Dec. 23, 1905.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
tressing, particularly as the yellow grunt has a most liquid 
and expressive eye that seems to follow one around. I 
was often subject to the ridicule of an old boatman be- 
cause I chose to interpret these sounds as expressions of 
pain and tossed the fish back. If the shark has any feel- 
ing it conceals it cleverly. I have seen several large 
sharks attack a dead and floating animal, and in the con- 
fusion a shark at least ten feet in length bit a large piece 
out of the belly of one about five feet long. For a few 
moments the latter continued to pull at the meat, tearing 
it like a bull dog, and only ceased when it in turn was 
attacked and devoured by its companions. Whalers have 
observed sharks feeding about a dead whale, which could 
not be driven away though repeatedly pierced by lances. 
1 here is, however, the greatest difference among fishes. 
Sardines and their allies are possibly the most sensitive 
among the well known fishes. Any slight injury is liable 
to be fatal, and they sometimes die when exposed tO' the 
air. and display evidence, so far as motion is concerned, 
that they suffer. On the other hand, eels, sharks and many 
fishes live a long time out of water and soon recover. The 
squid is very sensitive to injury, while the octopus will 
withstand almost any wound that does not affect its vital 
organs. One after the other its tentacles may be cut 
away without apparently injuring it. I have fed a large 
octopus with one hand while severing a tentacle with the 
other, the only evidence of pain it displayed being to 
pounce upon my hand in a savage manner; but it did not 
relinquish its food and continued to eat. 
Mollusks are doubtless to a great extent insensible to 
pain. The eye of a large strombus can be stripped off 
quickly without seriously discommoding the animal, the 
wound rapidly healing. It is possible that the insensibil- 
ity to pain in animals is to some extent proportionate to 
their faculty of reproducing lost organs. In a collection 
of lizards which I had at one time they displayed the 
greatest facility in tossing off their tails. I could make a 
lizard jerk its tail off by striking the earth violently by 
its side, the shock causing the little creature to give its 
tail so violent a lateral jerk that an inch, more or less, 
flew off at the vertebral joint. Little or no- blood was 
lost, the wound healing immediately or drying. The por- 
tion thrown off went through the most extraordinary 
girations, leaping and coiling for some time, due to mus- 
cular contraction ; and if it had been considered a distinct 
animal it certainly displayed evidence of pain. But the liv- 
ing portion would feed immediately and was, so far as 
could be observed, in no way annoyed by the loss, and 
in time a -new tail began to grow. I had lizards with 
stumps or new tails in various stages, and undoubtedly 
this tail-casting is often repeated. 
Frogs and toads doubtless suffer but little from in- 
juries. I . have frequently watched the operation of a 
snake swallowing a toad, the latter giving no evidence of 
suffering, not even struggling. Turtles may fall into this 
class. I have seen a large loggerhead turtle attacked by 
sharks, its flippers being bitten to- shreds, yet the animal 
apparently did not lose its appetite. While a turtle may 
not be susceptible to acute pain or be very sensitive, it is 
easily frightened. I have dived down in eight or ten feet 
of water in a large water corral and suddenly grasped a 
large loggerhead by the shell just hack of the head, arous- 
ing it from sleep, when its actions were suggestive, and 
very naturally, of great fear and surprise. The first move- 
ment would be to strike the front flippers violently against 
the bottom, and in a few movements the turtle reached 
the surface, there breathing quickly, then plunging down- 
ward endeavoring to shake me off by the violence of the 
rush; but this was rarely successful. Some very large 
turtles would attempt tO' “drown” me off by remaining 
under water, but I could always bring them to the surface 
by hauling my knees up on the shell, presenting my chest 
as a water brake. I have caught many large turtles in 
this way in the inclosure and never had one attempt to 
bite me, though many were loggerheads, which would 
snap at an oar and bite through a heavy piece of wood. 
That certain animals are overpowered by animals that 
affect man is shown in the following : I once swam across 
the trailing tentacles of a physalia, or Portuguese man-of- 
war, with an almost fatal result, and bore the marks of 
the fire-like stings and poison for a year, the poison eat- 
ing into the skin. Later I found a hawksbill turtle float- 
ing on the surface, its head completely enveloped in the 
purple mass and apparently dead or paralyzed, as it 
made no movement when I picked it up and placed it in 
my- boat ; but after treating it, rubbing off the tentacles 
and applying oil, it fully recovered and in an hour was 
swimming about as well apparently as ever. 
