HAMLYN'S MENAGER1F MAGAZINE. 
47 
plane,' and other amusing things. .Many 
people take a fancy to it. I am highly pleased 
with it.' — W. H. Dale. I now have some 
high-class tame and talking Amazon and Grey 
Parrots, also a very tame exhibition Rosy 
Cockatoo cheap; new and secondhand Parrot 
cages, extremely low prices; particulars 
stamped envelope." 
Truly a wonderful talking parrot ! 
THAT a bird hospital has been opened by an 
"Old Contemptible" at Brixton, where soldiers' 
feathered pets are boarded during their absence. 
THAT the following appeared in a South African 
paper last month : — 
The birds know n as Kingfishers, Herons, 
Cranes, Ospreys, Paroquets, Lories, Honey- 
suckers, Humming Birds, Hammer Heads 
and Cuckoos and their eggs are to be pro- 
tected in the district of Port St. John's for 
the next three years. 
Mr. Frank Underwood, of Nyatandi 
farm, had the misfortune to have a cow and 
calf killed by lions recently (states the Sinoia 
correspondent of a Rhodesian paper], but he 
managed to poison a lion and lioness on the 
remains. Very probably they belong to the 
lot which have been prowling around the 
farms of M'boe and doing damage in the 
native kraals in that direction. 
In the south-eastern portion of Stocken- 
stroom district the jackals are becoming so 
numerous and daring that sheep cannot be 
left out even for one night. While some pro- 
gressive farmers are very anxious to have 
such troublesome vermin destroyed (says a 
"Dispatch" correspondent), there are unfor- 
tunately many others who will not even allow 
poison to be placed on their farms, in case 
their mongrel dogs might suffer. 
OSTRICHES. — Now is the time to get in 
right on top' by buying Chicks from the very 
best strains in the country. Be ready for 
the next boom after the war and book now. 
I am prepared to book chicks from my best 
strains at £5 at four months old. Feathers 
from parents of above chicks have taken 
majority of prizes, at all the leading shows. — 
George ^\"hite, Grahamstown. 
Sir, — I see in your issue of the 26th June, 
a letter from Mr. Botha, wanting advice on 
how to get rid of meerkats and mice in his 
lands. 
A good plan for the meerkats is blowing 
them out of their holes with dynamite. The 
best way is to get one of them alive and fas- 
ten the dynamite to his tail with a piece of 
fuse long enough to give him time to get well 
down the hole. 
If Mi - . Botha cannot capture one alive, 
let him put a couple of charges round about 
the holes — of course, drilled well in; 12in. 
or 15in., or more, will do. 
As for mice, if they are in holes, the 
only way is to flood them out with a good 
deal of water. 
Trusting Mr. Botha will find this of 
some use. — I am, etc., 
"MEERKAT\" 
Cape Province. 
Under the heading "Another Snakebite 
cure" we published in a recent issue a letter 
addressed by a Brazilian correspondent to an 
oversea paper, in which it was claimed that 
sap from the trunk of the banana plant is a 
remedy for snake-bite. This item, which was 
supplied to us by a correspondent, has been 
submitted by another correspondent to Mr. 
F. W. FitzSimons for his opinion; and the 
last-named gentleman has now favoured us 
with a copy of a paper contributed by him to 
the South African Journal of Science of 
December, 1914, in which, among others, 
this very claim is exhaustively examined, with 
the result that banana juice is found to be 
entirely devoid of any antidotal power of the 
sort claimed. 
" I do not doubt the accuracy of the 
printed reports and testimonies of the various 
people who have tried the juice," writes Mr. 
FitzSimons, "but in these cases there is no 
doubt in my mind as to the reason of the re- 
covery of the cases quoted. It is due to the 
fact that sufficient venom in these instances 
was not injected to cause a fatal issue. In 
cases of snake-venom poisoning, a crisis 
comes on, and if death does not occur, the 
victim recovers rapidly as a general rule, and 
this quick recover}- is invariably attributed to 
the alleged antidote administered." 
It is not generally known that, according 
to the Vermin Extermination Ordinance of 
the Cape Province no person is allowed to 
keep as a pet any member of the baboon tribe 
except for a Zoological Garden or for the pur- 
poses of scientific research. 
Some men lollow strange avocations. 
Since the Vermin Extermination Ordinance 
has been in force parties in poorer circum- 
stances have devoted themselves entirely to 
the destruction of jackals, baboons and other 
vermin for the rewards now given. The 
farmer in most cases is only too pleased to 
give the man, who will bring about the losses 
