146 



NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



on a single product, reverses will 

 come that will bring almost unen- 

 durable hardships and disasters. 

 Grain-growing and cotton-growing 

 and sugar-growing and orange- 

 growing districts are all finding 

 this to be true, and in general are 

 working toward a greater diversity 

 of products. 



Among items that are specially 

 worth mentioning in the Florida 

 exhibits are the pine-apples, show- 

 ing the excellent results that have 

 been achieved in their culture up- 

 on the east coast of the State, 

 about the foot of the Indian River, 

 and at Palm Beach. Bananas and 

 cocoanuts are also shown from the 

 same section, and this is about the 

 only bit of all our vast country 

 that is sufficiently tropical to pro- 

 duce these three things. Guavas, 

 alligator pears and tropical pa- 

 waws are among the curious fruits. 

 Sisal, hemp and other fibres are 

 shown; curious goods made by the 

 Seminole Indians, down in the 

 depths of the everglades, from 

 feathers and shells and bark. Pre- 

 served fruits and jellies are abun- 

 dant, the famous guava jelly lead- 

 ing them all. Hats, baskets, fans 

 and fancy work made from pla- 

 in etto, and from the cocoanut cloth 

 that grows in sheet's about the 

 trunks of the cocoanut trees, at- 

 tract attention. — J. K. R. in The 

 Cultivator o° Country Gentleman. 



♦ ^ 3> -*- -Ce— 



The Dismal Swamp and its Oc- 

 cupants. 



"I have just returned from a visit 

 to the Dismal Swamp," said Dr. 

 A. K. Fisher, ornithologist of the 

 Department of Agriculture, in 

 Washington, the other day. "It 

 is a strange region, full of oddities 

 that are not to be found elsewhere. 

 The purpose of my expedition was 

 to investigate the fauna of the lo- 

 cality, and of rare mammals and 

 birds I secured quite a number. 

 Snakes are abundant and are alleg- 

 ed b}' the natives to be venomous, 

 but all that I saw were harmless. 

 When I picked up a good-sized 

 one from a log and held him by 

 the neck, the negro who was pad- 

 dling for me shuddered so he near- 

 ly upset the boat. 



"I found about fifty species of 

 birds breeding in the swawp. One 

 of them was Swainson's Warbler, 

 which is very rare. I trapped sev- 

 eral species of small mice — rice 

 mice, field mice, golden mice and 

 lemming mice. The lemming 

 mouse is hard to catch, because it 

 will not take any sort of bait. The 



only way to capture it is to set a 

 trap in its runway. I set my traps 

 in dry places out of water. Among 

 other things I got two rare shrews. 



"There are plenty of cattle in 

 the swamp — small, dark and very 

 wild. They are the progeny of 

 animals that have strayed from do- 

 mesticated herds. Hunters stalk 

 and shoot them like deer. Bears 

 are numerous. In the autumn 

 they feed greedily on the fruit of 

 the sour gum. Wildcats, opos- 

 sums and raccoons are not scarce, 

 while squirrels are remarkably 

 abundant. The squirrels have dis- 

 covered an easy way to get a liv- 

 ing by going along the shores of 

 Lake Drummond and picking up 

 the nuts and berries which have 

 fallen into the water and drifted in 

 windrows. They trot along the 

 logs and fish them out with their 

 paws. Deer are common but hard 

 to get. In the fall hunters run 

 them into the lake and catch them 

 with dogs. 



"There is fine fishing in Lake 

 Drummond, which contains plenty 

 of perch, black bass, two kinds of 

 pickerel, three species of sunfish 

 and other panfish. There is no 

 dry ground in the swamp, and one 

 sinks at every step to his knees in 

 mud. The cane which forms 

 brakes all through the South is 

 abundant. Together with a var- 

 ied undergrowth, it is tangled with 

 vines that run up into the trees, so 

 that half a mile an hour is a good 

 rate of progress. One must carry 

 a knife to cut the vines, walking 

 being further impeded by the cat 

 brier, whose thorns catch in the 

 clothing and hold on like hooks. 



"The boats used in the Dismal 

 Swamp are all dugouts, made from 

 cypress logs, twelve feet long and 

 very narrow. To shape such a 

 craft properly is a nice piece of 

 work. The novice who steps into 

 one of these boats is apt to go out 

 on the other side, but the native 

 stands up and paddles with secur- 

 ity. The water is darker than am- 

 ber and excellent to drink; it is 

 said to be a sure cure for malaria. 

 There are no malarial diseases in 

 the swamp. The swamp is full 

 of magnolias, from the size of 

 bushes to trees sixty feet high. 



"When I was there tbey were 

 full of flowers. The cypress trees 

 are cut for shingles. The best 

 trees for the purpose are those 

 which fell from twenty-five to fifty 

 years ago, and are now covered 

 with moss. The negroes wade in 

 and cut off the moss 'and rotten 

 bark. Then they cut up the log 

 into shingles on the spot. The 



next best tree is one that is newly 

 fallen, and the third quality is the 

 tree that has to be felled." — Pltila- I 



delphia Telegraph. 



Preparation of Parasitic Worms 

 for Microscopical Ex- 

 amination. 



The following are the chief 

 methods in use at the University 

 of Nebraska for the preparation of 

 parasitic worms for examination 

 by the microscope. 



The worms may be examined 

 microscopically either when alive 

 or after being killed and preserved 

 in alcohol. The examination of 

 the living worm is the easier, and 

 often the more satisfactory method 

 and is as follows. After the worms 

 have been washed free from slime, 

 etc. they are placed in a weak so- 

 lution of common salt, which so- 

 lution has the strength of .75 of 

 one per cent of salt. This is 

 known as "normal" or "physio- 

 logical" salt solution. It may be 

 made up approximately by adding 

 a level teaspoonful and a half of 

 salt to a quart of rain water. The 

 parasites will live in this solution 

 for several hours, especially if it is 

 kept at nearly a blood heat. 



Now take one of the worms and 

 place it on a microscopic slide and 

 cover it with a piece of thin glass 

 (best use "cover glasses" obtained 

 from opticians) and add just 

 enough of the salt solution to fill 

 the space between the two pieces 

 of glass. Now, in a few minutes 

 the specimen will be transparent 

 enough to be examined with a mi- 

 croscope and the anatomy clearly 

 made out. Be careful to add wa- 

 ter to supply evaporation, during 

 examination. With some tape 

 worm proylottids it may be neces- 

 sary to place them between two 

 slides, for examimation, and even 

 to compress by means of a small 

 rubber band. 



Now as to other methods: Par- 

 asites may be taken from normal 

 salt solution and preserved ac- 

 cording to directions given in 

 Natural Science News for March 

 2d. Having specimens thus treat- 

 ed and in 70 per cent alcohol we 

 will proceed: The first steps are 

 to get them read) to stain and to 

 stain. For staining we use either 

 borax carmine, or czokors alumn 

 cochineal. Gradually add water 

 to the alcohol containing the spec- 

 imens or transfer them at intervals 

 of 5-10 minutes to 50 per cent, then 

 to 30 per cent alcohol, then to pure 



