806 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Dr. Loidy infers that these knots suggested to Linnaeus 
the name given the worm, from the famous Gordian 
knot of antiquity. 
This worm is very tough and elastic, and is, besides, 
extremely tenacious of life, and will live and move for 
some time after being cut in pieces. It has no jaws nor 
vent, and no stomach nor intestinal canal, nor, so far as 
known, has it any system of blood vessels or nutritive 
tubes. The generative organs, the ovaries of the female 
and testes of the male, extend the greater part of the 
length of the body on each side, and uniting terminate, 
below at the genital pore. There are no eyes or special 
sense organs. The eggs are laid in the water in long 
Chains and are enormously numerous, and they are de¬ 
posited very slowly during a period exteuding over two 
weeks or more. Dr. Leidy estimated the number pro¬ 
duced by a specimen of the Variable Gordius, nine inches 
in length, as 6,034,800, the eggs being 1-5,730 of an inch in 
length by 1-1,000 in width. The young are developed and 
hatched in about fom' weeks, and in escaping from the 
egg they pierce the egg membrane, or shell, by the aid of 
the armature of the head. 
The young is now about 1-450 of an inch in length, and 
its first move is to gain a comfortable resting place in 
which to pass t his first stage of its free existence. This 
it soon finds in the fly larva, which share its watery home, 
and it lives encysted in them. In this stage the worm is 
active. The second stage of the larva's life begins when 
the fly larva, in which it has been domiciled, is swallowed 
by a fish. The process of digestion sets free the worm, 
which now proceeds to bore into the mucous l i nin g of 
the fish’s stomach, where it remains inactive and mo¬ 
tionless for some mouths. At length, in spring it bores 
through its cyst and escapes into the stomach of its host, 
whence it is carried off with the faces into the water. 
Here it undergoes great changes, and before long it in¬ 
creases in size, the integument grows harder, and when 
it is about two inches long it begins to move, turns brown 
and is soon a perfect “ hair snake.” 
These hair worms are found principally in locusts, 
grasshoppers, katydids and crickets, but they are by no 
means confined to these. Dr. Leidy has reported one 
from a cockroach, and- they have been discovered in 
beetles, moths, bees, flies, spiders, and other small ani¬ 
mals. It is difficult to comprehend how larvae, devel¬ 
oped in water, could ever attach themselves to creatures 
like'grasslioppers, katydids, etc., which never go near the 
water, and Dr. Packard has indulged in some ingenious 
speculations relative to this point, on which, however, 
further observations are needed. 
The account of these worms, which we have thus given, 
brief as it is, and stripped of all its technicalities, will 
show our readers the absurdity of the old belief that these 
worms are animated horse hair s. 
Second Instalment of American Ornithological 
Bibliography. —In volume fifth of the Bulletin of the 
U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Terri- 
ries, Dr. Coues has published a very valuable paper bear¬ 
ing the above title, Our readers will at once call to mind 
the extremely important contribution to this subject 
which the author gave in the first part of his “Birds of 
the Colorado Valley,” and will remember that the list of 
Faunal Publications there presented referred to North 
America, in the sense in which that term is usually em¬ 
ployed by ornithologists. The present work treats of the 
rest of America, and is much less extensive than the 
other, including only about 700 titles. It is, liowever.no 
less accurate, and, we are told, scarcely less complete: so 
that it cannot fail to be of the greatest service to all stu¬ 
dents of ornithology. 
The importance of the bibliographical work which Dr. 
Coues has undertaken can scarcely be overestimated. No 
one who has not done something in this line of work can 
form any idea of its tediousness as compared with orig¬ 
inal research, and scientific men generally should bo most 
grateful to Dr. Coues, that with bis brilliant powers, he 
has been willing to undertake so necessary, yet so thank¬ 
less, a task. 
Ode Game Birds. — The number of game birds and wild 
fowl which afford sport to the sportsmen and profit to 
the market venders is really quite astouisliing. The 
Mobile Register has taken pains to enumerate those winch 
are described in “Hallock’s Sportsman's Gazetteer,” and 
finds them to be classified as follows :— 
Wild turkey, one species; woodcock, one species; 
grouse, nine species : snipe (Wilson), one species ; quail, 
six species; plover, eight species ; beach birds, twenty- 
six species ; rail, eight species ; sea crow, one species ; 
rice bird, oneBpecies ; swan, two species: wild geese, three 
species; brant, five species; shoal water ducks, twelve 
species ; sea ducks, twenty-four species ; total, 109 species. 
