404 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Mat 22, 1897, 
EFFECT OF MUSIC ON CAGED ANIMALS 
Some time ago the ■writer was induced to experiment 
upon the animals in the Zoological Garden in Lincoln Park, 
with reppect to the effect of music upon them. The experi- 
ments were made at G o'clock P.M.. two hours after feedino;, 
and the instrument used was a violin. 
PtjMA, Pantheb (FeliH comolov) Linne. — When the music 
first hegan two specimens of this species -w ere resting 
in fcte back of the cage, half asleep. At the first sound of 
the violin they started up, and could not for a time locate 
the sound, the writer being some distance from the cage. 
They showed, however, that they liked the sound, and 
when the player came as close as he could to the cage, they 
manifested their appreciation by lying down at fullleagtji 
and placing their heads between their paws. During this 
time the music had been of slow and sweet pieces, such as 
"Home, Sweet Home," "Annie Laurie," etc. Suddenly, 
the player changed "Home, Sweet Home" to the "Irish 
Washerwoman."" At this change the pantbers worked their 
tails nervously and twitched their ears, and as it was kept 
up for a time, they got up and began pacing up and down 
the cage. From this action the writer judged that either the 
jig music, being sharp and piercing, hurt their ears, or that 
it was distasteful. After playing several jigs of this kind 
the player again relapsed into soft strains, when the animals 
slowly settled down in their old positions. 
J.VGTJAR {Felis onca) Linne. — This animal behaved much, 
as did the panthers. While the jigs were being played he 
acted in a very nervous manner, jumping from a shelf to 
the floor of the cage and back again. Soft music seemed to 
quiet him. As the writer wa« leaving the jaguar's cage, 
having ceased playing for the time being, the animal walked 
up to the corner and reached out with his paw I o ward the 
player as far as he could. Whether this action was intended 
to call thft player back, or was simply done to catch hold of 
him, as many animals will do if a person gets too near to 
the cage, the writer cannot say. It was a cui'ious fact that 
when the paw was extended the claws were all retracted. 
Leopabd (FeUs leopardns) Linne — Two specimens of 
this species did not seem to notice the music to any extent, 
except at first, as a matter of curiosily 
Ilia's (Felis feo) Linne — The lioness Juno, with her three 
cubs, occupied a large cage, and tbe player's attention was 
next directed to these. While the music was being played 
to tne other animals the lioness and cubs had been listening 
and watcbing, the cubs playing about their mother's 
haunches. As the violinist drew near the cage the cubs 
scampered behind their part nt, the latter greeting the player 
with a gentle hiss As the music struck up a lively jig the 
cubs stood upon their hind legs and peeped at the player 
over her haunches. They appeared very curious and much 
puzzled, hearing these sounds for the first time. Desiring 
to test their appreciation, the player slowly backed away 
from the cage, playing all the time; as he retreated, the 
cubs .gradually came to the front of the cage, and the 
■mother crawled to the front and placed her two fore-paws 
between the bars and stuck her nose through as far as she 
could. After retiring to the side of the hall the player again 
moved toward the cage, but the family did not move, nor 
evidence any displeasure when he came very close to them, 
in fact, so close that he almost touched the great paws of 
the lioness. As he played the soft strains of "Home, Sweet 
Home" the cubs and mother sat motionless in rapt attention, 
the former turning their heads from side to side. A jig 
played very rapidly caused, the cubs to prance about in a 
lively manner. 
Bexgal Tiger (Felis iigris) Buff.— The music had a pe- 
culiar effect on the pair of animals in this cage. The male 
paid absolutely no attention to it, save glancing in the di- 
rection of the plaj^er and giving a vicious snarl. The female, 
however, acted as though she Uked it, for she j jmped upon 
a shelf and placed her paws and nose through the bars as 
described under tbe last species. A second experiment with 
the male, later, when he was stretched out upon the lloor of 
tbe cage, caused him ibimply to look at the player, twitch his 
ears, and viciously spit and snarl at him. The female, 
however, on all occasions showed that music was not dis- 
tasteful to her and that it was, on the whole, pleasing 
Hyena {Hyena vulgaris) But! — This animal is probably 
the most cowardly of all the mammals, and the only effect 
which music had upon two individuals was to cause them 
to retreat to tbe farther end of the cage and try to squeeze 
out between the bars. A lively jig frightened them nearly 
to death, and made them tremble in every limb. Strange to 
say. however, they did not howl or make the least noise. 
Monkeys {QuaSr-uinana, Genus OynocejyJialus) — The mon- 
keys evidenced great curiosity at the music, but did not 
seem to show either pleasure or displeasure at the sounds. 
