The National tribune., 1888-05-31
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE WASHINGTON D. c. THURSDAY, 81

control of the Institution. has an exhibit show
ing its method of stocking the rivers and lakes
of the country with foolish. They show the
manner of procuring spawn and how it is
Matched, the way they carry it about the
country for distribution,
A MODEL OF THE CAR
used by the Commission. as we'll as the houses
and ponds used in Matching the spawn. In
this department is shown the methods of taking
fish the world over, from the rude spears of the
Eskimo to the fnestsplt BAN boo pole ofthe mod
ern disciple of Walton. The nets used to capt
ure the tnny tribe are many and curious, from
that of the Chinese through all the grades in
size and shape to the big nets of miles in
length used in the Chesapeake Bay. Then the
whale fisheries, and how they catch and try out
the blubber of these monsters of the deep,is given
prominent place; and the artist OF the Com
mission has placed life-size wax figures N the
boats with harpoon in hand ready to give the
fatal stroke to the whale All through, this
department is full of these wax figures repre-
senting the fishermen of the different nations,
and side by side you will find the Chinese
and the negro of the Potomac River, and
the Cape Cod whaler and the Eskimo, all
in their native dress. The collection of
harpoons is large and embraces every known
implement of the kind ever used, from the
first rude pike with barbs down to the latest
patents which are fred from a gun, and must
go clear through the unfortunate whale. In
this connection is shown the progress in boat
building. They have specimens from the earlI-
est birch bark canoes up to the latest paper
racing shells One canoe from British America
is over so feet in length, and would carry %
or 90 men. 1t is cut from a huge tree of red
cedar and is called dug-out. They also have
models of the latest inventions of iron steam
ships, as we'll as wooden, with full-rigged sail
ing vessels.
nEEas> The Institution also
X y,,it2JNESSS has a large nucleus from
S5FE5.sb ll'Sa3A, " which to form a Zoologi-
Ssys54sksZ Y 1IsiNEliRJF q cal Garden. They have
Ss9aasSSs S{{sTgt}gf%z h a frame house in the
SS955sllgs ~ HzssstG.8 rear of the Smithsonian
TT RTS&tlF NJ VA Institution, where are
mr. ~ NM ! II kept several black bears,
HtN/fk$ellssF tx. H. cinnamon bear, a beau
~~o----l -ats5S0~@ FD~|~ tiful jaguar, panthers,
native wolves of all
kinds, foxes, badgers o'possums, squirrels,
prairie dogs eagles, doves, parrots, crested
Quails from Arizona and the common quail of
this vicinity, and reptiles Of every variety.
They have just received two bufalos, and are
building a yard and stable in which to keep
them. They are splendid specimens OF now
ALMOST EXTINCT ANIMAL
which at one time covered the great Western
plains, as it is said upon authority that there
are less than 200 Of the buffalo in this country
to-day. The writer remembers that il years
ago in crossing the plains of Colorado and West
ern Kansas, there was not day for weeks that
the party he travelled with did not see hundreds
of these huge cattle of the plains, sometimes
the herds numbering many hundreds. These
| animals were presented to the Institution by
some gentleman in the West, and are to be
kept for the purpose of breeding, as well as
| for the study of the animal by the Professor
| whose duty it is to prepare the collection in
the department of stuffed animals, alluded to
| before in this article.
| If any of the readers of THE NATIONAL
| TRIBUNE should ever visit Washington, there
could be no better investment of time than to
| go through the Institution and its annexcs
and predict that anybody so doing will CONC
] away well rewarded.