and, without endorsing phrenology in all its

details, we may affirm that a particular form of skull is indicative

of particular traits of character. We place the seat of the intel-

lectual faculties in the anterior lobe; of the propensities which

link us to the brute in the middle lobe; and of those which

appertain to the social affections in the posterior lobe. ‘The pre-

dominance of any one of these divisions in a people would stamp

them as either eminently intellectual, or eminently cruel, or emi-

nently social. The mound-builders, assuming these skulls to be

typical, were doubtless neither eminent for great virtues nor great

vices, but were a mild, inoffensive race, who would fall an easy

prey to a crafty and cruel foe. Under the guidance of a superior

mind, we can imagine that they would be content to toil, without

weighing deliberately the nature or amount of the reward. Like

the Chinese they could probably imitate, but not invent; and,

secure from the irruption of enemies they would, in time, develop

a rude civilization.

The Indian possesses a conformation of skull which clearly

separates him from the prehistoric mound-builder. And such a

conformation must give rise to different mental traits. His bram

as compared with the European, according to George Combe,

differs widely in the proportions of the different parts. The ante-

rior lobe is small, the middle lobe large, and the central convolu-

tions on the anterior lobe and upper surface are small. - es

brain case is box-like with the corners rounded off; the occiput

extends up vertically ; the frontal ridge is prominent ; the cerebral

vault is pyramidal; the interparictal diameter is great; the super

ciliary ridges and zygomatic arches sweep out beyond the pe

THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 743

eral line of the skull; the orbits are quadrangular; the forehead

= is low; the cheek bones high; and the jaws prognathous. His

- character, since first known to the white man, has been signalized

by treachery and cruelty. He repels all efforts to raise him from

his degraded position ; and whilst he has not the moral nature to

adopt the virtues of civilization, his brutal instincts lead him to

: welcome its vices. He was never known voluntarily to engage

= inan enterprise requiring methodical labor; he dwells in tempo-

rary and movable habitations ; he follows the game in their migra-

tions ; he imposes the drudgery of life upon his- squaw ; he takes

no heed for the future. To suppose that such a race threw up the

long lines of circumvallations and the symmetrical mounds which

crown so many of our river-terraces is as preposterous almost, as

_ to suppose that they built the pyramids of Egypt.

Inthe results of archeological explorations, at other points on

this hemisphere, we have evidences of the existence of races whose

. skulls had many of the distinctive features which appertain to

those of the mound-builder.

Dr. Lund, a distinguished Swedish natur alist, many years ago in

_ the bone caves of Minas Gordas, Brazil, found the remains of men

associated with those of extinct quadrupeds, under circumstances

-= which led him to believe that the whole were contemporaneous.

In his communications to the Geographical and Historical Society

of Brazil, an abstract of which was forwarded to Dr. Morton by

Lieutenant Pienin, he says:

ENE

Pees

Rn eee aera ee

a in RA to determine the pine ace s they seni to

ances, a T excessive. degree, even to the entire ee

f the fore

"We “shied ‘that the human figures found sculptured on the

ent monuments of Mexico, represent, for the greater part, a

744 THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

singular conformation of head, being without forehead, the crania

retreating backward immediately above the superciliary arch.

This anomaly, which is generally ascribed to an artificial disfigura-

tion of the head or taste of the artist, now admits of a more

natural explanation, it being proved by these authentic documents,

that there really existed in this country a race exhibiting this

anomalous conformation. The skeletons which were of both sexes,

were of the ordinary height, although two of them were above

the common stature. These heads according to the received

opinion in Craniology, could not have occupied a high position

intellectually.” *

Rivero and Tschudi, whose researches in South America com-

mand confidence, believe that the artificial disfigurement of the

skull which prevailed amongst the Inca-Peruvians owed its origin

to the prior existence of an autochthonous race having this pecu-

liarity ; and they further state that it is in some instances

congenital, as it is seen in the foetus of Peruvian mummies.

In the Peruvian skull figured by Tiedemann, this peculiarity is

also represented. ee

hese authorities would indicate that there was a conformity in

the craniology of the earlier races on this hemisphere, embracing

the primeval people of Brazil, the platform-builders of Peru and

Mexico, and the mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley.

The Peruvian skull, as compared with the Indian, is deficient in

capacity being, according to Morton, no greater than that of the

Hottentot or New Hollander. In measuring 155 crania of the for-

mer, they gave but 75 cubic inches for the bulk of ‘the brain, while

the Teutonic crania gave 92 inches. The average difference be-

tween the Peruvian and Indian is 9 inches in favor of the latter. t

How is it then, it has been asked, that with this low mental pow-

er, these Peruvians should have been able to construct such stupen-

dous works, and develop a very considerable civilization, while

the Indian, with far greater volume of brain, exhibits such slight

constructive power and has resisted all attempts to elevate his —

condition? Mr. J. S. Phillips has attempted to answer this ques-

tion: -

“The intellectual lobe of the brain of these people, if not borne

own h overpowering animal propensities and passions,

_ would, doubtless, have been capable of much greater efforts than

any-with which we are acquainted, and have enabled these barbarie

tribes to make some progress in civilization. * * The m

* Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1844. t Morton’s “ Crania Americana.”

THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 745

lectual and moral qualities of the Mexicans and Peruvians are left

X! free to act, not being so subordinate to the propensities and

violent passions. * ;

Below, I give the contours of the most anomalous skulls referred

to in this paper, reduced to a uniform scale :

Fig. 150.

Comparative size of different skulls.

Contour of European Skull.

“u «that from Stimpson’s Mound No. 1

“ that from the Neanderthal Skull.

“ {hat from the Dunleith Mound, No.9.

* the Chimpanzee.

“

The glabella.

The occipital crest.

SS OCS

kas

So great is the range of variation in the crania of the living

tribes of men that it is unsafe to pronounce upon their average

city except from an examination of a large collection. Thus

' but few authentic mound-builders’ skulls have been exhumed,

and they indicate that that race must be ranked intellectually below

owest types of Australia and Caledonia.

ving out the Engis skull which shows à good degree of intel-

ality, it may be said that the earliest types of man are inferior,

ndicated by the Neanderthal skull, as well as by those recov-

from the Danish and British tumuli, to say. nothing of the

> human jaw found by Dupont in Belgium, which approaches

rar am. ¢the

rhysicai tyr

# A Tbn AE >

746 THE CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

those of the anthromorphous apes, and another jaw of analogous

traits found by the Marquis de Vibraye in France, both of which

are supposed to. be referable to the dawn of the human period.

There is nothing to indicate modern degeneracy, whether applied

to the intellectual or physical capacity of the Teutonic race. So

far from it, there are strong grounds for believing that our remote

ancestors lived in brutal barbarism, with modes of thought and

daily pursuits far different from those of the educated and much-

planning man of to-day ; and that, through a state of progression,

long continued, often checked, but still acquiring strength to

advance, a portion of the human family have been able to attain

a high degree of civilization — civilization which implies intellect-

ual culture and an ability to render the forces of nature subservi-

ent to human wants and conveniences.

That the investigator may comprehend the relative rank which

the mound-builder occupied in what I may call the scale of hu-

manity, I give the following tables of measurements of the crania

of the superior and inferior races of mankind, as they exist at this

day ; those from the United States being taken from ‘* The Military

and Anthropological Statistics of the War of the Rebellion,” pub-

lished by the Sanitary Commission under the editorship of Dr. B.

A. Gould, and those from foreign sources being repťoduvas from

Huxley :

: TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS.

3 Distance betw’n con- ore

$ |. dyloid procoiet |

p.i © 25

ey a o . ©

On| g aA 5 pa

If the hair and scalp were removed, =e tis Ns = E

e promi danin would De reduced from one | 4&8 Se A 3 ze

to one and one-half inches eo Sa fei] 8 |E

kej "Q o ues

42 | 88 |77| 5 | 88

= H È 5 | £8

2 D (e ° o

oe = a

5 f= Saeed Sere emer

White Soldi 2213 | arsı | 1331 | 1°82 | 1448

Iroquois 92:48 | 12°08 | 13°71 11:58 | 445

Mulattoes 92-00 | 12°34 | 1411 | 1224 | 185

Negroes... ə191 | 10-98 | 1395 | 11°55 | 1440

A 2

Ww the following table, while giving the measurement of English —

and Australian skulls, as well as of those known as the Engis and

THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC VIGOR AND SEX. 747

eanderthal skulls belonging to a prehistoric race, I also append,

for the purposes of comparison, the measurements of the true

_ mound-builders’ skulls described in this paper :

TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS.

i , NATIONALITY. A. B. Cc. D. E F.

_ English... : 21 | 13°75 |1250 | 4-40 [787 |533

_ Australian (No. 1) 20:50 |13 | 12 475 | 7°50 | 5-40

| Eo (No, 2) a2 |1250 | 10-75 | 380 | 7-90 |57

Engis, Belgium... 20°50 |1375 | 12°50 |475 |775 |525

Neanderthal, Prussian Empire............-.. 23 12 10 3-75 |8 5°75

Merom, Indiana (No. 4) 20-50 |1287 |1125 |4 | 725 | 550

i “Qo. 5) 20°62 | 12-87 | 12 3:87 | 737 | 5:37

4 y ** (No. 6) .. [19°50 | 12°50 | 11-62 | 4:37 |662 | 5-62

. f no Not) 21 13:50 |1250 |412 |712 |6

Chicago, Tlinois (No. 1) 20-25 | 12°50 3:80 | 760 | 575

| : ‘La Porte, Indiana 1850 | 10:50 |1030 |380 | 650 |5

. A. The horizontal a ri oia in the plane of a line joining the glabella with the

ce.

B. The longi al are fro om ald i the middle line of the skull to

C. From the level of the g ype line on each tas across the middle of the

: sagittal suture to Ee same point on the opposite si

D. The vertical height from the glabello- ae gon line.

E. The extreme longitudinal Eaa paa

. The extreme transverse measurement.

ON THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC

VIGOR AND SEX.

BY HENRY HARTSHORNE, M.D.*

Tue observations of Thomas Meehan upon the relations of sex

a plants, published in the ‘Transactions of the American Asso-

Clation for Advancement of Science,” and elsewhere, are entitled

the attentive consideration not -only of botanists but also of

udents of general biology. In his papers of 1868, ’69 and later, —

i has endeavored to show that “it is the highest types

at the gags Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement

“oe August,

748 THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC VIGOR AND SEX.

_ of vitality only which take on the female form.”* His facts have

referred mainly to Conifer and Amentacee, although not confined

to them.

The hesitation felt by many minds in regard to the acceptance of

the above proposition has originated, chiefly, from the familiarity

of the principle that “there is a certain degree of antagonism

between the nutritive and the generative functions, the one being

executed at the expense of the other ;” along with the weight of

some very familiar facts concerning the generally greater size and

muscular strength of the male among animals (with a few excep-

tions, as in certain raptorial birds and arachnida), as well as the

equally general superiority of male birds in voice and plumage.

