416 



SCIENCE, 



[YoL. VI., No. 144. 



(quoted by Girard), the envelope contains a soluble 

 ferment resembling diastase, which, during the 

 raising process, at the same time converts starch 

 into sugar and diminishes the elasticity of the 

 gluten, thereby tending to make the bread heavy, 

 while it also imparts a brown color to the bread. 

 Bread made with baking-powder would naturally 

 escape these effects to a large extent. 



It is certain that wholesome, palatable bread can 

 be made from whole wheat flour, and, for dietetic 

 reasons, many may prefer it. From an economic 

 point of view, however, it can hardly claim any 

 great advantages, so long as nearly every one can 

 command a mixed diet, and the bran can be pro- 

 fitably utilized as cattle food. 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



The question of the policy to be pursued toward 

 this bird is fast becoming one of importance ; and 

 in many parts of the country stringent measures 

 of extermination are urged by the indignant 

 citizens. A committee of the American ornitholo- 

 gists' union recommended as the result of their 

 inquu-ies, — 



1°. That sheltering or otherwise fostering the 

 sparrow by the public be discoiu-aged, and that 

 its introduction artificially into new localities, and 

 its sale for such purposes, be forbidden by law. 



2°. That all existing laws protecting the spar- 

 row be repealed, and that bounties be offered for 

 its destruction. 



The states at present protecting this species are 

 Maine, New Hampshne, Vermont, Rhode Island, 

 New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. There are also 

 protective laws in the District of Columbia and 

 Canada. The Massachusetts law has been re- 

 pealed and specially exempts the Enghsh sparrow 

 from protection. The protective law has also been 

 repealed in Michigan. 



The earliest known date of importation of the 

 bird is 1858, when Mr. Thomas A. Deblois hberated 

 a few in Portland, Me. These disappeared shortly 

 afterward, and were not successfully replaced 

 until 1875. In 1858 sparrows were liberated at 

 Peacedale, E.I., by Mr. Joseph P. Hazard. They 

 were first introduced into Central park, New 

 York city, in the year 1860. In 1864 twelve birds 

 were turned loose in Madison square, New York 

 city. In 1868 the species was first introduced into 

 Boston common ; in 1869, in the parks of Phila- 

 delphia ; and a little later it became resident at 

 Indianapolis, Ind. In a period of about ten years 

 the sparrows spread through New England and 

 the middle states, and many of the western states, 

 without artificial assistance. In the southern and 

 the western states, beyond the Mississippi River, the 



bird has not been observed. In Canada it has 

 become generally distributed over the southern 

 sections of Quebec and Ontario, and in 1884 several 

 flocks invaded New Brunswick. 



The bird is evidently spreading itself with ex- 

 treme rapidity, which should be expected from a 

 bird that hatches from three to four broods of 

 four each in a single season. 



In regard to the food of the sparrow, little seems 

 to be settled except that it prefers vegetable food 

 to animal, but wiU eat insects if driven to it. It 

 is capable of doing great injury to grain, and is a 

 great pest to fruit-raisers. I have seen flocks of 

 them in cherry-trees doing far more mischief than 

 the robin, and I have seen them in early spring 

 nip off the young buds of peach-trees without 

 any apparent reason, other than a desire not to be 

 idle. Seeing that they did not appear to eat the 

 buds, I killed two to see their reason for this 

 destruction. I found nothing in their stomachs, 

 except crumbs that had been fed them that 

 morning. 



The bird has little to recommend it, is noisy, 

 du'ty, and disagreeable both to man and to other 

 bu'ds ; and there is every reason why we should 

 do in this country as it has been found necessary 

 to do in others, — enact laws looking to their exter- 

 mination. Ralph S. Tare. 



THE EFFECT OF THE SETTLEMENT OF 

 NORTH AMERICA UPON ITS WILD 

 ANIMALS.' 



The common deer was abundant from Florida 

 to Canada, throughout tlie eastern half of the 

 United States, when Europeans first settled in this 

 part of North America. It is now restricted to the 

 sparsely-settled forested portions of this area, and 

 is rapidly decreasing in numbers. The ' elk,' or 

 wapite, ranged throughout temperate North Amer- 

 ica as far east as the Blue Ridge. For many years 

 it has been wholly extirpated east of the Great 

 Plains and ui the Rocky Mountains, and in the far 

 west generally is rapidly approaching extinction. 

 The moose and the caribou have been driven north- 

 ward in New England and southern Canada to 

 still unsettled forest regions ; while the bison, 

 formerly ranging in considerable herds eastward 

 to the AUeghanies, and occupying the Great Plains 

 in countless numbers, is now practically extirpated ; 

 a few small bands, remotely scattered, and num- 

 bering a few dozen individuals each, constituting 

 the insignificant remnant of the millions that, less 

 than twenty years ago, covered the Plains, from 

 Texas to the Saskatchewan. The pronghorn and 



1 Condensed from an article by Ernest IngersoU, in Bull. 

 Araer, geogr. soc, 1885, No. 1. 



