f^OREST AND STRIEAM. 
Jan,. §,1898^ 
to go upon the iee with spears. The water is shallow 
and clear, and with fishing houses and spears one maat 
can take more fish in a day tlian a dozen -men would take ' 
with hook and line in a month. 
Hon. Porter Sheldon estimates that ^,o6b men, armed 
with spears, will be on the. ice. on Feb. i, many of them 
from over the border in Pennsylvania, which does not 
permit this wholesale fishing., and that literally tons of 
these game fish, including many of the Dass, will be 
taken. Confining the fishing- hy spear to the twenty days 
would, therefore, in a short time utterly exterminate the 
muscallonge, and we ask the sportsmen of this State, as 
a matter of public policy, to join us in demanding that 
there shall be no special laws permitting to citizens of 
Chautauqua county privileges which are denied to the 
people residing upon the margins of other inland lakes. 
If it is- a good thing to spear in Chautauqua Lake, it is 
equally a good thing for Seneca Lake, or for any omer 
inland waters, and the precedent which is being estab- 
lished will be made use of to increase the abuse, unless 
steps are taken at once to prevent it. There should be 
only one law governing the taking of muscallonge, and 
that law should be absolutely uniform throughout the 
State. Certainly there should be no concession to those 
who have no higher motive than the gratification of a 
desire for the wanton destruction of game fishes, deny- 
ing to posterit3^ and to all those out of the local juris- 
diction, the rights which belong to all in common. 
If you are with us — if you belicA^e in the protection of 
game fishes against the butchery of those who are actu- 
ated only by a desire to grab all that they c"an of the 
present, leaving the future to fate— ask your New York/ 
State readers to write to their members of the Assembly 
and State Senators, and demand the repeal of Chap. 70S 
of the laws of 1897. Ben S. Dean. 
THE MAN IN THE CLCXZK TOWER. 
The National Fish Commission. 
Ithaca, N. Y., Dec. 29.= — ^A.t tiie convention of the 
American Society of Naturalists, now in session here, 
and in its 200 members being fairly representative of 
the sentiment of the country, a resolution was proposed 
bearing on the United States Fish Commission as fol- 
lows: 
"Resolved, That the American Society of Naturalists, 
as representatives of the principal scientific and educa- 
tional interests of this country, unanimously express to 
the President and the Congress of the United States their 
sentiments that the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries 
should, according to the law of 1888 governing his ap- 
pointment, be 'a person of proved scientific and practi- 
cal acquaintance with the fish and fisheries of the coast.' 
"It is of the utmost importance that the Fish Commis- 
sion, as one of the most useful scientific institutions of 
the Government, should be free from political influences, 
and should be administered with the highest degree of 
scientific efficiency by art experienced oflicer." 
The resolution was adopted unanimously and with a 
vigorous demonstration of apnroval. Prof. H. F. Os- 
borne, of Columbia University, New York, was appointed 
a delegate from the Society to present the resolution to 
President McKinley, 
Jfr'otH the Neua Yotk Bfnil and JSx;^ress^ Dec. 30, 
The American Society of Naturalists, in convention at 
Ithaca yesterda}% voiced the sentiments of everyone who 
takes an interest in the work of the United States Fish 
Commission, when they demanded that the new Com- 
missioner shall be a man who is fitted for the place, and 
w-ho fulfills the strict requiremcints of the law. 
On this subject that watchful guardian of our fishing 
interests. Forest and Stream, is outspoken enough to 
say: 
.A crisis has now come in the Commission's affairs. A new 
head is to be appointed. It hgd been the hope that the President 
would intrust the Comm-issidn to a person competent to administer 
its affairs' on the broad ground of public interest, and without 
regard to politics; but it is announced to be the purpose of the 
President to nominate for the Commissioiiership 'a politician who, 
being ignorant of fish and fisheries, is 'unqualified for the "position 
and a wholly unfit person to hold it. ' ; 
The mere announcemerit of stich a. purpose has brought 
forth the protests of scientific bodies all oyer the cottntry, 
for the appointment of an un,scientijfic man would, i?ot 
only affect deplorably the excellent work of the.CQmnijs- 
sion, but would be a violation of the law. The statute 
of 1888, creating the present, Comtnission :as a separate 
bureau, provided that the Commissioner "shall be a per- 
son of; scientific and practical acquaintance with the fish 
and fisheries of the United States." 
