Teaching Children to Read: Herpetology in the Unit Study Book Series

Fig. 1. The Story of Frogs.
Cover. Mary Belle Herring, 1935.

From the mid-1930s through the late 1940s, American Education Press, Columbus, Ohio, best known as publisher of My Weekly Reader (later Weekly Reader) from 1928 to 2012, issued a series of booklets designed to assist elementary school teachers in encouraging children to improve their reading skills while learning interesting facts about the world around them; 80 were listed as available as of 1935. The short booklets were titled Unit Study Books, with each featuring a different topic that covered everything from the Romans to coal, corn, and money. Booklets had orange or blue covers and were non-consecutively numbered. Covers were mostly uniform in design (see Fig. 1), but later reprintings or issues sometimes had different covers from the original format.

The booklets varied in style by author, with some concentrating solely on facts and others conveying information by way of storytelling. They were written specifically for elementary school children, with the 100–600 numbers in the series indicating suitability for grades 1 to 6. The inside cover provides the teacher with an outline of generalizations to be learned and the important elements that the children should grasp after reading the booklet.

Frogs and reptiles are featured in two of the Unit Study Books, but only The Story of Frogs focused entirely on herpetology (Figs. 1–4). The Story of Frogs (Unit Study Book No. 351, published in 1935) consists of 36 pages that tells the story of a tadpole as it hatches and grows from an egg to a tadpole to an adult. The booklet is subdivided into several short stories of a few pages each covering the various stages in a frog’s life, each with a quiz or exercise at the end that children can pencil-in to show they have understood the lesson. The booklet is well-written, accurate, and I suspect would have been entertaining for a young child of that era.

Fig. 2. Inside cover of The Story of Frogs explaining the lessons to be learned (left) and the first story in the booklet, Tiny Tad (right).

 

Fig. 3. From Pollywog to Frog in The Story of Frogs.

The Story of Frogs was written by Mary Belle Herring (2 December 1897–9 April 1987) of Rockingham, North Carolina. Ms. Herring is listed on the booklet as associated with the Elementary Schools of Raleigh. Mary Belle Herring was orphaned early in life, but was educated at Littleton College, a Methodist college for young women in Littleton, North Carolina, where her sister was Treasurer. It appears that she spent her entire career as a teacher and never married; in the early 1950s, she was teaching third grade at L.J. Bell Elementary School in Rockingham. A former student remembered her as loving books and reading—which she highly encouraged—and as a founder of a book club at the school. She used to bring in copies of The Weekly Reader for her students. The Weekly Reader also was published by American Education Press, which perhaps led to her interest in writing The Story of Frogs. Why she chose to write about frogs is unknown, but she did an excellent job of getting her facts correct and presenting them in an entertaining fashion that would appeal to her pupils. She did not write any other titles in the Unit Study Book series.

Fig. 4. A lesson at the end of a frog story. Note the child’s faint writing.

 

The text is supplemented by black and white illustrations and photos of frogs and their ecological interactions, from prey to defense. Some of the photos are credited to L.W. Brownell, a nature photographer known for his books Photography for the Sportsman Naturalist (1904, MacMillan Publishing, New York) and Natural History with a Camera (1942, Photographic Publishing Co., Boston). Brownell also published short articles on natural history, which he illustrated himself (e.g. The Birth of a Butterfly, The Strand Magazine, 1903). The illustrations are uncredited in The Story of Frogs but have a “B” in the corner, perhaps suggesting Brownell provided them as well.

Fig. 5. Protection in Nature. Cover. Gaynelle Davis, 1935.

