SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 299, 16 December 1911, Page 15

SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

THE WORLDS CABLES. The cable lines of the world amount, in a grand total, to over two hundred and sixty thousand miles, more than enough to draw a girdle ten times around the earth at the Equator. This work has all been accomplished since 1865. The longest line is from England to Australia 'by way of the Cape of Good Hope, 15,000 miles. The busiest section of the sea bottom is, of course, the North Atlantic, seventeen cables centring in the St. Lawrence section and New York. The longest stretch without a relay station is from Vancouver to Fanning Island, 3600 miles, made necessary by the rule of the British Government forbidding landings on any save British soil.

A COBAL GARDEN. A visitor to North Queensland thus describes a trip to a coral reef in the neighbourhood of Cairncross Island. "Have you ever taken a stroll in a coral garden? No. Well, you can have no idea of its beauty. Crimson, heliotrope, gold and green, lie the wonderful sea flowojw, and under a mass of what might be considered the marine equivalent of "curly greens,' an exquisite little fish, rich crimson with dark brown bands, darts out panic-stricken, and rushes round and round the miniature lake. But we have no mind to more than admire him, and finally he shrinks back again to his crinkley stronghold Sea cabbages there are many, and the variety of sings and their size would strike terror into the heart of the gardener on terra firma."

HOT BATHS FOB PLANTS: EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENTS. Plants are-given warm baths, according to a German method (says "Science Sittings'') by placing slats across the pots, and then inverting over the heated water, so that the tops are submerged, the roots and earth remaining dry. The effects are extraordinary. One side of a double-branched syringa received a bath at 95 degrees Fahr. about the middle of November, and was in full bloom at Christmas, the other branch remaining bare. Pussy-willows showed even more striking results. After half of a forked twig had been given a hot bath, the lower end was placed in water of ordinary temperature for about nine days, when the side that bad had the bath was covered with catkins, the other half being unchanged.

PROTECTION OF WILD ANIMALS. An interesting scheme for the preservation of wild animals from extinction in Europe is that adopted by the Swiss League "pour la protection de la nature." A French contemporary. "La Republique Francaise," gives some particulars. After referring to the disappearance of wild animals from Western Europe, our contemporary says that the Swiss League has just taken over for a period ol twenty-five years an entire valley in the Lower Engadine. The valley is to be left in its natural state, enclosed with its protecting mountains, with its forests, •waterfalls, ravines, and so forth; and animals, more or less wild, are to be ellowed to live and roam at large in its spacious dimensions. It is also expected and hoped that the eagle and the vulture will make their home in that valley. A DOG« DISLIKE FOR A PICTURE. A correspondent of the "Westminster Gazette" writes: —"Will you allow me to say, in. answer to an assertion that dogs do not take any intelligent notice of painted portraits, that at one time we had an old English sheep-dog who always showed himself excessively exasperated by a portrait which hangs in our dining-room. He constantly growled and barked at it, and if sitting back to it would .glance over his shoulders as if he , thor.ght it was watching him, and then growl and bark. On one occasion, when shut in the room, the servants found him. in the chair below this portrait endeavouring to spring at it, while furiously barking; and there i/re scratches on the canvas still, witnesses to the truth of Leonardo da Vinci's opinion.* AN EL£CTRICM,LY-I2GHTED LIFEBELT. It appears,from an American consular report that a new life-iuroy, which has been successfully tried, is to be introduced into the German navy. The apparatus, which weighs 5*11)8, consists of two swimming cushions bound together by straps. The cushions lie upon the breast and back. The apparatus is provided with a email lamp, fed by a battery. The lamp can be fastened round the head with a band, worn on the forehead, so that in an accident at night the position of the person in the water can be seen at a considerable distance. The small electric lamp burns three or four hours, and with the reflector added, throws the light several hundred yards at night. In several recent tests of life-saving at night the victims of the supposed shipwreck, by the aid of the lamp, were easily discovered. The lifebelt can be buckled round the body in five seconds, and the lamp begins to shine as soon as the buckle 13 fastened. In case of cata-strophe to warships the worth of the life preserver cannot be over-estimated, though in case of war its use would not be advisable. A PECULIAR FRIENDSHIP. A little girl was presented with a tortoise, which she promptly introduced to 1 her pet cats and dogs, says an English paper. They, as promptly, voted the in- | truder a nuisance, and showed their opinion in the usual manner. One day, a fox terrier was particularly aggressive, and 'barked furiously "whenever the poor tortoise came anywhere near him—the dog was probably terrified. This antagonism went on for some time, the dog showing jealousy whenever the tortois e •was handled, until finally he got so angry that he snapped at the tortoise and was severely punished. After his disgrace he Beemed to desire to be friendly, and made overtures to the tortoise, patting it gently with his paw and standing dose, I looking wistfully at it. The friendship! was all on the dog's side, but he stuck to it gallantly, and soon kept all the cats away from the tortoise's saucer of food. One day the tortoise was missing, and could not be found anywhere The do" hunted and whined about the place, quite disconsolate. All thought the tortoise had, though rather early, hibernated. Some days later the dog was seen com- | ing through the garden with something in his mouth. He rushed into the hall—a place where he was never allowed—laid down his burden and barked joyfully—he had found the tortoise and unearthed her from her cosy quarters, deep in the soil of the garden. Since then the dog had remained constantly near his strange friend. He allows no stranger to approach, and each night he carries the 1 - tortoise to hi* own basket* 1