386 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 7, 1888, 



THROUGH MI RAM IC HI. -IV. 



THE young gentleman from Harvard called on us 

 with his Indian, Nicholas, brother to Joe. We 

 offered them the rough hospitality of our camp, and com- 

 pared notes of our adventures. He had shot two bears 

 while dropping down the river quietly. They haunt the 

 banks at this season to feed on the squaw berries, which 

 are of a white color and pleasant acid flavor, and in a 

 week or two are all devoured, though now growing in 

 large quantities. Until these berries have grown ripe 

 the bears have been regaling themselves on blueberries. 

 In a week or two more they will again visit the blueberry 

 regions, until the f rosts ruin their ^flavor, whereupon they 

 will find groves of oak and beech and feed on the fallen 

 nuts, until the sharp frosts warn them of the approach of 

 winter, and the first snow gives an earnest of its coming, 

 whereupon they will immure themselves in a cave or 

 among fallen boughs and roots, closing up the entrance 

 very cunningly and leaving a small ah- hole only. The 

 steam of their breath ascending through this small 

 aperture is commonly the only means of betraying then- 

 winter hiding place to the hunter. They spare no pre- 

 cautions to avert suspicion from their sleeping place, 

 even sometimes going backward, it is said, on the soft 

 snow, and taking immense sidelong jumps from fallen 

 logs. Joe tells me that they invariably enter their dens 

 while snow is falling, so that their tracks may be covered 

 up. These tricks evince reason almost as much as the 

 clever trick of the highwayman who reversed the shoes 

 of his horse and effectually evaded his pursuers by the 

 ruse. They go to then whiter dens very fat, and waking 

 up in the spring, after their long fit of unconsciousness, 

 have apparently lost no flesh by the long fast, but grow 

 very thin when they emerge and travel about, and are 

 then most dangerous. 



Mr. Simpson, on the same evening of his arrival, had 

 heard two bears crackling in the bushes, and had seen 

 one protrude his head as if to take notes, climbing up a 

 tree trunk, but vanishing before he could cover him with 

 the rifle. 



One of the most extraordinary facts that applies to all 

 wild animals I believe is that they do not appear to dread 

 the sight of a man, but have a terror of catching the wind 

 or scent that passes from the human body, and is imper- 

 ceptible to our duller senses. Moose don't trust their 

 eyes, Joe says, but their noses. Eef erring to then keen 

 hearing, he says, "'Moose or bear can hear a mile off." 



Before setting forth to our next point of destination, 

 Upsalwitch Lake, at a distance of six miles, we under- 

 took a toilsome journey to the summit of one of the 

 highest of a range of lulls that we thought offered a good 

 chance of finding a bear. The day was very sultry and 

 the traveling extremely difficult; nor were we rewarded 

 by a successful quest. There were plenty of berries and 

 numerous track of bears; almost every decayed log was 

 broken to splinters by bruin in search of the ants that 

 inhabit them. Mr. Simpson had lately shot two bears in 

 the vicinity, and he was of opinion that this must have 

 frightened the rest away. We had some compensation 

 for our toilsome tramp in the grand view of the lonely 

 wilderness, just before the sun sank behind the hills. 

 From the highest mountain we beheld the lesser hills 

 undulating below us like mountainous waves turned 

 solid, as if some awful voice had suddenly pronounced 

 the fiat to a tossing ocean, "Peace, be still!" Silver 

 threads that wound among the valleys showed the sinu- 

 ous course of the river and its tributaries. One's very 

 being seemed to be absorbed into the scene, to mingle 

 with it and become a part of sky and mountain. Seeking 

 out a copse beside a brook that brawled clown the hill 

 side, we passed the night pleasantly enough beneath the 

 stars, and early next morning returned to camp and com- 

 menced to portage our baggage to Upsalwitch Lake, 

 whence we intended to run down the Upsalwitch Eiver, 

 and reach the Metapedia by the Eestigouche. The 

 weather was intensely hot, and our portage path lay for 

 part of the distance along a meadow, where we oc- 

 casionally sank to our knees in the spongy moss, and 

 were assailed by myriads of flies with an energy I had 

 never before witnessed. 



I have not referred to the flies, but should mention 

 that they are emphatically a terrible nuisance, the 

 aliquid aniari that detracts very largely from the pleas- 

 ure of such a trip as I am describing. They must be felt 

 in their furious attacks for one to realize their full power. 

 I had fortunately provided myself with a gauze netting 

 for the head and gauntlet gloves, but even so, felt much 

 annoyance from their persecutions. 



