Science-Notes.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 15, 12 October 1907, Page 15

Science-Notes.

.WANDERINGS OF A SEAGULL. Somo .time back thorb was shot at Oushy,'' i on <! ."Lakd^ jiemahi..in 1 Russia', a seagull, aged /about'..sixteon .mpnths,' wh'ich. was. found to, bo wearing, on its claw a silver' l ing ongraved with; the Words;'''' Vogcl; Station; ■ 1 ROssi ten 20." Rossitpii is; situated'in tho'Lido of lagoon,' between Konigsborg ,and Moniel, . in, tlio Baltip, 1500 kilometres, frpnr tho' lalco. of Geneva. M.Florel, of Lausanno, communicated with .Dr:';' JJ ; Thibn6mann, director of the .ormthblo^ical,"station, (it 'ltbssitmi. . According to.tlio latest notes,tlio gull No. ,20:.was hatched there,, and was . marked with tho' ring when a few weeks old, -before it'cpuld-fly, on July 4, 1905.' -It seems'probablo that it had. thus mado• three.winter migrations before it fell a victim : to tho human barbarian!'.''."':/ 1 ■■■: •'< -• "CiMELS' PHENOMENAL '.y;';. endurance. ; ;:; : ; Admiral D.-D.,'Porter statositiiat in thoir; : campaigns against Algiers, tho French r.wero surprised to . seo ; . thoir camels, although reduced\ to skeletons, making-.forced marches with their loads.„i Mules in their condition;could not havo, even carried: their saddle?. A painel's, flesh is: as gpod as/beef:,i Ono can hardly tell the difference, while camel's nnlk is very good, as .he .testifies, stating that lio used'it in'..his colk'e. I ' l : A'camel generally 'drinks onco m, ! threp 'days;''and;' hpsides liis;[fpur otomachs, he,'carries" a; sort' of jeser-- . voir'.in' l which heV'stbrcs-nvate'r; 'JjßJroi toil'days, iiftor tbii'' death vof this reservoir ' can he 'pperied; , ari(l . ten or-'fifteen 'pints.' of'" clear, water' takdh'fromi.it,' eaji''ona'writer.' Ih h "-v.'.-f:';':--. A" fresh\ k egg-'Jwill; sink .placed ;'ri3st. on..,j[ts. side. , -If three,.weeks i; pld, it -will |inoline, slightly wifh^i.tlie.ismall,' eniV'-down;■ if,-three months oldit. will .stand on i,t-he ; small. . end; "ahd 'if\ plfler .it Tv;ilJ, ifloat 'lyitn.large, end put..'pf ;^ r ater; morb or.less, accord-. ingV.: towage;' '«' Poultry-,writers .havo Been- rbpeatedly,; teliin'g;, .Us. >^Hat. •s^ed\.^9.' )^je^V^us(rf.:'))y.;i 'aii.-,'*in-. Biffficip.iicy., b.f 'limo",; in n .the, food. ..'cpn-sumpdjby-.thb .lfeps'.r Such, however;' is not'the .case, /wo';, (J'Science liftings"), ■ areahfprmed iby ; aji export, .writer'., Tlio softr'shelled jpgg is. a. .'ofarrested develbpnient,' dud .to..,riervpiis" interference with tho functiphs'of the oviduct, which conducts The production' off soft-shelled eggs can' be brought £■ about-,;i<;by,:• continued excitement of confined liens. ; " - t PI^OP^ tiirM' end' of May -has bceri' ;pf6ved -so exact; by what we .ha ve endnrCd| (say's' "Scienco"'Siftings"]i! ; : of biif-'oxtraordiiiary. predictfons'iis' wbrtK" setting; forth' again.' Our;' authority, M.- 1 UamilleFlaniaiarion, , has explained . tho. mattbr' .by thdjgreat. increase in tlio siin's heat as a T&diilt; "of the" sun spots " Thesb "aim Jpbts' are riot], he) contends,"indications' .ot'-'a cobling''on l the ,'siirfado of tho;siin';' : th'ey are;-' on ; the^cpntrai7;"indicatiohs vity.; .' Thus,'*'the jfear , is.'! ,a year of maxi&um; ;sblar\actiyityl L ; ; .;.':ThiS,- ;;it ;expected ;;by ' somp ,vindicated' ; eafly-Vibnlliant,. '''spring l :,and .a lidfr-'swß&nor,; Ijut liea't produces'" most' contradiqtorv ! efperature'iri our own Pliniiites mg ;moro rapidly vast'expanses' of tjie polar glaciers, [ detaching and;' setting liCirift' jn tho great"'ibeiiergs, which,: lowering; as ! they- v drift,' the surrounding .temperature "even''to' the neighbourhood ■ of - - thoGulf' Stream,' bringrfogs-ian'd rains'! in their"'train and "chill the currents of botli 'air, arid ocean. i"Tho;heat:;of the suh, too, iricreases ithe evaporation , of the iniinonss waters of - the bcean, 'increases tho/ quantities/ of;" clouds " and ' brings about.i'as a- consequericb a ''Pooling of the>,whole /atmosphere. 1 It' is ' precise;' ly,.this which-has h'apponed this 'year.'