Some of the facts in regard to plants cited in the papers referred

to may possibly bear a different, even an opposite, interpretation

to that given by Mr. Meehan. In his example of the larch, for

instance, when we notice that after surviving several years of

the repeated production of female flowers, the branches or spurs

“bear male flowers and diet,” is it not possible that the demand

for organic force required in the evolution of male flowers causes

their exhaustion? In another place { Mr. Meehan speaks of “ the

loss of power to branch,” which in the Scotch pine, “ the formation

of male flowers induces.” This view might comport, at least, with

the ordinary statements of physiologists, as represented by Dr.

Carpenter § who refers to the contrast between Alge, in which

individual construction is especially active, while the fructifying

organs are obscure, and fungi, in which almost the whole plant

seems made up of reproductive organs, upon the maturing of

which the plant ceases to exist. This contrast between nutrition

and reproduction appears again in the larval and perfect stages

of insect life; the one being devoted to nutrition and the other

to reproduction. Is there any doubt that, in the dahlia and other

Composite cultivation alters fertile florets of the disk into barren

florets of the ray? The gardener’s common use of the principle

of limiting nutrition for the increase of reproduction is allud |

to by Mr. Meehan in his paper of 1870,|| in speaking of a branch

being “ partially ringed to produce fruitfulness.” ;

*Procd. of Am. Assoc. for Ady. Science, 1869, p. 260.

t Procd. Am. Assoc. for Ady. Science, 1869, p. 257.

ł Procd. Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phila. 1869, No. 2, p. 122.

§ Principles of Comparative Physiology, p. 147.

|| Procd. of Am. Assoc. for Adv. Science.

THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC VIGOR AND SEX. 749

But my purpose in the present paper is especially to call atten-

‘tion to a few well known facts in the animal kingdom, of a

character somewhat analogous to those dwelt upon above con-

cerning plants; which. conspire with these, in suggesting that

some qualification or addition may be required to the ordinary

statements concerning the relations between nutrition and repro-

duction ; or at least as to those between organic vigor and sex.

Take the instance of the common hive-bee (Apis mellifica).

According to the observations of Dzierzon, Von Siebold, Leuck-

art and Tegetmeier upon hive-bees, and of F. W. Putnam, J.

Wyman and Gerstzcker upon humble-bees, it appears that there

is a regular gradation in rank, so to speak, of bee offspring, accord-

ing to the method of their production. First and lowest in the

hive-bee series are the males or drones. These may be sometimes

produced by an unfertilized working bee; commonly, by a queen

bee from ova not fertilized with sperm-cells, which cells, as obser-

vation and experiment both have shown, may be for a long time

detained in the spermotheca charged with them. A queen whose

fecundation has been delayed till she is older than usual, is apt to

yield only drone offspring. The next stage in rank is that of the

worker, or undeveloped female. Every one knows the remarka-

‘ble effect of nutrition upon its characters; a change of cell and

food elevating it to the full endowments of a queen. Putnam and

Gersteecker* have noticed among humble-bees what are called

“large queen larvae,” intermediate between the workers and the

perfect queens ; and Wyman has suggested that the earlier or later

period of impregnation may determine this difference ; those first

impregnated becoming queens, then the large queen larvie, next

the workers, last the males.

events, the coming on of cold weather begins the production of

* Packard’s “ Guide to the Study of Insects,” p. 119.

ii, p. 198. ,

tLinnæan Transactions, Xx

750 THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC VIGOR AND SEX.

males as well as females. Packard’s expression is that ‘ the asex-

ual Aphis and the perfect female may be called dimorphic forms.”

Of the three forms, then, that one whose production especially

attends the conditions of the lowest vitality is the male.

But another class of facts of a quite different kind may be

considered in this connection ; involving higher animals and even

man himself. I refer to the history of monstrosities. Double

monsters (of which some remarkable human instances have been

exhibited within a few years in this country) are always of one

sex and nearly always of the female sex.* There is reason to

exclude from this class of true double monsters cases like that of

the Siamese Chang and Eng, who may be regarded as really twins

with two complete bodies abnormally united together.

Now, why should a double fœtus nearly always, have the female

sex? The bearing of this question upon that which we have just

been discussing appears, when we consider the true theory of double

monsters. Under the close investigations of St. Hilaire, Virchow,

Vrolik, Fisher and others} it has been made quite evident that

they result not at all from the fusion of two embryos into one,

but, on the contrary, from the abnormal fission of a single ovum,

under excess of formative force. The point for us now to notice

is the nearly constant association of this profusion of develop-

mental force with femininity of sex.

Regarding the actual function of this force (however we may

designate it, as, €. g., life force, organic force, bio-plastic force,

ete.) as being the formation of plasma with attendant cell-multi-

plication or vegetative repetition, it would appear that this is pre-

cisely what, in plants and animals, may be the especial feminine

endowment. The two directions or modes of manifestation of

this organic force are individual construction and reproduction.

These may, therefore, be in inverse proportion to each other,

simply because the energy or material consumed in the one process

is taken from the other; and yet, while a certain limitation of

food and temperature favors reproduction, rather than individual

nutrition and construction, a greater lowering of these conditions

of vitality will retard, arrest or degrade both processes. Accord-

ing to Meehan’s interpretation of his a aaron

*G. J. Fisher, Trans. Med. Soc. of New York, 1865-1868. neg this I find only à ne 5

vague expression of W. Vrolik (Cyclop. of Anat. and Physiol, Art. Teratology, P-

946) that “ some sorts ” of double monsters are more frequ sacia male.

t Goodell, Phi . Med. Times, June 15, 1871.

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 751

one effect of this lowering, retardation or degradation is the pro-

duction of the male rather than the female sex. Some facts, at

= least, in the animal kingdom, as we have seen, support the same

= view; but to give a statement of this kind the form and validity

of a law would require a much more extensive survey of corre-

lated facts. At all events, we do not find the frequent superiority

of the masculine sex in certain particulars in the higher ani-

mals necessarily incompatible with this; since this superiority

prevails usually in apparatus not of the functions of the vegetative

or organic life, but of animal life or of relation; as of intellection,

motor power and voice. Beauty of plumage in birds, while we

naturally attribute to it a certain superiority, may not, in the sci-

entific sense, unequivocally have this character. If it should be

conceded that it has, we must then regard its general predom-

- inance in males as one of the difficulties in the way, at present, of

any extended or final generalization upon the subject. (The

remainder of the paper was occupied with the application of the

` same course of reasoning to the study of the law of increase of

human population.)

a e a E

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK

AND THE NEIGHBORING PARTS OF THE SHQRES

OF NARRAGANSET BAY. — No. IL.”

BY PROF. N. S. SHALER.

-PHYSICAL CONDITIONS or THE CARBONIFEROUS Trwe.—The island

of Aquidneck is so far separated from the mainland that we cannot

directly refer by traced contact any of its rocks to the masses of

the shore. It is not difficult, however, to find a dating point in the

Materials of the island itself. The extensive coal deposits with

r abundant carboniferous fossils make us reasonably sure that :

a large part of the island is composed of rocks which were laid

down at the time when the great coal fields of other parts of the

continent were being formed. As the rocks of this part of the

an those of any other part

to those which cannot be so readily placed in their proper po-

ions in the succession of deposits. ,

752 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

Over all the section extending from the Bristol Ferry to the

northern end of Lilly pond, we have a set of rocks which must

undoubtedly be referred to the carboniferous age, but which vary

in some regards from the typical rocks of that age in this country.

The exact thickness and the composition of all the members of

this series are not easily ascertained on account of the limited na-

ture of exhibitions of strata on the island. The following section

is believed, however, to give sométhing like an approximation to

the truth :—

erence gotta slates with about six seams of a more

————-than one foot thick. Some conglomera -——

200 to 500 ft.

Sa, SHRP SEE Se aan oe Ned eee a

= ae

: = o

eh Ss KEET tas : E

Blue and Greenish Slates. a B

* ` . . . . +

; ; $ $ : ; ace

3 2

emir) GR

sesos eoerersesese Q

e 9

. al

eevestue Conglomerates with Black l Carl Shales........ 7“

| a

| |O

| z Zz.

3] ~

[e]

Ie Io

èp ;

3 Ea i

O S H :

z] R

S 2 8

= i g ie

2a :

£ Sia

d t

The thickness of this section is difficult to determine; the nt-

merous faults which are apparent in the small part of the area of |

lad

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 753

the island, where they can be well determined, makes it likely that

many occur in the region which is so deeply covered with drift

_ that the observer cannot have a chance of measuring the disturb-

ances they produce.

’ _ At-the time when the carboniferous beds of the uppermost part

_ of this section were formed, the shore at this part of the continent

= was not far from its present position. The presence of large quan-

tities of conglomerate with water-worn pebbles in the lower part

of the same section conclusively proves this point. From the car-

boniferous sea an arm or bay having a width of from six to ten

miles extended to the northward, with considerable variation in

width, as far as Worcester. It is evident that this bay was the es-

tuary of a considerable river, probably a stream of far greater

dimensions than,any of those which now empty into Narraganset

ay. Down this bay there came at successive times large quanti-

ties of detrital materials which varied much in character during the

two divisions of the period. During the time of the deposition of

the conglomerates there was an immense transportation of frag-

- ments from some points in the interior to this shore region. The

variety in the chemical and mineralogical constitution of these

pebbles is, considering the great tendency there is to equalize their

characters by metamorphism, exceedingly great. Some of the

materials can be recognized as now in position in the region to the

northward but by far the larger part are from rocks which do

hot, so far as known, occur in the neighborhood. The syenite and

other felspathic rocks of the Bristol Neck sections are found in

abundance. Other types of syenites also oceur which cannot be

80 easily referred to any bed rock; some geologists have found

fragments of Lingule in argillaceous pebbles of this formation.

ao hese are not known to occur in any rocks to the northward

_ hearer than the Champlain region; it is more reasonable to be-

lieve, however, that the source of supply of these fossils has long

eee ones fo

Fe ei

ie eee

eee

since been destroyed by erosion, than to suppose that they have

been transported from so remote a point. It is quite in accord-

ance with what we know of the erosion of these old rocks to sup-

pose that great masses of these fossil bearing rocks may have

been in the immediate neighborhood at the time when these con-

glomerates were formed and yet these fragments in the newer

rock remain the only record of their having existed.

AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI.

754 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

In this view of their history, these conglomerate beds become a

most important source of information concerning the ancient ge-

ology of this part of tle continent. The geologist, in studying

the character of glacial drift on this island or any other part of the

continent, easily becomes convinced that he has in that mass a

key to the geology of the country for sixty miles or more to the

northward. Much of the rock within that region whence came

this débris is now hidden by similar accumulations of glacial

materials, so that the most painstaking student may fail to find its

true character, but each gravel or boulder bed is a museum wherein

the north lying rocks are more or less well represented. By ex- —

amining a number of such exposures of the drift it is possible

to determine with accuracy the range in character of materials

which would be found in the region to the northward so far as

Worcester or the neighborhood of Boston. In the same way we

may interrogate the conglomerate of the coal period in this region

for information concerning the character of the materials of that

time exposed to erosive action in this part of the continent. The

answer to this inquiry is that the surface of the country was then

made up of syenites, porphyries, felsites, argillites and related

rocks much as at the present day ; some of these rocks contained

fossils which may well have lived during the primordial time when

they were formed. It is perfectly clear, however, that within the re-

gion where these pebbles were formed, there were no rocks of Silu-

rian or Devonian age, else their. evident fossils would have been

preserved as well as the lingule in the pebbles of the conglom-

erate. This argument gives an important confirmation of the view

held by some American geologists, but hitherto resting on insuff-

cient foundation, that New England was elevated above the level

of the ocean before the close of the Silurian period. As the region

between Newport and the Boston and Albany Railroad contains an

assemblage of rocks which may be taken as representative of a

large part of the rocks of Massachusetts, it may be regarded as

probable that we had, at’ the time when this conglomerate was

deposited, the same conditions prevailing among the rocks of tha

state as now prevail there. The work of metamorphism which

_ has so much affected the character of the rocks of this region was

_ already done-at this the beginning of the coal period. The syè-

> nites which have been brought to the surface by the old disloca- : :

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 755

tions which have given the character to the topography of New

England were already in a position * to be exposed to erosion.

