FOREST AND STREAM. 



179 



posited, is sure. The salmon, like the trout, usually choose 

 a spawning place below an eddy; here there is generally a 

 fine bed of gravel which has been gathered from different 

 parts of the stream and deposited clean and fit for the re- 

 ception of the fish's eggs. Here also, the smothering saw 

 dust gathers, and either kills the embryo (if it has teen 

 allowed to develop so far), or to use a Hibernicism, nips it 

 in the bud. Or if we suppose that through some combina 

 tion of currents a certain spawning bed has escaped the 

 suffocation to which the rest have been doomed, then in- 

 stead of being stifled, the ova is killed by fungus generated 

 by the minute particles of dust which soon decay. 



There is but one remedy for this; the saw mills and tan- 

 neries should be compelled to dispose of their rubbish in 

 some other manner, and this river sbould not be allowed to 

 become a mere sewer. To give an idea of the amount of 

 saw dust that comes down the Hudson every year, I will 

 give a description of the deposit at one spot: Between the 

 two freight houses of the Albany and Boston railroad at 

 Greenbush, there is a ditch or canal eight hundred feet long 

 and six feet deep at ordinary low tide; this canal is filled at 

 its eastern end every spring during the freshet, and the 

 company are obliged to remove it every summer, and their 

 scows carry off thousands of yards of almost pure saw dust 

 from this place. This canal is cut through an island on the 

 eastern shore of the river, and this dust is only the small 

 portion that comes down the shore and strikes in behind 

 the island at Bath and is deposited at the eastern end of the 

 canal. 



Not having examined the river to its sources, I cannot 

 say how far this evil extends, nor if there may not be some 

 small tributary that is free from it; if there is, then in my 

 opinion all that will be required to try the experiment is a 

 few fish ways and some stock. 



Albany is going to take water from the river for drinking 

 and other purposes, and would very likely prefer to have 

 Troy and other cities above refrain from polluting it as 

 much as possible, but allows its own sewers to pour in dye 

 stuffs and other poisons. 



A few years ago there were analine works there which 

 discharged their refuse into the river and struck the fish 

 that came in contact with it with instant death ; these have 

 been removed, tut I have noticed other dye stuffs in the 

 discharge of the sewers which are probably more or less 

 poisonous. 



Some think that the steamboats will scare salmon from 

 ascending the river, but it seems hardly possible, for a 

 gravid fish is not so easily scared and will often face 

 dangers at spawning time that it would not at any other. 



"Piscator" says that the Croton is a good spawning 

 groui d, and that he knows that ' ' trie upper waters of the 

 Hudson are splendidly adapted for salmon, to say nothing 

 of many large brooks running into the river above Lansing- 

 burgh." 



The experiment is certainly worth trying, for in that way 

 only can it be determined, no matter how much we may 

 write about it. Yours truly, Fred. Mather. 

 -^*W 



FORESTS AND ANIMALS. 



EUROPEAN" travellers in tlrs country frequently al- 

 lude to the American forest as remarkable for its soli- 

 tude and deficiency of animal life. The scarcity of ani- 

 mals, I would remark, is not peculiar to the American wild- 

 erness. The same fact has been observed in extensive for. 

 ests both in Europe and Asia; and in proportion as the 

 traveler penetrates into their interior, he finds a smaller 

 number of animals of every species. Birds, insects, and 

 quadrupeds will multiply, like human beings, in a certain 

 ratio with the progress of agriculture, so long as there re- 

 mains a sufficiency of wild wood to afford them a refuge 

 and a home. They use the forests chiefly for shelter, and 

 the open grounds for forage: the woods are their house 

 and the meadows their farm. 



I had an opportunity for observing these facts veiy 

 early in life, when making a pedestrian tour through sev- 

 eral of the States. I commenced my journey in autumn, 

 and, being alone, I was led to take notes of many things, 

 which, had any one accompanied me, would have escaped 

 my observation. After passing a few weeks of the winter 

 in' Nashville, I directed my course through Tennessee and 

 Virginia, and w T as often led through extensive ranges of 

 forest. I never saw birds in any part of the United States 

 so numerous as in the woods adjoining the city of Nash- 

 ville, which was surrounded with immense corn fields and 

 cotton plantations; but, while walking through the country 

 I could not help observing the scarcity of birds and small 

 quadrupeds in the woods, whenever I was at a long dis- 

 tance from any village or habitation. Sometimes night 

 would draw near before I reached a hamlet or farm-house 

 where I might take lodging. On such occasions, the si- 

 lence of the w T oods increased my anxiety, which was im- 

 mediately relieved on hearing the cardinal or the mocking- 

 bird, whose cheerful notes always indicated my approach 

 to cultivated fields and farms. 



