FOREST AND STREAM 
867 
way, since these islands are distant from the American 
coast nearly twenty-live hundred miles. 
Fossil bats have been discovered in deposits'of the Terti¬ 
ary age, but, as might be imagined, from their small size 
and the frailness of their bones, not in any great numbers. 
From the eocene gypsum of Montmartre Cuvier described 
VerspertiHo parisiensis, and two genera, Nyctherium 
and Nyctilesies, have been discovered in the Bridget 
eocene of the Rocky Mountains, These specimens, though 
fragmentary and incomplete, indicate that the bats are 
an old type which was firmly established in the Tertiary 
and reached back very likely to Mesozoic time. 
All the Chiroptera are most voracious feeders, and, in 
countries where they abound, the fruit-eating bats do an 
enormous amount of damage, and are regarded as nuis¬ 
ances, from the injury which they cause to the orchards. 
Hutton says : “In Nipal this bat (Cynopterus margina- 
tus) is a perfect pest, from the havoc it makes among the 
ripe pears and guavas.” Mr. Dobson tried an experi¬ 
ment with an individual of the same species, which is so 
interesting that we may give it in full. He says : “To 
a specimen of this bat, obtained by me at Calcutta unin¬ 
jured, I gave a ripe banana, which, with the skin re¬ 
moved, weighed exactly two ounces. The animal imme¬ 
diately, as if famished with hunger, fell upon the fruit, 
seizing it between the thumbs and index fingers, and took 
large mouthfuls out of it, opening the mouth to the full¬ 
est extent, with extreme voracity. In the space of three 
hours the whole fruit was consumed. Next morning the 
bat was killed, and found to weigh one ounce, half the 
weight of the food eaten in three hours. Indeed the 
animal when eating seemed to be a kind of living mill, 
the food passing from it almost as fast as devoured, and 
apparently unaltered, eating being performed alone for 
the pleasure of eating." 
It used to be thought the vampire bat fed only upon 
human blood, but it has been shown by the investiga¬ 
tions of later travellers that it is mainly frugivorous - 
Some bats live upon a mixed diet, feeding indiscrimi¬ 
nately upon insects, fruits, frogs and even smaller bate ; 
and our own southern, or leaf-nosed bat (Macrotus nater- 
housii) is in this class. Some, too, catch fish, and even 
bathe in the sea, swimming with ease. 
This group has until within a short time been but little 
studied, owing mainly to the difficulty of investigating 
the habits of the different species, all of them being noc¬ 
turnal in habit. Mr. Dobson’s work, which filled a want 
long felt, describes about 400 species of bats, thus cut¬ 
ting off about 400 of the 800 names heretofore given by 
naturalists. 
An Albino Wild Cat. —Some New York gunners went 
down to Foster’s Meadows, on Long Island, rabbit shoot¬ 
ing last week. One trophy of the day was a wild cat, 
half-albino, weighing twelve and a half pounds. The 
skin has been stuffed and mounted, and now adorns the 
restaurant of F, Fleischmann, 316 Grand street, where in¬ 
terested parties may have a look at it. 
Notes on Alligators.— The correspondent who fur¬ 
nishes the following notes is a native of Florida, and has 
spent the last twelve years hunting on the Gulf Coast, 
paying especial attention to the habits of the beasts, 
birds and fishes. The notes which he gives are to he 
taken for what they are worth, but we are assured that 
all the statements made are based on careful observation. 
