FOREST AND STREAM. 



09 



Black Bass in Canada.— A correspondent of the Can- 

 ada Farmer, writing from Paris, Ontario, thus speaks of 

 black bass as found in that part of the Dominion:— 



"There is a great diversity in black bass as to shape, and 

 weight. Those caught in ponds and lakes in the counties 

 of Brant and Oxford, to which localities the writer's ex- 

 perience is chiefly restricted, are much larger and thicker 

 and "chunckier" (to use an Americanism^, than those found, 

 say in Grand river. Notwithstanding, where there are 

 long, deep, still stretches of water formed by mill dams as 

 at Gait or Paris, bass are often taken averaging in weight 

 thote taken in the lakes. The Pine Pond, on the south 

 edge of the township of Blandford and Blenheim, Oxford, 

 is, or was, a favorite fishing place for both black bass and 

 pike. Here bass of three, four, and even six pounds weight 

 are sometimes captured, the most alluring bait being a 

 fresh, half-grown green or yellow frog. The bass here are 

 remarkable for their thickness at the shoulders. So dis- 

 tinct is the figure and general configuration, especially as 

 regards this latter quality, that we are inclined to believe 

 the bass of Pine Pond, and some other ponds, to be 

 nothing else than the 'Oswego bass' of the American over 

 the lines. However, as regards bass, the truth holds the 

 same as to trout and other fish; the feeding ground alone 

 produces rem rkable changes in size, color and general 

 condition. 



"lijcuamsof the Grand river, with one exception at 

 Caledonia, are now, we believe, all provided with fish 

 slides or ladders. The tributaries, as Smith's and Horner's 

 creeks, are also similarly fixed at nearly all the mills along 

 their courses, one of the most noted exceptions being lry's 

 mill on Horner's creek, winch is about ten or tw«lve feet 

 deep in perpendicular height. This latter is a famous re- 

 sort for fish, the deep hole below the dam, about eighteen 

 feet at the deepest, being up till lately furnished with a 

 store of these nsh. Black bass spawn naturally, that is, 

 when the state of the river, as to size admits, acco aing to 

 our present law, from the 15th of May to the 15th of June. 

 The natural instinct of the fish would make this limit in 

 the Grand river even later thau the 15th June; but we 

 believe the short close times for bass, as well as tor pickerel 

 (which is one month later on the list), are as well regulated 

 as cuuld be in a country of such large extent as our Do- 

 minion," 



j^fltuml §i8targ. 



TAPE WORM. 



U. S. Patent Office, ) 



Washington, D. C, Sept. 11th. j 

 Editor Forest and Stream:— 



Tne interesting facts related a few weeks since by your 

 correspondent in relation to finding a tape worm in the 

 salmon have attracted the attention of thoughtful anglers 

 and careful observers. Not everyone, however, who has 

 become interested in the matter has the time or inclination 

 to "post up" in the natural history of this parasite, and 

 even if he had, the proper works of reference are not al- 

 ways at command. 



In 1862 I made some investigations and experiments 

 with P.. talnia, the results ' of which were published in the 

 "Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter," Vol. VIII, 

 No. 4. The numerous questions asked at that time by per- 

 sons of your general information leads me to think that 

 many of your readers are now familiar with the history of 

 this entozoon, and that they would be pleased to have it 

 furnished them without the trouble of search. The in 

 vestigations of naturalists which determined the facts on 

 the natural history of the tape worm are of comparatively 

 recent date. It is now, however, positively known that 

 this parasite propagates itsell in a cycle; that is to say, the 

 egg of the matured tape worm after a joint has been passed 

 fiom the body, find their way directly to the stomach of 

 swme, or else are drawn up with the sap into succulent 

 vegetables that are eaten by them. Each egg is a body 

 armed with three pairs of booklets, by which it burrows 

 its way into the flesh. It is so closely enveloped in a hard 

 substance that its vitality is preserved for an indefinite pe 

 riod. The eggs, after being in one of the two ways men- 

 tioned introduced into the bodies of swine, fill the fle-h 

 and make what butcners call measly pork. The encysted 

 egg, which is called a Cynticercus ceilulsm, drops off its book- 

 lets and commences an inward growth, whicu results in an 

 oval cyst of half an inch in length, with a white globular 

 body m its center. This is made up of two parts, viz: a 

 ventral portion and a neck. This cy,slicercut has no repro- 

 ductive organs, and it is only when measly pork is eaten 

 by man and it finds its proper nidus that it loses its caudal 

 vescicle, becomes articulated, and forms the Tmaia solium, 

 or jointed tape worm. 



it is a most curious fact that if measly pork is fed to 

 swine it is digested and passed off with no resultant tape 

 worms, while if the eggs of the taenia as passed from man 

 are fed to them in swili, the pork at once becomes measly, 

 that is to say, the eggs develop into the Cysticercus cellutom. 

