428 
FOREST AND STREAM.* 
[May 31, 1902. 
James Blackburn fined them $50 each and costs, and 
ordered the sale of the guns by the wardens. 
They all came over from Ironwood, Mich. It was the 
greatest haul ever made in Wisconsin, and the wardens 
were congratulated by many sportsmen. A. P. 
The New York: Cold Storage System. 
Albany, N. Y., May 24. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Chief Protector J. W. Pond, of the Forest, Fish and 
Game Commission, has returned from New York, where 
he had been engaged with a force of game protectors in 
assisting dealers in game who wish to comply with the 
recent act whereby they can retain their game in cold 
storage by giving a bond and permitting the goods to be 
sealed under the seal of the Commission until the end of 
the close season. Several dealers have taken advantage 
of the law, and were either represented by Attorney 
Julius Offenbach, of New York, or met in person the 
Chief Protector at the New York office of the Commis- 
sion. The work of sealing and bonding the goods in the 
several warehouses is now in progress, and all who wish 
to be protected under the law by this means should apply 
to the office of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission, 
Capitol, Albany, or to the branch office, Room 324, 1 
Madison avenue, New York, before June 5, otherwise 
persons who may have game in possession will be amen- 
able to the law and liable to a penalty. This applies to 
the entire State where game may be in storage. 
Albany. 
The "Walk/' 
New York, May 22. — Editor Forest and Stream: I 
don't care what you call the articles written by the man 
"Walking South," nor how he "goes," just so he keeps on 
going and writing his "goings," and his goings are pub- 
lished. There is a naturalness and flavor to his writing 
that have merit of the highest order, and they appeal to 
me and others. They ought to be published in book 
form. Keep him going. Terry Smith. 
Peter Fontaine. 
Now it is quite certain that Peter Fontaine, the Cana- 
dian desperado, shot by Maine Game Warden Henderson 
last March, has recovered. The wardens have word that 
he is out again and back over the border illegally trap- 
ping. He is perfectly at home in the woods, quick, fear- 
less and always on the alert. He will shoot any man 
whom he believes to be a warden at sight. 
Special. 
Shot Obstructions and Waves. 
In jocular language it is not the fall that hurts, but the sudden 
stop at the end of the fall. In "the same way we are all agreed 
that it is the sudden check on the movement of a charge of shot 
in its travel down, the barrel on encountering an obstruction that 
does all the damage. As we all know, there are two rival theories 
to account for the excessive lateral pressures that undoubtedly 
occur, the one attributing the phenomena observed to the com- 
pression of the column of air in the barrel, and the other laying 
the blame on the powder gases piling up a local pressure to the 
rear of the powder wad. Major Thiel has advocated a third 
theory. It is that the barrel is burst by the lateral pressure created 
by the jamming of the advancing shot charge upon itself and 
against the obstruction. In a question so closely concerned with 
theoretical reasonings we should be sorry to advocate any one 
view to the exclusion of the other two. 
For low pressures we are accustomed to speak of the pressure 
of a given amount of gas in a closed chamber as inversely pro- 
portionate to the cubic capacity, so that by reducing the available 
space to one-half the pressure would be doubled. This, however, 
presupposes plenty of space between the molecules of the air, and 
that the compression should not be conducted quicker than the 
resulting heat can be dispersed. In dealing with the kind of 
compression that may be assumed to take place in the air between 
the shot and the obstruction we must discard this simple arith- 
metical relation, and adopt in its place a much more complicated 
mathematical process. On page 229 of Part II. "Sporting Guns 
and Gunpowders," a diagram is reproduced which appeared orig- 
inally in the issue of the Field dated Nov. 28, 1896. It showed the 
rate of advancing pressure that would apply to the column of air 
in a gun having an obstructed muzzle and a cartridge in the 
chamber 27in. to the rear. When the shot had traversed 26in., 
making a space of lin. between it and the obstruction, the pressure 
registered would be l,3001bs., and not 3831bs. per square inch, which 
would be the equivalent for 27 times atmospheric density. 
