S62 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 7, 1903. 
Sentiment in Washington, 
:\Iyers Falls, Wash., Oct. 20.— Editor Forest and 
67;-('07h; I reported to you a few days ago the action 
of the Superior Court of Spokane county. Washmgton. 
declaring the late aniendment to our game law nn- 
constitutionaL I find since, some correspondence m 
local papers criticising the enactment of any laws re- 
straining the killing of game at any time, or by any 
body. Indeed, I have talked with more than one man 
who earnestly contended for the same kind of slaugh- 
ter, of the beautiful and palatable denizens of the field, 
forest and stream. 
These exjjressions of opinion do not indicate a culti- 
vated or refined condition of mind, among no insig- 
nificant class of citizens. And yet the individuals with 
whom I talked, had the appearance of being gentlemen. 
They were well dressed, were well behaved, were not 
Qoarse in social intercourse, and attended to business 
in a successful way. From such conditions one can 
scarcely fail to conclude that there is room for a great 
deal of missionary work among even the respectable 
classes. T believe if they knew what they meant, they 
only Avished to say that if a man is hungry, and liad no 
other Avay to gratify his wants, he should be allowed 
to kill game at any time or place to appease his appe- 
tite. The game laws of British Columbia permit the 
prospfectors to kill game in cases of this kind. But no 
decent prospector has ever dynamited fish, nor ruth- 
lessly destroyed a fish hatchery, but the first of these 
social crimes was perpetrated even as late as last 
spring, in one of the lakes of the State of Washmgton, 
and the second was committed to the Margaree River 
within a time not beyond the memory of man. 
The primitive savages, lo, the poor Indian, before 
he came in contact with his white brother. wJis never 
guilty of such shameless destruction. It remained for 
the pale face and the so-called superior white man to 
descend to such devihrv as I have recalled. 
A. Hectorson. 
Hard Lines for Italy. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Ariiong all the poachers and hunters out ot sea- 
son, the Italians and Polanders are the worst. They 
will shoot anything that runs or flies. They are about 
the only ones who will ever shoot a robin, but they 
will, if let do it. . 
Three of them came to grief at AVindber. a small min- 
ing town in Pennsylvania, last week. They .shot one 
robin and had it with them when they met the game 
warden. It onlv cost them $951 the justice fined them 
for (i) hunting out of season, (2) hunting without a 
license (they were not naturalized and have to pay a 
license in this State), (3) killing song birds, and (4) 
shooting within the borough limits. They paid, they 
seem alwavs to have the money to pay. too. 
Three years ago this summer I caught two Italians 
setting a 'net in the harbor here. They took the alarm 
when they saw me watching them, and dropping the 
net made off, going across to the Peninsula. Going 
back to the city I called up the chief of police by tele- 
phone and had him send an officer down to me; then 
we went out to where I had marked doAvn their net 
and dragged it up with a boat hook; and next, going 
across got their boat; then hunted up the men, who 
were hiding back in the timber. The justice gave them 
$25 and costs each; and one of them, who did not 
look as if he had ten cents about him, gomg down into 
his pocket, brought out a roll of over $100 and paid 
both of the fines, then wanted his boat and net. We 
let him have the boat again, though he need not have 
been dven it, but the net had to be destroyed. 
C.'KBiA Blanco. 
North Carolina Licenses. 
Greensboro. N. C— Editor Forest and Stream: The 
new game law in North Carolina passed by the last Legis- 
lature is now in force. The Audubon Society of North 
Carolina is responsible for the appointment of game Avar- 
dens. Up to October 15 sixteen wardens have been ap- 
pointed and twenty convictions have been secured in the 
State for the violation of the bird and game laws. The 
Society is working hard to break up the pot-hunters and 
the shipper, and earnestly solicits the interest and co- 
operation of all true sportsmen who come to North 
Carolina to hunt. . , ^ „ • 1 , 
A license of $10.25 is now required of all non-resident 
hunters who come 'to the State. The license may he 
secured by filling an application blank and mailing the 
same to any county clerk in the State, together with 
Sto.25; or it may be obtained through the secretary of 
the' Audubon Society, Greensboro, N. C. 