We were glad to deposit our burdens on the shore of a 

 picturesque lake, from which cranes and ducks rose on 

 the wing beneath the protecting arms of some noble 

 trees. It took us two more days to complete the portage; 

 even the canoe — no contemp'tible burden— had to be 

 carried across. Along this path was a line of bear traps 

 that a hunter had set up last spring. In one we found a 

 few remains of a bear that had been taken after he went 

 out of the woods, and it had been devoured by the other 

 bears. 



As there was a good growth of cedars here, and the 

 first portion of the Upsalwitch stream was likely to be 

 very low, we decided to stop in this comfortable camp 

 for one day and shoe the canoe. This process consisted 

 in cutting long thin strips of cedar, so shaped as to en- 

 velop the canoe in a complete framework, the strips 

 being firmly lashed together by withes and cords. She 

 eould thus be dragged over a rocky bottom with ini- 

 munitv. 



On the following morning we embarked with our pos- 

 sessions on the lake; we saw several grebe ducks swim- 

 ming about, one of which we shot and it proved most 

 delicate in flavor. We also shot two blue wing ducks 

 on our passage to the outlet, a distance of three miles. 

 We were surprised to find the stream so shallow. We 

 were obliged to wade for the first two or three miles and 

 haul the canoe after us. By breaking down two or three 

 beaver dams we were enabled to raise the water con- 

 siderably, as they had backed it up nearly two feet. 

 These interesting and amusing animals are fast disap- 

 pearing from the remorseless pursuit of the hunters; the 

 recent rise in the value of their fwr will further assist in 

 then destruction. We had the opportunity of examin- 

 ing some extensive works in a small tributary brook. 



Joe supposed there were six beavers in this colony, two 

 old ones and four cubs. Why they had chosen a small 

 brook out of which to form an artificial lake with infinite 

 labor, where natural lakes were at their disposal, seemed 

 something of a mystery. Two dams had been built to 

 the height of about four feet, cheifly of mud about five 

 feet thick at the base and two at the apex; the total 

 length of these gigantic walls was at least one hundred 

 yards. Imagine the industry necessary for such a con- 

 struction. Then there were two houses composed in a 

 most skillful manner of mud and sticks, that rose to the 

 height of seven feet, and were at least twelve in diameter. 

 The dams inclosed two ponds, in each of which was a 

 house, the upper doubtless intended as a citadel or refuge 

 in case of being driven from the other. In the middle of 

 then hut they have a landing, where they lie with their 

 heads together all day (like "little boys," Joe said), and 

 their broad trowel-like tails in the water, for they are 

 nocturnal in their habits. They are said to carry mud on 

 then flat tails as well as with their forepaws pressed against 

 the body. We found some enormous beech trees felled 

 by them of nearly eighteen inches in diameter, and a pile 

 of food consisting mostly of limbs of the beech and birch 

 submerged in the water'to last through the winter. The 

 entrances to their house were all under water, and they 

 had numerous sallyports or holes under the roots of trees, 

 where they could find refuge in case of attack. A very in- 

 human way of taking them is to drain off their dams and 

 send in a dog to drive them out— a dog that knows well 

 how to avoid their terrible incisor teeth. The poor ani- 

 mals flounder helplessly in the shallow water and are 

 easily knocked on the head. Then castors, or oil bags, 

 are much prized by hunters, emitting a very pungent 

 smell; when mixed with camphor they prove fatally at- 

 tractive in traps to bear and lynx. 



All along the brook we saw numerous fresh marks of 

 moose; fresh tracks and newly-bitten bushes. In fact, 

 we once must have been nearly upon a moose, for we 

 saw the green chewed leaves he had dropped from his 

 mouth and heard him crackling in the timber at some 

 little distance, but saw him not. He had caught our 

 scent no doubt. We had just crossed some meadows 

 that were well beaten with their tracks and had seen 

 numerous marks in the shingle; so that we were startled, 

 but hardly surprised, when on turning a bend we beheld 

 before us, at about 200yds. , a fine bull and cow standing 

 in the river. I got my rifle ready and leaped into the 

 river; meanwhile the bull had partly hidden himself in 

 some thick growth at the bank, and I brought down the 

 cow. The bullet hit in the neck bone, she fell like a log, 

 and I went in search of the bull; but terrified by the fate 

 of his mate he had traveled swiftly away, and a shot sent 

 after him just as he disappeared proved a miss. Rregret- 

 ting his fine head and horns, we turned our attention to 

 the fallen cow, and pitched tent in a cozy, sheltered spot 

 near by, protected by a fine growth of hemlocks. The 

 springy moss furnished the most luxurious bed it ever has 

 been my lot to recline upon. This cow was a young ani- 

 mal, the flesh proved very fat and delicious, and the hide 

 was of a beautiful brown. 



