FOREST AND STREAM. 
41 
lustrous and liquid; of course there are no depths of 
thought in them, as Walt Whitman declares he sees 
in the eyes of oxen, but there does exist a certain roguish 
expression which is most taking. But of course how much 
merriment or jocularity there may be in a hyena, his laugh 
not included, judging him by his eyes alone, we are not 
prepared to say.. We were carried somewhat away with 
these-fine eyes, but as Mr. Lannon remarked, “if that fel¬ 
low had you down he’d just gnaw through an arm or a leg 
bone of ypur’n like a iiffy, for he is a mighty 
treacherous * fellow.” Poetic though we might have 
been, Mr. Lannon knocked all ideas of the future happy 
apocalypse from under us, and we recalled, applying it to 
the jackall, that scoffer’s remark “that the lion would only 
lie down with the lamb when the latter was in the former’s 
belly.” “The one we raised, (here he is,) a lovely hyena 
for a year old, is not much kinder, though from his bring¬ 
ing up he ought to have more decent manners. Oh, those 
ugly bare spots on his head, and how does that happen? 
Just pure pig-headedness, trying to bust his head against 
the bars agetting a bone. Don’t hurt ’em a bit.” 
“But here are my pretty beauties, such a dear little pair 
of lions. Come here and have your heads scratched. But 
what we do pride ourselves on are our Puma cubs. Just 
look how straight they are on their legs. Animals born in 
menageries are mostly splay footed and weak in the jintes. 
We have two sets of Puma cubs. That single one is eight¬ 
een months old; that brace about four months old. The 
father was a lovely animal, and extraordinary in some re¬ 
spects. Was brought up by hand and nursed by an Indian 
woman, not on a bottle but at her own breast, when he 
was but two days old. The mother Puma is from Texas, 
the father from South America. There is a little difference 
as to color between them, perhaps he is a shade the lighter 
in fur of tire two.” 
Mr. Conklin, the Director of the Zoological Collection, 
still limping from the terrible shaking a vicious camel had 
given him some two months ago, here joined us. Some¬ 
time before we had watched at very close quarters the action 
of the fine large lion, (the animal on the right in the menag¬ 
erie building as you enter from the Fifth avenue side.) We 
were desirous of seeing for ourselves the rasping quality of 
the lion’s tongue when in the act of licking his food, and 
had pretty thoroughly followed this gustatory process. 
Sure enough off went the layers of flesh and the meat fibre 
by the action of Mr. Lion’s tongue as easily as an urchin would 
suck off a piece of molasses candy. This same lion lost 
(we think it is on the left side) one of his largest teeth, but 
its absence never for a moment suggested to our minds the 
necessity of the Park Commissioners treating him to a false 
one. 
“The power of jaw the lions use is immense, but,” re¬ 
marked Mr. Conklin, “none of the animals can manage the 
knuckle bone of a well grown cow or ox; either it slips out 
of their fangs, or they can’t encompass it; but most every¬ 
thing else in the way of bones the lions can break up if they 
want to.” 
It suggested itself to our minds that it would be an inter¬ 
esting question to find out what would be the resistance a 
•new, fresh shin bone of an ox would offer to a rending or 
crushing power. With one of Wade’s machines the exact 
force requisite could be easily found, and in this way we 
might approximate the muscular power a lion has in his 
jaws. But how to measure the terrible effect of a leonine 
' pat would be beyond our powers. The “pat,” we use the 
word designedly, is a peculiarity of the feline race. We 
can try it now with our stick on this tiger. He is an ele¬ 
gant ruffed fellow, his hair bright orange and tawny, 
standing out like a compound of muff and whisker all 
■ round his head and neck. Of course he knows we are in 
fun, but he lifts his paw and gives the stick a side stroke, 
something like a man would do with the flat of his hand, 
the ball socket at the shoulder joint working freely, and 
with the pat he gives we feel the stick tingle in our hand. 
