September 2, 1892.] 



SCIENCK 



133 



immigrant ship, the dead were buried on Staten Island at the 

 quarantine buryiag-grounds. If we were as ready to profit 

 by past observation as we ought to be, cremation would have 

 been introduced then and there. For in 1866, when some 

 cholera immigrants had been buried on Wai'd's Island, an epi- 

 demic started almost immediately in the part of the city 

 nearest to that burial-ground; there, in 93d Street and 3d 

 Avenue, the first case occurred. This was certainly a fact 

 to be taken into serious consideration. No man interested 

 in the health of his fellows will be content to say that this 

 was only chance. And if it is more than chance, why then 

 has it never been proposed to prevent the propagation of the 

 disease by fire, as other peoples have long been accustomed 

 to do? 



There are four rules, by observing which we can absolutely 

 prevent cholera from setting foot on this continent: — - 



1. Let the drinking-water be perfectly isolated; that is, 

 keep the cholera germs from the drinking-water. 



2. Let the foeces and other discharges be disinfected with 

 quick-lime or common white-wash. This is, by the way, 

 what Professor Koch recommended to the Central Sanitary 

 Board of Japan. 



3. Let the clothing be disinfected with dry heat, 100"^ C, 

 and afterwards with steam. 



4. Finally, let the cholera corpse be cremated instead of 

 buried. 



4 King Street, New Yoi-k. 



ACORN-EATING BIRDS. 



BY MORRIS GIBBS, M.D. 



In Michigan there are, to my knowledge, six species of birds 

 which feed on acorns. Of these, the passenger-pigeon and mourn- 

 ing-dove swallow the acorn entire, with its shell intact, only re- 

 moving the cup or rough outside covering. The white-bellied 

 nut-hatch occasionally hoards the acorns away, and only draws 

 on its store after some months, and when the firm shelly cover- 

 ing readily gives away to its sharp, prying bill. The other three 

 are the well-known blue-jay, common crow-blacUbird, and red- 

 headed woodpecker. The methods employed by these birds in 

 opening an acorn are so entirely different, that a description may 

 not be uninteresting to youi- readers. 



Kalamazoo City is nestled in a valley which was once nearly 

 filled with oak trees, and large numbers of the burr-oak, Quercus 

 macrocarpa, are still standing. The acorns of these trees, some- 

 times called over-cup or mossy-cup, are nearly ripe and are now 

 falling, and the birds which feed on them gather to satisfy their 

 love for the nutritious kernels. So far as I am able to learn, the 

 birds, except in rare instances, do not pick the acorns from the 

 tree, but have to content themselves with the fallen fruit. Occa- 

 sionally one sees a bii-d attempting to pick an acorn, but it is 

 rarely a success, as the twigs are small and do not accommodate 

 the swaying bird well, and, moreover, at this season of the year, 

 many acorns are still strongly attached. 



The redhead, deigning to descend to the ground, seizes an 

 acorn, and flying with it in its bill to a spot where there is a small 

 cavity in the dead portion of a trunk, or to a crevice in the bark, 

 immediately begins to hammer it with its sharp-pointed bill. In 

 a couple of strokes it has removed the outer shell or cup, and at 

 once attacks the still green-colored shell which directly surrounds 

 the meat. The inside, or shell proper, quickly gives way, usually 

 nearly in halves, and the woodpecker enjoys the kernel. The red- 

 head rarely comes into the city, and is never here continuously, but 

 at this season he is quite often seen and heard, and I have thought 

 that the acorns brought him. The woodpeckers are as nearly 

 strict insect-feeders as any birds we have, unless an exception 

 is made of the swifts and swallows, yet here is an instance 

 of a varied diet. However, the red-head is quickly satisfied in 

 the acorn line, and soon begins circling the trunk, or more often 

 limbs, for his legitimate food. 



The blackbird confines himself to the ground in his efforts for 

 acorn meats, and I have yet to see him in a tree with one. Walk- 

 ing up sedately to an acorn, and making no effort to seize or con- 

 fine it, it strikes savagely and almost aimlessly. Its bill frequently 

 glances, and the splintered shell dances about, until at last a huge 

 piece of the kernel is dragged out, after which the bird leaves for 

 other quarters or begins on another acorn. 



The jay swoops down with flaunting blue wings, and, seizing 

 the largest acorn on the ground, flies to the nearest convenient 

 limb or onto the decayed ridge-board of an adjacent building. 

 There, firmly pressing the nut between his big, black feet, he 

 hammers away with a vengeance, and quickly tears off nearly 

 half of the shell, after which it proceeds to pick out the meat in 

 small bits. The cup is often left nearly perfect, the jay never 

 making an effort to secure the nut entire, which he could easily 

 do. 



Walking under the oaks, one can readily tell whether the wood- 

 peckers, blackbirds, or jays have been at work among the acorns, 

 by the appearance of the mutilated shell- remains lying about. 



Kalamazoo, MIcliigan. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



,** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The utriter's name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his 

 communication loill be furnished free to any correspondent. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character 

 of the journal. 



The Intelligence of a Horse. 



Can a horse reason, or does he act solely from instinct? Many 

 believe that he has reason and intelligence; others attribute all his 

 acts to instinct. As a help to elucidate this question, I wish to 

 present the readers of Science the following statement of facts 

 based on long and close observation. 



I have a horse, now nineteen years old, that I have owned thir- 

 teen years, I have used him all this time almost every day, har- 

 nessed to a buggy, in going back and forth to my office. He is 

 'very gentle, good-natured, and kind, and has never shown any 

 vices. Soon after I commenced using him, I noticed that on Sun- 

 days, whenever I drove him down-town, he strongly insisted, by 

 pulling on the lines, on going to the church where I had been in the 

 habit of attending, I watched this disposition constantly after 

 that, and on every Sunday since, when driven out, he has con- 

 tinued to do the same thing, and, if left to his own will, invariably 

 goes to the church and stops, I thought it possible that he was 

 guided by the ringing of the church bells, and tested him by 

 driving him down-town at all hours of the day, before and after 

 the ringing of the bells; but the result was the same. He invaria- 

 bly insisted on going to church on that day, no matter how often 

 I drove him down-town. My office is one block west and one 

 north of the church, and a half mile west of my residence. In 

 going to church I usually turn south one block east of the office, 

 but sometimes go around by the office, where I usually drive him 

 every morning and afternoon. In going to my office he never 

 offers to go to the church except on Sunday, but on that day he 

 invariably begins to turn south to the street leading to the church, 

 from fifty to a hundred feet before reaching the crossing, and, if 

 not checked, turns into the street and hurries to the church. He 

 has kept this up for at least twelve years. He never does this on 

 any other day than Sunday. In bad weather or in good weather 

 it is the same, although at the office much of the time be has had 

 stable protection from bad weather. On week-days he often in- 

 sists on going to the stable in bad weather; but on Sunday, even 

 when I compel him to go by the way of the stable, he pulls over 

 to the opposite side of the street, and hurries on to the church, 

 if permitted, though he may have to stand out in the cold, rain, 

 or snow. 



Sometimes, from one cause or another, he has not been taken 

 away from home from one to four weeks, and I supposed that he 

 would lose the run of time, or at least show some hesitation and 

 uncertainty ; but not so. On the first Sunday after I drove him out, 

 he insisted, as before, on going to church. He never offers to go 



