6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 



ag much by a knowledge of the map beneath as the mariner does by the 
little one hecarries. When lost, they fly in circles, gradualy enlarging, un- 
til they recognize some old outline with which they had previouslly been 
familiarized. Their only guide being intelligence and an unswerving love 
of home (or what the phrenologists term Locality.” 
+e 
Our fishermen at Fulton market frequently receive fish 
which they are unacquainted with. Such specimens, if of 
small size, generally are classed by them under the compre- 
hensive title of offal. Three peculiar specimens were pre- 
sented to our notice lately, and were on exhibition ata 
noted restaurant in New York. 
The first was a thin, flat sea-fish, about six and a quarter 
inches long by five inches breadth, and less than one inch 
in thickness. It is rather a rare species in these waters, and 
perhaps a dozen are caught during the year. It is of the 
Scambridoe family, genus Vomer, and this individual rejoices 
in the name of the Vomer -Brownii, and may be considered 
as a poorrelation of the mackeral tribe. The fish is remark- 
able for its bizarre and lustrous tints, and is not uncommon 
on our coast. A native of the tropical seas, its geographi- 
cal range is so great as almost entitle it to be considered a 
cosmopolitan. It is found on the Atlantic and Pacific 
coasts. New York is probably its northern limit, and it is 
occasionally caught during the months of July and August. 
Sometimes it has been found a foot in length. It feeds on 
sea-weed, from whence the peculiarity of its form. (See 
DeKay, pl- 25, fig. 78.) J. Carson Brevoort, Esq., in his 
contributions to Ichthyology, gives a full description of the 
Selene Argenta, another variety of this same family. 
The second specimen was described quite accurately as 
‘‘haying a belly like a frog, with spikes on his back and belly, 
a corrugated concern, and fixed in his shell, and swimming 
like a jack in a box.” ‘This fish proved to be one of the As- 
tracionidue family, genus Lactophrys, and was the dromedary 
trunk fish, Lactophrys Camelinus. It has been occasionally 
taken on the shores of Long Island, but is rarely found 
further north. Some of the same family are known in the 
West Indies as the Trunk fish. 
The third specimen bears a strong resemblance to the 
weakfish. Prof. Agassiz’s assistant designates it as the sil- 
ver corvina (corvina argyrolanea) of De Kay, or silvery perch 
(bodianus argyroleuces) of Mitchell. It is a native of the Ca- 
ribbean Sea, and extends its northern range to the coast of 
New York. In Curvier’s natural history of fishes it is called 
le corb blane @argent. 
ieee Be 
A letter from Turkistan to the Berlin Geographical Society 
describes a species of grouse upon the arid steppes which is 
a great adept in the art of flying. Many a time it must have 
miles and miles to travel before it can expect to find a spilt 
drop of water at the well-side. When in the air its move- 
ments are so quick and alert as frequently to baffle all the 
fierceness and strategy of the hawk. The only othef ani- 
mals living in that dreary waste are eagles, hawks, falcons 
and turtles. The birds prey voraciously upon the reptile, 
yet are unable sensibly to diminish its numbers. 
ede, 
The editor of the Macon (Georgia,) Telegraph tries to make 
folks believe that toads eat buckshot. He says, with un- 
changing countenance: ‘‘ The writer has seen one seize and 
swallow buckshot after buckshot as it was rolled towards 
it, until weighed down with the load it bore, further motion 
became impossible.” 


FORESTS—THEIR CULTIVATION. 
c= a, 
“HE Country Gentleman says : Thousands of persons 
have more land then they care to cultivate to ordinary 
crops, and some of it often which is not good for such 
crops, but would do well for timber. Then why not do some- 
thing for posterity—and perhaps for themselves, too, by 
planting it to forest trees? It is easy now to do this; the 
information gained and imparted by such men as Andrew 8. 
Fuller, Arthur Bryant, Sr., and others, has made forest 
planting comparatively an easy matter. Many farmers say 
they are working merely for their children; they desire to 
leave the latter something in the shape of property which 
will be good fora start. In sucha case, why not plant a 
forest ? By a judicious selection of varieties and careful 
culture through the balance of a farmer’s life of about mid- 
dle age, a forest may be established which will be worth 
many thousands of dollars, twenty, thirty, or forty years 
hence. There is, too, in planting a forest, this marked ad- 
vantage over a natural forest—you can select the best varie- 
ties, such as are reasonably certain to be always in demand. 