This stattite means just what it says. No man who has 
devoted his life to politics, and whose knowledge of fish 
and fisheries consists of twelve months' reading of -en- 
cyclopedias and works on pisciculture, has either a "sci- 
entific" or a "practical" acquaintance with a subject 
which scientists, who have made it a life study, have no 
hope of fully mastering. 
If there is one oflice under the Government to which 
political considerations should never apply, it is that of 
the Fish Commissioner. When the predecessor of th^ 
present Commission was established in 1871, and was ptj;t 
in the charge of Prof. Spencer F. Baird, that distinr ' 
guished scientist stipulated that no salary shotild attach 
to the office. He feared that if the office Avas made a 
salaried one it would sooner or later become a part of 
the spoils of politics. In order to protect the office from 
the politician's greed, wh^n it was made a salaried place 
in 1888 Senator Frye secured the insertion of the provi- 
sion which made eligible to appointment only those who 
had a practical and intimate knowledge of that branch of 
science, to dififuse and develop which the Commission 
was created. 
We cannot believe that the President has it in mind 
to nominate to this most important office a man who is 
both unscientific and impractical. 
Take inventory of the good things in this issue of 
Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund was given 
last week. Count on what is to come next week. 
Was there ever in all the world a more abundant 
weekly store of sportsmen's reading? 
The Jackson's Hole Elt. 
It has been the misfor- 
tune of philanthropists to be 
misunderstood and misre- 
presented. The latest of con- 
spicuous note is the Moose 
Head Ranch. The owners 
saved a band of elk from 
starving, and now they are 
subjected to contumelious 
treatment instead of receiv- 
ing the acGlaihations of the 
populace. 
They were no amateurish, 
isolated firm of philanthro- 
pists which performed a 
benefaction when they hap- 
pened to corne across dis- 
tress by accielent, or when 
they collided with an inci- 
dent which demanded 
their philanthropical 
attention; they were a 
regularljr organized in- 
stitution, equipped to 
do the greatest good to 
the greatest number in 
the most expeditious 
manner. It was a mere accident that the firm was domi- 
ciled in Wyoming, its purpose being purely philan- 
thropic^ 
^ As a mere amusement feature for the diversion of the 
firm's members in their idle moments, they had a New 
York office, of which Mr. Glidden was in charge, and 
on his card by way of embellishment he announced that 
he was a "breeder and shipper of polo ponies, live and 
cured wild game, meat and mountain trout, buffalo, elk, 
moose, deer, bears and mountain sheep, mounted heads, 
horns and antlers, fine hides and skins." 
It was truly ; a .well-organized institution for philan- 
thropic business, and there was much enthusiasm in its 
conduct. _ 
And it so came to pass that a band of elk "strayed" 
to this benevolent institution, and "strayed" through 
an opening in the fence of it, and further "strayed" to 
some hay, a most extraordinary series of strays. 
And it so happened that there was already a market 
in the East for a band of stray elk, and the tender- 
hearted agent in the East thought that a purely philan- 
thropic act was not complete without filling the crav- 
ing in the market for stray elk, and the tender hearts 
of some State officers closely affihated with stray elk 
thought that the State had lost more or less, property 
in the elk when the latter had eaten sundry mouthfuls 
of hay in the philanthropic institution; for, said they, if 
they had not eaten of thd hay some of thern, would have . 
perished and the State would thereby have ja^en a loser, 
and the officers could not see 'into nor. out ol' the Case 
further. " . . ' y^: ' 
This institution for the preseri'^a.tion of. ldsi;''elk won 
the sympathy of the Governor, who ^yas enthusiastic in 
the presentation of the property of the State, and he 
gave authority for the shipment of the game to New 
York, where it would be out of all further danger, and it 
was so shipped. 
All the poor philanthropists ever got for .their, trouble 
and loss of sundry potmds of hay was a few thotisand 
dollars as an honorarium. And thus, by the unselfish 
philanthropy of this, firm, supplemented with the friendly 
offices of its establi.shment for the preservation of elk, 
was a noble band of elk saved to the State. WitliQ^it the 
interposition of the firm the State would surely hay.e lost . 
some of the elk. As the matter turned out, they were all 
saved. 
