296 
FOREST AN D STREAM 
May, 1918 
B. Y. M., Denver, Colo.: 
Replying to your queries in regard to de¬ 
tails of the technical side of taking the pic¬ 
tures of a ruffed grouse in the act of drum¬ 
ming, which were used to illustrate an 
article in the April issue of Forest and 
Stream Mr. Vreeland, who was the pho¬ 
tographer as well as the author of the ar¬ 
ticle, gives the following information : 
The real problem was one of stalking, 
and the only serious photographic dif¬ 
ficulty was that due to the very dim light. 
The day was dark and heavily overcast, 
and the woods, even though the deciduous 
trees had lost their leaves, cut off much of 
the little light that remained. A rapid lens 
was, therefore, an absolute essential. 
I used a B. & L.-Zeiss Tessar lens of 
554-inch focal length, working at full open¬ 
ing, F | 4.5, in a No. i-A Graflex camera— 
an outfit that I find very useful for nature 
studies at short range. 
i The exposure was 1-10 second in the 
photographs showing the bird at rest, and 
1-25 second for those in motion. The 
former made a fully timed negative with 
speed film, while the shorter exposures 
were under-timed, as will be seen from the 
deficiency of detail in the shadows. The 
chief difficulty consisted in making the ex¬ 
posure at the precise moment when the 
motion of the bird’s wings was slowest, so 
that the relatively slow speed of the shut¬ 
ter would stop the motion. This required 
rather careful work, since the pause be¬ 
tween wing beats covered only a very brief 
moment, especially after the first and sec¬ 
ond preliminary beat. 
The ground glass screen permitted accu¬ 
rate focusing of the lens, notwithstanding 
the small depth of focus when using full 
aperture at short range—about six feet. 
Having focused and pointed the camera, 
I waited patiently' for the bird to begin <to 
drum, choosing carefully the moment of 
exposure and pressing the release button. 
I then wound the film and re-set the shut¬ 
ter as quickly as possible, so that all neces¬ 
sary moving should be done and the cam¬ 
era again pointed for a new picture before 
the bird stopped drumming. As long as he 
was himself in action he did not seem to 
mind anything I might do, but when he 
was at rest he started at the slightest mo¬ 
tion. It was necessary, therefore, for the 
photographer to “freeze” until the bird 
saw fit to drum a new tattoo, giving an 
opportunity for another picture. 
By' choosing a different phase of the 
process for each exposure, the series of 
photographs was made representing prac¬ 
tically the whole performance from begin¬ 
ning to end. 
C. L. M., Jersey City, N. J.: 
Kindly answer the following questions 
in your Seneca columns: 
(1) Will the Auto Shotgun, 2§-inch bar¬ 
rel, handle No. 4 or 5 shot, in the full choke 
as well as cylinder bore. 
(2) What advantage would I gain by 
using an extra barrel, cylinder bore, 30- 
inch, over the 28-inch full choke in the 
Autoloading Shotgun ? 
(3) Will the 30-inch cylinder bore shoot 
as hard and as far as the 28-inch cylinder 
bore ? 
(4) What is the advantage of a modified 
choke over a cylinder bore? 
(5) I intend to buy an extra barrel for 
the Autoloading Shotgun and wish to know 
which barrel you would recommend for 
general purposes, the cylinder or modified 
choke ? 
Ans. (1)—Yes. (2) None whatever. Be¬ 
sides no 30-inch barrels are furnished for 
this gun. (3) Yes, excepting with black 
powder. (4) The advantage of a modified 
choke over a cylinder bore is that the 
former gives a closer pattern. (5) I would 
recommend the modified choke and suggest 
a 26-inch barrel. 
W. L. L., Atlanta, Ga.: 
Will you kindly tell me about the various 
antidotes for snake bites and how they are 
to be administered? 
Ans.—The whole idea of antidotes is 
bad and misleading. Any and every stimu¬ 
lant is an antidote physiologically to the 
depressing effect of the snake poison. So 
it will be well to give, say, two tablespoon¬ 
fuls of whisky or brandy in three times as 
much water, or twenty-five or thirty drops 
of aqua ammoniac or spirits of hartshorn, 
at such intervals as the depression may 
seem to demand. Clear the bowels by an 
enema of warm water and soap, to which 
may be added with advantage two teaspoon¬ 
fuls of spirits of turpentine. If the patient 
has been bitten by a copperhead, assure him 
that the bite of that snake scarcely ever, if 
ever, imperils human life, and that he is in 
no danger. If bitten by a rattlesnake, tell 
him not to be needlessly alarmed; that the 
bite of this snake is seldom dangerous if 
left to itself, still less so if intelligently 
treated. Many persons bitten by snakes die 
of fright; some are killed by excessive 
medication, especially by fatal quantities of 
alcohol. Some few persons are so very 
susceptible to the influence of the venom, 
that they die of its effects with or without 
treatment. Tf we have in the United States 
a really deadly snake, it is the so-called 
venomous water moccasin of the Southern 
States. 
L. P. C., Seattle, Wash.: 
Kindly give me some information regard¬ 
ing removing the hair and graining a hide 
before tanning for buckskin. 
Ans.—As soon as the hide is taken off 
from the deer’s back it should be grained; 
to do this, provide yourself with a beam 
eight inches through and six feet long; put 
two legs in one end, and let the other rest 
on the ground, so that it will stand at a 
slant. The beam must be of hard wood, 
shaved smooth, without a ridge in it. 
Provide yourself with a knife. One made 
for the purpose is best, but you may make 
a very good one by taking an old shaving 
knife and grinding it square across the edge, 
until it has a face about a sixteenth of an 
inch across. Then whet the corners 
smooth, so that they will not cut the skin. 
A piece of scythe, with a handle at each 
end, makes a good fleshing knife. 
Now sit down with the highest end of 
the beam against you, and lay on the skin, 
hair side down, and proceed to take off all 
the flesh and fat, and every unequal sub¬ 
stance before you turn the hair side up. 
Then commence to grain with the neck of 
the skin next to you, and shove against the 
hair, having a firm hold of the knife, and 
shoving with some strength, when off will 
go a streak of the grain, and so proceed 
until it is all off. This is the way to grain 
a green hide just taken from the animal. 
To grain a dry hide, first put it in a tub 
or barrel of warm water, and let it lie for 
twenty-four hours, and then add to each 1 
half barrel of water a pint of good slaked 
lime, and let it stand twenty-four hours 
more; then proceed as with a fresh skin. 1 
Another process is to let the skin he in 
clear water until the hair will slip off, and 
then grain it on the beam. This is a very 
good way. I have practiced it, and found 
the leather as tough as that of the green 
hide. 
When the work is properly done the skin 
will be as clear as glass, with no streak of 
grain or other uneven substance left; un¬ 
less it is in this condition, it will not dress, 
well. 
R. P. D., Boston, Mass.: 
Will you please publish directions for 
skinning an eel? I read Newt’s story of 
the boiled eel, but his directions for skin¬ 
ning it were not very easy to follow. 
Ans.—To skin an eel, roll him first in 
ashes or dust so that his skin will not be 
slippery. Then cut the skin around the 
neck near the head, make a longitudinal 
slit half the length of his body, and grasp¬ 
ing the skin firmly near the head peel it 
off over his tail. 
