

Tue Horse Brt.—The question of the bit, and of the 
hand that rules the bit, underlies the consideration of the 
whole subject of man’s dominion over the horse. The in- 
telligence of man kind has hitherto invented but two prin- 
cipal forms of the bit; the snaffle, the simple piece of iron 
which lies across the mouth, subject to endless modifica- 
tions, such as being twisted, jointed, and so forth; and the 
curb-bit, a more powerful implement, which has likewise, 
undergone innumerable variations. 
The curb-bit is an adaptation of the principle of the 
lever, and the lengthening of the checkpiece allows a very 
powerful pressure to be exercised upon the jaw of the 
horse. Thesnaflie is, so to say, a natural bit, and the curb 
an artificial one. The snaffle was used by our ancestors 
and by the ancient Greeks; the curb is an Asiatic invention, 
and was probably brought into Europe by the Moors. In 
the famous mosaic found at Pompeii, representing, as is 
supposed, a battle between the Greeks and Persians, and 
which, at any rate, is the picture of a battle between Euro- 
peans and Asiatics, the Eastern horsemen ride with curbs, 
and the Europeans with snaftles. The difference in the bit 
modifies the whole style of riding; and as there are two 
sorts of bits, so are there two quite different styles or 
schools of horsemanship, which may be called the eastern 
and the western’ styles. 
The type of the eastern is best seen in the modern Bed- 
ouin Arab, with his short stirrups, peaked saddle, and 
severe bit; and the western type inits simplest form is 
beautifully exemplified in the Elgin marbles, where naked 
men bestride bare-backed horses. To ride after this fash- 
ion is an athletic exercise; the strength of the man is 
set against the strength of the horse with little ad- 
ventitious aid. The rider restrams the horse’s | im- 
petuosity by the sheer force of his arm, and he maintains a 
seat on his back by exercising the muscles of his legs. It 
is the equitation of athletes and of heroes; but it is clear 
that the balanced seat of the Arab, and the more complete 
command over his horse which follows from the greater 
security of his seat, would make him ‘infinitely more for- 
midable in war than the European, in spite of the superior 
strength and size of the latter. 
History teaches us how the cavalry of the Saracens— 
small men on small horses—rode down the Christian horse- 
men till they learnt to ride with the bits, saddles, and lan- 
ces of the Moslem cavalry. The invention of the curb-bit 
necessitated the stirrup, for a man sitting upon a bare-back- 
ed horse is forced to bear, at times, more or less heavily 
upon the briddle; and if, so riding, he were using a curb- 
bit, and he were to lean any part of his weight upon it, his 
horse would stop, or would rear, or-would flinch. The 
ancient Greeks and Romans are believed not to have known 
the use of stirrups. They are, indeed said not to have been 
discovered till the fifth century of our era. This, if it is 
true, would apply only to Europe. In the east they were 
used many centuries before. The earliest representation of 
one I know is in the above mentioned mosaic, where the 
horse of a dismounted trooper in Oriental costume is drawn 
with clearly-indicated stirrups; the Greek horsemen in the 
mosaic are without them.— New Quarterly Magazine. 