The money collected from licenses is used to enforce the 
o-ame laws. This sum is supplemented with over $1,400 
subscribed by memliers of the Audubon Society to help 
enforce the game Laws. The secretary will gladly fur- 
nish application blanks and correspond with anyone who 
may wish further information. 
T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary. 
In the Mississippi Delta. 
Sardis, Miss.. Oct. 24.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
It seems that the hunting season has opened quite 
early here, Judging from the fact that parties froni a 
distance have begun coming to try a few days with 
gun and dog in the bottom. Last week a party of min- 
isters from the northea.stern part of the State, and a 
party from Memphis, came here and fitted out for a 
hunt in the great delta. We have not heard yet what 
success, if any, they met with. We believe it is the 
first instance we ever knew of where seven preachers 
met to go on .a hunt for anything except sin and the 
devil. We hope they will find nothing of the sort 
down here, but will be successful in finding and bagging 
a fine lot of game of the kind they are after, be that 
what it may. 
We have heard of several individuals going quail or 
partridge hunting, but think they are almost too early, 
;is the young birds are not large enough; and besides, 
if a man cares iw ^Qf' H mil ^ot .go into the 
fields yet, as the weeds and grass still hold their seeds, 
and the dogs get them in their eyes and ears and 
cause them great pain and suffering. 
Mr. W. T. Dye, of this place, went out this morning 
and returned -about 4 P. M. with a fine three-prong 
buck. 
It is quite convenient now for a person to go down, 
right into the very heart of good deer hunting on the 
Sardis and Delta Railroad, spend the day hunting and 
return the same evening. This is a private raiiroad 
and only runs from Sardis down into the bottom, 
where the proprietor owns large tracts of fine tim- 
bered land. At a distance of from twenty to twenty- 
five miles, the sportsman gets to where he has no 
trouble finding game quite plentiful. Dennis. 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., 
New York, and not to any individual connected with the paper. 
The Game Laws in Brief, 
The Vanishing; Grouse. 
DuNBARTON. N. H.. Oct. 2?. — For something over 
thirty years I have hunted a great deal each season 
through the covers in this section. Never were birds 
so scarce here as this year. There has been a most 
decided slump since last year. When the season of 
1902 closed there were a good many birds. I coujd 
then start ten or fifteen where it is now hard to find 
one or two. Last winter was not so severe; and even 
had the birds failed to breed last spring, there should 
be a fair number now. The covers here are about as 
near empty as they can be. I have killed five grouse, 
and a neighbor about the same. Every bird I have 
examined was in fine condition, no signs of wood- 
ticks or any disease. It costs very little for ammuni- 
tion this year. I have nearly worn out some twenty 
cartridges carrying them about in the pockets of my 
shooting coat. It looks to me as though, there were 
not near birds enough about here for a breeding stock. 
With the going of our ruf¥cd grouse, so will our 
bird shooting. Migratory quail and imported pheas- 
ants have been tried and .seem total failures. 
We had better do one of two things, make it a close 
season for some years on all feathered game, or make 
it an open season at all times. The first would mean 
no shooting, the latter nothing to shoot. 
C. M. Stark. 
The Story of a *Coon Hunt 
Dunbarton, N. H.. Oct. 27' — The season here on 
'coons opens on Sept. 15. The following is the story 
as I was told: 
On the night of Sept. 14 two parties went after 
'coons. Usually in the early part of the 'coon season 
when the leaves are on, it is hard to find a 'coon after 
it has been treed. Oftentimes it means waiting at the 
tree until daylight. Party number one started a "coon 
in the early part of the night. The dog. after a time, 
lost the trail. Later the dog of party number two 
found the trail and treed the 'coon. The owners fol- 
lowed up and shot the 'coon. Just then party num- 
ber one appeared and claimed the 'cooU. It was then 
11:45 P-. M.. just 15 minutes before the open season. 
The party having the "coon refused to give it up. 
There was some loud talking, and the next day party 
number two complained to the game wardens of the 
other party as killing a 'coon out of season. The 
party complained of paid the fine, and some rather 
unfriendly feelings are the result. C. M. Stark. 
Vildfowling: a la Mode. 