It can hardly be proven, at least in my opinion, that the 
lower we go in life the less pain is felt. Thus a crab can 
be dismembered without displaying pain, but wound a 
common angleworm, the bait of anglers, and note the 
convulsive struggles it makes, writhing and winding it- 
self in knots, showing, so far as appearances go, it to be 
one of the most sensitive of animals. 
Experiments with crabs and crawfish (the spiny va- 
riety) have shown that they appear to care little for muti- 
lation and very soon reproduce lost members. I have de- 
tached a claw from a crab, amputating it by a quick turn, 
not lacerating the joint, then offered it to the crab, which 
ate it with avidity and complacency. 
That birds suffer far more than reptiles or fishes there 
is no question. The domestic fowl will “groan” and 
scream violently after its fashion when injured, and is 
very sensitive. A tame hawk which I once had, broke its 
wing and underwent great agony doubtless before it was 
discovered, then sitting quietly while it was treated. In 
rage this bird would scream like a fiend incarnate, but it 
never displayed pain in this manner. Those who have 
heard the cry of pain of the common hare of the- West, 
the jack- rabbit of the lowdands, can never forget -it. In 
a section’of the San Gabriel Valley some years ago’ these 
animals were a pest, girdling trees and and doin^ great 
damage to crops, hence they were hunted by packs of 
greyhounds. One day my dogs ran doAvn a “jack;,” and 
the leading dog came around behind me on the opposite 
side of. a hedge where I suddenly heard agonizing- 
screams, which I thought were those of a child. I started 
through the hedge, falling several feet into a lane to find 
my dog wagging his tail and standing over a dea4 jack 
rabbit, whose cries of agony I had heard. Whether foxes 
suffer- much is a question; if they do, they conceal it. I 
refer to the sma.ll Californian variety. I have seen one 
with its leg broken and daw crushed, that paid little at- 
tention to it, nor did it resent handling. But the fox and 
many animals, doubtless have a certain stoicism not pos- 
sessed by dogs which will whimper, groan and cry out 
and become perfectly miserable, even when slightly injured. 
I am inclined to- be belief that some insects are ex- 
tremely sensitive, and some are not. My own experience 
Avith ants have been such that, as a rule, I try to- avoid 
stepping on them. Examine a wounded ant beneath a 
glass; it displays evidence of great pain. If impaled or 
bitten by another animal it struggles convulsively, rolling 
OA^er and over. "This is well displayed when watching an 
ant topple over into the trap of the ant lion. The naoment 
the average ant falls into this pitfall it displays anxiety, 
and when seized it is thrown into a paroxysm of struggles 
by its brutal and murderous foe. Spiders are doubtless 
very sensitive to pain, while the scorpion is so sensitive 
that it often convulsively stabs itself, giving rise to- the 
fable that it commits suicide where the movement of stab- 
bing can well be compared to a human being tearing his 
or her hair or striking himself in rage. 
Of all the animals I have observed the mantis is the 
most stoical. I once kept a number in confinement, and 
here we certainly have an insect that, if not impervious 
to pain, makes a remarkable pretense. It is possible that 
the mantis, like the shark, has an innate ferocity that 
makes it insensible to sensation. Thus a mantis will seize 
and devour another while the second mantis is eating a 
third, and the cannibalistic operation will continue until 
one or the other dies. I have seen a mantis decapitate 
another mantis, the Auctim standing rigid, apparently un- 
moved. In another instance a mantis held up its hand-- 
like claws, which Avere cut off, bit by bit, yet there was 
not the slightest withdrawing or tremor. I cannot con- 
ceive, hoAvever, that the animal did not suffer. In all 
probability its power of suffering or its sensitiveness was 
reduced to the minimum. Dr. Riley gives some remark- 
able observations on the mantis. He says, “They are 
blood thirsty creatures, and are forcA^er quarreling and at 
enmity among themselves, as well as Avith other insects. 
Many a fierce battle is fought by the males, in which 
neither eye nor limb is spared, and in which the winner 
ends by making a repast off the body of the vanquished. 
They are so void of feeling that the male (the female 
being the strongest and most voracious) risks his life in 
courting and usually succeeds only by slyly and sud- 
denly surprising his mate, who- often coolly seizes and 
devours him. So tenaciously do tliese insects fight that 
they Avill often continue without cessation or inconveni- 
ence for some minutes after the loss of their heads. We 
have seen a female, decapitated and Avith her body partly 
eaten, slip aAvay from another that was devouring her, 
and for over an hour afterAvard fight as tenaciously and 
Avith as much nonchalance as though nothing had hap- 
pened.” Charles F. Holder. 
