SCIENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 138, 5 March 1908, Page 4

SCIENCE NOTES.

: STEALING LION CUBS. .... y ■ ;To steal- a litter-,of is ,iiot/so difbcult a feat as might-boOsupposed.. .'. In tho heart of the deepest, darkest, tangle ,of cone, , thorn, and: bush-rope, the. lion inwtlier has t worked a and... scratched ■ und; gathered: a; nest ;of leaves and/ grass upon which ,to ■ bed her young, llore tho yellow, .babies lie,'huddled, and mowing, ,or>sprawling' • oyer ; one .another in kitten. play,- while, .the: anxious > mother, i.fawnjng-close beside; her. magnificent; lord and master, lies, chin on forepaws, eyes- closed, l; and. ears- alert, and twitching.;, Not iu tfhe wido world," it.would seem, (Was- family, ever .so protected; And yet,; safely, hidden in a thicket to leeward, where no ..wind, can carry rthe ..strong, human -scent, recognisable 'to almost . every-- 1 -warm-blooded ■creature except ;man himself, itho 'trapper; 'ir a? o : ;work. , . Beside hini' is a-pair-of Eanir hunters,; with .his; guns ■ and 'repeating !: r !.% s V'iMd,i,hpni;'. -hour;, the..men; sit, silently until, the lion/parents/ unsuspicious of impending danger, depart to hunt .for. their/meal. , Often, as preliminary/ tho male.lion lowers his nose toward" the ground and-'omits that, terrifying, -reverberating bass' roar.'that strikes panic to 'the heart of all living things within earshot: and startles' them to a betraying flight—the very object,of, the. roar, ,it Js supposed., ,Tho, crack.-ofr.a dried,, twig sounds sharply;. scarcely more -than.'as if. wafted by a. sudden breeze the ; brush . and bushes rustle part, and with kingly head uplifted., and: nostrils ■: scenting the magnificent monarch, steps, soft-padded and noiseless,',through- the 'thicket; followed by his, regal spouse. , One, hour, two, and even-three may, pass before, the' lions have struck down their .buck; and-the kidnappers, making s sure only that.tho formidable beasts' have; gone, move to their robbery../ , On "*f u ds t; and ( knees,, creeping and crawling a-s only experienced hunters can, noiseless and' ever ready for sudden attack, the men progress through the maze of , ciiiie and vino and; bush until they come /to. the thicket' .where,,the.young^ones : lie; asleep., ~Thcyi may .bo.kittons, with eyes scarcely more .than' opeii, and may be picked up and bagged before they. can stagger away, on tiny legs; or they may be,four r week: old whelps, lively and frisky, showing their/,inboru. hatred of man by spitting and trying to scratch .when picked up in arms.:, Four,, five, ~evenl -six young lions may : be.gathered up,in.this.way to bo borne; to the nearest , station and raised in captivity,, while' out of the-.depths' of the jungle, deep,into the night, roll.the.rumbling challenges of. the bereaved parents.—'Strand Magazine;"-;,,

SPEED OF ANIMALS. INTERESTING FACTS.. ' Everyone's mind at some timo or other gets around to tho question.: How'fast can animals travel'" *;;Jwh'icii is the : swiftest? Scientific inw U'javo gono into tho subject to co. ''v'f 'jlo eWent and ono of 'those who has into •'"-ssinatter—Professor John Ohlsfiuusen —lias Compiled tho results attained byJiimself and his colabourers. His findings show that tho ostrich is tho fastest traveller of tho lower kingdom. That monster, bird has been known to travel 100 feet a second or a milo in 33 seconds! ' Professor. Ohlshausen says, tho average riding; horso covers 40 inches-each second whilo. walking; at a-jog, trot it ; covers 11, feet a second, whilo the two-miuuto horso.covers,44 feet a second. Tho leisurely ox moves over only, second when .hitched, to.'a waggon,, and about 20 inches a, second when, hitched to a plough. Tho .elephant, while pullilig moro than six horses, walks over four aim a half feet, of ground each second, and running as fast as it can covers, only 18 feot a second. • . , Tho dromedary can cover 93 miles.in, 16 hours,; which .represents its day's march, , and can do this two or-threo days .together, travelling _at . the constant rato of- eight feet per second; Tho dromedaries of tho Sultan have,-however, covered 116.miles in 12 hours, or_at tho rato of 9 2-3rds miles ah hour. , -Sheep.dogs and hunting dogs run at .a speed of from 33 to 45 feet a second, but the fastest hunting dogs cover SO feet a second, almost as much >as that -of tho running horso, which covers 90 feot a second fora short distance. :.- A foxhound will, cover 60 feet a , second, a.-tiger travels only five feot a second.in captivity.. A. lion is said, to. bo ablo to run faster ; than the■ best hunting horso whilo at large.; . . ■Tho polo-passes.- rapidly; th'rougii its ■ subterranean diggings,, extending from-100 to loOi feet, moving,at, the ra.toiof six- and : a ; half feet a second, and on tho surface of the earth /'\ v , c ? f - 10 '.' feet,/a second; Authorities • difrer as to tho speed of' the hare, some stating that it-can cover 60 feet a second,- whilo- others. state that .it can- go-one-third as fast-. Tlio deer of. various species are air speedy,,but- when, pursued -by hounds, a roebuck .has boon-known to cover <4_ feet a second. . Tho wonderful - littlo antelopo, covers, 20 ..or.. 30, feet •at a . leap > springing 10 feet in the air, and tho swiftest dogs, can catch, it only v when tired out. .- Tlio • giralfo -mb\es over ' the - earth . at ; a speed of 50 feet. per., second, whilo tho kangaroo Jeans over 11 feet a second. Then our the tortoise,: if five inches-long, covers a_ half, inch a second, and if 10 inches long 2$ inches a' second. A toad hops eight inches a second, though"'it is "only two inches long; a frog'six ;inches long hops but'three indies-a- second, biit swims '4} ; inches a second. . A largo frog may, however;' jump 13 1 inchesM second! Tho chameleon is not much 'more rapid than a tortoise when walking;'covering nine-sixteenths of-an iiich'-a second: and running only - three 'inches' a ;second.— "Science Siftings." ■

