100 FANCIERS 
JOURNAL AND? POWTER Y~ Wie APN. Gan 


every body in Paris cried, ‘* Well done dog,’’ and was more 
than ever satisfied of the truth and justice of ‘ trial by bat- 
tle.” We can readily understand that the faithful dog, 
having nobly avenged the death of his master, took up his 
quarters with his master’s friend, looked after the rats and 
was made comfortable the remainder of his days. This is 
for conjecture only, however, because he may have been put 
in the dog-pound for non-payment of the tax; but what is 
not conjecture is the fact that over a chimney in the great 
hall of the ancient chateau of Montargis, in France, there 
is a curiously carved representation of this memorable-com- 
bat; and as long as the old chateau stands, and the wrought 
oak wainscoting is spared the inroads of the worm, that car- 
ving will stand as the monument of the fidelity of a dog. 


Stems Munteresting and Amusing. 

B@S> Six black foxes have been caught in Cumberland 
County, Nova Scotia, this fall. These animals are very 
rare, and their skins sell at fabulous prices. 
kas> ‘Take a wing,’’ inquired a pompous upstart of a 
sensible young lady at the close of a prayer meeting. ‘ Not 
of a gander,’”’ she quickly replied, and walked home with 
her mother. 
p@s~- Old Phin. Teeple, of Preston, Wayne County, Pa., 
is seventy years old, though remarkably vigorous, and looks 
hardly fifty. Since eleven years of age he has killed 2985 
deer, and 438 bears. His favorite hunting ground is in 
Potter County. 
y@s~ Seth Green now proposes frog culture for food. He 
says: ‘* We have many stagnant pools about the country 
that are useless in their present state, and believing that 
there is nothing made in vain, I do not know of any other 
use for them than to make them into frog ponds. I also 
believe it would make the man wealthy who could raise a 
million frogs and get them to market. All I would claim is 
giving him two years’ experience in experimenting.’’ The 
hind quarters of the frog are a great delicacy. We have 
eaten them many a time. 
ypes> Among the attractive exhibitions in San Francisco, 
has been that of a bear boy. This ursine youth walks on all 
fours when he walks, and squats on his hind feet when he 
squats. Near the termination of the spine he has a scar, 
caused, as the keeper affirms, by the amputation of his tail. 
Formerly there was a ridge of hair down his back. This 
has been removed, and nothing but marks of glue are now 
visible to the naked eye. 
ges> A suit was recently brought before the sheriff of the 
Dundee (Scotland) Small Debt Court, to obtain damages 
for injuries sustained from the bite of adog. A man was 
about to enter the house of a neighbor to complain of the 
noise made by his dog, but being somewhat violent in his / 
manner, the dog jumped upon the intruder and bit him in 
the face and hand. At the trial, the plaintiff having failed 
to prove the dog’s previous bad character, the sheriff deci- 
ded the case in favor of the defendant, saying that it was 
somewhat singular that, according to Scotch law, a dog was 
entitled to the first bite out of a man without attaching a 
penalty to the master, while the master was liable for the 
first bite taken out of a sheep, however good the previous 
character of the dog might have been. 
ge@s> The following from the Field seems to prove that 
the eagle of the Tyrol has the power of carrying off full- 
grown chamois. It is taken from the journal of an English 
chamois hunter :—“ June 27, 1871.—When taking out a 
young eagle from the Falknervaud, near Johanneslaus, I 
found in the nest (which was quite inaccessible except by 
means of a fifty fathom rope) the half-devoured carcass of a 
full grown chamois; three pairs of seven inch chamois 
horns, and the corresponding bones of the animals; one 
pair of goat horns; the remains of a mountain hare, and the 
head of a roedeer fawn.”’ 
pes- A letter from Russell, Kansas, dated January 9th, 
to Forest and Stream says:—‘ Game is not very plenty in 
this county at this season. Antelope were plenty in the 
fall, but I have not seen any lately. When seen they are 
very wild. Elk are scarce. I saw two last week, but as L 
had only a shot gun with me I could only look at them run. 
What leaps they did make in the snow! Buffalo keep far- 
ther west, although they sometimes wander through here. 
eer scarce, ‘ Jack rabbits’ plenty, coyotes and gray wolves 
plenty, quail are rather scarce, prairie chickens scarce, and 
generally crossed with the sharp-tailed grouse. Now and 
then a dusky grouse.”’ 
=e" Scattered about the prairies in Kansas are little ponds 
and puddles caused by the collecting of the surface water 
after rains, the occasional overflow of streams, and some- 
times by springs at the bottom. These ponds average per- 
haps thirty yards in length by eight in width and three feet 
deep in the middle. To them all kinds of animals and wild 
fowl resort to quench their thirst and eat the varieties of food 
which always collect or grow in damp and marshy places. 
It is quite customary for sportsmen and travelers with 
depleted larders to build screens near by and lie in wait for 
the approach of game, which is sure to come and afford fine 
sport, and a bag can soon be filled. 
p@s> THe RatTrLes oF THE RATTLESNAKE.—The forma- 
tion of rattles upon the tail of a rattlesnake is a curious phe- 
/nomenon. The notion that one is developed each year is in- 
correct. Young ones have been known to have six or more ; 
sometimes two or three appear in a single year. The num- 
ber seldom exceeds fifteen. The skin of one that was six 
feet long, now in the Museum of the Long Island Histor- 
ical Society of Brooklyn, has fourteen rattles. De Kay 
cited, in 1842, the Clarion newspaper, published at Bolton, 
New York, which stated that two men killed, in three 
days, in the town of Bolton, at lake George, 1104 rattle- 
snakes, some of which carried fifteen to twenty rattles. 
They were killed for their oil. The same author states, on 
the authority of the Columbian Magazine for Noy., 1786, 
that a rattlesnake was killed, having 44 rattles, which 
seems an incredible number. ‘The use of the rattles is a 
subject of discussion. They are evidently well developed— 
not rudimental merely—and the conclusion is irresistible 
that they are of service to the creature. We cannot sup- 
pose that organs which are constant in a class of animals, 
could have originated, if entirely useless and unserviceable 
to it. Professor Aughey suggests that the whirring rattle 
is a call-note by the animal to its mate. That it was thus 
used on one occasion he was an eye-witness. Again, it may 
be used to terrify its enemies; or to paralyze its victims 
with fright, or to call assistance in danger. He says: ‘(1 
once witnessed an attack by seven hogs on a rattlesnake. 
Immediately the snake rattled, and three others appeared ; 
but the hogs were victorious.’’—Popular Science Monthly. 


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