Hn the domestic cat it is strong enough to knock over and 
stun a rat, but a well directed side stroke on the part of the 
f lion simply annihilates the human or bestial form. If the 
i 1 lions are somewhat more of bone crushers and coarser 
feeders, the tigers are rather daintier bone pickers, and 
il clean the osseons and scaffold completely of its flesh cover¬ 
ing. A lion eats majestically, a tiger rather suspiciously, 
I but the leopard eats spitefully, curling his- lip. at you, and 
'giving out an ugly hiss every now and then. 
s; 1 We had time to sec the four sea-lions get their chowder, 
Which was in the guise of a large tin pail full of fish. With 
(ilthe sea-lions it was clean deglutition, the fish going sliding 
>1 down the gullet without a single chaw. It was turn and 
( turn with three of the sea-lions, each one after the other, 
tlf aud they caught food in their mouths as the fish were slung 
jfto them without ever missing one. One sea-lion sat melan- 
jficholy and alone, basking in the sun, snoozing and nodding 
jitiin a kind of dog nap. 
ir | “Anything the matter with him, Air. Lannon? He don’t 
jjseem to be hungry,” we said. 
.,Ip “Ho; it is a way they have. They will keep off feed 
^{sometimes for a week or two, and then come on as raven¬ 
ous as ever.” 
Jj! As we gazed at the mystical figure of the dormant sea- 
{1 ,lion, o’er whose lustrous body there came a gleam of win- 
jtitty sunshine, as he dozed and nodded, sometimes opening 
#l ;his human-like eyes (somewhat goggled) we wondered if the 
’ ■(Egyptian had not brought to old Thebes a faint recollection 
pjOf the sea-lion acquired from some original northern race 
^familiar with th ephocw, whose very name and appearance 
had been long ago forgotten, in past ages, and so converted 
jthe sea-lion into the enigmatical sphynx. 
It does not do to be too imaginative in a menagerie, es¬ 
pecially as reverie and elephant trumpeting do not go well 
together, and so having admired the sacred bull, a neat, 
dapper little animal, as sleek as a partiidge, with such a 
pretty head and clean limbs, we went to see the famous 
Kerry cow and bull, the newest acquisition. The best 
masculine expletives^ in regard to descriptions of these 
dainty little specimens of the bovine race would be out of 
place. “Sweet things, pretty darlings,” said a nice young 
lady by our side, as she rubbed the tiny cow’s head. “By 
my soul,’’.said an Irish laborer as he viewed them, “real 
Kerry cows, and by the token, many’s the time I’ve seen 
’em. Swate milk and swate butter ye would be talkin’ 
about, were ye ever lucky enough to ate it or drink it. 
It’s jest them that makes it. What’s your elephants or 
alligators by the side of ’em? nothing. Och, your darliuts.” 
And pretty beasts they were, and the best idea w r e can give 
of them is to say, just what Shetland ponies are to dray 
horses, so are Kerries to the ordinary cows. When summer 
comes and rich pastures flourish, these Liliputian animals 
will be an ornament to the pretty Park landscape. A 
draft of milk from such a dainty little cow must taste far 
sweeter, be more redolent of daisies and butter-cups, than 
the lacteal productions of your ordinary grosser animal. 
An hour or more passed in the Zoological Department of 
the Central Park in winter gains an interest from the effect 
of contrast. If we are conscious of snow and frost and ice 
outside, the animals, happier than ourselves, are ignorant 
of the rigors of climate, for Mr. Conklin is their second 
Providence. It may be below zero in the Park, even along¬ 
side of the lady companion who shares your sleigh with 
you, but beside the tiger inside (Charles Lamb’s joke not in 
tended) the temperature must be always kept at 60 deg. 
DISAPPEARANCE OF A RACE OF MEN. 