—__+—___ 
A Tlorse Tornerre iy ENGLAND.—To show the amount 
of money sometimes expended in keeping a horse stable in 
condition, we publish the following list, by an English sad- 
dler, of articles needed by a gentleman keeping a carriage 
and one horse:— 
Set of single harness complete, one driving whip, car- 
riage mats, whip socket, one loin leather, one suit horse 
clothing, one night rug, one roller, one pair knee caps, one 
set flannel bandages, one set linen bandages, one exercis- 
ng bridle, one head collar, one pair head collar reins, two 
logs, one pair pillar reins, one singeing apparatus, lamp; 
one horse brush, one curry comb, one water brush, one 
dandy brush, two composition brushes, one oil brush, one 
bass broom, one inside carriage brush, one set shoe brushes, 
one erest brush, one brass brush, two rack chains, six rub- 
bers, four leathers, two sponges, one mane comb, one trim- 
ming comb, one pair scissors, one dung fork, one dung 
shovel, one dung basket, one corn measure, one corn seive, 
one picker, one stopping box, one lantern, one pail, one 
burnisher, one setter, one oil can, one oil bottle, one scraper, 
one clippiag machine, one hemp head and reins, and clean- 
ing materials, viz. :—soap, oil, dye, some composition, car- 
riage candles, blacking. ; 
eg ee 
—tThe celebrated trotting horse Ripon Boy, died lately of 
hydrophobia, at Horicon, Wisconsin. : 
tes 
’ Tue GooprenoucH Horse SHors.—Of course there are 
rational and irrational methods of horse shoeing; men, as 
a rule, keep forever in ruts, and why should farriers be 
supposed to differ from the general rules governing man- 
kind? Expert as horse shoers may be in the art of secure- 
ly fastening the iron shoe to the soft and elastic pad called 
a horse’s hoof, the granderror, the oversight, the ignorance 
dispiayed, is in the construction of the shoe itself. We 
may build a house of a peculiar stone, and employ the 
cleverest masons to place and point the stone, but if the 
stone be poor in quality, all the skill of the masons goes 
for nothing, for the house will, in tine, crumble and go to 
pieces. 
Now-a days, fortunately, the construction of the shoe, 
itself, has been taken out of the hands of the blacksmith, 
and no end of careful study has been directed towards the 
construction of an iron shoe, which shall not only be last- 
ing, but at the same time, preserve the nature and quality 
of the hcrses foot, and we have no hesitation from actual 
experience in recommending the Goodenough horse shoe. 
In the first place, it is a light shoe, being scarcely half the 
weight of the old-fashioned shoe. The foot surface has the 
marked advantage of having a true bevel, making that por- 
tion of the web which receives the bearing of the hoof, the 
widch of the thickness of the wall or crust. Especially 
now, in winter, the calking on the shoe is excellent to pre 
vent slipping. In the ordinary method of calking, the shoe 
rests on three points, straining the foot so that the frog, 
which is unsupported, takes an unnatural proportion of the 
pressure. In the Goodenough shoe the calks are wisely 
supplied in such a way as to give a natural bearing all 
around. There is no possible doubt but that the Good- 
enough shoe not only keeps a horse more squarely on his 
legs, saying the rider or driver from danger, but necessarily 
adds to the comfort of the horse, and one immense advan- 
tage in the Goodenough shoe is, that when well put on, it 
is by far the most economical shoe in use, 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
359 

The Hlagazines. 
THE BEARS OF THE PYRENEES. 


HE bear is a serious beast, a thorough mountaineer, 
curious to behold in his great-coat of felted hair, yel- 
lowish or zrayish in color. It seems formed for its domi- 
cile and its domicile for it. Its heavy fur is an excellent 
mantle against the snow. The mountaineers think it so 
good that they borrow it from him as often as they can, 
and he thinks it so good that he defends it against them to 
the best of his ability. He likes to live alone, and the gor- 
ges of the heights are as solitary as he wishes. The hollow 
trees afford him a ready-made house; as these are for the 
most part beeches and oaks, he finds in them at once food 
and shelter. -For the rest, brave, prudent, and robust, he 
is an estimabie animal; his only faults are that he eats his 
little ones, when he runs across them, and that he is a poor 
dancer, 
In hunting him, they go into ambush and fire on him as 
he passes. Lately, in a battue, a superb female was track- 
ed. When the foremost hunters, who were novices, saw 
the glitter of the little fierce eyes, and perceived the black 
mass descending with great strides, beating the underbrush, 
they forgot all of a sudden that they had guns,and kept whist 
behind their oak. A hundred paces further on, a brave 
fellow fired. The bear, which was not hit, came up on a 
gallop. The man, dropping his gun, slipped into a pit. 
Reaching the bottom, he felt of his limbs, and by some 
miracle found himself whole, when he saw jhe animal hesi- 
tating above his head, busy in examining the slope, and 
pressing her foot upon the stones to see if they were firm. 
