The Naturalists' Companiok. 
129 
Study your collections, for by so do¬ 
ing you become accgiainted with the 
works of nature and it gives you enthus¬ 
iasm to add to, and obtain for your col¬ 
lection many new specimens. Become 
acquainted with the surroundings of 
your own city, and specimens which 
you find at home, though they are trite 
to you, yet to brother collectors they 
may be rare, and in demand by them. 
Yes, study your collections. 
A society taking its name after the 
great naturalist, J. J. Audobon, has been 
established for the purpose of fostering 
an interest for the protection of wild 
birds from destruction for millinery and 
other commercial purposes. Headquar¬ 
ters of the Society are at 40 Park Row, 
New York City. It invites the coopera¬ 
tion of persons in every part of the 
country. 
Brother editors will please copy the 
above, and let the good work progress. 
Away down in the southwest of Ne¬ 
vada there is a remarkable cave in the 
side of the mountains. Near by a little 
-I'iH of water pours down the slope, soon 
to be swallowed up by the thirsty soil, 
'i'he broken-off shafts of arrows are seen 
sticking in the soft rock that constituted 
the roof of the cathedral-like dome. It 
is said that many years ago a party of 
the race of Shoshones weie driven into 
this cave by their hereditary enemies, 
the Piutes. Their defence was so stub¬ 
born that the council was called, and 
the peace made was to last so long as a 
single arrow remained imbedded in the 
rock overhead. 
'Phe principal astronomical event in 
1886 will be the total eclipse of the sun 
on the 29th of August. The line of to¬ 
tality in this eclipse will cross the xAtlan- 
tic Ocean, traversing the West Indies 
just after sunrise and in South Africa 
towards sunset. On the coast of Ben- 
guela the total phase lasts nearly five 
minutes, and at Grenada, in the West 
Indies, the duration will be nearly four 
minutes. Three comets of known peri¬ 
od are expected to return during the 
year. Olbers’ comet, with a period of 
seventy-one and a half years, will prob¬ 
ably reach Perihelion near the close of 
the year. A small comet discovered by 
Pons in 1819, and rediscovered by Win- 
necke in 1858, is due in 1886, as is also 
the one first seen by Temple in 1869, 
and again observed by Swilt in 1880. 
'Phe period of each of these two comets 
is about five and a half 3"ears. 
Parties in want of first-class job print¬ 
ing at veiy low prices should write us 
for estimates before sending elsewhere. 
A “SERPEJiT MOUJVB.” 
In the New York Woild some time 
since then appeared an article on the 
archaiology of Randolph, N, Y. Men¬ 
tion was made of a ‘‘serpent mound.” 
This appeared to the writer as an import¬ 
ant discovery, and in order to obtain the 
most accurate and trustworthy account 
of this mound, we wrote to Prof. F. 
Larkin, of the above named village and 
the author of “Ancient Man in America.” 
This gentleman kindly answered by 
saying that the article was not reliable, 
and that the supposed “serpent mound” 
is nothing but a drift deposit with some 
what the appearance of a serpent. Prof. 
Larkin further said that he had no 
knowledge of any “serpent mound” in 
that section of the country. As Prof. 
Larkin remarked, “we want the exact 
truth. ’ ’ Idiis we must have in archaeolo¬ 
gical researches. H. F. d'HOMPSON. 
