Birds and Nature Vol. 9 No. 5 [May 1901]

That the octopus is good eating the writer can attest from experience, for during a visit to Yucatan some years ago this mollusk was served as a meat dish and was very palatable, the flesh being firm and tender and much resembling chicken. The portion which fell to the writer was the head, with a part of the arms attached.

One of the most interesting characteristics of the Octopi and allied cephalopods is their facility for changing color when danger is near. These changes are caused by little pigment cells just beneath the skin, which expand and contract. Thus, if a person is looking at an octopus in captivity and the animal is so placed that it cannot escape, the observer will be astonished to see the body of the animal suddenly assume a deep pinkish color which in turn is succeeded by a blue and then by a green, and finally a return to pink. The body is covered with these little pigment cells, the different colors – pink, blue and green – being so evenly scattered over the surface than when each color cell is expanded the whole body assumes that tinge. This is one of the most wonderful characteristics of the Mollusca.

Another cephalopod closely related to the Octopus is the Squid, several species of which are found on the Atlantic coast of the United States. In this genus the body is long and cylindrical, ends in two fins, has a prominent head terminating in eight short and two long arms and is supported by a long, cartilaginous, internal pen, which is made up of a central shaft with expansions on each side like a quill, hence the name “pen.” These animals are very numerous in individuals and form a large part of the food of fishes, like the blue-fish, black bass, etc., and have even been found in the stomach of jelly-fishes. Besides being eaten by the fish the squid furnishes a large part of the food of some whales, the former occurring frequently in shoals and falling ready victims to the huge monster.

In Norway and Sweden the people have a legend of a peculiar sea-monster, called the Kraken, which was probably founded on some of the enormous squids discovered during the past thirty years. Many of these mollusks are found off the coasts of Norway, Scotland and Ireland, and not a few have been recorded from the coasts of Nova Scotia and New England. In the larger of these animals the body is eight or ten feet long, the short arms eight feet and the long, tentacular arms thirty feet in length, making in all an animal nearly forty feet long when fully stretched out! The squid is greatly prized as bait and frequently a royal battle will take place between one of these gigantic creatures and a boat’s crew. Sad indeed is the fate of the latter if the mollusk once gets a firm hold of the boat. Care is used, however, to guard against such a result, and the animal is gradually deprived of its strength by making a sudden dash, cutting off an arm and as quickly retreating. These large squids are not as common as the smaller ones and they are rarely captured.

An ingenious method of capturing a species of the smaller squids (Ommastrephes illecebrosa) in use by the fishermen of the New England coast is as follows: The squid has the habit of swimming in an opposite direction to a light, as the full moon, so the fishermen go out to sea in boats, light a large torch in each boat and slowly row toward the shore, driving the squid, which of course swim backward in an opposite direction from the light, upon the beach, where they may be gathered by thousands after such an expedition. Another method of capture is by jigging; the jig is made of a piece of lead some two inches in length which is armed with a circle of sharp, unbarbed wires pointing upward and curving outward. The process of jigging is accomplished as follows: the jig is attached to twelve or fifteen feet of stout line and is lowered into the water, which is generally chosen of a depth of ten feet from the side of a small boat. When near the bottom it is kept moving slowly up and down until a squid is felt upon it, when it is suddenly drawn to the surface with the squid attached. These squid, when caught, are used for bait, a single fishing smack being known to use as many as eighty thousand squids in a single season.

A familiar object to most canary-bird fanciers is the cuttle-bone placed in the cages of these birds for them to sharpen their beaks upon. This “cuttle-bone” is the internal support of the Cuttle-fish (Sepia officinalis) and is homologous with the pen of the squid, mentioned above. The animal of Sepia is short and rounded, with a large head surrounded by a row of eight short arms and two very long tentacular arms, ending in expanded clubs armed with powerful suckers. Like the Octopus and Squid, the Cuttle-fish is capable of many changes of colors by the contraction and expansion of its pigment cells. They are found throughout the world, living near the shore, but the species found about European shores are the best known.

