WARD'S STATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN 
IB 
anoszoM-.a 
among these the Barbary Ape seems to have pro- 
duced quite an impression on him. He call it 
the Satyr — Simla acauda , subtus glabra — and re- 
marks in a manner worthy of Mme. de Stael; 
“this species has an unlucky resemblance to the 
human form, * * the face has no hair and 
carries a too striking resemblance to the less 
beautiful of our own species.” The most singular 
errors in the book are in the localities ascribed to 
certain animals. Various monkeys are with rare 
impartiality assigned to both the East and West 
Indies, which is a little worse than the elasticity 
of the term Indies, as used by French dealers. 
The Manis is said to come from Africa and the 
Three-banded Armadillo {Tolypeutes tricinctus) 
from Africa and South America. Birds of Para- 
dise come from Arabia, and worst of all the Two- 
toed Sloth from Ceylon only. But with all its 
defects the History of Animals is— taking its date 
into consideration— a good work, and we wish 
that all modern authors would use their materials 
with the same care and judgment as did John 
Hill. A word in conclusion as to the plates, 
which are little if any worse than those in a 
recent popular work on natural history. Many 
of them were drawn from living animals, others 
reconstructed from skins, and still others evolved 
from description. But many of the birds were 
unmistakably copied after stuffed specimens, 
certain peculiarities of the unskilled taxidermist 
being very evident. j\ ^ l 
The Art of Labeling. 
The more we see of public and private muse- 
ums, the more we are impressed with the insuffi- 
cency of the labels; with the opportunities for 
the usefulness of the collections, in various direc- 
tions, that have been totally ignored and irrecov- 
erably lost. An absolutely perfect label is a 
thing not to be expected. But there are a few 
well known points, familiar to every scientific 
collector, and looked for by nearly every natura- 
list who sees the specimens, which, nevertheless, 
are omitted from the labels of three-quarters of 
the collectors. We will undertake to present 
these in brief, believing that if they were more 
generally followed the scientific value of many a 
collection would be doubled. 
Give the scientific name of the specimen and 
the authority for the name. If you can’t name 
your specimen on no account let this deter you 
from affixing a label. The authority greatly 
facilitates fixing upon synonyms, which are 
of ’times necessary evils. To illustrate; the genus 
Gentropus contains the specific name senegalensis 
applied by L., Rupp., Finsch. & H., and Sundev. 
to as many separate birds. The next sub-genus, 
Gentrococcyx , under Gentropus, contains pliilip- 
pensis by Cuv., Horsf. , Tern., and Swinh. Nor 
are these exceptional cases; we might easily cite 
a hundred such. But this is sufficient to show 
any one the absolute necessity of citing their 
authority unless positive that they are using the 
same works used by their correspondents. 
Note down the sex, if it be a specimen having 
sex. Sexual variations are of much importance 
to the naturalist. 
Give the size, if this can not be as easily ob- 
tained at any subsequent time. 
If belonging to the organic kingdom, write the 
date at which collected. This will prove of use 
as indicating seasonal changes and ( among 
some animals) time of migration. 
If an animal, note color of eyes and any expos- 
ed patches of skin — the descriptive naturalist and 
the taxidermist will bless you for this. 
Most important of all, write the locality from 
which the specimen was obtained. It is of great 
help in naming specimens and of extreme value 
in the study of geographical distribution, and 
climatic and geographical variations. 
If your specimen is to go into alcohol, write on 
a label that will not separate into a multitude of 
thin sheets. Be sure that your ink is thoroughly 
dry, or write with a soft lead pencil; but don’t 
use an “indelible” blue pencil, else the writing 
will wash out. Write your label legibly and in 
clear concise language. 
Fasten the label securely to the specimen or it 
will certainly be lost. H L W 
The Fin Back Whale. 
Balaenoptera musculus. 
Though known from time immemorable and 
for centuries captured by man, though distributed 
through every sea and frequenting every coast; 
yet of no families of mammals is the literature 
so unsatisfactory and the scientific knowledge so 
scanty as of the whales: the largest mammals 
that ever lived. 
Whalers, who are supposed to know all about 
these animals, are deplorably ignorant in regard 
to their anatomy; not one in ten being aware that 
there are any bones in the flippers; and if shown 
a picture of a whale, insist on turning it wrong 
side up. 
Concerning the skeletons of these animals, it 
is a curious fact that while even a foetus may have 
all the phalangeals and carpals present, yet an 
adult may have several of these bones missing. 
A skeleton of a fifty-three foot male Fin Back, 
that we have recently obtained, has one more 
phalanx in each of the four digits of its right 
manus than appears in the other manus. The 
estimated weight of this animal was fifty tons, 
comprised almost entirely of muscular tissue, for 
the carcass yielded but 8 bbls. of oil. Our speci- 
men has perfect baleen, an unusual thing in most 
museum specimens. We offer this skeleton nicely 
mounted for one thousand dollars. 
CAPYBARA HUNTING ON THE ORINOCO. 
The great delta of the Orinoco River abounds 
with capybara in many localities, and we were 
a good deal interested in the chase of this 
very interesting mammal. The Hydrochcerus 
capybara , or “chi-gui-re” of the Venezuelans, is 
the largest of the Rodents, an adult male meas- 
uring about eighteen inches in height and four feet 
in length; it has teeth like a squirrel, lips like a 
hare, a body very much like a hog, thinly cov- 
ered with grayish, bristly hair, no tail, and feet 
peculiar to itself; large individuals will weigh a 
hundred and forty pounds. They are quite 
harmless, almost wholly incapable of defense, 
and when attacked their only refuge is the river, 
from the margin of which they never stray more 
than a few yards. 
