THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



147 



GEYSERS IN THE YELLOWSTONE 

 PARK DECLINING IN STRENGTH. 



AN ALBINO FROG. 



That the geyseis of the Yellowstone Park 

 are losing in activity is vouched for by W. W. 

 Wylie, who has spent more years in the Nation- 

 al Park than any other man. Mr. Wylie, in 

 a dispatch from Helena, says: ''As compared 

 with 16 years ago, I should say there is not 

 more than one-half the activity in the upper 

 basin. I believe that there will be few, if any, 

 geysers in 50 years from now." 



The Yellowstone Park geysers are tiie great- 

 est, in number and activity, in the world, those 

 of Iceland and New Zealand being insignificant 

 in comparison with the larger ones. The 

 Yellowstone Geysers have been scientifically 

 observed since about 1870. 



The geyser of Iceland and New Zealand 

 have been observed for the last 100 years, and 

 it is known that in that time they have declined 

 in power and activity. 



PROFESSOR WINCHELL'S PASTE. 



At the request of a subscriber we give receipt 

 for above, as follows: Take 2 ounces of clear 

 gum arable, I j^ ounces of fine starch and ^ 

 ounce of white sugar. Pulverize the gum 

 arabic, and dissolve it in as much water as the 

 laundress would use for the quantity indicated. 

 Dissolve the startch and sugar in the gum 

 solution. Then cook the mixture in a water 

 bath until clear. The cement should be as 

 thick as tar. This cement will stick to glazed 

 surfaces and is good to repair broken rocks, 

 minerals, or fossils. 



WHITE CROWS. 



Mr. F. A. Stuhr the bird man of Portland, 

 Or., has four live crows, taken from a nest in 

 Lane county, Or. Three of them are almost 

 entirely white, only showing slight black 

 coloration on the primaries and at the base of 

 the bill. Iris, brown. Feet and legs nearly 

 white. 



Mr. Hugo Mulertt, the editor of The 

 Aquarium of Brooklyn, N. Y., writes, under 

 September 29, 1896, as follows: 



"Yesterday a young student of the Packer 

 Institute of this city told us of a curiously 

 colored frog which she had caught a day or two 

 before near her country home at Orient, Long 

 Island. When the specimen was brought to 

 us afterwards for identification, we recognized 

 it at once as an alliino leopard frog (Rana 

 halecina). 



The upper side of the boily of the common 

 leopard frog is green or brown in color, in 

 both cases, with a brilliant bronze lustre; the 

 two folds along its back are bronze colored, 

 standing well out from their darker base; 

 upon its back are dark, round spots arranged 

 in two lines, while the upper parts of the hind 

 legs are ornamented with dark bars. 



The specimen in question is a fully develop- 

 ed male, about three years old. The color of 

 all parts of its body, seen from above, is a 

 brilliant cream; while the underside of the 

 specimen is pure white; along its back and on 

 the hind legs the markings, characteristic to 

 the species, appear indistinctly also in cream 

 color, just a trifle deeper in shade; they can be 

 made out by close inspection. The eyes are of 

 a beautiful deep pink. Owing to the absence 

 of dark colois in the skin, the animal has a 

 very delicate appearance; it looks as if it was 

 carved of ivory. 



We have seen albino deer, fox, squirrels, 

 ferrets, cats, raven, eel, and years ago had an 

 albino catfish (species Amiurus marmoratus) in 

 our collection, not to mention the more 

 frequent albino rabbits, rats, and mice, but for 

 nearly half a century during which we collect- 

 ed and handled large numbers of every known 

 species of batrachians, we have never before- 

 seen an albino frog, nor have we read or heard 

 that any one else ever has noticed such a freak 

 in frogdom. It may, therefore be safely said 

 that this albino frog is the first one on record. 



The specimen is now in one of the smaller 

 aquariums of the Institute, where it is admired 

 by the students at their leisure moments. 