 On the contrary, if the taenia eggs are led back to a man 

 they pass off undeveloped, while eating measley pork pro- 

 duces the perfected tape worm. There would seem to be 

 •the same lavorable conditions to growth in the one case as 

 jn the other; and yet the tacts as above stated have been 

 abundantly proved by actual experiment, such as feediug 

 the eggs and also measly pork to condemned criminals. 

 Thus we have the propaga ion in a cycle, viz: eggs from 

 the human body pass into swine directly, or through veg- 

 etables upon which they feed, are developed there into the 

 cysticercus which, when eaten by man, produces the per- 

 fected animal. Man passes off the eggs in joints of the 

 taenia, which again go the same round. By no means, 

 however, does it happen that every time measly pork is 

 eaien tape worms are produced. Persons with strong 

 constitutions, powerful digestion and active bowels pass 

 the cyslicercus through the intestine before it can manage 

 to hook itself to the walls. 



The small rounded portion of the taenia near its hesd de- 

 velops into joints, and each one of these ioints becomes a 

 separate and distinct animal. It is only when these joints 

 are mature and impregnated that they separate from the 

 main body and are passed off in the feces. Upon the sides 

 of each joint are what are called marginal foramina, and 

 each one contains a complete genital apparatus of both. 



sexes. Immediately adjoining the little depression and or- 

 ifice which communicates with the ovary, is the male or- 

 gan, which communicates directly with the semen. This 

 joint or distinct organization naturalists have called a 

 proglottis. Why they thus named it would puzzle any ac 

 curate scholar. Perhaps they did so on the same principle 

 that in Washington we call a public reservation Lafayette 

 Square because it contains the statue of Jackson. 



On each joint are two faint parallel lines, one near each 

 side. They are the continuous canals, through which nour- 

 isment is conveyed from one mouth through the entire 

 chain of separate individuals. Naturalists long sought for 

 some complicated digestive apparatus, but this supeifluity 

 is clearly wanting it is not at all likely that this lower or- 

 der of animal could improve upon the operation of diges- 

 tion first performed by man, the most nearly perfect of 

 animals. If anyone has the opportunity, as 1 have had 

 several times, let him take a joint of a worm just passed 

 and press the thumb nail along the faint parallel lines, and 

 he will force out a white substance whieh, if it is not per 

 fected chyle, certainly exactly resembles it. This iazy 

 robber lies in wait for the chyle perfected by man, and 

 seizes it just as it is ready to be taken up by the Thoracic 

 Duct. 



The growth of the taenia is prodigious. A person who 

 has passed an entire worm save the head and neck Ire 

 quently passes during the same year some 18 or 20 feei 

 more, which has since grown out. The Taenia solium was 

 so named because it was believed that it was never lound 

 with any other parasite in the intestine. 1 have, however, 

 in a single instance seen both the Tarda solium and the 

 Botlirioctyhalous Lata (the Swiss speci- s) passed at one time 

 from a single individual who had just returned from a pro- 

 tracted tour in Switzerland. Early writers gave views both 

 amusing and interesting in regard to the origin and uses of 

 tape worms One asserted that "by their motions they 

 cause a gentle irritation in aid of the intestinal functions, 

 which moreover may stimulate the other viscera to the 

 discharge of their duties, and prevent their falling into a 

 state of inactivity favorable to the commencement and in- 

 crease of organic diseases." Another says, "they drinK 

 up the superabundant chyme, chyle, or mucus of the 

 bowels." Again we read that "they were created as a 

 wholesome check on the pride and vanity of man as trials 

 of his patience and other virtues; and finally to secure 

 him an entrance into an inimitable and e<ernal state of fe- 

 licity when that of probation is at end, so that the gates of 

 death may be to him the gates of peace and rest." As to 

 the origin and growth of the worm, authors contend d for 

 years that it was but the vivifkd means of the intestinal 

 canal, or else the same worm that was found in water and 

 certain vegetables. 



Your correspondent who removed the tape worm from 

 the salmon presumed it to be a Toinia solium, and the re- 

 semblance must be a close one, as this little incident will 

 show: In 1874 I visited pools at the upper part of one of 

 the rivers at Gaspe Basin, U. E. No anglers had visited 

 that part of the river that season in advance of us, and so 

 finding in slack water near the shore what at a casual 

 glance seemed to be a few matured joints of the tape* 

 worm, we said at once: "Poachers have certainly been 

 here before us." Having so often observed and experi- 

 mented with the Tcenia solium I only gave a more hasty 

 glance and set these joints down at once as a part of one. 