Warning to the Mississippi Valley. 
There is perhaps no question of greater importance 
in connection with the future prosperity of this country, 
than that of reforestation, coupled Avith drainage and 
irrigation. 
The controlling of the Avaterflow of the Mississippi 
River is one that is causing more concern every year 
and growing more serious each year. 
Every inhabitant of the entire Mississippi Valley is 
more or less interested in the floAvage and naAuga- 
bility of this great river. At its headwaters in North- 
ern Minnesota are 800,000 acres of timber land, lake, 
river and swamp, making a great storehouse or natural 
reservoir for the river. This 800,000 acres for many 
years remained an Indian reservation. There were 
those who looked far enough ahead, Avho were in 
favor of the retention of this land intact as a Govern- 
ment reserve for all time, and the turning over to the 
Bureau of Forestry the administration of the lumber- 
ing interests on the reservation. Everything pointed 
to the propriety and wisdom of such action. There 
was offered no argument against such a course, demon- 
strating that the reservists were in the right. 
Yet opposition to the reserve sprang up from two 
sources, the lumberman who wanted the timber, and the 
town-site speculator, anxious to have access to the 
land itself. 
The effects of the reservists to save the reservation 
intact resulted in a compromise bill passed by Congress, 
known as the Morris Bill. This opened up the reser- 
vation to the lumberman and the tOAvn-site speculator, 
the reservists being conceded 20,000 acres of timber 
land and 200,000 acres of cut over lands , for reforesta- 
tion purposes, on which 5 per cent, of timber was to be 
left standing. And, unable to do any better, the reserv- 
ists accepted the situation and made the best of it. The 
Bureau of Forestry stepped in, and the first great move- 
ment to perpetuate the pine forests in Northern 
Minnesota by reforestation was taken. 
The Morris Bill, be it remembered, was a compro- 
mise bill, an agreement betAveen tAvo bodies of men, 
one who Avanted to see the -forests preserved and the 
headAvaters of the Mississippi conserved and a body of 
men, “skinners,” I think Mr. Roosevelt calls them, 
whose policy was to take everything in sight and after 
us the deluge. 
The “skinners” having gained so much through and 
by the Morris Bill, one Avould haA;e thought that they 
Avould hav’e been satisfied. The lumbermen are satis- 
fied, they securing the tim.ber, but the toAvn-site con- 
tingent of the “skinners” are far, from being satisfied. 
The 200,000 acres of cut-over lands mean more to 
them as town-site possibilities than to the future wel- 
fare of the river. So they scheme and plan to repudiate 
the compromise agreement- entered into. Before the 
Minnesota Legislature adjourned last Avinter, during the 
last few days of the session, Avhen all Avas turmoil and 
confusion, these “skinners,” by some means or other, 
got a resolution passed whereby our Legislature put 
itself on record by a majority vote of a Avant of con- 
fidence in the Reforestation of Northern Minnesota 
under the Morris Bill, and a recommendation to Con- 
gress to abolish the same. The A'-ote AA^as a hurried 
and meaningless one, for on approaching a number of 
legislators after the vote Avas. cast it Avas learned that 
they were totally unaware of the subject matter for 
which they had cast their vote. 
Sis 
This little clique of land and town-site speculators 
and “skinners” were actually deft and tricky enough to 
get the Minnesota Legislature to play into their hands 
and vote against one of the most important steps that 
could be taken, not only for the benefit of Minnesota, 
but the whole Mississippi River Valley. 
They forgot that reforestation, irrigation and drain- 
age went hand in hand, and that these three problems 
successfully worked out meant untold benefits to North- 
ern Minnesota, the Mississippi River and the entire 
Mississippi Valley. Now let us go a step further. This 
reservation at the, headwaters of the Mississippi River 
has within its area certain reservoirs for the control of 
the Avater-flowage. Years of trial have demonstrated 
the usefulness and necessity for these great reservoir 
dams. Yet, this little clique of “skinners,” with town- 
sites and other land speculations in their eye, actually 
made a determined effort to have these very dams con- 
demned. The opposition to the move, however, was 
so strong and emphatic, and their scheme of self-ag- 
grandizement was so quickly shown up that they 
crawled into their hole and pulled the hole in after 
them. Nothing more was heard from them. 