The flesh of the capybara is very good eating, 
tender, juicy and of a peculiar flavor, and the 
inhabitants of the delta eat it all the year round 
in lieu of beef, pork and mutton. The meat is 
also good when salted and dried, and it was 
when Senor Sanchez and old Don Pancho went 
off on a fortnight’s hunt for capybara, to procure 
a supply of dried meat, that we accompanied 
them to assist in the chase and to procure some 
skins and rough skeletons for the “Science 
Establishment.” 
We started in three dug-out canoes, two of 
which were small, very light, carried neither 
cargo nor passengers, and were calculated for 
gymnastics in the water when it came to catch- 
ing the capybara. In the stern of one sat Don 
Pancho, with a broad paddle, in the bow sat 
Antonio, with a paddle and a sort of a lance, 
and in the stern of the other light canoe sat 
Senor Sanchez, with both paddle and lance. 
Along the tangled, grassy bank of the river ran 
five good, stout, wiry dogs, trained especially 
for capybara hunting. The lance used is a half 
lance, half harpoon, on a very small scale; the 
head is simply a little iron spike, about four 
inches long, with a single barb at the point; the 
upper end is rather loosely set in the end of a 
long, straight, and very light reed, about the 
size of one’s wrist, and six feet in length; the 
iron spike is intended to come out of the handle 
as soon as the capybara is struck, and is there- 
fore attached to the reed by a stout little cord, a 
foot long. 
The dogs scramble along the bank through 
the rank grass, tangled vines and roots, usually 
keeping close to the edge of the water; some- 
times the bank is eight or ten feet high, some- 
times quite low. 
The two light canoes keep close to the dogs, 
one usually going a little ahead of them, the 
other a little behind; we bring up the rear in 
the big canoe, the “eourayara grande,” which 
contains the entire camp and hunting outfit for 
us all, and is roofed over along the middle. 
The sun is shining brightly, without being too 
hot, a steady breeze is blowing, and we are anx- 
ious for a sight of a capybara. 
Hark! The dogs have found game and are 
barking furiously ; something comes tearing 
through the high grass toward the river, there 
is a spring, a booming plunge head first into the 
river, and plunge! plunge ! two more dark bodies 
shoot head first off the bank and several yards 
out into the river. “Chiguiri! cliiguiri!” One 
large one and two smaller ones; an instant later 
the dogs emerge, and stand silent and panting 
at the water’s edge. The light canoes are in- 
stantly on the move and take positions about 
forty yards out from the spot where the capybara 
took their leap. Antonio rises cautiously and 
poises his spear ready for a throw; Senor San- 
chez holds both his paddle and spear ready to 
use whichever is required; we wait a minute or 
two very anxiously for the capybara to come 
up. “There! there! there he is!” One has 
come up to breathe, but much further out than 
the canoes. Instantly they make for him, fairly 
skimming over the water; only the top of the 
animals head is visible — nostrils, eyes and fore- 
head— scarcely more than a spot on the water; 
he waits quietly a moment to breathe; now that 
the canoes are nearing him, he turns and begins 
swimming rapidly away; they have gained on 
him; Antonio makes ready to throw and the 
capybara dives; on go the canoes for a few 
yards, and we wait a minute more for the doomed 
animal to come up. “There he is! there he is 
again!” close to Senor Sanchez’ canoe; the 
Senor drops his paddle, sits still and throws his 
spear at the capybara. Missed ! The animal 
dives quickly and the spear floats like a cork 
on the water; up comes the quarry again, visi- 
bly exhausted; Don Pancho makes for him; he 
dives again; the canoe keeps on, and the capy- 
bara rises again almost directly, quite exhausted; 
Antonio gives his spear a slight toss, aiming 
just behind the capybara’s head, the point sti'ikes 
fairly on the hind quarter, and holds fast; iu- 
stantly the capybara dives, the iron spike comes 
out of the socket, and the reed floats on the 
surface of the water; we see only the hind legs 
of the capybara, kicking wildly; but the string 
holds the spike fast, and the poor brute has not 
power enough to drag the reed under. 
The canoe glides up and Antonio seizes the 
reed. Now he has the hind legs of the “chi- 
guiri,” and Don Poncho comes to his assistance; 
they manage to get the head to the top of the 
water, when Antonio seizes a short, round club 
from the bottom of the canoe, and whacks the 
capybara over the top of the head; the head goes 
down; up again, and whack! whack! the club 
comes down upon the capybara’s defenceless 
head; the skull is fractured or caved in entirely; 
a New York policeman could not have done it 
better. As soon as the quarry ceases to struggle, 
it is tumbled into one of the canoes and carried 
along until a suitable time and place is reached 
for skinning or skeletonizing, and the curing of 
the meat. 
We cannot help feeling sorry for the poor 
brutes after all ; they have no protection or 
means of defense on land, and they are not am- 
phibious enough to escape in the water, unless 
under very favorable circumstances; very often 
they do manage to get away somehow, and 
where the water is full of grass and aquatic 
plants, growing well above the surface, along 
the margin, it is almost impossible to take them. 
One day we started over thirty individuals in 
such a place, and we got only two out of the lot. 
During that fortnight’s hunting we killed over 
seventy capybara, mostly of large size; we shot 
a few on the bank, but all the rest were taken 
in the regular way. Sometimes, when hard 
pressed by the dogs, they took astonishing leaps 
into deep water, going off the high bank and 
flying through the air as though shot out of 
a cannon. The dogs always started them when 
feeding on the banks, and compelled them to 
take to the water. Going up the narrow creeks, 
we kept a party of dogs on each side, and so 
swept them clean of capybara as we went, al- 
though we killed but a small proportion of what 
we saw. W. T. H. 