A South American Sooty jUangabey, however, seemed to be 
rather pleased with the str ains, particularly the jigs. This 
animal is of a quarrelsome disposition, and is therefore kept 
separate from the other monkeys. It was thought by Mr. 
Sweeney, the keeper, that the sounds might awaken a feel- 
ing of anger in him. but such was not the case. As the 
violinist drew away, he followed as far as his cage would 
allow. A spark of reason was observed in this animal. His 
cage is of glass all around, and in order to hear the music 
better he placed his ear to a crack in the door. This he did 
several times as the player drew near or went farther from 
the cage. The monkoys confined in the larger cage, also of 
glass, formed themselves in a broken semicircle about that 
part of the cage nearest the violinist, and looked at him in 
apparent wonder. As he moved away from them, they 
arose from their sitting posture with one accord, and fol- 
lowed him along the side of the cage. This was probably 
simply curiosity, although the music may have given them 
some pleasurable sensations. On the whole, the monkeys 
did not show as much intelligence as might have been ex- 
pected from their high position in the scale of nature. 
Bbown and White Pelicans (Pilecanus fuseus) Lime, 
and (P. erytkrorhynchits) Gm.— Tbe pen containing these 
birds is situated next to the monkey cage, and the music 
was next tried upon them. The effect was somewhat start- 
ling, for they all began to jump about, flap their wings, and 
snap their hirge beaks; this might, perhaps, be called danc- 
ing. When tbe violinist drew near the cage they snapped 
at nim with thtir beaks. 
The other birds in the animal house paid very little atten- 
tion to the music, partly, perhaps, because they were sleepy. 
Several varieties of parrots, herons and smaller birds were 
tried in turn, but without producing any results worthy of 
mention. 
Coyote {Oanis lal/rann) Say.— The last experiment tried 
was upon a den of coyotes iu the park. When the playing 
began all the animals were in their holes, but the first note 
bad hardly been struck when they came running out, a»d 
raced up and down their den until they had located the 
sounds. When this was done they all squatted in a semi- 
circle about the violinist be having approached the bars of 
the df n as near as possible, and sat in silence listening to 
the music. When it ceased they ran up to the player and 
pawed at him through the bars, indicating as plainly as pos- 
sible that they wished to hear more. When he began to 
play again they again silently formed in a semicircle. This 
experiment was tried a number of times, but always with 
the same result. During this time not a sound was uttered 
by the coyotes, but a wolf in the den adjoining howled 
lustily. Here, as in the other cases, soft, sweet music 
seemed to be better appreciated than loud, harsh music. 
Beside music made up of regular pieces, all sorts of 
sounds were made by the violinist — screeches, piercing 
notes, imitations of a" cat, cow, rooster crowing and pig 
squealing, but these did not .seem to have much effect. The 
loud, harsh, and piercing notes seemed to affect their ears, 
for they moved them about nervously as though the noise 
hurt the sensitive nerves. To sum up general impressions, 
slow and soft music was received, as a rule, with more 
signs of pleasure than the lively jigs. The females, also, 
seemed to pay more attention to the music, and to be more 
pleased with it, than were the males. The nocturnal mam - 
mals were more interested than were the diurnal birds. 
This was probably due to the fact that the experiment was 
tried after dark, when the animal house was lighted only by 
electricity. It was a curious and interesting fact that the 
whole performance was conducted without an}^ noise other 
than an occasional grunt from the lions. The experiment is 
worthy of repetition, and should be made at different times 
during the day, as in the early morning and at noon, just 
before and after feeding, etc., to see whether or not these 
conditions have any effect upon the result. The writer is 
convinced that many interesting and valuable facts may be 
learned by experiments of this character. — Frank OolUns 
Baker, in American. Maiuralist. 
THE LOST PARK BUFFALO HERD. 
Den"s^er, Col , May 10 —Editor Forest and Stream: The 
writer of the inclosed clipping, Mr. J, A. Miller, is clerk of 
the U S Court in this district, and has held that oflice for 
some twenty years. I think his estimate of the number of 
wild buffalo in the Lost Park herd is probably too high. We 
have in the State also another herd, or, at least, we did have 
not long ago — of probably not more than ten or fifteen. 
They increase very slowly, probably because of long isola- 
tion and close in breeding. 
The Yellowstone herd appears to be about exterminated. 
Wm K. By^ers 
The Secretary of the Interior at Washington, says the 
Denver Republican, has under consideration a project which 
will hereal ter fui'nish some of the Port Logan cavalrymen 
with a novel variety of active duty in the summer and fall 
seasons It is that a detail of regular army troopers be told 
off to guard the herd of bufi'do which exists in Lost Park, 
Colorado. There ai'e still about forty of these rare beasts 
alive, but if some immediate precaution is not taken to pro- 
tect them against the depredations of pot-hunters they will 
speedily be exterminated. Late last fall one buffalo was 
found dying at a remote distance from its fellows, having 
been wounded a number of times by rifle bullets. It was 
put out of pain by a deputy game warden, and its stuffed 
frame is now among the collection of rarities in the rooms of 
the State Historical society. 