You can choose maples, tulips, pines, the hemlock, black 
walnuts, hickory, the ash, chestnut, locust, &e., &c., sep- 
arately or together, the matter to be determined largely by 
the character of the soil. How to start in such an enter- 
prise can easily be learned from the authors mentioned 
above, and from other sources, and a little attempt at tree- 
growing from seed or seedlings on a small scale, in advance 
of starting plantations by the acre, would result in an 
amount of practical experience which would be of great 
benefit. Cultivation of artificial forests would not be nec- 
essary more than a few years, as the shading of the earth 
by the trees would soon keep down the growth of weeds 
and grass, while the leaves would constitute a mulch, as in 
natural forests. The growing scarcity of timber for the 
thousand purposes to which it is applied, with little prob- 
abilty of any substitute for it which can seriously ,esson the 
demand, renders it well nigh certain that forests p nted now 
and well started, will be a rich legacy to future g nerations, 
and in many cases even to the planters themselves. 
ee eee 
Attempts to keep mackerel in aquariums, seem to have 
beenso far unsuccessful. The fish are so impatient of confine- 
ment, that they dash against the glass or rock work, and 
speedily kill themselves. 
a 
The lake Como affords but poor fishing. The chub is 
occasionally caught there. The presence of trout is quite 
possible, though none have been caught for the last two 
or three years. 
Nerang i 
In Japan there is a journal dev®ted exclusively to rabbit 
culture. ; 
Che Ziennel. 
RITE about dogs, their instinct, their peculiarities, 
their thousand lovable traits? Why, there is 
not more than one man in a thousand who can do it. It is 
a gift, a peculiar one, and is as rare a talent as to write 
children’s stories. There are but few who are so gifted. 
The power of making a dog analysis of character we are 
not all blessed with. It is only but yesterday that we com- 
menced to study their expressions, with Darwin as our 
teacher. If dog literature proper, and most charming read- 
ing it is, has a particular country where it flourishes, and 
therefore must be appreciated, that country is Scotland 
All good dogs and good dog stories come from there. How 
pleasant are the stories of Sir Walter Scott and his dogs, and 
of the Ettrick Shepherd. Nowhere can be found subjects 
so genial, or more close to oursympathies, than the stories 
of our dogs. Ina late number of Chamber's Journal there 
is an article simply entitled ‘‘ About Dogs,” which is so 
charming in style that we only regret that want of space 
prevents our taking it bodily into our columns. Let the ex- 
tract, however given, suflice; though treating principally of 
the ‘‘ Collie,” still the intelligent sportsman can make his 
own deductions, for the same underlying traits of character 
are found in all breeds of dogs. We quote : 
‘‘ Without training, a pointer would point at any kind of 
vermin as readily as at the game of which the sportsman is 
in quest, but a well trained pointer will make no such mistake. 
Without training he would only stand pointing for a few 
seconds, and then run in upon the game, and put it up; but 
a well trained pointer waits till he receives the word of com- 
mand, when his master has come near enough to use his 
gun. It may be in part through instinct that a shepherd’s 
dog performs many of the important services which he 
renders to his master in the driving and tending of sheep; 
but it cannot be altogether through instinct, for the best 
shepherd’s dogs are always those who have been carefully 
trained. Even that which the shepherd’s dog does without 
training, and which seems natural to him from his puppy- 
hood, is probably very much ascribed to what is called 
hereditary instinct, the training of many successive gener- 
ations. But all cannot be ascribed to instinct, whether na- 
tural to the race, or acquired and become hereditary. How 
can any one think so, who has observed a shepherd’s dog at 
his work, and marked his prompt obedience to the command 
of his master; how readily he understands each word or 
sign, and at once hastens to do what he is bidden? Perhaps 
to bring in a number of sheep from a ‘distance, which he 
accomplishes very quickly, and yet without hurrying them 
too much, for he is very careful not to do them any harm, 
and his barking, although sharp, is not angry, nor do the 
sheep seem to think so, or to be in the least degree alarmed, 
for they also have profited by experience, and they know 
him and his ways. Let the object of the shepherd be to get 
sheep through a gate; the dog evidently perceives it at once 
and knows what to do, to bark behind the sheep, to run 
before them and bark, to drive them to the gate, and pre- 
vent their passing it. More remarkable still, and decidedly 
an evidence of the possession of reason, is the fact that a 
good shepherd’s dog will assist a sheep to rise when it has 
fallen, rolled over on its back, and cannot get up again, 
because, in consequence of its thick fleece, it cannot get a 
foot on the ground. This often happens, especially on hill 
pastures, in the latter part of spring and beginning of sum- 
mer, before the sheep-shearing time, and the shepherd must 
visit his flock several times a day, lest the sheep that have 
rolled over on their back should die. But his dog saves him 
much walking and fatigue, scouring over the hill for him, 
and as soon as he finds a sheep on its back, proceeding to 
turn it over with his muzzle, till he gets its feet to the 
ground, so that it is able to rise. 
