FOREST AND STREAM. 
297 
A Merited Compliment— Thb Lutjanus Blaokpobdii. — 
The following letter from Prof. G. Brown Goode, of the 
Smithsonian Institution, will be read with pleasure by the 
many friends of the Treasurer of the American Pishcultural 
Association. The compliment paid Mr. E. G. Blackford is fully 
deserved : 
WA8HINOTON, May 19, 1878. 
tin Dear i,T • Blackford.— You will be surprised to hear that the red 
snapper has never been soleDtlfleally described. I have suspected It 
for some tune, and a thorough examination by Dr. Bean and myself 
condriiA it. We have been looking for a namesake for you aud If you 
consent to bo godf ither the beautiful Hah shall be Lutjanus Blackfordii , 
Goodo and Bean. I um glad to have a share In suoh a memorial of your 
services to Icthyology. Yours sincerely, 
G. Brown Goode. 
— 
A Note from Flobida.— Our valued friend, Mrs. Mary 
Treat, whose interesting researches in botany and general natu- 
ral history are familiar to all our readers, is about to turn her 
face northward once more. Writing from Green Cove Spring, 
Florida, under date of- April 22, she says : 
“For the last few months I have devoted almost my entire 
time to ants, both North and here. My observations on the 
slave-making ants of the north will appear in Harper's Maga- 
zine. A species that I have found here has created quite an 
interest among the naturalists of Europe. 
Among tiie Pigeons — Woodstock, Ohio, April 17, 1878. — 
After a short stay amoDg the pigeons, near Murionville, Forest 
County, Pa,, I am prepared to make a statement concerning 
those birds which I am quite sure will be contradicted by 
many disciples of the trigger. When I first went to their 
nesting place they had not done building. That was on the 
20th day of March, aud on Saturday, April G, they had all 
hatched out, aud squabs were plenty large enough to take 
from the nest, as the old birds had filled them up with beech 
nuts preparatory to leaving the little fellows to look after 
themselves. Now for my statement : On Tuesday, April 9, 
these same birds, which had just left their young, begau 
building nests again, and within a short half mile of their 
former nesting place. Now, this seems to me to be a very re- 
markable feature in the wild or passenger pigeon. I have 
often known of their nesting a second time within a very few 
miles of their first nesting, but never before have I heard of 
their building their nests on what might be called the squabs' 
feeding ground. I do not, by any means, make the assertion 
that they have not done such a thing ; but it is new to me, 
and I would like to ask of older heads, through “ our paper,” 
if they have any knowledge of such a feature ? If so, in what 
year and what locality ? The oldest catchers, from Sheffield 
to the nesting, all agree on one verdict — “Never heard of the 
like before. ” 
Very truly yours, T. M. Owen. 
Massachusetts Notes— A dam-s, Mass., April 15, 1878. — 
Editor Forest and Stream ; The past winter has been so mod- 
erate that the ground squirrels (chipmunks) were to be Been in 
warm woods nearly every day. On January 27, this year, 
saw several red liunets, and a very large flock of goldfinches 
on Jan. 13 ; the latter were feeding on the ground under hem- 
lock trees. The above two species of birds visit us occasion- 
ally every winter, and owing to the mildness of the weather 
and small amount of snow which fell the past season, they 
have remained with us nearly all winter. Common robins ar- 
rived here on March 8 ; song sparrows, snow birds, and a 
single wood pee-wee on March 10. On this date I noticed 
Vanessa antiopa and V. milbertC (butterflies). The spring 
migration of small birds is twenty days earlier this year thau 
in 1876 and 1877. Colt’s-foot ( Tussilago farfara) flowers are 
a week in advance of last spring. This plant is the first to 
gladden the heart and please the eye of the botanist in this 
locality. 
Respectfully, Young Naturalist. 
What a Trout Eats. — The Massachusetts Plowman gives 
the following inventory of what Dr. Davis, of Plymouth, N. 
H., found in a trout caught near that town. Of course if a 
six-inch trout presented such an interesting collection, a fish 
fifty feet long must be proportionately rich in hidden treasures. 
What a pity, then, that Jonah did not make a note of what 
he found in the whale : 
“The trout measured but six inches in length, but was of 
such unusual thickness as to cause a post-mortem examination, 
when the following was found inside his stomach : Two 
small snakes, one lizzard, fifteen crickets, six small beetles. 