 

The only other booklet in the Unit Study Book series that mentions herps is No. 352, Protection in Nature, by Gaynelle Davis (Figs. 5–6). Also published in 1935 and with 36 pages, Protection in Nature includes examples of the ways animals and plants protect themselves, but it does not tell a story, instead presenting just the facts, sometimes in a bit disjointed manner as it jumps from example to example throughout the animal and plant kingdoms. It also does not include quizzes or reading exercises, except for a short “Things To Do” section at the end of the booklet. Brief mention is made of poison in snakes (somewhat misleadingly, as there are more than four venomous snakes in the United States), spines on horned lizards, and turtle shells. The presentation is not as imaginative and effective as in The Story of Frogs, and the text comes across as somewhat dull (at least to me!). Gaynelle Davis (7 October 1899–26 May 1992) is listed as a faculty member at Fort Hays State College in Hays, Kansas. In a commencement exercise in 1969, she was listed as an Emeritus faculty member.

Fig. 6.  Rattlesnake illustration and text suggesting that snakes use poison as a weapon in Protection in Nature.

 

For information on and photo of Mary Belle Herring, see:

Smith, Ken. Undated. Rockingham Memories. L. J. Bell Elementary & The Original 1952–1953 Faculty (in collaboration with Dr. David Huneycutt (RHS ’62).             https://rrjoel.wixsite.com/rockinghammemories/copy-of-a-hug-a-tear-a-kiss-a-dance

            [Accessed 14 February 2024]

 

Submitted by: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr.

Update to: The Exploits of Arvid Blumenthal, Latvia’s “Crocodile Harry” in Australia by C. K. Dodd

 An update to: Dodd, C.K., Jr. 2022. The Exploits of Arvid Blumenthal, Latvia’s “Crocodile Harry” in Australia. Posted 9 March 2022.

In this note, I highlighted the early life of Arvid Blumenthal’s time as a crocodile hunter in Australia as published in several small Latvian booklets. I noted that Rimants Ziedonis, with input from Blumenthal, recounted much of this information in a later book, Nacionālais Dēkainis - Krokodilu Mednieks [National Adventurer – Crocodile Hunter]. This book is extensively updated with information on Blumenthal’s life in Australia (2000, Jumava, Riga, Latvia, 199 p.). In addition to the text, the book contains eight pages of photographs and recounts Blumenthal’s extraordinary life and exploits after leaving the “Deep North” and running an underground (literally) bar and “museum” in Coober Pedy, Australia. Fig. 3 shows the cover of this book, which was unavailable to me until recently. 

Fig. 3. Cover of Nacionālais Dēkainis - Krokodilu Mednieks by Rimants Ziedonis. Author’s collection.

Submitted by: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr.

 

Herpetological Titles in the California State Series

The state of California has published textbooks for its school system for a long period of time, beginning in 1884 (Hendrick 1964). What is generally not known, however, is that the California Department of Education (CDE) also published books by other publishers for school use. These are clearly identified with “California State Series” written across the top of the book and spine (where feasible), with further identification as a California textbook on the inside cover and publishing information on the title page (Fig. 1a-c). The content of these books is identical to those of the original publisher, although the quality of production (e.g., type of paper used) is not as good as the originals. The audience for these books appears to be grade and middle school children, although some may have wider appeal.

Fig. 1a.

Fig. 1b.

Fig. 1c.

Fig. 1a. Cover of The Reptiles by Archie Carr. California State Series edition, 1967.

Fig. 1b. Inside cover of The Reptiles identifying the book as an official California state textbook.

Fig. 1c. Title page of The Reptiles indicating publication by the California Department of Education.

 

            I have been able to locate three titles of herpetological interest published in the California State Series:

 

Carr, A. 1967. The Reptiles. Originally published in 1963 in the Life Nature Series, Time-Life Incorporated, New York. Fig. 1a.

 

Meeks, E.K. 1967. Snakes. Originally published in 1962 by the Follett Publishing Company, Chicago, as part of their Beginning Science Book series. Fig. 2.

 

Schoenknecht, C.A. 1967. Frogs and Toads. Originally published in 1960 by the Follett Publishing Company, Chicago, as part of their Beginning Science Book series. Fig. 3a, b.

 

Fig. 3a.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3b.

 

Fig. 2. Cover of Snakes by Esther K. Meeks. California State Series edition, 1967.

Fig. 3a. Cover of Frogs and Toads by Charles A. Schoenknecht. California State Series edition, 1967.