Frank Collins Baker.God made all the creatures and gave themOur love and our fear,To give sign we and they are His children,One family here.– Robert Browning.

THE TRAILING ARBUTUS

(Epigaea repens.)

Many years ago, before the Mayflower had cast anchor in Plymouth Bay or Columbus had landed at San Salvador, an aged indian sat shivering in his wigwam. Vainly had he sought for fuel and in his extremity he called upon the Great Spirit, that he might not perish with the cold. Crouching over the dying embers of his fire he stoically awaited the end, when suddenly there appeared before him a beautiful maiden wreathed with wild flowers and carrying in her hands, buds of the willow. Ferns and grasses draped her form and her moccasins were fashioned from pure white lilies. When she breathed the landscape suddenly blossomed with the thousand hues of nature and the warm rains fell in obedience to her will.

Under the influence of this spirit of the springtime the aged red man slumbered and, as his head sank upon his breast, the sunshine came out in all its splendor and a blue bird alighted upon the top of the wigwam. Slowly the maiden passed her hand above the old indian and gradually he shrank away until nothing remained but a cluster of green leaves. Then taking from her bosom a cluster of rosy blossoms, she concealed them among the leaves, bestowing upon them her own sweetness and fragrance and telling them that as the harbingers of spring, all who would inhale their fragrance, must bow the knee in honor of the vernal goddess. The maiden then passed away through the woods and over the prairies and wherever her footsteps lingered, there grows today the sweet-breathed mayflower.

Whether or not this fanciful story relates the real origin of the Trailing Arbutus, Ground Laurel or Mayflower, as it is variously called in different sections of the country, the fact remains that it follows closely in the footsteps of spring, often pushing up its dainty blossoms through the leaves and snow. It is always known as the Mayflower throughout New England and the old story of its being Flora’s first offering to the ocean-tossed pilgrims as they landed at Plymouth, in appreciation of which they named it the Mayflower in memory of their vessel, has endeared the beautiful plant to every New England heart and has caused it to be placed in Cupid’s keeping, along with the Scotch blue bell, the German corn flower and the Swiss edelweiss.

The Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens) belongs to the Heath family or Ericaceæ and constitutes the only species of the genus. Like the partridge berry which is often associated with it in pine woods and sandy soils, it is still in a state of transition, although it has been developing for centuries. As a rule, plants have the stamens and pistils in the same blossom or part in one and part in another. The Mayflower, however, does not carry out this arrangement. Either the anthers or the stigmas are abortive or partially so, or in other words, the perfect stigmas are usually associated with abortive anthers and vice versa. In this manner, nature has wisely provided for cross fertilization which is accomplished largely by insects, as the structure of the plant is not adapted to wind fertilization. The chosen agents for this process are honey bees, and a few early moths and butterflies, to which the nectar is served by this beautiful Hebe of the spring and who carry the pollen from one flower to another.

A wise provision of nature has been pointed out whereby ants are kept away from the nectar which they would devour without accomplishing the purposes for which it was created. Every rocky hillside on which the Trailing Arbutus is frequently found, swarms with ants which are debarred from the blossoms by hairs which project upward from the inner surfaces of the corolla and the outer surfaces of the ovary and style and effectually prevent the ants from entering but are not sufficiently rigid to keep out the larger insects.

As a rule, the pollen bearing flowers are larger and whiter than the others. The stigma bearing blossoms, while small, more than offset their defect by a rosy color which makes the flowers far more attractive than their larger but paler rivals.

Very little success has been achieved in domesticating the Trailing Arbutus. It is essentially a wild creature and prefers to waste its fragrance on the desert air. Success may be had, however, if the conditions under which the plants are found growing are preserved as nearly as possible. Yearling plants should be selected and plenty of roots taken or results can be obtained from planting seeds, but as these are difficult to obtain, the other method is the more satisfactory.

Charles S. Raddin.

