THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATIOX 



143 



reddish and some a purplish tinge, Hke 

 amethyst. One cluster is firmly at- 

 tached to one of our common finger 

 sponges, which rises out of the center 

 in a pretty way. 



Very truly yours, 



Emma \'.\x Gilluwe. 

 The dried eggs appear to be those of 



point — considers them vermin and legit- 

 imate prey. The hunting instinct seizes 

 ever\-one at the Lodge, and when a 

 5ro\vn object is seen in a distant field or 

 orchard, Mr. Burroughs seizes his rifle 

 and creeps toward the railing of the 

 porch. Usually the woodchuck, under- 

 standing conditions perfectly, notes the 



THE EIGHTEEN SPINED SCXXPIX. 



the eighteen spined sculpin Myoxocepha- 

 liis octodecimspinosns (Mitchill), the 

 common sculpin of our coast which 

 lays its eggs in masses attached usual- 

 ly to seaweeds in shallow water. In 

 storms these often wash on shore in 

 great numbers — Raymond C. Osburn, 

 Assistant Director, New York Aqua- 

 rium. 



John Burroughs, Woodchuck Hunter. 



^Ir. Albert Houghton Pratt has an in- 

 teresting article in a recent number of 

 "The Outlook," descriptive of his visit 

 to the home of John Burroughs, at West 

 Park, New York. Among the illustra- 

 tions is a full jage of Mr. Bur- 

 roughs as a woodchuck hunter. Most 

 of us think of this famous natural- 

 ist as an observer rather than a shooter 

 of animals, but it appears that between 

 him and woodchucks there is a point 

 where patience ceases to be a virtue. 

 When the woodchucks become a pest, 

 Jlr. Burroughs does not hesitate to get 

 after them with his rifle. Mr. Pratt 

 writes as follows : 



"Woodchuck Lodge lives up to its 

 name. The reason for its being so called 

 is apparent on all sides, and is never lost 

 sight of. Woodchuck holes are visible 

 everywhere. ^Ir. Bunoughs — looking 

 at woodchucks from the farmer's stand- 



movement, even if a hundred yards 

 away, and disappears into his hole. If, 

 however, he is seen over the barrel of the 

 gun — it usually means one woodchuck 

 less. One day I saw i\Ir. Burroughs dis- 

 pose of five of the rodents with six shots. 

 This warfare does not tend toward ex- 

 termination, for nothwithstanding it the 

 woodchucks are as numerous as ever. 



"So, whether trying his skill as a 

 marksman on woodchucks. contemplat- 

 ing nature, or thinking and writing about 

 the new discoveries in chemistry and the 

 new conceptions of matter, the best days 

 of the year for ]\Ir. Burroughs are those 

 spent at Woodchuck Lodge." 



]\Ir. P. J. O'Gara, American Smelting 

 and Refining Company, Salt Lake City, 

 Utah, is interested in white English 

 Sparrows and asks for notes on their 

 occurrence in normal flocks. 



Dr. Otto x\ppel, of the Berlin, Ger- 

 many, Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, finds that the dift'erent resistance 

 to disease of various sorts of potato 

 depends largely on the rapidity with 

 which small wounds heal. Some varie- 

 ties begin to "skin over" a wound in six 

 b.ours, while others let it remain open 

 for forty-eight. The former, therefore, 

 may escape infection to which the 

 latter succumb. 



