'Kvt;, 2ft 1903.I 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
163 
but without avail; the Doctor then came to my assist- 
ance, and our united efforts succeeded in getting it 
out of the water and over the side — it must have 
weighed well on to a hundred pounds. We had observed 
a couple of other boats fishing in our vicinity, so we 
rowed over to the first one and asked, "What luck?" 
They had caught but one fish. We still had consider- 
able bait left, which the Doctor bestowed upon them, 
receiving very grateful expressions in return. We asked 
them if they didn't want some fish. They admitted 
that they should like some but hesitated to accept any. 
The Doctor thereupon commenced throwing them one 
at a time into their boat and told them to stop him 
when they had enough. After the eighth had been 
thrown they declared they would not accept another 
one, so we rowed away, leaving three very grateful 
fishermen behind us. 
We then pulled up to within hailing distance of the 
next boat and asked its occupants — a lady and gentle- 
man — if they didn't want some fish. I suppose they 
misunderstood our motive, as the man replied rather 
stiffly that they preferred to catch their fish, or words 
of similar purport. We, nevertheless, pulled alongside 
their boat, and a glance showed that they had not 
only caught none at all, but had their tackle so fouled 
on their centerboard below the boat as to appear very 
doubtful about their getting it free again. We took 
three nice fish from our bag and tossed them OA^er 
into the stranger's boat, telling them if they didn't 
want to keep them to throw them overboard, as they 
were still alive and would probably not be wasted. This 
was too much for them, and both occupants thanked us 
cordially and said they thought now their bad luck 
would change. 
The algebraic resultant of the combined efforts of 
Willie and the Doctor at the oars finally brought us 
to the clubhouse. It was a good, long pull under any 
circumstances, and I fear it was somewhat lengthened 
by the boy's nautical ambition. The Doctor, however, 
was game, he insisted on the boy's being permitted to 
row, and protested against my spelling him at the oars; 
but he, nevertheless, looked relieved when he was final- 
ly at the house. As soon as we got the boat and tackle 
cleaned up and put away, we pitched in and dressed the 
fish nicely and packed them for the trip home. A 
count showed us still with thirty nice ones in our pos- 
session, thus giving us forty-one for the morning's 
score. We now re-kindled our fire, selected the small- 
est of our fish, and cooked a dinner fit for sportsmen, 
and. then sat down and did justice to it. 
While we were dressing our fish, a cat, belonging to 
a solitary resident of a nearby cottage, came up to 
where we were at work and annoj^ed us considerably 
by constantly reaching up and clawing us. We put 
her away gently a few times, but it did no good. 
Finally the Doctor picked her up and tossed her a 
considerable distance to his rear. He didn't hurt her 
any, but she unluckily fell into the briny deep and got 
pretty wet. When she came out she rolled in the 
sand, and,- between the sand and the water together, 
she was an unusual object to behold. Unfortunately 
for the harmony of the camp, her owner appeared 
about that time, and, seeing his pet in so bedraggled 
a condition, inferred, I suppose, that we had endeav- 
ored to do him an injury, and at once opened a debate 
with us upon the subject. It developed, during the 
conversation that followed, that the Doctor is as good 
at talking as he is at fishing, and the other party with- 
drew from the scene. This detail has but little to do 
with the fishing, and I mention it merely on account of 
the amusement it afforded the junior member of our 
party. Boys seem to love a quarrel, and I doubt not 
to Willie this was by far the most pleasant part of the 
trip. 
After dinner we cleaned up everything and put it 
away nicely in its place, dressed ourselves for the city 
again, locked the clubhouse, and, taking our burden 
of fish, wended our way across the field to the electric 
station, and were glad enough when we reached it. 
We reached home about i P. M., tired and happy, and 
spent the remainder of the afternoon in remembering 
grateful friends. Wm. F. Flynn. 
WooDSTOcx, Conn., Aug 20, 
The Zebrula vs» the Mule. 
RiCHASD GuNTHER, Consul-Geueral at Frankfort, 
writes: German papers say the mule will probably be 
replaced in the twentieth century by a more efficient 
animal, as it has been demonstrated that the mule, the 
cross between horse and donkey, is inferior to the 
cross between horse and zebra. 
Formerly the opinion prevailed that the zebra was 
almost extinct. The opening up of Africa, particularly 
the eastern part, reveals these fine animals in large 
numbers. 
_ Compared with horses and cattle, they possess pecu- 
liar advantages, as they are immune against the very 
dangerous horse disease of Africa and also against 
the deathly "tsetse" fly. The question was, therefore, 
raised whether the zebra could not take the place of 
the mule, commonly used in the Tropics. The greatest 
credit with reference to the solution of this problem is 
due to Prof. Cossar Ewart, who has been trying since 
189s to produce crosses between horses and zebras, 
with a view to developing an animal superior in every 
respect to the mule. 
Three species of zebras still exist in Africa: the so- 
called "Grevy" zebra, on the high plateaus of Schoa; 
the common or mountain zebra, formerly found every- 
where in South Africa; and the "Burchell" zebra, still 
frequently found. 