Early on the following morning we dropped down the 

 stream, now grown considerably in volume, two miles to 

 the falls, which were very picturesque, but were devoid 

 of any grandeur. Here the river makes a long elbow or 

 bend, and by making a portage of three miles we were 

 enabled to accomplish six miles of river. By nightfall 

 we had portaged all our stuff to the river's brink at the 

 place of re-embarkment, and here we made preparations 

 for passing a quiet Sunday. Nothing was lacking for 

 the promotion of our comfort, our table was well supplied 

 with fish, fowl and flesh; the air was balmy, and its 

 breath was sweet with the soft odors from the forest; our 

 surroundings were very romantic, our tent being pitched 

 in a valley surrounded by fine hills, well wooded. Dur- 

 ing the night we were awakened by some caribou that 

 passed near the tent, and frequently struck their horns 

 against the trunks of trees, but it was too dark to get a 

 shot at them. 



On Monday morning we proceeded down the dancing 

 waters of the Uspsalwiteh, that by receiving tributary 

 brooks soon swelled into a river of very respectable 

 size. 



When we paused for lunch we removed the cedar shoes 

 from the canoe, as the water now allowed of our run- 

 ning freely without contact with the sharp rocks. 



We ran over hundreds of salmon that were assembling 

 in the pools in the vicinity of the spawning grounds, 

 preparatory to the act of spawning. It was very amusing 

 to disturb a large fish in very shallow water and watch 

 his plunges and swift darts hither and thither. In one 

 pool we saw some 200 fish, none exceeding 201bs. , the 

 fish of this river as a rule running small. 



It took us two days to reach the Restigouche and two 

 very enjoyable days they were. The men, relieved of 

 any toil, were in excellent spirits, the bark floated mer- 

 rily along, only needing steering; rapidly we passed sweet 

 bits of intervale, shaded by tall elms and steep rocky 

 cliffs, and hardwood groves and imposing hills and 

 mountains. 



The gliding panorama did not include the habitations 

 of men until we neared the Restigouche, and these were 

 now deserted— picturesque little fishing villas, owned by 

 wealthy New orkers and occupied by them for a brief 

 season only. 



The broad Restigouche seemed very noble when we 

 were fairly launched on its bosom. The scenery now 

 grew pastoral, a sudden change from the rugged forest 

 scenes we had grown accustomed to. We met parties 

 being towed up stream in launches by a pair of horses 

 going to their winter's exile in the grim forests in a very 

 jolly frame of mind, keeping up their spirits with lively 

 songs and breakdowns. 



In another hour we had our canoe drawn ashore at 

 Metapedia and our journey was for the present at an 

 end, for here Was the railway station, and Ave were soon 

 on board the train for Bathurst, whence Joe had started 

 exactly four weeks previously. 



I am sorry to have to record that Joe took the first 

 opportunity of getting gloriously drunk on that ' 'drink 

 of the heroes" — as Dr. Johnson styles brandy — and 

 showed he could be a hero of the spirit-loving order as 

 well as a hero of the hunt. 



"Full many a glorious morning had I seen 

 Flutter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, 

 Kissing with golden face the forests green, 

 Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy." 



Arthur P. Silver. 



SNAKE BITE AND ITS ANTIDOTE.— IV. 



Experiments With Crotalus Venom and Reputed 

 Antidotes, with Notes on the Saliva of 

 Heloderma (" Gila Monster"). 



BY H. C. YARROW. M.D. 

 Curator Department Reptiles, U. S. National Museum. 



A GREAT number of different plans of treatment have 

 been suggested to the writer, and many substances 

 have been sent to the National Museum to be experi- 

 mented with, but in view of the fact that most of the 

 latter were substances of which the proposer would not 

 reveal the identity, no attention was paid to such except 

 in one instance, that of a "mad stone," or "snake stone," 

 so-called, the composition of which is reported upon by 

 Geo. P. Merrill. Curator of Lithology and Physical Geol- 

 ogy, U. S. Nat. Museum. This was sent by Donald Mac- 

 Rae, from Wilmington, N. C, and is "an indurated and 

 impure kaolin apparently. Its virtue as a mad stone 

 doubtless is due wholly to its high absorptive power, 

 which would cause it to adhere to the wound for a time or 

 until saturated." This is presumably the substance 

 which in the United States has so great a reputation 

 among the common people when used in cases of snake 

 bite or mad dog bite; but it is quite a different thing 

 from what is known as the snake stone in India, which 

 is generally found to be, on examination, nothing but a 

 piece of calcined deer horn. 