The summary occupies nearly two columus of the 
Register. _ 
Rattlesnake Bite Remedy.— Rico, Col., Oct. 15th — 
While in Arizona a few years ago I learned that aqua 
ammonia was a sure cme for the bite of a snake, and 
since then I have cured three cases of rattlesnake bites 
without any difficulty or injurious effects whatever. First 
apply a few drops of ammonia, and in a few seconds 
wipe off, and with a sharp knife out through the skin 
just deep enough to bleed, about a quarter of an inch in 
length and directly through the wounds, and immedi¬ 
ately apply ammonia, and occasionally add a drop or turn 
more as it becomes absorbed or evaporated, and in a 
couple of hours the swelling will be nearly gone. Apply 
a drop of carbolic acid to cauterize the wound and pre¬ 
vent a local sore. Give ten or fifteen drops of ammonia 
in about half a pint of whiskey, taking about a wine- 
glassful every five minutes; but cease giving the whiskey 
as soon as the patient begins to feel its effects. Water 
will do if whiskey is not at hand. The ammonia taken 
internally destroys the poison in the system. When I 
am hunting or travelling where there are rattlesnakes T. 
carry a small vial of ammonia and carbolic acid. 
C. H. C. 
—A curious illustration of the practical good sense and 
ingenuity of some British birds is reported by a railway 
engine driver on one of the Scotch lines. He has noticed 
that certain hawks of the merlin or “stone falcon” spe¬ 
cies, make use of the passing of the trains for predatory 
purposes. They fly dose behind, near the ground, partly 
hidden by the smoke, hut carefully watching for the 
small birds which, frightened by the train as it rushes 
roaring past, fly up in bewildered shoals. The merlins, 
then, while the little birds are thinking more of the 
train than of lurking foes, swoop on them from the am¬ 
bush of the smoke and strike them down with ease. If 
they miss they return to the wake of the carriages and 
resume their flight and their hunt. They can, it seems, 
easily keep pace with an express train and outstrip it 
when they please. 
THE REDFISH OF IDAHO. 
Foni' Walt,a Walla, w. t,, Oct. VMh. 
A FT EH many promises from different parties I have finally re- 
Y ceived a pair of the long desired redfish, packed in a couple 
of sacks, and salted. As this fish is a sufficiently curious leokiug 
fish, and a copy of it might perhaps he interesting io many of 
your Eastern fish sharps, I skirmished around at once for an ar¬ 
tist, and found the man I was looking for in Lieut. G. B. Backus, 
of my regiment. He has done it ! Now don't make fun of our 
work, and please hear in mind that these fish had Been opened and 
the entrails taken out, and wero then carried on the hack of a 
cayuse (if you know what that is) for about a hundred miles, more 
or loss, and when they finally reached me thoy were in anything 
hut the originalshape. I have therefore amused myself iu taking 
the kinks out of one of them, and have restored it as much as 
possible to its original shape, etc., and made it look like the in¬ 
closed drawing. T think Mr. Backus succeeded very well in ma¬ 
king a faithful representation, and if it does not look natural, and 
as the fish does iu life, it ought to. 
The male, of whiohafull- 
longth drawing is inclosed. Is 
certainly an odd-looking 
customer. As you will 
see, the female lacks the 
hooked nose, but they ure 
-otherwise shaped alike, if 
anything, I think these fish 
are still a little broader in 
proportion across the mid¬ 
dle, aud a little more hump¬ 
backed. In themale at this 
season of the year (these fish 
wore caught about Oct. 5th 
and fitb) the prevailing color 
in the back and sides is a 
bright carmine red fading 
slightly downwards towards 
the sides, extended as indi¬ 
cated in the drawing hy 
the ttunsvorse shading. The belly and lower part of the 
sides appear to be of a silvery-grey color. The upper and 
lower Jaw of the male Is steel-bine, very dark in front 
and gradually fading towards the back part of the head. The 
gill-covers are silvery greenish. The large upper fin and tile low¬ 
er posterior show also traces of the carmine tint. The upper fins 
are bluish green. The jaws are armed with several rows of for¬ 
midable teeth. The female differs in the shape of the head, which 
is of a deep steel-blue throughout, lacking the hooked nose. The 
body of the specimen before me shows at present but little car¬ 
mine red, and the prevailing color seems to be a purplish blue: 
but earlier in the season they are said to he of the same color as 
the male. Iu other respects the shape of the body is about the 
same os that of the male. I shall put the fish in alcohol and send 
them to Prof. Bairtl. Chas. Bendibe. 
Wo are very proud to receive this drawing of the red¬ 
fish. It makes the fourth original American fish pub¬ 
lished in this paper. We are inclined to class this fish 
among the salmon, rather than the trout. It will 
probably be found identical with one of the Alaska vari¬ 
eties. For additional information see our issue of Oct. 
33d ultimo.— [Ed. Forest and Stream. 
Animals IIeceived at Cknthal Park fob tub AVeek Ending 
Nov. Sth, IS 70 : One Wagler's conurofCoMunsirafilcHhpresented 
h.v Dr. Lewis Hall Sayre, New York City. One ruddy flamingo 
(Plmnivoptcrus n tier ); habitat Cuba; presented by Dr. Henry F. 
Aten, Brooklyn. Four black swans (Cygnus atratm) ; bred in the 
Menagerie. One puma (Felts concoJor ); bred in the Menagerie, 
Two wart hogs {Phocochairus a>thl op feus). Two Virginia deer 
(Cermis vlrginanw ); bred in the Menagerie. 
