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FOREST AND STREAM; 
OONE % I902. 
low, where they deposit their brood, if they are not 
at:acked by parasites (ichneumon flies). The opening 
then closes, but is subsequently opened again by the 
worker ants. This thinned spot is an adaptation of the 
plant to the ant; it does not occur in the Cecropia, which 
is free from ants (that is to say, the corresponding bud 
depression is not changed in texture and is not atro- 
phied). On the underside of the stem of the leaf of 
of Cecropia adenopus and others is a peculiar hair cush- 
ion, which is constantly secreting albuminous, egg-shaped 
particles (Midler's corpuscles). These secretions are 
eagerly collected and devoured by the Azteca; they are 
one of their chief articles of food. The Cecropia which 
is free from ants has none of Midler's corpuscles. The 
species Crecopia are much frequented in Brazil by the 
leaf-cutting ants, a species of Atta, and are terribly in- 
jured by them, but all those which contain Azteca colo- 
nies are spared, because the vicious Azteca pursue the 
Atta furiously and drive them away. 
Thus it appears that this plant by an undoubted adap- 
tation giA r es the ant food and lodging, while in return 
the ant defends the plant from its worst enemy. 
In certain superb forests of Europe it was found that 
the oak trees were inhabited by a fierce ant, whose run- 
ning workers covered all the trunks of the trees. It is 
believed that these ants drive away the beetles and other 
insects which delight to destroy old oaks, and that thus 
they protect the trees. Many other examples of a less 
perfect symbiosis might be cited, and, of course, there 
" are many plants with which the ants have casual rela- 
tions, making use of hollows, natural or excavated, for 
their habitations. 
Sometimes different species of ants live together, each 
in its own nest; but these nests may be close together, 
and even more or less interwoven. Such nests, while 
built into each other, do not have any open communica- 
tion on the other. If the partitions are destroyed, war 
follows immediately. Sometimes a very small species 
will build its nest in the walls of the nest of a large spe- 
cies, and may have openings into the passages occupied 
by the larger species, through which it passes into its 
neighbor's home and even robbing it of provisions, 
destroying the young. It is probable that these com- 
pound nests are built in situations peculiarly favorable 
to ant life. When partitions are broken down and bat- 
tles begin, the victorious species pursues its enemy into 
its own home. The fighting is bold and the retreat slow, 
and beside that the retreating party are likely to rap- 
idly wall up the passages before the victors, forming 
barricades which their enemies cannot easily throw 
down. 
It is well understood that certain ants hold colonies 
of slaves, and in cases where its slaves are numerous, 
the nests built for the conquerors are likely to resemble 
the nests of the species held in subjection and not those 
of their masters. In other cases, where the victors and 
their slaves work side by side, the nest is of a mixed 
architecture, each species building in its own way. 
In Central America there appears to be a species of 
nomadic ant, which does not build or excavate any 
nests. These ants live a wandering life and with their 
very numerous colonies occupy spacious, naturally shel- 
tered spaces, in which they live rolled up together in 
immense clusters. During the day, the workers scatter 
over the country and bring in food to the nests, where 
the larvas are fed. When the supply of food in one local- 
ity has been exhausted, the ants, carrying their brood, 
move on, during the night, to another place. 
Beside building nests in such extraordinary variety, 
it is well known that ants build, as well, roads, which 
are often straight and clear of all obstructions, and 
which unquestionably save an immense amount of labor 
to the insects in going to and fro about their business. 
This ^business, as with all other living things, is the 
acquiring of food. 
Cats and Snakes. 
