6 The Vilest American Scientist. 



large rabbit. As I looked down on it, I saw its large expressive 

 eyes look pleadingly up to me, but I had not long to look, for the 

 man gave a quick jerk with the hand around its neck, and it was 

 dead. 'What did I kill him for ?' exclaimed the man, *we might 

 have had some fine sport. We could have thrown him into yon- 

 der field and seen him run; he would not have stood any chance 

 among so many dogs.' And I find that this cruel sport is prac- 

 ticed a good deal among sportsmen . They claim that it is to train 

 the dog to chase rabbits, but I have come to the conclusion that it 

 is done for sport as well, and have learned to pity the poor rabbit 

 who is chased first by foxes and then by hounds, and at last flees 

 to its hole in hope of refuge, where it is frightened out by the 

 cruel ferret and killed. L. A. Welles, 



NATURAL HISTORY JOTTINGS. 



Loco Weeds. The disease called ' loco ' is by no means 

 unfrequent in Custer county, and, as elsewhere, is attributed to 

 the eating of certain Leguminose plants. In this district, at any 

 rate, I think there can be no doubt that Oxytropis lamberti Pursh 

 is the culprit; although it would appear that in California a species 

 of Astragalus is held responsible, and another species, A. mollis- 

 simus is stated (Rept. Comm. Agric 1886, p 75 and 1884 p. 124) 

 to cause loco-poisoning in Colorado. So far as I know, O. lam- 

 berti is found only on the Eastern slope in Colorado, but is gener- 

 ally abundant when it occurs. 



Aphodius Vittatus Say, forms Niger and Nigromar- 

 GINATUS. At Haydens, Lake county. Col., on August 17th, I 

 found specimens of this beetle, representing two varieties; the first 

 entirely black, except for the merest trace of red on the elytra, 

 and the other with the head and thorax black, but the elytra red- 

 dish bordered with blackish. Until further and numerous speci- 

 mens have been procured, it cannot be ascertained which is the 

 prevalent form in Colorado, but it is noteworthy that in Europe, 

 where similar variation obtains in A. plagiatus L., the dark variety 

 is normal in England, while that with red dashes on the elytra is 

 the common form on the continent. (See Wollaston, 'The Varia- 

 tion of Species,' 1856, p. 61.) I have elsewhere ('Entomologist,' 

 1887, p. 58) attempted to show that a damp climate favors 

 melanism, and the case of A. plagiatus supports this view; so we 

 may expect that in Colorado the Nigromarginatus form of A. 

 vittatus will prove commonest, owing to the dryness of the atmos- 

 phere, although in Europe mountain forms are mostly dark. 



Geranium Richardsoni form Albiflorum. I found this 

 variety on September 15th in the Buzzard Creek Valley, Mesa Co., 

 Col., together with the typical form. The variety had white 

 flowers, and though agreeing in every other respect with G. 



