490 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Dec, i6, 1905. 
Treatment of Snake Bite. 
Hoquiam^ Wash., Dec. 5. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Some more snake talk. Having just read “The Sang 
Digger” in the Dec. 2 issue of Forkst and Stream, the 
incident of the rattlesnake that bit him, and the reference 
to his cutting open and sucking the wound. If he had 
cut the wound deep enough and then had sucked the 
wound long enough he would have felt no ill-effects from 
the snake bite. To have such treatment effective it 
should be done immediately, and the cutting must go 
deeper than the snake’s fangs had penetrated. After cut- 
ting the wound open insert the point of the knife to the 
bottom of the wound and twist it around several times 
to cause as great a flow of blood as possible, and be sure 
and cut across each fang mark ; and, if they are cross-cut, 
it is much better, as that will cause it to gape open more; 
and, if a mud application is used (which, by the way, is 
very good), it will have a chance to do more good. 
I am not writing from hearsay, for I have treated rat- 
tlesnake bite in this manner. I was not the person bitten, 
but twice I have treated other people that were, and they 
were both struck in the leg laelow the knee and well 
down on the calf of the leg, where it would have been 
well-night impossible for them to have got at the wound 
to suck it. But I, knowing that such poison is not 
stomach poison, did not hesitate a moment to^ apply the 
treatment, and after the wound was cut (and I cross-cut 
each of them) I grabbed the leg with both hands around 
the thigh, and, keeping a strong grip on the leg, pressed 
them downward to the wound, thus causing a greater 
flow of blood through the wound, which would wash out 
much of the poison, and then I suxked the wound for 
ten or fifteen minutes and then applied a handful of mud 
and bound it on with a handkerchief. One of the men 
had to walk two miles to a house, and there I washed 
the mud out of the wound with hot water and then I 
tamped it full of powdered alum and then sewed it up. 
It healed in a short time and he felt no ill-effects from 
it at any time. The other case was treated in the same 
way, only the treatment stopped with the application of 
the mud, which was left on until it was as dry as a 
brick, it being three days before it was removed. Then 
the wound was washed with warm water, and, after 
being dried, a plaster was applied (Brant’s plaster) and 
the leg was bandaged to keep the plaster in place and it 
healed with no difficulty. 
The other person’s leg was bandaged after it was sewed 
up, but merely to keep it from being chafed and irritated 
by his clothing. The alum treatment is not supposed to 
have any effect on the snake poison, but was applied to 
insure its healing readily. W. A. Linkletter. 
A Rantankerous Buck, 
Barre, Vt. — Editor Forest and Stream: After reading 
the article in Forest and Stream of Nov. 25, under the 
heading, “The Deer Park on the Farm,” I believe the 
inclosed clipping just published in a local paper might 
be interesting, as well as a warning, to some of your 
readers who now have deer, or may be contemplating 
establishing a deer park. 
I knew old “Ben” and had watched the development 
of his antlers during the past summer. I drove past 
the park the day before he met his untimely death. I 
saw him proudly standing on a little elevation over- 
looking the highway and he watched me out of sight. 
B. A. E. 
The report sent by our correspondent follows: 
Attacked by an infuriated buck deer, Fred O’Brien, 
of South Barre, narrowly escaped being stamped and 
gored to death yesterday, and Charles Marr, owner of 
the animal, was also knocked down and trampled on, 
while the animal, in his struggle with seven men, was 
killed. Either his neck was broken or he was strangled 
to death. The buck was a beautiful creature, weighing 
225 pounds and having a fine pair of antlers. He was 
one of a herd of six deer, which have been kept by Mr. 
Marr in a large enclosure at South Barre. The old 
ones of the herd were caught several years ago while 
young. The State Commissioner gave Mr. Marr per- 
mission to keep them. The family has grown since 
then until there are now four young deer. The animals 
have been very tame, but this fall “Ben,” the old buck, 
developed a bad case of temper. Still it was not thought 
that he would attack their keeper, Mr. O’Brien. 
Mr. O’Brien went to the inclosure yesterday with a 
bushel of beets and potatoes, the usual meal of the 
animals, and opened the gate. “Faun,” the mother of 
the herd, is always the first one to eat. She took one 
nibble out of the basket, and “Ben” charged her and 
Mr. O’Brien in the open gate. The attack was so un- 
expected that both the doe and Mr. O’Brien were 
unable to get out of the way. The collision sent the doe 
floundering against the keeper and knocked him down. 
