68 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



reaching the Arm of the lake in three honrs and a half. The steamer is at 

 the Arnyn waiting and leaves on arrival of the teams.reaching this place 

 at 3 o'clock. The scenery between Andover and the lake is wild and 

 picturesque, and is well worth eeeiug. There are several pi ces of 

 special interest on the way, such as Silver Hippie Cascade, the Devil's 

 Den, Hermit Falls, Black Biook Notch, the Devil's Oven, etc. 



There are quite a number of people stopping about here now. At this 

 camp there are six, at the Middle Dam camp there are six, and about the 

 shores of the lake five or six camping parties are scattered, all enjoying 

 themselves, and all obtaining a new lease of life, from pure air, good food 

 and healthy exercise. At Camp Bellevue (private) are Mr. Betton, one 

 of the proprietors, and a party of his friends, numbering five; at J. P. 

 Whitney's camp (private) at Mosquito Brook are Mr and Mrs. Whitney 

 and other ladies and gentlemen, numbering a dozen in all. 



Game seems to be moie plenty here this season than ever before, and 

 quite a number of deer and caribou have already fallen before the guns 

 of the Nimrods who have been here, in spite of the law, which does not 

 allow shooting until October. Of partridges and ducks there is really 

 no end, and I have counted 15 coveys in a day. The weather here now 

 is delightful— the days warm and. pleasant with cool nights and 

 mornings. If any of your readers have not yet had their vacation, 

 let i hem come down here if they are fond of fishing and gunning and 

 appreciate mountain and lake scenery. This camp is now in first-rate 

 shape, good rooms and clean beds, and if a man can't sleep here it is no 

 fault but his own. The cuisine is excellent, and is under the 

 charge of Mr. Joseph Cumming, lor whose cooking I have the greatest 

 respect, and whose call, "Dinner is ready, gentlemen, dinner," is one 

 of the bon mots of the English language. More anon. Fisher. 



r Htnml j§i8targ. 



SCIENCE AT BUFFALO. 



CLOSE OF THE SCIENCE ASSOCIATION— SKETCH OF RE- 

 SULTS. 



MUCH to our regret we have found it impossible to 

 print the remainder of the letters of our corres- 

 pondent at the American Science Association meeting in 

 Buffalo. The accumulation of matters connected with the 

 Centennial has crowded out everything less precisely within 

 our limits. It would be quite impossible, at any rate, for 

 us to give anything but brief notes of the immense mass 

 of papers introduced to the Association in the section of 

 Natural History and Geology arid its subsections of An- 

 thropology, Microscopy and Entomology. The more ob- 

 scure subjects of the processes of generation and embryonic 

 growth, alternaied with the plain phenomena of surface 

 geology, or were succeeded in rapid succession by papers 

 on anatomy, development, botany and paleontology. The 

 papers in general did not exceed 15 minutes in length, and 

 were all listened to with close attention, while the biief 

 and racy discussions brought out by them were often 

 of quite as much value as the papers themselves, but un- 

 fortunately are not preserved on the records of the Asso- 

 ciation. One feature of the meeting has been the number 

 of essays read by younger members, eome of which have 

 attracted marked attention, while others have been met 

 with merited disapproval from the older members. On 

 the other hand, the presence, if not the contributions, of 

 many of the oldest of American scientific laborers, 

 has been noticable. This year, more than ever before, 

 the adherents to the Evolution Theory have preponderated, 

 and there really was no one of sufficient calibre and pluck 

 to combat the idea, so that there was scarcely an appear- 

 ance of opposition to it, while the idea, no doubt, received 

 additicnal confirmation in the minds of all from the ac- 

 counts of investigations and discoveries during the year 

 supporting the theory — particularly those of Prof. O. C. 

 Marsh, who, Prof. Huxley said, had made certainty of 

 what was before hypothesis. There is no denying Ihe 

 deep hold this progressive idea has taken upon science in 

 this country. 



