OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15938, 4 December 1913, Page 2

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. (Conducted by KUgister, to -whom all communications must be addressed.) [MinrsTEn will he glad to receive Nature noted, marked papers ceutaining educational artiales, diagrams, details of experiments, etc., ot pcholaatio Interest to teachers and pupils. Correspondents must use ONLY ON'B sidb ol the paper, and whether using a pen name or not, must send both suua and iDDKisa.l THE NATION'S PRAYER. God give us men! A time like this demantis Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the- spoils of office cannot buy; Men who possess opinions and a will; Men who have honour, and who will not lie; Men who can stand before a demagogue And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking; Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog ■ In public duty and in private thinking. —Josiah Gilbert Holland. THE TRAGEDY OF MR BUN. The following good piece of work was sent to me last week. When written it was not intended for publication, but was done for amusement and off-hand, just to show how a teacher can make a dry subject interesting. To me it was a delightful piece of rending. It is just as good in its way— at least, I think so—as the work done by Miss Howes: — The Tbagedy of Poob Mr Bun. My earliest recollections of life carry mo back to Brown's tea shop window, where for many weeks I reclined on a glass stand, with my curranty side foremost, and with a polish on my countenance which put all other penny buns in the shade. One .fine morning when settling down to have my usual 40 winks, I found myself being handed over the counter to a very small boy in exchange for a penny, and before I could realise, my changed position in the social world I was being torn to pieces by a pair of dirty little hands, and being rammed into a small cavity at a hurried pace, where I was cut up and chopped about until I was absolutely unrecognisable. Whilo being turned and twisted in • this fashion, I was also being deluged with a fluid which came from six little glands, reminding one ot a dhower bath. I was informed by an orange pip which 1 had run up against in my wanderings that. I was being saturated with saliva, which contained a ferment called ptyalin, and this ptyalin was turning the starch in my system into sugar, the change being rather agreeable than otherwise, for I could feci myself growing sweeter. Before I had thoroughly realised by position I was hurried into an ante-chamber, which my friend the orange pip informed me was called tho pharynx; but we wasted no time there, only passing: straight through into a long corridor called the Esophagus. There were no windows of any description, and I was thoroughly disappointed at not being able to view the scenery, for pip fold me there were two beautiful sponges (tonsils) growing on a tree-fork on either side of our corridor. The walls of this passage were of a most peculiar structure; it was lined with muscular bands, which contracted behind «s and relaxed beforo us, thus helping us on our downward course. At last wo came to a gate at tho far end of this hall, which was called the cardiac orifice. Having complimentary tickets, Pip and I had no troublo in gaining admission, and wo were at onco ushered into a larger cavity, tho shape- of which reminded one of an Eastern water-bag. Here wo found things pretty lively, everything moving around at a "fair rate. On looking about I discovered that the .walls of this meetinghouse,- or skating rink, were composed of three layers of muscles cris-crossing each other, mnking a peculiar pattern, it was the movement of these muscles which caused the contents to keep on the move, Before I had thoroughly examined my surroundings I was swept off my feet into the turmoil, which took my bi path away. Mj friend tho orange pip assured me there was nothing to fear, that it was simply the peristalsis of the stomach, and would dc me no end of good. In our mad careei we were moat of the time being lubricated with the gastric juice which 'camt .from glands in the walls of the stomach and I felt myself gradually changing, whicr was due to a ferment in the gastric juice; (so Pip said) turning me acid, 60 that mj protoid could he acted upon by the pepsin. Much to my surprise, I found that my fat was turning to oil. reducing mo to a state of collapse. After about three hours ol these gymnastics