FOREST AND STREAM. 



213 



■W" 



i» MmmL 



The Kennel Register.— List of dogs whose pedigrees 

 have been entered in the Kennel Register for the week 

 • ending Nov. 7th, 1876;— 



SETTERS. 



Ren ova, bl. and tan, Dr. S. Fleet 



Storm, field trial, F. G. Simpson. 



Blue Daisy, field trial, F. U Simp- 

 son. 



Ruth, field trial, F. G. Simpson. 



Dick, Gordon, F. G. Simpson. 

 ;■ Ghana, red. H. H. Gilmer. 



prim, red, H. H. Gilmer. 



Tib, Gordon. Geo. H. Bigelow. 

 .Rap 2d, Gordon, Chas. Keeler. 

 3 Pilot, orange and white, „C. Keeler. 



■Beauty, red Irish, Miller Ketchum. 



Flo*s,orange and white.M. D.Moore. 

 I St. Elmo, black, white and tan, Dr. 

 S. Fleet Speir. 



-Prairie Flower, bl, and tan, Dr. S. 



Speir. 



Leo, bl. and tan, Dr. S. Fleet Speir. 



Warwick, bl. and tan, H. Beam. 



Victor, bl. and tan, Chas. Baker. 



May Queen bl. and tan, R. O. Gates. 



Oberou bl. and tan, E. S. Sanford, Jr 



Romeo, olack and tan, P. A. Hege- 

 niim. 



Lou, bl. and tan, W. M. Tileston, 



Ben, bl. and tan, L. R. Cassard. 



Flirt, orange and. white, L. R. Cas- 

 sard. 



Trump, orange and white, F. H, 

 Neirman. 



Netty, black, H. Myers. 



Fleet Speir. 

 •rSafele Cloud, bl. and tan, Dr. S. Pansy, bl. and tan, F. L. Gay. 

 Fleet Speir. I 



COCKERS. 



Dom, D. M. Sharpnack. 



Pointers. 



Jack, C. L. Austin. 



'Rose, Chas. Keller. 



REVERSION OF THE DOG 

 FERAL STATE. 



TO THE 



BY DR. ELLIOTT COUES, U. B. A. 



^T"*HE relationship, by descent, of the numerous breeds 

 JL of domestic dogs to their several wolfish ancestors, 

 is a subject which has astracted my attention, and in an 

 article contributed not long since to the American JSatura- 

 1st I took occasion to point out the close resemblance in 

 many essential features which subsists between some kinds 

 of dogs and the coyote, or prairie wolf, Ganis latrans. In 

 the course of that essay I adduced, as collateral facts bear- 

 ing upon the main point, the actual relations of consan- 

 guinity by direct crossing which maintain among the mon- 

 grel curs which infest Indian villages, some of these dogs 

 being in fact indistinguishable from coyotes, and others 

 showing the coyote cross in varying degree. But even the 

 most wolf like of these animals are "domesticated" in the 

 sense that they live with and acknowledge their masters. I 

 im now prepared to bring forward additional evidence in 

 avor of the views I support, derived from the fact that 

 he domestic dog, in no immediate manner related to the 

 >rairie wolf, or other wild canine species, may occasion- 

 ally revert to the wild state. The main fact is not novel, 

 is I am well aware, yet it may present the interest of nov- 

 >lty for many lovers of the dog and gun, while the details 

 )f the case I shall narate bear directly upon the coyote 

 natter to which I have just alluded. 



During a recent visit to Cheyenne, Wyoming, I was in- 

 formed by my friend and genial host, Capt. James Gilliss, 

 )f the army, that there was a litter of "wild dogs" living 

 m the prairie near by, and I lost no time in visiting the 

 pot in his company. We rode a mile or so from the town 

 tnd turned into a large inclosed but uncultivated piece of 

 rround where the dogs were. There was a house not far 

 )ff, but the person occupying it had previously assured 

 Oapt. Gilliss that the dogs were not his; that they were 

 wild dogs owned, or at least claimed, by no one. Right on 

 the open prairie in a burrow in the ground undistinguisha- 

 ble from any one of the thousands of wolves' or foxes' 

 burrows which dot the plains of the west, I found this in- 

 teresting family living. It consisted, at the time of my 

 visit, of the mother and three pups— there had been five 

 pin the litter, but Capt. Gilliss had already secured one of 

 ithem, and meanwhile some person had abstracted another. 