After the last inch there is evidence that the molecules have 
exhausted most df- their capacity for close packing, so that over 
the final %jn. the pressures are shown to rise in tons nearly as 
rapidly as they would in the earlier compression in pounds. The 
advocates of the air theory rely upon this violent rise of pressure 
when the two bodies are close together to account for the lateral 
effects noticed when guns are burst by weighty obstructions filling 
up the bore. It must, however, always be remembered that bulges 
are caused when there is very much less air between the two 
Fig. I. Showing condition of obstruction after firing. Full si: 
xe 
Fig. 2. Showing the deformation of the pellets of shot of the propelled 
charge as a result of impact with an obstruction; Greatly enlarged. 
bodies than a 27in. column, and therefore that the conditions 
chosen for the case we quote are of a kind to display the theory 
in its most favorable light. It would unduly overweight this 
article were we to show the many experiences of bulging that go 
at least to disprove the view that the air theory alone will account 
for every case of damage that has occurred from an obstruction. 
It will be more profitable at the present moment to give detailed 
reasons for the view that the wave pressure set up by the powder 
gases is the promoting cause of the trouble. In so doing, we can 
point oat wherein Major Thiel has failed to do justice to the com- 
pleteness of the wave pressure theory, and at the same time show 
the results of experiments bearing upon his own view of the ex- 
pansive power of the lead. We must refer in the first place to 
our own shooting tests, in wluch we made use of a 12- bore can- 
non not likely to suffer from lateral stresses, however set up. 
this gun was strapped to a telegraph post, and its mmale was 
directed into the mouth, of a tut] of water placed conveniently 
below. It was charged with an ordinary 12-bore cartridge contain- 
l%oz. of No. 4 shot. An obstruction, consisting of the ordinary 
wadding and l%oz. of No. 8 shot, was placed in the barrel, with 
the top wad Vfcin. from the muzzle. Two shots were fired under 
these conditions, and for a third shot the obstruction was placed 
B&in. from the muzzle. After each discharge the tub was emptied 
and the pellets of shot were carefully recovered. 
In the case of the first two shots it was found that the pellets 
of the obstructing charge had been almost entirely fused, and were 
moulded to the form of the barrel. The largest conglomerations 
of pellets did not, however, consist of more than ten, hut the sur- 
faces showed that the metal had been molten, and afterward torn 
asunder while in that condition, probably by reason of its impact 
with the water. However interesting these may have been, they 
were eclipsed by the results obtained with the last shot. No less 
than 3S0grs. by weight out of a total of 492 were recovered in the 
form of the single ball here illustrated. Further, pellets of the 
same size were recovered separately, so that most of the obstruc- 
tion was accounted for. It thus became clear that' the obstruction 
which originally consisted of a column of No. 8 shot .73in. long 
was compressed into a solid disk .35in. thick. The No, 4 shot 
comprising the cartridge charge was uniformly in each of the 
three shots compressed solid, but without signs of extreme 
violence, such as fusing of the metal. The important deduction 
to be drawn from these facts is that when a charge of shot strikes 
an obstruction at the muzzle consisting of another charge of shot 
and wads, the two are consolidated before leaving the muzzle. 
Referring more particularly to our illustrations, Fig. 1 shows three 
full-size reproductions of that part of the obstruction that was 
recovered whole. The first view shows the face that was toward 
the muzzle, the pellets on the surface being easily detachable. 
The middle picture shows a side view, the slight expansion in 
excess of the radius of the bore having no doubt been caused 
after leaving the muzzle; and the third view shows the fused face 
of the obstruction, being that which directly received the shock 
of the projected charge from the cartridge. Fig 2 shows three of 
the No. 4 shot, which were typical specimens selected at random 
from among those that had been fired from the cartridge. Their 
shape at least permits us to assert that the condition of the whole 
charge must have been a solid mass before the individual items 
could be reduced to such a condition. 