I discovered' at the othci end of the skating rink an exit, which the signboard informed me was the pyloric orifice. Pip suggested that it was timo tc get into tho queue, for tho gate only openee at intervals for early-door tickets. Wc slipped through easily, owing to the facl that after my strenuous exoreisfl J was re duccd to a state resembling that of pes Fonp. Pip annoyed me somewhat at this juncture by addressing mo first as Chymi then Chyle, so I informed him that mj namo w"as Bun, and that I resentec tho liberty; but my reproof passee unnoticed, for he was busily engaged ir turning over the pages of his guide book He at last discovered that we were in th< small intestine, a long tunnel lin in diameter, and divided into three sections—duodenum, jejunum, and the ileum. On passing through this long tunnel of about 20ft in length wo found that the _ duodenum was only 9in in length, the jejunum Bft, and the ileum 12ft, and it tooks ns altogether to travel through it' from 10 to 12 hours. On our journey down wo were deluged by several juices and secretions from one side with the pancreatic juice, which appeared to have three missions in life, for its amylopsin attacked the .remaining starch in my body, turning it to sugar. Its trypsin turned mv proteid into peptones, and its third ferment took the liberty of splitting mv fat and leaving me in a very reduced condition. I was attacked from tho other sido by tho bile, which neutralised my acid, emulsified my fat, and set up the wave-like motion in' the tunnel which we had already experienced in tho stomach. All this time I coukl feel myself gradually absorbed through the hair-like vessels which lined the canal. I felt myself growing weaker and weaker, and my last' recollection is of Pip calling in my ear, "Hero wo are at the ileo-ctecal valve. Good-bye. I'm off to tho appendix!" and I knew no more. P.S. —Poor Mr Bun was in such a reduced state that ho was unable to record his experiences with the intestinal juice. ON SENDING SPECIMENS. ' During the past month I have received a "Ood many specimens unidentifiable even by experts. Leaves should bo pressed and should bo accompanied by a twig if possible, or perhaps packed in moss, and thero sbould be sent a bit of the bark of tho tree and even some roots—not wrenched up, but dug out carefully and washed with, equal care. Where possible, too, flowers or fruit ought to bo sent. Worms and insects should be sent as nearly as possible, under conditions that aro natural—in damp moss or a free, damp soil, for instance, Three lots of flics havo como to hand, but loose, and in two cases in wooden matchboxes. In ono instance a spider and a fly were sent in tho same box; the fly arrived inside the spider—or mast of it did! It is advisable to put all insects in metal boxes, and, if dead, packed in dry wadding; if alive, as I have said, under natural conditions, and with box perforated to admit air. Fragile dead insects, if loose, get broken up. CORRESPONDENCE AND NOTES. My apologies aro due to Mr Winchester (Ross). Mr' J White (Wyndham South School), and Mr J. G, Johnston (Tawanui School). They sent in meteorological notes for October, but I mislaid them with some other papers. Mr Ross, by an oversight, has forgotton to put in either the total rainfall for October or else the maximum daily. Do the figures 5.28 in refer to the former or to tho latter? Wyndham South School, November 5. Dear " Magister,"—Tho following are tho weather records for tho month of October:—Rainfall: On the Ist, .OSin; 2nd, .IBin; 3rd, .Olin; 4th, .Olin; Bth, .3Jin; 9th, ,QBin; 12th,-.4Bin; 13th, .4Sin; 14th, .Olin; 17th, .22in; 18th, ,04in; 19th, ,15in; 20th, .OSin; 21st, .42in; 25th, .35in; 26th, .03in; 28th, 1.05 m; 29th. 1.47 in; ifltli, ,12in; 31st, .03in;—total, 5.54 in on 20 days. Rainfall since beginning of the year, 43,53 in. Thermometer: Maximum, 73deg.. on the 21st; minimum. 34d0g., on the 2nd. Average of maxima, 59deg.; average of minima, 42.8deg; average temperature in the shade at 1 p.m., 54.8. Wind occurred on -29 days; provailing wind from the N.W. on 12 days.—Yours truly, J. White. Ross, October 31. Dear " Magister."—Tho following is our weather record lor October:—Uterometer, 9 a.m.: Maximum, 60deg; minimum, 50deg; - mean 55.86deg; night-maximum, 52deg; (3 minimum, 39dcg; mean, 4S.6deg, Baro- — meter: Maximum, 30.48 in; minimum, A 29.£0 in; mean, 30.19 ii). Rainfall: Total, *. ; highest daily, 5.23 in; number of days,