She sniffed here and there, and looked at the man with the 
evident intention of paying him a visit. The pit was a 
well; if she reached the bottom, he must resign himself to 
a téte-a-téte. While the man reflected on this, and thought 
of the animal’s teeth, the bear began to descend with infi- 
nite precaution and address, managing her precious person 
with great care, hanging on to the roots, slowly, but with- 
out over stumbling. She was drawing near, when the hun- 
ters came up and shot her dead.—A Tour through the 
Pyrenees’ Tuine. 
a 0 oe 
SNAIL PRESERVES. 
—_>—_——- 
NAIL dealers are not content with collecting the cork- 
S screw individuals wherever they may happen to see 
them; they proceed more systematically, and keep up snail 
gardens or snail preserves; it is really snail culture, analog- 
ous in some degree to the oyster culture of England and 
France. In the Voralberg, a bit of the Tyrol that juts in 
like a wedge between Bavaria and Switzerland, there are 
regular snail gardens, intended to subserve the twofold pur- 
pose of ridding the farmers of a nuisance, and providing an 
article of food for such human beings as can relish it. In 
various parts of the canton or distinct, during two or three 
summer months, the gardens, hedges, coppices, woods, and 
damp places are thoroughly examined by boys and girls, 
who collect the snails, and deposit them in small plots of 
ground set apart. for the purpose. Each of these plots 
forms a dry garden an acre or two in extent, free from trees 
and shrubs, and having a moat or running water all round 
it. The plot is covered with little heaps of twigs of the 
mountain pine, mixed lightly with moss; these heaps are 
placed at regular distances apart. The snails creep into 
them for shelter alike against the cold of night and the 
heat of mid-day sun. When this shelter is lessened by the 
decay of the small leaves on the twigs, the heaps are fur- 
bished up with a new supply, Every day the snails are fed 
with cabbage leaves and grass, receiving an extra allowance 
in damp weather. When harvest is over, and winter shows 
signs of approaching, they regularly burrow themselves in 
the heaps, and (figuratively speaking) tuck in snugly for the 
winter. The water, after flowing all round the margin of 
the plot, escapes by one outlet only; and at this outlet the 
moat is guarded by a grating. The snails often tumble in- 
to the water while crawling about their domain, or get into 
it somehow or otber, and are carried by the stream towards 
the grating; this is examined every morning, and all the 
wanderers taken back to their garden. When the snails 
have sealed themselves up, they are collected for the 
market, packed in perforated boxes lined with straw. Ac- 
cording to the plentifulness of the grass and cabbage crop, 
each plot or garden may contain from fifteen to forty thou- 
sand snails, some of which come to grief before the summer 
ig over; but the majority are destined to- the honor of ap- 
pearing on the dinner-table or supper-table of the South 
Tyrolese inhabitants, who greatly relishthem. Thesystem 
is certainly a commendable one, seeing that it brings to an 
available market what would otherwise be a nuisance and 
source of loss to the hushandman.—Al/ the Year Round. 
++ 
TEXAS CATTLE, 
——_>-—_—— 
N 1872 there were four hundred and fifty thousand cattle 
I driven overland from Western Texas to Kansas, through 
the Indian Territory, by Bluff Creek and Caldwell, up the 
famous ‘‘Chisholm trail.” In 1871 as many as seven hun- 
dred thousand were driven across. The general value of 
“Kansas beeves” is $42 to $13 gold; but after deducting all 
expenses the averuge profit on the ‘‘drive” is not much 
more than a fair rate of interest on the money invested. 
But few cattle are transported by sea; the outlet for the 
trade by way of Indianola has never been very successful, 
The Morgan steamships carry perhaps 40,000 beeves yearly 
that way. The two great shipping points in 1872-3 were 
Wichita, on a branch of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa 
Fé Railroad, at the junction of the Arkansas and Little 
Arkansas Rivers; and Ellsworth, cn the Kansas Pacific 
Railroad. The whole country, at the time of transit, is 
covered with vast herds which begin to arrive in Kansas 
early in May and await buyers there. A stampede is some- 
thing which baffles description; you must witness it. It is 
a tempest of horns and tails, a thunder of hoofs, a lightning 
of wild eyes; I can describe it no better. Merely to see a 
man on foot is sometimes sufficient to set the average Texan 
cattle into a frenzy of fear, and a speedy stampede, for the 
great majority of them have never been approached save 
by men on horseback. The gathering up of stock is no 
small task, as a herd of seventy-five thousand cattle will 
range over an area fifty miles wide by ahundred miles long. 