 The query then arises to be answered by our naturalists, 

 Whether the worm seen by your correspondent was a ver- 

 itable TcEida solium, some other known species, or a new 

 one? and whether it is commonly or only rarely and acci- 

 dentally found in the salmon? and whether salmon pass 

 off the ripened joints as indicated by finiing them in the 

 shallow water of salmon pools? Perhaps, however, they 

 have already done so, and will favor us with the facts as 

 determined. A. G. Wilkinson. 

 . «»»»■ 



Zoological Items. — The white-footed mouse (Mus leu- 

 copus) sometimes takes up its abode in deserted bird's nests. 

 Audubon mentions several cases. Spencer Trctter last 

 year found one of these mice in an old pensile nest of a 

 red-eyed vireo in Monroe county, Pa. The mouse had 

 stopped up the inside with dry grass, leaving just room 

 enough to squeeze into its bed at the bottom. It was in 

 the nest, but escaped rather sluggishly, as it is nocturnal 



and sleeps during the da} On April 2d, 187b, Detroit 



was visited by a sudden and great flight of blue-bird.-*. The 

 day was cold, and the frozen ground was covered with 

 snow. The blue-birds, therefore, resorted to the purple 

 fruit of the Virginia creeper which had hung on through the 

 winter, and all day crowded the vines eadug the berries 

 voraciously. The next day the weather became milder 



and the birds disappeared An instance of mimicry has 



been observed in the Santa Cruz-mis. in the shape of a 

 milk-white spider, the exact counterpart of the flower 

 Medrono. — Am. Naturalist. 



— A few years ago the only species of humming-bird 

 known with certainty to occur within the limits of the 

 United States were the ruby crowned of eastern North 

 America, and the Nootkan hummer of the Pacific coast. 

 Since then additions have been made by Mr. Xantus, Capt. 

 Feilner, Dr. Heerman, Mr. Henshaw and others, a number 

 of these being species occurring in Mexico. The most re- 

 cent addition of the kind is in the discovery by Dr. Mer- 

 rill, U. S. A., in Texas, of Pyrrhuphoma Rtefferi, taken not 

 far from Brownsville. There are about tnirty species of 

 humming-birds known to occur on the table-lauds of Mex- 

 ico, nearly all of which will be found to belong to the 

 fauna of the United States. 



—Correspondent "Teal" of Salem, Mass., has received 

 from Austin Whipple of Hamilton, to preserve, a fine par- 

 tial albino. He thinks it the White-bellied Swallow and 

 says: "It is in its markings much like the feathers of the 

 Houdan fowl, and is the most harlequin looking albino I 

 ever saw." 



— - — — — •+++ — — — — — 



— A remarkable bird-track slab was recently uncovered 

 at Turner's Palis, Mass. It measures 118 feet square, and 

 contains eight large tracks going in one direction and nine 

 in another. The slab has been sent to Yale College. 



*»«» — . 



— A physician in the Isle of Wight has found the homing 

 pigeon to be of great service to him in his country ptac- 

 Uot, At«Y#ry villas* through, which lie passes, and when 



his last patient therein is seen he writes a list of prescrip- 

 tions for that village, affixes it to the leg of a homing pig- 

 eon, and dispatches it to hi* house. "By thi- means, eiiber 

 a country carrier is intercepted starting homew ams from 

 our market town, and the medicine is delivered b\ him. 

 on that very evening, or my chemist is enabled hour by 

 hour to see his work ahead of him, and forestall his dis- 

 pensing necessities." There is something sensible about 

 such a plan as this, and that it has been carried out suc- 

 cessfully only shows how many are the ways in which the 

 intelligence and swif'ne-s of the homing pigeon may be 

 put to the use of mankind. 



Amphibious Fishes —In the swamps of the Gambia, af- 

 ter they have been dried by the tropical sun, there are to be 

 found here and there beneath the surface clods of earth uni- 

 form in shape and usually about the size of a man's two fists. 

 These clods inclose living animals, which have been b-d 

 by instinct to hide themselves away towards the close of 

 the rainy season, and before the coming of the season of 

 drought, by burying themselves in the mud while it was 

 yet soft and before it had been hardened by the scorching 

 rays of the sun. On breaking one of these lumps of mud 

 it is found to be a sort of pouch or cocoon, with thin walls, 

 and with projetions here and there corresponding to the 

 form of the animal concealed within. Its larger end is 

 rounded, but its narrower end is closed by a slightly con- 

 vtxlid with a narrow opening in the center. If ibesur- 

 lace of the cocoon be even gently touched a pretty loud 

 cry is heard, which Natterer has compared to the mewing 

 of a cat. — Popular /Science Monthly for September. 