19. Wind: 5 north, 4 oust, 2 smith-west. Weather: Only 13 fine flnvs.—Yours truly, W. WIXCIIKSTKR.

Tawanui School. November 24. Dear " Magi.'trr."—The following am the weather records for October, 1913:— Number of davs on which rain fell, 20; total rainfall for mouth, s. Win; heaviest rainfall, 1.19 in for the 2-V hours ending 9.30 a.m. on the 30ih: l.OOin for Iho 24 -hours ending 9.30 a.m. on the 29th. Minimum temperature, 30deg on .he 6th; average of minimum temperature, 43.2dcg; maximum temperature, 76deg on the 31st; averago of maximum temperature, 62.6deg; highest barometric reading, 30.25 on the 11th; lowest barometric reading, 29.15 on the 2nd; average barometrio reading at 9.30 a.m., 29.8.-Yours faithfully, J. G. Johnston Here is a nice little note:— Ilouipapa, November 17. Dear " Magister,"—l am writing this letter for all the children in this school. We are sending you the leaves of two trees that grow here, and we should be very glad if you would tell us their names. The people here call them by d'Torent names. The one with tho red berries is sometimes called the orange tree, because its wood is of a yellow colour. Will you please toll U6 both tho common and botanical names, as our teacher wants to know both. We should like also to know anything else you can tell us about them.—l am, jours truly, George Burrow. Now, George, I have had the specimens identified, but they were so dried up by the time my friend got them .that ho had some trouble'in making them out. Can you send another set, and with them send anything else you would like to know something about, and keep numbers of the Times and fold to Witness size—Witness will do splendidly, by tho bye,—and put between two leaves. Then cover with, say, half a dozen :U-ncfses, and-put another layer of epec:mens.i and so on. See that the flowers ar& open as much as possible. Then got the specimens named, and you will bo taking the first steps to become a botanist. Ask someone to give tho school Thomson's " Class-book of Botany for New Zealand Schools" and "A Now Zealand Naturalist's Calendar." Both are capital books for beginners, and are indexed—a great help at times. What do you say, Georgo? Will you take up tho contract? I'll try to oblige you. Send berries and flowers in a metal box-see advico elsewhere—or even in a cardboard box, if flowers are packed in moss or pressed. Wo have some beautiful berries in our New Zealand Bush. Another point:' Seeing George and the little syndicate ho is acting for want to know something about botany, lot Mm ask his teacher if he is a member of the Teachers' Institute; if he is, tell him to write to tho librarian for a loan of " Plant 3 of New Zealand," and then see if he or George can identify anything by the description. Have you a hobby, George? Supposing you have, why not have another? Gather leaves and twigs—twigs with leaves on, rather— and flowers, and press carefully. Perhaps W. R, F.'s (Pine Hill) note will evoke a letter or two. Tho laughing jackass of Australia is a kingfisher, but our kingfisher isn't a laughing jackal. Perhaps a quotation or two from "Animals of New Zealand" may help matters: "Our two owls are also pecufiar, and one of them, the laughing owl, belongs to a. genus found in no other country "—page 20. Again, page 334: "The remarkable notes of tho owls must not be passed over silently; for the name, at least, if not the appearance of the morepork (Ninox novie-Zealandke) is well known throughout tho dominion, . . . Tho call of the wekau (S. alfifacise) is vociferous, wild, often startling from their heavy slumbers tho inmates of the mountain lints. Probably the clamour of this genus, like that of falco, is a means of startling some of their prey into motion. Tho large owl is said to have likewise a call similar to the morepork, but much more gruff in tone. Laughing jackass is ono of the names conferred on the wekau; this distinction is shared by an Australian bird as well as by some pf our sea birds, anions the petrels or procellaridffi " A.New Antarctic Expedition,—Tuesday's Times, I think it was, contained a cablegram stating that the Discovery, a ship which took south one of Captain Scott's expeditions, had been bought by a Mr Stackhouse. The followinsr clipping from «.. Home paper gives a little information on the subject:—"A close friend of tho late Captain Scott, Mr J. Foster Stackhmisc, is now organising an expedition to tho Antarctic, which will start from London next August in the steam yacht Polaris. This new expedition has for' il6 object the ex-ploration-of King Edward's Land, and Mr Stackliouse hopes to explore ICOO miles of tho coastline, The Polaris is expected to return to Enprknd after nn absence of 20 months, via tho Panama Canal." Dunedin, November 22. Dear " Magister,"—Referring to your note on Mr Sprat's letter in the Public Schools Column of the 20th inst, you may rest assured that your column is of much interest to many others outside of teachers and pupils. I daresay it does much for patriotism, as it must faster a love of Nature in its many readers, and Naturelovers cannot help being lovers of their \ country. There is no fear for any country ' where l patriotism flourishes. Tho passioni. ate and unselfish love of Robert Burns for I his nativo land bas been one of its grandest assets. It is pleasing to note that a ' love of their beautiful country is growing in New Zealandors.—Yours sincerely,