Large stock-raisers are always increasing their stock by 
buying herds adjacent to their ranges. Many persons make 
fortunes by simply gathering up and branding the cattle 
which the rightful owners have neglected to brand.— 
Seribner’s Monthly. 


Kalluber.”* 

Slew Publications. 
er 
[Publications sent to this office, treating upon subjects that come within 
the scope of the paper, will receive special attention. The receipt of alt 
books delivered at our Editorial Rooms will be promptly acknowledged 
in the next issue. Publishers will confer a favor by promptly advising 
us of any onassion in this resnecl. Prices of books mserted when 
desived.| 

js 
Artists anp Ariss. By Henry Blackburn. 
“Picturesque Normandy.’ Illustrated, 18mo. Red edges. 
Boston: J.R. Osgood & Co. 
This is a finely illustrated little work, and comprises the jottings of the 
author as he passed through the several places of which he so pleasantly 
speaks. His style reminds us somewhat of Bayard Taylor’s manner of 
conversation. The initial chapter opens with the author ‘‘on the wing.” 
The art season being on the wane in Loudon, he commences his journey 
from the Tweed to the Shetland Isles, over the hills and amid all the 
beauties of nature, as unfolded to his artistic eye in a mild July day. 
Being one of a sketching party of fwo, our friend Blackburn has fully il- 
lustrated his travels with graphic sketches of his picturesque tour among 
what he tritely calls ‘Artists and “vabs,’* and well has he acquitted him- 
self in the work before us, We can vnly recommend this work to our 
friends; we would much like to tell them more about it, to speak in de- 
tail of Algiers, The Moorish Quarters, Our Studio, Models, Our Life 
School, The Bouzareah, A Storm, and the many other highly interesting 
illustrated papers, but we forbear. 
a> 6 
ANNOUNCEMENTS. 
ps 
Author of 
$1 50. 

Tre Days or My Yourn.. By Amelia B. Edwards. au- 
thor of the ‘*Vagabond Heroine,” &c. Phila.: Porter & Coates. 
Book or Sranxparp Farry Tares. Tlustrated with ten 
full pages of engravings after designs by Dore and Cruikstanks, 12 
_ mo. $1 50. Phila,: Porter & Coates. 
Tas ILLUSTRATED Book or Domestic Poutrry. With 
twenty chromo illustrations, ete. By Martin Doyle. Brown, 8vo. 
$4 50. Phila.: Porter & Coates. 
Ten Nicursix 4 Bar-Room. By T. 8. Arthur. Mlus- 
trated edition. Cloth, extra, $1 25. Phila.: Porter & Coates. 
Hisvory or Portsmoutn, N. H. In two series, each a 
complete work in itself. By Chas. W. Brewster, a pleasant, reliable, 
correct historian. Portsmouth, N, H.: Louis W. Brewster. 
Tir: HouskKEEPER’s Manuar. By Catharine E. Beecher 
and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Illustrated. N. Y.: Pub. By J. B. Ford 
& Co. 
Lrprary oF Poetry AND Sone. Being selections from 
the best poets. Illustrated. With an introduction. By Ww. C. Bry- 
ant. New York: J. B. Ford & Co. 
Tap Money Maker; or The Mysteries of the Basalisk. 
Tilustrated. Price $1.50. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Also Prof. J. 
De Mille’s new book, “The Winged Lion.” $150. Lee & Shepard. 
From Scribner, Armstrong & Co. we have three beoks 
differing very materially in character, yet each may be called a pro- 
nounced book. Eachisa good book injits own peculiar department. 