Our correspondent deBires to furnish only facts, and is 
willing to let other people theorize on them, if they wish 
to:— 
Monticello, Fla., Oct. 15 th .—We have three species of 
alligators, differing from each other in the following 
manner: The black alligator is short, very large for his 
length, and inhabits principally lakes, ponds, sluggish 
streams, and lives or has his house in holes that he makes 
in the banks near the water’s edge, and often the en¬ 
trance is under the water. Next is the brown alligator, 
long, slim, and very swift and active, and much straighten 
from liis eyes to tip of nose than the black. He lies at 
the bottom, in deep holes and under shelving rocks and 
sandbanks, and inhabits the running streams and along 
the beach. The next is similar to the brown, differing 
only in shape of head, lower tusks protruding through 
upper jaw when his mouth is closed. I only saw one of 
this. J. M. Galphin killed him at the mouth of Arch 
Creek, on Key Biscane Bay,measuring only eight feet. The 
alligators build their nest in this latitude in August; fur- 
ther south in June and July. They are made of damp 
earth and green grass, heaped together from two to four 
feet high, and four to six feet in diameter at its base, 
and packed very firm by the use of the head for a ham¬ 
mer, The female collects her material by gather¬ 
ing her mouth full, and what she can hold with 
her fore paws, and moves backwards with her load 
to the nest. When, all is complete she opens a hole on 
top, and lays her eggs, often two, and sometimes three, 
layers—separating each layer with a little earth and 
grass, and never tails to evacuate on the top of her eggs, 
and covers about Bix inches to a foot with the grass and 
earth. I have often found these nests in very shady and 
concealed places, showing that it is not essential for the 
sun to shine on the nest to hatch the eggs. When hatched 
the young are about live or six inches long, and croak for 
a day or two until the old one appears. She then stays 
near-by to protect them. Moccasins eat them, and the 
male alligator will destroy a whole family if he catches 
the mother away from her post, but will not fight to get 
them, hut runs as soon as she. appears. I saw a large 
trout or black bass catch one of the little ones once. The 
manner in which the black alligator digs his hole is inter¬ 
esting. He looBens the earth with his fore paws, and 
swallows the dirt until he is full, and backs out and 
swims to deep water, where he vomits it up, and comes 
back and repeats the same operation, continuing it until 
the hole is sufficiently long and deep to conceal him. 
They will eat anything that has life and flesh, except a 
snake, and, for all I know, may eat them; but I have 
seen them catch dogs, deer, and cows and hogs, and have 
had them to take my duck that I had killed, while float¬ 
ing on the water ; and in cutting them open have found 
in the brown alligator sea trout, rediisli, horseshoe, 
crabs and terrapins. The black alligator I Tmve often 
watched rooting in the mud at the bottom for mussels, 
of which they are very fond. And in the summer I have 
seen them lying out of water on a log or bank catching 
flies. The alligator holds his mouth open, and myriads 
of blow flies accumulate in his mouth, and every now and 
then ho will shut his mouth, and catch a mouthful. I 
watched one at this for some time, and then killed and 
opened him, and found, to my astonishment, that he 
had fully a half peok of flies in him, which he load caught 
while I watched him—not over two hours. I have often 
heard that they eat knots of wood, and layup all winter. 
This is false. The kuots of wood are his grindstones, 
and are used in assisting him to digest his food. Alli¬ 
gators only remain in winter quarters from one to ten 
days at a time, and are out every warm spell during our 
winters. Wanderer. 
Unique and True, —The toad dug out of the rock, the 
lobster in the tin can, the mice in the glass hall, and the 
sundry other imprisoned speoimeus of natural history 
discovered from time to time, have been supplemented 
by the discovery made by a man at Ohickies Falls, on the 
Susquehanna, just above Columbia, Pa.: — 
A man living there, named Thomas Wilson, while row¬ 
ing among the rocks, caught a large log, which he towed 
up opposite his house and drew out of the water. While 
thus engaged he was surprised to hear a vigorous splash¬ 
ing, apparently on the inside of the log. He proceeded 
to investigate the matter and split open the log, when to 
his astonishment he cut into and laid bare a large cavity, 
In thi s were tliree large bass, one of them weighing over 
five pounds. The only theory to account for their presence 
is that they came iti through an exceedingly small hole 
and could not get out again, but stayed there and flour¬ 
ished, finding plenty of food in their prison. 
—Frogs are popularly supposed to live on air. But they 
don’t. We made a note of the bill of fare of one frog's 
dinner the other day. He began early and ate late. The 
things disappeared down his throat in this order: Three 
blue-bottle flies, one fiddler crab, seven blue-bottle flies, 
one grasshopper, one fiddler crab, three blue-bottle flies, 
one live mouse, two blue-bottle flies ; and he was as pert 
and frisky and playful aa if he bad not been mortifying 
the flesh like a jolly old friar, as he is. 