The newly organized subsection of Anthropology were 

 very busy during the whole week, and accomplished a va^t 

 amuunt of work, but were somewiiat discouraged, for 

 though the papers read were of the highest order,"and the 

 audiences were good, only a small group of the special 

 students of man's early existence attended. The questions 

 they seek to answer are, the origin and constitution of man, 

 physical and spiritual, his geographical origin, primitive 

 condition, and antiquity; the unity or plurality of the 

 race, the mental and physical peculiarities of races, and 

 the natural causes aftectmg them; the motives, the guides, 

 the baniers, and the bounds of migration, especially on 

 this continent; progress, degradation, simultaneity and se- 

 quenee of eulture; the influence of heredity, hybridizing, 

 endogamy, and other customs upon progress of civiliza- 

 tion; the origin, transformation, and nffiuities of language; 

 the rationale of beliefs, rites, and cults; the history of 

 morality, of laws and government. This is a broad pros- 

 pect, but the immense amount of material for it in America 

 is just beginning to be apprecia'ed. 



This meeting will therefore be a memorable one in many 

 particulars; not only for the large attendance and un 

 ruffled harmony, the new developments, and the presence 

 of distinguished and revered visitors, but for the lavish 

 hospitality and boundless good will which Buffalo and her 

 great-hearted citizens manifested from first to last. 



The meeting closed on Thursday, and most of the 

 members and their friends went to Philadelphia, partly 

 for the Exhibition, and especially to attend the Interna- 

 tional Convention of Archaeologists on the 4th instant. 

 — •#•♦♦- 



NEW LAND SHELLS FROM COLORADO. 



» 



New York, Sept. 1. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Mrs. M. A. Maxwell is now exhibiting at the Centennial 

 Exhibition a large number of specimens of natural history 

 from Colorado. Her home is at Boulder, which is at the 

 head of Boulder canon, in the high mountains west of 

 Denver. Among o.her things she brought with her a 

 quan'ity of land and fresh water mollusks, ct-lleckd in 

 tne vicinity of Boulder. 1 hey are of pariieular interest as 

 being the first lot which have been brought east, to my 

 kuouitdgv, from Colorado, since 1 made the collec- 

 tion- reported upon in the Keport of the Harden buiveys 

 for 1874, whhh comprised the whole of the then known 

 molluscan fauna of the State. Mrs. Maxwell's shells are of 

 further interest as coming from the eastern slope of the 



Range, where T succeeded in finding almost nothing at all 

 near Bertboude Pass or at Colorado Springs. It has there- 

 fore occurred to me to give your readers a brief account 

 of this collection, as follows: — 



Zonites arboreus, Say. A few specimens. 



Zonites fulvus, Drap. Several examples. 



Patula Cooperi, W. G. B. Among the lar^e number of 

 specimens several are marked very distinctly from all the 

 rest with "broader longitudinal and spiral patches of red- 

 dish brown," or burnt umber, as is mentioned in Binney's 

 original description, but which I never before saw so 

 marked. They are difficult to distinguish from P. solitaria. 

 As usual nearly all of the shells were found dead. The 

 species seem to be dying out. 



Patula striatella, Anth. Four specimens. 



Helix pulchella, Mull. Abundant. 



Oionella subcylindrica, L. A few . 



Vertigo ? An exceedingly minute Vertigo with toothed 



aperture is represented by three specimens, but I cannot 

 yet determine it. I procured none so small. . ^ 



ISuccmea lineata, W. G. B. Several specimens. 



fSuccinea Nuttalliana, Lea. Two examples. 



The Linneas I am not now in position to pronounce upon 

 at sight, but they are numerous and all small. If any 

 prove to be different f rom L. desidiosa they willprobably 

 be found to be L humilis, or Traski, or both. I obtained 

 all three in Colorado in 1874. To the apices of three speci- 

 mens "from an alum spring" are attached long beards de- 

 posited by the water. 



