Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1902, bv Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms, $4 a Year. 10 Ore. a Copy. I 
Six Months, $2. J, 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY IB, 1902. 
j VOL. L VIII.— No. T. 
| No. 346 Broadway, New York. 
A MONUMENT TO PROFESSOR BAIRD. 
An effort is making by friends of Professor Spencer F. 
Baird. who loved him in his lifetime and revere hfs 
memory, to secure an appropriation for the erection of 
a monument to Ins memory at Washington. Senator 
Lodge has very kindly signified his Avillingness to take 
charge of- the matter, and has, we believe, already intro- 
duced a bill or resolution to secure such an appropriation. 
Many letters and petitions have gone to Washington in 
support of this measure from men engaged in the fish 
trade, from fishculturists. from members of legislatures, 
from the faculties of colleges and others. It is hoped 
that success will be attained in the movement. The form 
of petition which has been used follows ; we give the text 
of it with the hope that every person who knows and ap- 
preciates the great services of Professor Baird may be 
moved to add the weight of his influence to the movement 
for the memorial : 
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives in Con- 
gress assembled: 
We, the undersigned, recognizing the great merit of the late 
IVof. Spencer F. Baird as scientist, writer and father of the United 
State Fish Commission, and deeply appreciating his services to the 
fishing industries of the country, and the establishment of fish- 
culture on a broad basis, the benefits of which grow more apparent 
with passing years, most respectfully and earnestly petition that 
an appropriation be made by the Congress for the erection of a 
suitable monument to his memory at Washington, D. C. 
We are confident that the .great work accomplished by Professor 
Baird in scientific investigation, as the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution, the Director of the National Museum, and as the head 
of the United States Fish Commission, are so well known and 
have-been of such vast consequence to the educational ^and in- 
dustrial activities of the nation that detailed discussion here is 
unnecessary and uncalled for. 
Ever praying that our petition may receive the considerate at- 
tention of the Congress, it is respectfully submitted. 
In this connection we are permitted to quote a letter 
written by President Jordan, of Leland Stanford Junior 
University, to Capt. Joseph W. Collins, of the Massachu- 
setts Fish Commission, who is actively interested in the 
movement : 
Lei.and Stanford Junior University. Stanford University, Cal. 
—Office of the President, Jan. 29, 1902.— Mr. Joseph W. Collins. 
Boston, Mass.: Dear Sir — I am very deeply interested in the 
proposed memorial to Professor Baird. The fact that Washington 
is now a center of scientific research in various lines is due to 
Professor Baird more than to any other man. 1 shall take pleasure 
in writing to different men who may help. Very truly yours, 
(Signed) David S. Jordan. 
Copies of the petition may be obtained by addressing 
Capt. Collins. 
THE PLANK IN NEW YORK. 
Writing of New Hampshire game conditions in our 
issue of Jan. 25, Mr. C. M. Stark testified to the valuable 
results of the adoption and enforcement in that State of 
the law forbidding the sale of woodcock and grouse. In 
our issue of last week we quoted from the annual report 
of the Massachusetts Commissioners of Inland Fisheries 
and Game proof of the admirable effect of the working 
of the anti-sale prohibition in Massachusetts. They 
wrote : 
But it is possible to judge with some accuracy of the effect of 
the game law which prohibits the sale of partridge and woodcock 
(Acts of 1900, Chapter 379), for its beneficial results are already 
observable to a very pronounced degree in nearly all sections of the 
State, notwithstanding it has been in force" so short a time. There 
can be no doubt that the increase in ruffed grouse, concerning 
which there is a large mass of evidence at hand, is directly at- 
tributable to this measure and the active enforcement of the game 
laws. The outlook for the woodcock also seems somewhat im- 
proved, even to the extent that it is reported breeding in this 
State, although it is wjell known that its appearance is generally as 
a migrant. 
Testimony to the same effect has come to us from 
Minnesota, where the anti-sale law as enforced by Execu- 
tive Agent Sam. F. Fullerton, has proved to be of most 
unquestionable advantage. Other States have reported 
like results. There is everywhere abundant and convinc- 
ing evidence that in the application of the Forest and 
Stream's Platform Plank— "The sale of game should be 
forbidden at all seasons" — lies the remedy for unsatis- 
factory game conditions. It is in large measure the solu- 
tion of the game protection problem. 
