55 



April 2, 1862. 

 The President in the chair. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson made some remarks upon the manufac- 

 ture of writing inks. He thought they could be made much 

 better, if not more cheaply, directly from the chemical prin- 

 ciples themselves than from the crude substances now em- 

 ployed, which contain uncertain and variable proportions of 

 the requisite materials. He described at some length the 

 composition and merits of the various inks manufactured 

 here and in other countries. 



Mr. C. K. Dillaway read the following letter from Mr. 

 I. A. Lapham, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the habits of 

 Sphyrcqncus varius, Baird : — 



Your Mr. E. A. Samuels, in tlie Wisconsin Farmer, — probably 

 misled by some blundering newspaper report of the remarks (not 

 lecture) of Dr. P. K. Hoy, of Eacine, Wisconsin, on the habits, &c., 

 of the Sapsucker, made before the Illinois Horticultural Society, — 

 has done that careful, accurate, and scientific naturalist much injus- 

 tice, accusing him of things of which he is not guilty. Dr. J. P. Kirt- 

 land, of Ohio, was the first naturaUst who expressed his belief in the 

 " popular opinion " on this subject, but unfortunately he did not in- 

 vestigate the matter. Dr. Hoy has recently ascertained that the 

 food of the Sapsucker is the juice and inner bark of trees, and has 

 presented the facts verbally, as indicated above. This little bird dif- 

 fers so much from the true woodpeckers, that Professor S. F. Baird * 

 very properly made it the type of a new genus, — it is now known as 

 Sphyrapicus varius, Baird, — and is the only bird properly entitled 

 to the name of Sapsucker. The tongue cannot be protruded much 

 beyond the extremity of the bill ; at the tip or horny portion, it is 

 broad, flat, and rounded, especially adapted to the work of scooping 

 out the tender inner bark of trees. It differs in these particulars 

 from the tongue of the woodpeckers proper, which may be extended 

 two or two and a half inches beyond the beak ; the tip is narrow, 

 sharp, and beset with strong barbs, especially adapted to the work of 

 extracting grubs and insects. The contents of the stomach, exam- 

 ined in numerous cases, at different seasons of the year, indicated 

 only vegetable substances. Fresh specimens were sent to Dr. Joseph 

 Leidy, of Philadelphia, whose dissections fully confirmed the observa- 



* Pacific R. R. Report, Vol. IX., p. 101 (1858.) 