We have already noticed the close similarity observable between

the conglomerate of the primordial time and that which has been

produced during the last geological period. It is not easy to find

any sharp line of demarcation between the characters of these two

detrital rocks. The older conglomerate is always more compact

and has usually a trace of bedding, though this feature is often

wanting. The pebbles are rather more regularly arranged even

‘where the distortion of the pebbles (a point to be treated here-

after) is least or entirely wanting. Traces of an arrangement of

the pebbles as if they had been under flowing water are evident.

The fact that at certain points the pebbles have had most, if not

all, of the sand and clay washed away between them is a strong

proof of their having been exposed to a degree of washing which

has been unfelt by more modern deposits. The great similarity

in the characters of these two conglomerates, the recent glacial

and the carboniferous’ beds, is strong evidence of relation of origin.

The conditions under which conglomerates can be formed are few

and peculiar ; mountain torrents or the sea rolling upon a shore of

tain torrents can only make band-like beds or heap up their débris

in delta accumulations where their rapid streams merge in water

of less carrying force. The sea cannot move pebbles except

within the narrow range of its breakers ; it rarely has tidal cur-

rents which can sweep coarse sand along. The only agent we

know to have been generally in action on the earth which is capa-

ble of moving pebbles in such a manner as to produce broad

deposits of boulders is ice. That it is able to do such work is

fully shown by the great accumulations of the drift period. The

-Tesearches of Mr. James Croll have shown that the conditions

_ which were probably instrumental in producing the last glacial

period have operated again and again in the past to effect the same

result, There are many points in the great geological section which

ee *Should it be proven that these Rhode Island conglomerates are of the same atten

_ the materials of similar character in the neighborhood of Boston, we may rs = -

to extend much further this system of reasoning. But it is more than likely, as I sha

_ try to show in the discussion of the geology of Massachusetts Bay, that the conglome-

s found there are of still earlier age, having probably been

S of the primordial time. Should this conjecture prove true the ee a

> > materials composing these beds will prove an even more interesting key

: ancien t history of New England.

rock may form very local accumulations of this nature, but moun-.

formed during the later

756 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK,

show, in the character of the deposits or in the physical condition

‘of the boulders they contain, indubitable evidence of some action

other than those usually’ operative on the surface of the earth.

Wherever, as in the nagelfluh of Switzerland or other similar accu-

mulations, we have wide extending shells of boulders and gravel,

we are clearly justified in suspecting ice action, when, as in all

cases of conglomerates of wide geographical extension which I

have examined, the pebbles are not formed with the regular out-

lines which necessarily occur where the shaping of the masses is

the result of moving water. We are bound to believe that peb-

bles of all sizes, which have been worn to their shape by running

water, must tend to assume regular forms, the major axis of which

will be coincident either with the greater lengths of the pebbles

or with their lines of greatest hardness.

In any case the pebbles will generally assume more or less

oblately spheroidal forms. On the other hand, materials which have

received their shapes under glacial action will generally be free from

those results which come from the uniform friction of one pebble

against another, inasmuch as such movements will be impossible

while the fragments are in the grip of the ice. The nature of the

conditions is such that the pebbles will be worn by being held in a

fixed position with one side turned to the abrading agent, the

others being for the time protected from wear. With the constant

changes occurring in the moving ice one pebble will frequently

come to have several facets cut upon it in this way, and many .

pebbles in succession will be subjected to the same sort of wear.

In accumulations of unaltered glacial deposits we always find

pebbles having this many faceted character which results from

the successive wearing. The only difficulty is that many, often by

far the larger part of the mass, are made up of pebbles which have

gotten their shape without actual attrition, being simply rounded

by chemical action, or keep their original form ; but, in any case

where many pebbles with a faceted character occur in a conglom-

erate it may be safely concluded that it has been formed by ice

action. :

Pebbles having the above described characters occur in abun-

dance throughout the unaltered part of the conglomerate which

underlies the Rhode Island coal. This with the other features

may be taken making it pretty nearly certain that it had a glaci

origin. It must be noticed, however, that in no case have the

‘

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 757

pebbles, which have been observed, retained their scratches. In

view of the fact that the larger part of our drift beds do ex-

_ hibit this characteristic in some of their pebbles it must be allowed

_ that this seems a serious difficulty in the way of the hypothesis that

_the conglomerate pebbles were formed by glacial agency. It is to

_ be noticed, however, that all these conglomerates show the effects

of water action in the rearrangement of the fragments and can only

_ be compared with that part of our drift along our shores which

has been rearranged in a similar manner. We find on examina-

tion that all those beds of drift pebbles which come within the

submergence left on our shores have lost the traces of ice ac-

_ tion which they generally bear on their surfaces; the facet-like

faces are retained, but the scratches are, in all the instances which

Ihave examined, quite worn away. Moreover, the boulders of this

ancient period have undergone so much pressure even in those

_ eases where there has been no great mineralogical change, that in

almost all the localities which I have examined, distinct marks of

change in form are quite evident. Such changes would nec-

_ exterior markings as glacial scratches. Taking the assemblage of

_ characters observable in this conglomerate, I am inclined to think

_ that it was formed in great part beneath the level of the water, the

_ pebbles and cement being transported by glacial agency and de-

ited in the ancient sea just as they are now being carried and

deposited by the glacial streams‘on the Greenland coast.

The connection between the carboniferous period and a preced-

ing epoch favoring the deposition of extensive beds of conglomer-

ate is a fact well established both in this country and Europe.

The conglomerate and grits which underlie the coal are generally

made up of materials which appear to have been transported for con-

siderable distances. This detrital epoch which is so generally

cated by the subcarboniferous formations can best be accounted

by supposing that the forest period of the carboniferous age

preceded by a glacial period of great duration and intensity.

During this ice time and immediately succeeding it there would

e been, along the shallow border waters of the old continents,

t accumulations of pebble beds and sandstones, which would

throughout the stratifying action of water. During the

of reélevation, which would have followed an ice time then,

these beds

followed the ice time which has just passed away,

758 ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK.

of stratified drift would have become covered with a luxuriant

vegetation which was in time to be converted into the beds of coal

in which its remains have been entombed. The present geological

period is a carboniferous period, and in time its coal beds will be

found resting upon just such a section as now characterizes the

rocks of the ancient coal time. The Dismal Swamp, when it is

converted into coal, as it well may be in the future, will show

a drift section beneath it where the conglomerates will be com-

posed of pebbles which owe much of their transportation to ice

action, though their final arrangement is the work of water. It

may be asked why do we not have the unstratified drift and the

scratched pebbles of the glacial period which preceded the carbon-

iferous epoch; the answer is easy to find, the shore regions of any

continent when the successive submergences keep up the process

of deposition, are the only parts of its surface where we can expect

to find a record of ancient conditions long before anything like the

time has elapsed which has rolled away since the carboniferous

period, or the unstratified drift of our shores may have disappeared,

leaving only such imperfect record as may be perceived in the bed-

ded conglomerate which may happen to be buried beneath succeed-

ing deposits. The conjunction of conglomerates and coal beds is

not limited to the carboniferous period. Iam unacquainted with

the history of the jurassic and cretaceous coals which occur at

various points, but in the tertiary period we see at least twice the

same swift change from the desolation of glacial conditions to lux- .

uriant vegetation, which is shown in the period in which we now

live, and which I have suspected in the carboniferous time.

` The cause of these sudden transitions in climatic conditions

is yet to be explained. Apart from the question of the origin o

the glacial periods of the past which cannot be discussed here, it is

easy to see that the glacial period which has just passed away ine

done much to favor the development of a luxuriant vegetation

over a large part of the country it affected. In the first place the

ice work of the glacial time was effective in producing a large

amount of well ground material. The surfaces it covered were

probably reduced to a state fit for assimilation by plants at a very

much more rapid rate than would else have taken place in the

same regions under the existing conditions ; it must also be noted

that the supply of nutriment from the rocks is very much more rapid

on a soil filled with glacial material than in one where the action

ae ure

ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE ISLAND OF AQUIDNECK. 759

is by atmospheric erosion alone; every pebble in a gravelly soil

wastes over its whole surfaces, so that the aggregate area of supply

_ Whence plants can draw their nutriment is many times greater

than if it all came from the wearing of*the bed rock. There is

also the mingling of materials which took place during the glacial

period, which has not been without effect in increasing the produc-

‘tiveness of soils. This action has brought into each cubic foot `

of our boulder clays a great assortment of diverse materials giv-

ing a soil ready for the nutrition of any seeds which fall upon it.

_ However varied the demand, it would be sure to find the mate-

tials at hand. During the glacial period there was no vegetation

in the drift covered region for a period of time which must be reck-

oned by thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years, so that

the materials which came into an assimilable condition remained

unappropriated by plants and were in a fashion stored for their

future use; when the ice sheet passed away, the soil was left with

= arich store of materials suitable for the nutrition of plants. It

may be that the vigor of the carboniferous vegetation was in part

the result of this glacial preparation of the earth’s mariage for

vegetable life.

The whole time of the formation of this conglomerate was a

period of recurring changes of condition. The pebble beds alter-

hate with sandstones and shales and occasionally with somewhat

carbonaceous layers of slate. At one point, Wood’s Castle, on the

- astern shore of the island, the conglomerate is immediately over- _

laid by carbonaceous shale with faint traces of coal plants ; above

the coal comes a greenish shale of an unknown thickness. It may

bt said by some that the juxtaposition of carbonaceous beds makes

the glacial origin of the conglomerate doubtful. That this reason-

ing would be fallacious is well shown by the fact that in New

Zealand we have a vegetation more closely allied to that of the

Carboniferous period than is found in almost any other region

growing in the immediate neighborhood of the glaciers. Very

slight changes in the conditions prevailing there might bring a

Vegetation of palms and tree forms upon the débris of the ice

tre.

- Streams.

