FOREST AND STREAM, 



261 



tnml IQintotQ. 



ADDRESS OF A. R. WALLACE BEFORE 

 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



ON SOME RELATIONS OF LIVING THINGS TO THEIRN EVIRON- 

 MENT. 



-^ #_ — . 



Continued. 



PERSON'S who are not acquainted with the important 

 structural differences that distinguish these various 

 genera of butterflies can hardly realize the importance 

 and significance of such facts as I have now detailed. It 

 may be well, therefore, to illustrate them by supposing 

 parallel cases to occur among the mammalia. We might 

 have, for example, in Africa,, the gnus, the elands, and the 

 buffaloes, all colored and marked like zebras, stripe for 

 stripe over the whole body exactly corresponding. So the 

 hares, marmots and squirrels of Europe might be all red 

 with black feet, while the corresponding species of Cen- 

 tral Asia might be all yellow with black heads. In North 

 Ameiica we might have raccoons, squirrels and opossums 

 in parti colored livery of white and black, so as exactly to 

 resemble the skunk of the same country; while in South 

 America they might be black with a yellow throat patch, 

 so as to resemble with equal closeness the tayra of the 

 Brazilian forests. Were such resemblances to occur in 

 anything like the number and with the wonderful accura- 

 cy of imitation met with among the Lepidoptera, they 

 would certainly attract universal attention among natural- 

 ists, and would lead to the exhaustive study of the influ- 

 ence of local causes in producing such startling results. 



One somewhat similar case does indeed occur among the 

 mammalia, two singular African animals, the Aard-wolf 

 (Protele*) and the lrjsenadog {Lycaoii), both strikingly re- 

 sembling hyaenas in their general form, as well as in their 

 spotted markings. Belonging as they all do to the carniv- 

 ora, though to three distinct families, it seems quite an an- 

 alogous case to those we have imagined; but as the Aard- 

 wolf and the hysena dog are both weak animals compared 

 with the hyseua, the resemblance may be useful, and in' 

 that case would come under the head of mimicry. This 

 seems the more probable because, as a rule, the colors of 

 the mammalia are protective, and are too little varied to 

 allow of the influence of local causes producing any well- 

 marked effects. 



When we come 10 the birds, however, the case is differ- 

 ent; for although they do not exhibit such distinct marks 

 of the influence of locality as do butterflies— probably be- 

 cause the causes which determine color are in their cases 

 more complex— yet there are distinct indications of some 

 effect of the kind, and we must devote some little time 

 to their consideration. One of the most- curious 

 cases is that of the parrots of the West Indian 

 Islands and Central America, several of which have white 

 heads or foreheads, occurring in two distinct genera, while 

 none of the more numerous parrots of South America are 

 so colored. In the small island of Dominica we have a 

 very large and richly colored parrot, corresponding to a 

 large and richly colored butterfly of Jamaica. Similar ex- 

 amples are to be drawn from the fauna of the Andaman 

 Islands, the Philipines, and other islands of the West Pa- 

 cing. 



We cannot, however, lay any stress on isolated exam- 

 ples of white colors, since these occur in most of the great 

 continents; but where we. find a series of species of dis- 

 tinct genera, all differing from their continental allies in 

 whiter coloration, as in the Andaman Islands and the 

 ^V est Indies, and among butterflies in the smaller Moluccas, 

 the Andamans and Madagascar, we cannot avoid the con- 

 clusion that in these insular localities some general cause 

 is at work. 



There are other cases, however, in which local influen- 

 ces seem to favor the production or preservation of intense 

 crimson or a very dark coloration. Thus in the Moluccas 

 and New Guinea alone we have bright red parrots belong- 

 ing to two distinct families, and which therefore most 

 probably have been independently produced or preserved 

 by some common cause. Here, too, and in Australia we 

 have black parrots and pigeons; and it is a most curious 

 and suggestive fact that in another insular sub-region — 

 that of Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands— these same 

 colors reappear in the same two groups. 

