May 13, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



761 



minrl, and I saved the leg. * * * It was ex- 

 hibited by my father to several physicians in town 

 and all admitted it to be a broken leg perfectly 

 mended by the bird itself. Dr. C. L. Coyle and 

 Dr. H. R. Kelley (both deceased, but both well 

 known and reputable physicians) exhibited this 

 curiosity, one at a meeting of Gallon physicians, 

 the other at a meeting of the Crawford County 

 Medical Society. No one denied or doubted in 

 any way that it was what we thought it to 

 be. * * * (Signed) Rena Reese. 



Galion, Ohio, April 4, 1904. 



Dk. Wm. J. Long, 



Dear Sir: I have been in business in this place 

 for the past thirty-two years. During this time 

 I have always spent a few days yearly in hunting 

 the different game birds in their various seasons. 

 One day, a number of years ago, when hunting 

 woodcock, I shot one which had evidently broken 

 its leg above the knee joint. There was a band- 

 age around it, composed of a hard clay-like sub- 

 stance, interwoven with grass or a woody fiber 

 of some kind. The bone seemed to have been set 

 properly and had knit perfectly. The natural 

 swelling was nearly all gone; the bandage was 

 loose and in my opinion would soon have dropped 

 off. 



I gave the leg, with the bandage on it, to one of 

 our leading physicians and surgeons. He upon 

 examining it expressed himself in a very emphatic 

 way by saying that it was a better job than nine 

 tenths of the surgeons could do. Dr. Coyle kept 

 the leg at his office and later exhibited it at a 

 convention of the physicians and surgeons of this 

 country. After his death it was again exhibited 

 at a meeting of the physicians of this city. Much 

 interest was manifested in this curiosity, the like 

 of which had never been seen by any one here, 

 though some had read of such a thing. 



(Signed) S. M. Reese. 



* * * I carefully examined the specimen re- 

 ferred to, and can verify the statements of Miss 

 Reese in every particular. 



(Signed) F. L. Bkown, M.D. 



* * * A number of years ago there was ex- 

 hibited in my place of business (apothecaries) the 

 leg of a woodcoclc, which had been broken, and 

 which plainly showed, by the clay and fiber en- 

 twined about it, that it had been dressed by the 

 bird itself. * * * 



(Signed) L. K. Reisinger. 



Here is another case from a different state. 

 I quote from the sworn statement of Mr. 



David E. Smith, of Bridgeport, who until a 

 short time ago, when the sale of game became 

 unlawful in this state, was engaged in the 

 business of buying and selling game birds for 

 the market, in connection with his regular 

 business as a gun- and locksmith. 



* * * Almost eighteen years ago Mr. Thomas 

 Finn, a member of the police force of Bridgeport 

 and who was accustomed to hunting game birds 

 in season, brought to me the leg of a woodcock 

 whicli he had shot. About midway between the 

 foot and knee there was a clay oast in which some 

 small feathers of the bird and some grass had been 

 interwoven, apparently to make it more adhesive. 

 This cast around the leg was a little over one 

 half inch in length and about as large as an ordi- 

 nary lead pencil. This leg of the woodcock was 

 on exhibition at my store for a long period of 

 time. 



About eight years ago Mr. George W. Hayes, a 

 well-known sportsman of this city, brought me the 

 leg of a woodcock he had shot, and it presented 

 an appearance substantially the same as the one 

 above described. I opened the clay cast * * » 

 and foimd that the leg had been broken. I ex- 

 hibited this leg, with the part of the oast that I 

 had not detached, to several persons in this city. 



Since then I have seen another woodcock's leg 

 that had been cut ofl" by another sportsman pre- 

 senting the same conditions; and four years ago, 

 in a purchase of birds for re-sale, I found that 

 one of the woodcock had a clay cast on one of its 

 legs similar to the other three that had come 

 under my observation. I exhibited this leg with 

 its clay oast in my show window for two years, 

 and a great many persons in Bridgeport saw it. 



The cast was so constructed and so attached to 

 the leg as to preclude any theory of accidental 

 attachment; for in each case it was uniformly 

 attached around the leg and fashioned in a way 

 to indicate that it was attached for a purpose, and 

 was in each instance made more effective by the 

 interweaving of dry grasses or small bird's 

 feathers. * * * 



(Signed) David E. Smith. 



Beidgepokt, Conn., 23 April, 1904. 

 We, the undersigned, have seen in the possession 

 of David E. Smith, on various occasions, a wood- 

 cock's leg with a clay oast surrounding the leg, 

 presenting the appearance described in the fore- 

 going affidavit. * * * 



(Signed) William B. Tuttle, 

 Joseph H. Smith, 

 Wm. K. Wollan. 