Physa helerostropha. Say. There are many specimens of 

 different sizes, shapes and degrees of fragility. It is hard 

 to draw the boundary of variation here. Some of the spec- 

 imens are thickly coated with rust from the iron-waters in 

 which they have lived, and others with a white deposition 

 from accumulated water. I got them in great abundance 

 everywhere among the mountains. 



Physa ampullacea, Gould. A dozen specimens as near 

 typical as can be expected. I did not obtain it, but it has 

 been recorded from Oregon, Washington Territory and 

 JNorthern California. 



Phy*a ancillaria, Say. One specimen. Hitherto found on- 

 ly iu Ruby Valley, Nev. 



? Physa mexicana, Philippi. 1 have bad no chance to com- 

 pare the shell before me with an authentic mexicana, but 

 the description in Bland and Binney's work fits as pre- 

 cisely as can be. It has been quoted only from Mexico. 



fPianorbis tumens, Cp. This I have identified also from 

 description and figure, but feel very confident of it; it also 

 is a Mexican species, but extends up the Pacific coast. 

 One specimen only. 



Planorbis {Hehsoma) plexata, Ing. Three examples of this 

 species first described from my specimens, are among this 

 lot, the largest and oldest one showing the twisted appear- 

 ance very plainly. 



Planorbis bicaiinatus, Say. This well-known shell is now 

 first reported from Colorado, but has been found on the 

 Yellowstone. They are of average size; the common P. 

 trivolvis is not included. 



Oyraulus parvus, Say. Vast quantities of this shell, 

 very common in Colorado. 



tAncylus caurinus, Cooper. Three specimens, very small, 

 •and possibly the same as parallelus which Mr. E. A. Barber 

 found in Colorado in 1874. 



LiopUx subearinata, Say. A dozen very fine specimens, 

 now hist reported from the west. There are also several 

 thick and heavy paludinas which I do not recognize. Their 

 spires are entirely eroded- 



Sphoerium siriatinum, Lam. Two fine specimens. Oc- 

 curs at several points in the mountains, but not hithei\o 

 reporte 1 from Colorado. 



Pisidium abditum, Hald. A large quantity with many 

 young ones. 1 found it abundant throughout the State in 

 1874. 



There are two anodons also which I have not identified; 

 one is brown, with a blue, lustrous interior, and the other 

 clay colpr, thin, and almost diaphanous. The unioa and 

 anodons are very rare in the southern Rocky Mountains. 



Ernest Ingersoll. 



Cats and Cholera.— The Lancet not long ago had an 

 interesting article on an epidemic resembling cholera which 

 appeared among the cats in Delhi last year. The disease 

 was not known to extent beyond the walls of the city, nor 

 was it confined to any quarter; and it gradually declined 

 and fully disappeard about Sept. 20th, although the chol- 

 era did not cease till near the end of November. The num- 

 ber of cats carried off by the disease was estimated at 500; 

 and the symptoms were, in almost every respect, identical 

 with those of cholera. Experiments were made with ehol 

 era virus, which was found to communicate an analogous 

 disease to the cats, resulting in death in the usual choleric 

 wav. 



A Provident Woodpecker. — The California wood- 

 pecker (Afelanerpes formicivorus) stores its food in the fol- 

 lowing curious manner: It picks out a big tree (a yellow 

 pine is liked best), and with its hard, sharp beak bores a 

 deep hole in the bark. It then flies away and returns with 

 an acorn, which it fixes into the hole, and with its beak 

 hammers it in tight — so tight, indeed, that the bark would 

 have to be cut away to get it out. In Californian forests 

 scores of trees may be seen with their trunks dotted with 

 acorns, put there by the woodpeckers. The next winter 

 the acorn is still fixed in the tree, but becomes decayed, 

 when it is attacked by maggots. The ground being cov- 

 ered with snow, the woodpecker is thus provided with 

 food through its fores-ight and thoughtf ulness. 