 fcsk Some very curious phi siological facts bearing upon the 

 presence or absence of white colors in the higher animals 

 have lately been adduced by Dr. Ogle. It has been found 

 that a colored or dark pigment in the olfactory region of 

 the nostrils is essential to perfect smell, and this pigment 

 is rarely deficient except when the whole animal is purely 

 white. In these cases the creature is almost without smell 

 or taste. This, Dr. Ogle believes, explains the curious case 

 ol the pig S i Q Virginia adduced by Idr. Darwin, white pigs 

 being poisoned by a poisonous root which does not affect 

 black pigs. Mr. Darwin imputed this to constitutional differ- 

 ence accompanying the dark color, which rendered what 

 was poisonous to the white-colored animal quite inoccuous to 

 the black. Dr. Ogle, however, observes that there is no 

 proof that the black pigs eat the root, and he believes the 

 wore probable explanation to be that it is distasteful to 

 them, while the white pigs, being deficient in smell and 

 taste, eat it and are killed. Analagous facts occur in sev- 

 eral distinct families. White sheep are killed in the Tar- 

 entiue by eating Hypericum criseum, while black sheep es- 

 cape; white rhinoceros are said to perish from eating Bu- 

 phoibia candelabrum , and white horses are said to suffer 

 from poisopous food wheye eolored ones escape. $©w it 



is veiy improbable, that a constitutional immunity from 

 poisoning by so many distinct plants should in the case of 

 such widely different animals be always correlated with 

 the same difference of color; but the facts are readily un- 

 derstood if the senses of smell and taste ate dependent on 

 the presence of a pigment which is deficient in wholly 

 white animals. The explanation has, however, been car- 

 ried a step further by experiments showing that the ab- 

 sorption of odor by dead matter, such as clothing, is great- 

 ly affected by color, black being the most powerful ab- 

 sorbent, then blue,' red, yellow, and lastly white. We have 

 here a physical eause for the sense-inferiority of totally 

 white animals which may account for their rarity in na- 

 ture. For few, if any, wild animals are wholly white; the 

 head, the face, or at least the muzzle or the nose are gener- 

 erally black. The ears and eyes are also often black, and 

 there is reason to believe that dark pigment is essen- 

 tial to good hearing as it certainly is to perfect vision. We 

 can therefore understand why white cats with blue eyes 

 are so often deaf — a peculiarity we notice more readily 

 than their deficiency of smell or taste. 



If, then, the prevalence of white coloration is generally 

 accompanied with some deficiency in the acuteness of the 

 most important senses, the color becomes doubly danger- 

 ous, for it not only renders its possessor more conspicuous 

 to its enemies, but at the same time makes it less ready in 

 detecting the presence of danger. Hence, perhaps, the 

 reason why white appears more frequently in islands 

 where competition is less severe and enemies less numer- 

 ous and varied. Hence, also, a reason why r albinoism, al- 

 though frequently occurring in captivity, never maintains 

 itself in a wild state, while melanism does. The peculiar- 

 ity of some islands in having all their inhabitants of dusky 

 colors — as the Galapagos — may also perhaps be explained 

 on the same principles, for poisonous fruits or seeds may 

 there abound which weed out all white or light-colored 

 varieties, owing to their deficiency of smell and taste. We 

 can hardly believe, however, that this would apply to 

 white colored butterflies, and this may be the reason why 

 the effect of an insular habitat is more marked in these 

 insects than in birds or mammals. But though inapplica- 

 ble to the lower animals this curious relation of sense- 

 acuteness with colors may have had some influence in the 

 development of the higher hun an races. If light tints of 

 the skin were generally accompanied by some deficiency 

 in the sense of smell, hearing and vision, the white could 

 never compete with the darker races, so long as man was 

 in a very low or savage condition, and wholly dependent 

 for existence on the acuteness of his senses. JLJut as the 

 mental faculties become more fully developed, and more 

 important to his welfare than mere sense acuteness, the 

 lighter tints of skin and hair and eyes would ceaae to be 

 disadvantageous whenever they were accompanied by su- 

 perior brain power. Such variations would then be pre- 

 served; and thus may have arisen the X : mthochroic race 

 of mankind, in which we find a high development of in- 

 tellect accompanied by a slight deficiency in the acuteness 

 of the senses as compared with the darker forms. 

 [2b be continued.] 

 •*-•*. — » 



THE BASS OF NEW YORK WATERS. 



