FOREST AND STREAM. 



505 



y Generation of Eels.— Mi: Editor :— 1 have read the 

 remarks of your correspondent "C. A. E.'d concerning 

 eels, with interest, and would simply say that the dis- 

 coveries which he shows were made long' ago have only 

 lately been proved, The question I ti 



deuce?" Before the discoveries of Dr. Syrski. which 

 Were verified by Professor Baird in this country, we only 

 had the bare announcement of Mr. Yarrel that eels were 

 oviparous, and at the same time we had the assertions of 

 other naturalists, equally entitled to credit, that they 

 were viviparous and hermaphrodites. The something is 

 • i which is quoted from "Wood; mere 



■'I. ■ i uqianied with the proof furnished by 



P*ofessor Baird, viz.: an eel with the ovaries in situ, ft 

 would certainly be strange if ah the theories 6f those who 



have gone beh'.re as on this question were false, as they 



listed the subject, attribi fin 



to all kinds of unrelated animals as well as toslhi 



from :.' .; ■ Is and other pr ibableandimprobablecauses, 



The case stands, thus t do:>pticafuud continually 



your proof, your prool ! " [f a ihan to-day aBSerts 



that eels spawn in mud. and another one that they attach 

 it to sticks edt and stones, while ha-d a.-. r;s that it 

 Boats in the water like shad and codfish eggs (which I 

 would not be surprised to find true), aud fifty years after- 

 ward an investigator ///•ores one of these propositions to 

 i is "■ ii hi that tin-- honor is due, for the man 



who guessed it. or who even proved it (to his ov, p atis- 

 faetion), has failed to show how he came by his knowl- 

 . and to exhibit his eggs dredged from the mud. at- 

 tached to wee/Is. or caught floating , in (lie surl'ac. 



Dr. Syrski, of Trieste coir-d hi- "a w : Pari 



. Commission Of Ksh ana Pi leries ■". | 118 



: i a absence 



if better proof, but Dr. Syrski lived in Austria, and his 

 specimens were not at hand whereby we could verify 

 them and feel sure that no mistake had been made. The 

 discovery of Professor Baird was not an original dis- 

 covery, and has never been so claimed by that gentle- 

 man, whatever injudicious friends may have claimed. He 

 simply vei ified the truly original discovery of Dr. Syrski. 

 original perhaps only SO far as published with proof that 

 the author was not guessing or t h" mr corres- 



pondent " C. A. K." exhibits a commendable desire to 

 award honor where it is due, and our only differ' 

 opinion seem to be in what' shall Iih admitted as ei 

 and should I next week announce that eels spawn m the 



tops of trees, I hope he will bi • h> ask, "how do 



you know ?" aud demand the proofs, F. M. 



— * — 



HABITS OF THE BEAVER. 



' JOT down a few notes in reply to "A wahsoo , 

 lation to habits in detail of the beaver, as gained from 

 by myse] ■ b ■ ■ o 



iroughout om- whole laud, 

 " Lo." and at I lie evpira- 

 few if any will be in' 

 ile up in Juniata 



of but little 



ice and 



all improver 



uents of 



on was noi 



0V61 t 1 



sluggish .a, 





intervals ai. 





to two burn 





one a i ten e 



:res of la 



mnumerabl 



■ cypress 



writer, from 



one to fl 



of five or si? 





and bark off small willow limbs brought up through the 

 entrance from below; and hex 



quiet and repose, only going out after night in quest of 

 food. This "house" we examined was sufficiently large 



1 " 1 1 ii it of oursitti 



id a half i 

 to thirty 



woven toj 

 tentii ins ti 

 mud and del, 

 of many 



ether in 



l'i 



"I ■'. 



f thi 



I' the house 

 n diameter. 

 in length, 

 •ithout pre- 

 I with stiff 

 ral opinion 

 beaver, that 



nid. ft i 



the habit 

 they use their flat tail to carry mud upon in const i action 

 ot their houses and dams. This is not the case. I think 

 they frequently use it to paddle down the mud. and 



thi a'!', tnake it aiOresolid. Tn the country we have i ■- 



there are only a few beaver dams, Some of 



these met our notice while trapping on a mial ' 1 ranch " 



out in the " lolls, and wore used to dam tie- water hark 



to make it. deep enough at all times to admit of them en- 



der water their burrows in the bank. They 



seem to have instinct to know, in very short time, if the 



■ oken, for frequently we have cut it to let 



, I stream pi j over, and the following morning 



found it securely rebuilt. Sh^thab-boznai. 



