OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 3115, 26 November 1913, Page 71

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. (Conducted by Magisteh, to whom all communications must be addressed.) [Magister will be glad to receive Nature notes, marked papers containing educational articles, diagrams, details of experiments, etc., of scholastic interest to teachers and pupils. Correeponden.s must use okly oxb sidb of the paper, and whether using a pen name or not, must send both naue and address.) WHAT IS A BARNACLE? Some weeks ago “ Shag Point” sent me a marine specimen* - for identification, but somehow my notes went astray; this miscarriage and pressure on space account for the delay in answering. Well, the specimen was a barnacle, thus graphically described by Huxley, “ a barnacle may bo said to be a crustacean fixed by its head and kicking its food into its mouth by its legs.” Now for a little of its history. Cuvier (1769-1832) classified these degenerate crustaceans as “ cirrhapoda, a word meaning tawny-footed. Lamarck (1744-1829) altered this into the hybrid form cirrhipoda, meaning curl footed, which was subsequently improved into cirripedia . . The name tnyrostraca, meaning doorshells or valveshells, is preferred as agreeing in termination with the titles of two other divisions, the malacostraca and entomostraca. The group may conveniently be arranged in two principal sections —the Genuina with cirrhiform feet, and the Anomola without them.” (Encyc. Brit.). NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. In some of our schools teachers encourage pupils to bring specimens to school, and newspapers, periodicals, etc., containing interesting articles or paragraphs. One of these newspapers, a London Daily Telegraph, has been handed to me with marked portions. One article was on looping the loop in an areoplane, and another on “Wireless Weather Forecasts.” But in these notes I am quoting a paragraph headed “ Hero of the War of 1870.” This, of course, was the Franco-Prussian War, which ended in France being shorn of tlie two beautiful provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, an4_ in being foned to pay an indemnity of £200,000,000. In those days, regiments went into action with flags flying. I remember so well the telegrams—there were no cables in those days —flashed across Australia from Adelaide when the mail steamer arrived. One of the first “extraordinarics” to bo issued generally contained an announcement of some French defeat with the loss of so many flags or eagles. My clipping refers to one of those flags:—“From Oran comes the news of the death of Captain Yales, a hero of the war of 1870. Yales, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Froeschwilier, was later taken prisoner at Straebnrg On the night before the town surrendered hie superior officer handed to him. as standard-bearer, the flag of his regiment, asking him what he meant to do with it. ‘Save it,’ said Vales, with military brevity, and he kept his word. The staff he broke and burned, and the flag itself ho wrapped round his body, and on the morrow he passed before the Prussian linr-s with the precious relic on his breast. For six months ho wore it thus in captivity in Germany, and when his release came he brought it back to Franco. Again and again the flag was in danger, and was onlv saved by the lieutenant’s strategy and presence of mind. One day it was announced that the prisoners were to be stripped and searched on the morrow. Vales unrolled the flag and concealed it in the bolster of his bed. But a German noncommissioned officer found the bolster too comfortable for a prisoner, and transferred it to his own rooms. Next day Yales procured a second and more luxurious bolster, which he took care to display to advantage. The trick succeeded. The "German soldier exchanged bolsters again, and the flag was once more in Vales’s keeping. He received in reward for his conduct not only the Legion of Honour, but, what he valued still more, the right to retain a tassel from the flag he had saved.” Through the courtesy of “ Panax” I am placed in possession of the “Guido to the Whales and Dolphins of New Zealand,” an illustrated pamphlet giving a general outline of those sea mammals, but having special reference to the Okarito whale which was stranded on the West Coast, and the skeleton of which is now mounted in the Christchurch Museum. When news of the find was icoeived in Christchurch, Mr Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S., the curator of the Museum, went overland to inspect it, and spent many days in stripping the skeleton, though it was not until months after that, at a cost of £4OO, that the skeleton arrived in Christchurch. When Mr Waite saw it —and smelt it!