M R. Hordlioff, in an interesting paper on the Sand¬ 
wich Islands, endeavoring to give some reason for 
the steady decrease of the inhabitants, is unable to account 
for it in any other way than by the supposition that when 
the Polynesian wears European clothes such habiliments 
ultimately kills him. In fact the pants, the boots, the 
shoes, the shirt collar of civilization must act on the abori¬ 
ginal, according to Mr. Hordlioff, as did Dejaniera’s tunic 
upon Hercules. Smile as we may at this original idea, 
when we come to look at it closely there is much more in 
it than appears at the first glance. Without entering into an 
eulogium of civilized costume, admirable as to texture and 
color, but miserable as to shape, it is certain its adoption is 
not fitted for all climes. Questions of decency being set aside, 
Mr. Hordlioff argues that the Ot.ahitian wet to the skin, re¬ 
maining in his clothes, catches cold and dies of rheumatism 
or consumption. It is apparent that for the preservation of the 
clothes’ wearers there are other elements necessary, such as 
of cleanliness and the ability to procure shelter. But even 
•with all the opportunities given to those w t 1io might enjoy 
the advantages of civilization, it is quite doubtful whether 
certain races of men in peculiar localities would not be a 
great deal better off in puns naturalibus than if clothed in 
swallow-tailed coats made of glossiest broadcloth. Hot 
disposed, however, in the least to treat in an amusing way 
this most serious question of the depopulation of the Islands 
of the Pacific, anthropologically it is most interesting to 
study the facts, though the reasons for the decrease may 
not be fully ascertained. 
That a certain depressing influence is possessed by the 
white man which extirpates in time inferior races, though 
not proven, is undoubtedly true. Civilization, with its bless¬ 
ings, brings with it a train of evils, such as diseases and 
the use of stimulants. 
That these sinister influences have had a terrible effect 
among the people of the Sandwich Islands every one knows. 
Though every islander there may read and write and attend 
Sabbath school, and behave as a Christian, still he cannot 
prevent death, and death which comes to him earlier and 
in a more general w T ay than to the inhabitants of those 
countries from which his civilization is borrowed. Here, 
however, it might be advanced that the white man is in 
large proportion and that his sinister influence was more 
directly felt by the Polynesian. What shall we say of an 
island, insignificant as to size, sparsely occupied by the 
natives themselves, scarcely inhabited by the white man, 
where the natives are to be found imperceptibly fading 
away like snow before the sun of the white man? 
In the Anthropological Review we see the case of the Gam- 
bier Islands cited. Discovered in 1797, they were first oc¬ 
cupied by missionaries as late as 1834. In that year certain 
good French Fathers went there and found the sum total 
of people to be about 2,141. To-day there are but 936 
people. In eleven years there were 2,061 deaths and only 
1,581 births. From the calculation made of the possible 
deaths and births it seems pretty certain that in a few years 
no native will be alive. 
During the last thirty years the islanders have enjoyed 
the most profound peace. The missionaries are more than 
careful as to the morality of their flock. Diseases have not 
been introduced by the whites, food is in fair quantity, no 
liquors are to be had, and everybody is vaccinated and de¬ 
cently clothed, marriages between the whites and the na¬ 
tives are of the rarest occurrence, but consumption is 
sweeping the islanders from off the face of the earth. 
The only argument that can be deduced is one of a physi¬ 
ological character. The population of the island being 
small, and fresh blood, new strains of life, being impossible 
of introduction, after the race has arrived at a certain ex¬ 
cellence of mind and body, it must, about our present period, 
have commenced to deteriorate. Whether this change 
was first visible in the mental capacities of their enfeeble- 
ment, of course we have no opportunity of judging, as this 
could only be discovered by comparisons with the mental 
calibre of natives who had long passed awajq but that the 
physical retrogression, the want of vitality, the inability 
to resist disease, is manifested to-day, is quite evident. 
Humanity should take such subjects in hand, and anthro¬ 
pologists might, instead of wasting time in speculative sci¬ 
ence, enter at once into the field and devise measures for the 
preservationof a race which without some assistance must in 
time disappear from off the face of the earth. It seems to us 
that human races could be preserved, just as are the beasts 
and fish. Pretty mncli the same laws govern all creation. 
-- 
POINTER AND SETTER MATCH—MR. G 
MACDONNA IN THE FIELD. 
T HE following letter from the Rev. J. Camming Mac- 
donna was received by us last Tuesday, and will be 
read with some reigret. However, we feel interested to 
know that the Reverend gentlemen has disposed of his 
kennel of valuable dogs, with all their engagements to G. 