The buck then rushed out of the pen and charged the 
prostrate man, goring him repeatedly. Mrs. O’Brien, 
who lives close by, was attracted by the noise, and she 
hastily summoned a neighbor, Mr. Owen. It was none 
too soon, for Mr. O’Brien would have been killed in a 
short time. He was finally pulled away from the in- 
furiated animal. 
With the aid of several others, “Ben” was forced into 
the pen. Mr. Marr was called up from this city, and 
the doe was captured and put back. Thinking that the 
buck might have gotten over his anger, Mr. Marr 
stepped inside the gate and walked in for a short dis- 
tance. As soon as the buck saw him he charged and 
bowled Mr. Marr over like a nine-pin. But there was 
plenty of help present then. In fact, almost the entire 
village of South Barre had been attracted to the place. 
Mr. Marr was pulled out from under the animal. Thus 
robbed of his victim, “Ben” made a mad rush against 
the gate, which gave way before him, allowing him 
his liberty once more. 
Ropes were brought and by the combined strength 
of seven men “Ben” was finally secured. But he 
■struggled so hard that it broke his neck or strangled 
him. The animal was five years old, and weighed, 
dressed, 160 pounds. 
Mr. O’Brien’s injuries were attended to by a physi- 
cian. He was not hurt bad enough to confine him to 
bed, but his escape was remarkable. 
Wild Pigeon Redivivus* 
Our morning paper gives the menus served at the 
])rineipal hotels in town on Thanksgiving Day. One 
most prominent hotel, not to be outdone by the lesser 
important hostelries, includes in its bill of fare “wild 
pigeon a la Julienne.” This is put into the menu as a 
sort of piece de resistance. 
What first-class hotel thirty of forty years ago would 
have even made a note on Thanksgiving Day of wild 
pigeon upon its menu? Wild pigeon that could be 
bought in the open market for a few shillings per 
dozen 1 
But what a change has come about! To-day wild 
pigeon leads all the rest. But then hotel menus, like 
other things, must be taken with salt. After having- 
carp served to you under the guise and sauce of “blue- 
fish a la maitre d’hotel,” you can look for anything 
from a hotel kitchen. But where did the wild pigeon 
on that bill of fare come from? Thousands of people 
have asked where did the wild pigeons go to — now with 
me it is, “Where did those wild pigeons come from?” 
If any pigeon roosts near town had been invaded and 
the slaughter of old with pole and fusee repeated, cer- 
tainly we would have heard of it. 
I rang up Sam Fullerton, our g-ame commissioner, 
thinking he might know, but he said he hadn’t seen a 
wild pigeon on his rounds for many, many moons and, 
like myself, he’s wondering, too, where the wild pigeons 
came from. We are all wishing for a return of the 
swift flying plenteous birds, and there isn’t a right- 
feeling one of us but who would do his utmost to see 
them legislated into security until they got a real 
good start and then be willing to have the bag (it 
used to be the wagonload) limited to so many and a 
prohibitive' fine imposed for disturbing the roosts. 
It’s a good sign when wild pigeons, a la any old way, 
once more appear on the bills of fare— even if they 
were reared in some hayloft. There may be a few of 
the original birds left in the country in some out of 
the way nook, and who knows but some of us may 
live to see them in their migratory flight again darken 
the heavens and eclipse the sun. The hide hunter may 
be held responsible for the disappearance of the buf- 
falo, but he had nothing to do with the vanishing of 
the wild pigeons. 
The buffalos grew less and less year after year, but 
the wild pigeon vanished in a body off the face of the 
earth. Until a more plausible explanation of the dis- 
appearance of the wild pigeon is given, I am afraid we 
will have to accept the one of their being caught in an 
equinoctial storm and carried into the sea and were 
drowned by the millions. It is the most plausible 
theory of any that has been advanced as yet. 
However, the same master hand that turned blue- 
fish into carp has again put wild pigeons on our bill of 
fare. So let us treat this as a harbinger of hope and 
look once more for the coming of the wild pigeon, and 
if he does come we’ll do our best to keep him with us 
this time and treat him as kindly as the game laws will 
permit. Charles Cristadoro. 