THE INTERNATIONAL MATCHES. 



AMERICA WINS AGAIN. 



WEDNESDAY and Thursday of last week were days 

 long to be remembered in the annals of ride shoot- 

 ing generally and of Creedmoor in particular. No maich 

 of similar importance or with competitors from such wide- 

 ly separated habitats has ever been shot. Far away Aus- 

 tralia, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the United Stales 

 were represented by the very pick of marksmen. Creed- 

 moor never looked lovelier or gayer than on Wednesday, 

 when the match commenced, and the uninitiated observer 

 could scarcely believe that it was anything but a perfect 

 day for rifle shooting. Such, however, was not the case. 

 A rain for twenty-four houis previously had soaked the 

 ground, and the hot sun following drew out again a trans- 

 parent vapor which had the effect of producing a mild 

 mirage, and somewhat distorting distinct objt cts. On 

 Thursday the wind blew strongly almost across the range, 

 making a great allowance necessary, and requiring con- 

 stant care to note aud allow for the var\ ing conditions. 

 We think that to this wind, one with wnich the American 

 team are thoroughly familiar, are they largely indebted for 

 their splendid victory. At the close of the fiist dny's 

 shooting they were nine points behind, the Scotch leading 

 them that number, and the Irish five points. They were 

 confident, however, throughout, and when the weather of 

 the last day was noted and the drawing for places gave 

 them the old targets at the extreme right of the butts, at 

 which much of their practice had been done, the odds at 

 the close of the day before had been reduced to nil. The 

 attendance on the first day was not as large as we had an- 

 ticipated-, but on Thursday the crowd was immense. '1 wo 

 ropes divided the different teams, each with its own awning 

 and appurtenances, from the crowd, the space between be- 

 ing a sort of dress-circle where many ladies had seats. 

 Behind each team a large swinging board was placed, 

 upon which each round oi five shots was marked, so that 

 the spectator provided with a score card could keep a 

 pretty accurate record of the match. The piizeof ihe 

 match, the Centennial trophy, made by Messrs. liffam & 

 Co., was on exhibition on the grounds and attracted gen- 

 eral attention. This magnificent piece of work of which 

 wo give a cut and desciiption elsevvh re, is u early 

 eight feet high, the style being that of an old Roman 

 staudard of iron inlaid with gold, aud the inscription "In 

 the Name of the United S ates ot America to the Riflemen 

 of the World" in silver. The officers supervising were as 

 follows: Chief Executive Officer, Gen. John B. Wood- 

 ward; Chief Statistical Officer, Capt Joseph G. Story; 

 Chief Financial Officer, Maj Danjel G. W\lie; As isiaut 

 Secretary and Treasurer, Alfred LI. Westou; Executive 

 Committee, Gen. Alexander Shaler, Gen. John B. Wood- 

 ward, George S. Schermerhorn, Jr., Gen. Martin T. Ale- 

 liahon, Col. Henry A. Gildersleeve, Uol. George VV . Win- 

 gate and Gen. Thomas S Dakiu; Range Committee, Col. 

 G. W. Wingate, Capt. Joseph G. Story, and E. fi. Sanford; 

 Prize Committee, Col. John Ward, Capt. \Vm. C. Casey 

 and Gen. Kilburn Knox. The Long Inland Railroad Com- 

 pany ran special tram- every half Hour, and tneir arrange- 

 ments for carrying the great throng of passengers were 

 excellency conceited aud carried oui. The shooting on 

 the whole was excellent, particularly on the first day, when 

 every team but the Canadian- made, a Letter score man tlie 

 highest ever made in the Elcho anield conventions One 

 of the best scores- mtde in the practice ot the American 

 team was 1,57b points, the best eigut being .-ehcted. Tn« 

 team proper beat this on Wednesday by one point, their 

 score being 1,577. The conditions of the match are prob- 

 ably familiar to most of our readers, but we append them 

 for the sake of reference:— 



Teams,— Each team shall consist of eL>ht men. Members of the va- 

 rious Learns participating inust ue native bo n ci dz^tis and ie.-,dents of 

 the countiies Uiey respec ively represent, except in iue cas ■• oi teams 

 reiiesemin^ a provincial te.rnor.) of a govouuhut. in winch case a 

 re idence inth province wi.l bj .Mifhcieni, pioviued .ho member id aua- 

 tive born subject ol th« paixm country. 



R rues.- Any, not excefctUii^ ten pounds Wwigh.; minimum p. ul 9 

 trigger, turee pounaa. 



Dx»tancs»,— 600, 900 and. 1,000 yards, 



