Natural Science News. 



VOL. I 



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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A Naturalist in Florida. 



A series of letters, descriptive of 

 a cruise along the Florida coast, 

 had nearly reached a conclusion in 

 The Valley Naturalist, when that 

 periodical recently ceased to exist. 

 We give here the final letter, No. 

 6, of the series, in order to com- 

 plete its publication, and also to 

 give our readers a pleasant glimpse 

 of some wild scenery. The vessel 

 which carried the explorers was 

 called the "The Rosebud," and, at 

 the date of the letter, was off San- 

 dy Key. 



A "norther" which disturbed 

 our slumbers during the night had 

 died away, and was replaced by a 

 dead calm. The morning sun, 

 barely above the horizon, lit the 

 waters of the bay with dazzling 

 brightness. Nearly west of us, 

 and distant seven miles lay Cape 

 Sable — the extremity of the main- 

 land of Florida. On it stood a 

 group of trees which towered 

 above all others. These were 

 Royal Palms, whose wood is so 

 scarce that the law forbids cutting 

 them. Beyond, we could see the 

 deep, dark waters of the Gulf. 

 Immediately around us lay thous- 

 ands of acres of "mud flats." The 

 wind and tide having made them 

 bare, seemed to invite our atten- 

 tion to the numerous treasures of 

 the deep, lying helpless upon 

 them. After a hasty breakfast we 

 went ashore and were soon gather- 

 ing shells. Two species — Fasciol- 

 aria gigantea and Pinna muricata — 



ALBION, N. Y., JULY 20, 1895. 



were seen by thousands. The 

 former are generally from twelve 

 to fifteen inches long; some grow 

 to be nearly two feet in length. 

 The Pinnas are always moored by 

 a byssus to the broken shells and 

 sand below. This byssus resem- 

 bles the finest hair or silk, and is 

 attached to the animal at its pos- 

 terior or small end. Thus moored, 

 the bivalve stands upright and fix- 

 ed, with its two valves open, ready 

 to suck in the food which the cur- 

 rents of the sea bring to it. On 

 touching the valves they close in- 

 stantly. We secured a barrel-full 

 of the shells. Growing in shallow 

 water were a number of mangroves. 

 We found attached to these the 

 common "coon" oyster, along with 

 several small species of shells. 

 Some rare forms were obtained, 

 and when the returning tide drove 

 us off, we left with regret. 



After dinner we weighed anchor, 

 hoisted sail, and headed for Cape 

 Sable. A run of an hour and a 

 half with a moderate breeze 

 brought us up under the Cape. A 

 good anchorage was found about 

 ten rods from shore, and we disem- 

 barked. The rest of the afternoon 

 was spent in exploring the country. 

 It looked as though we had reach- 

 ed the jumping off place of crea- 

 tion. There were no inhabitants 

 within a hundred miles. Before 

 us lay a vast wilderness, stretching 

 far to the north, and eastwards to 

 those mysterious Everglades, where 

 even now the foot of a white man 

 seldom treads. Along the shore 

 in front of us, appeared a narrow 

 strip of clear or prairie land, per- 

 haps forty rods wide and three 

 miles long. It was in reality a 

 raised beach or terrace, about ten 

 feet above the ordinary tides, and 

 made by successive accumulations 

 of sand and dead shells. Its con- 

 trast with the usual dead level of 

 the Florida shores was striking. 

 This prairie was covered with 

 coarse grass, thistles and Agave 

 rigida, var. sisalana. Back of it 

 was the wilderness, in all its native 

 wildness. In the course of our 

 walk we came upon the remains of 

 a cellar and some charred timbers. 

 These were probably the relics of 

 old Fort Poinsett, built by our 

 soldiers who were stationed here 

 during the Seminole war. Return- 

 ing along the beach, we saw sharks 

 and saw-fish in abundance. More 

 than fifty were feeding upon 

 schools of small fish, which they 



No. 25 



had driven close in shore and were 

 gobbling down ad libitum. 



Our last day on Cape Sable was 

 of special interest. Two of our 

 party — Dr. Brown and myself — 

 went across the prairie to the 

 woods beyond. We found the 

 walk anything but an easy task. 

 There were millions of mosquitoes, 

 bound to taste our blood at all 

 hazards. We had to force our 

 way through a tangled mass of 

 mangroves, scrub oaks, and under- 

 brush, to which clung in endless 

 masses millions of vines and cac- 

 tus. We finally came to an open 

 space where there was room to 

 turn around without running one's 

 face into a cactus. 



Just then the Doctor uttered an 

 exclamation and pointed to some 

 trees near by. The dry limbs were 

 covered with flowers. On examin- 

 ation the flowers were found to be- 

 long to "air-plants." Of these 

 there were two species. Of course 

 we wanted some to take home. 

 The Doctor had begun climbing a 

 tree when I perceived some kind 

 of wasps flying out of the plants 

 above him. It was only when a 

 dozen or so began making music 

 around his ears that he felt com- 

 pelled to retreat in a way more 

 hasty than elegant, and to the 

 utter ruin of some fine prickly cac- 

 tus underneath. Having repaired 

 damages, we secured specimens of 

 the air-plants where the wasps 

 were fewer. The specimens which 

 I brought home are now in my 

 greenhouse, where they have since 

 blossomed regularly. One is an 

 orchid, Epidendrum conopseum. The 

 other is a bromeliad, Tillandsia 

 bracteata. Both are pretty, and 

 when seen by the thousands as 

 they grow in Florida, simply cling- 

 ing to the limbs of trees with- 

 out any other visible means of 

 support, present in bloom a grand 

 appearance. After this we worked 

 our way out to the edge of the for- 

 est. Here, on some gum trees, 

 we found Orthalicus zebra, ten or 

 fifteen feet from the ground, and 

 managed to secure several. We 

 also found for the first time, the 

 shell of Lignus fascia/us. The 

 specimens of this were dead; there 

 were three varieties, all of which 

 are now in my collection. This 

 species is common to the Bahamas 

 also. In the prairie, we found 

 underneath thistles, agaves, etc., 

 several interesting shells. 



After dinner on board ship, one 