Now come the New York Fish and Game Commissioners 
who in their annual report to the Uegislature advocate the 
adoption of a similar law for New York. Theygive it as 
their opinion that the sale of woodcock, quail and grouse 
killed within the State should be prohibited at all seasons. 
It stands to reason that what is good for New Hampshire 
and Massachusetts and Minnesota and other States, is 
good for New York. The recommendation of the Com- 
missioners should be carried out by the present Legisla- 
ture. A hill to this effect has been introduced into the 
Assembly by Mr. Marson, of Oneida county, providing 
that woodcock, grouse and quail shall not be sold or 
offered for sale at any time or place throughout the State. 
The bill is now in the Committee on Fish and Game. 
Every citizen who appreciates the situation and recog- 
nizes the opportunity now presented to secure this most 
important law, should use his best endeavor by a personal 
appeal to his representative at Albany to assure for this 
measure legislative approval. 
As is- pointed out by a correspondent who writes from 
Rochester, there is a well-reccgnized counter influence at 
work at Albany in the person of an official, who is not 
named by our correspondent, but is perfectly well known 
to be Deputy Comptroller Gilman. Mr. Gilman is or was 
interested in a cold storage concern in New York city ; 
has for years been active in opposition to legislation in- 
tended to restrict deahng in game, and has worked for 
greater license in game traffic. Now it is not to be toler- 
ated that the legislation asked for by the Game Com- 
mission and demanded by the people should be thwarted 
by the personal'and selfish interest of an individual. The 
indorsement of Mr. Marson's bill should be so pronounced 
that its prompt reporting out of committee should follow. 
Let us Jrave in New York the non-sale system which has 
proved so advantageous elsewhere. 
THE WILD SHEEP'S MEGAPHONE? 
The theory has recently been advanced in England that 
the great curving horns of the wild sheep, of which our 
big-horn may be regarded as typical, are of use to the 
animal as making its hearing more acute ; that they are 
curved around the side of the head in such a fashion 
that the ear appears to be at the apex of a hollow cone 
formed by the great spiral horn. Mr. Geo. Wherry, of 
Cambridge, believes that "the form of the horn and the 
position of the ear enables the wild sheep to determine the 
direction of sounds when there is a mist or fog, the horn 
acting like an admiralty megaphone when used as an ear 
trumpet, or like the topophone (double ear trumpet,, the 
hells of which open opposite ways), used for a fog-bound 
ship on British-American vessels to determine the direc- 
t : on of sound signals." 
The statement is ingenious, but is interesting chiefly as 
showing the way in which scientific guessing may be mis- 
directed. The author appears to have forgotten, if he ever 
knew, what is called to his attention by Mr. Harting, that 
there are many wild sheep and that the spiral of the horn 
of each species of wild sheep is a different one. Even 
within the species the spiral may differ to some extent 
among individuals. In some cases, perhaps, the ear- lies 
at the apex of a cone formed by the horn, but in others 
it does not. Moreover, it may naturally be inquired why 
it is that the adult males of a particular age should be 
provided with such an aid to hearing, which is lacking 
in the females and the young. These old males with large 
and perfect horns have acquired their full fighting powers. 
They have also reached their full strength and agility 
for flight, and through many years of experience have 
come to a full knowledge of the dangers to which their 
race is exposed. How does it come that nature should 
have cared so well for them and should have left the far 
more defenseless females and young a prey to the dangers 
likely to come to them from enemies which may make 
the sounds in a fog. Should not the latter possess this pro- 
tective ear trumpet as well as the males of full age, whose 
horns — to the field observer at least — would seem to be 
sexual characters analogous to" the antlers of the deer or 
the spurs of the cock? 
It is very well known that the male sheep use their 
horns for the purpose of fighting, and that their battles 
are severe. To what other uses beside self-defense these 
horns may be put the outdoor American does not very 
clearly know. 