The heads of the snakes were digested, but from what re- 
mained they were judged to have originally been six inches 
long— or the entire length of the fish. Two of the crickets 
were alive, aud are now in possession of a correspondent. " 
The Hayden Survey. — Professor James Eccles, of Eng- 
land, attached to the Haden survey, has arrived in Denver, 
where he will start upon a geological reconnoisance through 
Colorado to occupy two mouths. About the first of July ho 
will join the Hayden expedition for a tour of the Yellowstone 
country, aud late in the fall go with Major Powell to the 
canyons of the Colorado. 
Do Fisn Sleep ?— The “ wily” trout sleeps at night, when 
he gets a chance. I have often entered my fish house at nigtit 
in summer time, whilstsmokiDgthe postprandial cigar or pipe, 
and seen all the fish lying on their stomachs on the slate bot- 
toms of my tanks, and have wutched them for some time. 
The respiration is slow and regular, ar.d the movements of the 
fins are of the same character, evidently indicating a diminish- 
ed notion of the heart and a state of rest exactly analogous to 
the regular breathing, slow pulse, and complete unconscious- 
ness of the human being in a like state of deep sleep. Strike 
a light aud the fish are immediately scared, fly about like 
maniacs aud evince every sign of terror, exactly as a man may 
do some extrordinary act when suddenly roused out of a pro- 
found slumber. This, of course, only applies to fishes in a 
purely artificial state, or when in still water and well fed. 
The trout I refer to would start up at the sight of me, and 
when the covers of the tanks were taken off would rise to the 
hand and take food from it, permitting me to stroke them, or 
even take them out of the water— but then they knew me, 
would congregate at the end of the tank next the door when 
they heard my footfall, and evince many other signs of recog- 
nition. Now, us to the wild fish in running rapid streams, 
we have no direct evidence like tho above. VYe see fish wag- 
gling their fins and tails, apparently as wide awake from week’s 
enu to week's end as any of us in our most wakeful moments; 
but it must be recollected that man himself in his deepest 
sleep has a heart continually beating, aud his lungs must re- 
spire oxygen, although perfectly unknown to his inner con- 
sciousness. So, firmly I believe, it is with a fish heading 
against the stream. The motion of opercula, or gill covers 
and gills, fins, tails, are as perfectly “ reflex,”' as physi- 
ologists term it — that is to 6ay iudepeudent of direct volitiou 
—as that of a sleeping man’s heart or lungs, and do not there- 
fore indicate the entire absence of repose ; I therefore think 
that we may safely come to the conclusion that repose of the 
brain, more or less complete, does exists iu the piscine world, 
and certuinly the higher the organization of the animal the 
more necessity ;s there for some such provision. I feel sure 
that the higher we ascend in the physiological scale the more 
need we shall find for some system of rest or reparation of 
the nervous system. I therefore unhesitatingly assert that fishes 
do take repose to a greater or less extent, according to their 
development. Temperature, ns is well known, has a very re- 
markable effect on the activity of some species of fishes. 
Eels, for instance, will be very active in hot. weather; but 
when winter sets in they become torpid and find refuge 
in mud, whereas in hot weather they arc sporting about in 
the most active manner, darting hither and thither as if electri- 
fied. I believe that fishes sleep or repose their bruins just as 
men do who walk in their sleep. They are capable of mov- 
ing their Ads and other appendages according to the force ot 
stream, etc. but all tnis wants careful observation in order tof 
bring proofs to a crucial test. Some being9 sleep very heavily 
and must be positively shakeu to be awakened; others, though 
apparently fast bound in a profound slumber, are disturbed by 
the lightest footfall. May not the same difference in sensibility 
to outer circumstances exist among fishes ? I think, but eauno 
as yet prove, that it does — Fishing Oaselte. 
Animals Rboeivbd at Central Park Mknaobkik for Weak End- 
ing May 18, 18T8.— One monkey, Cebuscapereenus, presented by Muster 
J. Randolph Smythe, Astoria; one oaoie), Camelus Uromcdarius, bora 
In the menagerie; four prairie wolves, Canis lalraiui, bora In the 
menagerie ; two red-headed pochards, Fulegula ferina, received In ex- 
change; three American swans, Cygnus buccinator, received In ex- 
change; two passerine parrnkeets, PsUlacula pansenna, presented by 
Mrs. H. L. Robertsou, N. Y. Olty ; one (lying squirrel, Ptennonys cok<- 
cella, presented by Mr. C. H. Eagle, N. Y. City ; two Cardinal blrdB, 
Cardinales virginlanus, captured In park ; two black Rwnus, Cygnus 
atratus. . \y. A. Conklin, Director, 
Arrivals at the Philadelphia Zoological Garden for Week 
Ending Tuesday, May 14, Inclusive.— Ono raccoon, P. lotor, present 
ed ; one garter snake, Butania sirtalis, presented ; one woodchuck, A. 
mtmax, presented ; ono con snake, Coluber gutiatus, presented ; ono 
mountain black Bnake, Coluber obsoletus, proeoated. 
