1864] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ease into England. “ The contamination of the 
animal food-supplies, has affected the health of 
the people to an extent becoming more and 
more appreciated, the more the subject is inves¬ 
tigated. The tens of thousands of carcases of 
diseased animals, sold in large towns, are steal¬ 
ing life from human beings when and where we 
least expect it.”—Doctor Gamgee, who was em¬ 
ployed in extensive investigations under the au¬ 
thority and direction of the government says : 
“ My opinion became confirmed that the flesh of 
cattle affected with pleufo-pneumonia, when 
eaten by man, induces boils and carbuncles to 
an incredible extent .” Of the patients he says they 
were “ seized occasionally with vomiting, diar¬ 
rhoea, abdominal pains, etc., and have traced 
such accidents to the meat to such an extent 
that many refused to eat it. Circumstances 
compel me to withhold farther details.” The 
contagiousness of the pleuro-pneumonia is es¬ 
tablished. Of 100 exposed animals, 75 take the 
disease; of these all are capable for a long time 
of giving it to others; at least a third of them 
will die outright; another third will drag out 
a dying life, and the other third will apparently 
recover. The facts presented in this letter ought 
to be laid before every State Legislature, and they 
should be acted upon, by thoroughly alarming 
and rousing the people to a knowledge of their 
impending danger—by encouraging the imme¬ 
diate establishment of Veterinary schools or de¬ 
partments in our colleges, and, perhaps, by the 
employment on the part of the State of the best 
Veterinary surgeons who can be induced to 
come to this country from Europe, for we now 
have few, if any, who understand the disease. 
the fore legs are long and large, and armed with 
strong claws. The body is covered with hair, 
which is short and compact underneath, but 
longer and more scattered on the back. When 
young, or just after shedding its hair, the animal 
is lead-colored, but the usual color is a reddish 
brown. The length of the gopher is about ten 
inches, including the tail which is about two 
inches long. The most striking characteristic 
of the animal is the large pouches on each 
side which extend from the mouth to the shoul¬ 
der blade; these are very capacious, having a 
depth of three inches, and are lined on the in¬ 
side with a soft fur. The gopher burrows like 
a mole, and forms long galleries extending in 
every direction, about a foot below the surface. 
He occasionally throws up hillocks 12 to 18 
inches across, and about 10 inches high, which 
sometimes have a hole upon one side, leading to 
the galleries below ground, and sometimes the 
earth beneath these hillocks is so carefully filled 
up that it is impossible to distinguish where it 
has been removed. A correspondent in Dodge 
Co., Wis., writes that the animal uses its pouch¬ 
es for “conveying dirt from its subterranean 
abode to the surface, expelling it so violently 
therefrom as to throw it to a distance of a foot 
or more.” Audubon, who examined a number 
of specimens, denies that the pouches are ever 
used for carrying earth, and says that he never 
found any thing in them but grass, roots and 
other food. He asserts that the gopher, like the 
mole, moves the earth by means of its strong 
fore paws and head, and that the pouches are 
solely used for carrying food. The animal has 
such an acute sense of hearing, and gets out of 
the way so rapidly, that it is seldom seen, even 
Jfotes on the Gopher. —(Geomys bursarius.) 
Several small quadrupeds, including one tor¬ 
toise, are called gophers in different parts of the 
country. The most troublesome of these is 
represented in the engraving. It is sometimes 
called the Pooket Gopher, Canadian Pouched 
Rat, and Mulo. It is especially abundant in the 
region between the Mississippi and the Rocky 
Mountains, and extends from the latitude of 52°, 
southward into Texas. This is a rather clumsy 
animal, with a very large head and broad nose. 
Its front or incisor teeth are very strong and 
prominent, and it is able to bite severely with 
them. The hind legs are short and small, but 
by those living in the vicinity where it abounds. 
When out of its hole it moves rather slowly, 
not travelling faster than a man can walk, and 
seems to go backward and forward with equal 
ease. The gopher is very troublesome in some 
regions, as it destroys roots of almost every 
kind. Hot only grain, grass, and garden crops 
are injured, but young orchards are frequently 
destroyed by these voracious animals. They 
are very difficult to destroy; steel and other 
traps will sometimes catch them, and it is said 
that they may be killed by strychnine put into 
pieces of potato and placed near their holes. 
In captivity they are very mischievous, gnaw¬ 
ing and injuring clothing, and other articles. 
* 77 
The Sap-Sucker. —(Sphyrapicus varius.) 
When the Agriculturist protests against the de¬ 
struction of birds, it intends to except at least the 
one which is here figured, as it is one of the 
few birds that are the farmer’s enemies. It is 
known in many parts of the country as the Sap- 
sucker, and is also known as the Yellow-bellied 
and the Red-headed Woodpecker—the last two 
names indicating its most conspicuous marks, 
and the first one referring to the popular belief 
that it sucks the sap from trees. This bird, 
though it taps the trees like other wood¬ 
peckers, does not do it in searching for grubs, 
but to get at the tender inner bark and the 
just forming wood which constitute its princi¬ 
pal food.. As the holes are generally made in 
a line encircling the limb, it is so completely 
girdled that it either receives a severe check or 
is killed altogether. Not only are orchard trees 
injured by this mischievous bird, but it also 
damages forest trees in a similar manner. The 
name sap-sucker is often applied to the insect¬ 
eating woodpeckers, but this is really the guilty 
one as is shown not only by observation, but by 
the structure of its tongue which is short and 
not at all adapted for searching for insects. 
On account of this and other anatomical pecu¬ 
liarities, naturalists have placed it in a distinct 
genus from the other woodpeckers. It is singu¬ 
lar that so close an observer as Audubon did 
not notice the manner in which this bird feeds, 
nor the injury it does to trees. The best account 
of its habits is given by P. B. Hoy, of Racine, 
Wis., in the Transactions of the Illinois State 
Horticultural Society, who recommends “ small 
shot and a sharp look out ” as the best means 
of protecting trees. This is distinguished from 
other woodpeckers by its light yellow belly, 
with a black spot in the center of the breast, 
and the bright red spot upon its head; the male 
has also red upon the throat. The tail is black, 
with the two central feathers having their inner 
vanes white, spotted with black. The bird 
measures eight and-a-lialf inches in length, and 
fifteen across, when the wings are expanded. 
An Avaricious Man “ out West” is reported 
to make a practice of always riding in the last 
seat of a railway train, to save the interest on 
his fare until the concuctor gets around to him. 