The same public elk spirit should impel others to acts 
df public elk beneficence. There should be convenient 
gaps in the fence through which the elk should be iii- 
' itiated by "straying" through them, and then the benevo- 
' Itrrde' cif the spider and the fly has begun, 
1 • 1 .* : J ' 
Homing Instinct in Dogs.** 
"A Believer in It" joins issue graciously wiili ihe in 
the matter of the homing instinct in dogs. I comprehend 
that the popular belief is all against me, and popular 
belief is not an easy matter to upset, whether it is right 
or wrong. But popular belief on abstract matters is 
many times on loose and vague foundations. For in- 
stance, if "A Believer in It" were to set forth early in 
the morning through the highways of his neighborhood, 
asking every man whom he met to define instinct, to tell 
what it is in itself, and in what respect it differs from 
reason, he would undoubtedly be astonished at the prolix 
exhibition of utter ignorance made by the average person 
on the subject, as he would also be at the self-confidence 
of each that he knew all about it. 
The definitions of the best lexicographers and the 
treatises of the best philosophers convey no accurate 
ideas on the subject. Webster struggles with it as fol- 
lows: "Instinct— I. Natural inward impulse; uncon- 
scious, involuntary or unreasoning prompting to any 
tnode of action, whether bodily or mental, without a dis- 
tinct apprehension of the end or object to be accom- 
plished, 2. (zool.) specif., the natural, unreasoning im- 
pulse by which an animal is guided to the performance 
of any action without thought of improvement in the 
method." 
Then, to help the matter out, he quotes thus; "Palej^ — 
'An instinct is a propensity prior to experience, and inde- 
pendent of instruction. Whatcly — An instinct is a blind 
tendencv to some mode of action, independent of any 
consideration, on the part of the agent, of the end to 
which the action leads. Sir W. Hamilton — An instinct 
is an agent which performs blindly and ignorantly a 
work of intelligence and knowledge." 
That's instinct. Any one could recognize an instinct at 
sight from those definitions, perhaps. 
Philosophers are agreed that an instinct is common 
alike to a species, as the common impulse of :the young 
to nurse the dam and the common impulse, of the dam 
to care for the young. Birds build their nests after the 
same fashion as their parents, without having any expe- 
rience as to the mechanical manner of building the nest; 
and without any knowledge of the purpose for which 
they build it. Many other true instincts could be enumer- 
ated, but enough have been set forth to show that an in- 
stinct is common alike to a species. Each individual 
possesses it in manner like to that of every :other indi- 
vidual. The young bird builds its nest quite as well as 
does the old one, and old, and young alike have the 
common impulse. 
Let us apply the test to the "homing instinct in dogs." 
Is it .present alike in all individuals of the species? No, 
It is an easy matter" to lose some dogs near by home. 
Moreover, a dog, young or old, has no instinctive knowl- 
edge of his home. Then how could he havet an instinctive 
knowledge of a home iwhen he naturally hasi none? 
He learns that home is home only after a series; of ex- 
periences. He observes that he is kindly treated, and fed 
and housed, and becomes identified with the household, 
and he accepts the conditions as those of a home. He 
becomes habituated to the surroundings, and will fight 
intruders. There is nothing instinctive in this. The 
owner arrogates all this as referring to himself, declaring 
that it is from loyalty to and affection for himself, over- 
looking the fact that the wild dog will fight to -defend 
his own den in the wilderness, or a companion of h^-S, own 
species for which he lias aii affection; ' ,.' 
When the dog is bought by a new master and taken 
to a new home, he has to go through the same tentative 
experience before he will accept the new home,, as a 
home. Thus he learns only by experience what consti- 
tutes his home. Thus we know he learns his home by a 
process of reason, and we are asked to believe that he 
knows how to find this home instinctively, thus rcA-ersing 
the order of instinct and reason as we observe .it in 
nature, for instinct comes |irst a:id_4:eason.a|ter.wafd, not 
the reverse. ' "\ _'" . 
If this "homing instinct*' were a true instirict/it would 
be present in puppies and aged dogs alike. 'A puppy 
cannot find his way home as can aii , o,ld dog, even: in a 
neighborhood with which he is familial'; in fact, he very 
easily is lost. 