That this scarcity of animal life is not peculiar to Ameri- 

 can forests, we have the testimony of St. Pierre, who 

 says of the singing birds: "It is very remarkable that, alj 

 over the globe, they discover an instinct which attracts 

 them to the habitation of man. If there be but a single 

 hut in the forest, all the singing birds in the vicinity come 

 and settle around it. Nay, they are not to be found, ex- 

 cept in places which are inhabited. I have traveled more 

 than six hundred leagues through the forests of Russia, but 

 never met with small birds except in the neighborhood of 

 villages. On making the tour of fortified places in Russian 

 Finland, with the general officers of the corps of engineers 

 with which I served, we traveled sometimes at the rate of 

 twenty leagues a day without seeing on the road either vill- 

 age or bird; but when we perceived the sparrows flutter- 

 ing about we concluded Ave must be near some inhabited 

 place. In this indication we were never once deceived." 



It may be remarked, however, that birds and quad- 

 rupeds do not seek the company of man when they congre- 

 gate near his habitations. They are attracted by the°in- 



creased amount of their means of subsistence that follows 

 the cultivation of the land. The granivorous birds, no less 

 than the insect eaters, are benefited by the extension of ag- 

 riculture. Even if no cereal grains are raised, the culti- 

 vated fields would supply them,, in the product of weeds 

 alone, more sustenance than a hundred times the same 

 area in the forest. Before there were any settlements of 

 white men in this country, birds and small quadrupeds 

 must have congregated chiefly about the wooded borders 

 of prairies, on the banks of rivers, in fens and cranberry 

 meadows, and around the villages of red men. 



America was colonized and occupied by civilized people, 

 and the forests w r ere swept away with a rapidity unprece- 

 dented in the history of man. Every pioneer was a hun- 

 ter, provided with guns and ammunition ; every male mem- 

 ber of his family over seven years of age was a gunner and 

 a trapper. 

 The sparse inhabitants of the forest, which, if unmolested — 

 as in the early period of European civilization — w r ould have 

 multiplied in proportion to their increased means of subsis- 

 tence, have been, on the contrary, shot by the gunner, en- 

 snared by the trapper, and wantonly destroyed by boys for 

 amusement, until some species have been nearly cxtermi- 

 ted. Instead of increasing in a ratio with the Supplies of 

 their natural food, many tribes of them are now more 

 scarce than they were in the primitive forest. The small 

 birds alone whose prolific habits and dimiuuative size were 

 their protection have greatty multipled. 



There are many species of birds which we associate with 

 the wild-wood, because they breed and find shelter there; 

 but if we watched their habits, we would learn that even 

 these solitary birds make the cultivated grounds their princi- 

 pal feeding-places. Such are the quail, partridge, and very 

 many of our game birds. The quail and the partridge arc 

 omnivorous, but, like our common poultry are more eager 

 to seize a grub or an insect than a grain of corn. A potato 

 field is hardly less valuable to a flock of quails than a field 

 of corn, and affords more sustenance to the snipe and the 

 woodcock, than any other grounds. But these birds, as 

 well as others, have diminished as those natural advantages 

 have increased that should promote their multiplication. 



Even our sylvias and thrushes, the most timid of all the 

 winged tribe, birds hardly ever seen, except in lonely wood 

 multiply with the clearings of the country, and the in- 

 creased abundance of their insect food. The vesper 

 thrushes,. that shun the presence of man, and will become 

 silent in their musical evening chants if the rustling of the 

 bushes indicates the approach of the human footstep, are 

 more numerous in the woods of Cambridge, than in any 

 other part of the country. These are chiefly of maple 

 filled with underbrush, and afford the birds a harbor and a 

 shelter, while the adjoining fields, in a state of the highest 

 tillage, supply them plentifully with their natural food, con- 

 sisting of worms and the larvae of insects. The timid 

 habits of these solitary birds are their chief protection. They 

 will not expose themselves to observation; and, on the ap- 

 proach of a human being, they flee to the woods where 

 they are concealed from the youths who destroy all sorts 

 of small game. Birds of this species continue to grow- 

 more numerous, while the red thrush and cat bird are con- 

 stantly diminishing in numbers, because they breed outside 

 of the wood, where they are easily discovered. — Woods and 

 By -Ways of New England. 



■ — ■ -*♦*» 



INSECT AND ANIMAL MEDICINE. 



