FOREST AND STREAM. 



299 



There seems to be a strong dispo enforce the 



new game Jaw, and if it is rigidly enfnrced, that | is 

 will team with prairie chickens in a few years. We staid 

 over part of a day at. Freeport to look at some ven 

 Gordon puppies that had been added to Dr. Mills' kennel 

 while we were absent. They were as glossy as satin, and are 

 pure stock. Near Clear Lake, at a farm house, I saw a great 

 curiosity— a tame praiiie chicken. It was fully grown, asso- 

 ciated with the barnyard fowls, and was tamer than any of 

 them. We stood and admired it within three feet. After so 

 many fruitless attempts to domesticate these birds, it will bo 

 a matter of interest to know that there is at least one Lame 

 prairie chicken. Nlmuod. 



New Eholand Bbook Tkodt in Nbw Zealand.— At a 

 meeting of the American Fish Culturist's Association last Feb- 

 ruary (1878) it was staled that " the longest distance ever suc- 

 cessfully overcome in the transportation of fish eggs was be- 

 tween Charlestown, New Hampshire, and Ohristchurch, New 

 Zealand, being upward of eleven thousand five hundred miles. 

 This was in the case of a lot of S&bno fonUnalia eggs which 

 were shipped for New Zealand by Messrs. Stone & Hooper, 

 Charlestown, New Hampshire, in the fall of 1870." 



An article in the Christchurcli Press, New Zealand, of Aug. 

 19, 1878, has the following interesting allusion to the trout 

 which were hatched from this lot of eggs : 



"Mr. Johnson is at present hatching out the ova of the 

 American brook troitt already mentioned. This is a fish of re- 

 markable liveliness and beauty, rising more freely to the fly 

 than the well known brown trout of the English north country 

 streams. 



"These trout were originally imported by the proprietor 

 from the Eastern States of America about eighteen months 

 ago. 



"They recently spawned and the eggs are now being 

 hatched out, being the first from the parent fish in New Zea- 

 land. 



" Altogether the boxes contain about 15,000 trout ova in 

 every stage, which are being hatched out daily. Mr. Johnson 

 captured one of tho American trout weighing about half a 

 pound, for a more minute inspection than could be obtained 

 by viewing him in his native element. There is no doubt of 

 the remarkable beauty of the variety, which is perfectly pris- 

 matic in colors, which are very bright and exquisitely blended. 

 The specimen reminded one of the enchanted fish in tho " Ara- 

 bian Nights" which objected to be fried and jumped out of 

 the frying pan." 



It is extremely encouraging to know that, our New England 

 trout have not only been imported to New Zealand, but that 

 the fish culturists are actually taking eggs from them, the ul- 

 timate result of which will undoubtedly be that all the suit- 

 able waters of the Southern Pacific wdl be stocked with the 

 Balmo fontinalis in due course of time. 



— Trout and trout eggs are advertised in another column by 

 Palmer & Sons, of Boscobel, Mich. 



Zffaodhnd, ^mm mud §xrdm. 



THE SANITARY VALUE OF FLOWERS. 

 Wordsworth stags that 



whilst the chemist adds (as far as the leaves are concerned) 

 that, by its breath, it purifies the air for the service of man. 

 Not content with this, modern chemical research is engaged 

 in determining other and unsuspected uses for what have 

 hitherto been considered, iu their forms of grace, their various 

 hues and fragrance, to minister only to the aesthetic wants of 

 mankind. 



When these researches, two or three years ago, first be- 

 gan to attract the attention of those interested in sanitary 

 science, the writer, then connected with the health depart- 

 ment of a large city, found a fitting field in the low, swampy 

 surroundings, filling the air with malaria, and in the neigh- 

 borhood of the numerous slaughterhouses, reeking with ani- 

 mal exhalations, in which to test the value of their deduc- 

 tions. Here, in the vicinity of some of the most beautiful 

 natural scenery in the world, rendered almost Uninhabitable 

 — as at Staten Island, at numerous points along the Hudson 

 and elsewhere — by the presence of malaria, there is abundant 

 incentive for urging the speedy carrying out of a measure of 

 reclamation at once inexpensive, attractive and effectual— 

 namely, the cultivation of odorous and aromatic plants and 

 shrubs in all regions where either animal or vegetable miasms 

 abound. 



That our readers may be able to judge of the probable 

 effectiveness of such a measure, we present the following re- 

 sume oi the researches above referred to, as well as the collat- 

 eral evidence of the long recognized hygienic and sanative 

 value of perfumes in general. 