Dtugdale, /-v.,' June 15, 1879, 



Until within ttie last twenty-five years beavers were 

 i I,, i , .- province of Nevs Brunswiok, and only 



"i s ' ' I ■ e a. |'"i parts Of the dense forest. 



icreased 



great extent 

 ■nata distance of 

 on, the capital of the province. 



a ■ .!. ior,(. entirely nocturnal ; 



in the day. they show them- 



ai'i in. They commence build- 

 iat "i September: forthispur- 

 vhieh inns through good feed- 



tie '' lis the bark of the birch 



the vellow pond lily, of which 

 ttly fond. They also devour the 



hard ■■in ids, seldom touching fir. 



Since that, period i hey hav 

 and their dams and 

 thirty miles fron 

 The habits 



seldom fed g i rking 



selves only late in the attei 

 ing their danw ah' ad the h 

 select a stream \ 

 ing gromii 

 poplar am 

 latter tbe\ 



hackmatai- 



Their lii-si preparation for the dam consists in cutting 

 and brush wood of all kinds; this they float 

 down to the place selected and make a jam: they then 

 pile limit and stones upon it: these they carry in their 

 paws, pressed up against their breast, swimming down the 

 stream until they come to the incipient dam. upon Which 

 they walk ereot until they come to the proper place to de- 

 posit their load. lit carrying stones which are too heavy 

 to swim with, they walk with them on the bottom of the 



' ' ' ■ ' ■ ■ i l doing this, I have 



. Beaver Lake, Burnt Hill stream. Miramichi, a 



beaver's dam two hundred feet in length, bunt entirely of 



practical obser 



South, during the past • 



The beaver, i n 

 is fast going the 

 tion of the next 

 within tbe Unia 



formed by an old settle 

 rake US to where there are still I and on the 



head waters of some streams of that coumv. 

 ■rather doubted the assertion, but a. ■ a- . er had oppor- 

 tunity to test tlie veracity of our informant. There arc 

 still some- beaver m S. E. Virginia, and in North Michi- 

 gan. From the latter locality a specimen of "h 

 ting" was on exhibit in the State building of Michigan 

 at the Centennial that was ten inches in diaa i and 

 showed plainly the chiseling of their teeth. The lot dil 

 of Our observation and base of opet tt ii in i :s in a county 



onsiderablj lo 



ivilization. The I 



generally 'slippery high banks. At 



side of said river, back from fifty 



ponds covering from 



by lofty cypress, and 



s knees, with a Septd ■ clear, cool 



feet, sometimes reaching a depth 

 In that miiina iii- da, i. Iiouses are 

 always to be found in one of these ponds, vet they fre- 

 quently take up their abode in a hollow a ■ ■ . 

 in the middle of the pond, going up iron, under the rocks 

 below the water. Inside of the tree, if it be an oil one 

 large, and entirely hollow , they build up a house of sticks 

 and mud. similar to other habitations built alone in the 

 center of ponds. When the tree is smaller, they kind of 

 bridge over the inside with sticks to make a place to lie 

 above water-mark during the day-time. We have fre- 

 quently during the coldest of the weather, when there 

 was for a short time tee sufficiently strong to bear us, 

 quietly approaced such trees and struck them a smart 

 blow, 'when , i within 



plunge into the water and make off, Afterward, we 

 would cut oil trap on their lai 



and replace tlie chip cut from the tree, tilling up any 

 cracks with moss to keep out all light. Habil 

 kind are used for many generations ; and we rem 

 one particular old tree, in which we set traps during our 

 first season in that vicinity, when we caughl one old 

 beaver and two yearlings, using a sliding-pole to get them 

 down into deep water and drown therm The fur on the 

 young beaver was so much better than the older ones, 

 that we saved one pelt, and had it tanned and made into 

 a pair of gloves. The"Bes -. : ■ ■■ id years 



ago in some old spelling book or natural histoid . can here 

 be studied to advantage. These habitations, rising up 

 along the borders of the ponds, look like a massr 

 mud and rubbish. They axe from four to five feet above 

 the water; and will readily si 



can testify. One day, having concluded to examine more 

 closely into the construction of one of these habitations, 

 we took along with us an old ass, "With this W( 

 square hole into the top of n mses sufficiently 



to admit our body. The sticks were quite decayed, 

 from having so long been interspersed with the mud. "The 

 thickness of the top was from twelve to fifteen inches 

 through, and, inside", raised some six or eight inches above 

 the water, is the floor, win vith bark and 



small twigs. On th 



stone, the interstic 



smaller stones and 

 mason builds a. wall 

 ' . ad last sea 

 near Eestigi mche l 

 mile lone- and abot 

 After the da 



t f 



>etweeu which are stopped with 



id. much in the same manner as a 



i-s who occupied this dam 



.n. There is a dam on the county line 



1 Madawaska, which is an eighth of a 



feet high. 



pleted, they commence on their 



- folio 



A heap r 

 iv as the 



da 



where he remained quiet all day -, before night f piled 

 jund the corners of thepen. I had hardly lain 

 down for the night's rest when I heard him commence 

 gnawing his prison walls. I went out and filled the hole 

 whteh ho d. a ,, ith a large stone. I had hardly lain 

 .1 him at work once more, and 

 found when I went out that he had removed the stones. 

