Sept. 16, 18SG,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



14B 



was interested either in the cracker on which it had its 

 foot, or any other food we had brought. After it left liis 

 hand the bird was soon out of sight. This was the only 

 titmouse we saw that day, though we heard their notes 

 off in the marsh several times as we went on to get trail- 

 ing arbutus. What we had seen seemed like the vision of 

 a fairy dream. We were both considerably affected by it 

 and consider it one of the pleasant incidents of our lives. 



It was an interesting coincidence that we were speaking 

 of a case of familiarity on the part of this bu'd, and less 

 than ten minutes later witnessed ourselves a still more 

 remarkable instance of the same thing. E. L. Moseley. 



Grand Rapids, Mich. 



"LIKE CURES LIKE." 



JUST as I was concluding my paper on the Ptomaines 

 last year (see Forest" and Streaai, Aug. 20, 1885), 

 news arrived from Paris that M. Pastern-, after five years 

 of patient labors, indulged a confident belief in the suc- 

 cess of his treatment of hydrophobia by inoculation. 

 The previous discoveries of M. Pastem-,' had ah-eady 

 caused him to be regarded as one of the greatest benefac- 

 tors of the human race, and now this new and most start- 

 ling remedy of all prompted me then to add the specula- 

 tive words, "Perhaps a prophylactic against snate bite 

 may come next." Inoculation for various diseases on the 

 principle Similia similibus curan tur, seemed to be the 

 success of the day and the hope of the future, and I ven- 

 tui-ed to throw out the suggestion, ' 'Why not for snake 

 bite, also?" not, however, claiming originality in the 

 idea, but only seizing on that occasion to re-inti-oduce it. 

 Since then several instances where inoculation with venom 

 is really practiced as a protective have come to my knowl- 

 edge, a column in a London paper {Globe, March 31) being 

 the restilt. Encom-aged by the fact that the subject 

 proved of sufficient interest to be partially reproduced in 

 these columns (Forest and Stream, .June 24), I will now 

 add a few more cases in point, corroborating the some- 

 what vague assertion that among certam half savage 

 tribes the custom still prevails of inoculation with snake 

 venom as a protective principle, in the language of science 

 an anti-toxic. 



Among the many instances aheady recorded was that 

 the people along the coast of Southern Mexico (tlie pre- 

 cise part not named) have a habit of inoculating them- 

 selves with the vii-us of the rattlesnake or some other 

 poisonous serpent, which novel vaccinuation renders them 

 absolutely safe from the bite of the deadhest reptiles. 

 Another example, also from the New World, is a state- 

 ment by the Eev. Charles Bixby, a native of Surinam, 

 that in Dutch Guiana, preventive inoculation of snake 

 poison has been practiced there for centuries, Tlie venom 

 glands are extracted, dried and pulverized, and some of 

 the powder is nibbed into a wound caused by abrasion of 

 the skin, generally on the arm. Persons thus treated are 

 said to be bitten with impunity. Through these columns 

 both these reports, containing' so much of practical inter- 

 est at the present moment, may meet the eyes of those who 

 may be able either to confirm or to investigate the truth 

 of them. 



A still more recent, though incidental, testimonv of the 

 use of the chied venom gland is given by Mr. G' A. Fa- 

 ruii, in his lately published work "Through the Kralahari 

 Desert." The behef prevails among the Bushmen, he 

 tells us, that two venoms destroy each other, and that the 

 natives invariably provide themselves Avith the "dried 

 poison sac" of a venomous snake. With this in then- 

 pocket they are not afi-aid of the most deadly species. 

 Mr. Farini witnessed the treatment in the case of some 

 of then- oxen which were bitten by a viper. One of the 

 Bushmen made a few sUght incisions round the Avounds 

 and rubbed in a powder which he said was prepared from 

 the dried venom glands of another snake. In a few hours 

 the cattle were well again. One of the Bushmen who 

 declared that he was not afraid of the bite of the deadliest 

 snake so long as he was provided with a di-ied vemon 

 sac to i-ub into the wound, illustrated the treatment 

 on his own person much sooner than he anticipated. 