—in the distance it looked like an upturned ship. It had already begun to rot, and the sand was saturated with the oil; not only that, but the oil had an appreciable modifying effect on the incoming breakers. Unfortunately for the finders, the whalebone had disappeared, perhaps with ago, just as our teeth disappear from the same cause. Here are a few figures to give an idea of this marine mammoth:—Length, 87ft; length of head, 21 ft; length of lower jaw, 20ft Bin; length of paddle, lift 9in; width <sf tail flukes. 21ft The cranium, not including sonic of tho bones, weighed 1 ton 9cwt, and the lower jaws together, 1 ton scwt In the palmy days of tho whaling industry very few such fine specimens were found. Boys and girls should read Frank Bullen’s “ Cruise of the Cachalot,” now obtainable in cloth, at Is 3d or less; but better still —for seniors at any rate,—-got “Tho Old Whaling Davs,” by Mr Robt M'Nab, who has paralleled Ur Hoc-ken’s generosity by giving his library of New Zealand literature to Dunedin and the dominion. “A. W.V (St. Clair) specimen is one of the stick insects. They arc plentiful enough, but owing to their mimicry of Nature in colour and resemblance to twigs they are not so often seen. It is unusual though to find them in a house. Not long ago I gave a description of them, so cannot

afford space now for a repetition. Fine specimens can be seen in the Museum. If “A W.” is further interested, I suggest going to the Free Library end reading the description of Stick Insects given on pp. 110, 111, Hudson’s “Manual of New Zealand Entomology,” and at the same time studying plate 19. “J. A. J.’s” (Nasoby) enclosures I am sending on to Mr Kirk to see if that gentleman can enlighten ue. The flies are knocked about a great deal; can two or three more be sent imbedded in cotton wool in a metal. match box ? “J. Rimu” (Catlins) is a keen observer. In his note he asks what is Dr Fulton s authority for saying that the long-tailed cuckoo lays her egg in the nest of a robin or a native canary. I canot saj', but this sentence occurs in a synopsis of a paper he read before tho Science Conference in Dunedin in 1904: “The long-tailed cuckoo invariably chooses an open or cup shaped and not a domed or covercd-in nest and the nest of tho tomtit exhibited was a fa.v sample of the nest of the former class 'The commonest host in both South and North Islands is the native canary orthonyx. but tho tui, mocker, robin, white-eye, and some of tho imported birds are also imposed on.” As Dr Fulton has been gathering data on the cuckoos for 30 years or more, I think he will have good grounds for any statement no may make as a fact concerning these buds. H. W. Sprott (Momona) sends along a very flattering letter. When I undertook tho responsibilities of these columns I had mainly in view our teachers and pupils: but it seems others are interested, too. When the cablegrams appeared telling us what Captain Scott’s ideas were on bringing up his son one or two of our teachers road the messages to their pupils, and drew attention to the two points standing out — taking a direct interest in Nature and leading the strenuous life. If Captain Scott’s advice were universally applied a good deal of discontent, inferior work, and evil living would vanish. Keeping busy with a vocation and spending spare time in an avocation would give no time for regrettable actions. If Mr Sprott has some Interesting notes we shall all be glad to read them. By the bye, Mr Sprott refers to Burns’s verses on a mouse. “To a Mountain Daisy” is a parallel in the vegetable kingdom. It opens with— Wee modest, crimson-tipped flower, Thou’s met me in an evil hour; For I maun crush amang the stouro Thy slender stem; To spare thee now is past my power Thou bonnie gem. Take, too, the address to the wounded hare, of which these are the first and last verses: Inhuman man! Curse on thy barb’rous art, And blasted be thy murder-aiming eye; May never pity soothe thee with a sigh, Nor ever pleasure glad thy cruel heart. Oft as by winding Nith I, musing, wait The sober eve, or hail the cheerful dawn. I’ll miss thee sporting o’er the dewy lawn, And curse the ruffian’s aim, and mourn thy hapless fate. Burns’s poems are full of apt refcrenccsto Nature. Did not “W. B.” a year or two ago give us many examples? It is a wonder to me that teacher? arc not wider readers than they are, and that they do not open up more literary vistae for their pupils than they do. Often