We have received from a correspoudenlat Glen's Falls, 

 K. Y., the following very intelligent article on the varieties 

 of bass found in New York waters. We havesel !om read 

 an article that groups together so many interesting and 

 trustworthy statements, bearing upon the habits, classifica- 

 tion, and nomeclature of the species: — 



In Forest and Stream, October 12tb, Selh Green is 

 made to say, "there are two kinds of LLick bass— marsh 

 and river black bass. The latter is also known as Oswego 

 or lake bass, and is much the livelier and sharper fish of 

 the two." If he had left out "known also as Oswego or 

 lake bass," I should not have been all at sea as I now am; 

 and, further, I should have said that "Seth Green told me 

 that the bass in Lake George were Oswego bass, which I 

 have always maintained, although they are irequently 

 called black bass by local fishermen. The bass in the 

 Hudson are called "(properly, I supposed), black bass. 

 When hooked, the first move is into the air, and it is con- 

 tinued, more or less, principally more, until the struggle 

 ends in the death or escape of the fisb. They are not so 

 deep through the body as the lake bass, and" when first 

 caught have three or four dusky bars across the sides, 

 although I have failed to see the carmine dot in the ej e 

 that Genio C. Scott speaks of. The first fishing for this 

 bass in the spring or summer, is done on the "riffs" or 

 rapids; from thence they work down to the foot of rough 

 water, and later, as the weather is warmer, to the eddies 

 and pools. These bas3 are said to have come from Efner 

 lake, a small sheet; of water seven or eight miles up the 

 Sacandaga river, from its mouth or juncture with the 

 Hudson at Luzerne. If this is true, they have changed 

 much since their advent into swift water, as the Efner bass 

 are very like what I call Oswego or lake bass. As regards 

 size, Col. Jeptha Garrard, his brother, Gen. Garrard, and 

 myself, were fishing in the Hudson nyer, near Luzerne, 

 when the Colonel caught, on a fly, a bass weighing three 

 pounds. The next 3 ear I caught one weighing a little 

 over four and a half pounds. These are the largest river 

 bass of which 1 have any knowledge. 



The Lake George bass almost always when hooked go 

 deeper, and my experience is, rarely appear above water 

 until they near the boat or landing net, always excepting 

 when you troll. In both instances, as regards the practice 

 of the two fish whenhuoked, I refer to deep water fishing, 

 for both will jump from the water after taking spoon or 

 fly, the river bass, however, does so more than the other. 

 As to size, the largest bass taken in Lake George, to my 

 knowledge, was caught, I believe, by F. E Ranger (your 

 correspondent Friiz), and weighed seven pounds four 

 ounces. Long Pond, about four miles from this place, was 

 stocked in 1S66 by having 13 small Lake George 'bass 

 placed m m fate; 3, During the summer just passed, t&ere 



was caught in this pond one bass weighing seven pounds 

 ten ounces, besides several of about six and one half 

 pounds. The river bass, too, is much the more fastidious 

 as to its menu, and will one day prefer frogs to a fly y 

 spoon, crawfish, minnow, grasshopper or dobson (local for 

 Hellgramite), although in spring, I think, he inclines rather 

 more to the last named, while the next day he turns up 

 his lips at frogs, and says minnows or nothing. When 

 fishing for river bass, I take all kinds of bait to be pre- 

 pared, and often times find that there is still another bait 

 he wishes on that particular day. 



The lake bass will bite live bait (small fish); put on a 

 yellow perch if you want large ones; he rather prefers 

 black crickets to grasshoppers, but will bite either, day 

 after day. 



—In a recent publication Mr. Milligan gives a description 

 of an interesting vine which resembles in many respects 

 the carnivorous plauts about which so much has recently 

 been wi itten. As this vine can easily be obtained of nurs- 

 ery men, it is to be hoped that ere long some careful ob- 

 servations may be made on its habits, and the results pub- 

 lished. Mr. M. says: "Physianthus Alpinus is a curious 

 and handsome vine, good for out-door decoration, where 

 the Madeira vine will flourish. It is a native of California, 

 of vigorous habit, growing in length from 15 to 20 feet in 

 a season. Its flowers are white, fragrant, and about three- 

 fourths of an inch across. It belongs to the Asclepiads, 

 and, like some other members of this family, its flowers are 

 so constructed that insects are caught by them. Around 

 the central organs of the flower are arranged five trap-like 

 processes, alternating with the five pairs of anther cells, 

 These traps are formed of two parallel triangular pieces; 