Seashore Life. 
Seashore Life; The Invertebrates of the New York Coast, 
by Alfred G. Mayer, Director of the Maine Biolog- 
ical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution at Tortogas, 
Florida. 
This is a book of 181 pages about the size of the 
Century Magazine, with 119 illustrations, almost fault- 
lessly printed on excellent paper. It forms number one 
of the New York Aquarium Nature Series, and in the 
advertisement signed by Mr. C. H. Townsend, the Di- 
rector of the Aquarium, it is stated that the book is 
a gift of the author to the New York Zoological So- 
ciety, and that the proceeds from its sale are devoted 
to the increase of the collections of the Aquarium. 
The title tells but part of the truth, for while Dr. 
Mayer keeps the invertebrates of the New York coast 
always before him, he has supplemented them by other 
invertebrates from all over the seas, so that in truth 
he has given us a very full list of typical seashore 
forms. The result is excellent, for instead of leading 
a novice to suppose or infer that the invertebrates 
of the New York coast are the only ones to be found, 
he leads him to a well rounded idea of the marine in- 
vertebrates as a whole. 
The most striking feature of the work noticed at 
the first glance is the fidelity and novelty of the illus- 
trations. Of the 1 19 figures, iii are derived from pho- 
tographs by the author, of living or dead specimens, and 
eight from hitherto unpublished paintings and draw- 
ings. This is an almost .unprecedented showing in these 
days of “borrowing” from other books. Moreover, all 
the pictures are clear and characteristic, and this is 
sufficient comment for any one who is familiar with 
the time, skill and patience necSssary to make good 
photographs in this field. Many of them excel the best 
possible drawnings in the wealth of detail and lifelike ap- 
pearance. Take, for example the picture of the milky- 
disk jelly fish; or the star coral, showing living polyps. 
Dr. Mayer brings to the work a long and varied 
training. He is no closet naturalist, but has traveled 
widely on zoological expeditions, and the text re- 
flects this first-hand knowledge of the animals in their 
homes. Throughout the book we discern the enthusi- 
asm of the old-time naturalists and never lose sight of 
the careful student. 
The book is essentially a book of the “Nature Study” 
sort and is in no sense a text book of Zoology. Says 
the preface: “The work is intended for readers who 
may be unfamiliar with the technical terms in use among 
specialists, and consequently such terms have been 
avoided whenever a simple English equivalent could be 
substituted.” Dr. Mayer has succeeded admirably in 
carrying out this idea and the book will offer no dif- 
ficulties of this sort to the reader. In doing this, the 
author has avoided the opposite difficulty of “writing 
down.” The book appeals equally to adults and to 
children of the upper grammar grades. It is equally 
interesting to read, on the beach with specimens at 
hand, or in the home of a winter night. 
The introduction (10 pages) presents a summary of 
many of the broad principles that underlie the study 
of animal life, e. g., evolution, distribution, embryology, 
etc., and concludes with a short list of books on the 
subject. 
In the ten chapters following, the animals are brought 
together in their natural groups as follows: Sponges, 
Jellyfishes and Hydroids, Sea Anemones and Corals, 
Starfishes, Worms, Brachiopods, Moss Animals and 
Corallines, Crustaceans, Mollusks, Tunicates. Each 
chapter opens with a general description of the group, 
after which come the detailed descriptions. In these 
the common name of the animal takes precedence; its 
economic value to man is always stated, interesting- 
peculiarities are described, the life history and habits 
are fully presented, and the localities in which it oc- 
curs are named. Following the body of the book are 
five pages of references to books descriptive of the 
species mentioned in the text, and a good index. 
_ The great merit of the book lies in the skillful selec- 
tion from the great mass of facts and theories such as 
will give the reader clear ideas without taxing .his 
patience. Between the text and the photographs the 
novice may not only idntify nearly all the specimens 
he may find at the seashore, but gain a good notion of 
the place they occupy in the animal kingdom, as well 
as a fair understanding of the general principles of 
zoology. The book is for sale at the New York 
Aquarium and by A. S. Barnes & Co., publishers. The 
price is $i.2o. Charles L. Bristol, 
New York University. 