 I had caught a bear some days before, aud seeing the 

 heaver ai, el ' . .. ,,'.,, : as J approached, f "held 

 fchi , hich 1 l:i!"i"d li- 

 en,- ■ i .;a 



.:-■!■ d m al ami making a hissing sound ■ a 



a "■ i cat. Thinking of this fact. I concluded that I 

 would try the virtue of a piece of bear skin, and accord- 

 ingly cut several -mall s.i.ip, of this, and nailed Oi 

 each corner of his pen. and heard no more gnawing that 

 oig a. theaj d lal kei | in , in i he mid'dleall the time, show- 

 ing great dread of the corners. He is now at the village 

 " twenty-five miles from Fredericton W 

 is a very neat animal, and is careful to wash and comb 



1 imself ■■'":■■- ■'. v. the latter operatiot being performed 

 by a split claw which these atltmals 1 avi OD each hind 

 foot and with which they will 001 a I he smallest dirt. 



The cleaning Operation generally takes nlacein the early 

 morning after they have done their night's work. 



Yours Respect la I ' 



dhn.u-rmvAiTti. 

 Finhrivhiii, New Brunswick. June 10, 1870. 



Mother-Love. — An incident has just come under my 

 notice which so entirely conflicts w ith ray ideas with regard 



to the light in-' ■; ad a a ^.f wild rabbits, that I give it for an 



;• the morning one of mv children 



te face and an account of a large 



i the back yard. A few minutes 



the quarter where the 



I'm 



id I I IT", 



with a very w 



ake, just seen 



•culiar squalin 



•ted. at 



■■r 



extre 

 can 

 whit, 

 later 

 snid>( 

 hastily in 11 

 halfo'fal 

 fence and 

 reatly m; 

 the shake 

 before rxr 

 ants, the' 



fence of the snak. 

 The little rabbit \ 



blowi'j'om lav stick, adlmiilisfe 

 secured to it. The little fell 

 ran off a rod or so. where ti 

 treated a little at my near 

 ing the way at a tie liberate i 

 by. 



' R was the strongest "Vii 

 care for its offspring I have 

 the only instance 1 have evt 



'■ fgressive disposit 



they were emirelv without am. 

 Manatee, Flo., Jun&d, 1870, 



'acted my attention, 

 i was astonished t< 



id pi 





• the li 



uid ramnmg 

 see the last 



ider a packet 



", appa- 



■event 



. and 



imbat- 



eculiai: 



of thi 



jaws. 



id was 



• that a 



dto the hack of the snake, 

 .■ seemed uninjured, and 



mother rabbit, who had re- 

 iproach. joined it, mid lead- 

 tit, took it to the woods near 



•nee of a mother's love and 



leer seen or heard of, and is 



r known of a rabbit showing 



fact, f had supposed 



W, S. Wabnje 



house, which is built in th 



finish and mud is piled 



do when building thei 



this under the surface of the wafer, 



and the mud and sticks removed from the interior 



i." outside of the house, whose size is 



..a ihe numbei of the family, 



;-'i bring mud and sticks from the nearest places 



Which they put "on the Outside of the nucleus. As the 



d the house is increased so is the interior en- 



l Inly one family, ranging in numbers from two 



to six indhiduals. occupy the house, to which there are 



always, so far as I have seen, two doors. 



Tlie interior of tlie house consists of a circular room. 



havm-- a lint floor rust above the water: this floor is cov- 



' l i : rine as ordinary shavings; 



oh loor, Ihe roof of the room is the shape of a 



bee-hive, and is made as smooth as circumstances wall 

 admit of. 



They have their young in these houses I rom the latter 

 part of May to tlie fatter part of June. 

 The muskrat and beaver are particularly friendly, the 



' ng th Jiac room with the latter. The 



Meliciti Indians 'call the muskrat the beaver's cousin. 

 The wh:1. d "1 is eut around the pond in the 



i id floated to the doors of 'the house and then 

 sunk, which prevents it from freezing. This supply con- 

 sists of pieces of birch and poplar, upon the bark of which 

 they live, 



Irving around large deep water lakes or streams 

 do not build dams, since they have plenty of water with- 

 out doing so. The object' in' building darns is to raise the 



water high enough to prevent ti "'■ freezing, 



as well as to ensure an equable supply of water. 



