Natural Science News. 



VOL. I ALBION, N. Y., MARCH 9, 1895. No. 6 



Natural Science News. 



A Weekly Journal Devoted 



to 



Natural History. 







FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publis 



her, 



ALBION, N. Y. 







Correspondence and Items of interest 

 student of any of the various branches 

 Natural Sciences solicited from all. 



to 

 of 



the 

 the 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 







Price, One Dollar a Year. 







To Foreign Countries In the Universal 

 Union, $1.50, equal to 6 s., or 0 marks, or 8 

 Single copies, 5 cents each. 



Postal 

 francs. 



Subscriptions can begin with any number. 



Remittances should be made by Draft, Express 

 or Post Office Money Order, or Registered Letter. 

 Unused U. S. Postage stamps of any denomina- 

 tion will be accepted for fractional parts of a dol- 

 lar. Make Money Orders and Drafts payable, 

 and address all subscriptions and communica- 

 tions to FRANK H. L \TTIN, 

 Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y, 



Olivella biplicata. 



One fine summer morning I rose 

 very early, took my long rubber 

 boots, an old hoe, and a basket, 

 put a few crackers in my pocket, 

 and silently stole away from the 

 little tent among the pines where 

 the rest of my family were continu- 

 ing their slumbers. I followed the 

 long path which led along the cliffs, 

 here coining down close to the 

 shore, and there cutting off a sharp 

 headland of rocks, till I reached 

 my destination. This was a little 

 strip of sandy beach from which 

 the water had all receded, for it 

 was at the very lowest ebb of the 

 early tide. I sat down on a rock, 

 took a cracker from my pocket, and 

 began to investigate both it and the 

 prospect. In front of me was a 

 strip of sand sloping down to the 

 light waves; behind me was the 

 high bank of earth, and the rocks 

 were on either side; but no shells 

 were to be found except a few well- 

 worn specimens which had been 

 tossed up by some departing wave. 



But I was not expecting to find 

 shells in plain sight, so I cheerfully 

 pulled off my shoes and drew on 

 those very convenient appendages, 

 the long rubber boots. Now I was 

 ready for work and taking up my 

 hoe I began to dig in the sand. 

 There was plenty of sand to dig in, 

 in fact too much of it, for it appar- 

 ently took up all the room and left 

 no place for shells. 



At length I struck upon a spot 

 where a little stream of water was 

 oozing out from the bank of sand. 

 As I scraped away the surface, I saw 



something which would have made 

 me dance for joy had I not been 

 weighed down by the long boots. 

 For there, in very truth, was a 

 live olive, with its graceful shell 

 and a beautiful, pearl-color- 

 ed body. It quickly withdrew 

 this into the shell and closed the 

 aperture with a very insignificant 

 scale, which seemed to be an apol 

 ogy for an operculum. 



I picked up the pretty little crea- 

 ture, and scientifically mused 

 somewhat as follows: 



The Latin name for this mollusk 

 is Olivella biplicata, Sby. , Ol-i-vel- 

 la bi-pli-ca-ta. The shell is about 

 an inch long, apparently smooth 

 and polished, yet showing under the 

 microscope very fine and beautiful 

 reticulations. The spire is short, 

 the aperture long and narrow, the 

 canal a mere notch, and the outer 

 lip thin edged. Upon the inner 

 wall of the aperture is a lump of 

 white enamel, and at the base o\ 

 the columella are two little folds 

 which are referred to in the name 

 biplicata, twice folded. The colo« 

 of the shell varies much in differeni 

 specimens; some are almost pure 

 white, others are very dark, but 

 most of them are dove-colored, 

 with purple trimmings. They are 

 about the size and shape of the 

 olives of our orchards, and their 

 name has no mystery connected 

 with it, but doubtless refers to their 

 appearance. 



Well, as I proceeded with my 

 hoeing, my joy increased, for I 

 found them by the hundred, and I 

 had gathered about a thousand be- 

 fore the tide came in so tar as to 

 render further work impracticable. 

 They seemed to lie in groups just 

 under the surface of the sand, yet 

 wholly concealed from sight. You 

 must go at the very lowest morn- 

 ing tides, if you wish to gather 

 them, and search till you find the 

 bed; for they seem to be active 

 burrowers, and to travel rapidly 

 from place to place. 



I took some of them home and 

 put them in a jar of beach-sand 

 and sea-water. You will be pleas- 

 ed to do the same if you ever have 

 the opportunity, for their move- 

 ments are very interesting. You will 

 then see the plow-shaped foot 

 which quickly digs a hole in the 

 sand, and the long breathing-siphon 

 which curls up through the canal, 

 and reaches through the sand up 

 to the clear water, like the trunk 



of a swimming elephant reaching 

 up for air. 



To clean the shells it is simply 

 necessary to spread them in the 

 sunshine for a few hours, when the 

 animal will be found to be dead 

 and loosened from the shell. The 

 soft parts can then be removed 

 with a pin. 



To clean most shells, however, 

 it is necessary to throw them into 

 boiling water. In a few minutes 

 they can be taken out and the ani- 

 mal withdrawn by a little hook or 

 bent wire. 



If only a part of the body can be 

 obtained, the shell may be secure- 

 ly plugged with cotton. It is well 

 to fill even perfectly cleaned shells, 

 and attach the operculum to the 

 cotton by a drop of glue. They 

 will then appear as if they were 

 living specimens. Much will de- 

 pend upon one's time and taste for 

 this part of the preparation, but 

 the thorough cleaning of the shell 

 is indispensible, and should be at- 

 tended to as soon as possible after 

 specimens are gathered. — Front 

 Reefs 11 West Coast Shells." 



Animal Life During a Cold Snap. 



The recent weather, unusually 

 severe for this locality occasioned 

 considerable suffering among the 

 inhabitants of woods and fields. 

 To me cold weather is one of the 

 most satisfactory times for observ- 

 ing animal life, perhaps because 

 the scarcity of individuals impresses 

 their characteristics on one's mind. 

 This scarcity can be said to be only 

 comparative here however, as we 

 have in bird life a list of forty-sev- 

 en resident, forty-six winter resi- 

 dents and about ten cold weather 

 stragglers. The thousands of Crows 

 feeding over this region and roost- 

 ing in a piece of pine woodland 

 north of Washington have suffered 

 severely and dead Crows are quite 

 common. Their favorite feeding 

 grounds, the tidal marshes of the 

 Anacostia River have been covered 

 with snow and ice thus cutting off 

 their most abundant food supply. 



Many of the dead and dying 

 Crows are partially or wholly blind. 

 Prof. Ridgway, who resides near 

 the "Crow Roost" referred to, has 

 suggested that this blindness was 

 caused by the freezing and burst- 

 ing of the eye ball from exposure 

 to the intense cold and particles 

 of snow and ice driven by the wind. 