HOT AIR 'PUNKAH FOR 'KEEPING-' v;i ifir.m'.. has*: recently- iritro--dneed,, into India a ...'portable' punkah; f?flV,^'hich,;is: propelled by : a'?'hot air -.Owing toi itho i intehsfe heat: prevails in .'that country during nios.t ; ,of.-,the year punkahs of somo kind: are necessity to the comfort, of Euro--peans, and their- officesyshops; and residpnceg are. all! equipped- with these oldscreens;' 'which don-] a,-piece of: 'cloth : .'ormatting stretched.: over ".a ...rectangular' frame hungifi om .vthe ceiling : and kept in; mo-' t'on .by a'.servant' at the end of a'cord.' 'Wherever, electricityis: introduced/those' arcr generally superseded "'by electric punkahs;-.! is:-propelled by a : hoti .air engine, : the heat being-'gener-ated, by :a kerosene lampj' ivhich -holds' about, one ;quart'! of" oil;-sufficient to keep the apparatus ..running for more thaii ,twcntj;-fpur:.hours"., ,To-jthb .lamp is; attached a small glass, chimney : -\vfiicli fits into ;i larger, metal chimney connected 'withthe'' engine. .Upon .the, engine,'is, lrang t-hp fan, similar in.shape' and sizo-.to the ordinarv electric .fail, whoso speed, is governed by'the size of 'tli'e'_ llame'; To reduce th'e'j speed the flatiie is turned down and to increwn it'the flame is turned tip. The-;whole' outfit weighs about thirtv pounds and 'rests upon a,'.small stand, raising .t.ic level ol .the fan.proper to; that 'of an'ordinary,'desk: . It.is fitted! vit ii and can be. easily,moved to.-any part'of tho, room'.or house desired.'-;." -■ '.'i'. v v \' : DOES]THE CATERPILLAR STING?' < In .• reference-to i' lice's "sting" • T ;am' reminded s'(sajs»£ writer in "Science Sittings") of one or two peculiar cases that--' havo . comc under- - my notice lately, thoresultS not'of."a'bee sting;' 1 but the apparently harmless caterpillar! '■ Two of: my'boys,'ages three : and six, were playing : ivith caterpillars,-.allowing thorn to crawl over their hands and also over'? the hands oi' an elderly lady. Eiye or six' hours later, :all; three' of them" complained • of ! a' smarting 1 .pain llr tho eyes, accompanied by swelling, after which a Thsh commenced to'show itself all over the 'face' of tho vourigest boy, who appeared to be the' worst of' tliO; three: : .'The :l noxt morning lie was not able 'to open his eyes on account ofv tho 'abnormal' 'swelling,' and it was lief until tlioy had"hccn 'well bathed that' it;_in■ any ' way 'diminished, while the rash- was 'even more- prominent. Ilio third" day 'the wes were" much better and the abated b.ut still now, «ft<jf the sixth day, at the tiiiic of •writing, it has not entirely disappeared.- I "should havo' lj'ecn en-tirely-in",doubt as to tho cause of .such symptoms, as I: have frequently .handled oatprpillars .years, ago, arid nei'er rcmCmber. any siich results occurring; but I "have been, .informed of three other cases of boys, ages 9. and 12 (not in tho ; same house), having exactly the samo:symptoms, and.in each ease thev had. likewise been handling caterpillars' a ■ few hours' before. Can you tell mo if such cases lire comnion ; if so, what is' the nature of .'the. poison injected by tljti Caterpillar, and what is a good antidote? what appears more remarkable-to.-.me . is, that, although - the' rash (in appoaraneo very much like the common nettle sting) was-well marked on the faco, yet the hands where the caterpillars had 'been crawling were quite free'from it; "arid yet "I am quite convinced the .caterpillars ' were the 1 cause. I understand the nettlp 'stirig is caused' bv the' injection of formic acid undor

the' skin by the minute hairs of tlio ljcttle,' but' I. was not aware that. the caterpillar was' possessed of this, property. If suqh is the case, why .does the ioVil result only manifest itsolt' about the face? .... , > FIFTEEN EARTHQUAKES A DAY. . There aro two principal classes of earthquakes; thoso which aro of volcanic origin and those which ariso from tectonic;, or. mountain building, movements .of the oarthls crust. The volcanic quakes .originate not far below the surfaco; probably fit depths of less than two miles. Tho characteristics of a volcanic qiiako ore ai' rather definite_ origin, or. "centrum," a com-' pnratiroly restricted' area of disturbance and the usual absonco of secondary aftor-shocks. Tectonic or dislocations earthquakes are practically confined to those portions of the earth's crust, whichare 'still undergoing ohangbs of elovation duo to tho action of mountain building forces. Suoli quakes are usually to be assigned to a deep-seated' origin as compared with tho volcanic quakes. They aro characterised by an indefinite or linear centrum, a great radius of influence, and by succeeding subordinate shocks, which aOmbtimcs recur for. months or ovou years.' . ,Tlip great destructive earth?', quakes which have occurred; within tho historic- period h&vo been, assigned , for the most part to this class of'quakes.: Tho presont period has been supposed by .many,-.-'especially those not versed-'in geology, 'to 1 be: a season of 1 rest in ; the action : of; earth building forces. This, however, is' not the case. The irpquericy of enrthquako shocks,'.consider-; ' irig 'thoso-of.'all, is not gen? orally realised.; The globe, indeed,, may be said hardly, ever, to be freo from seis-r mic disturbances of some- kind somewhere,: for it-he:average of all recorded shocks is more than 15 a day, and'the baro'''enumeration' of those occurring in 1903 ,fills a. book; of' 600 tabulated pages.'',; About' .60 heavy' shocks occur drery year,on.ail average.. The Count, dpMon'tessus de . Ballore, has plotted upon maps of the hemispheres the. posi? tions'of the 159,784 independent quakes which had beon: recorded up to, 1903.: It was found that 96' per cent, of all the, ' recorded quakes had " occurred within tho' limits of certain well-defined .-gories;.: which; aro along lines .where'the, p'rust v is bent .'downward .forming great' trpuglis, .though.:.the troughs are only t.o: be,,recognised geologically; that: is,• by-the-relation of one rock ;stratum : to another,; without refereneo to tho surface' configuration' of the cart'h.T7-"Dis'-' covpry."