96 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 290 



Charles S. Hill of Washington. Permanent secretary : F. W. Put- 

 nam of Cambridge. Mass. General secretary : C. Leo Mees of 

 Terre Haute, Ind. Secretary of council : Frank Baker of Wash- 

 ington. Secretaries of sections : Mathematics and Astronomy, G. 

 C. Comstock of Madison, Wis.; Physics, E. L. Nichols of Ithaca, 

 N.Y.; Chemistry, Edward Hart of Easton, Penn.; Mechanical 

 Science and Engineering, James E. Denton of Hoboken, N.J.; Ge- 

 ology and Geography, John C. Branner of Little Rock, Ark.; Biol- 

 ogy, Amos W. Butler of Brookville, Ind.; Anthropology, W. M. 

 Beauchamp of BakKvinsville, N.Y.; Economic Science and Statis- 

 tics, J. R. Dodge of Washington, D.C. Treasurer : William Lilly 

 of Mauch Chunk, Penn. 



— Mr. E. T. Dumple, writing in the Geolosrical Bulletin of 

 Texas, brings out a very interesting fact, and one which may shed 

 some lio-ht upon the question of wlio were the builders of the shell 

 mounds of the coast regions of Texas. During the great storm of 

 1886, which so nearly destroyed Sabine Pass, one of these shell 

 mounds, which was near a certain house on the river-bank, and the 

 locality of which was exactly known, was destroyed or carried 

 away by the violence of the waves, and rebuilt nearly half a mile 

 farther up stream than it formerly stood. It is therefore possible 

 that these so-called Indian shell mounds, which are composed al- 

 most entirely of shells, with fragments of pottery, and sometimes a 

 crumbling bone or two, were not built, as has been supposed, by 

 Indian tribes who lived on shell-fish, but are entirely due to the ac- 

 tion of the water ; and the presence of the Indian relics may be 

 easily accounted for by remembering that these mounds are usually 

 found in low ground, and, being high and dry, would naturally be 

 selected as camping-places by the Indians in their hunting and 

 fishmg expeditions. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 Our Native Birds. 



In Science for Aug. 3 there is an editorial on the re-appearance, 

 in " woods and the meadows in the country," of large numbers of 

 native birds, and it is queried why ornithologists have not offered 

 some explanation of the fact. It is a difficult matter to remember 

 about the number of birds seen from year to year, the exact time of 

 their appearance, and the weather ; and, unless some sort of a rec- 

 ord is kept, mere unaided memory is often misleading. 



I do not know how it is in other places, but on Staten Island 

 there have been no more birds this past spring than in former 

 years, though the cold weather delayed them somewhat in their 

 progress northward, as it so often does. On the 22d of April I saw 

 two swallows, yet on the 25th water froze. On the 2d and 3d of 

 May the warblers came in numbers, and the usual annual ogling 

 with a glass was gone through with. 



This summer, also, apparently no more birds have built on the 

 island than there did last ; and the number of nests belonging to 

 robins, cat-birds, and chippies in the garden and vicinity has not 

 been added to. 



We really suspect that the careful observer has not seconded the 

 popular account of the great bird-visitation, for the reason that he 

 has recorded many others just like it, and believes, as Carlyle says 

 in ' The Sower's Song,' that " this year will be as the years that are 

 past have been." Wm. T. Davis. 



Tompkinsville, N.Y., Aug. 10. 



Your interesting statement in Science of Aug. 3, regarding the 

 return of birds to their deserted haunts in the North and West, 

 prompts me to say that I have noticed this year in this vicinity a re- 

 markable decrease in the number of such migratory birds as nest 

 here. 



Orioles, red-birds, and cat-birds are generally quite numerous in 

 this region, and last year impressed themselves upon the memories 

 of the people who cultivate grapes and other small-fruits. This 

 year they are noticeably scarce, and have done very little harm. 

 Robins generally pass here in large numbers, moving South for a 

 few days in the fall, and tarrying a month or more on their north- 

 ward journey in early spring. During the latter period the'y are 

 game to the small boy and negro pot-hunter. Last spring they 

 were remarkably scarce. 