 For he actually Avas bitten. CooUy taking out some dried 

 poison sacs he reduced them to a powder, pricked his foot 

 near the bite and rubbed in the powder as he had done 

 with the cattle. Then he extracted the fangs and glands 

 of another snake (an elaps 5 or 6ft. long) which had been 

 previously killed, drank a drop of the poison from the 

 virus sac and f eU into a stupor which lasted some hom-s. 

 (Tliis stupor ^A-as probably as much the effect of the bite 

 as of the drop of venom which he swallowed) at fii-st the 

 wound SAvelled greatly as we are told, but began to sub- 

 side after a time. The next morning he again inoculated 

 himself. In four days the swelling had enthely subsided 

 and he AA-as well. A small hzard, whose name is not 

 given but wliioh is supposed to be venomous, is dried and 

 used in the same way as a remedy for its bite. The 

 behef is that the two venoms neuti-alize each other. 



These facts being mcidental, not special records, related 

 by a non-scientific witness, it may be argued that the bite 

 could not have been very deep, or that the snake may not 

 have been a poisonous one, and the victims might have 

 recovered without any remedies at all. Just as M. 

 Pasteur's opponents contend when a patient has recovered, 

 that the dog that had bitten him was not mad, and that 

 he Avovdd not have had liydrophobia in any case. To which 

 we may reply with the old adage, the remedy would have 

 been worse than the disease, for snake venom, even 

 diluted, may kill a person. Besides, the Bushmen do not 

 appear to confine tJie principle "hke cmres like" to snake 

 bites only. Scorpions abound in that region, especially 

 near the Orange River, where you can scarcely turn over 

 a stone of any size without exposing a scorpion, A Bush- 

 man in Mr. Farini's company got sttmg by one and im- 

 mediately provoked a second scorpion to 'sting him as a 

 remedy for the first woimd. Another Bushman told Mr. 

 Farini that A\'hen working in that district he got stung so 

 often that the venom had no effect upon him. 



With a creature still smaller than even snake or scor- 

 pion the process of assimilation or the rendering the sys- 

 tem tolerant of animal poisons, has been proved in the 

 sting of a bee. A young medical man a few years ago 

 experimented a good deal Avith bees, in which he was 

 much mterested, and he fotmd that after he had been 

 stung a few times he became proof against further stings. 

 His experiments were recorded in a periodical devoted to 

 the interests of bee-keepers, Tlie Bee-Keeper's Journal, I 

 think it was. The circumstance is an interesting corro- 

 boration of the method xmder consideration. 



Few would have the courage to experimentalize on 

 heir own persons, by rubbing: in dried snake venom as a 



reventive in case of being bitten; but as a remedy when 

 itten there would be less danger in trying it. It 'is note- 

 worthy that the whole gland— not merely the contents- 

 are dried by the Bushmen and the natives of Dutch 

 Gviiana, the venom by which means becoming to a cer- 

 tain extent adulterated or modified, as is the case Avith 

 M. Pasteitr's prepared rabific virus, on the vaccination 

 principle of a milder form of virus or of disease protect- 

 ing the body from the more fatal attack. 



That the system can be rendered callous to or tolerant 

 of mild serpent venom has been proA-ed by Dr. Stradling's 

 experiments on his own person, Tliis well-known ophi- 

 ologist pursued a course of scientific studies in serpent 

 venom for several years, and he affirms that he so far suc- 

 ceeded as to render himself proof against the bite of some 

 of the smaller venomous snakes of South America, when 

 his return to settle in England pixt a stop to Ins experi- 

 ments. In a pitblished letter he says: "That a tolerance 

 can be established by habitude for certain snake venom I 

 have proved on my oaati person; and in this there is noth- 

 ing special to these more than to any other animal poi- 

 sons." And we now find confirmation to this in the case 

 of scorpions and bees as Avell as snakes, and no doubt 

 many other noxious tilings against which the human 

 organization becomes proof in time. Accidents from 

 snake bites are not rare, even in America, and the Bush- 

 men's remedy might be tried first on animals, but care 

 must be taken in handUng the powder, Avhicli might pene- 

 trate a wounded finger and produce fatal results to an 

 unbitten agent. Catherine C, Hoplet, 

 London, England, 



Red and Gray Squirrels.— McKeesport, Pa, Sept. 6. 