Greenwich. Conn.. Nov. i, — Frank Voss, of 180 Berke- 
ley Place, Brooklyn, was arrested by ShcrilT Riteh last 
. night on the Sound Beach estate of j. Kennedy Tod, the 
New York Banker, for killing two Au.stralian swans, 
which he found on Mr. Tod's private lake at the end of 
Old Greenwich Point. Mr. Tod's estate adjoins the 
Innes Arden Golf Club, and Voss as.serts that when he 
and Roy Hall went there last evening and said they 
were going ducking, some one said he could find all sorts 
of ducks on Mr, Tod's pond. He had been drinking a 
httle, he admitted. He waded out into the pond and shot 
at some floating objects in the twilight. They turned out 
to be the Australian swans. His aim was deadly. Mr. 
Tod's watchmen, who were on the lookout for some one 
who had previously killed some ducks, surrounded Voss 
and guns were pointed at him. He surrendered and the 
watchmen locked him up in the attic of Mr. Tod's man- 
sion and telephoned for an officer. Sherifi^ Ritch took pity 
on the shivering man, and at Frank Palmer's stables had 
Iiim wrapped in blanket.s. — New York Times, Nov. I. 
A Phenomenal Bag- of Canvasback. 
Rochester, N. Y.. Oct. ^i.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
It is so seldom of late that one can tell of a good day's 
shooting in old Monroe county that I have uncommon 
pleasure in relating the facts of a rare case that took place 
here on October 28. John Norton, of the Rochester Rod 
and Gun Club, and Philip Seibold were duck shooting at 
Braddock's Bay, once a famous ground, but of late years 
altogether over shot. A flock of fifteen canvasbacks came 
to the decoys and eleven of them were promptly brought 
to bag. Although Braddock's Bay was once as good a 
ducking resort as any in the State, it never was famous 
for canvasbacks, and this day's shooting is regarded as 
the record for Monroe county on these particular birds. 
A trolley line runs to the bay and it is visited daily by 
scores of shooters, so that the presence of so many of the 
famous birds is an event of decided interest to wild- 
fowlers. The duck shooting on our bays has been some- 
what better than usual this year. E. R. 
The Minnesota Deer Skins Case. 
In January, 1902, Executive Agent Sam F. Fullertoa 
confiscated a parcel of deer and moose hides in posses- 
sion of Dell Linden, a tanner in Itasca county, Minn. 
Linden sued to recover the value of the skins and won 
the case, the jury awardiiig- $325. .Agent Fullertoii ap- 
pealed the case, and the Supreme Court has confirmed 
the decision, holding that "A person who, in good faith, 
has purchased deer and moose skins for the purpose of 
tanning the same, acquires a valid title thereto; and in 
an action to recover the hides, or their vahie, from the 
game warden who took possession thereof, the owner is 
not required to prove that the animals from which such 
§kiiis were taken were lawfully kjUed," 
is the standard authority of fish and game laws of the United 
States and Canada. It tells everything and gives it correctly. 
See in advertising pages list of some of the dealers who handle 
ihe Brief. 
Hearing and Allied Senses in Fish«s. 
BV G. H. PARKER. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGV, 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 
( Coiiti-ibiitions from the Biological Laboratory of the U. S. Fish 
Commission, Woods Holl, Massachusetts,) 
It is a well-known fact that many fishes are extremely 
sensitive to disturbances in the water such as are caused 
liy splashing with an oar, stamping in a boat, or striking 
the side of an aquarium. When, for instance, the opaque 
wall of a fish tank containing young kingfish, sea robins, 
or killifish is struck a vigorous blow with the fist, the 
fishes usually respond by giving a short, quick leap, and, 
if such blows are frequently repeated, surface fishes are 
often driveti to the bottom and kept there. Notwithstand- 
ing the sensitiveness indicated by such reactions, most of 
these fishes appear to be unaffected by loud talking or 
other like noises originating in the air. Fishermen are 
familiar with these peculiarities and often take them ii>to 
account in the practice of their art. 
