180 



.'FOREST AND STREAM. 



"I therefore in December, 1873, arranged refrigerators in 

 different forms, although substantially alike on general 

 principles, all disclosing the fact, however, that by placing 

 the ova between any light and durable fabric and then by 

 surrounding the whole with thin layers of moss slightly 

 moistened and kept in close proximity to ice constantly, 

 and in such a manner that water dripping from the ice 

 would not run upon the eggs, as I found that to hatch, fish 

 eggs only slightly moistened will keep much more perfectly 

 than to allow the moss to be kept so moist as to have a 

 drop of water run from them. Consequently, my last portable 

 arrangement for hatching and keeping the ova in a proper 

 condition to undergo the natural process of incubation 

 without a spoonful of water daily, was arranged at my 

 hatchery last Winter, as can be vouched for by Governor 

 Bagley, with the whole board of fish commissioners of this 

 State, as well as many other first class citizens. It is also 

 a well known fact that I packed some 5,000 of these eggs 

 in this manner and took them to Lansing during the session 

 of our Legislature, traveling to and from point to point 

 with them, opening and handling them as occasion re- 

 quired, and then taking them home to my hatchery and 

 hatching them out in perfect condition. This invention of 

 mine, I will say for the benefit of Seth Green and all others 

 interested in the matter, is secured by letters patent bearing 

 date March 31st, 1874, to which I beg leave to refer." 

 — __ — .... -.»»»»■ — — 



Fish Culture in Virginia.— Dr. W. B. Robertson, one 

 of the fish commissioners of Virginia informs the Lyneh- 

 ■ burg Republican that he sent to the hatching boxes at Lex- 

 ington 10,000 California salmon eggs, and a like number to 

 the hatching boxes at Blackshurg. These eggs were re- 

 ceived from the United States Fish Commissioner, and will 

 hatch in about two weeks. The young fish will then be 

 fed and taken care of until they are from one to two months 

 old when they will be distributed among the various rivers 

 in the State suitable for their growth and propagation The 

 California salmon is a very superior fish, and it is-hoped 

 that in a few years the Virginia rivers will be well stocked 

 with them. „ 



Dr. Robertson also says that he put a large number ot 

 young black bass in the North River last week, and next 

 week he will have some put in the Rapidan, the Rivanna, 

 Tye River, New River, and other streams. The Virginia 

 fish commissioners are doing a good work, and should be 

 sustained and encouraged in every possible way by the 

 people and the Legislature. 



-♦»♦» — 



To Peed Young Fish.— Dr. Pratt, in the Prairie Farmer ^ 

 gives a novel mode of feeding young fish. He says that 

 about as early as the young fish begin to eat in Spring the 

 green fly appears, and by runuing a wire across the pond 

 and hanging some liver to it, the fly will "blow" it, and 

 about the third day the maggots will begin to drop off. 

 Repeal the liver every two days and you have a constant 

 food for the young fish, and a very good food too. t 

 . «+ • »■ 



SALMO SALAR AT NEW HOPE. 



— - — ♦ 



\i New Hope, Pa., October 18th, 1875. 



Editor Poeest and Steeam:— 



Last Monday I had a visiL from a professor, who has always contended 

 that salmon (Sal»-o salar) could not live the third year without going to 

 sea. Ashe was anxious to see some of the fish in the lake, I took my. 

 best rod, adjusted three of my most killing flies, put the boat where I 

 had seen them break very lively, and very soon hooked nine. As we 

 were anxious to examine them without killing' any, I put a tub which 

 measured seventeen inches across in the boat. The longest could not 

 lay .straight in it by three or four incnes. They were in fine condition, 

 thick and deep; we guessed at the weight, and you will have to do the 

 same, as we returned them to the lake. Jas. B. Thompson. 



— * — — 



Rake Fish in Strange Waters.— Last week Captain 

 Benyamm Lovell captured two fine specimens of the white 

 whale in the weir at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, on the cape, 

 which is probably the first time this kind of fish has been 

 taken in the waters of the United States on the .Atlantic 

 seaboard. The specimens captured are a cow and a calf, 

 the former about ten feet long, perfectly white, and weigh- 

 ing about 700 pounds, and the latter some two feet less in 

 lenath, of a dark gray color and about 500 pounds weight, 

 both being quite fat. Johnson, in his natural history, 

 gives the following description of this fish: ^ Genus Beluga 

 —Of this is the northern beluga, round headed cachalot, 

 small catodon, or white. When young it is black, when 

 mature it is white, sometimes having a yellowish or rosy 

 tinge It is twelve to eighteen feet long, feeds on fish, and 

 is esteemed good eating by the inhabitants of the northern 

 countries, the seas of which it frequents. It abounds m 

 Hudson Bay, Davis Strait, and along the shores of Kamts- 

 chatfca. It sometimes ascends large rivens, and is often 

 , observed near Quebec. It is seen in schools of forty to 

 fifty which frequently follow ships and frolic in the waters 

 around them. They usually flock to the east coast of 

 Greenland, where they are a serviceable supply to the in- 

 habitants. The oil of the beluga is of the finest quality; 

 the skin of the animal is wrought into morocco, and the 

 internal membranes are used for windows and bed cur- 

 tains." — Boston Journal 



-♦♦*>. . 



