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THE STUDENTS JOURNAL.
Fauna of Greenland.
On last Friday at 5 o'clock Prof. Dychie delivered an interesting talk to a small but appreciative audience on the Birds and Mammals of Greenland. His talk was largely upon the recent trip to Greenland.
One would expect, the Professor said, to find in Greenland, separated as it is from other bodies of land, peculiar species of birds and mammals. And inasmuch as the food of these creatures must be largely obtained from the fish in the sea instead of from the sterile land, one naturally looks for aquatic mammals and aquatic birds, not warblers.
No good ornithologist or mammalogist has ever been in Greeland, hence there is a great field there for the scientist in these lines. There are doubtless many new species of animals existing in Greenland, especially among those animals least commonly seen.
A record has been kept of the birds found in Greenland, and between one and two hundred species have been seen there. The Esquimaux have helped quite materially in making up this list of birds, for they klll and skin all the birds they can find. They use the skins for making underclothing. Of the species of birds reported as found in Greenland, fully one-half are chance visitors, such as the flicker, robin—which crosses over from Labrador, where they are very plentiful—and others. Prof. Dyche saw the skin of a barn-swallow which had been killed by an Esquimau. Once before, about twenty years ago, the barn swallow was reported from Greenland. Not more than sixty species of birds can be said to belong to Greenland, and of these somewhat less than fifty breed there. The professor then described in a very interesting manner some of his trips to the breeding island of the guillemot; the black-backed gull, which is worth $20 per specimen, as it is hard to get; the puffin, the eider-duck and other birds.
The Greenland mammals are few. They are the seal, walrus, whale, polar bear, reindeer, fox, hare, and a species of mouse. Of these, the most important to the Exquimaux is the seal, upon which they depend chiefly for food, although they eat fish and parts of the reindeer for a change. Professor Dyche thinks that with the extinction of the seal, which must come about within thirty years if no check is placed upon their slaughter,
the Esquimaux will disappear, as they do not thrive upon any other sort of food.
The professor had an opportunity for examining a fine hooded ceal, and he also secured the skeleton of a very large polar bear; but this, together with his four-hundred and fifty bird skins, sixty-five mammal skins, fine walrus skull, and his Arctic library equipments, are now at the bottom of the ocean.
Economic Seminary.
The University museum suffered a severe loss in the wreck of this expedition, though not so severe as it might easily have been.
The Seminary met as usual last Monday at 7:30 p. m, in the seminary room in Spooner library. E. T. Hackney described the Canadian plan of banking, which was recommended at the recent convention of bankers at Baltimore, to be substituted for our national banking system. M. L. Alden summarized the views expressed by a writer in the Journal of Political Economy upon the relative value of theoretical and statistical political economy, and C. T. Southwick reviewed Professor Ely's latest statement of his position in regard to sociology. Professor Blackmar, besides giving interesting personal anecdotes of some economic writers whose names happened to be mentioned, read extracts from the report of the regents of Wisconsin University on the Ely investigation. Discussion was quite general, and the meeting was very enjoyable.
At the next meeting J. H. Eagle and B. B. McCall will report. A full and prompt attendance of the members is desired.
NOTES FROM THE LAW SCHOOL.
Prof. Green has been hearing the class in Equity this week. Judge Thacher has not been here for several days.
Judge Benson will begin the work in Code Pleading next Monday evening at the Court House. Lectures every evening.
Judge Norton lectures Saturday evening at the Court House on The Importance of Probate Law.
"Shall I brain him?" cried the leader?
And the victim's courage fled
"You can't; it's a Fresh an.
Just hit him on the head."—Ex.