Fig. 3b. Title page of Frogs and Toads indicating publication by the California Department of Education.

 

            It appears the California State Series included all titles from the Time-Life Nature series (these frequently are listed on eBay), but not the later American Wilderness series. Other titles from the Follett Publishing Company, an educational publishing company currently based in Westchester, Illinois, were also reprinted, for example, Esther K. Meeks’ book Mammals. I have been unable to find any production information on the number of individual copies published or the reason the CDE resorted to publishing copies rather than purchasing them from the original publisher. Since these books were copyrighted by their original publishers, CDE must have manufactured them under contract with the publishing firm. According to Jessie Medina of the CDE (personal communication, 25 October 2022), the CDE partnered with outside entities in the past, such as UCLA, in publishing materials, but has not done so in the last 30 years and none has covered biology or similar topics. There may have been contracts in place in the 1960s, but since it was over 50 years ago, it is likely there are no records available as they would have exceeded the records retention schedule for those types of documents.

            Although these books may not be of interest to academic herpetologists, the inclusion of the Carr book adds a heretofore unrecognized edition to the extensive reprinting of Carr’s popular The Reptiles (Dodd 2022).

Acknowledgements. –  I thank Jesse Medina for information on book publishing by the California Department of Education.

 

References

 

Dodd, C.K., Jr. 2022. The international editions of Archie Carr’s books. Bibliotheca Herpetologica

            16(7):82–89.

 

Hendrick, I.G. 1964. The early history of California state-printed textbooks. Southern California   Quarterly 46:223–238.

 

Submitted by: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr.

Herpetology in Jonathan Carver’s “Travels” (1778, 1779), with an Early Account of a Dicephalic Snake

Carver, J. 1778. Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. To which is added, Some Account of the Author, and a copious Index. First Edition. J. Walter, London. 543 pp.

Title page of Carver’s Travels, First edition. 1778.

 

Carver, J. 1779. Three years travels through the interior parts of North-America, for more than five thousand miles: containing an account of the Great Lakes, and all the lakes, islands, and rivers, cataracts, mountains, minerals, soil, and vegetable productions of the north-west regions of that vast continent : with a description of the birds, beasts, reptiles, insects, and fishes peculiar to the country, together with a concise history of the genius, manners, and customs of the Indians inhabiting the lands that lie adjacent to the heads and to the westward of the great river Mississippi, and an appendix, describing the uncultivated parts of America that are the most proper for forming settlements. Second Edition. J. Crukshank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 282 pp.

Title page of Carver’s Travels, Second edition. 1779.

            Jonathan Carver (1710–1780) was one of the first Europeans to extensively explore regions of the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa) and write about his observations and discoveries. Ostensibly undertaken to discover a Northwest Passage through the continent, he traveled through the northern Mississippi Valley from 1766 to 1768 until his funds and supplies were exhausted. When he returned to New England from his years-long travels, he found that he was not acknowledged or rewarded for his discoveries, so he went to England in 1769 to seek recompense from the British Crown. Abandoning his wife and children in America, he never returned. While In England, he published his Travels, an account of his adventures and observations on Native communities, which was extremely popular and well-received. However, he never recovered from his debts, and eventually died in poverty after remarrying, but without divorcing his first wife.

            Jonathan Carver was a native of New England, a selectman in Montague, Massachusetts, and a veteran of the French and Indian War, eventually becoming a captain of militia. Under the auspices of Robert Rogers and James Tute, he joined an expedition in 1763 to look for the elusive Northwest Passage. His expedition left Boston in 1766, traveling to Fort Michilimackinac (now Mackinaw City, Michigan), then throughout the Upper Midwest through the winter of 1767–1768. During his travels, he kept extensive journals, which eventually became his famous Travels. Carver’s book was published in numerous languages, and there are apparently >40 editions currently available (the book is still in print). Titles, page numbers, and formats vary somewhat, but the text is the same. There is considerable debate as to whether Carver wrote everything in his Travels or had editorial assistance, and of the extent to which he “borrowed” observations (examined in detail by Kloss, 2018). His legacy further was marred by subsequent attempts by his heirs to lay fraudulent claim to substantial tracts of western land. Today, however, Carver is recognized as one of the most important early explorers of the western frontier, one whose travels generated strong interest in the New World and its indigenous peoples. Parker (1976) provides much more information on Carver, his journals, and subsequent controversies.