Remarkable Attack by a Boa Consteictor.— A. very 

 curious incident took place in the Zoological Gardens of 

 Amsterdam about a 'fortnight ago. A gentleman well 

 known in South Wales visited the gardens, accompanied 

 bv a friend and a courier. When passing by the compart- 

 ment in the snake house, in which the huge boa constrictor 

 is kept the keeper asked whether the visitors would like 

 to see the boa fed. Receiving an affirmative answer, he 

 went for a rabbit, and on returning liked up the glazed 

 door a few inches with the view of giving the snake his 

 meal No sooner had he done so than the boa, who was 

 coiled up in the corner, darted with fury at the opening of 

 the glass door, and sent his fangs into the hands of the gen- 

 tleman, making fearful gashes. The keeper*, aided by the 

 courier and another, laid hold of the snake by his throat, 

 and succeeded in shoving him back under the opening of the 

 window. I had an opportunity of examining the wounds 

 inflicted on the gentleman's hands, and it is remarkable 

 how lie escaped further and more serious injury. lie is 

 now convalescent, but he evidently got a shake to his ner- 

 vous system, which can scarcely be wondered at. It is 

 said that the Amsterdam, boa is the largest ia Europe.~- 

 (£r . Land and Water. 



Bird Wanderers.— Last Friday evening two curious- 

 looking birds flew down in Marysville, DeKalb county, 

 Mo., apparently from exhaustion. Some of the town boys, 

 attracted by the curious noise they made, set about catch- 

 ing them, and succeeded in catching one, the other mak- 

 ing its escape. The birds were rather a dark gray, speckled 

 on the back and wings, with white breasts, and very long 

 bills and web feet, and their wings were long, extending 

 back and crossing over the tail. They were a little larger, 

 perhaps, than a crow. The villagers, never having seen 

 such birds, were at a loss at first to determine the species 

 to which they belonged, but on examination and compari- 

 son they were found to be sea birds, and are known as 

 terns or sea swallows, a species of sea-gull. There can be 

 but little doubt that during the heavy storm that prevailed 

 along the Texas coast they were blown inland, and, be- 

 coming lost, kept flying in "search of salt water until com- 

 pelled to light from exhaustion. — JSxchange. 

 — «»»»■ - 



An Electrical Fish Bait.— In the Paris International 

 Maritime Exhibition there is a small object deserving of 

 notice. It is a platinum wire placed in a bottle and ignited 

 by electricity from a bichromate battery. It is intended to 

 be immersed in the sea, and the light emanating from it is 

 said to attract an immense number of fishes. Experiments 

 have been tried lately on the Cotes du Nord department 

 with a fishing boat, and have proved very satisfactory, on 

 a bank of sardines. The glass must be green or black, 

 otherwise the fish are frightened by the glare and do not 

 follow the submarine light. 



A Queer Insect. — There was captured in the streets of 

 Austin, Nev., the other day, a curious insect, which the 

 Reveille thus describes: — "It is of the tarantula order, and 

 its back, which is about the size of a twenty -five cent piece, 

 is pure white in color, and when viewed from one side pre- 

 sents the exact marks of the features of a human face, with 

 a complete mustache . When viewed from the reverse 

 side the marks assume the appearance of the face of an 

 animal of the feline species." The animal was embalmed 

 in alcohol and placed among the curiosities in the cabinet 

 of the Sazerac saloon at that place. 



The 'following are recent arrivals at the Philadelphia 

 Zoological Garden: — 



Garden or the Zoological Society, ) 



FairmountTark, Philadelphia, Oct. 9th, 1875. f 



Two Turkey Buzzards, Cathartea aura. Presented by Mr. Eichard 

 Mercur, Westchester, Pa. 



One Rufous Rat Kangaroo, Hypsiprymnus rufesctns. Born in the 

 Gardens. 



One young Bald Eagle, Haliaetus cucocepJialus . Presented by Major 

 A. C. Richards, "Washington, D. C. 



One Spider Monkey, Ateles grisescensi?) . Purchased. 



One black Iguana, Metapoceros cormitus. Purchased. 



