May 5, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



709 



The recent introduction* by Dr. Kieffer of 

 an entirely new material will be of much in- 

 terest to the surgeon, but it likewise will be 

 of no less interest to the American ornitholo- 

 gist. Dr. Kieffer found after a series of ex- 

 periments that the tendons of the Ardeidse and 

 Gruidse made an excellent suture and ligature 

 and, moreover, that they seemed to possess 

 some advantages over the present materials, 

 principally kangaroo tendon and catgut. The 

 flexor and extensor tendons of the great blue 

 heron (Ardea herodias) were first made use 

 of, and later those of the sand hill crane 

 (Grus canadensis) and whooping crane ((?. 

 americana). The tendons were readily made 

 aseptic by the Claudius method of sterilizing 

 catgut. 



Regarding his experiments Dr. Kieffer says : 

 " There is still room in the armamentarium 

 of the surgeon for a reliable, slowly absorbable 

 suture and ligature material. I have been re- 

 cently investigating a material which I believe 

 to be entirely new. Dr. Geo. P. Johnson, of 

 Cheyenne, called my attention to the long and 

 strong tendons in the legs of the bird com- 

 monly known throughout the United States as 

 the blue crane. He had used this material 

 with excellent results as a suture for the 

 aponeurosis in a case of hernia, the suture 

 giving no trouble and apparently being ab- 

 sorbed in time. I obtained from him a num- 

 ber of these tendons and immediately began a 

 series of experiments to test their value. * * * 

 As a result of these studies I have come to 

 the conclusion that we have not only a valu- 

 able suture and ligature material, but one 

 easily obtained in all parts of the world." It 

 is to be wondered that the tendons of the 

 larger grallatorial birds were not long ago 

 thought of as suitable material for surgical 

 purposes. Dr. Johnson is to be commended 

 for his originality. 



Thus the herons and cranes are given an 

 economic value which unfortunately must 

 further add to their destruction. Think of 

 the thousands of these birds which would have 

 to be killed annually should this material be 



* ' A New Material for Sutures and Ligatures,' 

 Charles F. Kieffer, M.D., Jour. Am. Med. Assn., 

 1904, pp. 1519-1522. 



adopted for ligature and suture purposes by 

 even a small proportion of our American sur- 

 geons. 



It is the least of my desire to criticize the 

 author above referred to. His well-conducted 

 experiments are commendable, but only to 

 voice a word of warning to what at present 

 might prove the extermination of the larger 

 members of two great families of birds. 



Unlike the Anseres (ducks, geese, swans) 

 and members of the order Gallinse, notably 

 the bob-white {Colinus virginianus) , the mem- 

 bers of the Ardeidse and Gruidse are far from 

 prolific breeders. Members of the latter-named 

 families rarely lay over five eggs, while , cer- 

 tain ducks lay as high as fifteen and the bob- 

 white often more than twenty. Moreover, the 

 latter two species often raise more than one 

 brood in a season, and it is doubtful if the 

 herons and cranes ever do. This will par- 

 tially account for the survival of the game 

 birds in spite of the inroads caused by gun- 

 ners. Furthermore, herons build in colonies 

 termed heronries, ^o that once the breeding 

 place is located their capture is made easy. 

 Thus the herons {A. herodias) of any one 

 county of Michigan, for instance, might be 

 exterminated by one hunter in the course of 

 a season, should there be demand. 



Unlike a great proportion of our American 

 birds, little can be said of the economic value 

 of members of the above-mentioned families, 

 either as benefactors to agriculture as insect 

 and weed-seed destroj^ers, or as articles of 

 food. 



A plea for the herons and cranes then can 

 be made solely on sentimental grounds. It is 

 their esthetic value, not as songsters, but their 

 beauty, the grace which their presence adds 

 to the landscape of the various portions of our 

 continent. The history of a departing race is 

 always a sad one and, judging from the thou- 

 sands of dollars which are spent annually on 

 our zoological gardens, we are inclined to be- 

 lieve that our people admire rather than de- 

 sire to exterminate any of our native fauna. 

 Truly the places occupied by our herons and 

 cranes is a typical one, and as ornithologists 

 we should aim to preserve rather than destroy. 



Already some members of the tribe have 