Arthur E. Brown. 
§Hht Hqtimil. 
To Correspondents.— Those desiring ns to prescribe for their dogs 
will pleaoe take note of and describe the following points In each aul- 
mal: 
1. Age. 9. Food and medicine given. 8. Appearance of the eye , 
of the coat ; of the tongae and lips. 4. Any changes In the appoarauco 
of the body, as bloating, drawing In of the flanks, etc. 6. Broatbing, 
the number of respirations per minute, and whether labored or not. 
6. Condition of the bowels and secretions of the kidneys, color, etc. 7. 
Appetite ; regular, variable, eto. 8. Temperature of the body as Indi- 
cated by the bulb of tho thermometer whon placed between the body 
and the foreleg. 9. Give position of kennel and surroundings, outlook, 
contiguity to other buildings, and tbo nsos of tho latter. Also give any 
peculiarities of temperament, movements, eto., that may be noticed, 
gns of suffering, etc. 
SECOND ANNUAL NEW YORK BENCH 
SHOW. 
W E think there are too many Bench Shows. This opin- 
ion is not alone our own, but is pretty generally ex- 
pressed by the public. We believe that during the year there 
Bhould be held only two great shows in the country and no 
more. We are satisfied that if one were held in the East, say 
in Boston, New York or Philadelphia (New York having the 
advantage of a larger audience and more extensive place of 
exhibition) and the other in Chicago or St. Louis, two Buch 
Bench Shows would be amply sufficient. Of course the dog 
must be, and really Is, the foundation of all field sports, hut 
we have had too many exhibitions of him. The sportsman 
proper, and we use it in its highest sense, does not appreciate 
fully public sentiment in regard to such matters. An over- 
surfeit of shows has palled upon the general sight-scer. The 
press may work all it can to call attention to such exhibitions, 
but we foretell that in future years, if the example of the last 
few months be repeated, that public interest will be diminished 
instead of increased. It comes down now to a simple ques- 
tion of expenses. Receipts will not balance expenditures. It 
may all be very fine for gentlemen constituting kennel clubs 
to show an immense amount of energy iu arranging exhibi- 
tions, but with the heavy outlays consequent on 6uch shows, 
if receipts from audiences are not forthcoming, in a time, lon- 
ger or shorter, there must he an end to such things. 
Though it may have been stated that the attendance ut Gil- 
more’s was large, which it wa9— the great excellence of the 
show attracting twenty times larger audiences thun in Boston, 
Philadelphia und Baltimore altogether— in point of numbers it 
was not equal to the exhibition of 1877. Prior shows had 
taken off the cream of the New York one. We by no means 
wish it to bo inferred that the show was not a most successful 
one. Quito to the contrary ; it was a very fine exhibition and 
many thousands of persons attended it, but there was not the 
ru 9 b, the excitement as shown last season. All that excellent 
management could do was lavished by the gentlemen attached 
to the Westminster Kennel Club to render the show one of the 
leading events in the canine annals of the country ; and their 
success so far as the eclat of the matter goes, was immense ; but, 
we doubt whether, financially, their exp-cinlions were realized. 
Of course we must insist that it is not money which the West- 
minster Club are looking for, but the espouses of tin- main- 
tenance of a kennel suck as New York requires, and disburse- 
ments necessary to carry ou such an exhibition are so great 
that if a good balance is not placed to.the treasurer’s account, 
wheu tho great risk is taken into consideration, it may mako 
the most snuguino of entrepreneurs of such exhibitions rightly 
timorous. It is impossible to give au exhibition in the metrop- 
olis ou a minor scale. Anything small or puny would not do. 
The mesquin in Now York kills anything at once. In tins di- 
lemma what is to he done? Can gentlemen hire a dingy bull at 
small expense and show their animals iu restricted quarter* ? 
This is impossible. We believe the remedy would be to have 
less shows and then the public would be forthcoming. Why 
could uot the various kennel clubs meet then in convention 
and arrange a double programme as to places for tho next year 
or so? Wo honestly believe that such u show would not only 
be immensely more successful, but that by this method of fix- 
ing the places by means of a convention a great deal of tba 
very stupid bickerings which exist between konuel clubs In 
various portions of the country, would be done away with. 