■ OLDEST TEMPLE'OF THE 'WORLD 1 FOUND. ■ ' Dr. ■ Poters, :while . excavating, lias- dis--6 covered at Bismya; in Central Babylonia, the \ oldest .temple in; tho world. Tho walls of , a tower wero uncovered;, the summit was > cleared,.. and -tho first inscription discovered 1 upon the surface was a brick stamped with ' tho name :of Dungi,;- of; 2750; BiCii,; KJust.be- ' noath.it were other bricks bearing the name * of UrGur of 2800 B'.C.; a little lower appeared a crumpled piece of gold with the namo of NaVam- Sin;;of :3750 B;C.;' and just' ' below that level were tho 1 largo square bricks' peculiar to Sargon : of 3800 '8.0.. probably the first of the Semitic kings of Babylonia/ Although Dr. Peters had dug out a yard and a half below tho bricks of'Dungi, he had revealed several strata -extending over tho period from 2750 8.C., or moro than'a"thousand .years;* and still 11 yards of earlier riiins lay beneath. He dug lower; unknown types of. • bricks- appeared;, and- two- and a- half yards from tho surface lie came upon'a large ■platform .constructed of the peculiar planeconvex bricks • which were : the '< buildinomaterial of 4500.8.C. ' . . . A. DEAF MUTK SPEAKS. A striking demonstration of what modern science can do was given recently at the Academy of Medicine,' Paris, when, in tho presence- of a hundred physicians and surgeons, 1 .1 girl of 20jf who two months ago was believed to bo an mourable deaf-mute, 6ang a solo and later answered questions asked her' by' doctors in thd audience. She is one of four pupils of Dr. Marage, and exhibits in her ac-complishments-the good effects of his new system of training deaf-mutes to hear and' to speak.' Ho uses in his practico a so-called vowel syren, :in instrument commonlv used by Paris professors of acoustics to amplify tho volume of tho hunian voice! By use of the vowel syren they-learn to imitate sounds,, and thus become ablo to speak. . , . FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS. : ' A most interesting chapter in tho record of tho rocks is that preserved in the sandstones of ;tho Connectict Valley. As> long 'ago as ' 1830 flagstones quarried for tho houses often 1 bad , impressed 011 them tho footmarks of lingo beasts,, and sovoral such remain stili in tho, old homesteads. They wero at first supposed to be the tracks of a monstrous, bird, and whon the bones , of. tho 1110 a wero described by Owen, 183943, good ground was found for belief in monstrous extinct creatures of this kind. Later other tracks looked as though they wero made by reptiles and ■ quadrupeds, and it began .to lie seen that some, of tho bird tracks might bo reptilian, if ever reptiles walked on two leas. Aad, J