Prof. Ewart produced crosses from marcs of different 
breeds and zebra stallions of the BurchcU kind. The 
offspring is called zebrula, and on account of its form 
and general bodily condition— especially the hardness 
of the hoofs — is. specially adapted for all transport 
work heretofore performed by mules. The zebrula is 
much livelier than the mule and at least as intelligent. 
The Indian Government has already experimented 
with zebrulas for transporting mountain artillery at 
Quetta. 
In Germany much interest in this animal is mani- 
fested. The well-known Hagenbeck is experimenting 
in this direction and intends to introduce the zebrula 
into Germany and America. The zoological garden 
at Berlin possesses some very fine specimens. The 
zebra stripes are often well preserved, while the under- 
tone of the skin is generally that of the mother. A 
full-grown zebrula is 14 hands high and the girdle cir- 
cumference about 160 centimeters (63 inches). 
_ The experiments so far have been so successful that 
It is predicted that the zebrula during the present cen- 
tury will completely supersede the mule. 
The Monkeys Counted to Thfee. 
But as regards animals being able to count, a case 
once came under my notice where it was proved that 
monkeys could count up to three, but no further. A 
Colonel Bowker, one of Natal's most enlightened and en- 
thusiastic naturalists, was once staying at an hotel near 
Durban, close to which was an oblong patch cleared in the 
bush and planted with mealies, which were ripe, the stalks 
being higher than a man's head. Monkeys were annoy- 
ing the proprietor by making excursions from the bush 
into the field, and throwing down about fifty times as 
many cobs as they tackled internally. Colonel Bowker, 
who firmly believed that moneys could only count up to a 
certain number, took three friends with him into the field 
with guns, openly. Naturally the monkeys were not tak- 
ing any lead just then. But shortly one man walked 
out with his gun over his shoulder, and made straight for 
the hotel ; a second did ditto ; and then a third. Then 
the monkeys went for that mealie patch, with, of course, 
the inevitable result, that some of them did not leave it! 
— The Asian. 
Rhode Island Agfticwlttttal Report. 
Part II. of the Fifteenth Annual Report of the Rhode 
Island Agricultural Experiment Station, covering the 
years 1901-1902, shows the work done at this station in 
the line of horticultural investigation; and, under the 
Biological Division, in the investigation of various prob- 
lems which have to do with poultry. Rhode Island has 
long been a poultry State — celebrated especially for its 
turkeys— but within the past few years these fowls have 
been attacked by various diseases which are as yet little 
understood. If the investigations of the Biological Sur- 
vey should succeed in discovering the causes of these 
diseases and their remedies, it will have performed great 
service not only for Rhode Island, but for other States. 
— • — 
Our Batrachians and Reptiles —VIT, 
Among vertebrated animals the Testudinata or turtles 
are as readily recognized by their shell-covered bodies 
and toothless, horn-covered jaws as the birds are by their 
feathers or the mammals by their hair. As inhabitants 
of the fresh waters of streams, ponds, and lakes, as well 
as the dry land and the coasts of the oceans and bays, 
they are common enough in most parts of our country 
to be well known to every one. Even in the larger cities 
they are frequently seen, for they are sent to market in 
great quantities. In fact, the demand for some species 
has become so great that they are being rapidly exter- 
minated, and they are really more easily found "in some 
of the larger markets than they are in their native haunts. 
As has just been remarked, the most distinctive char- 
acteristic of the turtles is the shell, but as the reader 
is probably aware, this is subject to a great deal of varia- 
tion. In all cases it covers the body both above and be- 
low, the upper portion (carapace) and the under portion 
(plastron) being united at the sides so as to leave, in 
front and behind, wide apertures through wlaich the 
limbs, head and tail are extended. 
In. the great majority of turtles the shell is composed 
of bone overlaid with plates of horny material. The 
bony framework of the carapace consists of the dorsal 
vertebrse, the much expanded ribs and a number of der- 
rnal ossifications around the margin. The plastron con- 
sists of the modified clavicles and a few dermal ossifica- 
tions. Upon the bone is a layer of skin containing blood 
vessels and upon this rest the horny plates. Of the latter 
there are in the carapace three rows of large plates, the 
median row being known as the vertebrals, and the lateral 
ones as the costals, and a marginal row of small plates 
called the marginals. On the plastron there are two 
rows of plates, and on the bridge which connects the 
plastron and carapace are a few others. 
In the leatherback turtles of the ocean and the soft- 
shell turtles of the fresh waters the shell is leathery and 
flexible, and is not covered with horny plates. " The 
underlying bony framework of the soft-shell turtles is 
very much like that of the hard-shelled turtles, but in 
the leatherback the ribs and backbone do not enter into 
the structure of the carapace, and to compensate for the 
deficiency there is a sort of mosaic of small polygonal 
pieces of bone forming a false roof over the rest of the 
skeleton. 
