275 



However, there was sufficient water in it during that season to prevent mncli in- 

 terference with the life forms. Since then the life has been just as abundant. 



Since the organization of the Biological Survey of Indiana I have thought it 

 would be profitable to make a study of the plants and animals of this pond in 

 order to discover the forms existing and to note any change in the organisms 

 during a number of years and to record any facts of interest in biological lines. 



This paper makes no pretensions of being exhaustive, but is merely intended 

 to be preliminary, for I have not had an opportunity to make a thorough'studv 

 of the forms of life. 



I. Botany. — On the banks uf the pond are found the ordinary hard-wood 

 trees of Indiana and much shrubbery, such as the elder, willow, hazel and gum. 

 Many of the smaller Phanerogams abound on the margin, but very few occur in 

 the shallow waters. The pond is very rich in alg:e, such as spirogvra, zvgnema, 

 vaucheria, oscillaria, euglena, diatoms, desmids and kindred forms. No classified 

 list has yet been made. 



II. Animah. — Among the vertebrates are to be found several kinds of snakes, 

 wild ducks, several species of snipes, frogs in great abundance, sun-fish, cat-fish 

 and carp. The insects have many representatives. The Crustacea are reallv the 

 most numerous. Crayfish, water-Heas, ostracods, copepods, isopods, and amphi- 

 pods and rotifers are almost without number. Several species of worms occur, 

 and among the moUusks physa, limnfeus and planorbis are quite plentiful. It is 

 the best place for hydra, both brown and green, that I have ever found anywhere. 

 In the dry seasons the pond scums are almost filled with them. In even a small 

 handful of the alga^ I have found more than a hundred. Among the porifera is 

 the fresh-water sponge, spongilla. This is the only place that it has ever been 

 found in this section of the State. The pond is also rich in protozoans. All the 

 forms will be classified and described during the coming year. The pond is very 

 valuable for laboratory purposes. 



Suicide of a Crow. By Stanley Coulter. 



The paper reported the finding of the body of a crow under the following cir- 

 cumstances : The head of the crow had been passed between the trunk and a strip 

 of the bark of the ordinary shell-bark hickory. Its withdrawal was prevented 

 by the projections of the occipital bone. The protruded tongue, the bulging 

 eyes, and the position of the body showed that death had occurred by strangula- 

 tion. The location of the tree in an unfrequented portion of the woods, and the 

 fact that the crow was suspended much above the reach of any one furnished suf- 

 ficient evidence that it was responsible for its own death. 