W. A- Conklin, Director, 
(The Beimel 
Keep Your Dogs in Condition.— It is astonishing how 
many dogs are improperly kept; that is, fed badly and 
not exercised sufficiently. Nine-tenths of the diseases to 
which dogs are subject, even if mot all of them, can be 
traced to these causes. Bad feeding soon shows itself in 
disease of the blood and skin, as well as in the presence 
of worms. We thought that everybody who kept dogs 
for field work as well as pets knew better than to feed 
them on raw meat alone, but of late we have had several 
correspondents apply to us to know what ailed their dogs, 
and mentioned the fact that they were fed on raw meat. 
When dogs are being worked constantly day in and day 
out, this .kind of a diet may not do so much harm, as the 
constant exercise may enable them to throw off impuri¬ 
ties that might otherwise remain in and poison their 
blood. We have known in California, where meat will 
remain in the open air for a long time without tainting, 
of a horse being shot—one that had eaten rattle-weed and 
was consequently worthless — and his hind quarters 
Bkinned and suspended in a tree as food for the dogs on a 
shooting expedition. The meat in a few days became 
dry and hard, almost like what the Mexicans call came 
secci. This diet did not appear to injure the dogs, but a 
good dose of physic was given them when they reached 
home, and their regular diet resumed. 
Dr. Gordon Stables, in a recent article in the Livestock 
Journal, speaks of a Newfoundland dog which was 
brought to Mm and whose owner said he was “a little 
out of sorts, but was suffering more particularly from ex¬ 
terna] canker of the ear.” It transpired that his food had 
consisted of greaves, barley-meal boiled, raw sheep’s 
paunches, and “what he could pick up out of doors;” and 
lie exhibited the following interesting symptoms:—He 
was thin* in body and bad in coat, which was dry and 
dusty, showing an inactive state of the unctuous folli¬ 
cles ; the skin, too, was scurfy ; he had slight internal 
canker, with both external ears badly ulcerated, probably 
from scratching or rubbing his headalong the ground, 
to relieve the stiffness and itching of the ears. His 
nose, however, was cold and wet, and his eye bright 
enough, and he ate well. A dose of worm-powder, how¬ 
ever, brought to light a handsome bunch of cucumerines, 
and some ounces of a broad white tape-worm. There 
was sufficient to account for the dog being “a little out 
of sorts,” and as no one in his senses could expect to per¬ 
manently cure the canker without first putting the sys¬ 
tem into order, the treatment was devoted to that, and 
the animal soon got well and fat. 
Dogs, particularly very young ones, are much inclined to 
pick up any kind of filth they may find, another fruitful 
cause of disease. As an alterative tonic in cases of blood 
or skin diseases, the Doctor recommends the following to 
be given twice a day with meals :—Quinine, twelve 
grains ; sulphate of iron, twenty-four grains ; arseniate 
of soda, two grains; extract of chamomile, one drachm. 
To be divided into twenty-four pills, two to be given at 
a dose for a pointer or setter. 
Countess Bear.— We are indebted to Mr. Harry 
Bishop, of the Montview Kennel, located near Columbia, 
Maury Co., Tenn., for a photograph of the celebrated 
English setter, Countess Bear, winner in England of the 
Field Trial Derby in 1875, imported from England by him. 
Countess Bear was bred by Mr. Llewellin, and in color is 
white with lemon markings. She is by the celebrated 
Dan, out of the no less celebrated Countess, whom, as 
far as we can judge by the photograph, she resembles, 
particularly about the head. 
Albany Dog Show, —A dog show will he held at Al¬ 
bany, N. Y.,in connection with the Annual Exhibition 
of the Eastern New York Fanciers’ Association, from Jan. 
24th to 27th, 1880. The premium list is not yet out, but 
will be printed in these columns when ready. 
Action Against a Kennel Club.— An important case 
was tried in London the other day in wMch Mr. Lowe, 
Secretary of the English Kennel Club, was defendant, 
and the plaintiff an exhibitor at the last dog show of 
the kennel club at the Alexandra Palace. The case was 
important as being a precedent in deciding the amount 
of liability which attaches to managers of dog shows. The 
report of the case in the English papers states that the 
plaintiff proved the delivery of the dog under the rules 
of the chib to the exhibition, where it obtained favorable 
mention; but it was not returned to him, but was lost 
through the negligence of the club’s servants. It was 
urged on the part of the defence that the dog was not 
lost at the Agricultural Hall (Alexandra Palace), as on 
checking the catalogue the dog was found to be for¬ 
warded to Halifax, as the hamper was delivered and the 
dog was missing. Mr. John Douglass, called, said he was 
manager of the dog show at the Agricultural Hall on the 
date in question. Every effort had been made, both at 
the police and railway stations, to trace the dog, but with¬ 
out effect. According to rule 18 the exMbitors were en¬ 
tirely responsible. There could be no doubt that the dog 
was entered and the deposit of £1 paid ; but as the plain¬ 
tiff was not a bonCt-fide member of the club he could not 
claim special damage for any loss or accident, and he was 
cognizant of the fact at the time he entered Ms dog. At 