INSECTS once formed a class of medicines, considered 

 very effective in certain cases, and time was when the 

 doctor would order a dose of three gnats or three drops of 

 lady-bird milk, just as he might order three grains of calo- 

 mel in our day. Wood-lice, ants, and beetles used to be 

 prescribed for the toothache. The sacred beetle is eaten 

 by the women of Egypt and regarded as an emblem of fer- 

 tility. The oil-beetle exudes a deep yellow oil from the 

 joints of the legs, which was esteemed diuretic and used in 

 rheumatic complaints. In some cases the effects attributed 

 to these curious remedies may possibly be produced by 

 them, as for instance wdien Turkish women eat, cooked 

 with butter, the blapx sulcata (a sort of beetle) with a view 

 to the development of fat; but when the same remedy is re- 

 presented as an antidote against earache and the sting of 

 the scorpion, we are less inclined to believe in its efficacy. 



In Atwood's "History of Dominica" we are told that the 

 fat of snakes is esteemed an excellent remedy for rheuma- 

 tism and sprains; and by the vulgar in Persia a hard green 

 substance about the size of a bean, found in the body of a 

 certain species of serpent, is reckoned an infallible cure for 

 the bites of venomous reptiles. Among the ancients ser- 

 pents' flesh was in high repute as a medicament, and was 

 also used for food, like the flesh of the turtle. On the con- 

 tinent of Europe vipers have still a place in the popular 

 pharmacopoeia, and Mr. Simmonds asserts that the Italians 

 to this day "occasionally regale themselves with a jelly 

 made of stewed vipers." In Guatemala lizards eaten alive 

 are supposed to cure cancer. 



As late as 1618 lion's fat belonged to the materia medica 

 of the British pharmacopoeia. Among the ancients, Galen 

 prescribed it as an antidote for poisons. The smell of it 

 was said to drive away serpents. The Roman physicians 

 had great faith in remedies derived from this animal. 

 Pliny enumerates the following: First, as a cosmetic, the 

 fat mixed with oil of roses gives delicacy to the complex- 

 ion; and secondly, as an unguent, it cures affections of the 

 joints. The gall mixed with water cured weak eyes; mixed 

 with the fat, and taken internally, it was a remedy for 

 epilepsy. Quartan fever was cured by giving to the patient 

 the heart roasted, but quotidian fevers were treated with 

 the fat and oil of i oses. The natives of the Malay peninsula 

 eat tiger flesh, believing it to be a specific for all diseases, 

 besides imparting to the one who pertakes of it the animal's 

 courage and sagacity. 



Discarded from the service of the physician, a few mol- 

 lusks have found a resting place in the popular materia 

 medica. Slugs and snails were anciently and in some parts 

 are to this day a popular remedy in consumptive complaints. 

 They are sometimes made into a mucilaginous broth; some- 

 times swallowed raw. Snails are to this day kept on sa ^ e 

 in London markets for this purpose. 



with just fat enough to prevent it from burning, it is not 

 fried but sauted, there being two very distinct ways of 

 frying. To fry, means to cook fish or something else im- 

 mersed in boiling fat. To saute, means to cook fish or 

 something else with just enough fat to merely cover the 

 bottom of the pan; for' instance, small fishes are fried, but 

 omelets are sauted; potatoes are fried, but parsnips are sauted. 



Many inexperienced cooks make mistakes on that account; 

 they read in some cook books that such article of food is 

 good fried, and set to frying it when it should be sauted and 

 vice versa. 



The fat skimmed from the surface of broth, which is 

 beef suet, the trimmings of steaks or roasting pieces of 

 beef melted as directed below, are better for frying pur- 

 poses than lard, not flying all over as lard does. 



The fat skimmed from trimmings or from around the 

 kidneys of beef, is cut in small pieces, put in an iron pot, 

 and set on a rather slow fire. As soon as it begins to melt, 

 ladle off the melted part and turn it into a stone or crockery 

 jar, which you cover when cold. Put it away in a cool, 

 dry and dark place. A careful cook never needs lard for 

 frying purposes, but has always more fat than is necessary, 

 out of boiling or roasting pieces, and that skimmed on the 

 top of broth, sauces and gravies. Some cooks will not take 

 the trouble to melt it when the mistress allows as much 

 lard and butter as is asked for. 



It is an error to believe that by using much fat to fry, 

 the articles fried will taste greasy; if there is not fat enough 

 in the pan to completely immerse the objects fried, they 

 will certainly taste greasy. It will be the same if the fat is 

 not heated enough. It is heated enough when jets of smoke 

 ooze out of it, or, when on throwing drops of water in o it, 

 it makes a crackling noise. 



When the fat is hot enough, the article that is to be fried 

 is dropped into it, and stirred gently now and then with a 

 skimmer. When done, it is taken oil' the pan with the skim- 

 mer and turned into a colander, which should rest on a 

 dish or bowl to receive the fat that may drop from it. 