If it were a true instinct, a lost dog would go. directly 
home instead of taking days for a. journey he could make 
in hours. Foxhotmds when carried out of a neighbor- 
hood with which they are familiar often become lost. 
Out of the total number of lost dogs but few find their 
way home at all, and fewer still without assistance. Let 
us assume that out of the millions of dogs in the tiriited 
States 10,000 are lost every year. Let us consider that 
the dog when lost does not travel in a. straight line, dif- 
fering not therein; from other lost animals. In the law 
of chances, some 6'f the dogs circling about would sooner 
or later hit upon some neighborhood with vvhich they 
were familiar, and thence the way home would be eiisy. 
But in any' event there' is no phenomena presented which 
can be eveii remqtely classed as instinctive. 
-.-BatttJcs and Dollars. 
SundayffiH 'itte- Clock Tower are pretty dull as a . rule. 
There is little else to, do but to read the Sunday papers. 
Sometimes they're dull, too — not always. On Sunday, 
Dec. 26, I bought the Sun's Sunday issue and found it 
fuller of meat than usual; that is, of my, meat.. Sqr in- 
stance, under the head of "What is Going On, in Soci- 
ety," I found the following paragrapjj:, . 
"Mr. Bradley Mai'fin' has finished the' sliofcdliTig^e'ason at Bal- 
, macaan by a five days' shoot, when 5,400 heatt 'b;f'.garne Werfe, killed 
by ten guns. This to the .luiinitiated Seems to. be, enormous.,, .but 
it must be remembered that one-third of them were, rabbit.s, wljich 
are neither toothsome nor salable. Of the remainder, only thirty- 
five were woodcock, and the pheasants, which ruii up! among the 
hundreds, are not counted very gamy or delicate, and, indeed, 
are pronounced by many connoisseurs as no better thari barnyard 
fowl. Thus, although the bags are full and the sport is exciting, 
the-.result is not all that it seems to be." 
The explanatory portion of the paragraph is rather 
mixed. Why should the fact that "one-third of them were 
rabbits, which are neither toothsome nor salable,'' be 
allowed to detract from the size of the five days' bag? 
Then again, "the pheasants, which nnv up > among the 
hundreds, are not counted very gamy or delicate, and, 
indeed, are pronounced by many connoisseurs as no bet- 
ter than barnyard fowl." The finish is far from lucid: 
"Thus, although the bags are full and the sport is ex- 
citing, the result is not all that it seems to be." 
After reading and re-reading the above quoted para- 
graph, the thought struck me that I had seen some re- 
port of Mr, Bradley Martin's five days' shoot elsewhere. 
And sure enough, here it is, takeri from the Shooting 
Times and British Sportsman of Dec. .11: 
"Mr. Bradley Martin has just finished the season at Balmacaan 
with a most successful shoot in the home coverts, and in five 
days 4,440 head of game were killed by ten guns, the bag includ- 
ing 2,626 pheasants, 539 wild-duck, 1,206 rabbits and ,35 woodcock. 
The guests were Lord Craven, Mr. Baillie, of Dochfour; Lord 
Encombe, Mr. Charles Ramsay, Mr. Hugh Fraser, Mr. Henry 
Fraser, Mr. Dadley Majoribanks and Mr. Brinckman. Balma- 
caan is Lady Seafield's beautiful place in the Glen Urquhart dis- 
trict of Inverness-shire, which has been let to Mr. Bradley Martin 
for many years. The scenery is very fine, and it is one of 
the best "all-round" shooting places in Scotland. There are 
nearly 30,000 acres of heavily stocked deer forest and 12,000 acres 
of low ground, including extensive woods." 
It is really a pity, to my mind, that the writer of the 
"society note" in the Sun did not turn to the last page of 
reading matter in that issue of the Shooting Times. Had 
he done so, he would have saved making himself and 
some of his remarks so ridiculous by scanning the market 
prices of game in London. Rabbits, "which are neither 
toothsome nor salable," arc quoted at from 16 cents to 
25 cents each. Pheasants, a game bird that he looks 
down upon gastronomically, are worth anywhere from 
85 cents to $1.10 a pair. 
How much more interesting it would have been had 
he, after stating that, "although the bags are full and 
the sport is exciting, the result is not all that it seems 
to be," just gone to work and given the market value, 