On the other hand, the English sparrow is here. I noticed the 



first pair seen in this vicinity eight years ago. The house-marten, 

 which once occupied the eaves of houses in the neighboring city of 

 Oxford, has left in disgust, and the sparrows now monopolize all 

 such desirable locations. This pest, I think, has invaded most of 

 the larger towns in Mississippi, and other Southern States. 



Can it be that native birds have concluded that they might just 

 as well meet the invader in their old haunts, as try in vain to escape 

 him by remaining South during the summer? R. B. FULTON. 



University, Miss., Aug. lo. 



I NOTICED a week or so ago in Science that part of the evidence 

 of increased abundance of our native birds consisted of reports 

 from Illinois. Perhaps I can cast some light on that point. I was 

 in northern Illinois till the first of July. Up to that time there had 

 been no signs of an unusual number of birds, except during one 

 week. Then the fields, woods, and even the towns, literally swarmed 

 with small birds for a few days. That was easily explained. It 

 was just at the migrating season of the warblers, and they were 

 bewildered and driven out of their way by a cold storm. Thou- 

 sands of them died, apparently from cold and exhaustion. They 

 could be picked up in the streets. For several days the papers 

 were full of reports of the " thousands of strange birds." Every 

 one said they were birds which had never been seen there before ; 

 but any one who has searched the woods knows how many of our 

 birds are unknown to people in general. A considerable proportion 

 of these birds were redstarts. I identified six species, I think, of 

 warblers, but, not having my note-books by me, cannot be positive 

 as to the number. Certainly all, or nearly all, were warblers, and 

 none of them. unknown visitants, though all uncommon in the 

 thickly settled places. I believe it was from this occurrence that 

 the report of an unusual abundance of native birds in Illinois 

 originated. L. N. JOHNSON. 



Bridgeport, Conn , Aug. 14 



Queries. 



34. Are B.\ts Diurnal ? -^ Are bats ever known to be diurnal 

 in their habits ? While out fishing a few days ago in this vicinity, 

 about two o'clock in the afternoon of a bright sunny day, I noticed 

 over a pool in the river, perhaps a hundred feet in diameter, a bat 

 as busy and happy, and apparently as successful in his pursuit of 

 insects, as I have ever seen one at twilight. He snapped once or 

 twice at my fly, giving me hopes of landing him. His color was 

 brown, and to all appearance he was of the common species. 



J. W. ChiCKERING, Jr. 



Dennysviile, Me., Aug. 14. 



35. MiLK-SlCKNESS. — During a summer visit to the North 

 Carolina mountains, the writer heard much about the ' milk-sick- 

 ness,' or ' milk-sick ' as the natives call it. They seemed to apply 

 the term indifferently to some peculiar disease there prevalent, and 

 to a plant which is believed to be the cause of it. They believe 

 that the cattle eat this plant, and that the disease is transmitted to 

 human beings through the milk. We were repeatedly warned to be 

 careful in our use of milk, especially when we were about to visit the 

 Nantehala Mountains, for there the milk-sick was said to be especially 

 troublesome. We went through those mountains, and heard of it 

 often ; but it was always somewhere else, never near at hand. There 

 was one noteworthy exception. A lady with whom we took dinner 

 assured us that there was plenty of it down on the creek, but that 

 her cattle were kept in pasture, so there was no danger. There 

 are said to be two doctors in the Nantehalas who understand the 

 disease ; and if either one of them can be reached in time, there is 

 little danger, otherwise it is frequently fatal. The only remedy we 

 heard suggested was apple-brandy and honey. We were unable to 

 learn definitely what the symptoms of the complaint were, nor did 

 we find out what the plant is which is believed to be so dangerous. 

 Is there a well-defined and recognized disease due to this cause, 

 or is it merely some form of fever to which the people are specially 

 subject from their mode of life and surroundings.? It almost 

 seems as if there must be something in it, the belief in it is so gen- 

 eral ; yet, if I mistake not, I have seen the existence of any such 

 disease denied by those who ought to know. L. N. JOHNSON. 



Bridgeport, Conn., Aug. 17. 