enough, too, books that are not really literary contain extracts worth reading. Take the following from. Rex Beach’s “Tho Iron Trail”: —“In one way the southern coast of Alaska may be said to be perhaps a million years younger than any [other] land on this continent, for it is still in the glacial period. Tlic vast alluvial plains and valleys of tho interior are rimmed in to tho southward and shut off from tho Pacific by a well-nigh impassable mountain barrier, the top of which is capped with perpetual snow. Its gorges for the most, part run rivers of ice instead of water. Europe has nothing like those glaciers, which overflow the Alaskan valleys and submerge the hills, for many of them contain more ice than tlie whole of Switzerland. This range is the Andes of the north, and it curves westward in a magnificent sweep, hugging the shore for a thousand leagues. Against it the sea beats storruily ; its frozen crest is played upon by constant rains and fogs and blizzards. But ever beyond lies a land of sunshine, of long, dry. golden days. “ Into tide chaos of cliff, .and peak, and slanting canyon midway to the westward ; s let King Phillip Sound, a sheet of water dotted with islands and framed by forests. It reaches inland with long, crooked, tentacles, which end like talons in living ice.” Here is a shorter piece: “ I don’t make the weather at Kyaß Bay. Satan himself docs that. Twenty miles offshore it may be calm, and inside it may be blowing a gale. That’s duo to the glaciers. Those icefields inland and tlie warm air from tho Japanese current offshore kick up some funny atmospheric pranks.” Rex Beach and Jack London in thorr Alaska writing are vividly graphic. They are Nature students, and paint living word pictures. Others, of course, are equally good, and if teachers when reading, ‘marked brilliant pieces, or pieces conveying information in a picturesque manner and read these in school tlie effect on many would bo far-reaching. I am afraid that my meteorological notes, though in the editor’s hands, will have to to bo held over uiuid next week. We cannot expect extra space when every hour is making local history which must be duly recorded. Momona, November 9. Dear “ Magister.”—l have been particularly impressed by some words written by Captain Scott in one of those brave letters which the public arc now reading, and which was written by him in tho presence of death in the groat white solitudes of the uttermost south. In a letter to his wife, and referring to their little son Peter, ho says: “Make the boy interested in natural history if you can ; it is better than games.” And I feel convinced that Lady Scott will carry out the wishes of her bravo husband, so that little Peter Scott may grow up to bo tho brave, courteous, and true-hearted gentleman that his father was. “Our Public Schools Column” is doing much to implant in the hearts of our young boys and girls a love for natural historj', anil I feel sure that in future years many r. Nature lover will look back and trace to the influence of “ Magister” his first desiro to exploit the wonderful fields of Nature, and will think with gratitude of the encouragement and assistance given him through the medium of “Our Public Schools Column.” What a pleasure it is to moot with a bov or girl keenly interested in tho wonderful creations of Nature 1 We have an instinctive feeling that that boy or

girl will do something in the world. At any rate, we have in our hearts the confident feeling that never will there be anyhjng moan or base in them. Tho boy or girl who feels an inclination to ju'otect or care for the wild creatures of our fields and woods must grow up to be brave and generous of heart. The existence of the wild creatures of Nature depends so much upon our protection of them. We can do so much to save them from destruction. So, boys and girls, let us not ally ourselves with their many natural enemies; but let us each and all do our best to protect them, especially the native birds of our country, which require so much care and protection at our hands. If you cultivate a love for Nature in your early years it will influence your after life in many ways, and the care and protection which you extend to Nature’s creatures you will instinctively extend in after life to those of your follows who are weaker than yourselves. How many of you have read those exquisite lines of Burns “To a Mouse,” and have thought of the torrent of sorrow and remorse surging in the heart of the immortal ploughman as ho contemplates tho work of his own hands, done unwittingly, and sees the nest of the “wee sleekit, cow’rin’ timorous