The Rattlesnake^s Reproduction* 
'Facoma, Wash. — Editor Forest and Stream: As such 
an event as seeing a snake born is a rare one, and as I 
have never heard of anyone assisting at such an aft'air in 
a rattler’s family, 1 will relate the matter for the benefit 
of your readers. 
During last September I was camped with my family 
on the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains, near 
Ellensburg, Wash. As is my usual custom, I amused 
myself by gathering in a few rattlers to nail their hides 
up on my barn door. 
One of them, which was killed late one afternoon (too 
late to skin that day), was hung on a tree near camp 
until I could find time to do the work properly. The next 
morning there was a protuberance sticking out of a 
w'ound in the snake’s belly, about the size of a small hen’s 
egg. We thought it was only the snake’s “innards” ex- 
posed, and even when I ripped her open this was cast 
aside with the entrails. One of my boys is a born sur- 
geon, and critically examines every bug, insect or animal, 
to find out “why.” So he was critically inspecting the 
off-cast to see just what this snake had eaten last, when 
he came across the sac and shouted, “Why, that is 
something the snake has just swallowed, and it is still 
alive !” I then looked at it more carefully and decided 
it must be a small rattler which the old snake had swal- 
lowed to protect it from harm. I got out my better tools 
and separated the sac from the other matter and dis- 
covered it was a true placenta and concealed therein was 
a young rattler. I ripped the sac open without extra 
care and placed the body on a piece of absorbent cloth, 
without any thought of his being alive, because the 
mother had been dead over sixteen hours. To our amaze- 
ment the youngster began to quiver, and in a few moments 
expanded his lungs, and tried to coil. But he, too-, had 
been bruised in the killing of his mother; and after a 
few drops of blood flowed out on to the cloth he suc- 
cumbed. By dint of great care I managed to skin him, 
and now have his hide as one of my trophies. 
It had always been my idea, heretofore, that rattlers 
were hatched from eggs. But this was proof positive to 
the -contrary, which I have added to by investigating 
many other females. Also, I have been repeatedly told 
that young ones appear only in June. From what I saw 
I am led to believe that they come at almost any time 
(except perhaps when the females are hibernating). The 
measurements of this young snake were ; Length, over 
all, inches; circumference, lyii- inches; head, from tip 
of nose to back of jawbone, H inch; width at back of 
jawbone, 34 inch; button (which 'was fairly hard, even 
at birth), a triangular arch, which was hs inch wide and 
Yi inch long. A. McL. Hawks. 
The American Bison Society. 
As AN outgrowth of the activity of Mr. Ernest Harold 
Baynes, who for two years has been advocating the for- 
mation of a society to provide for the preservation of 
the buffalo, the American Bison Society was organized 
on Friday of last week in the office of William T. Horn- 
aday, director of the New York Zoological Gardens in 
Bronx Park. Among those who have expressed a warm 
interest in the movement is President Roosevelt, who 
was named as honorary president of the Society, and a 
message w-as received by him from the White House 
accepting the office. The officers elected were : Presi- 
dent, William T. Hornaday; Vice-Presidents, Dr. Chas. 
S. Minot, of Harvard University, and A. A. Anderson, 
president of the Camp Fire Club of America; Treasurer, 
Edmond Seymour, of New York; Secretary, Ernest 
Harold Baynes, of Meriden, N. H. An Advisory Board 
was chosen, including the following: Prof. Franklin 
W. Hooper, of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and 
Sciences; Prof. David Starr Jordan, of Leland Stanford 
University; Prof. Morton J. Elrod, of the University of 
Montana ; Prof. L. L. Dyche, of the University of 
Kansas; Prof. John J. Gerould, of Dartmouth College; 
William Lyman Underwood, of the Massachusetts Insti- 
tute of Technolo^, and Ernest Thompson-Seton. 
The Society will distribute literature on the subject 
and in every way strive to awaken public interest and 
support, to the end that concerted action may be had to 
insure the preservation of the bison. At the convenience 
of President Roosevelt, an early meeting of the Society 
will be held at the White House. 
One specific purpose will be to induce the Government 
to acquire the several small herds of bison now owned 
in different parts of the country and to provide for their 
transfer to such national preserves as may be provided 
for them. 