No wonder that the sheep-dog is a favorite of his master, 
and is treated as a kind of humble friend. He is not turned 
into a kennel nor into an outhouse when he comes home 
from his work; his place is at the fireside, where he often 
wags his tail and puts on a very intelligent look, as if he 
understood some part of the conversation that takes place. 
Certainly ‘‘ Collie” knows well enough when he is spoken 
of, and dogs of some other kinds evidently do so too. They 
know when they are alluded to in terms of praise, and when 
with blame; in the former case, giving unmistakable sings 
of delight; and in the latter, hanging their heads and look- 
ing ashamed. Sir Walter Scott mentions this concerning a 
favorite dog that he had, a noble hound, of a very different 
race from the shepherd’s dog. Butit is very observable in the 
shepherd’s dog. The shepherd’s dog, or at all events, the 
collie of the south of Scotland, which I take to be the most re- 
fined and cultivated breed of shepherd’s dog, shews himself 
very sensible of the affront, and vexed by it. He has a 
ready appetite for oat-cakes; oatmeal in one form or other, 
but mostly in that of porridge, being a chief part of his 
food, as it is of his master’s; he will at any time gladly re- 
ceive a little bit of oat-cake,; but let any one hold out to 
him a very large piece, and he evidently thinks it a cruel 
jest, feels himself insulted, turns away his head, and will not 
look at the cake, much less accept it. We know of no other 
kind of dog that so generally shows his fastidiousness. We 
have tried the experiment with collies, and always with one 
result; they would have nothing to do with a very large 
piece of bread. We have tried it also with other dogs of 
various kinds, but almost always with the opposite resuly. 
No piece that was offered seemed too large for any one that 
we ever tried—Newfoundland, pointer, terrier—except in 
one case, that of a Skye terrier, which turned away, as if 
aware of being mocked, if a whole side of bread was held 
out to it, and would not approach the sugar-bowl even if it 
was set on the floor, although very fond of sugar, and ready 
to beg long for a little bit of it. 
It is worthy to be observed concerning the shepherd’s dog, 
that no severity is ever used in his training. The shepherd 
has no dog-whip. A single punishment, such as a game- 
keeper often finds or thinks it necessary to inflict on a 
pointer, would spoil a collie altogether, and make him 
worthless for life. "He would not resent it by turning 
savagely on his master, but he would at once become broken- 
spirited and inert. Words of commendation or of censure 
are all that he needs, all that suit his nature. The same 
thing may be observed in animals of some other kinds—as 
in the elephant and the finest breeds of horses. .The fine 
feelings of the Scottish shepherd’s dog, and his capabil- 
ity of having his feelings deeply wounded, are sometimes 

very strikingly illustrated. The grandfather of the present. 
writer had an excellent collie, by name Wattie, which Was 
a great favorite, and greatly attached to him and all the 
family. When the dog grew old and feeble it was thought 
necessary to get another one; but on the new dog’s arrival, 
poor old Wattie left his place at the fireside and went out 
to a green bank beside a pond, where he lay down, and no 
persuasion could induce him to return to the house. He 
wagged his tail a little when kindly spoken to, but he con- 
tinued to lie in the same spot and would not rise. He 
refused food, and in two days was dead. He seems to have 
felt that his day was over, that his services were no longer 
valued, and his old place no longer his, and took it all to 
signify that his time was come to die. His death, however, 
seems not to have been the result of mere old age, but to 
have been hastened by his wounded feelings.” * 
The following dog story of an ugly retriever is worth pre- 
serving: 
““T bad been shooting at Marshfield, and had taken 
the dog with me, and having some time to wait at 
Blankborough Station for the train, I thought I would have 
a glass of sherry, so I went into the refreshment-room and 
the dog followed me. Standing at the bar were two men, 
one of whom was discussing cold chicken. Haven taken a 
mouthful or two from a leg which he held in his fingers, 
once or twice he stupidly held it down almost close to the 
dog’s nose, evidently on purpose to tantalize him. The 
animal, of course, thought the bone was meant for him; and 
at last, when the man’s attention was for a moment attracted 
by something else, he snapped it out of his hand without 
more ado. The fellow instantly turned round, and kicked 
at the dog savagely. The consequence was the animal 
sprang upon him, and before I could interfere had him 
down, and had fastened his teeth within a couple of inches 
of his throat.. Of course I pulled him off as quickly as pos- 
sible,@when no sooner had the man got on his legs than he 
began to abuse me in most unparliamentary language for 
keeping such an animal. I stood this for some time, but at 
last it became too strong, so I said to him: ‘If you take 
my advice, sir, when you are again picking a bone of chicken 
between your finger and thumb you will do well not to tan- 
talize a hungry dog by holding it close to his nose. And I 
have only further to remark that this quarrel is not mine, 
but simply rests between you and the dog, so that unless you 
keep a civil tongue in your head I shall let him loose, and 
you may settle it between you.’ I need hardly say the dis- 
cussion was dropped, and afew mutterings in a scarcely 
audible tone of voice being the only reply I received.” 