TRAILING ARBUTUS

Ah, quite alone these April daysIt blossoms to evoke my praise;And hyacinthine scents are shedTo bless and cheer me, hither led.Upon this sheltered, upland knoll,At early dawn I often stroll;White clusters edged with crimson hueLie here, impearled with crystal dew.The leaves, like memories, evergreen,The blooms, like truth, of purest sheen;The cup within, like some fair breastWhere holy thoughts can surely rest.How worthy of its meek renown!Delightful gem for beauty’s crown.O’er it with joy can poet brood;It breathes of God in solitude.– George Bancroft Griffith.

THE MOUNTAIN LAUREL

(Kalmia latifolia.)

About the middle of the eighteenth century an enthusiastic botanist and collector, Peter Kalm, gathered specimens in America of a beautiful plant which he carried back to the gardens of Europe and also to his preceptor, the naturalist Linnaeus. In the year 1753 Linnaeus named the plant, honoring his pupil by giving to the plant the generic name Kalmia. He also gave it the specific name latifolia, referring to its broad leaves.

The genus Kalmia includes six known species, five of which are natives of eastern North America and one a native of Cuba. They are all beautiful shrubs, varying in height from a few inches to several feet.

The plant of our illustration is a native of the eastern portion of the United States, where it grows in sandy or rocky woods and is more abundant in mountainous regions. This shrub, which grows to a maximum height of twenty feet, is a superb object early in June, when it is covered with corymbs of rather large pink or pinkish-white flowers and numerous evergreen leaves.

Easily cultivated and highly ornamental, it has been introduced into the greenhouses and gardens of this and European countries.

In spite of the beauty of this plant, it has a bad reputation, for its leaves are narcotic and poisonous to some animals. “Even the intelligent grouse, hard pressed with hunger when deep snow covers much of their chosen food, are sometimes found dead and their crops distended by these leaves.”

We cannot show the characteristics of this plant in any better way than to quote from “Nature’s Garden,” where we find the following passage:

“All the Kalmias resort to a most ingenious device for compelling insect visitors to carry their pollen from blossom to blossom. A newly opened flower has its stigma erected where the incoming bee must leave on its sticky surface the four minute orange-like grains carried from the anther of another flower on the hairy underside of her body. Now, each anther is tucked away in one of the ten little pockets of the saucer-shaped blossom and the elastic filaments are strained upward like a bow. After hovering above the nectary, the bee has only to descend towards it, when her leg, touching against one of the hair-triggers of the spring trap, pop! goes the little anther-gun, discharging pollen from its bores as it flies upward. So delicately is the mechanism adjusted, the slightest jar or rough handling releases the anthers; but, on the other hand, should insects be excluded by a net stretched over the plant, the flowers will fall off and wither without firing off their pollen-charged guns. At least this is true in the great majority of tests. As in the case of hot-house flowers, no fertile seed is set when nets keep away the laurel’s benefactors.”

Many of our readers reside near the home of the Mountain Laurel and can examine the interesting features of this beautiful plant in Nature’s own garden. Those that do this will be well repaid.

Violets stir and arbutus waits,Claytonia’s rosy bells unfold;Dandelion through the meadow makesA royal road, with seals of gold.– Helen Hunt Jackson.

HOPS

(Humulus lupulus L.)

“A land of hops and poppy-mingled fields.”

– Tennyson: Aylmer’s Field.

The hop plant is a creeping perennial with several stems or branches attaining a length of fifteen to twenty-five feet. It has numerous opposite three to five lobed, palmately veined, coarsely toothed leaves with long leaf stalks (petioles). Flowers unisexual, that is staminate and pistillate flowers separate, either on separate plants (dioecious) or upon different branches of the same plant (monoecious). Flowers insignificant in loose, drooping axillary panicles. Fruit a cone-like catkin usually designated a strobile.