The length of the two shot charges and wadding comprising the 
propelled charge and the obstruction would amount to about 
2.5in. This would be their combined length at first contact, the 
air being presumed immaterial for the moment, as we can find no 
direct evidence of its presence. When rendered solid by the 
impact this length would be reduced to about 1.5in. Assuming 
the propelling shot to be traveling at 1,100ft. per second upon 
first contact, this would be-reduced as the resistance began to come 
into play, until finally, after a travel of about lin., the two charges 
would be no longer compressible, and the obstruction would 
be set in motion at the pace to which the movement of the pro- 
elled charge would be reduced, viz., 550ft. per second. It must 
e remembered that the velocity of the propelled charge could 
never go below this value, and that the transformation from its 
first velocity to 1,100ft. to its remaining velocity of 550ft. would 
be accomplished in a travel of lin.; that is, in not more than one 
and one-half ten-thousandths of a second. This may well be con- 
sidered a sudden transformation of energy. The force necessary 
to produce such a result might well be described as enormous. 
The front pellets of the obstructing charge would be set in 
motion so suddenly as to be incapable of supporting their own 
weight, and they would collapse when thus suddenly moved like 
butter in a hot climate. In distinction to Major Thiel's view, we 
must assert that the charge which suffers the greatest compressive 
force is that representing the obstruction. The advancing charge 
is by comparison more slowly altered in its velocity than the 
obstruction. The column of ^lir no doubt forms an elastic cushion 
causing a slight reduction of the shock, and the impact is neces- 
sarily reduced in violence, because it is spread over an inch of 
travel. With the obstruction the circumstances appear to be quite 
different. Practically, it is stationary until the 550ft. is suddenly 
applied, because if it were brought into motion at all gradually ft 
would be clear of the barrel before the real shock came along, 
and we know that this is not so. Hence the body that suffers 
the more sudden change of state as regards motion is the one that 
receives the greatest shock. Theory and visible evidence alike 
show it to be the obstruction that suffers thus. 
If what has gone before has been clearly followed the wave 
pressure theory may be explained in a few words. The sudden 
reduction in the velocity of the propelled shot is accompanied 
by an equally sudden check in the forward movement of the layers 
of gas immediately to its rear. The gas further back is also travel- 
ing at a high speed, and its momentum causes it to drive forward 
against the gas in front. While, therefore, the shot continues its 
travel at a reduced velocity, the gases rush forward and pile upon 
one another to the rear of the projectile. This is not an instanta- 
neous action, and hence we can understand that the shot might 
move several inches at the reduced velocity before a dangerous ac- 
cumulation of pressure had been registered at its rear. The wave 
theory is not therefore inconsistent with the occurrence of a bulge 
beyond where the rear of the propelled charge is at the time of 
first contact. Rather does it depend upon the existence of such a 
condition. Similarly, the infrequent occurrence of bulges when the 
obstruction is near the chamber is to be explained by the absence 
of sufficient momentum of the gases due to the slow velocity of 
the shot at that point in the barrel. It is therefore giving good 
advice to suggest that no plausible theory be disregarded or dis- 
couraged while there is obviously so much to be learned.— London 
Field. 
Proprietors of fishing resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
The New Ichthyology, 
Henry Gay Carleton Pays his Compliments to Dr. H. F. 
Moore, of the U. S. Fish Commission, Scientist, 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I very much enjoyed writing a piece for your paper 
on May 3, saying ribald and disrespectful things about the 
valuable but solemn U. S. Fish Commission, and inci- 
dentally lampooning one of its honorable and usually 
esteemed members, but I was severely pained to see in 
your issue of May 17 that Dr. H. F. Moore, the afore- 
said esteemed member, whom I regarded as a personal 
friend, has been moved to violent emotions of self-de- 
fense, and has said several ribald and disrespectful things 
about me. 
