March 20, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



443 



abrasion amounted to almost a polish, at once 

 bringing to mind the published descriptions of 

 the cutting, polishing and sometimes complete 

 destruction of tree trunks in portions of the 

 southwest by flying sand. 



To clearly show the entire possibility of the 

 abrasion in this case being due to flying snow 

 or sleet, I would state that the woodland 

 wherein tlie phenomena was noticed is very 

 open, of scattering growth and constitutes the 

 northwestern border of a forest of small ex- 

 tent, having an open exposure to the westward 

 of upwards of a mile. Thus the prevailing 

 westerly winds, which rage with tremendous 

 severity at times through this open tract, are 

 able during the winter to hurl and sift through 

 this thin forest growth tons of snow and icy 

 sleet. This is evidenced by the enormous snow- 

 banks which yearly form in the forest, at a 

 little distance from its margins, in short, at the 

 point where the wind by meeting repeated re- 

 sistance loses its carrying power. This line of 

 deposit varies, governed by the surface contour 

 and variable density of forest growth. 



Possibly the phenomenon described has been 

 noticed and published before, but having access 

 to considerable literature on forestry, I have 

 never as yet met with any account, hence this 

 slight contribution which may be of interest to 

 some of the readers of Science. 



Peecy M. Van Epps. 

 Glenville, N. Y. 



the puma, oe mountain lion. 

 DuEiNG last July and August I was encamped 

 with my family up on the Strait of San Juan de 

 Fuca, near Port Williams, Clallam county, about 

 thirty miles west of Port Townsend. One after- 

 noon, while my children, with their nurse, were 

 playing upon the beach in front of our cabin, a 

 mountain lion (Felis concolor Linn.) came down 

 through a strip of woods to the low bank over- 

 looking the beach, and gave utterance to a most 

 frightful cry or scream. I hastened out, calling 

 loudly, and the commotion made by myself, 

 wife, children and nurse, frightened away the 

 brute. Although I had a Winchester repeating 

 rifle in the cabin, I was unable to attempt to get 

 a shot, by reason of a severe illness with which 

 I had been prostrated for several weeks. I 



heard this wild cry repeated several times after 

 wards, but each time farther away in the forest. 



About two years before a Mr. Travis, a 

 rancher, living near our camp, was returning 

 home after dark, on horseback, and was chased 

 by a lion. The horse fled in terror along the 

 trail through the forest, never stopping until 

 reaching home. Mr. Travis thinks that the at- 

 tack was incited by a small dog that accom- 

 panied him, rather than upon himself or his 

 horse. He returned the next morning to the 

 locality with several hunting dogs and succeeded 

 in shooting the animal, which proved to be a 

 very large specimen, measuring eight feet from 

 tip to tip. The lions are comparatively plenti- 

 ful in all wild and thinly settled portions of the 

 State. 



I have written this sketch at the suggestion 

 of Mr. Frederick W. True, of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, author of an interesting illustrated 

 paper on 'The Puma or American Lion,' pub- 

 lished under the auspices of the Institution in 

 1891. In this paper Mr. True refers to a con- 

 flict of authorities in regard to the cries or 

 screams of the animal, and also in regard to its 

 belligerency, or rather, possibly, its timidity. 



Meridbn S. Hill, 

 Corresponding Seci-etary, Tacoma Academy of 



Science. 



Taooma, Washington, February 13, 1896. 



LOGIC and the EETINAL IMAGE. 



While admitting that all the physiological an- 

 tecedents to the sensation of vision are entirely 

 outside the bounds of our experience in the use 

 of eyes, your correspondent, C. L. F. (Science, 

 February 7, 1896, p. 201), and many others who 

 have written to this journal on the subject dur- 

 ing the last six months, object to my assertion 

 that I find one of these phenomena inconceivable; 

 and they treat my statement that I cannot 

 conceive that the image on my retina is upside 

 down, as if I had said that I could conceive of 

 the image if it were anything else than upside 

 down. 



If for purposes of illustration I declare my 

 conviction that the moon is not made of green 

 cheese, what are we to think of the ' logic ' 

 which interprets this as an assertion that it is 

 made of cheese, although this is not green ? I 



