





















to an unobserving fisher taking trout, is scarcely distinguish- 
able from that fish. 
A not less remarkable peculiarity than those already 
mentioned is that the males of both salmon and shad are 
fecund a full year earlier than the females. Young male 
shad, it has been definitely ascertained, return to their 
native river with mature milt the summer after leaving it. 
The female does not return until the following summer 
when two years’ old. The experiments at Stormontfield, 
and on other rivers than the Tay, in Scotland, have shown 
that the male parr before going to sea is fecund and will 
impregnate the ova of a full grown female salmon. The 
embryos from such eggs have been kept by themselves in 
rearing ponds, and are as thrifty as the fry of a pair of 
mature salmon. / 
In the early days of salmon culture in Scotland, before 
breeding establishments like the one mentioned were in- 
augurated, there was much discussion in sporting and other 
periodicals between a Mr. Young and a Mr. Shaw as to the 
time when young salmon set out on their first journey sea- 
ward; one maintaining that it was when a little more than 
a year old, the other that it was not until a year later. Ob- 
servation and experiment at Stormontfield have shown that 
the contestants were both right and both wrong; that 
about half of a brood go down during the spring or early. 
summer freshets when somewhat more than a year old, and 
the remaining half the spring or summer following. From 
this it has been argued that males being fecund a year 
earlier than the females, go first, and the females not until 
they are over two years old. Taking these rules as a basis, 
we may infer that it takes two years to produce a male 
grilse and three years a male salmon; or three years a 
female grilse and four years a female salmon. 
Of course those who have given much observation and 
thought to the subject are cognizant of most of the facts set 
down above, but the article may interest the general 
reader. THADDEUS Norris, 
West Logan Square, Phila. 
—The Smithsonian Institute has just received from New- 
foundland the beak or jaws of an immense cuttle fish cap- 
tured at Newfoundland last year, which the local papers | 
represented at the time as having a body as big as a hogs- 
head, and arms twenty-seven feet in length, with suckers 
the size of a dinner plate. The jaws just received hardly 
come up to those proportions, but may have shrunk by 
drying. ; ; 
—St. George Mivart in a series of admirable articles on the 
frog, published in Natwre, in speaking of the ability of the 
frog or toad to inflict wounds and to convey venom, states 
that this power is not found in any animals which are even 
near allies of the frogs and toads. This high authority, 
however, tells of a very perfect organ for both wounding 
and poisoning discovered to exist in the Thalassophryne 
reticulata, a fish having a superficial resemblance to a frog. 
Dr. Giinther found in this creature no less than four spines, 
each perforated like the tooth of a viper and each having a 
sack at its base. 
In No. 5 of the Forest anp STREAM we published an 
account of a poisonous frog, mentioned by Dr. Saffray as 
the true source of that deadly poison the Wourari. The 
account given by Dr. Saffray was very positive, and 
the name Phyllobates Melanorrhinus was given by him tothe 
venomous frog, a native of New Grenada. The same 
authority says that the naturalist Pison, states the same 
fact, and that there is also in the East Indies, a saurian 
called Lacerta Gecko, from which a deadly poison can be 
made. In the seventh number of Forest anp SrrEAM 
there was a communication in regard to a pvisonous lizard 
in Nova Scotia, and the author of this letter is among the 
most reliable of our correspondents. 
It might be curious if this discovery: was made, which is 
not impossible, that though certain species of the Batrach- 
ians would be incapable of imparting their poison by biting, 
still they might within themselves contain such poison. 
We should only be glad if some of our readers would give 
us information on this most interesting subject. 
+e 
—From the Bulletin Mensuel of the Paris Acclimatization 
Society we take the following :— 
“The results of the experiments to produce different col- 
ored silks go to show that silk-worms fed on cherry-leaves 
produce a bright chromo-yellow-colored silk, those on pear- 
leaves a darker shade of the same color, those on apple- 
leaves a nearly white silk, but coarser than that of the silk- 
worms fed on mulberry-leaves. There is an interesting 
paper on the breeding of ostriches in captivity con- 
tributed by Capt. Crepu, who had kept several pairs of 
these birds. His observations threw much light on the 
natural history of the ostrich. M. Comber described the 
mortality which has seized the deer and other animals in 
King Victor Emmanuel’s park at La Mandria. The cal- 
amity he attributed partly to over-crowding and partly to 
the want of shelter and proper protection. In 1865, when 
the park and grounds were carefully cultivated, 13 deaths 
occurred. In 1873, the park being left in its natural state, 
172 deaths are recorded.” 
Oo 
—The sagacity of a parrot is recorded. A lighted cigar 
happened to fall just under the door of the bird’s cage. 