W. B. _ ,: tl must thank W. B. for his complimentary note.—Magister.]

Sheila Reilly (St. Bathans) sends the following to tho editor, who pasees it on to mo;— "Dear Sir,—l am writing to know whether vou can tell mo tho name of an insect forwarded by me under separate cover. My cousin found it on the road when ho was returning from school."—The specimen is a stone-fly (order, neuroptera; _ family, perlidife; genus, stenoperla; species, Stenoperla prasina). As it is an interesting fly, I am quoting from Hudson's "New Zealand Neuroptera": —

" This pretty insect is fairly cqmmon throughout tho whole of New Zealand. Tho expansion of tho wings varies from l|in to 2iin. The insect's general colour is grassgieen, with the metathovax and abdomen brown. The head is hardly broader than the prothorax, the latter being rounded behind. The rest of tho body is very narrow. The fore-wings are narrow and bright green, especially in tho living insect. Tie hind-wings are very broad and pale green The legs are also green. The larva is found in rapid-running rivers and streams, but apparently is not usually very abundant. It is extremely active in the water, and generally contrives to secrete itself under a 6ton'o immediately after being xposod to view. Thus it is always very difficult to capture, which circumstance perhaps gives rise to an idea that the larva is less-abundant than is actually tho case. Tlie food of this larva consists of various other aquatic insects, chiefly the larvee of Ephemeridie, those belonging to the genus Atalophlcbia being probably tho favourite prey of this insect. It also devours tho larva of Amoletus pcrecitus. The larva of S. prasina actively pursues its victims among the stories in the bed of the stream, and seizes them by means of its powerful jaws. It is extremely voracious, and might perhaps prove destructive to very young trout. On the other hand, thoro is no doubt that these larva? must in turn form an important element in the food supply cf the trout themselves, as tho insects are to bo found hi the streams throughout tho e-ntiro year, being, in faet, as common in midwinter as at any other season. Tho length of the full-grown larva, including tho terminal appendages, is about ljin. In general appearance it bears a. considerable resemblance to the perfect insect, except, of course in the matter of wings. The head and 'thorax are dull brownish-green; the former has three conspicuous black spots on tbe top, representing the ccclli of tho perfect insect. The meso and meta-thqrax are each furnished with a pair of wing-pads. The anterior pair aro very vivid green in colour, tho posterior pair being paler. The abdomen is purplish-brown, with the segmental divisions sharply marked in white. The first five segments of the abdomen aro each furnished with a pair of gills, one gill on each side. These appendages aro cylindrical and gradually taper from base to apex. They are white in colour, and appear to bo partially articulated. The legs of tho larva are very strong. This larva grows extremely slowly, and it is quite possible that it occupies more than a year-in reaching maturity. It is capable of travelling considerable distances on land, especially towards the end of its larval life. At this period it i«, i" fact, quite impossible to confine the insects in a shallow vessel, us they will immediately climb out of tho water in order to got away. When about to chango into the imago, t'> : i larva leaves the water and clings firmly to a stone or the stem of some plant, generally near the edge of the stream. The skin then dries and cracks open a l -, the back, and the perfect insect makes its escape, drying and expanding its • wings in tho usual manner. The empty skins of the larvee aro often seen after the insect has emerged, and arc then vory conspicuous. Sometimes they are met with a considerable distance away from the water, showing that tho larva must have travelled a Ions: way from its native clement before emerging. These skim are, in fact, occasionally found clinging to the stems of trees

