Forest AND Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1901, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1901. 
Terms, |4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. ( 
Six Months, $2. ) 
( VOL. LVII.— No. J 6. 
I No. 846 Broadway, New York 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of entertain- 
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garded. While it-is intended to give wide latitude in discussion 
of current topics, the editors are not responsible for the views of 
correspondents. 
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particulars respecting subscriptions, see prospectus on page iii. 
NAMES. 
What's in a name? Give a dog a bad name and hang 
him. A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches — and so might be qr.oted old saws on names to 
.fill a column. The names of fishes and birds and animals 
.Sometimes have more effect than we appreciate in deter- 
mining our attitude toward them. In the East the Mo- 
hammedans call the black partridge or common francolin 
the "Bhugwan tere kudrat," whicli is their translation of 
the bird's guttural cry into a verse of the Koran meari- 
ing, "O God! great is Thy power!" For this reason the 
partridge is a common member of the Mohammedan 
household, and the species has been protected and pre- 
served, whereas in other regions it has become exceed- 
ingly scarce. 
A I'ose by any other name would. smell as sweet; but 
as for the little beast called by the Abenaki Indians 
• segajiku." Englished into "skunk," it may be said that 
its very name is against it; there is something in the sim- 
ple sound oi the word that expresses mingled contempt 
and detestation; it sounds just what it is. There are other 
names which have this quality of expressing by vowel and 
consonant the characteristics of the creatures to which 
they are applied. What more sharp, abrupt, ' exclamatory 
cry than that of "Bear !" could frighten women and chil- 
dren in a mountainside berry patch? Even the Latin 
form, Ursus, must have had something of the same 
adaptation as a cry of alarm. On the other hand, while 
grizzly means gray, the name "grizzly" certainly embodies 
more of the grizzly's nature than, the tamer appellation of 
"gray bear" possibly could. 
If there are cadence and grace in "gazelle," the name of 
(he "antelope" rapidly repeated aloud has in it something 
of hoof beats striking the ground that was in the gallop- 
ing quadnipedans of the Latin. "Buffalo" is heavy, with 
the ponderosity of the humped herd; whereas in "deer" 
the himter who has been vouchsafed only an uncertain 
glimpse of the white flag may fancy that in the name he 
finds terse expression of the deer's fleeting nature. 
A high-sounding name given to a wild animal may 
elevate it in our esteem if the animal lives up to its name ; 
but unless the name is deserved it not only fails to give 
any new dignity, but becomes positively ridiculous. The 
name "mountain Hon," for example, should signify some 
of those qualities which make the lion the king of beasts ; 
but the actual result has been not to make the cougar 
more formidable because of its leonine name, but to bring 
into contempt a title worn so shamefully by such a 
cowardly brute as the cougar is. Incidentally one effect 
of the name has been to stimulate the art of fiction and 
the* practice of lying,' in and of the Rocky Mountains., 
Many an individual, who, were there no "mountain lions" 
roaming the woods, might have been content always to 
tell the sober, prosaic truth about doing a cougar 
to death with dogs, has waxed imaginative and creative 
and eloquent in the relation of his parlous adven- 
tures with the "mountain lion." The "lion" slayer sets 
himself up to do stunts as a hero, when the mere "cougar" 
killer would find no occasion to magnify his native great- 
ness. 
As an instance of what a good name'worthily bestowed 
may do for a wild creature, consider the fish which is 
known to the ichthyologists as TImnnus thynnis. .The 
common names are tunny, horse mackerel, great albacore 
and tuna. It is a widely distributed species, found on all 
warm coasts, and north to England, Newfoundland, San 
Francisco and Japan. The name "tunny" is the ancient 
thunnps of the Greek fi-shermen two thousand years ago, 
and from it comes "tuna." Albacore is Portuguese, from 
the Arabic, meaning "little pig." "Horse mackerel," it 
need not be said, is English, and there is no poetry In 
it, no more than iri the "little pi^' of the PortugJiese. 
Of all the old names, "tuna" is the most tuneful and 
pleasing to the ear, and when Mr. C. F. Holder, observing 
the feats of the fish as a leaper, called it the "leaping 
tuna," and made it known to the angling world under that 
suggestive and poetical name, he'^did what assured for 
it an attraction and a popularity which as "horse 
mackerel" it could never have had. The fish is found on 
the Atlantic coast ; on.e weighing 600 pounds was taken a 
month or two ago in a pound-net off the Rhode Island 
shore at W^atch Hill; as a "horse mackerel" it was prop- 
erly a pound-net fish; as a "leaping tuna" hooked by an 
angler, it would have given the fisherman the sensation of 
his life. Not until some one shall hook the horse mackerel 
and bring it to gaff as the leaping tuna will the species 
take its place in the list of game fish which challenge the 
skill and the staying power of salt-water fishermen on 
the Atlantic side of the continent. 
THE FIRST MAINE CASE. 
Mr. Cristadoro's sermon on the shooting of human 
beings for game in the woods is given immediate point 
by the report which came in the press dispatches from 
Maine on Tuesday of this week; telling of the shooting of 
an eighteen-year-old boy for a deer near Houlton. Two 
hunters were walking along a brook, when they saw what 
they took to be a deer lying in the dry bed of the stream. 
It was a human being, but they did not discover this until 
too late. 
This is, we believe, the first case of the kind under the 
new Maine law, which reads : 
Chap. 263, Laws 1901.— Sec. 1. Whoever, while on a hunting trip, 
or in. the pursuit of wild game or game birds, negligently or care- 
lessly shoots and wounds, or kills, any human being, shall be 
punished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, or by a fine not 
exneeding $1,000. 
The prosecution of the case will be watched with in- 
terest. If there is no other way to teach caution in woods 
shooting, the lesson may be and will be instilled by 
criminal prosecutions. 