_ The history of these conglomerates would not be complete with-

me Out a consideration of the often noticed and much misunderstood

: compression of the pebbles. The pebbles which make up a large

__ Part of the conglomerate which lies to the south of Easton’s Beach

760 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

and tbat which is fotnd in the neighborhood of Taunton are usually

so nearly in the condition in which it was originally formed that

even the accustomed eye fails readily to detect any change in its

structure, from compression. At other points to the northward

the distortion of the elements which compose the conglomerate is

very great indeed. The inquiry into the history of this great

change must be made in connection with our study of the dynamic

history of the beds of the island.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Tue Evorvrion or Lire.* — An exceedingly interesting and

suggestive book, as it is so full of the spirit of Heckel’s writings,

of which it is in large part a condensation. We doubt not that

it will be extensively read by those interested in natural history

studies, though more especially designed to place before the gen-

eral reader “a condensed view of the evidences for the theory

that the animal and vegetal worlds have been very gradually

developed or evolved, as distinguished from the hypothesis of their

sudden special creation.” For the purpose of popular exposition

the author’s style is excellent, being simple and concise. . As

we suggested, the work is a reflection of Heckel’s “ History of

Creation,” a remarkable book by a remarkable man. The succes-

sor of Oken at Jena, he partakes largely of his spirit, and with

much that is strikingly original and suggestive in his popular

works, there are portions that are highly exaggerated, facts being

sometimes strangely twisted to suit his theory. Hæckelľ’s guesses

and assumed intermediate types may be in many cases proved true

` years hence, but the history of evolution cannot be written by one

man in a single century. The “Evolution of Life” must be

judged by the same canons of criticism. The impression made on

our mind after examining it is, that the author is far more sure

of his deductions and grouping of facts than would be a specialist

in any one of the classes of animals, whose supposed genealogy

he indicates in some cases, at least, with a degree of overconti-

* Evolution of Life. By H.C. Chapman, M.D. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & 00-

1873 (received Oct. 9, 1872). 8yo. pp. 193. With diagrams and plates. $4.00.

J nAn

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 761

dence. In a word, we doubt whether the candid, cautious zoolog-

ical expert, though a believer in evolution, would accept many of

the apparent conclusions of this taking book. For instance, the

homologies of the sponges with the polypes are accepted to their

fullest extent by the author, so of the holothurians with the worms,

and more especially the supposed passage of the ascidians into ,

the vertebrates. A few explanatory words bridge over the inter-

vals between these grand divisions of animals as if the matter had

passed discussion.

In all candor we should say after a second reading of the chap-

ter on Echinodermata, that it is a fair specimen of zoology run

mad; but for that matter, though agreeing with the general evolu-

tional views of the author, the errors to which we refer are to be

found in the parent of the present work, Heckel’s brilliant and

. remarkable but faulty “ History of Creation,” a true child by intel-

lectual descent of Oken’s “ Physiophilosophy.”

We proceed to some special criticisms. Is the animal figured so

rudely (many of the figures are exceedingly poor) and described

on p. 37 really a Sipunculus? Both the figure and description re-

mind us rather of Synapta. The author on p. 40 adopts Hæckel’s

Strange and misleading view as to the organization of the star-

fish, in the following language. ‘The arm of a starfish is, in

fact, a worm ; not simply resembling one but structurally the same,

the segmentation, the water vascular system, the nervous cord

in each arm of the starfish being exactly the same as that of an

articulated worm [!!]. The starfish has probably been produced

through the union of five worms, the worms having united at their

posterior ends, since the eyes are seen at the free ends of the

Starfish [ ! !!].” This we also find in Heckel’s “t History of Crea-

tion,” though Haeckel figures the embryo of the starfish. Thanks,

however, to the labors of Johannes Müller, Professor and Mr. _

A. Agassiz, and Wyville Thompson, we have such accurate in-

formation as falsifies this singular conception. Farther on, Dr.

Chapman concludes, and this is a specimen of his over-confident,

uncritical mode of dealing with these subjects, that ‘“‘ The origin

of the Asteride, or starfishes, from the worms is in perfect har-

mony with the structure, development and petrified remains of the

group. The most striking facts of their economy are aepisinsbio

on such a theory, but are perfectly meaningless on any other.” .

No one whose conception was not founded on mere second-hand,

762 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

book knowledge could write like this. We would inquire whether

what we know of the embryology of the Comatula from the re-

searches of Wyville Thompson does not point to the evolution of |

the Crinoids from the lower Radiates, the Acalephs, and further

on from the Hydra? From the researches of Miiller, Professor

Agassiz and Mr. A. Agassiz, the embryos of the three classes

seem readily homologized, and the forms of the embryo of the

starfish which so strikingly resembles some worms, such as Sipun-

culus, Balanoglossus and Nemertes for example, are perhaps the

result of similar modes of life, and not of genetic significance ;

farther than that they possibly indicate a protozoan origin. Again,

the inadequacy of the author’s knowledge of the invertebrates is

conspicuous in the statement on page 44 that the “centipedes,

` insects and spiders are joined in one division, Tracheata,” when

any text book would have told him that the spiders do not have -

trachee. While, as he says, the Myriopods are composed of

numerous segments, “in the insect we can distinguish only three

segments known as head, thorax and abdomen.” ... - i

‘the Arachnida we find only two segments [!!].” A moment's

glance at a specimen would have saved such a sad blunder. The

matter is scarcely mended by the statement on the next page that

“the numerous segments of which the immature insect and spider

are composed gradually coalesce, until finally the perfect insect

exhibits only three pieces, the spider two.”

Though the portion on the invertebrates is often weak and

faulty, the remaining chapters seem to be more carefully prepared,

though the tone of the book, like Hackel’s, is that of an advocate, -

the adverse facts being kept in the background. Read with due

caution, the book is a fair résumé of the opinions of many able

naturalists as to the probable mode of development of man and

_ the lower.organisms.

ILLUSTRATIONS or Norta Americas Morns.*—This is a valu-

able work and worthy of all encouragement, as it gives systematic

descriptions (compiled when the author has not had specimens) of

the North American (north of the Mexican boundary) species of two

extensive and most interesting groups of moths. It offers good

* Illustrations of the Zygænidæ and Bombycidæ of North America. By R. H. eee i

í Vol. 1, parts 1-5. San Francisco, 1872. 8vo. E p es. Price, uncol abet

T5 cents a number; colored, $1.00. Send subscriptions to author, or the Naturalist’ :

Agency.

REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 763

figures of species (with cuts showing the venation of many genera),

for the most part never before illustrated, or those only figured in

costly works. The “Illustrations” will probably extend to about

30 parts, each containing one or more colored plates. Many new

Californian species, some of striking interest, are already figured,

with good descriptions both of the adult and the larva. Among the

most important are three new species of Alypia from California ;

four species of a beautiful new genus, Kodiosoma, said to be allied

to Phragmatobia, the larva of which is said by Dr. Behr to bear

“a striking resemblance to that of Syntomis and the cocoon to

that of Halesidota; several new species of that elegant genus

Arctia, two remarkable species of Sthenopis, a new form allied to

Hemileuca Maia, and a new Gastropacha, and Notodonta.

The author shows quite conclusively that Epicallia guttata is but `

a variety of E. virginalis, as the larvee of the two forms do not vary.

We also have a description of the larva of Arachnis picta, with

an interesting account of its habits. The account of the singular

genus Phryganidia, regarded as a Psycid by the reviewer, is con-

sidered by Mr. Stretch as probably a Zygænid, as “the transfor-

mations of P. Californica, on which this genus is founded, is so

dissimilar to those of the true Psychiinz, that I remove the genus

to its present position though with some hesitation, and chiefly

because I feel unable to assign it a more satisfactory position.

Not only does the larva, which has some resemblance to Endryas

construct no ‘sac,’ but it does not even construct a cocoon of any

kind, and the pupa is naked and suspended by the tail.” We had

compared this form with the European genus Heterogynis, but the

author remarks that the latter is removed by many European

writers to the Zygenide. As the larvee are abundant, sometimes

= Stripping live oaks of their foliage, we hope to receive speci-

mens of the insect in all its stages and study it anew. The larva

of Halesidota Agassizii is described for the first time, and that of

Drepana siculifer noticed briefly.

As to the specific distinctness of Eupupia Americana and E.

caja, we are now inclined to regard the two forms as climatal

varieties of a single circumpolar species which runs down both

. ; sides of the American continent and on the European side of the

„ eastern hemisphere.

= As we are writing this notice, Part V comes to hand, with an

excellent plate on which are figured three species (one new) of

764 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES.

Leptarctia, an interesting new genus, of the transformations of

which we shall eagerly await information.

We hail with pleasure the appearance of this first work on

Californian insects by a native entomologist, and wish it every

success. 3

FOURTH REPORT OF THE PEABODY ACADEMY OF Sorence.*—This

report is mostly occupied with original papers in natural history,

representing the work done in the museum or upon specimens

contained in its collections. In his paper entitled ‘* Synopsis of

the Family Heteropygii,’” Mr. Putnam gives a detailed account

of this interesting family, represented by the Blindfish of Mam-

moth Cave, and its allies found in certain subterranean streams

and wells and rice ditches of the Southern states, of which a pop-

_ ular account has been given in this journal.

The paper by Mr. Scudder, entitled “A Systematic Revision of

‘some of the American Butterflies; with brief notes on those

known to occur in Essex County, Mass.,” will afford food for

thought to entomologists, and will interest European as well as

American naturalists. This important essay “gives a digest of

the results reached by a critical examination of the structural

features of many American butterflies— principally those of New

England. The earlier stages of these insects, as well as the per

fect forms have been subjected to careful study.” Some sweeping

changes have been made by the author both in the classification

and synonymy of this important group, based on more thorough

study, we venture to say, than has ever before been given to the

group. We deem this paper one of the most important contribu- -

tions to entomology that has appeared for several years.

In the succeeding short papers by Dr. Packard are descriptions

of a few new moths from New Mexico and California, and a “ List

of the Coleoptera collected in Labrador,” the specimens having

been identified by Dr. Horn.

Appended to the report is the “ Record of Entomology for the

year 1871.” From it we learn that thirty native entomologists

have contributed entomological notes and papers during that year.

This record is invaluable to entomologists, as showing what work

has been done both in America and Europe on our native species.

* Fourth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Peabody Academy of Science, eT

year 1871. Salem, 1872. syo, pp. 147. Price 75 cents.

BOTANY. 765

T Wetrust that entomologists will aid in supporting this enterprise,

and send the small pittance of 50 cents asked for a separate copy?

Brirps or Kansas.*—The first edition of Professor Snow’s “‘ Cat-

alogue of the Birds of Kansas” has already been noticed in these

pages,t and some of its shortcomings briefly mentioned. We have

now the second edition of this work, in which the deficiencies of

= the first are fully supplied. The number of species has been

- raised from 239 to 282, and many typographical and other errors

amended. Few species probably now remain to be added except

such as are accidental or casual visitors. We notice that Centro-

cercus urophasianus has been stricken out, and that among the

= many important additions are Garzetta candidissima, Herodias

egretta, and Graculus Mexicanus, not previously reported from

eS ote oad

‘Kansas. The latter (Graculus Mexicanus) we are informed was

identified by Professor Baird, and forms the first known instance

of its occurrence north of the Rio Grande. The nomenclature is

that of the ninth volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports, and

= hence a number of species are admitted that are not now usually

regarded as valid. In addition to Prof. Snow’s own observations,

he has availed himself of all the aid within his reach, and has

thus given us a highly valuable and creditable list of the birds of

Kansas. It forms a neatly printed pamphlet of 16 pages, and

_has a less number of typographical errors than similar brochures

usually have, though we find ‘‘ Hreneutes ” printed for Ereunetes,

_“ Passarella” for Passerella, etc.—J. A.