Remarkable Fecundity op a Cow.—There was recently 
exhibited at the Oldenburg Cattle Show in Hanover a 
cow which has dropped nine fully developed calves in 
four years, namely, two in June, 1876 ; three calves (one 
of which survived) in June, 1877 ; two in April, 1878 ; and 
two in June, 187!). 
Shower op Spiders’ Webs .—Milltoum, Maine, Nov. 
9th .—As you editors are supposed to know everything, 
and %> answer all kin ds of ’foolish questions, I would 
like to ask an explanation of the following, or the name 
of the insect, that can cause such gossamer showers. 
Most every fall, the last part of October, as I go shoot¬ 
ing, I find the meadows, fences, telegraph wires, etc., 
etc., all covered over with a coat of cobweb, upon the 
meadow so thick as to trouble the dogs, and every few 
moments had to be removed from their heads, hut what 
was the strangest, the air is filled with long threads 
floating in every direction as high as you can see, as if 
coming from the clouds and falling to the ground. It 
has a very pretty effect as it twists and turns towards 
the sun. In driving several miles, and even over quite 
high ground, could see no end to this cobweb shower. 
The day was a most lovely one, Oct. 23d, and wind south¬ 
west. If caused by some kind of spider, as I suppose it must 
be, I can hardly understand how such quantities can he 
formed and so high in the air. 
Geo. B. Boardman, 
The gossamer threads were undoubtedly produced by 
spiders. We have read of something similar, but can¬ 
not at the moment recollect where. Can any of our 
readers assist our defective memory f We have an im¬ 
pression that Darwin mentions something of the kind in 
his voyage of the Beagle. 
Ammonia for Snake Bites. — St. Leonard, Province 
of Quebec,Nov. 18th.—Editor Forest and Stream :—Under 
the above heading in your issue of the 13th a correspond¬ 
ent (C. H. C.) writing from Rico, Col., mentions aqua 
ammonia as being a sure cure for snake bite. It will no 
doubt interest your correspondent and others to know 
that for years past ammonia has been successfully em¬ 
ployed in Australia in these cases. The discovery of its 
power in arresting the effects of the bites of venomous 
snakes was first made by Professor Halford, of Mel¬ 
bourne, Australia, and ammonia is now commonly used 
by most doctors throughout Australia and with the most 
satisfactory results when the case is taken in lime. C. 
H. C. directs that the wound be cut slightly and the am¬ 
monia applied to the out. The bitten person is also to 
take a little ammonia in spirits internally. By Professor 
Halford’s method the ammonia, mixed I believe with 
water, is injected under the skin into a vienof the arm. 
I am unable to describe the arrangement exactly, not 
having seen any case myself, but no doubt Professor Hal¬ 
ford would be happy to answer any letter addressed to 
him upon the subject; or perhaps some of our Australian 
friends could enlighten us. I know that at any drug 
store in Melbourne small cases, suitable for the pocket, 
can he purchased containing a small syringe with gold 
point and some ammonia ready for use. Mauv sportsmen 
when out shooting regularly carry these cases. I may 
mention thatHhe black and tiger snakes of Victoria are 
reckoned fully as dangerous as a rattlesnake. Ammonia 
has been tried in India as an antidote to the poison of the 
cobra, hut without much success. The experiments made 
were not very satisfactory. Hemlock. 
A Valuble Relic.— The Museum of St. Petersburgli has 
recently secured a head of Rhinoeenis tichorhinus in an 
excellent state of preservation, and covered with patches 
of hair. It formed part of a nearly complete carcass 
which was found ou the banks of a tributary of the 
Yana, about one hundred and thirty-miles north of 
Yerkhoyanak. This species was an inhabitant of Europe 
and Siberia, during Quaternary time, and was covered 
with long woolly hair, which fitted it to endui-e the cold 
climate which preceded and followed the Glacial Period. 