.. ]>H. ~, in fact, in 1593, Marsh was' able to make 8 7 restoration" oftar.tlelicate and slender dinosaur which plainly was in the habit of doing so. nitchcouk, a pioneer Connecticut geologist, described in all from the§e footprints 23 genera of oxtinctf animals including some 49 species—biped birds and roptiles, with a few quadrupeds, 1 Ijzards, turtles, molluscs, and annelids, and''tjj'o progress of paleontology has. in many cases unearthed tho bones of the reet which made <; tho tracks. All tliis is'curious and interesting; but it is to lie feared'wo ' do not realise,, tho unselfish ' devotion ; of scionco* to' tho accumulation of; facts;. or why it is that thos'6''facts' onco gained iiiako lior" position Less than a; ceiitury ago .these slabsAiiiight; liayo passed, for; tjio playground of 'demons':" now''scierico can reconstruct' the creatures • that walked oyer them'.whon tli'eV'\vere soft mud millions of years "ago. :j'- •:?>• \ '• ■ ■ ' ■

THE ANTIQUITY OIY MAN. ■ . The littlo principality of Monaco possesses, perhaps, thfrismost famous grottoes ir tfalrb their name from -Gri-> maldi, reignmgiprince of the 14tlr century. Iho caves-have b<f<Sii'hollowed out of jurassio rocks'of. rose red Colbur, and havp high; narrow mouths to Mediterranean. They havei played' a ltejgo- 1 part-in- discussions on the antiquity of man,"for since 1848 thero have been discoyerM'in'theih-series of skeletons, buried bfclow different-depths of - layers or stalagmite. ■ -The results' to date'of excavations- in the' caves' Ifa'vb recently 'been' col-' lected m three fine fblio volumes/ which discuss tho - material' exhaustively. ' It : seems ' clear that these primitive men practised burial; hence their position '. in the stalagmite , uiyers iS: 'not very -c(Jiifc)iisiy6 of'their date. remains, ho\vbver, li! belong to; ot the quartenary periSdi' and, .'nith two' exceptions, exhibit negroid'' traits;■ gesting connection with'"Afrioa. •• The' two ! excoptioiis arc tho most Recently 'discovered; and tho- oldest in date.—They'dro skeletons ot an old. woman and boy, from which apparently not mufclt 'has been learned. I ohshed axe-heads and other bbjects accompany remains,; These,,calves were -thus tho-. haunts, of .primitive mfiKwhen the 'rein, deer, lived at,Mcntqne. ; '•

v RADIUM FOR RHEUMATISM. Dr. Loewcnthal .lias,.fount? yiat. titei.use o£ Water lmpregnatcd'.wlth. sucjv substances as radium is, beneficial, iu cases pf-eertain affections; both, when added to the()vater used for bathing cures . aiid wlieri given, internally. , A favourable, effect,, was observed, jip. cases'. of chronic.-articular. rheumatism: of severity, regardless. of. whether,ttihe condition .- .started;lis. a chronic,affection fro/jftho begin-,' nmg. or. wasthe result of.,an, sprite or: sub-, acute.;invasion. deformans,;(a..chronic djseaso of the joints)' are not susceptible, of improvement in this way, and the doctor, believes .iacfc may be of use in differentiating this obscure : 8 5 n P^ n <,, complex from i the true"'ffieumatio affections. v Another group .ofJ.aj|ecpf6fl.s.'cap-;' , a -. ■ influenced', fe..the"filiations consists of; the forms'' of "c (nerve, inflammation). '''Improv<hnenl v Yras obsoryed in cases of. sciatica' 1 and . of .brachial , (the arm) and facial neuritis.Two sbecimen' cases are described in detail' lrf' 'w]iicli chronic rheumatism 1 '.arid- i 0 scMtica' were - cntirely:'relieve'd; ; ,by, means.' df 2 ;■ briiie baths "plus radio-activeemanations'/" and':' i ■relapse .in"- each case. .was jisut'; shbrt'lby' 'administration "of watw aa tho sota measure.' V'-":•

■ - .WONDERFUL TERRACES,: I, '■ ' ; Governor-General ' Smith,'ooff f the ' Philip, pines, recently; made a ; 't'6ur : bf 'tlie'mountam provinces'-of l northern ' Luzon;' ,'chiellj' iriV; habited by ' pagjari tribes. On his 'return to Manila 'he 'said:."The journey . through the' ImoMtair cbuhtry was a:revolatioiv never -seen; such' cultivation as; we.saV'iri the mountains. • Those jjeople ; have ''terraced, the mountains iri'isomo" instances a" thousand 1 feet and every bit of the land; is under cultivation. ■; I do not bclievo there isdnythirig in the world that can equal th'oinanneriil which 1 the' people of ' tile -moririt'airis liiivo made: their country''productive.''lt'certainly surpasses anything, ;I: "have'.ever seen." 1 The terraces in Japan are ' pygmies compared with it; " The earth and stone wore brought for.miles,; and-i the imosfc wonderful'. p'art : about it-'is that'-the terraces are as : ;solid? and' Slttß-' stantial as if they were part of the'mountain itself. - Some of thenv are "severity .'or: a h\lii-' dfed 'feet', high, arid- remain i' ; undisturbed' through all sorts'of' weather'and'landslides.. Arid at 1 the' time these terraces iwere -made the people were • undir" arms,'. workings with' their knives and shields close at hand, and with;sentries on evory high point oMand andmountain top "