» BOTANY.

FERTILIZATION or Yucca sy A Mora.— At the Dubuque meeting

the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Prof.

Riley gave an abstract of a paper which will appear in full in the

Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Science. He briefly

described the generic and specific characters of a little moth

which is one of the most anomalous known to entomologists. He

escribed how many of our flowers, such as the Asclepias

orchids, were curiously constructed so as to be incapable of

Caiatogue of the Birds of Kansas, contributed to the Kansas Academy

ank H “poate pips of Natural History and Meteorology in the University ref

‘Lawrence. Second edition, Oct., 1872. Svo. 16 pp. 25 cents.

Nat., ey et pp. 359, 482, 483.

766 BOTANY.

fertilizing themselves, and at the same time to attract insects to do

it for them. Dr. Engelmann had this year discovered that Yucca

was one of those plants which depended on insects for fructifica-

tion, and Prof. Riley had discovered that the little moth in ques-

tion, which he calls Pronuba yuccasella, is the only insect which

can have anything to do with this fructification. But what is more

interesting in this case is, that the plant not only depends on the

assistance of the moth, but that the moth, in turn, is likewise

- dependent upon the plant, since its larvae live on the seeds. We

have, consequently, a mutual interdependence which is very strik-

ing, and in the structure of the female moth there is a curious

adaptation of means to an end by a complete modification of

parts, and especially of the maxillary palpi, which are formed into

prehensile tentacles, by which she collects the pollen to insert it

into the stigmatic tube.

Trees and Rain.— The influence of trees upon rains and the

general moisture of the atmosphere, which has ‘been so much

discussed of late, receives a strong illustration from the island of

Santa Cruz, W. I.

A friend who spent the months of February, March and April

last upon the island informs me that when he was there twenty

years ago, it was a garden of freshness, beauty and fertility.

Woods covered the hills, trees were everywhere abundant and

rains were profuse and frequent. The memory of its loveliness

called him there at the beginning of the present year when, ss

‘his astonishment, he found about one-third of the island, which is

about twenty-five miles long, an utter desert. The forests and

trees generally had .been cut away, rainfalls had ceased and a

process of desiccation beginning at one end of the island had

advanced gradually and irresistibly upon the island, until for

seven miles it is dried and desolate as the sea-shore. Houses and

beautiful plantations have been abandoned, and the people watch

the advance of desolation, unable to arrest it, but knowing almost

to a certainty, the time when their own habitations, their gardens

and fresh fields will become a part of the waste; the whole island

~ seems doomed to become a desert. oo

_ The inhabitants believe, and my friend confirms their opimon:,

that this sad result is due to the destruction of the trees upon the —

island some years ago.— J. S. M. -

ZOOLQGY. 767

ACER NIGRUM witH SripuLes.—Mr. J. F. Mills sends a branch

of a black maple in which well-formed foliaceous stipules are

developed, their bases adnate to the petiole. The peculiarity is

confined to a single tree, and the like has not been seen before in

maples, so far as we know. Mr. Mills should inform us if the

peculiarity is reproduced next year.—A. G

A Srawreep New ro our Coast.—This alga (Hildenbrandia

rosea Kunze) occurs at Mt. Desert, in rocks between low and high

water, in similar situations in Massachusetts Bay (Weymouth,

Fall River and at Nantucket), and probably all along the coast.

—H. Witter, New Bedford.

ZOOLOGY.

EMBRYOLOGY or CHELIFER AND PuaLaneium.— Prof. Metschni-

koff, the Russian embryologist, has lately published in Siebold and

Kolliker’s Zeitschrift, an account of the embryology of Chelifer,

of which our C. cancroides (Fig. 151) is an example. He remarks

in closing “that in view of the great morphological and anatomical

similarity between Chelifer and the scorpions we might expect

that these animals would be alike in their’

embryological development. But obser-

vation shows that the mode of develop-

ment of Chelifer reminds us much more

of that of the lower Arachnids, namely,

the Pycnogonids.* The first embryolog-

ical occurrence, the segmentation of the

yoik, is total in Chelifer, as in the Pyc-

nogonids, Pentastoma and Tardigrades,

while the eggs of the true scorpions

undergo a kind of partial segmentation.

The most peculiar phase in the develop-

ment of Chelifer, namely, the formation

of the larva and its metamorphosis, is at all events much more

like the development of the Pycnogonids than the scorpions. I

Fig. 151.

nena

C. cancroides,

: * T} y perhaps the majority of ae SEES

Dr. Dohrn co oncludes from a ad of ‘their ganar tie e ‘The Pycnogonidæ

= Neither Arachnida nor Crustacea; sabe e an ne Be reny uate no relationship,

with the latter they have, as a comm gi f depart

$. C E

i ay z08a form.

768 ZOOLOGY.

now refer to the larvee of Pycnogonum and Achelia described by

Dohrn, and especially to the presence of the yolk within the

maxillæ of the larva of Chelifer, which circumstance connects it

with the embryology of Phoxichilidium.

“It is remarkable that the larva* of Chelifer stands still lower

in its grade of development than the nauplius larve of Crustacea

and the larvz of the above mentioned Pycnogonids. It indeed

presents a nauplius form with only two pairs of extremities, but

in all cases the second pair is completely developed (in the form

of forked swimming feet) while the same only appears in the

youngest larva of Chelifer as a stump-like form.

‘In closing I will remark that in its developmental relations

` Chelifer differs much more from the Araneina (spiders) and scor-

pions than Phalangium, the Phrynida, and even the Acarina.

‘ The writings of Gerstaecker, Claparède and Zalensky, on the

two last mentioned groups, show us that their embryology agrees

in many points with that of the Araneina, I can say the same

from the development of Phalangium opilio observed by me. The

embryo of this animal resembles in its general features the well

known embryos of spiders, and differs especially through the want

of a (provisional) postábdomen, and the relatively less develop-

ment of the abdomen.”

The last number of the “ Annales des Sciences” has just come

to hand containing Balbiani’s memoir “sur la developpement des

Phalangides.” The eggs and embryo just before hatching were

so much like those of spiders, that he mistook them for such.

The earlier stages such as Metschnikoff alludes to he does not

seem to have noticed. .

EMBRYOLOGY OF tHE Myriopops.— The only studies on this

subject of any special value, previous to the researches of Metsch-

nikoff, are those of Newport on the development of Julus; but

these do not relate to the earliest changes in the egg.

In a note to the paper noticed above, Metschnikoff states that

he has observed a new instance of the total segmentation of the

yolk in the egg of Polyxenus lagurus and he believes that this

phenomenon is more widely distributed in the insects and crus-

tacea than we suppose. “ After the total segmentation of the

*The embryo is here ref q y asthe term 1 should be restricted to the animal

after leaving the egg.—Eps.

ZOOLOGY. 769

yolk, transparent cells separate from the lower pole of the egg,

which indicate the germ. In this soon appears a transverse

impression whereby the germ becomes divided into two great divis-

ions. Somewhat later the rudiments of six pairs of extremities:

bud out, of which the first pair, the antennæ, may be recognized

by their larger size. The embryo presents in this stage a great

similarity to the embryo of Gammarus, especially since the prim-

3 itive streak arising from the germ is bent bow-like on the ventral

2 surface. An amnion is formed in Polyxenus, also a serous mem-

. brane; only a few ameeboid cells separate from the germ, which

have the greatest resemblance to the egg-amoebx observed in the

-Acarina by Claparède and Zalensky, and by me in an Araneid.

The germ and embryo of Polyxenus originate from two layers,

which correspond to the first two germ membranes of the scor-

pions and other articulates.”

Tue Krxcsirp or Bee Marrin.—In the rural life of American

boys it is always with pleasure that the frequent scene is beheld of

the kingbird (Tyrannus Carolinensis Baird) attacking the crow ;

oftentimes we have seen this plucky little creature pursue this

great fellow, and alighting on its back ‘‘ peg into” the great lub-

ber, making it squeak in pain and terror, to our juvenile delight.

This sort of persecution every crow must expect that unwittingly

passes within a few yards of a kingbird’s nest; and so invete-

rate is the antipathy of these little tyrants, that frequently I have

seen three of them pursuing a luckless crow, who was winging a

retreat at the highest rate of speed he could command. I have

come to the conclusion that Tyrannus is not a kingly bird, but just

as mean, and capable of as small dealings as some other folks.

In fact, his sallies after the crow are for the most part actuated by

oy spirit of persecution, and in no sense is he a knight-errant in pur-

- suit of some dark giant oppression. He is a mean, quarrelsome,

contentious, selfish, unprincipled little fellow, and my admiration `

of him has gone plump down to zero. I had occasion a few days

ago to visit my friend Captain Swan of Forked River, Ocean

County, New Jersey. Opposite his house is a pleasant little

grove with croquet ground, etc. The trees are bountifully sup-

plied with bird houses, and the birds find in the captain a pro-

tector. He showed me a nest in the crotch of a maple tree, and

‘said that he and his family had watched with great interest a pair

_ AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. VI. 49 i

770 ZOOLOGY.

of robins build it. All the time of nidification eagerly watching

the progress was a pair of kingbirds. Just as soon as the nest

was completed these royal tyrants took possession. Of course

* there was a deterniined remonstrance from Mr. and Mrs. Turdus

migratorius, who had no, notion of being thus summarily ousted

from a home which with hard labor they themselves had just built.

But this king and queen Tyrannus conclusively settled the dispute

by showing that might makes right, and Mr. and Mrs. Robin

withdrew, as the only way to save their bacon. Having thus

«jumped the claim,” the kingbirds took possession, and raised a

brood of young in peace. One of the young ladies felt her sense

of justice so outraged that she wanted to rout the invaders with a

broom; but the captain interfered, and they were undisturbed.

The very noticeable fact is that these ornithic scamps kept prying

around, watching with genuine royal indolence the progress of

the labors of the busy unsuspecting builders; then when all was

finished, with true kingly impudence they took possession as of

royal right.—SamveLt LOCKWOOD.

ARACHNACTIS THE YOUNG oF Epwarpsta.—The genus Arachnac-

tis established by Sars for a small floating Actinia has been studied

by Busch and myself who came to the conclusion that it probably

was the pelagic stage of an Actinoid allied to Cerianthus. During

the last summer I have succeeded in raising from young Arach-

nactis (like those described and figured by me in the Proceedings of

the Boston Society of Natural History) somewhat older stages,

and to keep them alive till they lost their pelagic habits, and re-

mained more or less stationary on the bottom, creeping slowly

along by means of their tentacles on the elongated column.

The changes observed in the older stages of Arachnactis consist

of the gradual resorption of the embryonic cells at the posterior

. extremity of the column, the increase of the number of tentacles,

taking place in pairs at one extremity of the longitudinal axis of

the disk, the elongation of the column, the increase in size of the

ovaries, the differentiation of the column into an anterior part

where the partitions are situated, becoming externally more and

more corrugated transversally with advancing age, this anterior

part being comparatively capable of but slight expansion a

contraction, and a posterior part of the column capable of great

expansion and contraction, especially at the very extremity of the

ZOOLOGY. 771

column. In fact the Arachnactis has now become a diminutive

Edwardsia, with eight partitions from which are suspended ovaries

of different lengths, as we find them in Edwardsia.*— A. AGassiz.

