NATUKAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



89 



pursuits: but should be studied 

 for the love of knowing the truth. 



To acquire a museum or cabinet, 

 for the knowledge and pleasure of 

 knowing the valuable minerals as 

 we pass them by, in our hurry 

 through life, is an honorable ob- 

 ject, and, if we can only procure 

 them by purchase it is right for 

 some one to have them to sell, to us, 

 — so for stuffed birds, and, of eggs 

 or shells, or insects, but he who is 

 his own collector will be most 

 proficient in the science involved — 

 whatever it may be. 



What I urge therefore by all 

 true scientists is, that in the study 

 of their subject, and especially 

 when animate subjects are requir- 

 ed that no more life be sacrificed 

 than is necessary to demonstrate 

 the subject;and that the mercenary 

 and his methods be discarded by 

 the writers on all tropics in the 

 News. 



V. M. Firor. 

 Charlestown, W. Va. 



Something Curious about the 

 Crimson-spotted Triton. 



The Newt, Eft or Crimson-spot- 

 ted Triton (Notophthalmus virides- 

 cens Rafincsque) — which by the 

 way, so far as my observation goes, is 

 found much more frequent on land 

 than in water — is an apparently 

 both offenseless and defenseless 

 creature. 



But by accident I discovered 

 that it was provided with some 

 weapon which, though invisible, 

 was none the less effective, at least 

 in the direction in which I saw it 

 applied. 



I had several garter-snakes, the 

 largest but little over two feet long 

 confined in a glass case in order to 

 study their method of swallowing, 

 I gave them some frogs and tree- 

 frogs, and having some tritons, I 

 put several of the little fellows 

 which were two and one-half inches 

 long, into the case. A snake 

 promptly sized one and began 

 swallowing it. It was quite an 

 easy job, tbe triton being so slend- 

 er, and was progressing nicely 

 when the snake suddenly showed 

 signs of considerable agony, and 

 ejected the half swallowed triton 

 as quickly as his back-set teeth 

 would permit. After he had spit 

 the newt out he kept opening his 

 mouth as if he had got some hot 

 acid in it. But he was hungry, 

 having fasted for a time, so when I 

 introduced a larger triton he cap- 

 tured it forthwith. This one he 

 got further down than the other 



when he showed greater agony 

 than before and fired it as quickly 

 as possible. He writhed in agony 

 kept opening his mouth now and 

 then jabbing his head violently in- 

 to the ground. He became so 

 weak he could scarcely hold his 

 head up, and when he did it swung 

 from side to side as if he was 

 drunk. It was nearly an hour be- 

 fore he revived fully. I fooled him 

 a few times more after intervals, 

 but at last he would not touch the 

 triton any more. After that I 

 left a number in the case, but so 

 far as I could tell he did not offer 

 to eat them. In this way I think 

 I found that even a snake has 

 memory. 



As to the triton, I could not 

 discover where its power lay. Of 

 course it had no teeth capable of 

 causing such a pain as the snake 

 experienced and I witnessed. Any 

 one who has ever examined any 

 small salamanders know how frail 

 their teeth are. And venom — they 

 have not. The only thing I could 

 think of was the possibility of those 

 granular organs of the skin secret- 

 ing some very acrid liquid, or at 

 least, something very unpleasant 

 to taste although that would neces- 

 sitate some authentic develop- 

 ment of the sense cf taste in the 

 snake; — a thing nobody would be 

 in less hurry to grant than myself. 



To get as near the truth of the 

 matter as possible and be a hero 

 in the cause of science, I resolved 

 to taste a triton myself. — I tasted 

 him, I have tasted both pleasant- 

 er and unpleasanter things to be 

 sure, but I kept good hold on his 

 tail. 



His taste is about like his char- 

 acter, dull, flat, insipid; altogether 

 rather tasteless. Maybe if I had 

 had needle-like teeth and had 

 drawn blood as the snake did, he 

 would have exhibited more spirit. 

 Be that as it may I had to leave 

 the problem unsolved as I do here, 

 an interesting one surely for fur- 

 ther study. 



Ernest W. Vickers, 



Ellsworth, O. 



Where to Hunt Lichens. 



The following data are compiled 

 chiefly from the Encycloyaedia 

 Britannica, gth Ed. 



Lichens are never found on cul- 

 ivated ground nor in atmosphere 

 impregnated with smoke. They 

 demand a quiet and exposed situ- 

 ation. 



. 



1. The rugged bark of old trees. 

 ( Rainalina, Parmelia, Stictei. ) 



2. The smooth bark of young 

 trees and shrubs. f Graphideus, 

 Lccidea. ) 



3. Trees by roadsides ( Physcia) 

 or in large forests. (Usnea, Alec- 

 toria. 



4. Decayed wood of trees and 

 old pales. Calicieus, Lccidea, Xy- 

 lograplia. 



5. Calcareous and cretaceous 

 rocks. ( Lecanora, Lccidea, Verru- 

 ceria. 



6. The mortar of walls. (Lcc- 

 anora, Lecidea, Vcrracaria. 



7. On calcareous, peaty, and 

 argillaceous soils, and on hardened 

 mud. ( Cladonia, Lccidea, Lecanora, 

 Collema, Peltidca. 



8. The sands of sea-shore and 

 the granitic detritus of lofty moun- 

 tains. 



9. On decayed mosses and moss- 

 like plants. ( Leptogiwn, Gomphil- 

 ins. ) 



10. Upon perennial leaves of 

 certain trees and shrubs. (Lccidea, 

 Bouteillei, Strigula. 



11. On tombstones, old leather, 

 iron and glass, on the bleached 

 bones of reindeer and whales, on 

 the dried excrements of sheep. 



12. Parasitical upon other lich- 

 ens. {Lccidea, Pyrenocarpei. ) — 

 The Microscope. 



From the Sunny ( ?) South. 



I saw the article in Natural 

 Science News about animal life 

 during the cold snap. I add some 

 facts, from my own observation, 

 which you can publish if you wish. 



On the 24th, of last month. I 

 found six Bluebirds frozen in a 

 hole in an apple-tree, and three on 

 the ground beside the tree. About 

 the same time I also found frozen, 

 Swamp, White-throated, and Song 

 Sparrows, and Slate-colored Jun- 

 cos. Before that snow, Kinglets 

 were very abundant, and now they 

 seem to have disappeared; I haven't 

 seen one since. Bluebirds have 

 also been rare here since the un- 

 usually heavy snow of the 15th, 

 ult,, which laid long on the ground. 

 }. Rowland Nowell. 



Anderson, S. C. 



March 13th, '95 



On March 5th ye Ed. recorded a most 

 welcome "transient visitor", L. Whit- 

 ney Watkius of Manchester, Mich. 

 Brother W. is an ornithologist of the 

 true type and one from whom we may 

 well expect to hear in after years. 