A recent letter to the Madras Mail touches upon a 
subject that is of interest to every naturalist and sports- 
man. The writer says that having been disturbed by a 
noise in the verandah, resembling a fight between two 
animals, say a cat and a rat, he went to inquire the cause, 
and under his reading desk he saw something "not quite 
visible," and near it at a distance of a few inches, sat a 
white cat in a defiant attitude. As soon as he entered 
the scene of combat the more powerful of the opponents 
left the scene, leaving him to deal with the trespasser 
himself, which happened to be a snake. By fixing the 
attention on itself intently for about a quarter ofanhour, 
the .cat had, though unconsciously, succeeded in induc- 
ing a> sort of hypnotism or stupor in the snake. Then 
the snake, incapable of any further action, held its head 
down and the cat was of course watching its oppor- 
tunity for the final stroke. Apparently the snake had 
not much capacity for motion. After the narrator of the 
incident came, it moved itself sluggishly a foot or two 
further than where it lay, and coiled itself round one of 
the legs of the desk. The correspondent concludes:, "I 
write this simply to give publicity to my inference that 
this adds one to the many advantages of keeping a cat 
as a pet in houses. This incident may also serve as an 
illustration to the well-known power oi the cat species, 
to see even minute objects clearly in complete dark- 
ness." 
Now that cats have the power of hypnotizing snakes 
or any other creatures is a theory that I fancy few people 
will adopt, otherwise why the necessity for the fatal 
spring? Is it not rather that the cat — like its larger fel- 
low of the feline species— waits for the opportunity to 
spring successfully? 
But the point that I would like to refer to, and it is 
one that is constantly being discussed by South African 
naturalists, is the proved fact that cats can catch and kill 
venomous snakes without getting bitten. The supposi- 
tion is out there, and I believe it is a correct one, that the 
fur of the cat prevents the passage of the fangs so far as 
the skin, and that the venom is spent upon the coat of 
the cat where it becomes harmless; and should, after 
that, the snake bite the cat, say on the nose or the 
mouth, its attack has ceased to be lethal. A corrobora- 
tion of this was once given to me by an incident which 
I could not help remarking to myself. One day J saw 
one of my fowls running round my pine-apple field (it 
was in South America), carrying a live snake in its beak, 
the head of the reptile constantly twisting on to the back 
of the fowl and all over it, without any relaxation of hold 
by the fowl. It was only when 1 came close up and 
threw something at the fowl that it dropped its prey, and 
on despatching the latter I found it to be a small speci- 
men of the deadly mamba species. Now, that snake had 
evidently tried its utmost to defend itself With its fangs 
against its captor, but, obviously, the feathers of the bird 
had been too much for the insertion of the fangs. It 
was not what we may call a constrictive or prehensile 
snake, so was powerless. It might be interesting if some 
of your readers, more versed in the matters than I am. 
would give their experiences or opinions upon such an 
engrossing subject. The more we know about snakes — 
in fact, the whole dumb creation — the wiser we become 
in the knowledge of Nature, and the relation of animals 
to each other, and what grander subject can man require? 
— Correspondence of the Asian. 
Otters on Long Island* 
New York, May 29, 1902. — -Editor Forest and Stream: 
In a recent issue of the Forest anp~ Stream 1 noticed an 
account of the shooting of an otter by Mr. Childs, of 
New York, in the Great South Bay, and yoti stated that 
you would like to hear other reports from Long Island 
about otters. 
I am a member of the Wyandanch Club at Smiihtown, 
L. L, and last winter a very large otter was caught and 
killed in a steel trap on the grounds of the club by our 
fish warden, and soon after that another otter was caught 
in the trap, but escaped, leaving his f ot in the trap. 
There was also a report that a family of three or f vtr 
otters were seen in the vicinity of Sm'thtown during 
past winter. It seems surprising that there are still 
otters on Long Island even in localities which a 1 " o'v.'.e 
thickly settled. S. A. 
The Bobolinks' Song-. 
All the Hampshire county meadows are alive and 
vocal with parti-colored bobolinks in spring costume, 
whose individual song is a mellifluous warble long 
drawn out, as each rises to the tip of a favorite mullein 
stalk. When imitated with rapid following, it sounds 
something like this: 
He-e-re I be! chink-a-link, chink-a-link, what you 
think, chickadee, let me see, tiralee, quit it quick, quit, 
quit sw-e-et — that's all! C. Hallock. 
Plainfield, Mass , May 26. 
§utt[B §xg and §ntu 
— — 
Proprietors of shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
them in Forest and Stream. 
CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 
Wishsnmne Membership Finally Determined. 