Swamp Rassir (Lepus Aquaticus).—This is a widely distributed

species. It abounds in the canebrakes of Alabama, Mississippi,

Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. It is found in the portion of

country I have named, on all the watercourses, even on the little

branches, rarely on uplands. Its flesh is considered the best, most.

digestible and most nutritious of all the small game. In sugar-cane

countries it subsists principally on the leaves of the cane. To

procure the leaves of the tall cane, the rabbits will stand on their

hind feet and cut the cane in two about fifteen inches from the

ground. Being surrounded on all sides with other canes, the stalk

cannot fall, but dropping straight down by the side of the stump it

remains standing, when the rabbit stands up again and cuts it off as

in the first instance, when it drops a second time, and so on, the ani-

mal continues to cut off fifteen inch sections until the top of the

cane with its leaves comes down low enough to allow the rabbit to

feed on it. Many of these little piles of cut up cane are seen in the

cany bottoms of the rivers and creeks of Mississippi. Here in

Texas where there is Ĥo cane, it feeds on various grasses and some

_ of the wild herbage. Like the old field rabbit, when chased by dogs

it seeks refuge in hollow trees, holes in the ground, ete. ‘When it is

captured it squeals fearfully and its heart beats audibly. — GIDEON

Lincecum, Long Point, Texas.— Communicated by the Smithsonian

Institution.

‘Tue Sarr Laxe Crusracean.— A peculiarity of the little crus-

tacean (Artemia fertilis Verrill), living in the waters of Salt Lake,

which ought to be noticed is that of its congregating in masses of

strange appearance in the water. When the masses are small

they sometimes stretch out so as to have the form of a serpent.

At other times they represent rings, globes and various irregular

figures. A gentle breeze does not affect the water filled by Arte-

mia, so that while the water on all sides of these dense congrega-

tions is slightly ruffled, that which they occupy remains as if

= Covered by oil, thus indicating the figure of the mass. My atten-

W-

t . oe this — has not been mentioned beter’ nor the irregular pae

les varying fi eighteen t

2. the development of the tentacles |

har doting in common with the aia

piri ZOOLOGY.

tion was called to them by seeing on the surface: the figure of

a great serpent in one place, and in another what appeared to be a

small stream of comparatively still water flowing out through the

lake.

Though I waded out to, and through, these immense bodies, I

could not positively ascertain that the individuals were travelling

in a common direction; the time was too short to determine this,

yet I think it is the fact.—S. W. Garman.

A corossat Ocropus.— A letter just received from Mr. J. $.

George of Nassau, N. P., Bahamas, mentions a huge Octopus

ten feet long, each arm measuring five feet; the weight was esti- <

mated at between two hundred and three hundred pounds. The

monster was found dead upon the beach, and bore marks of injury. 4

Fig. 152.

Mr. George adds * this is the first specimen I have seen during

twenty-seven years residence in Bahamas, but they are known here

traditionally of immense size.” — B. G. WILDER.

[We add a figure (152) of a Brazilian species of Octopus

— Eps. |

Texas Biecp Mouse (Reithrodon Carolinensis?).— This is a very

small mouse, found in the cornfields. They are not very abundant.

They dig little holes in the ground, under the side of a rock or tuft

of grass, where they breed their young in exceedingly soft béds

made of finely shred grass. It is occasionally found, where * —

GEOLOGY. 773

hill of corn has been broken down, that these small creatures have

entered the shuck, shelled off the grains, cut out the heart very

neatly, leaving the corn in a little heap at one side, looking almost

as if it had not been touched. Where corn has been planted along-

side of a meadow, their sign is more frequently met with, but never

to an extent to cause the farmer to feel any uneasiness on the

subject.— Gipron Lincecum, Texas.—Communicated by the Smith-

sonian Institution.

Marixe Crustacea my Laxe Micnicax. Correction. — I

desire to correct an unfortunate error in an article on the Mammoth

Cave and its inhabitants (vol. v, p, 752, lines 6, 7), and in the

separately printed little work ‘ Life in the Mammoth Cave.” I

there state that a species representing Jdotea entomon, found living

in the Swedish lakes, had been detected by Dr. Stimpson at the

= bottom of Lake Michigan. In fact no crustacean of the family

to which Idotea belongs is known to exist in our Great Lakes, nor

did Dr. Stimpson mention this genus.— A. S. PACKARD, Jr.

ALBINO Derr.— A few days since Henry Wilson of Cape Grove,

a short distance from here, killed an albino deer. The head, neck

and tail were pure white, while the upper portions of the body and

back were so nearly white that you could hardly see the spots.

_ The animal was a fawn of our common Virginia deer, and about

three months old. Its eyes were also white.— Cuas. H. Nauman,

Titusiria P. O., Volusia Co., Fla. |

GEOLOGY.

Tar Proposcrpraxs or THE AMERICAN Eocene.—During the past

summer, Prof. Cope, in charge of a division of ‘Dr. F. V. Hayden’s

Geological Survey of the territories, explored the paleontology of

‘the Eocene beds of Wyoming Territory. He obtained many

species of plants, mollusks and insects, and eighty species of

Vertebrata, of which some fifty are new to science.

One of the most important of the discoveries made was the

determination of the type of proboscidians prevalent in that

period. This is exceedingly peculiar and anomalous in many

spects. Proboscidian limbs are associated with a dentition of

same type, when the number and position of the teeth are

considered. Thus a huge external incisor only occupies the front

TTA GEOLOGY.

of the upper jaw (premaxillary bone); there is no canine, and

the molars are few. The incisor is shorter than in the mastodons,

etc., and is compressed, trenchant, and recurved, forming a most

formidable weapon. The great peculiarity is seen in the structure

of the molars, which is nearly that of Bathmodon Cope, an allied

Perissodactyl. This type is, however, graded into an approach to

inotherium in another Perissodactyl, Metalophodon Cope, of

which more below.

The type species of this group, called by Prof. Cope Eobasileus

cornutus, is as large as the Indian elephant, but stood lower, hav-

ing proportions more like the rhinoceros. The elongate form of

the cranium Added to this resemblance. The physiognomy was

very peculiar. On either side of the front, above each orbit, rose

a stout horn, its base continuous with that of its mate. The

immensely prolonged nasal bones overhung the premaxillary, as

in the rhinoceros, and supported on each side near the extremity

a massive reverted shovel-shaped protuberance, which united at

an open angle with its fellow on the middle line in front.

These beasts must have lived in herds, like the elephant of

to-day, judging from the abundance of their remains, no less than

twenty-five or thirty individuals having left their bones within

a short distance of one of the camps of the party. Three species

were distinguished: E. cornutus, E. furcatus, and E. pressicornis.

_ The resemblance of the tusks to canine teeth is such as to have

induced a late author to have based the description of a supposed

carnivore of large proportions on one of them.

Tur ARMED MeraLopnopon.—This is an extinct odd-toed ungt-

late discovered by Prof. Cope in the lowest or ‘ Green River”

division of the Eocene of Wyoming. The only species found was

named M. armatus. It possessed a full series of six superior inci-

sors, and had a formidable knife-like canine, with cutting edges and

a groove on the outer face. The premolars are like those of Bath-

modon, i. e., with one outer crescent, while the molars differ in

having the constituent crest of the single crescent separated on the

inner side of the tooth, thus producing two subparallel crests.

The lower premolars are singular in possessing one crescent, witha

rudimental second by its side. This increases in proportions on

the posterior teeth till on the last inferior molar the two are nearly

equally developed. Alternate ridges are however on this tooth

GEOLOGY. 775

reduced and rudimental, leaving a parallel two-crested tooth, ap-

proaching a Tapia or Dinotherium. There were probably tusks in

the lower jaw.

The animal was about the size of the rhinoceros and constituted

another addition to the well-armed ungulates of the Wyoming

Eocene. The transitional forms seen in its tooth structure consti-

tute a point of especial interest.

BE A a ier) ee eet. ae ps S

We E E ARSE S ed es yaa ROE ENA E EAE TEE

Tus Fiısn-sEps or Ostno, Nevapa.— Investigations into the

geology of Nevada, conducted during the present season by Prof.

Cope, of Dr. Hayden’s Geological Survey, have resulted in the dis-

covery of an extensive lake basin, which was filled with fresh water

during some of the Tertiary periods. Its deposits were thrown

into lines of upheaval by the elevation of the Ruby Mountain

Range, and the North Humboldt River traverses the deepest por-

tion of the old lake. The Humboldt River Sink is its last rem-

nant, bearing the same relation to the Humboldt River as the

Great Salt Lake to the Bear River of Utah.

The strata are in many places exceedingly thin and paper-like,

resembling the braun kohle of Prussia. Two seams of a cannel-

like coal, of about three feet each in thickness, have been exposed

by excavations. This is the most western locality for coal east

of the Sierra Nevada. The shales contain great numbers of fos-

sil fishes, insects, plants, ete. The fishes are all of fresh water

types; one of them is related to the existing type of Catostomide

(sucker), and has been called Amyzon mentale. It is a sucker

with the sucking mouth “left out ;” that part resembling its proto-

type in ordinary fishes. Another species is related to the “ Bull-

minnows” (Cyprinodontide), but differs from known genera in

having bristle-like bodies instead of ordinary scales. It is called

Trichophanes hians. The insects are chiefly mosquitoes and long-

legged flies (Tipula). ` r

The age of the beds was thought to be Green River or Lower

Eocene. :

On the northern ridge bordering the Humboldt valley, Nevada,

there are completely opalized portions of trunks of trees which

were at least five feet in diameter. The ground is strewn with

black, yellow, red, purple or porcelain-white colored fragments.

The age of the remains is probably Tertiary and the trees are

mostly dicotyledons.

EEE TEE AE pee E E N a AT A S.

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Antiquity oF Man ry America.— The discoveries that are con-

stantly being made in this country are proving that man ex-

isted on this continent as far back in geological time as on the

European continent; and it even seems that America, really the

old world geologically, will soon. prove to be the birthplace of

the earliest race of man. One of the late and important discov-

eries is that by Mr. E. L. Berthoud, which is given in full, with a

map, in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences

for 1872, p. 46. Mr. Berthoud there reports the discovery of an-

cient fireplaces, rude stone monuments, and implements of stone

in great number and variety, in several places along Crow Creek in

Colorado, and also on several other rivers in the vicinity. These

fireplaces indicate several ancient sites of an unknown race differ-

ing entirely from the mound-builders and the present Indians,

while the shells and other fossils found with the remains make it

quite certain that the deposit in which the ancient sites are found

is as old as the Pliocene and perhaps as the Miocene. As the

fossil shells found with the relics of man are of estuary forms, and

as the sites of the ancient towns are on extended points of land

and at the base of the ridges or bluffs, Mr. Berthoud thinks the

evidence is strongly in favor of the locations having been near

some ancient fresh water lake, whose vestiges the present topog-

raphy of the region favors.

MICROSCOPY.