A very interesting account of it is given by Dr. Alfred 

 Eteson, Surgeon-Major, Sappers and Miners, Roorkee, in 

 the Indian Medical Gazette, Calcutta, 1876, X., 309. He 

 speaks of having received such a stone from a Catholic 

 priest in British Burmah, which was simply a flat piece 

 of calcined horn, three-quarters of an inch square and 

 one and a half lines thick, and resembled a flint, except 

 that all the edges were square and it was very smooth, 

 with an even grade of close cancellations clearly visible. 

 This stone was one of a number made by another priest 

 for the use of the mission fathers. Dr. Eteson had occa- 

 sion to use this stone a short time after in a case of snake 

 bite, and states as follows: " * * * I pressed down the 

 stone over the punctures, it adhered at once, I removed 

 my fingers, then sloped his hand and turned it round; 

 lastly, I drew on the stone with moderate force until it 

 lifted the skin, as a sucker would do. In about a quarter 

 of an hour the patient himself first mentioned that the 

 stone was loosed. I touched it with one finger and it 

 became displaced." The man recovered. 



Dr. Eteson states with regard to his case: "It is not 

 worth much, for the identity of the snake and the precise 

 conditions of the bite were not established, but at all 

 events the stone did what it was professed it would do, 

 and there was no suspicion of the man having been other- 

 wise than genuinely bitten. When this particular stone 

 was show to the Indian snake charmers they appeared 

 greatly surprised at its form, then own being small, 

 rounded and pebble-shaped, but they recognized it as 

 genuine." Dr. Eteson being determined to hivestigate 

 the matter still further, corresponded with the priest at 

 Bassein who manufactured the snake stones and received 

 the following directions for making them: "Cut or saw 

 in the shape of a gun flint the hard part of a good deer's 

 horn. Polish these pieces by rubbing them on .a stone. 

 Soak them for eight hours in good vinegar. Take a small 

 earthen pot (chatty) and place the bits of horn in the 

 center surrounded by rice hulls in such a way that the 

 stones shall not touch each other. Pill the pot with rice 

 hulls and seal its cover hermetically with earth, Put the 



{iot in the center of a little fire made with rice hulls and 

 et it remain for twelve hours. After the cooking, place 

 the stones again in the vinegar for seven hours. Take 

 out the stones and test them on the lips, if they stick like 

 a cupping glass they are good. To preserve them they 

 should be wrapped in cotton and kept from the air. 

 After one has been used it should be soaked in milk, 

 which will remove the venom." The priest stated that 

 out of sixty stones thus prepared only six were found to 

 be of service. 



Sir Joseph Tennant, in his work on Ceylon, 5th ed., 

 1860, I., p. 197, speaks of the Pamboo Kaloo, a snake 

 stone, which he saw applied by Indian snake charmers 

 in two cases with apparent good effect. Those he saw 

 were of the size of a small almond, intensely black and 

 highly polished, though of an extremely light substance. 

 Dr. Davy, on the authority of Sir Alexander Johnson, 

 says the manufacture of these stones is a lucrative busi- 

 ness, and is carried on by the monks of Manilla, who 

 supply the Indian merchants with them, and his analysis 

 confirms that of Mr. Faraday, who declared the stone to 

 be calcined horn. 



In Mexico a similar stone was used which was prepared 

 as follows: Take a piece of hartshorn of any conve- 

 nient size and shape; cover it well round with grass or 

 hay and inclosing both in a thin piece of sheet copper 

 well wrapped round them place the whole parcel in a 

 charcoal tire till the bone is sufficiently charred. When 

 cold remove the calcined horn from^ts envelope, when it 

 will be ready for immediate use. In this state it will re- 

 semble a solid black fibrous substance of the same shape 

 and size as before it was subjected to this treatment. 1. 

 "Use — The wound being slightly punctured, apply the 

 bone to the opening, to which it will adhere firmly, for 

 the space of ten minutes, and when it falls it should be 

 received into a basin of water. It should then be dried 

 in a cloth and again applied to the wound. But it will 

 not adhere longer than about one minute. In like man- 

 ner it may be applied a third time, but it will fall almost 

 immediately, and nothing will cause it to adhere any 

 more." It will be noticed that the Mexican method of 

 preparing the stones does not differ materially from the 

 East Indian plan. A number of reliable observers have 

 tested these stones and found them to be of no value, 

 among them may be mentioned gFontana, Viand- Grend- 

 Marais, Sir Joseph Fayrer, Vincent Richards and others; 

 it has also been carefully tested by Dr. John Shortt of 

 Madras, who states that he had some difficulty in getting 

 the stone to adhere; dogs and chickens were bitten but 

 all died. He sums up: "There is no truth in the virtues 

 attributed to the snake stone, for it has neither the power 

 to absorb or otherwise neutralize the snake poison from 

 the wound." (Lancet, London, 1867, 1,, 5, 76.) 



In view of these unfavorable reports the results of the 



