NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



187 



mass became hard and compact, 

 but with a character materially dif- 

 ferent from the rock on either side, 

 the formation of which was con- 

 temporaneous with that of the 

 coal. 



The mind must exert itself to the 

 utmost in order fully to realize 

 through what vast periods of time 

 the processes were continued by 

 which the coal of to-day was form- 

 ed. Still more difficult of compre- 

 hension is the fact of the enormous 

 amount of vegetable matter which 

 entered into the composition of 

 these beds of coal. In the Potts- 

 ville regions in Pennsylvania the 

 average thickness of the combined 

 anthracite coal seams is 120 feet. 

 In order to make up this quantity 

 of resultant coal, there must have 

 been an average thickness of veget- 

 able deposit amounting to at least 

 1,200 feet. — New Science Review. 



Extermination of the Buffalo. 



The game of the West has rapid- 

 ly disappeared before the hunts- 

 man's rifle. It is a fair estimate 

 that four million buffaloes were 

 killed within the five years between 

 1874 and 1879, from what was 

 known as the Southern herd, 

 which roamed through northern 

 Texas, the Indian Territory, Kan- 

 sas and Nebraska. Between 1878 

 and 1883, the great Northern herd 

 ■ — quite as numerous — roaming 

 through the Dakotas, Wyoming, 

 and Montana, were destroyed in 

 like manner. The hunters received 

 on an average from $2.50 to $3.00 

 per hide, to be shipped out of the 

 country and sold for leather mak- 

 ing, belting, harness, and kindred 

 purposes. Many thousands of 

 men were engaged in the enter- 

 prise. The most successful hunt- 

 ing parties consisted of a hunter 

 and about six men known as strip- 

 pers. The time usually selected 

 for taking the buffaloes was just 

 after they had been grasing in the 

 morning, had gone to the water 

 and then returned to the high 

 ground, lying down to rest in 

 bunches of from twenty to a hun- 

 dred. The hunter, with the long- 

 est range rifle of the heaviest cali- 

 ber he could obtain, would fire 

 from the leeward side, so far away 

 that the crack of the rifle could not 

 be heard by the buffalo, and being 

 behind a bunch of grass, could not 

 be seen. In that way he would 

 kill from a dozen to a hundred a 

 day, without disturbing the herd 

 to any great extent. The buffalo 

 receiving a mortal wound would 

 bleed to death, while the others 

 about him, smelling the blood, 



would sometimes come near him 

 and paw the ground, and so stand 

 until they too would receive their 

 death wounds. The strippers 

 would then come up with ox 

 teams, take off the hides, place 

 them in the wagons, and transport 

 them to the nearest railroad sta- 

 tion, whence they were shipped to 

 market. At one station alone on 

 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa 

 Fe railroad as many as 750,000 

 hides were shipped in one year. 



After the hides were removed, 

 the carcass would be poisoned in 

 many cases, some yearling buffalo 

 being geuerally selected, and next 

 morning there might be found 

 forty or fifty dead wolves lying 

 scattered around, victims of strych- 

 nine. In this way large game was 

 rapidly destroyed, together with 

 countless numbers of wolves that 

 had thrived only by preying upon 

 them. This might seem like cru- 

 elty and wasteful extravagance, 

 but the buffalo, like the Indian, 

 stood in the way of civilization and 

 the path of progress, and the de- 

 cree had gone forth that they must 

 give way. It was impossible to 

 herd domestic stock in a country 

 where they were ccnstantly liable 

 to be stampeded by the moving 

 herds of wild animals. The same 

 territory which a quarter of a cen- 

 tury ago was supporting those vast 

 herds of wild game is now sustain- 

 ing millions of domestic animals 

 which afford the food supply to 

 hundreds of millions of people in 

 civilized countries. — North Ameri- 

 can Review. 



Changes in the Habits of Ani- 

 mals. 



An impression prevails that in- 

 sects and other creatures are so co- 

 related with their food that they 

 can scarcely exist unless the spe- 

 cial food seemingly essential to 

 them is ready to hand. This is 

 believed true not only of food, but 

 of their habits in general. The 

 yucca and the yucca moth are so 

 closely connected, that it does 

 seem as if each is absolutely de- 

 pendent on the other, — and one 

 might well ask what would the 

 chimney swallow do without chim- 

 neys in which to build its nests, — 

 or cherry or peach tree gum with 

 which to build them. 



But just as the vegetarian would 

 have to abandon his principles 

 when there was nothing in the icy 

 region but musk oxen and walrus 

 to feed on, — so animal nature gen- 

 erally has the instinct of preserva- 

 tion to take to that which first 

 comes to hand, when favorite re- 



sources fail. The chimney swal- 

 low built its nest somewhere be- 

 fore the white man constructed 

 chimneys. The potato beetle had 

 its home on the plains long before 

 it ever knew a potato; and the 

 writer has seen the common elm- 

 leaf beetle, feeding voraciously in 

 the mountains of North Carolina 

 on a species of skull-cap — Scutel- 

 laria — touching apparently no oth- 

 er plant, in localities where elms 

 were absent. In Germantown gar- 

 dens, half starved bees take to 

 grapes and raspberries. In the 

 same locality, the common robin 

 has had hard times. There has 

 been no rain from the 4th of July 

 to this date (October nth), and 

 everything having become parched 

 long since, insects that live on 

 green food have not increased. 

 The robins have taken to green 

 seeds and fruits. The apples on 

 the orchard trees are dug as if by 

 mice. An American golden pippin, 

 with a heavy crop, presents indeed 

 a remarkable appearance with what 

 should be apples hanging on the 

 trees like empty walnut shells. In 

 brief, no creature will ignore the 

 promptings of nature. It will 

 change its habits when necessity 

 demands. — Median's Monthly for 

 December. 



The Glow Worm Caves of Tas- 

 mania. 



At a meeting of the Royal Soci- 

 ety of Tasmania, an account^ of 

 some fine caves that have been 

 discovered near Southport, Tas- 

 mania, was given by a Mr. Mor- 

 ton, who had visited them. They 

 are situated about four miles from 

 Ida Bay, and a fairly good road 

 leads to them. The entrance is 

 through a limestone formation. A 

 strong stream flows along the floor 

 of the chambers. The first cham- 

 ber entered by Mr. Morton and 

 those who accompanied him show- 

 ed some fine stalactites, and along 

 the floor some fine stalagmites were 

 seen. On the lights carried by the 

 party being extinguished, the ceil- 

 ing and sides seemed studded with 

 diamonds — an effecti due to mil- 

 lions of glow worms hanging to the 

 sides of the walls and from the ceil- 

 ings. Further on several chambers 

 were explored, each revealing 

 grander sights. The time at dis- 

 posal being limited, the party had 

 to return after traversing a distance 

 of about three-quarters of a mile, 

 but from what was observed the 

 caves evidently extended a dis- 

 tance of three or four miles. The 

 only living creatures seen were the 

 glow worms.— -Scientific American. 