Macdonna, Esq. This latter gentlemen, it appears, is well 
acquainted with the United States and speaks of the country 
and people in the most enthusiastic manner. It will be 
understood that although the Rev. J. C. Macdonna has parted 
with his kennel of dogs this will in no wise interfere with 
the coming match:— 
West Kirby, Birkenhead, England, February 13, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
I see you have had a photograph of “Belle” published as the best 
pointer in England. It occurred to me you might perhaps wish also to 
have-‘Ranger” as the best setter in England, winner at the Bala Field 
Trials on grouse, also Ipswich Field Trials, and beating all other crack 
dogs. 
I have just been appointed to an important Rectory—Rector of Chca- 
dle, near Manchester, and in order to give my undivided attention to my 
new parish and parishioners have disposed of my whole kennel, in one 
lot, to G. Macdonna, Esq., who will carry out all the engagements of my 
dogs, including the great international match. Mr. Macdonna has been 
three times on a tour through the States, and is more of an American, 
almost, than an Englishman, so fond is he of its people and country, and 
so lively a recollection has he of the unbounded hospitality he received 
whilst in the States. 
There is one point I join issue with you upon, in your very interesting 
article upon the forthcoming match, “The dog dropping to his point.’ 
Although to stand on point looks prettier, yet for high mettled dogs that 
will work till they die rather than give in, I think if they drop to their 
point it gives exhaustive nature a chance of recuperating itself by a rest, 
though it would be of shore duration. J. Gumming Macdonna. 
We feci highly complimented by this letter, as the 
Reverend gentlemen is one of the ablest writers and most 
careful and successful breeders in England. In regard to 
that portion of Mr. Macdonna’s letter where he joins issue 
with the writer as to the dogMropping to his point, we beg 
to state that it would never do in this country to go back to 
the original instinct of the setting spaniel in the setter as 
unless the shooting should always take place in the dead 
'open the dogs would be invisible half the day and take the 
field sportsman most of the time to hunt up his own dogs. 
Art Gallery at Amherst College. —Professor 
Mather, of Amherst College, during his recent 
tour through Europe, visited many of the principal 
cities of Prussia and Bavaria, where we learn from 
the Amherst Student he succeeded in securing in those 
places for the Art-Gallery, the most extensive and complete 
collection of casts and photographs that has ever been at¬ 
tempted in this country, at least by any institution of learn¬ 
ing. With only $7,500—a much smaller sum than he had 
hoped to be able to spend—lie has secured an amazing 
amount. The Professor says that one of the chief benefits 
arising from the trip and the purchases made, is the infor¬ 
mation which he gained. He learned not only the address 
of cast manufacturers and art publishers heretofore un¬ 
known in this country, but he found some of the finest 
works of art in the most out-of-the-way places imaginable. 
Hereafter the college can with perfect safety, order directly 
from these manufactures. The whole collection numbers 
nearly 2,000 objects, of which one hundred are casts. These 
casts comprise works of art never before seen in this 
country, and are for the most part of the full size of the 
originals; among them are a set of Phibertis’ famous bronze 
doors to the Baptistry at Florence; these are twenty feet 
high and include all the cornices and moldings pertaining 
to the doors. There is only one other copy of them in the 
country. A full set of easts of the famous Elgin marbles, 
which were part of the prize of the Parthenon, will be 
placed around the hall in the shape of a cornice, while the 
rest of the hall will be occupied by the busts, statuettes, 
and the photographs. The latter comprise photographs of 
all the principal objects in the British Museum, copies of 
famous paintings, including many from the Shakspeare, 
Faust. Goethe, and Schiller galleries in Munich, besides 
views from Venice, Constantinople, etc. Ho one of these 
photographs being of small size, while many cost from $9 
to $12 apiece. 
To Haturalists. —We wish to call the especial attention 
of naturalists to tire article in this issue from the pen of 
Hon. J. D. Caton, of Ottawa, Illinois, upon the “glandu¬ 
lar system on the hind leg of the cervidse as designating 
species.” notwithstanding the long and thorough investi¬ 
gation which the writer has given to the subject, the im¬ 
portance of which has not been fully appreciated, there 
are some points that remain to be examined to fully estab¬ 
lish and complete this chain of evidence, and if such as 
have facilities will examine carefully for the metatarsal 
gland on the outside of the hind leg of the European elk 
and reindeer, and for both glands on our barren ground 
caribou it may help to elicit the information so much de¬ 
sired. 
