A Dog and His Playmate. 4s 



A DOG AND ms PLAYMATE. 



Where I am boarding, at Camp Sargent, California, lives a 

 great, butfy-brown, curly-haired dog, and the funniest thing 

 about him is the way he carries on with his little playmate, a 

 half-grown kitten almost the same color as himself. 



The big fellow is so large that his honest and good-natured 

 attempts at play are often hardly appreciated by Miss Pussy. 

 He will pick her up and carry her all about the yard with the 

 cat's head fairly inside his great mouth. But when the playful 

 fellow drops her on the ground again she is never injured and 

 never attempts to retaliate ior the atrocious liberties he takes. 



Then he pretends he is going to eat her up altogether and 

 throws his immense paws around her neck, in a very dangerous- 

 ly loving manner for the cat, I have thought. 



But as pussy rather likes his rough play after all no one inter- 

 feres, even when strangers declare that the irrepressible dog is 

 'a' murdering the cat.' Doggie and his lady-love are seen to- 

 gether almost all the time and take their meals from the same 

 plate. At night times and on rainy days, the kitty is almost 

 always found cuddled up fast asleep in Rodger's fluffy curls, so it 

 must be a case of true-love between them sure enough. 



Harry R. Taylor 



Alamed.\, Cal. 



EDTTORIAL. 



A few words of explanation we deem due our readers. Our 

 January number was not issued till into February, the February 

 number until late in April; in consequence our March and April 

 numbers are delayed and will be necessarily issued almost simul- 

 taneously. This delay is mainly due to the mechanical depart- 

 ment, changes in the office of our printer and the press of work 

 at his office during the first of the year. We hope for greater 

 l^romptness in the future. 



Another word. The editor has had for some months not only 

 the entire editorial work connected with several papers and 

 magazines, three monthlies and one weekly, but also the greater 

 part of the business management. He is now relieved of the 

 latter work and can give more attention to other duties. The 

 financial support of the West American Scientist is not so great 

 at present as it should be and we trust its friends will endeaver 

 to correct this evil by increasing its subscripton list and the ad- 

 vertising patronage, now sufficiently large to allow of our publish- 

 ing a magazine twice as large as we are now able to do, if prompt 

 payments and renewals were the rule. 



We regret to chronicle the death of our friend and correspond- 

 ent, George W. Tryon, Jr., the eminent American conchologist 