Chicago, 111., May 24. — Mention has formerly been 
made in these columns of that peculiar, yet interesting 
combination of sportsmen known as the Wishininne 
Club. To repeat, this band of talent first assembled on 
the occasion of a shooting trip in Minnesota, during' 
which they became possessed of the skull of the old chief 
Wishininne himself, who was killed by a United States 
soldier in years gone by. Now, although the numbers 
and claimants in the Wishininne Club who meet at lunch 
nearly every day sometimes amounts to twenty or more, 
it was always understood that the real thirty-third de- 
gree Wishininne could not number more than ten in 
number. The question was, who should constitute the 
ten immortals. There is no constitution or by-laws to 
this singular organization, and whatever the president, 
Bill Wells, says, has to go-, because it is understood he 
can lick anybody else in the club. Yet a time came for 
the decision as to this membership. The chair appointed 
a committee, to-wit, Mayor Harrison, with instructions 
to have fabricated ten suitable badges. This order was 
handsomely carried out and a few days ago Mayor Har- 
rison showed up with ten beautiful pins of oxidized sil- 
ver. A small skull is the chief feature of the design, 
this being a miniature of the head of old Wishininne 
himself. A little ruby, let into the side of the head, 
shows where the fatal bullet struck that gentleman when 
he laid down his cards. Below the head is a scroll with 
the word "Wishininne" displayed upon it. When these 
pins we're seen there were from twenty to fifty claimants 
who at once set up a howl and began to get busy about 
the president. The latter called a business meeting, 
which was held in a dark room, the other evening. In 
the center of the dark room was a table upon which lay 
the skull of Wishininne himself, totem of the tribe. Two 
green electric light bulbs blazed from the sockets of the 
eyes of the skull, and served as a weird illumination in 
the gloom. About the board were gathered all the real 
and would-be Wishininnes. In the hands of the presi- 
dent were these ten coveted badges of rank. The proceed- 
ings were to some extent secret, but the method was as 
follows :, Giving to a certain member one of the pins, the 
president secretly designated another man to whom the 
recipient was to carry the pin. He was requested to 
present the pin to this accepted member with a speech 
embodying somewhat of the qualifications of the accepted 
one to serve as a member of the august body. This hav- 
ing been done, the president designated yet another car- 
rier and another receiver, until the entire number of 
pins had been given out. When at length the lights were 
turned up and all had taken their places, the following 
were found to be wearing pins upon the left lapel of 
their coats: Mayor Carter H. Harrison, ex-Mayor 
Hempstead Washburne, President W. L. Wells, Messrs. 
Graham H. Harris, J. V. Clarke, Lou Clarke, C. S. Den- 
nis, Eddie Pope, W. L. Haskell and E. Hough, It 
hardly needs be said that each member thinks himself 
favored indeed. There is so much rejected talent lying 
around that it is possible a rank of associate members 
may later be formed, so that there may be no coldness. 
Col. Bill Haskell has been elected chief worm digger for 
the club, this office being conferred for life. Of course, it 
is understood that no one was eligible to this select mem- 
bership who was not both a shooter and fisher, at least 
in his own estimation. Rumors of intimidation of the 
president are rife at this writing, but the latter stands 
firm and says that his distribution of the badges is final 
and that he not only can, but will lick any man who 
kicks too much. 
The sign of the order of Wishininnes is the left finger 
placed upon the left side of the head at the spot in- 
dicated by the ruby in its skull. It will take, however, 
more than the sign of the finger alone to get into the 
Wishininne Club. The sign can be given with effect 
onlv when in possession of one of the badges above de- 
scribed. 
The Diamond Hitch. 
I am in receipt of a letter from Lieut. H. C. de Waal, 
First Indian Cavalry, Salatiga, Java, Dutch West Indies, 
who has been reading about Western matters and who 
wants to know something about the diamond hitch. He 
does not see how the American packer is able to carry 
pianos, cook stoves, etc. on the pack horses. He goes 
on to say: "As the Dutch Government proposes to erect 
a military pack train for the numerous expeditions which 
we are obliged to undertake against the native tribes, who 
live now in moors, now in mountains, I should like very 
much to make myself useful by adopting the packers' 
hitch, whose wonderful grip made it possible to transport 
even pianos on pack mules. As I presume the Western 
pack saddle is of particular shape, I hope you will be 
so kind as to give me particulars about the saddle 
girths, with or without clasps, and especially of the dia- 
mond hitch. If you could find time to send me a sketch 
of the hitch, or if po'ssible to send me a hitch in rope, 
you would greatly oblige me. Also some information 
about the medium between back and saddle and how sore 
backs and loins are prevented." 