First, we have from the protific pen of Jules Verne,a favorite ‘“‘Trip from 
the Earth to the Moon;” then we have ‘Diamonds and Precious Stones”’ 
a translation from the French of Louis Dienolafait, telling us all about 
gems and their wonderful interesting history; worth twice the price 
named for it. Thirdly, the remarkable history of Stanley’s, called “My 
This is the famous traveller, who says he ‘found Living. 
stone,” and Kallubewas to him asthe man Friday was to Robinson 
Cruse, At first we thought it a book for mature reading, but we think 
it better designed for a younger class of ourreaders. We shall notice in 
heir appropriate places all the above books. These notes will be con- 
tinued, giving short outlines of new publications from time to time as 
books are received from the publishers for notice. 
a 


f enepr he 3 , Ps) 
Answers Co Correspondents. 
pines 
[We shall endeavor in this department to impart and hope to receives 
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 localities for good hunting, fish- 
ing, and trapping, and giving advice and instructions as to outfits, im 
plements, routes, distances, seasons, expenses, remedies, traits, species 
governing rules, etc. All branches of the sportsman’s craft will receive 
attention. Anonymous Communications not Noticed. 
SESS SSS 
¥F. B., Broad street.—Have sent to Nebraska for information. 
O. H. Hameron.—You must shoot off ties at 23 yards. 
Dr. G. F. H., Hartford.—You can have the guarantee of Mr. Price, the 
owner of the champion pointer of England. Do you require an imported 
dog or bitch? 
Aquarium. Two fish are enough for one gallon of water, particularly 
in warm weather. During the winter one or two moremay be added 
to the number; afew aquatic plants should be kept in an aquarium at all 
times, and receive plenty of light. When plants are first put in, it 
shouldremain a few days before the fish are put in so the water will have 
time to purify and clear itself. 
ALLEGHANY, Pittsburgh.—Order one of the best grade 28 inch, 10 bore. 
Try it every way, especially for penetration and pattern and report. If 
you are satisfied with the one they send you, then order the proper 
crook in the stock for your friends and suggest any alterations you may 
see fit. 
Excuaner.—One of our most valuable correspondents wishes to ex- 
change a complete set of the Medical and Surgical History of the War, 
got up by the Government at great expense. These volumes are scarce 
and very valuable. Any physician having a setter dog to dispose of can 
make an exchange on terms. 
Mastier, Baltimore.—I haye a valuable mastiff; he is looking quite 
thin and sick; see the cause in my letter. Ans. Mix the following and- 
give two tablespoonfuls every time: Prepared chalk, 2 to 3 drachms; ar- 
omatic confection, 1 drachm; laudanum, 3 to 8 drachms; powder of gum 
arabic, 2 drachms; water, 7 ounces. 
UnpER Lever, New York.—ist. What barrels ave best for breech- 
loaders, Damascus or laminated steel? Ans, Damascus jron of the 
yery best quality; but there is some made by unprincipled persons which 
onthe surface presents the Damascus pattern without extending any 
deeper. 2d. Do you consider Hazard’s No. 2 duck shooting {powder 
coarse enough for a fine 7 lb., 12 bore. 28 in. laminated steel barrel 
breech-loader? Ans. We don’t understand the question; coarse enough 
todo what? 3d. Why does not a pin fire gun shoot as good and as 
strong as acentral fire? Ans. Each system has its advocates, but the 
almost universal use of the central fire by sportsmen has never given a 
practical solution to the question of preference. By reason of the cen- 
tral ignition better shooting is done. 
J. N. W., St. John, N. B.—I have often} shot birds im the Bahamas, 
called by the negroes, Gauldings. _Can you please inform me of. what 
species they are? Their habits are something as follows: It flies about 
lagoons and mangrove bushes towards evening; Inever found them 
about in day time; of grayish color and about the size of a partridge ; 
head like a hen’s; Ifound them always alone; will senda sketch about 
them sometime; they give fair sport, and I have often knocasd them 
over on the wing; I often used to shoot wading from one little island to 
another, with water from six inches to three feet deep and a broiling 
sun overhead; have gone shooting in Jamaica with the thermometer at 
100. Ans. Probably the Mangrove Hen, Rallus longizostris, resembling 
a pullet, which is mentioned by Gosse, Naturalist’s Sojourn in Jamaica, 
1851, p. 247. 