It was of great size ; a frozen speecimen discovered near 
Wilan, in 1772, measuring eleven and a half feet in total 
length. The bones of this animal have been found in 
Europe in the same deposits with thoso of man, 
Transmission op Human Rabies to the Rabbit.— 
Some interesting experiments have recently been made 
in France by M, Raymond, of the Academy of Sciences 
in Paris, on the transmission of human rabies to the rab¬ 
bit. Two rabbits were inoculated ; one with the blood, 
the other with the saliva of a person suffering from hy¬ 
drophobia. The one which had been inoculat ed with the 
saliva, showed symptoms of rabies four clays after treat¬ 
ment and soon died. Thirty-six hours after death pieces 
of its salivary glands were removed, and these were in¬ 
troduced into two other rabbits, and these also died, 
paralysed, without passing through any violent stages. 
What are English Ducks ?— Oynthiana, Ky., Nov. 
19th .—Apropos of your Indianapolis correspondent, I will 
say that I often heard both species of the genus Anas— 
the mallard ( A. bosclias) and the black mallard or dusky 
duck (A. dbscurus )—called “English” duck in Florida ; 
more frequently the former. It is also so called along 
the Georgia and South Carolina coast. Your “I, CV fur¬ 
ther says the females of the two species closely resemble 
—implying, probably, that I was mistaken in regard to 
the same. Now while the male dusky duck has some 
slight resemblance to the female mallard, in size and con¬ 
tour, the females of the same species are no more alike 
than a female hawk and a feminine henshaw. 
J. A. Henshall. 
|pr? ipttneL 
Bipedal Dogs. — A deficiency of limbs in animals is 
not so infrequent as to make the object a marvel, yet 
when such abnormal cases ooour, they afford considera¬ 
ble interest to the scientific observer, as well as to those 
not well informed in natural history. One interesting 
consideration connected with deflciences of this kind, is 
the remarkable compensation of nature which gives a 
greater development of power and activity to the remain¬ 
ing limbs, enabling the cripple to perform most, if not 
all, the exeroises and functions of the perfect animal. 
This adaptability of the bodily framework to the varying 
conditions of existence, is one of the marvels of the 
creation. 
Those who have visited the dog shows of the Westmin¬ 
ster Kennel Club, in this city, cannot have failed to no¬ 
tice a dog of fair size, say twelve pounds in weight, which 
was on exhibition, whose fore limbs were entirely defi¬ 
cient, hut which nevertheless had remarkable activity 
and powers of locomotion, being able to leap, stand, and 
walk rapidly on its hind feet, feed itself, and otherwise 
enjoy life as well as dogs favored with a full comple¬ 
ment of legs. Its actions were like those of a kangaroo. 
This dog was bom with only two legs, and instances are 
on record, with specimens preserved in museums, where 
cats, calves, and even horses, have been bom with the 
fore limbs similarly deficient. 
It is likewise noteworthy that animals which have be¬ 
come deprived of their limbs by accident, contrive, in 
course of time, to acquire tbe faculty of progressing with 
remarkable facility, as for instance, a dog with three 
legs, or a man with a single leg and a crutch. 
We are not aware that animals which have been bom 
without fore legs have ever transmitted this deficiency 
to their progeny ; but it is well known that the Manx 
cats, indigenous to the Isle of Man, are bom without 
tails, and inherit this deficiency from generation to gen¬ 
eration. 
A remarkable instance of a similar quality iu a dog, 
was brought to our notice recently in Plainfield, New 
Jersey, the dam having a caudal stump of about two 
inches iu length, and transmitting this peculiarity to 
some of her pups, though not to all; and if we are not 
mistaken, to a third generation. A like case has never 
been brought to our notice. 
Personal.— We were favored on Tuesday last with a 
call from Mr, R. A. Hume, of Glasgow, and Mr. Givleen, 
of Balauney, Ireland, who arrived the previous day, 
by the Anchor Line steamer Livonia, from Glasgow. 
Mr. Givleen proceeds at once to Montana to join his 
brother on his ranch near Fort Benton. Mr. Hume was 
formerly a resident of Richmond, Va,, and will be re¬ 
membered as an exhibitor of fox terriers, etc., at the 
first Baltimore dog show. He brings with him now a 
pair of Dandie Dinmont terriers, one of which was the 
first prize winner at the late Edinburg show. 