If tiie article to be fried is not completely immersed in 

 the fat, the part not immersed will absorb fat, and, as stated 

 above, will taste greasy; but if there is fat enough to cover 

 it entirely, the intensity of the heat closes the pores, car- 

 bonizing the exterior of the article, as it were, and prevent- 

 ing it from absorbing any fat, 



If the articles to be fried be tender and somewhat brittle, 

 they are put in a wire basket or perforated double bottom 

 made for that purpose, and the basket is plunged into the 

 fat. The basket is raiseu when the' articles are fried, and 

 held over the pan to let the fat drop; they are then taken 

 carefully out of it, placed on a dish, sprinkled with salt, 

 and served hot. 



When the frying is clone, the pan is put aw r ay for a few 

 minutes to allow the particles of solid matter that may be 

 in it to fall to the bottom of the frying-pan ; then it is turn- 

 ed into the jar, gently and slowly, ro as to retain those par- 

 ticles in the bottom, and it is put away for another time. — 



Prof. Pierre Blot in To-day. 



'-^+++. 



OUR ATHLETICS. 



^ THE ART OF FRYING FISH. 



SEVERAL kinds of fish are fried when small: such as 

 small trouts or troutlets, carps, tench, sun-fish, pike, 

 pickerel, flounders, white-fish, black and blue-fish, perch, 

 porgy, mullet, weak-fish, herring, bass, and the like, and 

 smelts, which never grow above the frying size. • 

 When fish or anything else is cooked in a frying-pan 



TO have been an honorary secretary of an athletic club 

 meeting, and to have "pulled off" not one but many 

 of those meetings successfully, argues an amount of zeal 

 and activity and a genius for administration in a man which 

 ought to render him an object of admiration. But if an 

 honorary secretary of a great athletic celebration is re- 

 quired to display 'an unwonted capacity for business and 

 organization, what shall we say of, and what praise bestow 

 upon, a functionary of that kind who combines with the 

 duties of his office those other and far more arduous ones 

 of honorary treasurer also ? 



For be it known that though our club was only that of a 

 large school or college— if you like that title better, as did 

 not a few of the parents of the alumni— our sports, from 

 the uniform success that had invariably attended former 

 celebrations, had assumed such colossal proportions as re- 

 garded the number of "events" to be competed for, and 

 Were held in such high repute by the inhabitants of the 

 town, that the better part of two days, was taken up before 

 we could bring them to a conclusion. So interested, in- 

 deed, were the principal tradesmen of the town in the suc- 

 cess of our sports that many of the more enthusiastic 

 among them actually closed their shops during the celebra- 

 tion; and, what w r as of far more consequence to us, sent us 

 such a plentiful supply of articles from their stock as prizes 

 f oi' the "youthful athletes," that the treasurer found, him- 

 self encumbered with an absolute embarras, de richesses, and 

 was sorely puzzled in the matter of the distribution of 

 these costly presents. 



Of course, the treasurer never refused anything gratuit- 

 ously presented by an enterprising tradesman, but tlie mis- 

 fortune was that the presents were all too frequently of a 

 kind utterly unfitted for presentation to a youthtul and 

 successful athlete. One man would send a cornopean and 

 case, but though the instrument was the undoubted manu- 

 facture of the most eminent makers, though a better could 

 not be had for love or money, this particular kind of prize 

 was never valued at its true worth, and its lucky recipient 

 was almost always one whose savage breast music had no 

 charms to soothe. Another tradesman would contribute a 

 writing desk, a photographic album, or perhaps that now 

 happily obsolete abomination, a postage stamp album. 

 These articles, it is hardly necessary to remark, found no 

 favor among the stalwart competitors at our athletic sports, 

 reminding them, as they did, too strongly of those higher 

 and more intellectual pursuits from which they were enjoy- 

 ing a temporary release. 



No difficulty was ever experienced with the jeweller and 

 the saddler; everything those gentlemen supplied, even 

 down to shirt studs and spurs and leathers, always found a 

 conspicuous position on the prize list; and, as it soon oozed 

 out, in spite of every precaution against such surreptitiously 

 acquired knowledge, to what particular competitions prizes 

 of such inestimable value would be aw r arded, the number 

 of competitors for those events was considerably greater 

 than for most of the others.. For the grand steeplechase — 

 a race, by the way, which for a long time, in deference to 

 the wish of constituted authorities, we were reluctantly 

 and foolishly compelled to describe as "a race with leaps" 

 — in addition to the gold-mounted cutting-whip and spurs 

 and leathers, there was also adjudged a silver medal em- 

 blazoned with the school arms, and for this race there was 

 always a large entry; but it is singular what little value 

 was set upon the medal. It was quite impossible, how- 

 ever, to smuggle any other kind of prize into this race, the 

 piece de resistance, so to speak, of the entire meeting. — Qen* 

 tlemerCs Magcmne % 



