Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31

like those of squirrels, of great size, In the
bushes or punches of cactus.
| with respect to the kangaroo rats, one
/ extraordinary point should be mentioned re-
lating to a certain development Of theil
SKULLS, which bulge out at the sides IN 9 sur
PTising way. In fact no such bulges as these,
wnicn contain the hearing apparatus, are to
De found in any other known animals
| one OF the most curious sorts OF rooents
mouse" which lives almost wholly upon
scorpions. By the sinstinct," which means
experience inherited through generations, 1t
has learned which end of its prey to tackle
Another creature In the same region that
likes scorpions also is the "chapparal cock, =
winch gobbles them by thousands, and Is not
less fond of centipedes, tarantulas, lizards
and horned toads. The last named are too
big to swallow at gu1p, and so the fowls
tear them to pieces before devouring them.
Mouse Women Might Admire.
Perhaps the most beautiful mouse In ex-
istence is found in Death Valley and is
known as the ''grasshopper mouse" 1t Is q
lovely animal, fawn-colored in the back, with
a snowy belly and sides, short tail and
pretty little ears. Other mammals are
pocket MICE" with pouches outside their
throats to stow provisions in, gophers,
weasels, shrews and newly discovered
species of lavender-gray fox with long ears.
been found in the valley. One funny thing
about this kind of animal is that it is
enormously fond of watermelons, but it has
to starve for them in the locality.
Only so miles west of Death Valley, which
is 150 feet below the sea-level, Mt. Whitney,
the highest mountain in North America,
uplifts its mighty peak, covered with per-
petual snow, three miles into the air. Thus,
within a,day's journey of each other, the
lowest and the highest points on this conti-
nent are found. DR.. Merriam wrote the
other day that he had breakfasted on 20 feet
of snow and was composing his letter to
Secretary Rusk, at P. NJ, in an altitude OF
rather less than nothing and temperature
of HOO Fahrenheit in the shade.
Mt. Whitney a Tough Customer.
The expedition would be very glad to as
cend Mt. Whitney, but the task is likely to
be an impracticable one. Above there are
depths of snow which are continually pre-
cipitating themselves in avalanches on the
lower slopes, and the dissolving ice has re-
duced the ground to the condition of hope
less morass, through which travel is alto
gether impracticable. There is no path up
the mountain by which even q mule could
journey.
In the region described is to be found a
most astonishing opportunity for the obser-
vation OF traveller, inasmuch as within 80
miles he can pass through all the life-zones
of the earth, from the hottest tropic to the
frozen Arctic, and view not only the vege-
tation but the beasts and birds of the various
climes traversed. 1t seems very strange to
find upon the SUBMITS of Mt. Whitney, the
San Francisco mountain and other peaks
scattered over the warmer parts Of the
earth, small colonies of veritable Arctic life,
both vegetable and animal. But this is ex-
planned when it is realized that during q
period Immediately preceding the present,
and known as the glacial age" the entire
northern part of
The World Was Buried in Ice,
the icecap, which in places was several
thousand feet in thickness, extending south
ward as far as Philadelphia and below Chi
cago. When this vast cosmic glacier re-
ceded, many Arctic plants and creatures
were stranded in lofty mountains, where at
sufficiently lofty attitudes the temperature
never became too high for the continuance
of their existence. For an example, the
San Francisco mountain in Arizona is an ex-
tinct volcano, inhabited by plants and
animals which could not possibly have
reached it since the glacial period. Though
an isolated peak rising out of vast and
burning deserss, its snowy top is veritable
Arctic colony. RENE BACHE-