beastie,” cast to the four winds of heaven? “ Thy woe bit hoosie, too. in ruins, It's silly wa’s the win’s arc strewin’! And uaethin’ noo to big a new ane O’ foggage green, And bleak December win’s ensuein’ Baith snell an’ keen!” Burns was a true Nature lover, and wo know how the love of his groat heart went out to the follows of his own race. And now, “ Magister,’ in conclusion, I might say that 1 had a twofold purpose in writing this letter —firstly, to appfeal to all boys and girls who might read this letter to make a study of Nature that they might grow up to bo good and brave men and women; and, secondly, to thank you for many pleasant and profitable hours spent in the perusal of your excellent columns. At a future date I may record some of my observations of bird life in the Hawke’s Bay bush. —Yours very truly, Hugh Wilson Spkott. Papatowai. Dear “Magister,”—The bronze cuckoo Is very scarce in Catlins this season. I did not hoar it till October 14, and have heard very few since. I think the reason is tho want of tho black larva and moth Myctomera annulata. I have looked over the native groundsel and ragwort, the plants tho larva foods on. and it ie hard to find one. The black moth starts to fly about October 7, and is very plentiful by tlie 15th, but I saw the first one to-day, November 9. By the accounts of the bronze cuckoo it is thought to be a very large bird. It turns the scale at half an ounce, but cannot turn it at three-quarters. I saw a young cuckoo in a warbler’s nest two days before it flew. It seemed very comfortable. I noticed in the column a few weeks back Dr Fulton stating that the long-tailed cuckoo laid its egg in the native canary's and the robin’s nest. What authority has he for saying so? I saw a long-tailed cuckoo at a canary’s nest, and shot it; it had swallowed three young ones out of tho nest, and did not lay an egg in it. In my last letter, “Magister,” you referred to a yellow canary being let loose. Yellow is an inherited colour, and it would remain, but it is a successive change the extent to which a thing varies. There is no intermediate link. It would be like halfbred birds going with pure. The offsprings would take three years to come back; but would it be back or forward? I don’t think selection is the explanation of tpyes.— Yours truly, “J,” Rimu. Nascby, November 11 Dear “Magister,”—Nowadays when any odd thing is found the first remark made i? “Send it to ‘Magister.’ ” And tho next two issues of the Witness are eagerly awaited. Sometimes, though not often, we notice that you have odd things sent ro you that seem to be novelties, and we wonder whether the accompanying objects arc of that description. They are quite new to the finders. I have enclosed them in an empty bicycle repair outfit tin, which I trust will preserve them from damage until you sec them. The stalk of tu-> sock (covered as you see it) was found in a gully not far from Naseby. So far as could ne seen it was the only stalk in the whole gully similarly affected. The black stuff seems to bo some form of fungus. But the odd thing was that there was an enormous swarm of small flies atached tq the black stuff. Tho flics, two of which are enclosed, are vicious-looking things, with claw-like feet, wings longer than their bodies, and very largo eyes. Tho flies are new to us, as is also the fungus. It seemed as if tho flics were sipping what appears to bo honey or nectar from the fungus, but we should like to hear anything that you care to say about the things. Is it of any interest to hear that there is a scale on tho wild broom resembling very closely tho scale that often appears on fruit trees? There is also a two-winged fly that lives and moves and has its being in a small excrescence at the base of a poplar leaf. — Yours truly. ,T. A. J. Coney Hill road, St. Clair. Nov 10. Dear “ Magister.”—l am sending you a funny-looking insect which I found in one of my rooms this morning sticking to tho plastered wall. It looks like the skeleton of a dragon fly, and I thought it was dead at first, yet I was rot sure, as the legs seemed quite limber. So I put it on a plate and watched it for some time, when it began to move, and would have got away had I not placed a cover over it. I know you are interested in these thintrs, and hope you will get it all right. Will you kindly describe what kind of an insect it is through the Public Schools Column, as I always read that column, and am always interested in it although I am not always interested in insects? You may do what you like with tho insect when you get it, as I do not wish it back. —Yours sincerely, A. W."