It is not so very many years ago that good common 
sense people were told and believed that the horns of the 
mountain sheep were used by him as a buffer on which to 
alight, when he sprang headlong from lofty cliffs, and 
striking on his horns on the rocks below, rebounded, 
alighted on his feet and ran away. Those who told this 
story and those who believed it did not consider what 
would happen to the females whose horns are practically 
straight, and only from 6 to 10 inches long, nor did they 
take into account the young males who for several 
years have horns too small to act as buffers in this way. 
In this they were like Mr. Wherry. 
As a matter of fact, we believe that the observations of 
outdoor men generally will show that the mountain sheep 
depends for its safety chiefly on its nose and its eyes. 
We believe that if the observations of hunters in general 
could be gathered and collated, it would be found that 
the female sheep are rather quicker to notice danger than 
the males, though both are quick enough. 
Wariness in sheep as in any other wild animals is 
very largely a matter of education. With regard to our 
own species, it is well known among the old-timers on 
the plains that fifty years ago in many parts of the West 
the big-horn was the most unsuspicious and easily killed 
of any animal except the buffalo. At the present day he 
has changed his habits with his location, and is now the 
most difficult of all animals to hunt, except the white-tailed 
deer. 
THE STATUS OF TRA PSHO O TING. 
In every branch of sport, and for that matter in every 
branch of the affairs of men, there are those who. being 
abnormally wise, declare its decadence and predict its 
ending. To them, no special process of reasoning, in this 
connection, is considered as an essential in making a con- 
clusion. The most meager data concerning some particu- 
lar serves them in making an estimate of the total situa- 
tion. Let methods change, and disintegration is denoted ; 
let the scene of activity change, and it further denotes the 
hastening of the end. In short, the pessimistic person 
not infrequently mistakes his pessimistic condition of 
mind for an actual state of external affairs. 
The matter of trapshooting has not escaped the notice 
of those who make a specialty of observing the down- 
ward trend of established institutions. 
Notwithstanding the many mistaken regrets over im- 
aginary decay of trapshooting, it may safely be asserted 
that never in its history was this sport, throughout the 
length and breadth of the United States, in such a pros- 
perous condition. Gun clubs abound everywhere. Whether 
indulged in as a matter of pleasurable competition, or as 
a matter whereby skill with the shotgun may be acquired, 
trapshooting has a place everywhere, whether cross- 
roads hamlet or city, throughout the land. 
It is true that it has been through many stages of evolu- 
tion, in respect to its competitive features in the past few 
years; but such may be considered as incidents of the 
sport, and not the sport itself. 
It, too, has betimes been affected by the vicissitudes of 
the business world. When hard times prevail, sport for 
the time being is less, or in abeyance. Yet, all in all, it 
has held more than its own in public favor as compared 
with other sports. 
As a true index of its pervading popularity, the national 
interest manifested in the Grand American Handicap, to 
be held at Kansas City, Mo., in March and April, and the 
more than national support which will be accorded it, are 
pertinent to the case in point. The most conservative 
estimates are that not less than 350 shooters will be 
present at that great event, and there are other well- 
grounded estimates that there will be not less than 400. 
Others, again, : more optimistic, place the number nearer 
500. In any event, it will be without doubt the greatest 
gathering of mighty trapshooters in respect to skill artd 
numbers that the world has ever known. Such a happen- 
ing, truly, could never have a place if trapshooting was 
in a state of - decay. It per sc^ is an index of universal 
activity and approval. 
There is here much for both individual and national 
gratification— the sport affords wholesome relaxation and 
recreation to the individual; to the nation which has a 
skilled shooter in every citizen, there is always a ready 
defense from all enemies. 
Dispatches from the Russian newspapers state that the 
expedition which was sent out by the Academy of Sciences 
under the zoologist Hertz to examine the mammoth re- 
mains discovered in the district of Kolymsk, is returning, 
after a very difficult journey, bringing the mammoth with 
it. It was a male, and apparently middle-aged. Its skin 
and skeleton were both preserved. In the stomach and 
in the mouth were found remains of .undigested food. The 
different parts of the mammoth have been conveyed to St, 
Petersburg in a frozen condition, 
it j 