 «».». _ 



Blue Lobster. — A few da}s ago Robt. T. Morris, of 

 New Haven, received a lobster the color of which was a 

 beautiful sky-blue with the usual markings a shade or two 

 darker on the back. The under sides of the large claws 

 were creamy white. He killed it, and before it had time 

 to assume the red color which appears soon after death, 

 had taken out all the fleshy parts. Mounting it and dry- 

 ing quickly he succeeded in preserving the blue color with 

 the exception of slight fading. Only one fisherman had 

 ever seen a similar variety, which is in the nature of an 



albino. 



•**-»> 



Elevated Nests.— Old plates represent the flamingoes 



as mounted astride of nests which were perched on a 



mound of slicks two or three feet high. There was much 



of fable in this, hut Dr. Kidder, who visited Kerguelen 



Inland with the transit of Venus Expedition last year 

 found there a cormorant which builds its nest on rockv 

 shelves, constructing a pedestal sometimes two feet hiea 

 of mud and vegetable matter, upon which a bed of grass 

 is placed for the eggs. It would seem that these pedestals 

 grow in height from use during many successive years. 

 •«-»-•» 



Endurance of a Snake.— Upon opening a bale of jute 

 received from Calcutta in October, 1872, and which had 

 been lying at the Atlantic Docks, Brooklyn, undisturbed 

 until last week, a snake belonging to the genus Ophiobolus 

 was found alive, and was presented to the Central Park 

 Menagerie by W. Tobin of this city. 

 ■*«»■ 



MUSIC FROM A SNAKE'S TAIL. 



♦ • 



Centtjrt Club, New York, August 22d, 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I have just read in the Forest and Stream of Aug. 17th a letter from 

 Robert Ridgway on the black enake,and am particularly interested in (be 

 habit of the reptile of vibrating his tail so as to imitate the rattle or the 

 rattlesnake. Some two weeks ago, walking through a swampy road I 

 heard a noise which I mistook at first for the whirring of a bevy of quail 

 On looking closer I saw through ihe brush about two inches of a black- 

 snake's tail which was vibrating rapioly, and making the noise I heard. 

 I made out about two feet of him by looking carefully, aud after throwing 

 a stick at him, he went off rapidly, rattling as he went. Having passed 

 many days in the woods with rod and gun, and never having met such a 

 musical snake. I was much interested to know if my ears could ha\e de- 

 ceived me, or if others had observed the same phenomenon, but could 

 get no information on the subject, and my inquiries rather contributed 

 to the hilarity of my listeners. Walter DeF. Day. 



[In this case no notion of defense seems to have pos- 

 sessed the snake, and it is possible this musical sound was 

 intended to attract within reach mice or other prey by ex- 

 citing their curiosity. Prof. Shaler, a good authority, con- 

 siders the rattle of the rattlesnake to be for the purpose of 

 imitating the sound of the cicada and other insects that 

 form the food of many birds, and so to attract the latter 

 within reach of the serpent. We have much yet to learn 

 about our serpents, which are the victims too often of 

 mere heedless prejudice. — Ed ] 



.*•*» 



A MALFORMED HEN'S EGG. 



Erie, Pa., August 28th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Tnis morning among the boiled eggs on the breakfast table I noticed 

 that one was flattened on the side like some rolled pebbles. Both ends 

 were alike, bat one side was depressed. Its length was 2£ inches; its 

 longest transverse diameter, 1 j- inches, and its shortest 1 13 inches. 

 Ti ere was nothing peculiar about the tgg except its form, which was at 

 first supposed to have been produced by pressure in packing tor market. 

 But on examination the shell was found to be without, a crack end of the 

 usual thickness. May not the form of this egg have bt en produced by 

 pressure in the ovjduct against a mature egg delayed in passing, be- 

 yond the usual time? or by pressure of hardened excrement against the 

 walls of the oviduct? This may perhaps be regarded as too small a mat- 

 ter to write about, but attention to little things sometimes has consider 

 ably increased our knowledge of nature. T. D. I. 