Meanwhile, obey the Forest and Stream's reiterated 
exhortation — Don't shoot at a deer until you know tJiat 
if is a deer. 
LEFT-LEGGEDNESS. 
It is a familiar fact that a person lost in the woods or 
on the prairie wanders around in circles to the right. In 
an interesting collection of facts and deductions from 
them, as given in a paper in the October Woodcraft Maga- 
sitte, the reason for a lost man's going to the right is 
found in the demonstrated fact that the human race is 
right-handed and left-legged. That is, the left leg is' 
stronger than the right one; and the constant tendency, 
therefore, because of the greater activity of the left leg 
and the longer stride taken with it, is to bear to the right. 
Locomotion is a continuous pedestrian match between the 
right leg and the left one, and the left is continually get- 
ting ahead. As has been said, the left-leggedness comple- 
ments the right-handedness of the majority of the race; 
and per contra, it has been demonstrated that left-handed 
persons are right-legged, and in walking bear to the 
left. From which may be drawn the useful hint that if a 
right-handed person and a left-handed person shall yoke 
up together they will probably steer a straight course 
through the densest woods or the darkest night; and we 
commend this suggestion to the thoughtful consideration 
of Messrs. Avis, Cristadoro, True and others, who are 
troubled to know whom they shall choose as companions 
on their outings. 
THE PLANK IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
The report of the game conditions in Massachusetts 
at the opening of the shooting season of 1901 is an un- 
answerable demonstration of the wisdom of the Forest 
AND Stream Platform Plank — The sale of game should 
be prohibited at all seasons. The Bay State coverts are 
full of game; and they are full of game as a result of 
the law which forbids the sale of partridge and the taking 
of partridgje for marlcet, '^.O' convi^icmgly has this been 
demonstrated that gunners who were .opposed to the anti- 
sale law have been persuaded and won over to its hearty 
support. 
It must not be overlooked that the Massachusetts law 
would have been ineffective unless enforced with decision 
and thoroughness, as it has been by the deputy wardene 
under direction of Commissioner Collins and his asso- 
ciates. The Commonwealth has had the benefit of an 
intelligent Fish and Game Commission, genuinely inter- 
ested in game protection; and the results attained by 
the Commission merit recognition and congratulation. 
Now that the closing of the market in Massachussitts 
has worked so advantageously, we take it that there will 
be no going back to the foolish system of former years, 
when, with a market always ready to receive snared 
grouse there were always grouse snarers to supply the 
demand. The sportsmen of the Commonwealth may be 
trusted to preserve the law as it is, and to prevent a 
return to the open grouse market. The trial law was 
adopted for two years; now let it be made perpetual. 
Massachusetts has always been a favorite field of oper- 
.ations for the grouse snarer; and until his occupation was 
taken away by the anti-sale law, it was the snarer who 
got the birds. New the conditions have been reversed; 
it is the sportsman who gets the birds. The example of 
Massachusetts has not been lost on the neighboring 
State, Connecticut has an anti-sale law this year, and a 
staff of wardens tT' make it something more than a mere 
printed law. If the executive force in Connecticut shall 
do its duty in the efficient way characteristic of Massa- 
chusetts the grouse problem will Ue solved with like 
happy results. The New York City market is the bane 
of Connecticut, as of other States near and far; but in 
time we shall succeed in shutting it up. 
DIDYMUS. 
It affords us much pleasure to give such an excellent 
portrait of our long-time friend and contributor, whose 
pen-name of Didymus has been for more than twenty 
years a familiar signature in Forest and Stream. The. 
portrait will be welcomed by a host of readers as of one' 
whom they well know. As a sportsman Didymus has en- 
joyed a wide and varied experience; and we have his half- 
promise of some reminiscences of the earlier days in the 
game fields of the East and West, which were then much 
richer in attractions for the gunner than they are now, or" 
are likely to be again in the time of this generation. As 
a writer he is always entertaining because he has some 
very decided notions about what is right and what is 
wrong in sportsmanship, and he knows well how to ex- 
press himself with directness and vigor. We shall none 
of us soon forget how thoroughly he has before now- 
devoted his attention to some shining sham and exposed 
it so thoroughly as to leave in place of the shamming' 
onlv the brazen bravado of one who has been found out. . 
SNAP SHOTS. 
In Pennsylvania last winter the bill to amefid the game 
law contained a provision prohibiting the sale of game, 
and was defeated by the cold storage people, who put up 
a large amount of money for the purpose. This is only 
one of numerous instances where wise measures intended 
for the preservation of game have been thwarted by the 
market interests, and it illustrates the general principle 
that when the market shall have been elimina'ted as a 
factor, the problem of game preservation will have been 
greatly simplified. When that time shall come the Legis- 
lature intent upon framing laws as to seasons will be free 
to adopt the dates best adapted to conserve the supply, 
without regard to whether or no they shall interfere with 
the business interests of the dealer. The elimination of 
the market man from tlie game committee room will 
be a decided step in advance. 
In the corner of the hillside pasture is a gnarled and 
knotted and leafless apple tree, every branch and twig of 
whose unkempt state proclaims that it has long since 
passed out of the care and thought of the owner of the 
grounds, if, indeed, it ever had any share in them. And 
high up on a topmost bough is one scrawny little russet, 
as knotty and gnarled as the tree that bears it. "But if 
you are country bred, you will lay the gun down by the 
wall and proceed to pelt that apple off the tree. For it is 
a part of the lore learned in boyhood days that that un- 
dersized and homely fruit, which no respectable tree 
would give bough room, has peculiar sweetness and 
spice; and when you get it, and bite into it, the tang 
is what must have been the flavor of those apples pi the 
Norse goddess, which when ©aten by the old warrioT§ 
restored their youth. 