GREAT CHANGES IN CLIMATE. 
ea ass 
HERE can be no doubt that the climate of this Northern 
hemisphere has changed enormously more than once. 
There can be no doubt that the distribution of land and 
water, the shape and size of its continents and seas, have 
changed again and again. There can be no doubt that, for 
instance, long before the age of ice, the whole North of 
Europe was much warmer than it is now. Take Greenland, 
for instance. Disco Island lies in Baflin’s Bay, off the west 
coast of Greenland, in latitude 70°, far within the Arctic 
circle. Now there certain strata of rock older than the ice, 
have not been destroyed by the grinding of the ice-cap ; 
and they are full of fossil plants. But of what kind of 
plants ? Of the same families as now grow in the warmer 
parts of the United States. Even a tulip-tree has been 
found among them. Now how is this to be explained ? 
Either we must say that the climate of Greenland was then 
so much warmer than now that it had Summers probably 
as hot as those of New-York ; or we must say that these 
' leaves and stems were fioated thither from the United States 
into Baftin’s Bay. The polar current gets out of Baflin’s 
Bay southward, bringing icebergs down, not leaves up, 
through Davis’ Straits. And in any case we must allow 
that the hills of Disco Island were then the bottom of a sea : 
or how would the leaves have been deposited in them at all ? 
So much for the change of climate and land which can be 
proved to have gone on in Greenland. It has become colder. 
Why should it not some day become warmer again? Now 
for England. It can be proved, as far as common sense can 
prove anything, that England was, before the age of ice, 
much warmer than it is now, and grew gradually cooler and 
cooler, just as, while the age of ice was dying out, it grew 
warmer again. Now what proof is there of that? This: 
Underneath London—as, I dare say, many of you know— 
there lies four or five hundred feet of clay. But not 
ice-clay. Anything but that, as you will see. It belongs 
to a fordation late (geologically speaking,) but some-— 
what older than those Disco Island beds. And what sort 
of fossils do we find init? In the first place, the shells, 
which are abundant, are tropical—Nautilii, Cones, and 
such like. And more, fruits and seeds are found in it, 
especially at the Isle of Sheppey. And what are they ? 
Fruits of Nipa palms, a fotm only found now at river- 
mouths in Eastern India and the Indian islands; Anona 
seed, Gourd seeds, Acacia fruits, all tropical again, and Pro- 
taceous plants, too, of an Australian type. Surely your 
common sense would hint to you that this London clay 
must be mud laid down off the mouth of a tropical river. 
But your common sense would be all but certain of that, 
when you found, as you would find, the teeth and bones of 
crocodiles and turtles, who come to land, remember, to lay 
their eggs ; the bones, too, of large mammals, allied to the 
tapir of India and South America, and the water-hog of 
the Cape. If all this does not mean that there was once a 
tropic climate and a tropic river running into some sea or 
other where London now stands, I must give up common 
sense and reason as deceitful and useless faculties, and be- 
lieve nothing, not even the evidence of my own senses.— 
From Town Geology, by Rev. Canon Kingsley. 
oe 1 or 
The following paragraph does not fall strictly within the 
line of sport, but we print it. Itis the copy of a bill 
for hanging and boiling a Friar at Canterbury, England, in 
1539 : 
‘Paid for half a ton of timber to make a pair of gallows 
for to hang Friar Stone, 2s. 6d.; to a carpenter for making 
the same gallows, and the dray, 1s. 4d.; to a labourer that 
digged the holes, 3d.; other expenses for setting up the 
same, and carriage of the timber from Stablegate to the 
Dungeon, 1s.; for a hurdle, 6d.; for aload of wood and for 
a horse to draw him to the dudgeon 2s. 3d.; paid to two 
men that sat at the kettle and parboiled him, 1Is.; to three 
men that carried his quarters to the gates and sat them up, 
1s.; for halters to hang him, and Sandwich cord, and for 
‘screws, 1s.; for a woman that scowered the kettle, 2s,; to 
him that did exeeution, 3s. 8d.; total, 14s. 8d.” 