STORY. OF A DROP OF WATER i Water that is now iu the ocoan-and'in the 'river; has been many/times- in' the: skv:- The history.' of' a single' drop taken"out of a : glass of water isreally.a'romanticono: r 'No traveller has ever; accomplished isuch distancos in diis life. That partic|e' may-nave renecte<i'tne palm-trees' of: coral; islands ''andi-havc caught the sun" ray •in the » arch that • spans. a • cloud clearing , away'from -the' valleys''of- Climber-, land or California. ' It may have been carried by the Gulf Stream from the shore ofFlorida or: of. Cuba .to be turned into' a crystal of ice besides the.precipices of Spitzbfergeri.'■''lii''may have hovered' over ,tho streets of London and ,have formed a.; part. of 'murky/,fog.,and:lia'ro glistened on -the young ..grass jblade lofcApril .in .Irish .... It i has,, been,-..lifted,;.up!.ito heaven, and., sailed, in great' woolpaqk .clouds across the.sky, I .forming:part of. a.cloud, mountain echoing'with .thunder. It has r hung in afloecy .voil,many miles aboyo.the,earth'.at.-,the close of long scasqns;pf,still ; weaUi«r.,,.lt has descended-many.times,over iin>sbowers-to refresh the.oarthj andiifchasreturned.tb its\native skies,, haying;.accomplished: its lmrpose, to: be stored., once , again. with•: elefctricitvr to ■give it now life-producing qualities, and. equip it as heaven's messenger.to earth ouco.iiiore.

y . INSECT HYPNOTISM " l 1 Hypnotism is practised : , ariiongi' , insect's.-' l iA v hypnotist, tells us ; that. a queen, bqa-.can hypnotise her whole Kivo whenever sheiwauts to. She ; makes ,a ; curjous.humming, sound, and within a moment or'two eyeryibeo,in tho colony falls into a hypnotic tranavThe death'shead, hawk-moth ,is also a hypnotist of great fk)wer. ; This ..creature; indeed, makes, its . living out,,of hypnotism.'. .Entering; iL hive, it.. . .makes .a, sound/not note, and the bees immediately, 1 sinking,into slumber, the moth proceeds to .plunder, at ita leisure. , ■> •.■ - ■ ,v..Kv.-"* v.- ■ IN" BRIEF. ' ■ " Greenleaf Davis, tho hermit-of>Mount Katahdin, tolls .of a blue jay's nest that, contained tho shells'of more than 4 250 eggs, which tho > jays had- stolen 'from tho'nestsyoi' song- - ■birds and'taken homo for their young to' food ■on. .-Hidden ; in one side' 01" the nest was a gold watch .which' a~ hunter from Worcester had lost' the-'provious autumn; and accused his' : guide of stealing.' The .watch' liad' ; been hung on' tho limb of' a -lean-to' camp at 'night, and when' the hunter woke : in the -morning tho timopieco was missing. ■ The inventor of a-land miachino recently -gave an exhibition of 'its-powers in NeW -York. " After driving - tho -machine for some' time,' muclr-of the distanco'travors<ki being through soft-sand and■ over boulders, it- was forced' into: the. rivor, where it -was manoeuvred; showing tliat'it was underiper•fect'-' control. <It then pushed .'through- the shallow water and 011 to the beach, where it , proceeded down tlioroad'without : diflicultyMt is claimed, that this'machine can make 55 miles au;hour 011'land'and'15 afloat.'' , / ' , The curious term,""black light,!' was-first used by Lo Boil.to describo a ,form,.of radiant energy-which arises from, the, back ,of, a thin !, sheet of opaque, metal when tho front is illu- ■ minatecl with ordinary, light. Black, light in some of' its properties resembles the, X ray, ' ; hut differs ; from it in fundamental points.-,'.. Tho' use, of! tho• microscope in' tho upright position, causing much fatigue, a microscopist has designed a now eye-piece,' which' has a' ■ prism, enabliug tho observer:to look through' tho tube from tho. sido instead of the top. -: f Desjiiit, ;lio, great vineyards of,' Australia,:. Capo Co ?. and America, 95 por.ccnt.'of the ' world's vines' mado.hi Europe.' , ' Germany's population is increasing more,rapidly than :tliat of Great Britain or-J'Vaiice.'- , ~-Tho .daily consumption of. pens'is 3,500,000j , 'Four shillings' worth lof steam Vill do : aa much work as £32 in haiid work. ;