The beavers enemies are the black hear and the loup 



cerviei . a Canada lynx. Both of these creatures attempt to 



capuue the beaver when he is at work cutting wood. 



can do little with a la ver, whose 



i ; 'i i a i ' : ■ d I e teetli inflict fearful wounds, if, howevei he 



" a there, isno escape. I have 



ri reab -hi far l±u beaver s house to pieces 



tor days to cafcoh tbe builders. 



1 have also caught beavers b i ks were scratched 



beat bait that I can use for "any 



animal. Their tenor of hears is something remarkable. 



On the 83d of May last on the South-west Miramichi, I 



caught in a steel trap, whose jaws I had protected so that 



- a . aot be injured, a year old beaver 



I put him in a barrel and polled him to my camp at Mira- 



I a '-■ I logged up a pen of large dry logs and 



Bred if over, tliinking that tlie animal would not be able 



to gnaw through this. He remained here quietly for two 



nignts, until recovering from his terror, he commenced at 



rs where the logs were dovetailei I i 



and cut n hole big enough to crawl through. 



On going out of my camp at 5 o'clock in the morning I 

 found that my heaver had left. Taking my can 

 down stream about a quarter of a mile, wher- 

 a small brook. I looked up it, little thinking to find him. 

 ■slk up, howeve 's.-i r could meet 



him. which 1 did. and as he attempted to go over a log 

 caught bira 1 < I hid carried him back to his prison 



oi.oGioAL ffARDE>:.— I bad the pleasure a 

 of visiting a gentleman in an adjoining 

 lething of a naturalist in his way, and, on 

 collection of live stock, I felt, web 1 repaid 



ined a tank of water, in which were eon- 

 ; of turtles, one specimen being about two 

 isited a -' nail building in which 

 . the other a line silver gray, 

 redding th a. CO ats, they looked 

 very familiar with the eentle- 

 n with them. Mr. Littlehale, 

 young fox, raised from the two 

 ai'i.-ii lis old. and its 

 above the foot are white. It is 

 3 at liberty, with dog, children, 

 ucularlv fond of Mr. L/s little 

 add a kitten. It blunved. how- 

 ne small chickens near by. We 

 ordaining a fine old coon, with 

 old, whose eves were not yet 

 aotic woodohuok was next" in 

 "'i'! a gray tinge about the 

 beyond the eyes, and il 

 __. die nails being light. 

 To say nothing of a few other woodenucks; porcupines, 

 etc.. the last, and to me by far, the most interesting speci- 

 men, was a beautiful, pure v. hits porcupine : the former 

 was a, very fine specimen, fully supplied with its natural 

 armor, being quilled from snout to end of tail. Certainly 

 nothing finer in its way could be desired. 

 The woodchuck appeared to me slightly different from 

 ,/a mona.x. but it may be mainly owing to its color 

 ■ ng nails, which made Irs feci appear more like those 

 of a squirrel. The naik? were ■ fidy, like those 



of some oldrecinsts who, though long having neglected to 

 trim his nails, had not foiled to keep them scrupulously 

 clean. 



Warn as y.Il M.O.H. 



Snakes From Horse Haies. — Some time ago I clipt 

 from the Polk County Banner an extract which I in- 

 tended to send to Forest akd Stream, but have lost 







igtb. 



We 







i foj 



es. on 







1 the 





quite 

 mail s 



!'■ 







their 



iW 







menti 









hind 1 







te firs 



and i 





le, ' 



a ..,;. 



girl, ^ 



-h. 



1" '<* 



. 



ever. 



i, !< 





iterest 





die 



] ;an 



wn a 



three 



vo 



Ulg 





open. 









order 





le is 





face. 



no 







bavin 



g a 



a.".". 



gray 1 



told a tale almost as marvelo 

 negroes about the jay 



. . ,. - d absi a 



- ■ man had b. 

 a living 

 have grown from a horse -ha jr. Th 



-- 

 the horse-hair was distinct, and pr 

 developed into c 

 xritnesse 

 county- in the Sp 

 pool 1 saw a qui.; 

 wriggling at a g. 

 amined carefully 



.hat of the 



tell on Fri 



feet, and such I 



ght to the editor 



was declared to 



an had 



: I a where 



rved it until it 



true snak. hi-. ulft y 



a similar transmutation in San Saba 



lg of 185S I I 1- dirty stagnant 



ity of horse-hs ; c h were 



i off my horse and es.- 



I - -as distinct at 



I lerceive 



ries in the 



body. For Bome length - d the hair was 



■ i-- ,:_ sol rge . .ady about half of the body or hair was 



while the oth nearly or 



?nite motionless. The Upper half was in < 