This opened up a line of argument for which I was 
wholly unprepared. 
Dr. Moore came last winter to Cocoanut Grove, Fla., 
on portentous business for his Commission — maybe to 
investigate the following topics: 
1. Why chickens sleep. 
2. When a rooster has insomnia, why does he insist on commu- 
nicating that malady to the entire neighborhood? 
3. Are horseshoe crabs any luckier for being so? 
4. Is there a better implement than the shotgun for nigger- 
proofing a melon patch? If so, wire particulars at once to the 
Secretary of Agriculture, and forward statistics by freight. 
5. Are four-legged coons so-called after the two-legged variety, or 
vice versa, and why? 
It is only a theory of mine that the doctor was engaged 
in the above scientific inquiries. He merely told me that 
one of his subjects was to make experiments in the arti- 
ficial culture of sponges, and he ceFtainly did sew up frag- 
ments of porifera with various breeds of wire, and go 
on long and lonely marine prowls to insert them in re- 
mote coves among the keys, where no eye might discern 
their whereabouts except his eagle own. 
As Dr. Moore is neither a poker player nor a fisherman, 
I cannot questipn. his. veracity, awl therefore njust re-. 
luctantly consider that he was wasting his time in the 
artificial culture of four-ounce sponges in Florida, when 
sponges weighing 200 pounds may be easily cultivated in 
immense numbers at the Waldorf, Delmonico's, the Belle- 
vue, the New Willard and similar resorts all over the 
country. Some authorities, however, may insist that this 
is Dr. Moore's business and not mine. What is my 
business, and the business of all who are even remotely 
interested in fish, is to find some one willing even at 
personal risk, to build a bonfire under the U. S. Fish 
Commission, awaken it to the glare of the 20th century 
progress in light fiction, and give us an ichthyology con- 
taining recreative and frolicsome grains of information 
valuable to the world at large, and not only to the knobby- 
browed, high-power goggled hermits, who spend isolated 
lives writing lethal reports for the Government — which 
reports none but themselves ever afterward read, or if they 
do read, can possibly understand. 
When I remarked to my friend Dr. Moore that some 
day, when I had a week's leisure at my command, I would 
become a naturalist, I did not really mean that I expected 
to qualify in that time to fill any position in the learned 
body of which Dr. Moore is a shining and most erudite 
fellow. I do not really think I could perfect myself in all 
the branches of the naturalist business in less than ten 
days or perhaps two weeks, and I know positively that I 
would not guarantee to read aloud four lines of the average 
U. S. Fish Commission report in less than four minutes 
per line. But, admirable as is the personnel of the Fish 
Commission, and useful as are its reports, it is hampered 
by the sesquipedalian rhodomontade and bewildering 
hendecasyllabic incomprehensibility of its reports. Let us 
take one of the simplest examples — Prof. Evermann's de- 
scription of the Ohio shad, to which he applied the vitu- 
perative epithet Alosa ohiensis. For this sin perhaps he 
had some strong provocation which does not appear in the 
record — perhaps bought one which had had too long a 
wake. Here is the professor's description of the Ohio 
shad: 
Alosa Ohiensis. Evermann. (Ohio Shad.) 
Description of the Type.-— Head, 4.5; depth, 3.6; eye, 5.5; 
snout, 4: maxillary, 2.1; mandible, 1.87; D., 18; A, 18; gillrakers, 
49 + 26 = 75 on right side; 47 + 27 = 74 on left. 
Body very long, slender and much compressed; dorsal and 
ventral outlines very gently and evenly arched; head rather long, 
conic; caudal peduncle very long,' the distance from base of 
caudal to dorsal fin equaling distance from that point ' to pre- 
opercle; mouth, large; maxillary broad, reaching posterior border 
of eye; lower jaw_ slightly projecting and fitting into a small notch 
in tip of upper jaw; cheek and opercles strongly striate; scales 
large and deciduous; fins moderate; gillrakers moderate in number, 
the longest about equal to snout in length. 
