366 



RECREATION 



of the account taken from the Osborne (Kan- 

 sas) Farmer, which is copied from the Bull 

 City paper of October 12, 1879: 



"At about half-past 8 or 9 o'clock yesterday 

 morning Gen. Bull's hired man, Robert 

 Brickell, entered the park for the purpose of 

 caring for the elk. He immediately discov- 

 ered that there was something unusual about 

 the appearance of the animal, which showed 

 hostile signs compelling him to retire from 

 the park. Brickell hastened to inform the 

 General of the fact, and arming themselves 

 with heavy clubs, both again went to the 

 park, the General remarking that he could 

 subdue the animal. Without a sign of warn- 

 ing the now infuriated beast made a charge 

 on the men, striking General Bull and knock- 

 ing him down with great force. The elk then 

 drew back and made a second attack on Gen- 

 eral Bull, this time with increased force, 

 piercing the prostrate body of the General 

 through the breast until the prong protruded, 

 then tossing his form high into the air and 

 throwing him over his head. The elk then re- 

 sumed his attack on Brickell, inflicting terri- 

 ble injuries. While doing this George Nicho- 

 las, who had witnessed the occurrence, ran to 

 the rescue with a heavy club of hardwood 

 four and one-half feet long and about two 

 inches in diameter with which he expected to 

 so disable the enraeed animal that he would 

 desist. With redoubled fury and madness the 

 elk caught the club in its antlers, making in- 

 dentures in it and 1 oiling it upon the ground 

 with great force. At this time there were two 

 bodies lying prostrate, and with equal hero- 

 ism and courage William Sherman hastened 

 to the combat. The elk served Sherman the 

 same as the other men, catching him in his 

 immense antWs and throwing him over the 

 fence. Mrs. Bull was meanwhile a horrified 

 spectator of the terrible tragedy, and wild 

 with grief and terror she ran to the village 

 for help. A number of men made haste to 

 reach the scene of the disaster, but arrived 

 too late to be of any service. They found 

 General Bull in a terribly disfigured condition 

 and life quite extinct. Two doctors did all in 

 their power for the injured men, but there 

 was no hope for Brickell, the hired man, who 

 was likewise terribly mangled. After great 

 trouble and in the midst of much additional 

 danger the elk was finally secured and was 

 tied in the center of a stout rope cable be- 

 tween the house and a tree. He could not be 

 secured until he was induced to enter a small 

 inclosure, where ropes were wound around 

 his antlers. In captivity he still stamped and 

 pawed the ground with unabated fury." 



Albert Whitney. 



soaking in diluted caustic potash solution. 

 This method is not original v/ith me, for I 

 learned of it through a paper in the American 

 Anthropologist for January-March, 1904, by 

 H. H. Wilder, who, I understand, originated 

 the process and is entitled to the credit of its 

 publication. 



Mr. Wilder has used his method not only 

 for_ restoring dried-up frogs, turtles, etc., to 

 their normal size and shape, but he has ap- 

 plied it also to mummies of the ancient Peru- 

 vians, and of the prehistoric cliff-dwellers and 

 Basket People of our own southwest. The 

 results were remarkable. The features were 

 expanded to almost their natural form, and 

 the bodily tissues were softened so that dis- 

 sections could be made and the internal or- 

 gans studied. 



It may be of interest to naturalists to know 

 that when collecting in out-of-the-way places 

 it is not always necessary to carry the usual 

 array of jars bottles, etc., but much of their 

 material may be simply dried in the sun and 

 packed away in boxes. On returning home 

 the specimens are soaked in a solution of 

 caustic soda. 1 to 3 per cent, strong, accord- 

 ing to the size and delicacy of the specimen, 

 until it is expanded and softened. The process 

 takes from 12 to 48 hours, and care should be 

 taken not to soak so long as to destroy deli- 

 cate tissues. Then immerse for some time in 

 water, which still farther expands the speci- 

 men. The action of the alkali may be checked 

 at any point by soaking the specimen in a 3 

 per cent, solution of formalin, in which it 

 may remain indefinitely for preservation. 



I trust you will give Mr. Wilder the credit 

 he deserves for his most interesting and use- 

 ful process. 



Frederick K. Vreeland, 



Montclair, N. J. 



Here is an honest man and a good sports- 

 man. We take pleasure in printing his letter, 

 as it displays a manly and generous spirit — 

 Editor. 



DISCLAIMS CREDIT. 

 Editor Recreation : 



In your issue for July you give me credit 

 for the method of restoring dried tissues by 



DO BIRDS TRAIN THEIR YOUNG? 



Editor Recreation : 



While all this controversy in regard to 

 sham natural history and as to whether par- 

 ent birds and mammals teach their offspring 

 the best way to battle with its life problems, 

 is before the eyes of the nature-loving public^ 

 it may not be out of place to relate an inci- 

 dent of which I was a much interested spec 

 tator. 



Returning from a fishing trip one June 

 afternoon, in 1902, I was leisurely following 

 the course of a small stream which flowed 

 across a large meadow and disappeared in a 

 neighboring piece of heavy timber when my 

 attention was arrested by the far-off cry of a 

 hawk. 



Instantly dropping to the ground and seek- 