I continually get interesting letters like the above, and 
wish it were always possible to answer them in a prac- 
tical way. Of course, any Western man, or any man who 
ever used or saw used the diamond hitch, knows that it 
is practically impossible to answer this letter in such a 
way that the reply will be of any practical service to the 
writer. The diamond hitch is a very complicated mat- 
ter, and is thrown in any one of three or four different 
forms. I doubt if it can be fully understood, even from 
any drawing, and of course I cannot very well send 
through the mails a loaded pack mule with the hitch 
properly adjusted. Thus troubled over the matter, I be- 
thought myself of a series of articles published in the 
Forest and Stream some years ago by "Yo," which 
showed some pictures of the diamond hitch and the 
method of throwing it. If we can get these papers, per- 
haps we can do Lieutenant de Waal some good, for the 
description in these papers was done better than I can 
do it and probably explains the matter as well as can 
be done in print. If Forest and Stream can fix up the 
Dutch army in Java with that noted instrument of civi- 
lization, the diamond hitch, perhaps it will have done 
•something in extending the cause of civilization, for it 
will certainly enable the army to get closer and more 
comfortably up to their friends, the enemy, whether in 
the moors or in the mountains. 
From Kansas. 
Col. O. S. Woodward, of Neosho Falls, Kan., paid this 
office a very pleasant call yesterday. Colonel Woodward 
lost a leg in the Wilderness as a member of a famous 
Pennsylvania regiment in the Civil War, yet handicapped 
thus he has alsways been able to get a great deal of pleas- 
ure out of the sports of the field. When he first moved 
to Kansas a fence was unknown and he drove as he 
liked over the prairies in his prairie chicken shooting. 
He had his dogs trained to do pretty much all the work 
but the shooting. They found the birds for him and he 
drove up and shot them from his buggy. Having killed 
a bird, his dog would retrieve it and hand it up to him 
as he sat in the wagOn. He had very fine sport shoot- 
ing prairie chickens in this way and regrets that the 
good old days are over. 
"Do you know what fish I think is about the best 
game fish that ever was?" asked Col. Woodward of me. 
"Well, I will tell you. It is the catfish; not the blue 
cat, but what we call the channel cat out on the Neosho 
river. We caught them out there up to five or six pounds 
In the shallow ripples, and I want to tell you that there 
is no fish which strikes the bait any harder or which 
fights any faster after it is hooked. Moreover, you will 
not find more than one or two species of fish which are 
better eating than Mr. Catfish. I mean, of course, the 
channel cat. He is a long, slim, trim-built fellow and 
game as a pebble." 
Col. Woodward is on his way, with his brother-in-law, 
Mr. Hagerty, for a try at the big bass of the Fox Lake 
country this week. 
Cave Dwellers of St. Louis. 
That well-known sportsman, Mr. Horace Kephart, of 
St. Louis, has developed a new line of sport, which is 
having a great vogue at present in Missouri. He writes: 
"For recreation I have turned cave hunter, and find it 
great sport. Two years ago, while hunting turkeys in 
Snell Hollow below Brickey's Mill (forty-six miles south 
of St. Louis), I came across a small hole in the ground, 
from which issued a blast of cold air. Last summer I 
noticed that the hole had enlarged so that a man could 
enter it. Below was a crack in the rock that looked as 
if it had been split open by an earthquake, and I believe 
it was. This crack was too narrow in places for a man 
to descend, but I enlarged it with a cold chisel until I 
could slip through by turning on my side. Then a com- 
panion and I procured a rope and wiggled down through 
the crack. After twenty feet of steep incline, twenty-five 
feet vertically, and a crawl of several yards, we found 
ourselves in a chamber from which galleries ran in every 
direction. We followed one of them for about an hour, 
discovering more chambers, and getting down, I think, 