It is to the investigations of an Italian savant. Protestor 

 Paolo Mantegazza, of Pavia, that we are indebted for the in- 

 formation that this great atmospheric purifier (ozone) is gen- 

 erated in larger quantities by certain plants aud fruits pos- 

 sessing spicy aromatic odors than it is by the action of elec- 

 tricity upon the air, the potent influence of which in purify- 

 ing the atmosphere we all recognize and are grateful for after 

 a thunder storm. This Ozone is devel iped iu some plants by 

 the direct rays of the sun, while in otl ction, once 



commenced in sola* light, is continm d in 

 Laurel, Olove, Lavender, Mint, Lemon, Fenni 



.... Hyacinth, Mignonette, etc., as ■well as some per. 

 fumes, as eau-d -< ractofmilje- 



i. cc of lavender, and some aromatic tintures, all 

 exposure to the sun's rays. Man- 

 tegazza has further pointed out that the oxidation of the es- 

 sentials oils, such as Turpentine, Nutmeg, Aniseed, Thyme, 

 Peppermint, eta, under the influence of light and air, is B 



convenient source of ozone, as they, even in small 

 ozonize much of the atmospheric o'xygen. 



He rinds also, that while the ozonigenio properties of 

 (lowers reside mainly in their perfumeB— the most 00 

 yielding the largest amount of ozone— certain others, possess- 

 ing no particular perfume, have extraordinary ozonigenic 

 power; as, for instance, the Sunflower, broad belts of which 

 were planted by tho late Commander Maury around the 

 grounds of the National Observatory at Washington, and to 

 the effect of which he attributed the after immunity of his 

 family from intermittent fevers, previously quite prevalent in 

 that neighborhood. Dr. Cornelius Fox also states in his 

 work on ozone and antozone, that the cultivation of this 

 gaudy plant in malarious districts has been especially urged, 

 as it is said to possess the property of purifying thoair laden 

 with marsh miasm, and of exhaling ozonized oxygen. 



Professor Mantegazza demonstrates in his "report on the 

 action of essences and liowers in the production of atmos- 

 pheric ozone and their hygienic utility, that the instructions 

 of Empodocles, in the second book of his didactic 

 Nature, to plant aromatic and balsamic herbs as preventives 

 of pestilence, were founded on a closeobservation and shrewd, 

 though empirical, insight. The historian Herodian relates 

 that, in a plague which devastated Italy in the second cen- 

 tury, strangers crowding into Rome were directed by the phy- 

 sicians to retreat to San Lorenzo, then called Laurenlum, 

 from the bowers of Laurel which surrounded it, that by a 

 cooler atmosphere and by the "odor of laurel" they might 

 escape the dangers of infection. 



The practice of burning aromatic woods and herbs, as 

 well as odorous gums, spices, etc. — not to speak of the use of 

 tar smoke, the antiseptic properties of which are attributed to 

 carbolic and other acids— as a means of arres'ing the spread 

 of, and extinguishing epidemics, is of the highest antiquity. 

 Numerous instances are cited of the extinction Of the plague 

 by means of tires of odoriferous wood, green Laurel, Worm- 

 wood, Chamomile, etc., in the market-places, and even in tho 

 houses both of the healthy and the sick. Their efficacy, it is 

 now claimed, was due to the production of ozone, by "which 

 the pestilential constitution of the atmosphere was purified. 



Within the limit of these pages it is only possible to bint 

 at the sources of information, and this only to give weight 

 and authority to the practical suggestions of measures affect- 

 ing the great problem of the prevention of disease and the 

 preservation of health. These suggestions, iu the present 

 case, are obvious, and will in some degree supplement, the re- 

 cent recommendations of Dr. Stephen Smith concerning the 

 cultivation of shade trees in the streets of cities as a menus of 

 diminishing the high mortality of summer, by modifying the 

 temperature and by purifying the atmosphere. 



What we would here urge is the cultivation of plants and 

 flowers possessing these desirable ozonigenic properties, alike 

 in city and country, within doors and without ; in cities, be- 

 cause the air of cities always contains less ozone than the air of 

 the surrounding country, and the denser parts of cities less 

 than the more sparsely built, or than the air of parks and 

 squares ; in the country, because very few regions are entirely 

 free from malarial taint. 



