FOREST AND STKEAM. 



objectionable for thai. QCq ineute a complete distribution of 

 the upward flowing current of water through all parts of the 

 trays, a deflector is provided, which may be spherical, flat, or 

 of any other shape. The deflector is supported by standards 

 over the jet, which breaks the current and distributes the 

 water more evenly over the trays within the case. The dis- 

 charge, or trough, conveys the overflow to the descending 

 -water channel attached to the next succeeding case. The case 

 can be made of any desired size, but the inventor preferred 

 them eighteen inches or two feet square, and from two to 

 foui* or more feet in height, according to the amount of fall 

 afforded by the fountain or spring. The cases containing the. 

 trays may be arranged in tiers the entire length of the floor of 

 the hatching-house, and the water overflowing from one 

 made to pass into and through the next succeeding one to any 

 desired extent as regards numbers. The method of spreading 

 the spawn is most convenient. The lower tray is suspended, 

 when it is to be filled, in the position occupied by the upper 

 tray. When the case is full the spawn is spread upon it 

 evenly over the surface of the wire gauze in a suitable 

 quantity. The tray is lowered sufficiently, by the straps, to 

 permit the insertion of another tray, which is treated in like 

 manner, and so on until the case is filled. In reversing the 

 process by raisiug the strap the span of one tray at a time, 

 the young fish can be removed, and the water allowed to flow 

 in, spreading the spawn or removing the fish, without detri- 

 ment to either spawn or young fish. This plan is intended 

 more especially for winter hatching, in hatching trout or 

 salmon, or for hatching whitefish, or any kind capable of 

 artificial culture. For plates, and a more extended descrip- 

 tion, readers are referred to the United States Commissioners' 

 Report for 1872 and '73, page 580, et seq. To those persons 

 engaged in fish culture on a large scale, the apparatus in- 

 vented by Mr. John Williamson, Secretary of the California 

 Acclimatizing Society, will be found to be one of the most 

 useful hatchers invented by the Piscicultural Guild. It is 

 denominated the "Double Riffle Hatching Box." The inven- 

 tion consists of a long trough, six or eight inches deep, and 

 eighteen inches wide inside. This is divided into compart- 

 ments twenty inches long in the clear. Into each a box hold- 

 ing five trays are placed nineteen and a half inches long, and 

 eighteen inches wide, with a frame three-fourths of an inch 

 thick and one inch wide, with a wire bottom, having eight 

 meshes to the inch, or a greater number of meshes to the inch, 

 if smaller eggs are to be hatched. Each box of five trays will 

 hold 20,000 eggs, and six continuous boxes will hold 120,000 

 eggs, or twenty-five boxes will hold a half million of eggs. 

 Where room is of importance, this box is, certainly very de- 

 sirable. The compartments holding the trays are of half 

 inch ends and one inch bottoms. The ends are five 

 inches high. The water is made to flow in under 

 the upper end, and out over the lower end. By this 

 means all the eggs are thoroughly covered by constantly 

 derated water, and less sediment is deposited on the 

 eggs. The end of each box at the upper end of the trough 

 is made higher than the lower end, to cause the water to flow 

 in at the bottom of each box and out of the top. Of course, 

 persons desiring these patented boxes, or other apparatus, 

 must purchase or otherwise honorably obtain the right to con- 

 struct and use them. The ' ' Ferguson Jars, " invented by the 

 energetic Fish Commissioner of Maiyland, are a valuable ac- 

 quisition to the piscicultural apparatus used for hatching. 