As to disposition, arrangement of the dogs, and general 
business of the show, munngers and directors are to becomplL 
monted. The disagreeable dust which suffocated people last 
year was no longer annoying, aud during tho whole time of 
the show the absence of bad odors, duo to tho free use of tho 
Gironden disinfectant, rendered Gilmore’s Garden as sweet 
smelling as a ludy’s parlor. \N e have yet to hear of any com- 
plaints on acoounl of the mou to whom the dogs were iuliusted. 
Mr. Charles Lincoln's method of administering to tho numer- 
ous wants of Ikut most complicated and difficult of all things, 
a dog show, was absolutely perfect. 
As to the dogs themselves, we do not tbiuk that iu tho 
sporting classes gcuemlly, the show was as perfect as last 
yeur. Tho absence of many notable animals was evident In 
the non-sporting clusses, the exhibition was a superb ouo. Iu 
pet dogs there never has been yet such a lino display. Very 
wrongfully the management knvo been blamed for rather 
fostering the exhibition of nou-sporllDg classes, at the expense 
of the sportiDg classes. This imputation Is very unjust, A 
large city like New York lias fancies which are mixed ns to 
dogs, and it is but proper that all tastes should be catered 'to- 
There are thousands of people in New York who would uot 
pay a cent to see the lluest pointer or sutler that ever luxuriated 
iu glossy coat, or wavy feather, but who would walk miles 
oml pay their money to seo a flue hull terrier, un Ului dog, or 
a pug. 
Wo now come to tho more delicate portion of our tusk. 
There never was a dog show, there never will ho ono on this 
earth probably, where thorough satisfaction will bo given. 
On the present occasion, and we nrc bound to express public 
opinion, complaints are numerous. Wo are tbo recipients of 
suck a number of letters regarding judging, that did wo givo 
place to them, we should present to our renders tbo Forest 
and Stream and Rod and Gun with nothmg more in it 
than a scries of complaints. The Judgment of Mr. Lort has 
not been generally approved of. Certain standards which our 
breeders have considered us typical of excellence in form have 
been overthrown. The groat point of dissension arises as to 
Mr. Lori’s judgment in regard to the Llewellyn uud Laverock 
setters. There having been some years ago a quite acrimonioua 
correspondence between Mr. Lort and Mr. Llewellyn, Mr. 
Lort inclining toward the Laverocks in opposition to tho 
Llewellyn dogs, it is asserted that Mr. Lort has been preju- 
diced iu his decisions. 
There are two camps in Ihe United States, Just ub there nro 
in England, one flying tho Llewellyn banner, the other the 
Laverock colors ; but we must stute that judgments In tho 
United States have been so fur given quite equally tu favor of 
both breeds of dogs. It does not behoove us to take part with 
the friends of either side, and we are by no means to ho un- 
derstood os passiug any opinion on Mr. Lort's judgment, but 
thut many are opposed to his ideas seems quite manifest to 
us, and it is our duty as publicists to state the fuct. It is not 
alone in the setter classes that Mr. Lort has been found fault 
with. In his judgment on pointers many disagree with him. 
Any imputation thrown out to the Westminster Kennel Club 
in regard to the appointment of Mr. Lort, as favoring their 
kennel, is absurd, as numerous animals belonging to both 
Laverocks and Llewellyn strains are owned by members. If 
as patrons of the show their dogs were not entered for com- 
petition, animulB bred from stock belonging to them owned by 
outside parties were represented in quantity in tho numerous 
stalls. In selecting, then, Mr. Lort, no personal motives could 
have possibly actuated the members of the Westminster Club. 
We are quite sure that if in the judgment of the club any 
English gentleman would have been supposed by them to 
have had a knowledge of animals superior to thut possessed by 
Mr. Lort be would have been sent for. 
As for ourselves, we find no fuult with the judgments. It 
is better not to run too much iu a rut, cither hb to horses or 
dogs. If some pretty well asserted points us to the specific 
physical traits of dogs, %liicli wc very candidly confess we 
had thought were the best, have been somewhat reversed, wo 
ore by no means inclined to cavil with Mr. Lort’s judgment. 
Whether Mr. Davidson’s opinions coincide with Mr. Lort’s we 
arc not prepared to state. All wc can say of Mr. Davidson, 
who has so often filled the important position of judge, is that 
even granting that he had a predilection for a certain breed of 
dogs, his prejudices have never had the better of his decisions. 
As to his honesty, the fair record he has will only be sustaine 