            Herpetology in Carver’s Travels is presented on pages 478–490 in the first edition and on pages 247–255 in the second edition. The wording in both editions is identical. Most of the accounts refer to snakes (Of Serpents): the Rattle Snake, the Wall or House Adder, the Long Black Snake, the Striped or Garter Snake, The Water Snake, the Hissing Snake, the Green Snake, the Thorn-Tail Snake, the Speckled Snake, the Ring Snake, and the Two-Headed Snake. No where in the text, except for the accounts of the Rattle Snake and snakes on islands in western Lake Erie, does Carver imply he actually saw these snakes. No locality data are given except for those on the aforementioned islands, which are not mentioned by precise name.

            As might be expected, the longest account refers to the rattlesnake, of which he states there are two kinds, a black species and a yellow species. They are said to be exactly the same except for color, and are now recognized as different color phases of the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Carver provides a reasonably accurate description of this species and, unlike contemporaries, deems them “very beautiful,” with colors “extremely pleasing.” He repeats some errors of his time (e.g., that the number of rattles reflects the snake’s age; that venom varies in potency seasonally (e.g., Lawson, 1714); that rattlesnakes are charmed by music), but refutes others (e.g., that rattlesnakes are overly aggressive; that all bites are fatal; note that other authors had mentioned similar observations). He gives a description of the fang, fang sheath, and venom gland, and describes how a rattlesnake bites and the immediate symptoms of a bite. He noted that rattlesnakes do not lay eggs, but he thought the young sought the protection of the mother’s mouth as a place of security. Native Peoples used a variety of herbs (Rattlesnake Plantain, bark from the White Ash) to treat the bites. Europeans mixed rattlesnake galls with chalk for medicinal purposes and exported the concoction to Europe, and the flesh could be dried or made into a broth. In the narrative on the customs of Native Americans, Carver noted that in the Naudowessie (Dakota) language, rattlesnakes were called Omlishcaw (p. 256 in the first edition, p. 130 in the second edition). Carver also provides details of a “tall tale” told to him concerning a rattlesnake faithfully returning to its owner (pp. 43–45 in the first edition, pp. 22–23 in the second edition).

Carver’s observations on snakes on islands in the western part of Lake Erie. Second edition, page 84.

            In Carver’s account, rattlesnakes were considered so numerous on islands in western Lake Erie that it was considered dangerous to land (p. 167–168 in first edition, p. 84 in second edition; Fig. 3). As Langlois (1964) later recounted: “the Jesuit explorer, Bonnecampe, visited the region on October 5, 1749, [and] that he referred to them as "Les lies aux Serpentes" (The islands of snakes). A French soldier (J.C.B.), enroute from Presqu'ile, near the eastern end of Lake Erie, to Detroit, spent the night of July 21, 1754, on one of these islands, and recorded in his journal (1941) that his party killed 130 rattlesnakes before they dared to sleep.” Carver’s account is reprinted verbatim in the 1806 edition of Brooke’s General Gazetteer, First American Edition.