Two Pinche Monke} s, Midas c&dipus. Presented by Dr. John Agnew, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



One Greyhound. Presented by Miss A. W. Whelen, Bryn Maur, Pa. 



One crested Curasson, Crax alector. Presented by Capt. A. Camp- 

 bell, Philapelphia. 



Three Blue Jays, Cyanara cristata. Presented by Mr. J. Edward 

 Farnum, Philadelphia. 



foodfartd, a^nrm mid %mdm. 



GAPES IN CHICKENS. 



DR. CRESSY has furnished the Scientific Farmer with a 

 treatise on this subject, wherein he describes with 

 great minuteness the causes of this peculiar parasitic dis- 

 ease, which manifests itself in the form of "gapes." On 

 examining the windpipe of a fowl after death, a number 

 of small red worms will be found, varying from a half to 

 three quarters of an inch in length, thus unmistakably in- 

 dicating the seat of disease and the cause of death. 



Dr. Andrew Wiesenthal, of the Baltimore Medical Col- 

 lege, published the first account of this malady which we 

 can lay claim to, under date of May 21, 1797. Concerning 

 its ravages in those early days of American poultry breed- 

 ing, he says: — 



'-'There is a disease prevalent among the gallinaceous 

 poultry of this country called the gapes, which destroys 

 eight tenths of our fowls in many parts, and takes place 

 in~the greatest degree aniong turkeys and chickens bred 

 upon old established farms. Chicks and poults, in a few 

 days after they are hatched, are found frequently to open 

 their mouths and gasp for breath, at the same time fre- 

 quently sneezing and attempting to swallow. At first the 

 affection is slight, but gradually becomes more and more 

 oppressive, and it ultimately destroys. Very few recover; 

 they languish, grow dispirited, droop and die. It is gen- 

 erally known that these symptoms are occasioned by worms 

 in the trachea. I have seen the whole windpipe completely 

 filled with these worms, and have been astonished at the 

 animals being capable of respiration under such circum- 

 stances." 



It is claimed by some that this worm is the larva of a 

 winged insect, deposited upon the face of the chicken, and 

 that after being hatched the young worms find their way 

 by the nostrils and windpipe to the air passages, and thus 

 cause the disease; but the doctor refutes this theory, as 

 well as others equally erroneous, and proves that this para- 

 site is a true nematoid, or thread-like worm, and of the 

 highest order of the'annelides, but, zoologically speaking, 

 belongs to the lowest division of the articulated animals, 

 and is therefore separated from the insects by the crustacse, 

 which includes all those lobster-like creatures of the sea. 



"There is a radical difference," he says, "between the 

 larval state of an insect^ and a true worm; the former 

 emerge from the egg composed of thirteen regular seg- 

 ments, while the worms have no such numerical division 

 of structure in any moment of their existence. Again, 

 none of the insects proper are sexually mature until they 

 have reached the last or imago state of their existence. In 

 the larva state the male and female^ insect, though easily 

 recognized upon microscopic dissection, present to the un- 

 aided eye little or no difference in form, size, or general 

 appearance, which is not the case with this gape worm and 

 many other verminous creatures. The female worm is 

 much longer than the male, and ifl completely gorged with 



ova which are mature for impregnation. This act never 

 takes place in the larval insect, but can be very readily ob- 

 served in this parasite, for the two sexes frequently become 

 united, and form an indissoluble union for life. Hence we 

 see that these lowly worms of the dust are the only crea- 

 tures in existence which really fulfil the injunction of sa- 

 cred writ, that the two sexes shall become 'one flesh.' Yet 

 such are the facts, and hence the embryos can only escape 

 by the dissolution of the maternal body; but this state of 

 things is true of even other worms of the cestoid series 

 where the vaginal orifice is too small to allow the escape of 

 the impregnated ova." 



. ^*»» 



Remarkable Discovert. — A coal merchant named God- 

 win, resident in Stanley, has just lost a valuable mare* 

 under peculiar circumstances. * For some time past the ani- 

 mal has been ailing, and has to all appearance suffered un- 

 known agonies, no cause being apparent for the acutp 

 pain it was evidently suffering from. A farrier of consid- 

 erable experience and skill was called in, but his services 

 were of no avail. Ultimately, on a post-mortem examina- 

 tion of the horse's stomach being made, it was found to 

 contain a large stone of some ten or a dozen pounds in 

 weight, in shape like a petrified kidney, and in color, not a 

 bad imitation of a piece of uncalcined flint-stone. Bern* 

 sawn in two, the flat surface presents the appearance of a 

 large onyx stone, the grain being laid on in layers, no doubt 

 the result of rolling round and round in the stomach in its 

 efforts to collect the particles of undigested stone dust 

 eaten along with the horse's food . The smell emitted 

 from the stone is not unlike that given out by a decayed 

 tooth. Horse keepers from this should be careful, when 

 giving their horses food, that the dust often found in. corn 

 is properly sifted out before being given along with the 

 animal's provender. Occasional analyses should also be 

 made of the food, so as to detect fraud in mixing the same 

 with calcined flint stone and plaster of Paris to add to its 

 weight, and thus deceive the purchaser. 