Now I would criticize the above as follows : It is of 
doubtful clarity; it almost entirely lacks humor, poetry, 
picturesque imagination; and is devoid of quality which 
could commend it as popular reading matter. It may 
bristle with facts, but it is soggy and indigestible. How 
much better would have been something like this : 
Ohio Shad. Carleton. (Locally called Ohio Shad,) 
Bully fish. Is at its best with the roes in full bloom. May be 
caught like other shad. May be planked like other shad. Tastes 
like other shad if cooked in the same manner. Is preferred in 
Ohio to Connecticut shad, by persons who do not care to pay 
the freight oa the other variety. 
Now even Dr. Moore must confess that the above is 
more lucid and of some popular interest. Suppose we 
take the jewfish. As ladies read the Forest and Stream, 
I will not give the Fish Commission's description, but this 
is mine: 
Jewfish. Carleton. (Sometimes called Einstein Herring.) 
Is easily recognized by having an oral orifice whose diameter is 
seven times the total length of the fish. He is first cousin of 
the grouper, but dislikes to work for a Hying. Is found in 
Southern waters on the east anu west coast of America. Also at 
Key West. Possibly elsewhere. Spends half his time lying in 
the mud, with upturned eyes, and the other half with upturned 
eyes lying in the mud. Does not take food of his own volition. 
Is too lazy. Sometimes when his mouth is open, a hook may drift 
in with the tide, and then the jewfish is as game as a two-ton 
anchor, and fully as nourishing. The popular theory that he may 
be caught by baiting the hook with a genuine diamond ring has 
not been carefully verified. Is unfit to eat, but is highly esteemed 
in Key West. 
The above is perhaps not extensive enough, but it is to 
the point. Now let us take the barracouta : 
Barracouta. Carleton. (Also called Barracuda by per- 
sons who have not yet learned how to spell. Also 
called hard names by anglers who are fishing for 
other fish.) 
Inhabits the semi-tropical waters of Florida, the Caribbean and 
Pacific. Also Key West. Has moral characteristics which would 
make him a good politician. Unlike the politician, however, he 
is fit to eat, except at certain seasons, when he is said to be poison- 
ous. To ascertain which are these particular seasons, eat the fish 
and note the result. The barracouta is fine fun when intentionally 
caught with tarpon tackle, but he himself does not appear to 
realize the humor. Takes live bait or squid, sometimes cut bait. 
Is said to be very partial to sweetbreads, and to possess no in- 
considerable surgical skill. Is not known to be musical, but is 
said to be useful in cultivating a tenor voice. 
Of course this is merely an off-hand sample of my 
standard ichthyology, which I shall write, if I ever get 
a two-weeks' vacation. I may never get that vacation, so 
I publish this as a pointer for Professor Evermann and 
Dr. Moore to consider. I have not the honor of Professor 
Evermann's acquaintance — wish I had — but I do know Dr. 
Moore, and I deeply believe that the only blight on his 
character is that he is a naturalist. What the world wants 
is more literary recreation in fish annals, and less rumbling, 
ponderosity — less caudal peduncle and fewer striated 
opercles, so to speak. But pending the appearance of 
my "Standard Ichthyology and Angler's True Friend" 
(which unhappily will end the U. S. Fish Commission), 
let Professors Evermann and Bean and Dr. Moore lighten 
their scientific papers and jettison their cargo of un- 
sterilized Greek. They have learning, wit and good 
American humor a-plenty. Tf they had not, and were not 
the U. S. Fish Commission so admirable and really use- 
ful a body, and so rich in achievements which endear it to 
every citizen who knows its labors, as to be able to, 
stand a friendly joke from a sincere admirer, this artless, 
article would never have been written. 
Henry Guy Carleton. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., Jfew' 
York," 1 and s«t individual connected with the paper, 