 (The mother was a dark brindled cur of no particular 

 ' breed— a thorough cur about as large as an ordinary point- 

 er. The pups were not in the least like her, being black, 

 | with white in bold patches; they might have been taken 

 for Newfoundlands some six weeks or two months 

 | old. The whole five were females. The father was not 

 J with them. As we approached, the dogs were all in view 

 near their burrow, nor did they retreat into it as would 

 have been e>pected. They showed, in fact, scarcely any 

 fear, merely shying off a little as we came up, with the 

 the slight yelp or stifled bark usual with puppies when 

 arather surprised than frightened. During the few minutes 

 we spent examining their surroundings the mother quietly 

 ■curled herself up near the entrance of the hole and went 

 ito sleep, or pretended to, while her progeny walked about 

 and eyed us, or sat on their haunches, perfectly uncon- 

 cerned, after the first slight commotion our approach ex- 

 cited. How this interesting family lived was a mystery 

 both to my companion and myself. They looked plump 

 and sleek, and evidently fared well; yet there was not the 

 slightest trace of food about their establishment. The 

 pups appeared too old to be still nursing. 



Of the burrow itself there is little to be said, since, as al- 

 ready stated, it was indistinguishable from many others 

 belonging to wild animals of the prairie. It had apparent- 

 ly been worked upon to meet the requirements of such a 

 lusty family exactly as the deserted burrow of a badger or 

 fox often is enlarged by the coyote. 



Here, then, was a case pure and simple of reversion of 

 the domestic dog to a feral or wild state. The mother was 

 an ordinary cur, without the slightest trace of wolf line- 

 age, and though the father was not seen, there was nothing 

 whatever in the appearance of the pups to indicate imme- 

 diate cross with a coyote. Obviously the mother, a domestic 

 dog, become pregnant by another domestic dog, had forsaken 

 human society, constructed, or at least refitted, a burrow 

 in the grouud of the prairie, and there reaied her progeny, 

 the whole family finding their subsistance as any other 

 wild animals might do. They were "wild" in this sense- 



yet their very fearlessness at the approach of man was ad- 

 ditional evidence, however unnecessary, that they belong- 

 ed to domestic stock. In a word here was a family of do- 

 mestic dogs living exactly like a family of coyotes; the re- 

 version, even if only temporary, was complete. 

 Cheyenne, Wyoming, Oct. 16th, 1876. 



The Memphis Field Trials. — We hear that the pros- 

 pect for large entries in the field trials is very flattering. In 

 the puppy stakes there will be between 17 and 23; in 

 the champion stakes from 12 to II, and 9 or II in the 

 brace stakes. As the entries do not close until the day be- 

 fore the trials, it is impossible to tell exactfy how many 

 will stake in each state. For Mr. Greenwood's handsome 

 prize (gold plated water set) for imported Irish setters, the 

 St. Louis Kennel Club will run Erin and Kate, and Arnold 

 Burgess will run Eufus and Friend, and some others yet to 

 hear from. 



— Mr. F. B. Farnsworth, of Sycamore, Illinois, writes 

 us that his imported field trial setter bitch "Rose," was 

 visited on October 18th, by his imported Laverack dog 

 "Carlowitz," and some rare good puppies are expected. 



—Mr. William Yie, of St. Louis, Mo., reports that his 

 bitch Itusa, whelped last week twelve pups, eight dogs and 

 four gyps, all orange and white, by Mr. Asa L. Sherwood's 

 France. 



Rearing Pups by Hand.— It may interest some of your 

 readers, who have large litters of valuable pups, to know 

 how to rear them if a foster-mother cannot be obtained. 

 Get a common sixpenny infants' feeding bottle, with a 

 glass tube extending into the body of the bottle; through 

 the cork pass a second tube, such as a piece of tobacco 

 pipe. Fill the bottle with new warm milk, goats' milk for 

 choice, aud, inserting the sucker into the mouth of a pup, 

 blow through the tobacco pipe, thus forcing a small con- 

 tinuous stream of milk into its mouth; it then readily 

 sucks and does well. I have generally failed to rear pups 

 on cows' milk; and I think the outlay of a sovereign on a 

 goat in milk, will enable many a valuable pup to be reared. 

 — Aberllynfl, in London Fancier's Gazette. 



For Forest and Stream. 

 'SCHNAPPS." 