 — While canoe cruising and camping on the Cheat River 

 in West Virginia this unimer, one evening the camp- 

 fire conversation turned upon the much mooted disap- 

 pearance of gxay squirrels on the advent of the reds. 

 After numerolis instances had been cited, an old-time 

 trapper who had trapped successively in Kentucky, Ohio, 

 Miclugau and Jtanitoba, told us that it was a well knoAvn 

 fact that gray squirrels castrate their yoimg, leaving a 

 few only to keep up the breed, and that Avhile knowing 

 this he had never heard of red squirrels castrating greys, 

 but this fact he had witnessed on two occasions. Perhaps 

 there are other reasons for the disappearance of gi"ay 

 squhTols, but the above looks very plausible and was told 

 by a man of undoubted veracity and was news to the 

 three "tenderfeet," who, however, are going to do it again 

 next season and so gradually become "old stagers." — C. 

 V, W, [This subject Avas discussed at some length in the 

 Forest and Stream, December, 1877, and February, 1878. 

 The conclusion there drawn from the evidence iiresented 

 was that while in certain instances the gray or black 

 squm-els might suffer in this Avay as an incident of the 

 war of the reds upon them, in the vast majority of cases 

 when the organs appeared to be wanting they were in 

 reaUty present in an undeveloped condition. See issue of 

 Feb. 21, 1878,] 



Snake Fangs and Rattles Wanted,— A well-knoAvn 

 English lady ophiologist, who is taking an enthusiastic in- 

 terest in the American Exhibition to be held in London next 

 year, is desirous of completing a collection of Ci'otalus 

 fangs and rattles, to form an exhibit. Should this meet 

 the eye of naturalists or sportsmen who happen to en- 

 counter rattlesnakes, and who are similarly zealous in 

 the cause of science, they can add greatly to the interest 

 of the scientific department of the display by sending 

 the rattles and fangs of such snakes. In order to make 

 such an exhibit interesting, each pair of fangs should be 

 kept Avith the rattle of the same snake, accompanied bA' 

 its name, and wherever possible, details of its length, 

 Avhere found, and whether a fuU or a half-groAvn snake. 

 As the rattlesnake season is draAving to a close and the 

 exhibit must be prepared before the spring campaign 

 commences, early responses will be welcome. We will 

 undertake to forward to the American office of the exhi- 

 bition such specimens as may be contributed. 



Spotted Sandpiper SwiMmNG.- While collecting birds 

 along Buffalo Creek, near this place, a short time since, I 

 shot and wounded a spotted sandpiper as it was flying 

 near the surface of the water. It fell in the water ."^and 

 on my approach I was much sm-prised to see it dive and 

 swim for about 15ft, beneath the water. The stream at 

 tliis point was about 12ft, wide and 2ft. deep, and without 

 a ripple, so every motion of the bird could be distinctly 

 seen. In SAvimming it used its wings in much the same 

 manner as it would in flying, and at every stroke would 

 dart tln-ough the AA-ater a distance varying from 6 to 12in. . 

 keeping about a foot below the surface of the water and 

 near the bank. The feet were kept sti-aight out behind 

 and were not used at all. After a long cliase in this 

 manner it Avas captiu-ed and found to be slightly woimded. 

 I have frequently shot and wounded tliem as they were 

 flying over water but never knew one to swim' under 

 water before.— H. A, Kline (Forreston, 111.). 



Fangs op the Rattlesnake.— Fruitland, Fla. , Sept, 6. 

 — Editor Forest and Streajn : 1 send you to-dav by mail 

 the fangs taken from a rattlesnake killed by iiie in this 

 neighborhood. It measured 7ft. 2in. in length and was 

 30in. in cu-cumference. I send them to convince you as 

 weU as others that rattlesnakes have more than two'fangs. 

 Yon AviU see that the largest fang was grovm into the 

 jawbone, the mate to it was broken oft', therefore I did 

 not extract it; there were also some that were too smaU 

 to handle and Avere not extracted. Some time ago I saw 

 it stated in your columns that rattlesnakes had but two 

 fangs, I trust that these wid convince you that they have 

 more, in fact a good sm-plus for future' emergencies.— H. 