 These jars are made of glass, and are capable of holding tw r o 

 thousand eggs each. The eggs are placed upon circular 

 screens made of fine wira, and the jars are made to contain 

 nine each. Each screen is supported b3 r the handle of the 

 lower screen, and each jar is provided with a tin cover, a 

 larger cylinder than the jar, which excludes the light. The 

 water is introduced at the bottom of each jar by a rubber tube 

 connected with three-eighths inch spickets, over which the 

 tubes are slipped for introducing the water into the jars. The 

 water after coursing upward among the screens passes from 

 the upper edge of the jar through a like glass nipple into a 

 tube, passing downward to the bottom of the next jar, and so 

 on through the whole series. It would seem that this jar 

 from its compactness, and from being transparent, so as to 

 enable the manipulator to watch the progress of hatching and 

 the detection of uuimpreguated eggs, commends itself to the 

 entire guild of fish culturists. The hatchings drop through 

 to the bottom of the jar ; from thence they can be easily re- 

 moved to the nursery trough, and emptied without the possi- 

 bility of injury. " The Druid Hill Hatching House," of Bal- 

 timore, the property of the State, withits magnificent appoint- 

 ments, consisting 6f the most approved apparatus in use, 

 their swift steamer for ready conveyance, and an unfailing sup- 

 ply of water fairly represent the progress of fish culture in 

 .Maryland. With her enlightened and energetic commission, 

 and grand natural possibilities, she must soon become pre-emi- 

 nent in the practice of fish culture. Besides the introduction of 

 the Salmo guinat of the Pacific coast, and the Saimo salar of 

 the rivers and coast of Maine into her inland waters, European 

 carp are now being multiplied for planting in the warmer and 

 sluggish streams of the State. The only report made by the 

 Fish Commissioners since the establishment of the Commis- 

 sion was made during the Centennial year, and it is the most 

 valuable of any yet submitted by States engaged in fisk-eul- 

 ture. Combined with the report is a list of marine and fresh 

 water fishes of the State, of great importance to those who are 

 engaged in the study of ichthyology. Messrs. Uhler & Lug- 

 ger, naturalists, have prepared a descriptive catalogue, so 

 valuable in point of accuracy, that if each State Commission 

 would add like descriptive fists to their reports much desirable 

 i nation would soon be collected regarding the Ichlhyc 

 Fauna of the United States. 



Probably no invention since the introduction »f fish-culture 

 into our country equals that of Mr. Samuel Wilmot, of .New- 

 castle, Canada, as a white fish hatching apparatus. The can, 

 or hatching box, is eleven inches in diameter and six incites 

 deep. Into this arc placed 100,000 white fish owa, as soon as 

 taken from the fish and vivified. It is then put into operation 

 by turning a small faucet, which lets in one-fourth of an inch 

 stream of water. All uuvivified or diseased eggs are jearried 

 y,way, and the sound ones, without spot or blemish, are left as 



perfect as when taken from the fish, aside from the change 

 produced by the process of batching. Hand-picking is there- 

 fore almost entirely done away with. Mr. Wilmot says: 

 " These self-pickers and cleaners, enough of them to hatch 

 five or six millions of whitefish eggs, will save the labor of 

 tour or five men daily, and keep them cleaner than it is possi- 

 ble to do with any amount of hand-washing. The practical 

 working of them is all that could be needed." Its use can be 

 secured undoubtedly by buying the apparatus or by the pur- 

 chase of the right to manufacture and to use. This apparatus 

 is only adapted to the hatching of white-fish. Messrs. Mather 

 and Bell have invented another hatching apparatus in the form 

 of an inverted cone, containing screens which can be 

 suspended or hung in the hatching house by a bracket, 

 the can being supplied with water at the bottom by means of 

 rubber tubing connected with the tank or fountain, and then 

 passing from the top through a like rubber connection, enters 

 the bottom of another and soon through the whole series, more 

 or less. Inventive genius seems to be running in the direction 

 of developing apparatus, such as we have described, and also 

 in the direction of inverted cones like the Bell and Mather ap- 

 paratus, for the reason that these cases may be so located in 

 the hatchery as to economize space. Mr. Owen Chase and 

 Monroe Green have also invented similar hatching cases, 

 which work on the same principle as those already described. 

 It is quite apparent that inventive genius is destined to achieve 

 as much in the production of labor-saving implements, as in 

 other and older industrial fields. The art as practiced to-day 

 is young. When it shall have become a giant among the great 

 productive industries of our country, its historic pages wdl 

 be emblazoned with as many achievements in the field of in- 

 vention as in any of the older circles of human labor. We 

 may look for a wider application of the art of fish culture in 

 the near future, for it is destined to supplement nature in the 

 artificial production of a larger number of species of both marine 

 and fresh-water food-fishes. The present accessories for vivi- 

 fying ova and hatching will no doubt be supplanted in the 

 near future by other and superior agents. The original plow 

 of agriculture was an uncouth implement, viewed from the 

 standpoint of to-day, and was a representative instrument of 

 field culture when the art was young. So it will be in the 

 coming years of fish culture; the first agents used were 

 hastily improvised and will serve their day, and must be set 

 down as rude instruments, employed when the art was unde- 

 veloped. Progress in any art will never stand still. Busy 

 brains and busy hands are ever acting in the direction of 

 abridgment of toil. We are justly proud of the advancement 

 of pisciculture in its first decade of years on this continent. 