This incident led to the discovery that several others of 
the herd had been killed during the preceding summer. Ko 
trace of the marauders who did the killing could be dis- 
covered, nor could any effective means be devised by the 
State Game Warden to guard against them in future A 
good deal of indignation was aroused thereat among sports- 
men and others w ho are interested in preserving Colorado's 
rapidly dwindling buffalo. As a result the scheme to use 
cavalrymen was concocted, and James A. Miller, Clerk of 
the Supreme Court, was delegated to communicate with 
Congressman Shafroth on the subject. 
This action was taken by Mr. Miller on the 5th of last 
month, and yesterday he received from Congressman Shaf- 
roth a reply to his letter, inclosing a statement from the 
United States Adjutant General's office to the effect that the 
military buffalo warden's proposal was under consideration 
by the United Slates Department of the Interior. 
Mr. Miller's Letter. 
The following correspondence gives the outlines of Mr. 
Miller's scheme for saving the Lost Park buffalo and the 
progi'ess that has been made in putting it into effect: 
"Denver, April 5, imi.—Ron. John F. SJiafrofh, Wasli- 
ington, D. 0.: My Dear Sir — You will pardon me for tres- 
passing on your time at this, your busy days, but the matter 
I desire to call your attention to being in the interest of our 
people, I know you will patiently consider it, and trust you 
will be able to secure the rrlief. 
"Some years ago that large tract of country lying between 
the forks of tbe Platte River above Platte Canon, and ex- 
tending west and south so as to include Lost Park, was set 
aside and designated as Lost Park Reservation. It is covered 
with fine timber, interspersed with beautiful streams abound- 
ing in trout, and supplied from time to time with fry as ne- 
cessity requires. There are many deer, and possibly a few 
elk living in the park, but they are rapidly disappearing be- 
fore the incursions of hunting parties. 
•'The park also contains the {only herd of buffalo in the 
State, the increase of which about keeps pace with the 
slaughter. In fact, all game is being killed off, and the fish 
are disappearing faster from their illegitimate destruction by 
dynamite, etc., than they are replenished. Only last year a 
herd of five buffalo were driven over to near the town of 
Buffalo Park, and a fine bull killed by the miscreants. The 
investigation by the State Game Warden resulted in the usual 
report — killed by unknown parties. 
"It has occurred to me that this park being so near to the 
military post — Fort Logan — a detail of cavalry from that 
post might be assigned to the protection of the game, timber, 
etc — say eight or ten men — changing them from time to 
time; and that the change for the soldiers would be not only 
a recreation to them, but a great protection to the reserva- 
tion. They might, by their own labor, build cabins scattered 
through the reservation for their use, so that it could be 
thoroughly patrolled, and a sure protection afforded against 
the devastation. 
"Don't you suppose by application to the War Depart- 
ment, or through our department commander, that you 
could effect this and have the matter arranged? 
"Let me hear your views on this matter, and jf anything 
is determined upon for this year it should have early action, 
as the season for camping, hunting and fishing expeditions 
is near at hand. 
"I can see no objection to the suggestion offered, and it 
looks as though it would be perfectly feasible, considering 
the nearness of Fort Logan, and the little expense necessary 
to carry it out. The mere experience of the 'blue coats' 
throughout the park would have a tendency to keep nut or 
hold in subjection that lawless element that is so destructive 
to the games, and who set fires in the forests. Respectfully, 
"Jambs. A. Miller."' 
Congressman Shafroth's Answer. 
"James A. Miller, Esq., Olerk of the Supreme Court, Den- 
mr, Col.: 
"My Dear Sir Y^ours of the 26lh inst. received, and in 
reply thereto will say that I received your former letter rela- 
tive to Lost Park reservation some time ago, and immedi- 
ately submitted the same to the Secretary of War. I delayed 
writing to you for the reason that I expected every day to 
hear from the department, but as I have not been notified 
concerning it, I will again look into the matter. Yours 
truly, John F Sha-f^koth." 
Congressman Shafroth's reply from the War Department, 
received after tbe above letter had been written, is as follows: 
"Hon. John F. Shafroth, House of Eepre.ientatives: 
"Sir — I have the honor to inform you, in reply to your 
inquiry of the 30th ultimo, that the communication of James 
A. Miller, of Denver, Col,, requesting a detail of troops 
from Fort Logan to protect the Lost Park Reservation, near 
that post, which was referred by you to this Department, 
was laid before the Secretary of War, and by him referred 
to the Secretary of the Interior, to whose department the 
subject-matter pertains No reply has yet been received 
from the Department of the Interior. Very respectfully, 
"J. O. GlLMORK, 
"Assistant Adjutant-General." 