 R. Smith. [The fangs sent by our correspondent are 

 twenty-one in number, from i^gin. to lin. in length. Is 

 not the measurement of the girth as here given, 30in., an 

 error?] 



Now that the fall fashions are about being inti'oduced, 

 let the ladies of the United States show their good taste 

 and delicate womanly instincts by refusing to buy hats 

 and bonnets upon which the plumage of birds is in any 

 way used for trimming or decoration. Other forms of 

 ornamentation quite as pretty and more appropriate can 

 be devised, and by taking a firm stand in the way indicated 

 the fair sex can do an incalculable amount of good in the 

 preservation of the singing and insectivorous birds of the 

 comitry , which are now in great danger of •xtermination. 

 — Washington livening Star, Sept. X. 



All newsdealera eell Foragf and Straam Fabl0$, 



'>dme §Hg md 0tttj[. 



Address oR communications to the Forest and Stream Pttft, Go. 



TRAJECTORIES OF HUNTING RIFLES. 



A FULL report, of the tests made by the Forest AND 

 Stream, at Creedmoor Range, Sept. 26-Oct. 19, 188.5. 

 This was the most elaborate and careful trial of the trajecto- 

 ries of hunting lifles ever undertaken. The test AA^as made 

 wholly Avith the purpose of determining facts; and the re- 

 sults as here given embody a vast amount of practical 

 inf ox-mation about the principles of rifle shootiag. Thirty- 

 four rifles Avere tested, including the several calibers. The 

 report should be in the hands of all rifle shooters, Avhether 

 their practice be at the range or on game. Price 50 cents. 



TWO OF A KIND. 



I. 



BOSTON, Mass., Sept. IB.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The vacationist has left the haunts of the fisherman. 

 The first frosty nights of autunm ai-e usually too much 

 for his kid-gloved organism. He has left the field to the 

 true sportsman, who loves the frosty air and the crisp 

 autumn days, when all the glory of the maple and the 

 somber coat of the bu-ch is to be had Avith the outing. 

 The tourist — the hotel blower — has departed for the sea- 

 son, but not yet his hm-tfid babble in the newspapers. 

 What would you think, good Forest and Stream, of a 

 man who would steal and then brag of it in a newspaper 

 article? Wliat would you think of the moral standing of 

 the paper that would allow a correspondent to publish 

 such an article? 



The Boston Sunday Times came out last Sunday with 

 an article pm-porting to have been Avritten at a camp on 

 Lake Kennebago, in Maine, the closing of which is as 

 follows: 



1 am now a fugitive from justice. Two days ago I shot my flrst 

 deer, and this is how it was. There Avere Uvo in the hoat'as we 

 silently paddled up the stream to Little Kennebago. The day 

 was cool and bright and considerable breeze was stirrmg, the most 

 inauspicious time to hunt this cautious animal. AH day we sat, 

 silent, Avith scarce a noise, save the ripple of the Avater on the 

 sides of our canoe. In the afternoon we paddled to the shores of 

 Little Kennebago and slept. Two hours after sundown AA'e lit our 

 ' jack," as the lantern raised on a mast in the hoA\' is called. It 

 A^-as a beautiful Ferguson costing in th.e neighborhood of §10, and 

 at this expense I reasoned we should surely entice the game. As 

 we rounded the inlet the moon seemed hidden under a cloud and 

 the waters were calm. I heard a slight noise. Our lamp shed a 

 long beam on the water before ns. In an instant I could see two 

 bright eyes intently gazing at the Hght. I recognized the form of 

 a deer standing in the water. I fired, and a handsome 3 year old 

 doe Aveighing I751bs. dropped. My excitement and enthusiasm 

 came then. When we reached camp, I awoke mv fellow com- 

 panion and we both viewed the spoils, and I felt the A-iotor. The 

 moon Avas high above us, the forest densely black, and the pale 

 light shimmered o'er the Avaters of the lake, and there stretched 

 across the canoe, with still bleeding throat, lay the deer. We 

 shall always remember that sight. If any reader comes up to 

 Kennebfl.go he may Aisit our camp, Avhere he avQI be ti-eated 

 cordially, and see the pelt stretched to dry, far from the Avarden's 

 sharp eye, back in the wood. Notsem. 