four or five feet above the ground, the trees themselves being situated perhaps 10 or 15 yards away from the bunk of the river or stream. The perfect fly is mo6t abundant in November and December, but few specimens being found as late as January. It flies somewhat feebly at evening dusk, when it is readily 6een and captured. _ It ia often extremely common in the neighbourhood of rivers, especially during the carlv part of December. Tho beautiful green colour of the foro-wings is very protective to tie insect when resting among foliage during the day; hence specimens are seldom detected at thus time. Unfortunately, tho green colour fades very much in the dead insect, a serie6 of dried specimens giving but a poor idea of tho appearance of this interesting species when alive"

Mr K. Tallard sends me pages from Country Life for May and August. They aro on' tho cuckoo, tho May pictures being from "Wild Life." recently referred to in these columns. They form a marvellous set. One shows the host much smaller than cuckoo, yet "gorging the ruffian." the cuckoo's mouth being opened so wide and tho host's head being so far in as to be out of sight. In another picture the fosterparent is quite a little tot, standing on the cuckoo's back; while a third picture shows a meadow pipit in mid-air, just alighting, with a large worm. I may yet use the letterpress accompanying. Several specimens I have, sent away. Those sent to Wellington have been acknowledged, and answers are promised. I One of my correspondents this week is I Lennic Arthur, of Dahnore. I'll see what 1 ran do, Lennic. From If. P. (Otama) comes a specimen labelled "A peculiar snail." It is so small and so dried up that I can make nothing of it. Who sent the beetle? -Taffv's" (Duncdin) box arrived safely. The wadding was nice and damp, and the grate root ditto. Eut.the worm was nop est! How did it got out? I intend to go clown to tho Museum as soon as I can to see what I can find out about our worms. One of these dnvs I'll write up some notes I made recently when listening to Dr Benham I'.R.S.,' lecturing upon these humble, but beneficent, creatures: Dear " Magister,"—Under separate cover I am sending you another specimen of a worm which I discovered under an old mat which had been used for a door-mat, and was almost rotten through, being exposed to all kinds of weather. This is the first one of the kind I have seen here; but some months ago 1 saw several larger ones in Oamaru. Unlike tho usual blind worm, this particular kind can climb up the sides of a glass bottle with ease, clinging to the glass by suction (something after the fashion of the tentacles of an octopus, I suppose). Another peculiarity is the marking of the back. Instead of having rings hke the ordinary worm, it lias some four or _ fivo long streaks of rcd-not unlike large veinsrunning parallel down the whole length from Up to tail. Perhaps you have seen a similar one before; perhaps-as I hopeyou have not. If you could find a small corner in vour column to .give a note or two on it, 'I am sure it will make interesting reading. Thanks very much the notes and extracts about my last specimen under that appropriate heading of " Only a Worm." The extracts especially were very interesting. The giant worm you mentioned would be almost like a snako in appearance. I for one would not care to meet it in tho dusk. Hoping the specimen will reach- you safely—l am, etc., ■ Taffy Secundus. Pine Hill,. November 5. Dear " Magister,"—Could you toll me if there is a bird in this dominion called tho New Zealand laughing jackass? I myself think that there is only tho one-the Australian laughing jackass; but we have a man working here who maintains that there is such a bird, and that ho has had them in his possession. Ho describes the bird as being jet black, having webbed feet, a laugh similar to the Australian bird, and building its nest among the cliffs. Whenever wo have a conversation upon the native birds of New Zealand there is always a dispute over, this question, so if you could enlighten us upon tho subject, I would be very much obliged to you.—l remain, yours sincerely. . w> &• Fi