The fumes soon attraced her attention, and she instantly 
set about abating the nuisance. Taking a small cup of 
cold tea which was in the cage, the bird doused the con- 
tents on the burning end of the old stump and extinguished 
it. 

—A pair of skates for Christmas and New Year’s, with a 
copy of ForEsT AND STREAM, can be had by every sub- 
scriber. 
—What is the difference between a restaurant and a bank 
4 bief? One cooks your hash, the other hooks your cash. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Che GBagazines. 
COCKNEY AND DUFFER, 

| eee is a legend to the effect that cockney comes 
from cock and neigh, for that once upon a time a true- 
born John Gilpin went into the country and, as we are told, 
for the first time in his life hearing a horse neigh remarked, 
“How that horse laughs!” But being told that the noise 
made by the horse was called ‘“neighing,” he stood cor- 
rected. Asa matter of course, in the morning a cock crew, 
whereupon the cit immediately exclaimed, with exultant 
conviction, that ‘‘the cock neighed! In Chaucer, it imports 
no more than a “‘silly fellow” devoid of wit or courage, as 
in the Reeve’s prologue— 
“T shall be held a daffe, or a cockney.” 
Daffey means a ‘‘fool,” and has obviously been converted 
into duff, whence the term duffer, signifying a “‘stupid fel- 
low,” and in common use amongst the lower orders every- 
where. Shakspeare in one passage apparently contrasts the 
idea of a cockney’s coward:ce with a swaggering bragga- 
docio, where, in ‘‘Twelfth Night,” the clown says (Act TV. 
Scene 1),— 
“Tam afraid this great lubber the world will prove a cockney.” 
Congrave, whose mind apparently was always intent on 
the supposed French origin of the word cockney, draws 
our attention to the fact, that the French have an old appro- 
priated verb ‘‘coqueliner,” which means to fondle and pam- 
per, as “‘coqueliner un enfant,” the participle passive of this 
verb is coqueliné, thence cockney! ‘Such are the extremes to 
which men have gone in attempting to find a derivation 
for this word; it seems to be as deep-rooted now in our 
language as it was in Shakspeare’s time, and the conserva- 
tism of the city is such that in all likelihood it will be found 
within sound of Bow bell at the millennium. Its origin is 
shrouded in mystery, and the researches of antiquarians 
have failed in throwing any light on the subject.—Saint 
James Magazine. 
—_——e > ______ 
INDIAN SMOKE SIGNALS. 
——_>_—_ 
T is wonderful to what a state of perfection the Indian 
has carried this simple mode of telegranhing. Scatter- 
ed over a great portion of the plains, from British America 
in the north almost to the Mexican border on the south, are 
to be found isolated hills, or as they are usually ternied, 
“buttes,” which can be seen a distance of from twenty to 
more than fifty miles. These peaks are selected as thé tele- 
graphic stations. By varying the number of the cvlumns 
of smoke different meanings are conveycd by the messages. 
The most simple as well as most. easily varied mode, and 
resembling somewhat the ordinary alphabet employed in 
the magnetic telegraph, is arranged by building a small fire 
which is not allowed to blaze; then by blacing an armful of 
partially green grass or weeds over the fire, as if to smother 
it, a dense white ssioke is.created, which ordinarily will 
ascend in a continuous vertical column for hundreds of 
feet. This column of smoke is to the Indian mode of tele- 
graphing what the current of electricity is to the system 
employed by the white man; the alphabet so far as it goes 
is almost identical, consisting as it does of long lines and 
short lines or dots. But how formed? is perhaps the query 
of the reader. By the simplest of methods. Having his 
current of smoke established, the Indian operator simply 
takes his blanket and by spreading it over the small pile 
of weeds or grass from which the column of smoke 
takes its source, and properly controlling the edges and 
corners of the blanket, he confines the smoke, and is in this 
way able to retain it for several moments. By rapidly dis- 
placing the blanket, the operator is enabled to cause a dense 
volume of smoke to rise, the length or shortness of which, 
as well as the number and frequency of the columns, he 
can regulate perfectly, simply by the proper use of the 
blanket. For the transmission of brief messages, pre- 
viously determined upon, no more simple method could 
easily be adopted.—General Custer in Galaxy. 

THE FurorE Stare or Anrmaus.—In these days, when 
aflesh and blood school of poetry shuts out heaven alto- 
gether, the question of a future state for animals seems 
more than ever out of place; but eminent writers in all 
ages have thought the subject worthy of discussion. Landor 
and Southey evidently believed in a new life for animals 
after their worldly end. Mr. Jacox, who has an interesting 
chapter in one of his recent commentatory compilations, 
thinks Landor rather implied that some of his horny-eyed 
readers might be soulless than that the insect king is im- 
mortal when he wrote:— 
Believe me, most who read the line 
Will read with hornier eyes than thine; 
And yet their souls shall live forever, 
And thine drop dead into the river! 