            After the rattlesnake account, there is no further mention or description of the Wall or House Adder, so it is impossible to determine to which snake Carver refers. All further accounts are very short, and some of the species are easily identified to genus, although not necessarily to species: Striped or Garter Snake (Thamnophis sp.), the Water Snake (Nerodia sp.), the Green Snake (Opheodrys vernalis), and the Ring Snake (Diadophis punctatus). The description of the Long Black Snake seems to be a composite of several species, but definitely the Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor) in part. The Speckled Snake, likewise, seems to describe a composite of several species. Carver states that it is an “aqueous reptile,” so perhaps it refers to Pantherophis gloydi, a species found around marshes and on offshore islands in western Lake Erie. Carver describes the Thorn-Tail Snake as similar to those found elsewhere in North America, possessing a thorn-like dart on the end of its tail, with which “it is said to inflict a mortal wound.” No such species occurs in the area traveled by Carver, but similar traits have been attributed to Mud Snakes (Farancia abacura) in the southern United States.  Water Snakes (now Lake Erie Watersnakes, Nerodia sipedon insularum) were considered extremely numerous on islands in western Lake Erie (Fig. 3), and Carver noted behavior in the Hissing Snake that suggests he was reporting on Eastern Hognose Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos), although this species currently is rare in the islands (Langlois, 1964). Many of the myths associated with this species are repeated in the Hissing Snake paragraph (Fig. 3).

            The most significant herpetological report in Carver’s Travels is the notation of a two-headed snake from the Lake Champlain region. However, this snake had been previously mentioned by Bancroft (1769), complete with an illustration (Fig. 4). The snake was found in 1762 by Lieut. Moses Park and gifted to Lord Amherst¹. There was no description of the snake in Carver’s account. The Reverend Manasseh Cutler was shown an illustration of this snake on a visit to Benjamin Franklin in 1787. A comparison of the Lake Champlain snake with a dicephalic snake found near Philadelphia suggested that Franklin’s Philadelphia snake was an Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula), and was similar to the illustration of the Lake Champlain snake². This and the accompanying illustration in Bancroft suggest the latter was an Eastern Milksnake (L. triangulum) (Wallach, 2007). It is likely that the illustration shown to Reverend Cutler by Dr. Franklin came from Bancroft’s book. Thus, Carver’s notation of the snake was not original, but the popularity of his book likely stimulated interest in such oddities from the New World.

Two-headed snake from Lake Champlain. From Bancroft (1769). Illustration by Lieut. Moses Park.

            The final herpetology notes are short. They cover the Tortoise or Land Turtle, clearly a reference to Terrapene carolina, although it is said to be venomous, and Lizards &. Lizards are divided into the Swift Lizard, a reference to Plestiodon fasciatus with its dark dorsum, bright stripes, and bright blue tail, and the Slow Lizard. Swift Lizards were said to be poisonous, but not dangerous, preferring to run away quickly. Slow Lizards, also likely P. fasciatus, were said to be identical with Fast Lizards except that they were brown dorsally. Slow Lizards readily broke off their tails (i.e., tail autotomy). The herpetology section ends with a paragraph on Tree Toads (Gray Treefrog complex, Dryophytes versicolor/ chrysoscelis), a frog with “claws” (toepads) that resembled tree bark, and “infest the woods in such numbers, that their responsive notes at these times [morning and evening] make the air resound.”

            Although an early account of the herpetology of the Great Lakes Region and, possibly, westward, are Carver’s observations of significant interest to modern researchers? Perhaps not. There is little doubt that Carver traveled extensively during his Travels, but considerable controversy exists among historians as to the originality of his observations and writings. According to Bourne (1906), “Scholars are in general agreement that much of the work in this volume is an abridgement or adaptation of historical writings of Charlevoix, Adair, and La Hontan. Entire chapters read as near verbatim text from one or more of these other authors.” Bourne (1906) amply documents extensive plagiarism in Carver’s Travels, although this practice was not uncommon at that time. For example, among Carver’s natural history accounts, much information on mammals is derived from Pierre Françoise Xavier de Charlevoix’s (1682–1761) Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France (1744), although that is not the case for his herpetological observations. I can find no outright instances of herpetological plagiarism, but descriptions in the Rattle Snake account (fang like a cat’s claw, green venom) are similar to the those from Kalm (1758), perhaps suggesting that Carver and his collaborators (see Kloss, 2018) were familiar with earlier accounts of rattlesnakes. The inclusion of the Lake Champlain two-headed snake, published originally by Bancroft (1769), tends to support the assumption that at least some of Carver’s observations were “borrowed” from other sources.