These same “skinners” would now drain the north- 
ern section of our State as dry as a bone under some 
drainage plan, presumably to get lud of the water at 
all times as speedily as possible and discharge it into 
the river under no control whatsoever, doing some- 
thing in fact entirely contrary to what the dams and 
reservoirs have been doing for years, viz., letting free 
the stored-up. waters when they were most needed. The 
reforestation of the river’s headAvaters and the ditching 
and controlling of the swamp land waters for irrigation 
is Avhat is needed. The denudation of the forests, the 
abolishment of the reservoir system and the drainage 
of the swamp lands would bring about a condition of 
affairs at the headwaters of the Mississippi that no 
man can adequately describe, and that would mean 
disaster as far as the river , is concerned from St. 
Paul to NeAV Orleans. 
And understand, incredible as it may appear, this 
little clique of “skinners” have organized a campaign 
in Washington this winter, that, if carried out success- 
full3L Avill mean a cessation of reforestation of the Mis- 
sissippi River’s headwaters, an abandonment of the 
dam system and complete drainage system of the land 
surrounding the river’s headwaters. 
This matter of reforestation and drainage as applied, 
to the headAvaters of the Mississippi River is not a 
mere local Minnesota State proposition. Far from it. 
It is of national importance, and it affects the Avhole 
Mississippi River Valley with its millions of inhabitants. 
These people, residing upon the banks of this river, 
are hoping for the completion of the Panama Canal. 
They hope for the deepening of the river that it may 
prove a navigable highway for the commerce of the 
valley toward the Panama Canal. Bodies of merchants 
in the A^alley are already preparing to secure from Con- 
gress appropriations for deepening the river. The ques- 
tion of the future of this great river is one receiving 
noAv the greatest interest and attention. And as pre- 
posterous and incredible as it may read, this little 
clique of speculating “skinners” in the northern part 
of Minnesota have actually induced the Minnesota 
Legislature to repudiate the plan of reforestation of 
the river’s headwaters, would do away with the great 
reservation and would, if they could raise the money 
out of Congress, ditch and drain the great sponge near 
the source of the Mississippi’s headwaters. 
It is time that the people from St. Paul to New 
Orleans understand the situation and become interested', 
and alert to any and every move made affecting the 
headwaters of the Mississippi. It is no more a local 
Minnesota proposition. If the people of the Mississippi 
Valley, a few years ago, understood the situation at 
the river’s headwaters, the Morris Bill would never 
have been allowed to pass, and instead the 800,000 acres 
of timber land, lake, river and swamp would have been 
reserved and turned over lo the Bureau of Forestry. 
Already those who have only recently given the matter 
some study say this should have been done. But the 
Morris Bill passed. The timber is being cut, and the 
damage is in a measure being remedied by reforesta- 
tion — a .sure, but slow process. It is a fact that wires 
are being pulled and plans laid at Washington to 
destroyed this attempt at reforestation by repealing the 
reforestration clause in the Morris Bill. 
Those interested in the welfare and future of the 
Mississippi River need be vigilant. Once the river’s 
headAvaters are denuded of its timber,, fhe reservoir' 
system abandoned and the land ditched and drained, 
there will come many changes in the river, among 
others higher water than ever before experienced at 
flood times, and the lowest water at times of drouth. 
What the latter will mean in the way of a problem 
to the men who are planning to deepen the river’s 
channel need not be gone into. It is patent on its 
surface. 
Remember that just now eternal vigilance will be the 
price of the future of the Mississippi, and that those 
interested should watch Avhat goes on in Congress, 
affecting the river, for mischief and the “skinners” 
are abroad in the land haunting the halls of Congress 
and, like a certain expatriated political chieftain, “work- 
JIIS for their pockets all the time.” 
Charles Christadoro. 
Death of John Moftis, 
There died recently in this city at the age of seventy 
John Morris, Avho for very many years had a flower store 
in Jefferson Market, and who, if not a sportsman, was a 
good deal of a naturalist. He was absolutely devoted to 
his flowers and to the improvement of the flower trade 
in New York, and made many efforts to have a perma- 
nent flower market established in Union Square. 
One summer many years ago a woodcock came into his 
possession, and for a long time he haddt in a cage in his 
store, where it was visited by many sportsmen who loved 
to see it bore for worms. Mr. Morris always kept a 
quantity of angleworms on hand, and it was a great de- 
light to him to show off his pet.*'^Mr. Morris was a good 
citizen and a faithful public official, having served for a 
time as a member of the Board of Aldennen. 