Funcous Growrn IN SHeris.—‘‘In a paper read before the

Manchester Philosophical Society on the 26th of February, Mr-

Mark Stirrup exhibited sections of shells of mollusca, showing

so-called fungoid growths. He referred to Dr. Carpenter’s report

on shell structure, presented to the meeting of the British Associa-

tion in 1844, in which especial mention is made of a tubular struc-

ture in certain shells, Anomia being cited as a characteristic sil

ample. In the last edition of ‘The Microscope,’ Dr. Carpenter

he said, withdraws his former explanation of this structure, and —

now refers it to the parasitic action of a fungus. Mr. Stirrup

showed sections of this shell penetrated by tubuli from the outer

(776)

MICROSCOPY. T

to the inner layers of the shell, and it is upon the inner layer that

the curious appearances of sporangia, with slightly-branched fila-

mentous processes proceeding from them, present themselves. 'The

parasitic view is strengthened by the fact that these markings are

not found in all parts of the shell, and are certainly accidental.

Professor Kölliker maintains the fungoid nature of these tubuli in

shells as well as in other hard tissues of animals, as fish scales, ete.

Mr. Wedl, another investigator, considers the tubuli in all bivalves

as produced by vegetable parasites, and that no other interpreta-

tion can be given. This view does not seem to be borne out by

the section of another shell which was exhibited, Arca navicula,

in which the tubuli are always present forming an integrant part ;

they are disposed in a straight and tolerably regular manner be-

tween the ridges of the shell; moreover, they have neither the

‘irregularly branched structure nor the sporangia.” — Monthly Mi-

croscopicul Journal.

ADVANCING DeFINITION OF OBJECTIVES. — Tolles has lately made

a7, immersion objective for the United States Army Medical Mu-

seum, with which Dr. Woodward has produced photographic prints

(of Nobert’s bands) that far excel any previous work of the same

kind. The transparencies on glass are remarkably clear, and

the paper prints give the lines in such a startling aoa

of relief that it is difficult, even after feeling of the paper, to

realize that the lines and the spaces between them are all printed

on the same plane. This lens seems likely to replace the now

famous ;}; as a standard of. comparison, the first appeal and the

last, for high-power lenses of great pretensions for oblique-light

work. If any maker has made or can make, of which last there is

no doubt, a lens that will define Nobert’s lines better than this, he

will confer a favor by presenting to the world proof of the fact.

The following note from Dr. Woodward explains itself.

Resoturion or Nosert’s Banp.— I desire to make public the

fact that, since February, 1872, I have received for inspection from

Mr. R. B. Tolles of Boston, several objectives ranging from yh

to >} (maker’s nomenclature) which resolved the nineteenth band

of the Nobert’s plate in my hands. Last month I received from

: _ Mr. Tolles an objective made to fill an order of long standing for

_ the Army Medical Museum. The immersion front of this objec-

tive (marked y% by the maker) separates the lines of Nobert’s

778 MICROSCOPY. j

plate, from the lowest to the highest band, more satisfactorily than

any objective I have hitherto tried. I must also give its perform-

ance on Amphipleura pellucida by lamp light the preference over

any similar work I have done or witnessed. The price of this

objective was one hundred and seventy-five dollars.

I send herewith some glass transparencies from negatives of the

nineteenth band, takén by this lens, together with some paper

prints of the several groups of the plate.—J. J. Woopwarp,

Washington, Sept. 3d

PHOTO-MECHANICAL Printinc.—In the September number of the

Narturauist is an article under this caption, giving some of Dr.

Woodward’s ideas, and an editorial dissent from them. Now this

difference of opinion relates to a point that ought to be settled

by the judgment of microscopists, and I write this for the pur- '

pose of calling for their views of the question. I quote from the

article: ‘“ Even the microscopist himself, being unable to repre-

sent all that he sees, is obliged to select what he conceives to be

of importance, and thus represents his own theories rather than

severe facts” (Dr. Woodward). The comment is [“ If, however,

his theories are correct, and his delineation skilful, this very power

of selection and construction enables him to give a distinctness

and completeness which is lacked by the photographic camera.” ]

Here are two almost opposite principles of illustration in ques-

tion. Which should be the governing one? What is the object

of the pictures? Obviously there are two; one for explanation

of the observer’s theories; the other, that other observers may

in repeating the observation be guided by and recognize what

the first one had seen, and this I consider the all-important ob-

ject of “figures.” If the observer draws only what he thinks im-

portant, he must almost invariably make a picture quite differ-

ent from the one seen in the microscope —he has omitted what

he deemed the unimportant parts — and the pupil trying to fol-

low him finds the actual appearance so different that he does not

recognize it as the same. No doubt many of the misunderstand-

ings or differences of opinions among microscopists have origi-

nated from this very defect of published figures, which have been

taken to be what they purported to be, representations of what

was actually seen— “if his theories are correct;” but if his —

theories are wrong then his skilful delineation has oe! misled

MICROSCOPY. 779

i his readers. But if the draughtsman publishes his figure as ex-

= plicitly as his theory, not as the representation of the ‘severe

fact,” then he will be understood.

On the other hand, the camera represents exactly what may

be seen by any other observer, using the same appliances (which

should in all cases be described) and the student can draw his own

conclusions from the picture as to the soundness of the theories

advocated. But then it must be remembered that a photograph

can represent only one view of an object, while the observer by

changing the focus of his instrument obtains a new view at each

movement of the screw. With the high power lenses now in use,

these differing views are all important for correctly understanding

almost any object. Therefore scarcely anything can be properly

illustrated by one photograph. Many objects must require several.

TES

This inflexible limitation of the photographic view to one sec-

tion or plane of the object, is evidently one of the points re-

ferred to in the criticism quoted above, which, without referring

to photography as a means of proof of alleged observations, or of

submitting observations to investigators for criticism or deduction,

only suggested that for communicating well ascertained facts a.

Skilful delineation may contain more information than any avail-

able number of photographic representations. A good drawing,

as intimated by Dr. Beale, may often supply the place of a long

_ and unread verbal description.

Tue Susmersion Mrcroscore. — Mr. Richards has presented

to the Royal Microscopical Society an adjustable submersion tube

Which can be attached to any objective, thus avoiding the neces-

% sity of having a tube specially fitted to each objective which is to

be used in this manner. | :

Dr. Dudgeon’s paper in the ‘ Quarterly Journal of Microscopi-

Cal Science ” for July, 1871, seems to claim originality for the idea

a of a submersion arrangement, but Mr. Richards and others have

Called it Mr. Stephenson’s plan. We hope our London contempo-

taries will settle this question of priority, and give us o facts

immediately. All the submersion arrangements are but slight va-

tations of a single idea, and that for the present we credit to Dr.

Dudgeon. :

Tur Micro-pantocrapa.— Mr. Isaac Roberts publishes in the

2 July | number of the ‘* Monthly Microscopical Journal” an illus-

780 : MICROSCOPY.

trated description of a most important piece af apparatus. He un-

dertakes to avoid the difficulties of the method of drawing by the -

camera lucida by substituting an instrument (Fig. 153) which shall

present a fixed though large ratio between the movements of the

pencil point on the paper and of a given point in the focus of

the eye-lens of the ocular. A method previously in use and very

easily used, for enlarging or reducing drawings is combined now,

for the first time, with the microscope. Two parallelograms of

light rods are constructed having their adjacent sides inflexibly

connected with each other. All the intersections of the sides are

pivoted so as to have a free horizontal motion, and the intersec-

Fig. 153. -

tion of the two parallelograms is made a fixed point by screwing

it to a brass plate which slides into the ocular in the usual posi-

tion of a micrometer. The pivot at the outer end of the large

parallelogram carries a pencil, and in the corresponding position

in the small one is a glass plate with cross-lines ruled upon it.

When in use in the microscope the cross-lines are in focus of the

eye-lens, and the pencil rests upon a sheet of paper suitably

Supported near the top of the compound body. The pencil BR

be so moved as to cause the intersection of the cross-lines to pass _

Over the parts of the object desired to'be delineated. Such a

drawing would probably surpass in accuracy any other that could

be made.

MICROSCOPY. : 781

OUNTING Tissues IN BAtsam. — Portions of thin membranes,

f other tissues, especially when stained with carmine, silver

gold, may be transferred through alcohol to balsam by the

following method described by Dr. J. J. Woodward. The prepa-

tations are examined in glycerine on a glass slide and under a

thin glass cover, and they may be kept in this condition, without

further preparation, for several weeks. When one is to be perma-

nently preserved the cover is to be fastened down by a spring clip,

d the whole arrangement immersed in seventy-five per cent.

cohol for a few days; after which it is transferred, for the same

length of time, to absolute alcohol. The object may then be

_ removed from its position under the cover, and it will be found

_-Sufliciently dehydrated to be mounted in balsam in the ordinary

4 Way. By this transfer to balsam, permanency is gained and cor-

- Tugation and distortion are reduced to a minimum.

Mounting Tissues 1x Dammar Varnisu. — Dr. J. W. S. Arnold

_ transfers sections of stained tissues from water to seventy-five per

Gent. alcohol. After soaking ten or fifteen minutes, the specimen

is clarified by oil of cloves and immediately mounted in dammar

_ Varnish or balsam dissolved in chloroform. The distortion caused

= by absolute alcohol is avoided, and the objects are rendered

: Sufficiently transparent.

: — Loewoon Staining Fivur.— Hematoxylin is preferred to car-

_ mine as a means of staining tissues, by some microscopists. Dr.

J. W. S. Arnold prepares the solution by rubbing together in a

= Mortar one part of common logwood extract and three parts (by

Measure) of pulverized alum, and afterwards gradually adding

enough water to dissolve only a part of the powder. The satu-

Tated solution thus formed should be of a dark violet color. If

too red, more alum must be added. After standing several days

Ìt is to be filtered and diluted by one-fourth its bulk of seventy-

ve per cent. alcohol.

Foner In Drinking Warer. — Prof. James Law found fungi in -

te blood and in the milk of cows who drank water abounding in

latoms and spores. The health of the cattle was manifestly im-

Only a part of the cows drinking the water were suscep-

ble to its effect, and they recovered after a change of water and

the use of bisulphate of soda. The organisms observed are figured —

“The Lens.” a

782 NOTES.

STRUCTURE or Popura Scates.— Dr. J. W. S. Arnold has suc-

ceeded in throwing off, by means of the electric induction spark,

some of the “spines” òf the familiar test scale of ‘“ Podura.”

Preparatory to this experiment the scales are rendered brittle by

rying in an oven. The detached spines are easily beaded by uni-

lateral light.

Dry Ror. — Thomas Taylor, of Washington, D. C., found

microscopic fungi upon the leaves of a book which was gradually

perishing by dry rot. After treatment by a strong solution of

carbolic acid, no further injury occurred.

: NOTES.

CAPTAIN Scammon announces the speedy publication by sub-

scription of a new work on the “Cetaceans and other Marine

Animals of California.” The plates are to be full and finely

executed. Professor Agassiz commends it as follows.

S ;

_ My Dear Sir: Ihave been delighted to look over the engrav-

ings of the cetaceans and other marine mammals of the West

Your practical knowledge of these animals, and the faithfulness

of detail and excellence of the representations, will make the work

standard ; and it will give me the greatest pleasure to do every-

thing in my power to obtain subscribers for you in the Atlantic

States and in Europe.