 It has achieved a noble success, all honor to those men who 

 first labored for the introduction of one of God's greatest 

 blessings, and bestowed it upon the American people. The 

 first impidse given to the art does not abate "one jot or tittle," 

 but is pursued with constantly augmenting and increasing 

 fervor. To-day the operations of the United States Fish 

 Commission embrace not only a larger field of operations, but 

 commissions in two-thirds of the States are bending all their 

 energies to fertilize every inland stream. 

 Sandwich, IU. Nahttm E. Baxlou, M. D. 



To Preserve Fish Speoimens.— To preserve fish and simi- 

 lar natural history specimens, hermetically seal them in ves- 

 sels containing a preparation consisting of one-third alcohol, 

 one third glycerine and one-third water. To prevent injury 

 from chafing wrap the specimens in thin muslin or other ma- 

 terial, or pack with tow. This method was discovered and 

 employed by Mr. J. G. Swan, of Port Townsend, Washington 

 Territory, while acting as Centennial Commissioner, and has 

 received the indorsement of Prof. Baird, who recommends 

 also the addition of a little borax, which brings out the strength 

 of weak spirits. Specimens prepared in this way and sent 

 from Port Townsend, when received in Washington preserved 

 their color and the lustre of the eyes as bright as when taken. 



— Three hundred thousand young shad have been placed in 

 the Passaic River below the Dundee dam. They are expected 

 to be fit for catching in about two years. 



— Thirty-two States and six Territories have been directly 

 benefited by the introduction of fish into their waters. 



— k spoonful of vinegar should always be put into water in 

 which fish are boiled. 



THE 



%nhiml ]§wtorg. 



BOWER BIRD " OF NEW- 

 GUINEA. 



THE various habits practiced by birds in their daily life, 

 and their often peculiar economy, render our feathered 

 friends, to the observant naturalist, the most interesting of 

 beings. Each family has its own customs ; often a genus is 

 known by some especial habit, and not infrequently a species 

 can be recognized by some curious manner it may have of 

 carrying itself among its fellows, or a particular finish it may 

 give to its nest. As I have noticed that among your contribu- 

 tors there are many keen observers of bird life, it lias occurred 

 to me that perhaps it may not prove uninteresting if I give an 

 account that has but lately reached Europe of the strange 

 habits of a certain bird in New Guinea, which will read per- 

 haps more like fiction than sober truth, but of its perfect ac- 

 curacy, there is no reason whatever to harbor a doubt. It has 

 been for a long time known to ornithologists that a certain 

 genus of birds (chlamyodira) existed in Australia which were, 

 accustomed to erect structures in the shape of tunnels. These 

 were built of reeds and twigs, and were sometimes a couple of 

 feet, perhaps more, in length. That these could not answer 

 in any w T ay for incubation was evident at a glance, and it was 

 a puzzle for a long time what use they could be put to by a 

 bud. The ground in front of the so-called "bowers" was 

 usually covered with shells of different kinds, bones, and fre- 

 quently feathers of various colors, generally very bright ones. 

 After patient watching, it was ascertained that the only rea- 



son the birds erected these "bowers" was to use then 

 pki!/-/wuses, and the little creatures were seen amusing them- 

 selves by chasing each other in and through them in a sort of 

 feathered game of " tag," and the shells and feathers were 

 only so much ornamentation to their play-grounds. That they 

 were not nests, was sufficiently proved by finding a proper 

 structure with the requisite eggs, placed by the birds iu a tree. 

 Some three years ago, when engaged upon my work on the 

 Birds of Paradise (to which family these " bower-builders *' 