LOCAL NAMES OF BAY-BIRDS. 



New York, September 1st. 

 Editor Forest and Stream.— 



In answer to your inquiry as to the different names of our shore birds, I 

 would say that! have just returned from the Jersey coast where bay- 

 birds, pretty giils, huckleberries, and other nice things flourish, and 

 herewith give you the names of the bay-birds (not the girls) as they are 

 known along that beach:— 



Lharadrius helveticus, Bull -head; black-breast. 



Churadrivs hiuticula. Beach-bird. 



Sirepsilos interpret", Caiicoback and brant bird. 



Tringa rufa, Robin snipe. 



Tringa hiuticula, Ring-neck. 



Tiwga himanopus. Frost snipe. 



Trii ga pectoralis, Creaker; meadow-pnipe. 



Trin ga semipalmata and T. pusiUa, Ox eye or bumblebee. 



Totanvs semipalmatus, Wiliet. 



Totanus vociferus, Yelper. 



Totanusfiavipes, Yellow-leg. 



Limosa fedoa, Marlin. 



Scolopax noveboracensis* Dowitch. 



Numenuis hudsomcus, Jack curlew. 



The aoove are all the varieties I shot, but several are met with that I 

 have not mentioned. The stilt sandpiper is common this Beason, but is 

 generally considered scarce. W. Holbehtoh. 

 .«-»■*• 



MORE LONG TAPE-WORMS. 



Sedalia, Mo., August 28th. 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



I notice in your issue of August 24th a communication from M. Har- 

 vey, St. John, N. F., in regard to a tape worm in a salmon measuring 62 

 feet i inches. I took from a young prairie cnicken list Saturday what 

 was evidently a tape-worm (Tcenia solium) of considerable length, occu- 

 pying the entire alimentary canal. It was torn into numerous frag- 

 ments before I discovered its presence. The chicken was shot that 

 morning in southern Kansas, and was apparently healtny. Mr. Harvey 

 thinks his the longest tape-worm yet discovered. We have record of 

 one 600 feet long, and a broken specimen has been obtained 60 yardB 

 long. J»hn W. Trader. 



Arrivals at the Central Park Menagerie Aug. 19 to Sept. *.— 

 One moose (Alces malchis) female; one camel {Cavulus dromedorius)! 

 one We.-t India sheep {Ovis aries) presented by Capt. John P. Rohl, of 

 the baik Tereesa; one zeber {Bos indicus), bred in the menagerie; one 



snake {OphiboMS ?), from Calcutta, presented by Mr. W. Tobin. 



New York City; one rattlesnake (Crotalus dvrittvs). from Beiki-hire 

 Mountains, Mass., pre-ented by Fred Law Olmhtead, New Toik city; 

 one little grebe {Podilymbvs podiceps) captured at East River Park; one 

 Carolina rail {Porzana Carolina), captured in Central Park. 



W. A. Conklin, Director. 



Arrivals at Philadelphia Zoological Garden, Aug. 6 to Sept. 4.— 

 Four horned frogs (Plirynoboma comuta), one presented by Hugh Dugan, 

 one by John Seddinger, and two by Wm.. Wm G Seduinger of Pniladel- 

 phia; two brown capuchin {Cebus fatuellus) one presented by Chas. Bas- 

 eett, Philadelphia, and one purch Bed; one catbird {Mimas caroiinenits), 

 cne jellow breasied chat (Icttria aireu*), one inaigo >ird {Cy n spizn W' 

 anea), one Wilfun's thrusu (Tardus fm&icent-) pitsenteo b) John rear- 

 sail. Philadelphia; one}oung Alligator^. Missistippsensis), presented 

 by James Maclntyie, Philadelphia; one b aided rattlesnake {Crotalus 

 durisbUs), prestnted by Howaid A. Ktlly, Philadelphia. 



ABTHUtt E. Brown, Superintend*". 