They should be cultivated in and around schools and all 

 other places where animal exhalations abound, especially in 

 the districts where slaughtering and kindred occupations are 

 carried on, and in graveyards and cemeteries. The swamps 

 and flats and ' meadows ' of Staten Island, those around Jer- 

 sey City and Hoboken, in the vicinity of Brooklyn and in the 

 upper part of Manhattan Island, should be made to blossom 

 as the Rose. 



Aside from the poetical and aesthetic aspects, the flori&t 

 and the nurseryman and the seedsman may put in a plea for 

 consideration on purely utilitarian grounds. Instead of such 

 disinfectants as those that have been described as chiefly of 

 value because "they smell so badly that peoolc open the win- 

 dows and let the fresh air in," they will furnish us each 



And it may yet come to pass that he who makes two flowers 

 to blossom where only one bloomed before shall receive the 

 encomium Dean Swift suggested for the successful corn or 

 grass grower.— Sterne . a Journal of Sanitary Sciences. 



[While heartily assenting on general grounds to the opin- 

 ions here set forth, we must add a word of caution as to the 

 value of ozone. Far too little is yet known of this element 

 and its relations to plant life to enable us to dogmatize upon 

 it.— Ed.] 



Blowing Up Stomps.— Late experiments by Mr. John 

 O'Donnell, of Jamaica, L, I., have shown that by the use of 

 dynamite, the cost of stump eradicating can be surprisingly 

 reduced. An oak stump, two feet in diameter, costs by hand 

 labor at least $1 to remove. Dynamite will send it flying ata 

 cost of twenty-five cents. Mr. O'Donnell recently invited a 

 party of farmers to see its effectiveness. Five slumps were 

 attacked. The fir3t was of oak, partly decayed. The men 

 employed punched a hole with a crowbar between two pro- 

 jecting roots, but not being experts, did not insert the instru- 

 ment fully under the stump. Consequently, only two-thirds 

 of it was blown out. The partial decay of the wood was 

 another hindrance. It did not offer the necessary resistance. 

 A partially rotted chestnut stump was blown to fragments. 

 The crowbar was badly inserted under an apple tree stump, 

 and that, like the oak, was shattered to the extent of two- 

 thirds. With a sound and sturdy oak stump, however, the 

 dynamite was fully triumphant. The stump was blown out 

 utterly. A charge was placed under a rock weighing about 

 two tons. It was thrown frorn its bed and shattered to pieces. 

 A rock half its size was thrown tweuty feet, but not broken. 

 A hole about a foot deep was then drilled into a well-embedded 

 rock, and charged with four ounces of dynamite. It was 

 much broken, and the pieces not dislodged were easily pried 

 out with the crowbar. About two inches of a cartridge an 

 inch in diameter had hitherto been used upon the stumps, but 

 the closing experiment was made with an entire cartridge 

 eighteen inches long upon a fresh oak stump twenty inches in 

 diameter. Many of the fragments were thrown 123 feet. 

 Mr. Palmer, Superintendent of Maple Grove Cemetery, near 

 Jamaica, lias been successful in the use of dynamite upon 

 both stumps and stones. He drills a hole from "i.. . . 

 inches deep, according to the size of the stone, and 

 meets with success. Iu sinking a well a fiat rock v ' 



I et, hut it, was quickly shattered, 



nd Ihe pieces were bauk-d up in buckets. 



The dynamite is put up i i ii i d muslin, shaped 



like a candlCj and impervious to water. One end is opened, 

 and a hole is made in the powder with a I 

 Hon of the percussion cap, which is an inch I 



: length with fulminate of mercury. A 

 serted in the cap, which is squeezed with nippers that it may 



fit lightly. The little interstices must be filled with soap, to 



render the cap waterproof. After the cap is in , 



the powder, the top of the cartridges must be tied tight round 



the fuse, so that no water may enter. On the cartrii 



placed against the stump, water must be poured into the hole 



and the ground around thoroughly soaked an< 



may offer a strong resistance. A little semicircular dam 



should then be heaped arouud, within which more water 



should be poured, by way of adding to the resistance. The 



fuse, which should project outside of the dam, is then lighted. 



It reaches the cap in less than two minutes, which affords 



ample time for the operators to reach a safe distance. The 



explosion makes little noise, and utter viewing a, dance in tho 



air of a myriad of fragments, spectators find a lai 



with a few loose roots around, and the ground ready" for the 



plow.— New York Sun. 