Schnapps is a bull dog, a full blooded, brindled bull dog, 

 about four hands ^gh, orthodox breed, snub nose, broad 

 chest, short legs, set in like the legs of a stool, tail good 

 size and length. I am not learned in bull dogs, so do not 

 know, but the correct tail should be short. Anyhow, 

 Schnapps has the correct tail for him, with just the right 

 upward curve of complete self-respect, without conceit — 

 a tail furled never, save when he has unwittingly provoked 

 his master's displeasure— always ready for a fight— this due 

 to his blood. Never anxious for one — this due to his edu- 

 cation. All minor accomplishments, such as sitting up on 

 end, with cracker on nose to jerk off and catch it, rolling 

 over, standing upon the backs of two chairs, fetching cap, 

 or glove, or muffler, as directed, carrying packages to 

 and fro between house and store. These are his A, 

 B, C. But what interests me especially are his sporting 

 proclivities, engrafted upon a pure fighting nature by care- 

 ful training, leading me to believe what a sage friend ad 

 miringly remarked after beholding Schnapps perform, 

 " that a man might track a dog all he knew, if he didn't 

 know too much." A woodchuck or skunk, a weasel or a 

 rabbit, a coon or a mink, he goes for them unsparingly, 

 and their days are never long in the land if he once gets 

 after them, unless they climb a tree. " Schnapps can't 

 climb a tree," so his master says. Perhaps he can't; but, 

 then, again, perhaps he can — human veracity always has a 

 flaw somewhere. Bumble bees are his special delight; 

 standing over a nest, he snaps up each individual member 

 of the irate community as he issues forth. If too many 

 come at once, they effect a lodgment upon the vuuerable 

 small of his back, rolling them flat instanter, and quick 

 back to position as door keeper. It is affirmed that he in- 

 variably grabs them by the nape of the neck; this I cannot 

 vouch for, but I believe it. The report of a gun is music 

 in his ears. Woodcock or snipe, quail or ruined grouse, he 

 takes the scent, working rapidly but cautiously, obedi- 

 ent to command, rarely flushing a bird unless urged on. 

 Once tried to make a point on a bevy of quail, but 

 couldn't manage his tail— never running in when birds 

 rise, though taking all the lively "interest in their de- 

 struction that a thoroughbred setter would. Best of all, 

 returning dead or wounded birds without ruffling a feather. 

 I respect you, Schapps, but you have had opportunities 

 You will weigh forty pounds. You are eight years old. 

 I trust you will live to be a hundred. Only ore thing yet 

 for you to do — should like to try you upon deer — with your 

 five inch legs. I know you would pull down a full grown 

 buck with any dog of your size. If a bull dog can be 

 taught to do all this, there is certainly some chance for the 

 regeneration of the human race. Aliquis. 

 ■#.» _ — . 



NO-TAILED DOGS. 



Boston, Oct. 30th, '1876. 

 Ed itob Forest and Stream:— 



Noticing your answer to "Jaco," Turner Junction, 111., in last issue, 

 let me add that one case in my observation occurred where one male pup 

 in a litter of five Scotch terriers, the result of breeding in-and-in two 

 generations, had at birth tail and ears seemingly cut short after the man- 

 ner of its ancestors— an incident of interest as bearing on the question 

 of transmitted accidental qualities. 



The mere amputation of any member while still in a foetal condition 

 being a very common-place occurrence in human and other animal life 

 as you very truly say. Sawbones. 



—The fact that there are 2;000 or more deserted farms 

 in New Hampshire has attracted the attention of the 

 Board of Agriculture of that State, and it is proposed to 

 make an effort to reclaim them by the appointment of a 

 board of commissioners, who shall fix the price of thf land 

 to be paid by the purchaser after two or three years of oc- 

 cupation, without paying rent, but paying the taxes. 



fe* mid Eivet Mi 



FISH IN SEASON IN NOVEMBER. 



Black Bass, Micropterus salmoides; Weakfish, Cynosclon regalis. 



M. nigricans. Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix. 

 Mascalonge, Esox nobillor. Spanish Mackerel, Cybium macula- 

 Pike or Pickerel, Esox Indus. turn. 

 Yellow Perch, Ferca flavescens. Cero, Cybium regale. 

 Sea Bass, Sciatnops ocettatus. Bonito, Sarda pelamys. 

 Striped Bass, Roccus /meatus. Kingtish, Menticirrus nebulosus. 

 White Perch, Morone americana. 



Fish in Market. — Codfishiag has commenced in the 

 vicinity of Sandy Hook. Small boats are taking fair 

 quantities off Fire Island, but the smack fleet has not yet 

 got to work. Striped bass are very abundant. Our quo- 

 tations vary but little from those of last week. Striped bass 

 are worth 18 to 20 cents per pound; smelts, 25 cents; bluefish, 

 12^ cents; salmon, (frozen) 45 cents; mackerel, 15 to 25 cents 

 each; white perch, 15 cents per pound; Spanish mackerel, 

 75 cents; green turtle, 15 cents; terrapin, $12 per dozen; 

 halibut, 18 cents per pound; haddock, 8 cents; kingfish, 25 

 cents; codfish, 10 cents; blackfish, 15 cents; flounders, 10 

 cents; sea bass, 20 cents; eels, 18 cents; lobsters, 10 cents; 

 sheepshead, 25 cents; scollops, $1.50 per gallon; soft 

 clams, 30 to 60 cents per hundred; whitefish, 18 cents per 

 pound; pickerel, 18 cents; salmon trout, 20 cents; hard- 

 shell crabs, $3.00 per 100. 