God pardon them, O insect king, 
Who fancy so unjust a thing. 
Mr. Charies Bonnet, the Swiss naturalist, settled in his 
own mind the nature and character of the various paradises 
to which both man and animals would be translated. Mr. 
Leigh Hunt regretted that he could not settle the matter, 
at the same time confessing that he would fain have as 
muclt company in Paradise as possible, and he could not 
conceive much less pleasant additions than of flocks of 
doves or such a dog as Pope’s ‘“‘poor Indian” expected to 
find inthat universal future. A London car-horse, upon 
the doctrine of punishments and rewards, is surely entitled 
to some consideration in the future. Meanwhile, I would 
like to leave him with his ‘bus companion in the hands 
of Mr. Smiles and his ‘‘Friends in Council,” who have 
lately tsken certain of our dumb animals under their special 
literary protection.—Syloanus Urban, Genileman’s Magazine. 
J 
—Among the officers in charge in Houston during the 
late war was General Griffin. A freedman, Pomp, was 
one day conversing with the general, when he spied 
his former young master, whom he had not seen since the 
commencement of hostilities. Pomp ran to him, and ex- 
claimed, ‘‘God bress you, Mars Charles! I’s mighty glad to 
sce yer! How’s de ole missis an’ Mars John?” 
After Pomp had finished his demonstrations of joy the 
general said, :‘Pomp, you need not call him master now; 
you are just as good as he is.” 
‘“‘What!” said Pomp; ‘‘me jus’ as good as Mars Charles? 
No, Sah, General Griffin! I may be jis’ as good as you is, 
but I ain’t so good as Mars Charles—no, Sah!”—Harpers’ 
Drawer. 
247 
BarBavors.—Negro huts are scattered along the sides of 
the roads all over Barbadoes; in fact, they are as thick all 
over the island as plums in a pudding. It is said that it is 
not possible to raise your voice in any part of it without be- 
ing heard by some neighboring house. These huts are 
dotted about without the slightest regard for regularity— 
sometimes a number of them ina kind of promiscuous 
heap, sometimes one or two by themselves. They fre- 
quently have little patches of land or gardens attached to 
them, but often are set down on the bare face of a piece of 
stony or waste ground. Sometimes an almond or a goose- 
berry tree grows close to them, but apparently more by ac- 
cident than design. Some of the huts are kept nice> than 
others; and many have a pig, or a sheep, or a goat tethered 
beside them, or in rarer cases even a cow ora donkey. 
Chickens and turkeys abound among the huts. Sheep have 
no wool, but a kind of coarse hair, and are of as various 
colors as our cows—black, brown, chestnut, and pie-bald, 
occurrlng nearly as commonly as white. Cows are much 
smailer than the average size in England. Oxen and mules 
are the beasts of burden, horses being kept solely for riding 
and driving.—Appletons’ Journal. 
eh 
—According to the latest statistics, the globe is inhabited 
by 1,228,000,000 human beings, viz., 360,000,000 belonging 
to the Caucasian race; 552,000,000 Mongols; 190,000,000 
Ethiopians; 176,000,000 Malays; 1,000,000 Indo-Americans. 
3,642 different languages are spoken, and there are 1,000 
different religions persuasions. The annual mortality of 
the globe is given at 83,333,533, or 91,554 daily, 3,780 
hourly, sixty-two per minute, or nearly one per second, or 
pulsation of the human heart. The average duration of 
life is thirty-three years, one quarter of the population dying 
at Seven years or under, one half at seventeen or under. 
Out of 100,000 persons one only reaches the age of 100 years, 
one out of 500 ninety years; one in a 100sixty years. One 
eighth of the male population of the globe are soldiers. The 
cannibal portion of humanity is vaguely set down at 
1,930,000, viz., 1,000,000 in the Polynesian land, 500,000 
Niams-Niams, 80,000 in the Niger Delta, 50,000 in Australia, 
etc.—Land and Water. 
euuswers Co Correspondents. 
[We shail endeavor in this department to impart and hope to receive 
such information as may be of service to amateur and professional sports- 
men. We will cheerfully answer all reasonable questions that fall within 
the scope of this paper, designating loculities Jor good hunting, fish- 
ing, and trapping, and giving advice and instructions as to outfits, im- 
plements, routes, distances, Seasons, eapenses, remedies, traits, species ' 
governing rules, etc. All branches of the sportsman’s craft will receive 
attention. Anonymous communications not noticed.]| 
eee ig eae 


Trovur Fisure, 166 Gates avenue, Brooklyn.—A map of Clinton Co., 
Pa., can be had by writing to a first-class bookseller in Harrisburg, Pa. 
Game Fisu, Seneca Lake.—Is it sportsmaalike to fish for brook trout 
through the ice? Certainly, but not unless you are hungry. 