 belong), I received from the Director of the Royal Museum in 

 Leyden, Holland, a dull-colored curious-looking bird, which 

 had lately been obtained in New Guinea, aud which I at once 

 saw belonged to a genus hitherto unknown. It was evidently 

 a relative of the " bower bird," differing essentially, howen r, 

 by characteristics not necessary to describe here, and I made 

 up my mind it would also build a " bower," though of < 

 what kind of a structure it might be I could not even conjec- 

 ture, and besides mentioning my belief I was obliged to pub- 

 lish my book -without further details. Within the past three 

 years, however, some very adventurous Italian explorers 

 have been investigating New Guinea, mainly in search of 

 natural history specimens,and one of them.SignorBeceari, found 

 this little brown bird, which 1 had called AmblyoriuxiiumuiUt, 

 and also discovered its "bower.' This is a m'ost extraordinary 

 affair, and consists of a perfectly circular cabin, built princi- 

 pally of the dry twigs of an epiphtons orchid (Dendroldum), 

 measuring a little over three feet in diameter, and supported by 

 a single central pillar. Before the entrance is a beautiful mai- 

 den, of rather larger dimensions than the cabin, made of the 

 greenest moss, and ornamented from lime to time with bril- 

 liantly colored flowers and fruits, such as flowers of a lovely 

 species of Vaccinium. This wonderful habit of the the bird 

 is so well known to the Malay hunters that it is called Takan- 

 kabou or Gardener by them. No more interesting fact has 

 been learned in field ornithology for many years, and it is 

 wonderful to know that a bird, for its own amusement, has 

 the instinct and ability to build a house withacentral support 

 for the roof, and then the taste to beautify its surroundings 

 with gaily colored flowers. In respect to this particular 

 species it proves two things, that skill is independent, of 

 strength, and that one need not be handsome to appreciate 

 beauty, for the bird does not possess a single gay-colored 

 feather in its body. D. G. Eixiot. 



Park, France. 



Southern Mammals Again. — Letters have already ap- 

 peared in our columns from writers who took exception to Dr. 

 Rawlins Young's "Notes on Southern Mammals." The New 

 Orleans Times criticizes severely, disputing the notes regard- 

 ing deer and bear in toto. which called forth the following 

 response from the doctor, which sulliciently explains itself : 

 Corinth, Miss., July 12, 1877. 

 To the Editor of the Time*: 



Sm-In your issue of the 9th inst. you take me to task I', i 

 alleged inaccuracies in my notes on Southern Mammals, pub- 

 lished in Forest and Stkkam and Kon and GriN ofarecent 

 date. These notes were gotton up with reference to mammals 

 fouud in the following named counties in each of the desig- 

 nated States"! Lawrence, Franklin and Cobb, in Alabamba j 

 Shelby and the counties east, to the Tennessee River, in Ten- 

 nessee ; Be Soto and the counties east, to the Alabama line, 

 in Mississippi ; Crittenden and counties lying west of it, to 

 White River, in Arkansas. There are a few deer in the coun- 

 ties named in Alabama. .They are certainly "very rare ' in 

 the designated portion of Tenhesgee. There are a Few in 

 Hardin and McNairy, and they are occasionally found in Sal - 

 deman, on Potter's Creek and Muddy, but there is, perhaps, 

 not a deer, "native and to the manor born," ill either Selbj 

 or Fayette. There are deer in De Soto, and a few in Tippah 

 and old Tishomingo, Ten years ago they were numerous in 

 this county, but they have been hunted in season and out of 

 season by every lazy darkey and scalawag who could get a 

 £8 shot-gun or musket, until they are web nigh exterminated. 

 " Black "bear rare in Mississippi." One was killed fifteen mi et 

 from this place in the year 1850, and a stray one was seeu near 

 here last summer. "Rare in Mississippi." lam aware i has 

 deer, and bear too, are exceedingly numerous iu the great 

 Mississippi-Yazoo delta, albeit I have not seen any of tl e 

 Ursus liiehardsonu, that are accommodating enough to -'stay 

 iu the fields till a small boy can run and inform the manager 

 and let him come down and kill the animal." The slump- 

 tailed plantigrades that I have tackled set more Store od their 

 lives than do those that dwell in "Sweet Coahoma by Lhe 

 riverside," and always fought long and valiantly before 

 ing their souls. Even if bear were plenty here, 1 do not be- 

 lieve that the Circum Corinthian small boy could be induced 

 to stay in the fields and watch for them. The small boy up 

 here is "powerful" 'fraidof bears. Inmakin>r up these "notes" , 

 I have confined myself to those counties with which 1 was 

 most familiar, and 1 believe that on the whole they arc correct, 

 If not, send up a "special commission " aud we will submit to 

 an investigation. Rawlins Yuc.no. 



[These notes were prepared for the new work of Dr. Co 

 who kindly allowed FpBESX AMD Stke am to publish then, 

 vance, and doubtless had forgotten that they applied only io 

 certain districts of Alabama and Mississippi. We are all 

 liable to errros.— Ed.] 



RbvEBSED Suellh Again.— Our correspondent, Mr. JaineB 

 Lewis, writing from Mohawk, N. Y., says .- 



" I have seen the shells which induced your correspondent, 

 T W., of Leesburg, Va., to inquire about ^reversed BhehV 

 The specimens sent bv him are, as conjectured by Mr. Graj 

 and myself, a species of Plrym. probable P. awea, Lea. [ 

 subjoin this information thinking it may be some gratification 

 to many of your readers to know just what all this matter 

 really means." 



[Mr. Lewis has our thanks for this information which ad- 

 mirably supplements that which he has previously furnished. 

 — Ed.J 



