FOREST AND STREAM 
825 
Notes on Arrow Making 
(Continued from last week.) 
LAND MAMMALS OF THE NEW WORLD. 
(Continued from last week). 
The probability is they met their deaths by be¬ 
ing entombed in the effort to reach food or wa¬ 
ter, just as even now happens in dry seasons to 
hundreds of cattle, which, exhausted by thirst 
and starvation, are unable to extricate them¬ 
selves from the boggy places that they have en¬ 
tered in pursuit either of water or of the little 
green herbage due to its presence.” In old 
times our western buffalo—bison—crossing the 
Missouri River, often broke through the ice and 
were drowned, and no doubt the bed of that 
stream is full of their bones. 
For the most part the remains preserved con¬ 
sist of teeth and bones—the hard parts; yet, 
there are examples where carcasses of elephants 
and rhinoceroses long extinct have been found 
in arctic or sub-arctic regions with flesh, skin 
and hair preserved; while in a cave in South 
America was found the skin of a huge extinct 
ground sloth. 
The chief materials on which the paleontologist 
bases his descriptions of mammals are thus the 
bones and the teeth. Yet, sometimes the bones 
are so crushed and distorted by the weight of 
material resting on them that it may not be 
easy to decide just what was their original form. 
Professor Scott gives a chapter about mam¬ 
mals, which concludes with a full classification 
much the same as that given by Professor Os¬ 
born in his “Age of Mammals.” He describes 
the skeleton and teeth of mammals, and then 
gives a chapter on the geographical distribution 
of mammalian forms and a summary of the 
faunas which succeeded one another. After this 
come chapters discussing the principal orders of 
mammals; the perissodactyla, which includes the 
horses, the rhinoceroses, and those extraordinary 
beasts, the titanotheres; the artiodactyla, includ¬ 
ing the camels, the pigs, the deer, sheep and 
oxen: certain primitive hoofed animals still more 
ancient than these; as well as many extraordi¬ 
nary South American ungulates; and then the 
carnivora, the monkeys, the edentates—sloths, 
armadillos and ant-eaters — and the marsupials. 
A chapter is devoted to a discussion of the 
different ways in which mammalian forms were 
developed, a subject of extraordinary interest, 
about which there are many and varying ideas. 
The volume is illustrated with extraordinary 
freedom by photographs of living forms and by 
faithful anatomical drawings of many parts of 
ancient animals, but perhaps its most interesting 
illustrations are the restorations of ancient forms 
made by Bruce Horsfall under the direction of 
Professor Scott. Charles R. Knight, one of our 
first animal painters, has also contributed a 
number of drawings of restored fossils. 
In writing this book, Professor Scott has made 
plain to the lay reader a multitude of facts which 
have hitherto been hidden from him; he has 
given to the average man the opportunity to 
comprehend many of the ancient life features of 
this old world of ours. Incidentally he has made 
clear for those interested in paleontology the 
general features of mammalian life in the new 
world in such a manner as to call for their last¬ 
ing gratitude. 
* A History of Land Mammals in the Western Hemi¬ 
sphere, by William B. Scott, Blair Professor of Geology 
and Paleontology in Princeton L T niversity. New York, 
the MacMillan Co., 1913. Illustrated, cloth, 700 pages, 
price $5.00. 
It will now be noticed that while the wing is 
in its final shape there is far too much bone at¬ 
tached to it, and this excess of bone for con¬ 
venience is described as follows: That portion 
which lies in the same plane with the vane is 
“A”; that portion which lies in a plane at right 
angles to that of the vane is “B.” The surplus 
at “B” is removed by being held in a clamp and 
cut with the blade of a safety razor. The clamp 
is in the form of an ordinary butt hinge having 
three leaves and preferably is made of aluminum, 
to avoid dulling the knife. The two outside 
leaves are of strong metal, reinforced with wood 
to prevent bending or giving under the strain. 
The middle leaf is made of very thin aluminum 
or brass about 36 gauge. 
The feather as stamped is placed in the clamp, 
with the vane firmly held between the middle leaf 
and one of the outer leaves of the clamp. The 
safety razor blade is then inserted between the 
middle leaf and the other outside leaf of the 
clamp in such manner that the middle leaf lies 
between the blade and the vane of the feather. 
A single stroke of the blade suffices to remove 
the surpus bone at “B,” and the vane of the 
feather is protected, by the intervening midde 
leaf, from damage during the operation. The 
result is that the surplus bone left at “B” will be 
equal to the thickness of 'the middle leaf in the 
hinged clamp. 
