694 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
Chas. A. Hazen, President Charles L. Wise, Treasurer 
W. G. Beecroft, Secretary Russell A. Lewis, Gen. Mgr. 
22 Thames Street, New York. 
CORRESPONDENCE:—Forest and Stream is the re¬ 
cognized medium of entertainment, instruction and in¬ 
formation between American sportsmen. The editors 
invite communications on the subjects to which its pages 
are devoted, but, of course, are not responsible for the 
views of correspondents. Anonymous communications 
cannot be regarded. 
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $3 a year; $1.50 for six months; 
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This paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 
the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Foreign 
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THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873 
THE WILD SHEEP’S MEGAPHONE? 
The theory has recently been advanced in Eng-' 
land that the great curving horns of the wild 
sheep, of which our big-horn may be regarded 
as typical, are of use to the animal as making 
its hearing more acute; that they are curved 
around the side of the head in such a fashion 
that the ear appears to be at the apex of a hol¬ 
low cone formed by the great spiral horn. Mr. 
Geo. Wherry, of Cambridge, believes that “the 
form of the horn and the position of the ear 
enables the wild sheep to determine the direction 
of sounds when there is a mist or fog, the horn 
acting like an admiralty megaphone when used 
as an ear trumpet, or like the topophone (double 
ear trumpet, the bells of which open opposite 
ways), used for a fog-bound ship on British- 
American vessels to determine the direction of 
sound signals.” 
The statement is ingenious, but is interesting 
chiefly as showing the way in which scientific 
guessing may be misdirected. The author ap¬ 
pears to have forgotten, if he ever knew, what is 
called to his attention by Mr. Harting, that there 
are many wild sheep and that the spiral of the 
horn of each species of wild sheep is a different 
one. Even within the species the spiral may 
differ to some extent among individuals. In 
some cases, perhaps the ear lies at the apex of a 
cone formed by the horn, but in others it does 
not. Moreover, it may naturally be inquired why 
it is that the adult males of a particular age 
should be provided with such an aid to hearing, 
which is lacking in the females and the young. 
These old males with large and perfect horns 
have acquired their full fighting powers. They 
have also reached their full strength and agility 
to fight, and through many years of experience 
have come to a full knowledge of the dangers 
to which their race is exposed. How does it 
come that nature should have cared so well for 
them and should have left the far more defense¬ 
less females and young a prey to the dangers 
likely to come to them from enemies which may 
make the sounds in a fog? Should not the latter 
possess this protective ear trumpet as well as the 
males of full age, whose horns—to the field ob¬ 
server at least—would seem to be sexual charac¬ 
ters analogous to the antlers of the deer or the 
spurs of the cock? 
It is very well known that the male sheep use 
their horns for the purpose of fighting, and 
that their battles are severe. To what other 
uses beside self-defense these horns may be put 
the outdoor American does not very clearly 
know. 
It is not so very many years ago that good 
common sense people were told and believed 
that the horns of the mountain sheep were used 
by him as a buffer on which to alight, when he 
sprang headlong from lofty cliffs, and striking on 
his horns on the rocks below rebounded, alight¬ 
ed on his feet and ran away. Those who tffd 
this story and those who believed it did not 
consider what would happen to the females 
whose horns are practically straight, and only 
from six to ten inches long, nor did they take 
into account the young males who for several 
years have horns too small to act as buffers in 
this way. In this they were like Mr. Wherry. 
As a matter of fact, we believe that the ob¬ 
servations of outdoor men generally well show 
that the mountain sheep depends for its safety 
chiefly on its nose and its eyes. We believe that 
if the observations of hunters in general could be 
gathered and collated, it would be found that the 
female sheep are rather quicker to notice danger 
than the male, though both are quick enough. 
Wariness in sheep as in any other wild animals 
is very largely a matter of education. With 
regard to our own species, it is well known 
among the old-timers on the plains that fifty 
years ago in many parts of the West the big¬ 
horn was the most unsuspicious and easily kill¬ 
ed of any animal except the buffalo. At the 
present day he has changed his habits with his 
location, and is now the most difficult of all 
animals to hunt, except the white-tailed deer. 