TnE Montmorenci River.— Scarcely one of the many 

 thousands of persons who visit the famous Falls of the 

 Montmorenci, eight miles below Quebec, have any know - 

 ledge of the remarkable river that furnishes the water 

 supply. It is not only one of the most ruggedly pictur- 

 esque streams in America, but also one of the finest streams 

 for trout, which often attain great size. A mile and a half 

 above the falls the river dashes through a rocky ch^sm in 

 a tumultuous whirl of foam, and on the left side is a series 

 of natural steps in the limestone rock, extending for half a 

 mile, over which the high water of the spring floods, 

 swelled by melting snows, flows with a torrent. The 

 scenery for thirty miles up changes constantly, though 

 always wild and rugged, and near the favorite fishing 

 ground for the very few anglers who visit it, the river bed 

 is in the bottom of a ravine that divides two mountains 

 almost perpendicular. Through a lateral gorge tumbles 

 the limpid waters of Snow river, the outflow of Snow 

 Lake fifteen miles up; end where this ice cold tributary joins 

 the Montmorenci is the place to fish for trout. On this 

 stream last July we met Manasseh Smith, of Portland, 

 Maine, whose invitation to join an excursion to headwaters 

 we were obliged to decline. But he and two friends. Willie 

 and George P. Halls, went up and camped for several days, 

 and here is the result of a single day's fishing for three 

 rods: 20 dozen fish of average size, weighing 150 pounds in 

 the aggregate, and 19 big fish from two pounds upwards— 

 the largest weighing 5£ pounds! 



A Curious Lake. — Higgins Lake in Roscommon county, 

 Michigan, is believed to be one of the chief breeding places 

 for the whitefish that populate the Great Lakes. It is six 

 or seven miles long by three in width, and in some places 

 400 feet deep. It occupies the highest ground on the 

 whole Peninsula, and is some 800 feet above the Great 

 Lakes, there being a water shed on ail sides, away from it, 

 with only one small stream coming into it, which origin- 

 ates in a spring at no great distance from the lake, and in 

 the summer is often nearly dry. But the stream which 

 flows from Higgins's to Houghton, and named the "Cut," 

 is a large serpentine stream fifteen miles long and naviga- 

 ble for row boats both ways. Now, will some one tell 

 where all this water comes from? The answer usually 

 given is, there are springs in the bottom of the lake. This 

 is undoubtedly so— the whole lake is one great fountains- 

 flowing evenly and constantly through the ages. But this 

 does not tell us where the water originates. There is no 

 higher land to feed it within hundreds of miles. It has 

 been suggested that it comes from the Rocky Mountains. 

 But in this case it must flow all the way under the Missis- 

 sippi and the Western States, and under Lake Michigan, 

 all of which are much lower than this lake. The bottom 

 of Lake Michigan must be some 1,800 feet lower than the 

 surface of Higgins. It certainly is a curious arrangement, 

 by which water finds its course all the way under the lower 

 strata of the Mississippi Yalley and Lake Michigan, and 

 then appears here almost on the very top of the drift of 

 Michigan. No wonder the Indians have superstitious tra- 

 ditions concerning it. They never pass accross it in a boat. 

 They say it is a bad lake— bad for Indians, and think there 

 is somewhere in it a whirlpool, which will draw down any 

 foolhardy Indian who should attempt to cross it. The 

 whitefish that breed here pass through the "Cut," to 

 Houghton Lake, and thence by way of the Muskegon rive - 

 to Lake Michigan. The country adjacent abounds in deer, 

 bear, ducks, and small game. There are some log houses 

 on its borders built for the accommodation of those who 

 come to fish and hunt. The lake is reached by the Juek- 

 son, Lansing & Saginaw railroad 80 miles from Bay City, 

 and thence five miles by wagon. 



The Big Fish op Alaska — Salmon that weigh 100 

 pounds. — In 1874 a committee of Icelanders, who were 

 deputed by the Icelanders of Wisconsin, went to Alaska, 

 to examine the country with a view to settlement there. 

 Their report was, on the whole, very favoiable. "On 

 October 15th," the narrative reads, "we went on shore at 

 Fort Nicholas [near the head of Cook's Inlet], and were 

 kindly received by the agent in charge of the Government 

 buildings, who also gave us useful information, he being 

 an old resident Here salmon are plenty in the rivers and 



