Natural Science News, 



VOL. I ALBION, N. Y~ JUNE 8, 1895. No. 19 



Natural Science News. 



A Weekly Journal Devoted to 

 Natural History. 



FRANK H. LATTIN, Editor and Publisher, 

 ALBION, N. Y. 



Correspondence and Items of interest to the 

 student of any of the various branches of the 

 Natural Sciences solicited from all. 



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The Greenland Scientific Expe- 

 dition of 1895. 



Efforts are now making to raise 

 :a .fund of $12,000 for the purpose 

 pf Itam-nging Mr. Peary and his two 

 assistants home from Northwest 

 Greenland early next fall, and, in 

 •connection with this, to prosecute 

 scientific investigations during the 

 available summer season. It is 

 hoped by this means to charter 

 and fit out a staunch steamer built 

 for Arctic service and commanded 

 by experienced Arctic navigators, 

 which shall start from St. John's, 

 Newfoundland, on or about July 5, 

 1895, Qfor Inglefield Gulf, North- 

 west Greenland, latitude 78 de- 

 grees N., Mr. Peary's headquar- 

 ters. The co-operation of mu- 

 seums, scientific and educational 

 institutions and individuals is invit- 

 ed, not only because they will thus 

 assist in the return of Mr. Peary 

 and in the preservation of the re- 

 sults of his extended labors, but 

 also because such an expedition 

 will afford the most favorable ad- 

 vantages to eight or ten specialists 

 for obtaining the rich results that 

 are possible in a prolific field that, 

 for a generation to come, ma}' not 

 again be easily and economically 

 accessible 



Mr. Peary, who has done great 

 service in opening this interesting 

 region to scientific study, will ren- 

 der every aid in his power to the 

 expedition. His thorough knowl- 

 edge of the natives, of methods of 

 travel and work, and of points of 

 interest, will greatly .facilitate the 

 present undertaking; and conspic- 



uous among its results will be the 

 fact that it will bring back, not on- 

 y the fruits of its own labors, but 

 also the product and records of the 

 able and brilliant explorer who, 

 for several years, has devoted all 

 his time, energy and money to the 

 study of Arctic life and phenome- 

 na, and to widening the bounds 

 of geographic knowledge in the 

 North Polar area. 



The American Geographical So- 

 ciety contributes $1,000 toward the 

 expenses of such expedition, pro- 

 vided that other subscriptions, suf- 

 ficient to make up the sum requir- 

 ed to send the expedition, are ob- 

 tained. 



A limited number of scientific 

 societies, educational institutions, 

 or individuals, contributing $1,000 

 to the fund, will be entitled to have 

 each a representative on the expe- 

 dition, who shall be approved by 

 the scientific leader. The expen- 

 ses of each member over and above 

 $1,000 will be the cost of his scien- 

 tific outfit, transportation from his 

 home to St. John's, and from New 

 York or Philadelphia to his home. 

 The proposed work will require 

 three months. Further informa- 

 tion can be had from Emil Die- 

 bitsch, 2014 Twelfth St.. N. W., 

 Washington, D. C. — Scientific Amer- 

 ican. 



A Week on Walden's Ridge. 



In the June Atlantic Bradford 

 Torrey concludes A Week on Wal- 

 den's Ridge. His descriptions of 

 nature are, as usual, vivid and de- 

 lightful. He says: — 



In the woods, nevertheless, I 

 stopped long enough to enjoy the 

 music of a master cardinal, — a be- 

 witching song, and, as I thought, 

 original: birdy, birdy, repeated 

 about ten times in the sweetest of 

 whistles, and then ' a sudden de- 

 scent in the pitch, and the same 

 syllables over again. At that in- 

 stant, a Carolina wren, as if stirred 

 to rivalry, sprang into a bush and 

 began whistling cherry, cherry, cher- 

 ry, at his loudest and prettiest. It 

 was a royal duet. The cardinal 

 was in magnificent plumage, and a 

 scarlet tanager near by was equally 

 handsome. If the tanager could 

 whistle like the cardinal, our New 

 England woods would have a bird 

 to brag of. 



Not far beyond these wayside 

 musicians I came upon a boy sit- 

 ting beside a wood-pile, with his 



saw lying on the ground. "It is 

 easier to sit down than to saw 

 wood, isn't it? said I. Possibly 

 he was unused to such aphoristic 

 modes of speech. He took time 

 to consider. Then lie smiled, and 

 said, "Yes, sir." The answer was 

 all sufficient. We spoke from ex- 

 perience, both of us: and between 

 men who know, whatever the mat- 

 ter in hand, disagreement is im- 

 possible and amplification need- 

 less. 



Three days later — my last day 

 on the Ridge — I had better luck 

 at the swamp. The stranger was 

 singing on the nearer edge, as I 

 approached, and I had simply to 

 draw near and look at him, — a 

 Louisiana water-thrush. He sang, 

 and I listened; and farther along,, 

 at the little bridge where I had 

 first heard the song, another like 

 him was in tune. The strain, as 

 warbler songs go ("water-thrushes" 

 being not thrushes, but warblers),, 

 is rather striking, — clear, pretty 

 loud, of about ten notes, the first 

 pair of which are longest and best. 

 I speak of what I heard, and give,, 

 of course, my own impression. 

 Audubon pronounces the notes" as 

 powerful and mellow, and at times 

 as varied," as those of the nightin- 

 gale, and Wilson waxes almost 

 equally enthusiastic in his praise 

 of the "exquisitely sweet and ex- 

 pressive voice." Here, as in Flor- 

 ida, I was interested to perceive 

 how instantly the bird's appear- 

 ance and carriage distinguished it 

 from its Northern relative, although 

 the descriptions of the two species, 

 as given in books, sound confus- 

 ingly alike. It is matter for 

 thankfulness, perhaps, that lan- 

 guage is not yet so all-expressive 

 as to render individual eyesight 

 superfluous. 



I kept on the Brow, and some 

 time afterward was at Mabbitt's 

 Spring, quenching my thirst with 

 a draught of liquid iron rust, when 

 a third songster of the same kind 

 struck up his tune. The spring, 

 spurting out of the rock in a slen- 

 der jet, is beside the same stream — 

 Little Falling Water — that makes 

 through the swamp; and along its 

 banks, it appeared, the water- 

 thrushes were at home. I was 

 glad to have heard the famous 

 singer, but my satisfaction was 

 not without alloy. Walden, after 

 all, had failed to show me a new 

 bird, though it had given me a 

 new song. 