VioTOisiA'a Bio- Tubes.— Australian papers of late date 

 give us the measurements of some Eucalyptus trees recently 

 discovered in Gippsland, Victoria. The State Bun 

 Forests, who we presume must carry a long tape line with 

 him, has br.en exploring the Watts River, arid found there a 

 fallen troe, which measured 435 feet from the roots to tha 

 point where the branch was broken off. It was estimated 

 that when standing the tree must have been over 500 li et in 

 height. An Eucalyptus amygdalena, or almond leaf gum 

 tree, now standing near Fernshaw, Victoria', me 

 feet from the ground to the first branch, and 450 feet to the 

 top of the topmost twig. 



turd j§i$tortf* 



ABOUT OUR GROUSE-NO. 8. 



QUITE different in appearance from (he dusky 

 _ the sage grouse or Cock-of-tl-e-Plains. This species, 

 which is the largest of all the American members of the 

 group, is exceeded in size only by the capercailzie, and at- 

 tains a weight of from seven to ten pounds ; is, in fact, as 

 large as a hen turkey. Bonaparte, the original describer of 

 this species, having but a single specimen of the bird, a 

 young male, which he supposed to be a female, fell into the 

 natural error of comparing the size of this grouse with that of 

 the Cock-of-the- Woods, and named it Tetrao uropHasiamts, 

 the scientific name of the great grouse of Europe being Tttraa 

 urogallus. He says: "The Cock-of-the-PJains is precisely 

 equal in size to the Cock-of-the- Woods ; at least such ia the 

 result of a comparison of the temale with the corresponding 

 sex of the European bird, both lying before us. Each part 

 exactly coincides in form and dimension, excepting that the 

 tail rather gives the superiority to the American, so that if 

 the male bears the same relative proportion to his female, the 

 Cock-of-the-Plains must be proclaimed i 

 This error, however, did not long remain uncorrected, and at 

 present the-sago grouse is, to many of our sportsmen, a well, 

 known bird. 



The plumage of this bird is of a pale grayish cast, which 

 harmonizes well with the sage brush and the alkali soil, and 

 enables it to frequently escape notice, when if it were differ- 

 ently colored it would be quite conspicuous. Above it ia 

 varied with gray, black and buff, the combination resembling, 

 at a little distance, the color of the pinnated grouse ; there is 

 a large patch of black on the belly. The male has on each 

 side of the neck a large yellowish naked air sac, which 

 capable of great dilatation in the breeding season. Beneath 

 each of these naked spaces is a patch of white, seal 

 feathers, the ends of which look as if they had been worn off 

 by rubbing against the ground, and these terminate in long' 

 hair-like bristles. 



The sago grouse inhabits the high dry plains of the Kocky 

 Mountain region only where the sage brush (Artemcsia to 

 tata) flourishes, but it is not, as has been stated, confined to 

 the Great Interior Basin. Its diet consists very largely of the 

 leaves, buds and seeds of the shrub from which it takes its 

 name, although insects and the buds of different plants form, 

 at certain seasons, a very considerable portion of its food. 

 Although it inhabits a region celebrated for its aridity, it 

 must not be imagined that it especially delights in a dry 

 and. -waterless country. The reverse of this is true, for tho 

 birds go to drink twice each day, and the most likely spot to 

 find them is in the vicinity of a little spring or stream. They 

 usually come down to the water an hour after sunrise and a 

 little before sunset, and, having slaked their thirst, move 

 slowly off toward the hills, feeding by the way. It is in the 

 breeding season that the sage grouse appears to the greatest 

 advantage. Throughout the winter the birds have kept iu 

 large packs of many hundreds of individuals, and in the 

 early spring, before these assemblages have broken up, the 

 wooing and winning of the not too coy females is acc< 

 plished. Admirable accounts of the antics which the males 

 perform to please their future ren in several 



ornithological works, and, judging from all that is told up, 

 the sight must be a very fine one. Mai me to the 



number of several hundreds, collect on some bigl 

 of ground, and there go through a v. 

 which would put to shame tiie oldest gobbler of the farm- 

 yard. Tho ample air sacs of the male aro at intervals J 

 with air, and are swollen into great orange-colored masses 

 nearly as large as a man's tist. The tail i 



,..!.. ted, i id i" : ■. 

 stiffly against the j i p ■ 



torraanoi 

 combatants Iobi hard 



icks from the wings table t! i ■ ■ 



iu mat i' 



struoted. This ia Of ; the 



merely of a slight 