Unfortmiately there is no set of common names which 
can be applied with any degree of certainty to the three 
groups indicated in the preceding paragraphs. It is gen- 
erally supposed that turtles, tortoises, and terrapins differ 
in some way from each other, and some of our diction- 
aries have attempted to show to which group each name 
should be applied. The name tortoise has been limited 
to the terrestrial forms, turtle to the aquatic species, and 
terrapin to those which are semi-aquatic, but both in 
popular and scientific literature as well as in common 
parlance the distinction has never been observed. The 
name tortoise comes from an old French word meaning 
twisted and alludes to the crooked, club-like legs of the 
common land tortoise of Europe. Turtle is probably 
a corruption of tortoise. Terrapin is apparently an 
American Indian word, and probably was first applied to 
the species now known as the diamond-back terrapin. 
By whatever name they are known, our turtles or tor- 
toises or terrapins are an exceedingly interesting group 
of animals, and deserve far more attention than is gen- 
erally given to them. They are a difficult group to study, 
and there ^re not many collections complete enough tg be 
attractive to the few scientists who are interested in them. 
The last general work on our American turtles was writ- 
ten by Prof. Agassiz, of Harvard University, and was 
published over forty years ago. Since that time our 
knowledge of these creatures has increased considerably, 
but as yet no one has placed it within reach of the be- 
ginner. 
By most zoologists the following three groups or sub- 
orders are redognized in the Testudinata : 
1. The Athecs, including the leatherback turtle. 
2. The Thecophora, including all the hard-shelled 
turtles. 
3. Tlie Trionychia, including the soft-shelled turtles. 
So far as is known, the first sub-order has but a single 
living representative, the great leatherback turtle 
{Dermal ochelys coriacea). It is apparently an inhabi- 
tant of the high seas, coming to the land only to lay its 
eggs. Dnring the breeding season it is said to be not 
uncommon on some of the West Indies, but along our 
own coasts it is very rare, and is seldom captured. It is 
of no commercial value, and its large size leads the fisher- 
man who finds a stray individual in his nets to liberate it 
rather than take the trouble to send it to some museum. 
The total length of a full grown specimen may be as 
much as eight feet and the weight over a ton. The 
species may be recognized at once by the leathery shell, 
by the limbs which are developed as flippers instead of 
feet for walking, and by the strongly ridged shell, the 
carapace having seven large longitudinal ridges and the 
plastron five. The shell is shield shaped, rounded in 
front and pointed behind, and in life is said to be mottled 
with black and yellow. Other common names for this 
animal are luth, trunk turtle, trunk back, and lyre turtle, 
the latter name having reference to the myth that the 
shell of one of these turtles was used by Mercury in the 
construction of his lyre. 
In the suborder Thecophora, about two hundred and 
fifty species of turtles are included, and these are divided 
into nine or ten families. In the United States there are 
about fifty species representing five of the nine families. 
As stated before, all of these turtles have solid shells 
covered with plates of horn. In all the families which 
occur within our limits the head can be withdrawn into 
the shell and when in this position the neck is bent into 
a vertical c^-shapcd curve, thus contrasting with cer- 
tain families of turtles found in other parts of the world 
in which the neck bends sideways, the ^3 -shaped 
curve being horizontal. 
In giving English names to the families of turtles 
which occur in North America we are again beset with 
diflicult}^ for in different parts of the country the same 
turtles will be found to have entirely different names, the 
name mud turtle, for example, being applied in some 
places to the snapping turtles, and in others to any turtle 
which happens to live in muddy places. With a little 
care, however, the following list can be understood : 
1. The sea turtles, family CheloniidcB. 
2. The snapping turtles, family Chelydridce. 
3. The mud turtles, family Kinostermdce. 
4. The pond turtles, family Emydidce. 
5. The land turtles, family Testudinidm. 
The sea turtles may be instantly recognized by their 
oar-like flippers in which there is no external trace of 
toes, except one or two nails or claws. The carapace is 
shield-shaped, rounded in front and poir^ted behind, broad 
Fig. 1.— The Tortoise-Shell Turtle. 
and flat and highest near the head. The common repre- 
sentatives of this group are the loggerhead turtle, the 
hawksbill turtle or tortoise-shell turtle, and the green 
turtle. The first and last of these may be known by the thin 
plates of the carapace which do not overlap to any great 
extent, in contrast with the second, in which the plates 
are thick and on the carapace overlap like the shingles on 
a roof. The loggerhead may be known by the very large 
and heavy head and the fact that the lower jaw has a 
smooth cutting edge. The tortoise shell turtle furnishes 
the tortoise shell of commerce; the other two, and espe- 
cially the green turtle, arc much used for food. 
The family Chelydridce is represented by two species, 
the common snapping ttirtle and the alligator snapping 
turtle. The former is distributed from the Canadian- 
lakes east of the Rocky Mountains, through the United 
States to Central or South America; the latter occurs 
in the basin of the Mississippi River as far north as 
southern Indiana, Both are large and repulsive looking 
beasts, with comparatively small shells, large heads and 
long tails. They may be easily known by the fact that 
the tail is about as long as the shell. They are savage in 
disposition, and their unusually strong jaws are efficient 
weapons of offense and defense. When attacked they 
usually make little effort to retreat, but rear themselves 
high on their legs and lunge forward, closing the jaws 
with 3 snap. 