Mouawk, Nimrod Shooting Club.—Over the powder of course. A piece 
of card board will answer for the shot wad. 
Hanp A., St. Catharines, Ca.—A most useful little work on the subject 
is ““Napiers’ Food, Use and Beauty of British Birds,”’ Grombridge & Son, 
London. 
F. W. Ciarkz, Paterson, N. J.—Rabbits breed all the year round, ex- 
cept, perhaps, in the three colder months. Most likely those you no- 
ticed were pairing, as they often live together during the winter months. 
G. M. F., Jr.--Many thanks for contribution, which will appear in its 
turn, say in two weeks. Each subscriber to Forrest AnD STRuAM is en- 
titled to a copy.of ‘Hallock’s Fishing Tourist.” 
L. A., Galveston, Texas.—We think the bird you describe must be the 
Rudiolated wood-pecker (Centurus radiolatus). It greatly resembles 
Wilson’s red-bellied wood-pecker (0, Carolinus). It 1s-very confon in 
the West Indies. 
WALTER G. Smrtu, 14 Gallatin Place, Brooklyn.—What kind of a dog 
is best for partridge hunting? Where can I get one? and what would it 
cost? Ans. Theproper breed of dog for ruffed grouse shooting is the 
setter. E. H. Madison, 546 Fulton street, Brooklyn, has one for sale. 
THom’s AND Hings, Baltimore.—1. Cannot place our hand on the an- 
thority. Think it was in the London Field of August, 1872. 2. We can- 
not recommend the person you hame. See the dog yourself before you 
purchase. 
Nosxe, Hoboken.—Glad to have awakened your interest. There are 
two schools of anthropology—the physical and philological. The first 
dwells on the external form and anatomical peculiarities of man, the 
second cousiders physical peculiarities of less importance than language 
as an indication of the origin and filiation of races. 
Jor E. Fisner, Brooklyn, L. I.—1. What bore do you consider best 
for quail, woodcock and ruffed grouse shooting? 2. What size shot is 
best? 8. What part of Long Island do you think is best for the above 
named birds? Ans. 1. Quail and woodcock, 12 bore gun; ruffed grouse 
this time of year, 10 bore. 2. Quail and woodcock. No. 10 shot; ruffed 
grouse. No. 8. B. F. Sammis, Smithville, near Belport, L. I. R. R. 
S., New Orleans.—The drift is the direction a bullet takes towards the 
way the groove or spiral is cut. Whitworth made a table; at 100 yards it 
was 2 inches; at 1,000 yards, 65. The progression of the drift increases 
perceptibly all the time. Between 100 and 200 yards it was only three 
inches; between 600 and 1,000 yards it was 11 inches. (See Wingate's 
Manual.) 
A. W., 101 Duane street, New York.—The answer would be too long 
for our columns. Read “‘Stonehenge,” Shot Gun and Sporting Rifle, page 
62. The uge of a stag is generally reckoned by the number of points or 
tines protruding from the main antler. Up to 7 or 8 prongs it is reliable; 
above that number you must judge by the general appearance-of the ani- 
mal; his teeth, hoofs, &c., will be much worn, and the stag will have a 
dirty appearance. 
A. W.—The woodcock migrated, or moved south, from Orange county 
about Oct. 25th. They usually goon or about 15th October; they were 
ten days later this year. They were found this year on their summer 
ground. This question as to route of migration is interesting, though 
not treated of in books, so far as we can discover. We have seen wood- 
cock around here as late as Christmas in open seasons. They probably 
migrate in an irregular path according to prevailing winds, &c. Their 
food must influence their migration. A dry autumn probably sends them 
away earlier, as is the case this year. Sorry we cannot answer more sat- 
isfactorily. 
J. N. U., Pottsville, Pa—You ask how to make clothes water-proof. 
Take half a pound of sugar of lead and half a pound of powdered alum, 
dissolve them in a bucket of rain water, then pour off the fluid with the 
ingredients dissolved into another vessel. Take your clothes—a shawl 
is good to try it with—and steep it thoroughly in the solution, letttng it 
stay for a certain time. Then hang it up to dry, but do not ring it qut. 
The water of a rain-storm seems to hang on it in globules and does not 
go through ir. It is an excellent method of making canvas tents water- 
proof. 
Mrs. F., Chestnut Hill, Pa.—Regret to inform you that, although mag- 
nificent as to appearance, the Cedar of Lebanon, as a wood, has not the 
incorruptible power the ancients gave it. It has been grown in England 
and France, and in the United States. The Deodar has been frequently 
aasumed to be identical with the Cedar of Lebanon. Thia isa different 
tree, and may perhaps correspond better with the sublime accounts of 
Ezekiel. If we remember rightly, specimens of timbers made from the 
Deodar have been found in India, some of them undoubtedly many cen- 
turies old and perfectly sound, 