There is still far too much bone at “A,” the re¬ 
moval of which gives no little trouble. The fol¬ 
lowing plan is the result of many experiments, 
both in method and with mechanical devices. As 
before stated, the feather becomes seasoned and 
tough and at this stage it is necessary to soften 
the bone by the application of moisture. In fact, 
that may be done before removing the surplus at 
“B,” but it is not so essential. 
A shallow pan is so arranged over the gas flame 
that water placed therein will be slowly evap¬ 
orated. The pan has a cover of galvanized wire 
screen. A piece of heavy cloth (an old bath 
towel is good) is wrung out of hot water and 
then laid on top of the screen in such manner 
that the vanes as stamped out may be arranged 
on top of the cloth and then covered with a fold 
of the same cloth. The heat and moisture from 
the cloth, to which is added the heat and vapor 
from the evaporating water, will, in ten or fifteen 
minutes, render the feathers soft and pliable. As 
needed they are removed from the steam bath, 
care being taken to keep those not in use covered 
with the extra fold of the cloth. 
One vane is removed from the steam bath and 
laid upon a smooth, soft pine board, crosswise 
of the grain of the board. Lack of attention to 
this apparently small detail will absolutely baffle 
any attempt to cut the bone of the feather at 
“A,” which is the desideratum. The vane is held 
on the pine block with a straight edge four inches 
long, three-eighths of an inch thick and one and 
one-quarter inches wide, brought to a beveled 
edge in the form of an ordinary ruler. The sole 
purpose of the straight edge is for holding the 
vane firmly in position while being cut. The 
knife does not touch the straight edge during 
the process of cutting. The straight edge is 
placed on the vane and the straight line of the 
bone left in removing the surplus at “B” is 
pressed firmly and accurately against the straight 
edge and the surplus bone at "A” is removed by 
a single stroke of the knife guided only by 
the eye. 
The best knife for this purpose is made from 
an old-fashioned razor blade five-eighths of an 
inch wide, the point of which has been left at 
right angles and not rounded, and to which blade 
has been affixed securely and firmly a wooden 
handle according to the individual desire of the 
fletcher. In operation, the point of the blade 
passes through the bone and into the soft pine 
board and assists in guiding the knife. It will 
therefore be readily seen that if the cut were 
made with the grain of the pine board the knife 
would follow the grain of the wood and be de¬ 
flected. It is possible to make this last and most 
important cut by several successive strokes of 
the knife, but the result is never so satisfactory. 
It should be done at a single stroke. 
Should the result be other than a perfectly true 
line, the following makeshift may be resorted to: 
Replace the vane in the hinge clamp, bring the 
surface of the bone at “A” to a true line by 
filing it with a file made by gluing a strip of 
sharp sandpaper (00 grade) on a stick eight or 
nine inches long and three-eighths ‘ of an inch 
square. 
(To be continued.) 
CHILLY FISHING IN CAROLINA. 
May 19, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have been patiently waiting for good trout 
weather that I might report a good day with the 
rainbows, but it stays cold and windy. 
On Saturday, the ninth, I went with a first-rate 
and true angler to Green river and we fished in 
spite of a gale of wind. It was so strong that 
the flies would be taken up off the water and 
tossed “where it listed.” The water was very 
cold and as I waded in ordinary clothing I 
really suffered. My angling friend had wading 
boots and fared better. I had to keep on the 
move to keep my blood at all warm. 
Yet we took a nice lot of fish, though no large 
ones. A few days previous to this I took charge 
of 24,500 rainbow trout, obtained from the Gov¬ 
ernment, planting them in the waters of Green 
river. We have had a very singular Spring, and 
as I write I find it quite chilly at my desk. 
The migratory birds are with us in numbers, 
and the bob-white’s call is heard everywhere in 
the fields and even within the town. Often have 
I answered his call when I have been wading a 
stream and whistled him up to the bank. Then 
seeing me he changes his note to a very different 
one. Something like this: “Chick, chicken, chic, 
chic, chicken.” Then off he goes, very much dis¬ 
gusted with what my call showed him. 
It is quite easy to imitate the call of the fe¬ 
male. I have often whistled bob-whites quite 
close to me. 
We are having very dry as well as very cool 
weather. When it begins to change, if I can 
get off just preceding rain, I should have good 
trout fishing. ERNEST L. EWBANK. 
