New-York tribune., 1918-03-18

RR :: ": " ~. -, s:t.s x
one with which it came in contact and con-
vcy the prey to its mouth. But as to the
probability Of jellyhsh being left by the
tide in such a position on the shore as to
seize live toad, l am unable to say any,
thing. l should have to know the actual
circums tanccs more fully"
Mr.. Miners superior, the director of the
Museum Of Natural History Mr. F. A. Lucas,
Sc d. f. A. O. T., NJ. r. Z. S., frankly
branded the Palm Beach episode as "pure
story" "Somebody got it up just for fun"
said DR.. Lucas. "The toad breeds
fresh ponds and rivers in the spring, but
he hates salt water as the devil hates holy
water. And jellyfsh on land is worse off
than toad in the ocean. 1t sounds like a
fish story"
Marine Science Is Sl1eptical
Another marine authority, DR.. c. II.
Townsend, director of The New York Aqua
rium M. A. f. S., F. N. Y. A. S., was, to my
disappointment, even more emphatic. "All
rubbish" said DR.. Townsend. "Hocus pocus!
A toad has no business on the beach, and
neither has jellyiish, unless it is dead.
AS for the tide depositing a live jcllyish on
top of live toad, it is wild impossb bility.
The only way that I can imagine the two
things could get mixed up like that is that
somebody may have pitched down toad
from the woods along the shore and then
thrown dead jelyfish on top of him."
"You have such trouble with the
Mcdusa and Bufonida at the Aquarium ?"
l asked.
"Certanly not" he replied. "We don't
keep toads, and jelyfsh are too delicate to
live in our tanks"
Obviously, the only solution of this in
voved and depressing problem lay along
the lines OF the second task I had set N.Y.
self: to determine granted that there was
jelyfish "closed about" or at least lying
upon toad on that Toridian shove--what
was Mr.. Hearst's motive in rescunC the
toad, dead or alive? 1t was not sufficient to
say that Mr.. Hearst was demonstrating q
political truth We must inauire. rcalisti-
cally. into Mr. Hcarsts motive for COM
batting the jellyfish and salvaging the toad.
OF course very simple surface eXplana-
tion was that found in the Encyclopedia
Britannica's assertion that the medusa an
noys bathcrs with it's pricklcs. But, to
accept this as sufficient explanation of Mr.
IIcarst's violence, it would be necessary to
know what costumes Mr.. Hearst ard the
Mayor were wearing. Of course. the cane
would seem to settle it, but in scientific re-
search the utmost accuracy is essential.
Fer similar reasons of lack of information,
it cannot be supposed that Mr.. Hearst was
protecting Palm Beach from the inroads of
one of the giant acraspcda or acalphp of
which Professor Louis Agassiz recorded a
specimen on the New England coast meas
uring seven feet and possessing
tentacles 100 feet Mn length
We reach an impassc.
The Psychological Link
Mr. Hearst's devotion to the toad may, of
course, be accounted for by a desire to
try the rosc-water pose prescribed by Doug
las Jerrold a test Of the charitable man.
It may also lie in subtle allusion to Mr..
IIearst's magazine activities contained in
the statement of the international Encyclo-
padia that the 1870 species of the toad are
"ncarly cosmopolitan" But am regret
fully driven to admit that even though I
have made an excellent for Mr..
Hcarst's loyalty to the toad, any action of
violence against jellyfsh must stand con-
victed of gross brutality in the face of
the idyllic, almost Dickensan portrait of
the jcllyfish and his habits drawn by the
International: "Small fishes, such as the
hutterfish, swim under the umbrella of the
larger jellyfshcs for shelter and protec
ton"
In the black night of confusions snr.
rounding this problem of the appetite of
the medusa, with what longing my heart
goes cut once more to that peaceful Kultu,.
to which Mr.. Hearst has often and clo-
qucntly borne witness! If had NV own
library. by my side should turn to Pro-
fessor Ernst Hacckcl's great work. "Das
System der Meduscn," and these mists Of
doubt would be dissipatcd
AS it is, can only offer vet another ono-
tation from the fields of literature. Rut
it may provide some reader with hint
of the motive of Mr.. Hearst in salvarinr
the little victim and perhaps settle an
even more important qucstion-untoucbc
in the ncws dispatches-what will, become
of tho toad?
In "The Readers Handbook of Allus;or
Reference, Plots and Storics.r with twn
appendices, by the Rev. +. B. Gotham
Ill. d. it is recorded that in "David Simple"
(174D Sarah Fielding speaks Of "tood
cnter' as "lute a new word" and surccsts
that it is "a metaphor taken from mountc-
banks boz eating toads in order to sho,v
his masters skill in cxpellinr poison" and
built on aupposition that people who
are in state Of dependence are forced 70
DO the most nAuseous things to please ard
humor their patrons" "''"