The hop has been called the northern vine. It is found in a wild state throughout Europe, excepting the extreme north, and extends east to the Caucasus and through central Asia. It is a handsome plant and not infrequently used as an arbor plant. The lower or basal leaves are very large, gradually decreasing in size toward the apex. H. lupulus is the only representative of the genus.

It is rather remarkable that a plant so widely distributed and familiar should not have been known to the Greeks and Romans. Its cultivation in Europe dates back to the eighth and ninth centuries. It was, however, not extensively cultivated until about the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The word hop (German, Hopfen) is of very uncertain origin. According to some authorities it is traceable to the old English, hoppan, in reference to the habit of the plant in climbing over hedges and fences. Humulus is said to refer to its habit of creeping over the soil. Lupulus (diminutive of lupus, wolf) is said to refer to the pernicious and destructive influence the hop plant has upon plants which it uses as a support, especially the willows. Plinius named it Lupus salictarius, that is, the willow wolf or willow destroyer.

Beside the countries above named hops is also cultivated in Brazil and other South American countries, Australia and India. There are several cultivated varieties. According to most authorities it is not supposed to be indigenous to North America, but Millspaugh expresses it as his opinion that it is indigenous northward and westward, growing in alluvial soil, blossoming in July and fruiting in September.

The plants are planted in rows and the rapidly growing branches trained upon poles stuck into the soil. Three or four male plants (with staminate flowers) are grown in an acre patch to supply the necessary pollen. Some authorities state, however, that the female plants develop enough staminate flowers to effect pollination. It is extensively cultivated in England, Germany and France. Also in New England, New York, Michigan, and in fact nearly every State in the Union.

In Belgium the young, tender tops of the plants are cut off in the spring and eaten like asparagus, especially recommended to the pale and anaemic and those with scrofulous taints.

The peculiar hop-like fruiting known as strobiles are collected in the fall of the year (September to October), dried and tightly packed into bales. The base of the scales of the strobile are covered with a yellowish powder, consisting of resin-bearing glands, known as lupulin. One pound of hops yields about one ounce of lupulin. Since the medicinal virtues of hops reside in the lupulin it will be readily understood that the hops from which the glands have been removed is of little or no medicinal value. Lupulin as well as the hops have a faint, peculiar, somewhat yeasty odor, which increases with age due to the development of valerianic acid. For medicinal purposes only fresh hops should be used.

The principal use of hops is in the manufacture of beer, to which it imparts the peculiarly bitter taste, and its repute as a tonic. For this purpose enormous quantities are consumed in Germany and England. The exhausted hops from the breweries form an excellent fertilizer for light soils. The leaves have been used as fodder for cows. Leaves, stems and roots possess astringent properties and have been used in tanning. In Sweden the fibre of the stems is used in manufacturing a very durable white cloth, not unlike the cloth made from hemp and flax.

Hops is used medicinally. It at first causes a very slight excitation of brain and heart, followed by a rather pronounced disposition to sleep. Pillows stuffed with hops form a very popular domestic remedy for wakefulness. Hop bags dipped in hot water form a very soothing external application in painful inflammatory conditions, especially of the abdominal organs. It has undoubted value as a bitter tonic in dyspepsia and in undue cerebral excitation. Tincture of lupulin and red pepper (capsicum) enjoys the reputation of being a very efficient substitute for alcoholic stimulants when their use is to be discontinued. Earlier physicians recommended hops very highly in kidney and liver complaints, as a “blood purifier” and to cure eruptive skin troubles. It is recommended in nervous troubles and in delirium tremens. The roots were formerly employed as a substitute for sarsaparilla.

Hops contains an etherial oil, resin and tannic acid. The oil and the resin are important constituents in the manufacture of beer. The young shoots contain asparagin, etherial oil, resin and sugar.

Albert Schneider.

AWAKENING

Never yet was a springtime,Late though lingered the snow,That the sap stirred not at the whisperOf the south wind sweet and low;Never yet was a springtimeWhen the buds forgot to blow.– Margaret E. Sangster.