With the deepest interest in your labors, believe me

ery sincerely yours, L. AGASSIZ.

_To Capt. C. M. Scammon, U. 5. Revenue Marine, San Fran-

cisco, California.

We are able to announce that the work will be published by the :

Naturalists’ Agency, and that we are ready to receive subscriptions =

_ at this office and shall soon be able to give further information.

WE have to record the death, after a short illness, of Andreas S.

Oersted, Professor of Botany in the University of Copenhagen,

which occurred on September 3d. He was born on June 21st;

1816, and his earlier studies were directed to zoology ; in 1841 he

obtained the gold medal of the university for a thesis on the Danish

Annelids. During the years 1846-48, Oersted travelled in Costa

NOTES. 783

Rica, and the botanical results of his expedition have appeared in

numerous papers in the Transactions of the Copenhagen Natural

History Society, and in a series of memoirs on different natural

orders, in conjunction with Bentham, Berg, Griesbach, and Plan-

chon. In 1863 was commenced ‘‘L’Amérique Centrale” which

; contains descriptions and figures of new tropical American plants.

T Oersteď’s researches in fungi were important, especially his dem-

onstration that Ræstelia is but a dimorphic condition of Podisoma,

and his investigations into the organs of reproduction in Agaricus.

‘He was appointed Professor in 1860.—Journal of Botany.

A RARE opportunity is offered for those who want a collection

of Californian Coleoptera, and insects of other orders. Mr. G. R.

Crotch, late assistant librarian at Cambridge University, England,

proposes to spend about a year on the Californian coast, going as

far south as Guaymas, and then up to Vancouver Island. Mr.

Crotch will make a specialty of Coleoptera, which will be named

by Dr. Leconte, and made up into sets at ten dollars per one

hundred species, two specimens being given whenever practicable.

He is willing to collect other orders if wanted.

We take pleasure in drawing attention to the Essex Institute

course of eight lectures entitled ‘“‘ Eight evenings with the Micro-

scope,” now in course of delivery in Salem, by Rev. E. C. Bolles.

The subjects are “ With the Microscope Maker,” “ In the Labora-

tory,” “In the Garden,” “ In the Forest,” By the Pondside and

Seaside,” “Among the Insects,” ‘‘ With the Zoologist,” “ With the

Polariscope and Spectroscope.” These subjects are most clearly,

pleasantly and ably handled by the lecturer. The illustrations

enlarged by the microscope and thrown upon a screen twenty-five

feet in diameter, by aid ‘of two powerful calcium lanterns, are

simply splendid, and we doubt if more finely illustrated lectures

for a popular audience have ever before been presented in this or

any other country.

A xew society has been organized in Sacramento, California,

‘under the name of the “Agassiz Institute,” with the following

Officers: — Dr. T. M. Logan, President ; F. E. Potter, Recording

Secretary ; Rev. J. H. C. Bonté, Corresponding Secretary. we

are informed that the new society has been formed on the model

f the Essex Institute of Salem, and that it owes its birth in great

part to the recent visit of Prof. Agassiz, after whom it is named.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

rals and Coral Islands. By James D. Dana. New York. Dodd and Mead, 1872. 8yo

tie rn preg uenge with woodcuts, States and maps.

Man in the Past, Present and uture, A popular account of the Results of recent scientific

ieemcavon as regards the Origin, Position and Prospects of the Human Race, From the Ger-

man ot Dr, L. Buechner, by W.S. Dallas, London. Phila., J. B. re. 8vo, pp. 363, i

pli Tlustpated. By Henry C. Chapman, M.D., Phì nladelphia. PE a Bs inka X 1873. 8vo, :

Ne on

Accumulation o; the De os aer and the Ne arine Li ife of the Period. by 3. W. Daw TE, D.

pp. 112. 6 plates. Montr 187%

a wi = Popul. ia ee Pemstillinger af Naturvidenskaben. Fjerde binds se hefte. 8v0,

pp. obenhay `

covery of Fossil Gua eS n the Eocene of Wyoming; Note w genus of Carniv-

ores ten the Tertiary - at too Notie e of a New Reptile from the "Or hsl ait p.l. From

the American Journal of Science and Arts, yok iv, November, 1872. By O.C. Marsh, Published

October 8, 1872. i

Notice of a nap species of Tinoceras. (From the Amer. Jour. Sci. and Arts, Oct., 1872. By O.

C. Marsh. p.l. Published s Sept = 1872.

teen of som e Remarkaole il Mammals; Notice of a New and Remarkable Fossil Bird.

Fro the Am ex Jour. Bek. and ‘Atta; vol. iv, Oct., 1872.) By O.C. Marsh, pp.2. Published

reliminary Description of New Tertiary Reptiles. Part II. (From the Amer. Jour. Sci. and

Arts.) By Prof. O., U Marsh. 8vo,pp.6. Published Sept, 23, 1872.

Materiaux pour la Faune Belge. Deuxieme Note, Myriapodes. Par Felix Plateau. 870, DP:

$ cte? Pa

Descriptions of New Species of Birds hy the Genera Icterus and Sy? nallaxis. By George N.

Lawrence. 8yo, pp. 2. (From Ann, Lyc. Nat. Hist., N

Twentieth Annual Report of the lagers of the University of the State of New York on the c

t j Natural History and the Historical and An a warian Collection

annexed thereto. Revised E idon, i 1870. ag sor pp. t 8. 25 plates. i dean aoe ment.

pp. 61, State Document, d

a "ager Report of me Trustees of the Peabody Museum of American Archæology an

Et > PP

Notes ot Chaictaiw. ps vii. By F. Walker. London, 1872, 3 pamphs. or 129. 8vo.

Proces Verbal de la Societe a de paevizs. April7-July 21, 1872, ‘by 71

finer An anuai Report of the Trustees of the Peabody Academy of Sciences, Jor the year 1871.

pp. 1

Underground Treasures: How and where to Find Them. A Key for tite ready determination

z all ae pee minerals within the Unie fone By dames Orton. Cloth, 12mo, pp, 137. Il-

ustrated. Hartto irk Worthington, Dusi

Miner (cEmmiostoma aua Stainton). A Report as Entomologist to

Wo eee be Brasil By B. Pickman Mann. (Reprinted from the American Natura alist.)

i a ate 72

Report of the feat icat Survey a of the State of New Hampshire, showing its progress during

tchcock. Svo, BE 56, and map. State Document.

irds oft korida; ; 'ontaining original Descriptions of upwards of 250 species, with notes

r ha ptes ete. pe J.J. Maynard. Part I. 4to, pp. 82, and I colored plate, Salem.

Naturaisto onthly Record of Cryptog The American Journal ar the Medical Sciences.

otany, No.4. Octobe er, Noveuier, 1812.. Philadelphia, „ 1872

Bulletin of the Torrey cai Club, Vol, iii. The ae oo m Natur alist. Perth. Vol.1. Nos.

Nos. 9 10. Septe and October. Oct., 1872.

gical Magazine. Vol. ix, Nos. 5-7, May, Prier am real "Scie. am Arts. New

hades a Haven, Oct. and Nov., 1872.

Journal of Boiany, British and Foreign, for The Field. Loudon. Nos. for Sept., Oct.,

i fepe 0 oet Mer ian. ú Nov., 1572, Nos. tor Sept.

à y gazine or Oct., 712. Land and Water. London. Nos. tor ro

Revue e Scientifique ue. Puris. Nos. 12-18, Sept. Oct., Nov., 1872.

on d os. for Sept., Oct-,

Ione abet the Franklin Institute. Sept, Oct., ee London. N

otek ERa E ournal of oscopical Si Nature, London. Nos, for Sept., Oct., NOY.»

cal Scien

for July and October, iN. a Science Gossip. London. Nos. for Sept., Oct.

— ee Queckett Microscopical Club for Nov., 1872.

Retort Cerne eet Ee SR Vir ee.

(Our stock of Lara’ made for the NATURALIST was stored in Boston, and w Te ye

stroyed in the al weeks =

match we a blige t o use a differe ent q ality for these last signature egies

—Eps.] ~ ; i

pognal os known as ‘“Piummets,”

Poa respiration in, 244.

Mi ire pe of solid OE oT 316.

Acer nigrum Wi theory

e Institute, 783

Altinism,

Albino deer, 773.

Alca impennis, 368.

Amb e flora of a ie big

ati va

: t of Science, 318, 378, 4

509. TS. President’s ‘Address, 5,

butterflies, :

Entomolo

T W oie work on, 191.

TERROR of, 354.

t, 39.

Amphipienra pe pellucida as a test object for

æsthetic school, 431.

_ Anguilla, species of, 449.

: Animals, effects of extraordinary seasons

on the distribution of, 671.

INDEX TO VOLUME VI.

Birds’ eggs, instructions for preparing, 281.

eae ssil in New Zealand, 312.

aw irian, 694.

cM fag, al 38.

a ae i

N. A., geographical variation of,

the Gr eat Salt Lake Me g ei

gi karo Marias and ie

Black Bear. i 1. 350

Blind Crawash, vine 494

nianon of, 20

eyes

ot mentioned, 10.

parasite on, 29.

Faonitiee papille of, 17.

young of, 116.

fis heg ai Mammoth Cave, 6.

Silur:

Blood-cor 'puscies, 1 ph 317, 56s

parative size of, 245.

iations in size of, 242.

Blood-dises, size of.. 243.

Bonasa Jobsii, 172, 300.

Boomerang, 701.

Botanical notes, ~

;

w, 636.

Botany for young paola +75.

Animals < a Wyandotte and Mammoth forty years ago, 485.

Caves, list of, 409 Bowlders in a oats

Ano} picks’ ris i Bracon letifer, 599.

earn 421. Branchiostoma, ey!

rass, how to blacken,

Anthropological’ Taanit oot N > 103. Breathing pores of leav

Se eenry of man in Ameri n 378. itish Association for rae of

peepee Sayanus, ience, 712.

phenomena of ‘the prairies, 133. | Bud scales, office of, er

Aue Island, geology of, 518, sit, 751. | Buffalo. former range of, 79.

rachnactis » young Pot Edwa rdsia, Butterflies, embryonic larvee of, 169.

ceuthobium reat loa! of Iowa, i me

orl a woal of the new new cata A

mee of, 4 w Scudder’s revision of, 354.

: _ Archxolo ada an lary Butterfly, Boros sg 5 of, 513.

_ Asple enim . filix fæmina, uae American w fossil, 179,

variety of,

Azores, flora A fauna of, 176.

Cæcidotea microcephala, 411, 419.

usculus, e. of, 473. | Calculi from the ec of a horse, 552.

young s California, geology of, 1

oe i Californian Trivia, 732.

ing in, 707. SO,

pired mery pellu Da”

Bassaris astuta a Ohio, 363

geographical distribution

: poon radians, 251.

J zF

I Microscope, 322 2.

bees in Catskill Mountains, 47.

carpus and tarsus of, 631.

hay

Canada, fossil plan

Cancerous $ deposits, get; of, 501.

Capillary circulation, mode of observing,

carbomife rous — of Ohio, 46.

Carpenter-bee, 721.

cored Mountains, birds of, 47.

Caulo: on s, 411, 420.

cave th ., Penn -; 238.