We clip the above from an English exchange at the time 

 that a similar case comes under our observation in this 

 country. A few days since we were shown by Mr. Dorian, 

 of Fulton Market, a stone precisely similar to the one men- 

 tioned above, and which was taken from the body of a 

 horse which had been carried to the offal depot at Barren 

 Island . The stone in question was not discovered until 

 the horse was dissected for the purpose of obtaining what 

 was of value from his hoofs, hide, and bones, and from 

 among the hundreds brought there weekly it would of 

 course be impossible to identify this one. In a addition to 

 the causes ascribed by our contemporary we are inclined 

 to think that drinking of water impregnated with lime is a 

 fruitful occasion of this disease, and, as in the case under 

 notice, many horses die from this trouble without the 

 cause being known. Any of our "vets" who may desire to 

 see the stone can do so by calling upon Mr. Francis Swift, 

 the city contractor for the removal of offal. 

 ,*.«.«, — —— 



The Ensilage of Maize.— For the last two or three 

 years it has hardly been possible to look into an agricul- 

 tural publication coming from the southern part of Conti- 

 nental Europe, or from that portion known as the "maize 

 region," and ttot find one or more articles or communica- 

 tions relating more or less to the subject named at the head 

 of this paragraph. To ensilage is to bury in silos or pits, 

 and the ensilage of maize consists in cutting up corn which 

 has made a full growth, but is still green, and chopping up 

 the whole plant more or less finely, and then placing it in 

 pits prepared for the purpose, and covering with earth. 

 The details are, that the corn having been hauled to the 

 pits — and their location should be as near the barn as con- 

 venient, and to the south of it— it is chopped small by 

 knives or a machine made for the purpose. The pit hav- 

 ing been opened from three to six feet wide, and of length 

 equal to the quantity desired to be stored away— but not 

 more than two or two and a half feet deep — and always on 

 underdrained land, or where there is a certainty that water 

 will not leach in, its bottom and sides are lined with straw, 

 and the chopped corn is then thrown in, tramped and 

 packed as hard as may be, and rounded up so as to make a 

 complete water shed. More straw is then placed upon the 

 pile, taking care to largely increase the quantity at the top, 

 for the purpose hereinafter stated. The earth is then 

 thrown back on the pile, and the thickness should not be 

 less than eighteen inches or two feet, the perfection of the 

 process depending on a fermentation which takes place be- 

 yond the reach of the influences of the atmosphere. The 

 excess of straw thrown on the top of the pile is for the 

 purpose of absorbing the resulting moisture and gases, and 

 when in sufficient quantity will take them up effectually. 

 Maize and other green forage plants, when so treated, un- 

 dergo a fermentation not unlike cabbage when made into 

 sour-krout, and is greedily eaten by all kinds of domestic 

 animals, and is particularly sought after by cows giving 

 milk. In France, where this method of preservation was 

 invented, the practice of ensilage has grown into almost 

 general use, and in "the north is found very profitable as a 

 means of preserving the foliage of the beet, s> largely 

 grown there for the' sugar manufacturers, and in the south- 

 ern provinces as a substitute for roots and other green crops 

 which the dryness of their climate makes difficult of pro- 

 duction. 



Prof. Miles, of the Illinois Industrial University, has 

 made pretty liberal experiments in the ensilage of maize 

 and broom corn seed in the course of this Autumn, the out- 

 come of which will be given to the public as soon as the 

 success, or want of it. in the undertaking has been deter- 

 mined. 



If the successful ensilage of maize proves to be withia 

 the easy reach of ordinary care, and if cattle food so pre- 

 pared should be found healthy and milk-producing* ana 

 be heartily eaten, it seems to me that one of the great dim- 

 culties of profitable dairying in Winter will be removea, 

 for a substitute for green food, if not green food ltseu, 

 will be at the cheap command of every milkman wherevtu 

 the corn crop is common and popular in the country.— 

 Country Gentleman. 



—An English surveying party in the interior of India 

 succeeded lately in capturing a couple of wild peop , 

 man and woman, who inhabit the mountainous district _ 

 the Western Ghauts. They are of dwarfed stature, aa 

 have no fixed dwelling places, but sleep on any convene 

 spot, generally between two rocks or in caves. 