 approaching each other closely at. the angle next the center 

 of the flowers, and spreading apart slightly at their outer 

 extremities. In the crevice thus formed 'the tongues of 

 butterflies, and the legs and antannoe of ants are caught, 

 the insects being attracted by the honey secreted on the in- 

 ner surfaces of the trap. It is not uncommon to find as 

 many as nine insects caught in a single flower, and occa- 

 sionally three may be found in one trap. The object of 

 this seemingly cruel arrangement in the flowers of the 

 Physianthus is not well understood. Apparently there 19 

 no action of the plant in the matter. The insects are caught 

 simply by their awkward manner of retreating from their 

 honey feast. They get into the narrow part of the opening, 

 and, finding themselves held, they struggle frantically to- 

 ward the upper central part of the flowers, wedging them- 

 selves in more tightly with every motion in that direction. 

 If fertilization is theobject it is but very imperfectly attained 

 by this method, as the pollen masses are seldom clisen 

 gaged from their cells by the struggles of the insects. Food 

 is evidently not the object, as the flowers wither and fall 

 with the insects in them unappropriated, and if at anytime 

 before death the flowers are 101 n apart and the insect treed, 

 iliey appear lively and uninjured. The Physianthus is not 

 commonly cultivated." 



♦♦<►———— 



"Piseco" sends from Little Falls, N. Y., a photograph of 

 a female grouse, by Wm. H. Abbott, with the accompany ♦ 

 ing note: — 



Dear Mb. Editor:— Please accept the inclosed little 

 birdie, which foolishly abandoned the forest, and without 

 ceremony dashed through a closed window in the Lyceum 

 of this village. The finder's taste was not as good as that 

 of the bird, for he cooked the latter, although it was but 

 slightly injured by its" misadventure. If you deem him 

 worthy ot a place in your paper admit him. L. A. B. 

 _«.,.<*_ 



THE SHORT-EARED OWL._ 



Editor of Forest and Stream :— 



We left Streator c about 11 p. m. to have an evening 

 with the water-fowl, on a marsh about three miles 

 from town. The flight of ducks was by no means 

 encouraging on account of the quietness of the weather. 

 While musing behind my blind of bullrushes, and between 

 dusk and, I observed in the faint moonlight a good sized 

 bird approaching our hiding place, coming along over the 

 marsh steadily Out noiselessly. Having had but little re- 

 creation 1 brought this stranger to the sod. 



On examination I found it to be a fine adult specimen of 

 the Strix brachyotos, or short-eared owl, a bird of consider- 

 able rarity in the United Slates, though common in the 

 fur countries. 



The length of this specimen was 15 inches; wing, 13A; 

 plumage of a light amber cast, streaked with deep brown; 

 tail feathers dark brown, transveisly barred and tipped 

 with reddish buff; general plumage same throughout. l3ut 

 the most striking peculiarity of this bird was its car. Every- 

 thing seems to have been sacrificid in the creation of this 

 singular bird, in order to develope as much ear as could be 

 crowded on a small head, lor this bird runs to ear as much 

 as a toad fish runs to mouth, and, literally speaKing, the 

 whole side of the head is laid open, set mingly for the 

 purpose of detecting the faintest moiion of a meadow 

 mouse, or whatever else it may seek during the quiet hours 

 of departing day. I think, when Linn, Wilson, Audu- 

 bon, et. al, called this bird the short-eared owl they paid 

 more respect to its exterior than to its anatomical "pecu- 

 liarities. To the student who pays but casual attention to 

 the classification of birds, with an occasional eye to their 

 form, the first impression is that a couple of extravagantly 

 developed ears, with a small owl behind them. 



Thomas H. Howell. 



Streator, III, November 1st, 1876. 



. ■# » ». „. — 



THE SNOWY OWLS. 



Boston, November 18th. 

 Messrs. Editors-— We here, for the last two weens, 

 have seen such great numbers of the large white owl shot, 

 that it reminds us of the like occurrence about ten years 

 ago. At one taxidermists to day, there were 30 fine speci- 

 mens killed within a radius of 20 miles of Boston, in a few 

 day's past; at anothers, 26 more like individuals. What 

 causes this bird to come so near the city, and even enter 

 the very heart of it, and quietly percn on houses, win- 

 dow sills, etc., in some cases, is a mystery, and causes 

 in u ch 1 e m a 1 k ? C a u. 



How Eels Live.— The eels travel up stream in the 

 spring, and return down to the salt water in the fall, 

 always going in, large schools, There are a, great psauy p§* 



