Natural Science News. 



VOL. I 



ALBION, N. Y., SEPTEMBER 21, 1895. 



No. 34 



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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Propagation of Alligators. 



The attention of the United 

 States Fish Commission has re- 

 cently been called to a new and 

 remarkable industry, that of the 

 artificial propagation of alligators 

 for supplying the trade in Florida 

 curiosities. The incubator system 

 employed is quite simple. The 

 eggs, are placed in boxes 

 of sand and covered up. 

 The boxes are exposed on a roof 

 to the torrid rays of a tropical sun, 

 and in a few days the young rep- 

 tiles are hatched. 



It appears that a species of true 

 crocodile is found in Southern 

 Florida on both coasts. It is 

 hardly distinguishable from the al- 

 ligator except by the shape of its 

 head, though it grows larger and 

 attains a length of eighteen feet. 



Dr. Hugh M. Smith, of the Fish 

 Commission, says that young croc- 

 odiles are hatched for market in the 

 same fashion. The mother croco- 

 dile lays her eggs in the sand like 

 a turtle, and simply covers them 

 over. Somewhat different is the 

 practice of the maternal alligator, 

 which in April or May seeks a 

 sheltered spot on a bank and there 

 builds a small mound. The found- 

 ation of the mound is of mud and 

 grass and on this she lays some 

 eggs. She covers the eggs with 

 another stratum of grass and mud, 

 upon which she deposits some 

 more eggs. Thus she proceeds 

 until she has laid from ioo to 200 

 eggs. 



The eggs, in the course of time, 

 are hatched by the sun, assisted 



by the heat which the decomposi- 

 tion of the vegetable material gen- 

 erates. As soon as they have 

 "chipped the shell" the baby alli- 

 gators are led to the water by the 

 mother, who provides them with 

 food which she disgorges, showing 

 much anxiety for their safety. At 

 this early period of their existence 

 they are exposed to many dangers, 

 being a favorite prey of fishes and 

 turtles. Alligators' eggs, by the 

 way, are sometimes eaten by the 

 Florida crackers. The robbing of 

 the nests for market is helping to 

 hasten the inevitable destruction 

 of the alligator fishery, which has 

 been an important and profitable 

 industry in Florida. Facts recent- 

 ly gathered by the Fish Commis- 

 sion show that the reptiles cannot 

 long escape practical extermina- 

 tion. Already they are becoming 

 scarce, and the price of hides has 

 gone up, 



It is estimated that 2,500,000 al- 

 ligators were killed in Florida be- 

 tween 1880 and 1894. 



In 1890 about 250 pounds of al- 

 ligator teeth were sold, hunters 

 receiving from $1 to $2 a pound 

 for them. They are removed by 

 burying the heads and rotting out 

 the teeth. Of the best teeth about 

 seventy make a pound. The stuff- 

 ing of alligators and the polishing 

 of the teeth give employment to 

 forty persons. Unfortunately, al- 

 ligators grow very slowly. At fif- 

 teen years of age the)' are only 

 two feet long. A twelve-footer 

 may be supposed reasonably to be 

 75 years old. It is believed that 

 they grow as long as they live, and 

 probably they live longer than any 

 other animal.— Scientific American. 



Influence of Climate on Foliage. 



Professor Strasburger is one of 

 those eminent European botanists 

 to whom students in plant life 

 have looked up to as among their 

 greatest teachers, and it is there- 

 fore with some surprise that Amer- 

 icans read a recent paper of his in 

 connection with the influence of 

 climate on the structure of leaves. 

 He takes for an illustration the 

 European beech. He says that 

 when the beech produces its leaves 

 in the deep shade of the forest, 

 they are larger and finer than the 

 leaves of the same tree exposed to 

 full sunlight, and from this he de- 



duces a general principle that 

 abundance of sunlight to a dry at- 

 mosphere is the reason why leaves 

 are thick and small. Yet it has 

 been for over a quarter of a cen- 

 tury placed on record, and admitted 

 as an undeniable fact, that in the 

 case of allied species of European 

 and American trees, the leaves of 

 the American are larger and thin- 

 ner than those of the European. 

 The American Linden has larger 

 and thinner leaves than the Euro- 

 pean Linden. So has the Ameri- 

 can Sweet Chestnut, American 

 Oak, American Ash, American 

 Buttonwood or Sycamore, and in 

 fact, all American trees that have 

 close European allies. And yet 

 no one will contend for a moment 

 that the English climate is dryer, 

 or that there is more light or more 

 long continued sunlight in Eng- 

 land than America. It is unfortu- 

 nate when great authorities like 

 Strasburger, attempt to found 

 great scientific truths on such slen- 

 der materials. — Median s Monthly 

 for September. 



Fish as Athletes. 



Chas H. Worthington of San 

 Jose relates a remarkable story of 

 fish flouncing about playfully on a 

 dry, sandy bank several feet from 

 the water. This came under his 

 own observation while he and oth- 

 ers were camping at the head of 

 Cache creek, Lake count)', recent- 

 ly. Mr. Worthington's attention 

 was first called to it by his son 

 and after watching closely a few 

 moments he noticed a few of the 

 vivacious finny spring out of the 

 water and onto the sand, and by 

 twisting their bodies and perform- 

 ing various other acrobatic tricks, 

 their locomotion along the bank 

 was neatly facilitated. After they 

 had congregated on the sand the 

 scaly inhabitants of the water be- 

 gan to sportively flounce about, 

 continuing their fun for several 

 seconds. Then somewhat fatigu- 

 ed by their atmospheric recreation 

 they plunged back into the creek. 

 This performance was repeated at 

 brief intervals and the fish seemed 

 to enjoy it hugely. Mr. Worth- 

 ington is a man whose veracity 

 cannot be questioned and though 

 the story seems incredible it is not 

 an absurdity by any means. — 

 Healdsburg ( Calif. ) Tribune. 