SOUL IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 
"Life and Immortality, or Soul in Plants and Animals," 
is the title of a new and well illustrated work of 489 pages, 
treating on the immortality of all life, animal and vegetable. 
Mr. Thomas R. Gentry, the author, is no novice in aulhof- 
ship, he having written several other works on natural his- 
tory. The theme is handled with skillful simplicity. There 
is no striving for the abstruse and mystifying.^ The similar^ 
tty and relationship of animal and vegetable life are brought 
home to the reader by a series of chapters on the iites,- 
habits, mentality of the dwellers in earth) air and water, 'fhe 
first chapter is devoted to cleaning up the ground in respect 
to life and its conditions. He explains that mineral objects 
are devoid of life, exhibiting only purely physical and 
chemical phenomena, and showing no tendency to periodic 
changes of any kind. Then, treating of plants and animals, 
he says: "But objects belonging to the vegetable and ani- 
mal kingdoms differ markedly from inert, lifeless, mineral 
matter. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are the 
most important of the few chemical elements which enter 
into their composition, and these elements are combined into 
complex organic compounds, which always contain a large 
percentage of water, are very unstable and are ptouc to 
sf ontaneous decomposition. They are composed of hetero- 
geneous but related parts, termed organs ; the objects pos- 
sessing them being called organized bodies. Some of the 
lowest forms of animals have bodies whose substance is so 
uniform that they exhibit no definite organs, but this excer* 
tion does not affect the general value of this distinction. They 
are always more or less definite in shape, presenting concave 
and convex surfaces, and being limited by curved lines, 
When they increase in size, or grow, as we properly term it, 
it is not by the addition of particles frcm the outside, but by 
the reception of foreign matter into their interior and ilscon- 
seauent assimilation. Certain periodic changes, which fol- 
low a definite and discoverable order, are invariably passed 
through by organic bodies. These changes constitute what 
is known as life. All the objects there which fulfill these 
conditions are said to be alive, and they all appp.rtaia either 
to the vegetable or the animal kingdom. * * * Now that 
we have divided all organized bodies intoplants and animals, 
it becomes necessary to inquire into the differences which 
subsist between them, and which will enable us to separate 
the feindred sciences of Botany and Zoology. Nothing was 
thought so eisy by older observers as the determination of 
the animal or vegetable nature of any given organism, but, in 
point of fact, no hard-and-fast line can be drawn, in the ex- 
isting state of our knowledge, between the animal anel vege- 
table kingtloms, and it is sometimes difficult, or even im- 
possible, to decide with positiveness whether we are dealing 
with a plant or an animal. In the higher order of the two 
kingdoms, there is no difficulty in reaching a decision, the 
higher animals being readily separated from the high. r plants 
by the pos.session of a nervous system, of a locomotive power 
which can be voluntarily exercised, and of an internal cavity 
adapted for the reception and digestion of solid food. No 
so-called nervous system or organs of sense are possessed by 
the higher plants, although some of them manifest cnscious 
or intelligent action, nor are they capable of voluntary 
changes of place, nor provided with any definite internal 
cavity, their food being generally fluid or gaseous. De- 
scending the scale to the very bottom, we reach a class 
of animals, the Protrizoa, which cannot be separated in 
many cases from the Protophyta by these distinctions, since 
many of the former have no digestive cavity nor the slight- 
est trace of a nervous system, while many of the latter pos- 
sess the power of active locomotion. As to external con- 
fieuration, no certain rules can be laid down for separating 
amnaals and plants, either in their earlier stages or in their 
maturity, being exactly similar in form to some of the lower 
animals. This is the case with some of the Algse which 
resemble very closely in form certain Inlusorian animal- 
cules. Again, many undoubted animals which are rooted to 
solid objects in their adult state, are so plant like in appear- 
ance as to be popularly regarded as vegetables. The Sea- 
firs and the more highly organized Flustras or Seamats, 
which are usually considered as sea-weeds by seaside visitors, 
are a few of many examples that might be taken from the 
so-called Hydroid Zoophytes. No decided distinction be- 
tween animals and plants can be drawn as to their minute 
internal structure, both alike consisting of molecules, of cells 
or of fibers. * * * Before the invention of the micro- 
scope, no independent voluntary movements, if we except 
the opening and closure of flowers and their turning toward 
the sun, tbe drooping of the leaves of sensitive plants under 
irritation, and some other kinelred phenomena, were known 
in plants. Now, however, we know of many plants which 
are endowed, either when young or throughout life, with t^e- 