S'xh facts as these are also usually accepted as evidence 
that fishes can hear (as an example, compare the state- 
mcnis made by W. C. Harris in Dean Sage's "Salmon 
and Trout"), but a simple experiment will show, I be- 
lieve, that this assnmpiion is not necessarily correct. If 
one end of a wooden rod is vigorously tapped while the 
other is beneath the level of the water a disturbance is 
produced that will call forth an obvious response from 
most fishes of moderate sensitiveness. Such a disturb- 
ance will likewise affect a human being, for if one holds 
the head beneath the water the vibrations from the rod 
can be easily heard, and if the h uid be placed in the water 
near the rod they can be distinctly felt. 
Since, as Miiller long ago pointed out, we can feel as 
well as hear these vibrations, it follows that such evidence 
as that already given can not be accepted as conclusive 
proof that fishes hear, for it is conceivable that their 
responses may be entirely through their sense of touch, 
i. e.. independent on their skins. Moreover, fishes possess 
a special system of tegmentary sense organs, the lateral- 
line organs, which ate completely absent from us, and 
it may be that these are in some way the recipient organs 
lor the disturbances already described. When, therefore, 
a fish responds to water vibrations of the kind mentioned, 
we are not justified in concluding that it hears, for it may 
respond through the skin or the lateral-line organs and 
not through the ears. 
It may be reasonably asked at this point, What con- 
stitutes hearing? Everyone will agree, I believe, that the 
sensation we get through the skin from a vibrating rod 
in water should not be called hearing, and what is true 
for us should hold for the lower vertebrates. Hearing 
in these animals may therefore be defined as that sensory 
activity resulting from a stimulation of the ear by ma- 
terial vibrations. This is in essential accord with the 
definition given by Kreidl to the effect that hearing is that 
sensation which is mediated by the nerve that is homolo- 
gous with the auditory nerve of man. When, therefore, 
a fish' responds to sound vibrations the question at once 
arises whether the stimulus is received by the skin, the 
lateral-line organs, or the ear. And until this question 
can be answered, at least so far as the car is concerned, 
llic query whether fishes hear or not must remain open. 
Ill dealing with this general subject I shall take up, first 
of all, the question whether fishes respond to soimd ^nbra- 
tions through the cars. 
The Ears. 
Introductory. — The internal ears of fishes were 
described as early as 1610 by Casserius, and were studied 
in some detail in the following century^ by Geoff roy, 
Scarpa. Comparetti, and Hunter. The attitude taken by 
many of these early workers on the question of the ability 
of fishes to hear or not is well illustrated by a quotation 
from Hunter, who, at the conclusion of his paper on the 
organs nf hearing in fishes, made the following state- 
ment : 
"As it is evident that fish possess the organ of hearing, 
it becomes unuecess.ary to make or relate any experiment 
made with live fish which only tends to prove this fact; 
but I will mention one experiment to show that sound 
affects them much and is one of their guards, as it is in 
other animals. In the year 1762, when I was in Portugal, 
I observed in a nobleman's garden, near Lisbon, a small 
fish-pond full of different kinds of fish. Its bottom was 
lc\el with the ground and was made by forming a bank 
all round. There was a shrubbery close to it. Whilst I 
v;as lying on the bank, observing the fish swimming about, 
I desired a gentleman, who was with me, to take a loaded 
gun and go behind the shrubs and fire it. The reason 
for going behind the shrubs was that there might not be 
the least reflection of light. The instant the report was 
made the fish appeared to be all of one mind, for they 
vanished instantaneously into the mud at the bottom, 
raising, as it were, a cloud of mud. In about five minutes 
after they began to appear, till the whole came forth 
again." 
This passage shows very clearly that in the opinion 
of Hunter the internal ears of fishes, like tho.se of the 
higher vertebrates, are organs of; hearing. Without 
further experimental evidence this view was accepted by 
Mi-iller in his well-known chapters _ on the physiology of 
the senses, and by many other eminent authorities, such 
as ONven. Giinther. and Romanes. To these investigators 
lhe presence of the internal ears seemed, as it did to 
Hunter, sufficient ground for concludiifg that these ani- 
nials. could hear. 
Within recent years, however, this opinion has been 
palled in question, or even denied. Some of the grounds 
for this change of view may be 5tate4 as follows : Bat§- 