Now, I have not the slightest doubt that the feUow 

 has lied and has never shot a deer, but the harm he 

 has done in telling it is all the same. In another part of 

 his article he goes on to say that Warden Huntoon, game 

 and fish warden of that section, is "one of the most un- 

 popular men of that part of the country." Was a sheriff 

 ever popular with thieves? If that correspondent of the 

 Sunday Times did actually shoot a deer, as he claims, 

 then he is guilty of steahng — stealing from every honest 

 sportsman the game the law was made to protect. He 

 ought to be punished and the shame that an honest man 

 would feel would hardly reach him, for he has published 

 lumself as a "fugitive from justice." As much as to say; 

 "I have committed a crime and am proud of it." But if 

 he Avill come out from behind his nom. de pZ«?7iC and send 

 his true name to the Forest and Stream, to be for- 

 warded to me, I will fix his case so that he can never set 

 foot on Maine soil again without being arrested. And 

 more than this, I will promise to try my best to persuade 

 Grov. Robinson to grant a requisition, in"order that he may 

 be taken back to Maine for punishment. If Warden 

 Huntoon is unpopular, then it may interest tins Avriter in 

 the Sunday Times to know that an effort will be made in 

 the Maine Legislatiu'e this winter to have the State fur- 

 nish about ten mipopular men — unpopular to lawbreakers 

 and thieves — ten wardens where there is noAv one, to 

 guard and protect her large game dm-ing the close season. 

 The best men in Maine are waking up to the value of her 

 game and fish to the State, if j)rotected during a proper 

 season, and no doubt money can be had to do the Avork 

 that a few "unpopular men" have heretofore had to do 

 for nothing. Special. 



n. 



Hamilton, Ont, Sept. 11.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The inclosed Avas clipped from the Hamilton Sjoeetator of 

 this city of Sept, 2, which is proof sufficient that the deeds 

 committed by the pai'ties, who cannot be termed sports- 

 men, must have occm-red in August, The item is credited 

 to the Syracuse, N. Y., Courier: 



Henry J. JIoAvry and party arrived home from Canada at 10 

 o'clock last night. Mr. MoAATy reports that the partv had a most 

 enjoyable time. They Avere joined by Colonel John M. Strong at 

 Belleville, and proceeded 70 miles up the Trent River to G-ilmore 

 Station, Avhich is located on a chain of lakes and surrounded by 

 the dense Canadian forests. Colonel Lamont enjoyed the fisMng 

 and hunting greatly, and proved himself an expert with the rod. 

 Deputy Collector Davis, of Binghamton, caught 100 fish in on© 

 afternoon. A fine catch of salmon was made, and all the gentle- 

 men agreed that for fishing and huutiag the locality far surpassed 

 the Adirondacks. The party kJlled a four-year-old buck and the 

 partridges were as plenty as robins in the country. Colonel 

 Lamont deriA-ed great benefit from his trip and was charmed with 

 the locality. Collector Beach declared last night that he had never 

 had a better time in his life. He tells a romantic story about 

 catching a gamy salmon, and, of course, embellishes the narrative 

 in the usual manner of an expert fisherman. The entire party 

 were delighted with the trip, which each one intends to take again 

 next summer. 



As in Ontario partridges do not come in till the loth 

 of September and deer tmtil the 15th of October, it is 

 apparent that Mr, Mowry, the colonels and collector 

 have broken otu- laws. Good care wiU be taken that 

 the sportsmen about Belleville are informed of this 

 breach of the laAv, and that steps will be taken to 

 punish those at Gihnore Station who aided them. Surely 

 the sportsmen at Syracuse and Binghamton Avill have 

 spirit enough to send Mr. MoAvry, Col. John M. Strong, 

 Col. Lamont, Deputy Collector Davis and Collector Beach 

 to Coventry. Arch'd E. I^Ialloch, 



Prest. Wentworth Fish and Game Asso'n, 