THE SPORTSMEN’S SAFETY BILL 
A few weeks ago we printed a letter from 
Coleman Randolph setting forth the merits of 
“A Sportsmans Safety Bill,” wherein was out¬ 
lined a plan to prevent the killing of hunters in 
the woods. In other words legislating against 
accident. We have given the proposition a great 
deal of consideration, concluding it is not a mat¬ 
ter for legislation and already is covered by 
statute, and comes not at all under the head of 
game laws. One recommender agrees the plan 
is a good one if printed on the back of each 
hunter’s license. Just imagine the chump, in the 
woods, who mistakes nis guide for a spiked deer 
and fills him full of lead, remembering anything 
about what was on his license, when he hasn’t 
brains enough to take a chance on losing a deer, 
rather than to shoot “because he saw the bushes 
move.” It would be about as effective as the 
junk printed on the back of our railroad commu¬ 
tation tickets, seldom read and never signed. 
It is our opinion that brains cannot be legislated 
into a head any more than a spring poet can be 
killed off by an avalanche of rejection slips. We 
print elsewhere the full context of the “Sports¬ 
mans Safety Bill” and would appreciate the 
written opinion of our subscribers thereon. 
URGED TO FIGHT FOR BIRD LAW. 
Maryland State Game and Fish Protective As¬ 
sociation members are being urged by G. Ran¬ 
som Hartman, secretary, to have their senators 
favor an appropriation of $100,000 for the en¬ 
forcement of the Federal migratory bird law. 
In an effort to reach all of the Association 
members postal cards have been sent out by 
Secretary Hartman quoting a telegram received 
by the local officer from the American Game 
Protective Association of New York, the Na¬ 
tional body. 
The support of the Canadian migratory bird 
protective treaty bv Maryland senators is also 
urged by the American Game Protective Asso¬ 
ciation. 
CHANGES IN THE FISHERIES LAW 
UNDER THE JONES BILL. 
Many anglers who have read with interest the 
article upon the new Jones Bill, published in 
the May 25, 1914, issue of this journal, in rela¬ 
tion to the general subject of game birds and 
animals, will be pleased to know that this bill 
makes a number of important changes in the 
law relative to their favorite sport. 
Fresh water fishermen are, of course, aware 
that they could, where conditions were favorable, 
have taken brook trout in this State on April 
6, the season this year closing on Monday, 
August 31, 1914. 
An important change in the fisheries law is the 
amendment to Section 250, which states; “When¬ 
ever the Conservation Commission shall deter¬ 
mine that any waters heretofore inhabited or 
stocked with trout are no longer inhabited by 
trout or are unsuitable as trout waters, the Com¬ 
mission may make an order permitting such 
waters to be stocked with any species of fish in 
addition to trout, lake trout, frost fish, white fish 
or smelt, or the eggs thereof.” 
Another change is that the Commission may 
maintain 50 rods from any dam or fishway erect¬ 
ed by the State in public waters, on both sides of 
the stream above and below the fishway or dam 
(as the case may be), signboards prohibiting all 
persons from fishing within that distance from 
the fishway or dam so posted with signboards. 
The word “Dam” in this section is new. 
If any angler or sportsman should happen to 
violate any provision of this law or any rule or 
regulation of the Commission, he shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished 
by a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $100, 
or by imprisonment in a county jail or peniten¬ 
tiary for not less than one day for each dollar of 
such fine, or by both such fine and imprisonment, 
and, in addition, shall be liable to a penalty of not 
more than $50. 
It is sincerely to be hoped that at the next ses¬ 
sion of the Legislature a number of perplexing 
questions that have lately come up under the ex¬ 
isting game laws may be settled by proper 
amendments. F. 
Many of the forest fires attributed to railroads 
are caused not by sparks from locomotives, but 
by cigar and cigarette butts thrown from smoking 
car windows. 
