Miscellaneous.

Lake County Press, Issue 2300, 25 November 1909, Page 7

Miscellaneous.

INTERESTING FACTS. The skylark and woodlark are among the only birds which sing as they fly. In Arabia is a plant which has all the properties of laughing gas. The plant is known locally as the "laugh T ing plant." In wild parts of Southern Africa geraniums grow in great bunches of five or six feet in diameter in the most brilliant shades of pink and scarlet. A creeping ivy-leafed geranium, and the pelargonium also, are native to that part of the world. When flocks of wild ducks and geese .iave to go long distances they form a t triangle to cleave the air more easily, , and the most courageous bird takes I position at the forward angle. As ; Uiis is a very fatiguing post, another j bird ere long takes the place of the i exhausted leader. j The different important State documents are sealed with different varieties of wax. The wax used for the Great Seal of England is whitish in colout. and is comjxmnded of oils and balsams from a recipe kept in the Lord Chancellor's office. The wax of the Great Seal and Privy Seal of Scotland, manufactured bv an Edinburgh firm, is composed of resin and beeswax, coloured with vermilion. The Exchequer Seal is made of green wax, and is considerably soften than ordinary sealing-wax HOW THE SHAH SAFEGUARDS HIS JEWELS. The late Shah of Persia took extraordinary precautions to safeguard his wonderful collection of jewels, estimated to be worth .£17,000,000. Some travellers at Teheran were indiscreet enough to talk openly about the wonderful treasures hidden in the Shah's vaults. Their conversation was reported to the Shah, who was seized with the notion that there was a plot on to rob him of the jewels. Immediately he had deeper and even more secure vaults dug. The iron doors of the passages leading to the vaults have ingenious electrical contrivances which, when set, not only will send an alarm to the palace guard, but will discharge explosives enough to destroy an army of robbers. Night and day a score of picked men guard the jewel vaults—ruthless mountaineers, who await only the order to kill. THE FINEST RUBY IN THE WORLD. But it is no small wonder that the Shah guarded his gems so jealously, for they are absolutely unique. His greatest treasure is a sword, whose hilt and scabbard are encrusted with diamonds of marvellous size and brilliancy, worth £300,000. The Imperial crown contains a ruby which is regarded as the finest in the world. Such a one could not be bought for £150,000. There is in the vaults the girdle of state, which is heavily inlaid with diamonds and emeralds, and an immense silver vase thickly overlaid with pearls and turquoises. A remarkable object is a terrestrial globe with the land worked in enamel and jewels. The rivers are made of diamonds, the lakes of turquoises, and the mountains are raised and contoured in beautiful gold work. WHY LIONS ROAR: CURIOUS STUDY FROM LIFE. A problem that has puzzled many of us has just been solved in a way by a British sportsman who has made a study of the subject on the spot, so to speak. Why does a lion roar, seeing -that he wants to catch game, not to frighten it away? A "Field" authority has pointed out that there are several kinds of roars. There is, first. the ordinary roar, so commonly heard morning and evening, as well as at intervals during the night. This is a sort of moaning, generally consisting of several syllables. A series of these .moans often ends with the rasning or "wood-sawing" noise, starting loud and gradually dying away in shorter and shorter jerks. This is exactly like the last efforts of a saw as it finishes cutting through a plank. So realistic is this noise that one almost expects to hear the piece of wood drop off. Next is the hunting roar, a series of short, sharp, rasping grunt, made when actually in hot pursuit. Then there is the roar which a lion gives when in the act of springing on his prey. Again, we have the angry roar, or growl, such as one hears on approaching a wounded lion. Yet again there is the roar which a lion always answers to a bullet which has gone home. If he does not respond in this way to a shot, you may fairly assume that you have missed him, unless, of course, you have laid him out with a bullet through the. brain or in a vital spot in the neck. Stalking a Victim. A badly hit lion will bound off with a series of grunting roars something like those of the hunting grunt. Lastly, there is what our authority terms the assembly call. This is a low roar or grunt, followed by a slight pause, and then three sharp, short roars in quick succession. This is a call seldom heard, but we are told it is safe to regard it as a call to another lion or lioness.' This may be a summons before hunting, to collect a stray member of the party, or after hunting to assemble before lying down. More often it is presumably a lion calling a lioness. The next roar is easier to understand. If a lion stalks an animal to within the distance of a few bounds, he will spring out at him with a loud roar. This so terrifies the poor beast that the intervening space is covered before it has time to recover from its fright. The angry roar of a wounded Hon presumably serves the same purpose as the angry sound made by other animals either when wounded or about to attack or in self-defence. Like the dog's growl, its primaryuse is to make it appear more formidable and ferocious to its opponent. The assembly call seems to be a sound used to call another lion, or more probably a lioness. Our authority has heard this call made at intervals by one animal remaining stationary, while answered by another approaching it from a distance. The sound is unmistakable, being a low sound and a short pause, followed by three sharp, short roars in quick succession.