            Carver’s personal journal suggests important differences between his text and the published book, although many of the incidents described in the book appear to be true based on discoveries of his journals and letters (Kloss, 2018). Likewise, previous suggestions that Carver was barely literate seem inaccurate. Unfortunately, his herpetological accounts contain poorly described snakes, no locality data, and a substantial admixture of folklore that would have been commonly circulated at the time. As noted above, the most important contribution of Carver’s Travels to herpetology was the first widely disseminated report of a dicephalic snake in North America, and he did not find that!

Acknowledgments. – I thank Van Wallach for information on Carver’s dicephalic snake.

Notes

1. Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717–1797), was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. He advocated genocide against Native Americans, putting smallpox in blankets to distribute to First Nations peoples. Because of this, he is held in contempt by many Canadians and Americans today.

2. Benjamin Franklin’s interest in snakes extended beyond natural history, i.e., as an emblem for American independence. See Cook (1996).

References

Bancroft, E. 1769. An essay on the natural history of Guiana, in South America. T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, London. 402 pp. [Lake Champlain snake account on p. 215; the illustration is a frontispiece to the book]

Bourne, E.G. 1906. The Travels of Jonathan Carver. American Historical Review 11(2):287-302.

Charlevoix, P. 1744. Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France, avec le Journal Historique d’un Voyage fait par ordre du Roi dans l’Amérique Septentrionnale. Tome Premier. Chez Rolin Fils, Paris. 543 pp. [Available at: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/254745#page/1/mode/1up]

Cook, K.S. 1996. Benjamin Franklin and the snake that would not die. British Library Journal 22:88–111.

Cutler, W. P., and J. P. Cutler. 1888. Life, journals and correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL.D. by his grandchildren. Vol. 1. Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 524 pp. [Franklin’s two-headed snake account on pp. 268–269] [Available at: https://archive.org/details/lifejournalscorr01cutl/page/n5/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater]

Kalm, P. 1758. An account of the Rattle-snake, and the cure of its bite, as used in North America. In A. von Haller (ed.), Medical, Chirurgical, and Anatomical Cases and Experiments, pp. 282–293. A. Linde, P. Davey and B. Law, and J. Staples, London. 293 pp.

Kloss, J. 2018. Jonathan Carver's "Travels Through The Interior Parts of North-America" (1778) - What's   Available Online? https://hummingadifferenttune.blogspot.com/2018/03/Carver.html. (Accessed 13 October 2022)

Langlois, T.H. 1964. Amphibians and reptiles of the Erie islands. Ohio Journal of Science 64:11–25.

Lawson, J. 1714. New Voyage to Carolina; Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of That   Country: Together with the Present State Thereof. And a Journal of a Thousand Miles, Travel'd Thro' Several Nations of Indians. Giving a Particular Account of Their Customs, Manners, &c., London. [Reprinted 1936, Garrett and Massie Publishers, Richmond, Virginia, 259 pp]

Parker, J. 1976. The Journals of Jonathan Carver and Related Documents, 1766-1770. Minnesota Historical Society, Minneapolis. 244 pp.

Wallach, V. 2007. Axial bifurcation and duplication in snakes. Part I. A synopsis of authentic and anecdotal cases. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 43:57–95.

For Further Information on Jonathan Carver’s Travels:

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767 and 1768, by Jonathan Carver. Produced by Sonya Schermann and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. Release Date: August 21, 2015 [eBook #49753]. Available at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49753/49753-h/49753-h.htm#Page_479.

Gould, Heidi. Carver, Jonathan (1710-1780). MNopedia. https://www.mnopedia.org/person/carver-jonathan-1710-1780 (Accessed 11 October 2022)

Gregory, J.G. 1896. Jonathan Carver. His travels in the Northwest in 1766–8. Parkman Club Publishers (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) No. 5:73–101. [Available through the Hathi Trust; https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t3902rf22&view=1up&seq=6]

 

Submitted by: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr.