HERE AND THERE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17037, 10 May 1923, Page 8

HERE AND THERE

AN EYE EVERYTHING. GRAFTING BUTTERFLIES. A wonderful feat has been performed by an Austrian seieuust, who has buo* ceeded m changing the heads or two butterflies! His name is Waiter Fiukler, and he took the head off one insect and made it grow attached to the body of the other, and vice versa. For fiis experiment he ciioee two butterflies of different colours. He cut off then* heads and then grafted the head of the first on the bony oi the second and that of the second on the body of the first. He found that the head* joined up with the bodies in each caae. Both the insects regained their full faculties and seemed none the worse for the change. There were, however, some curious results, in a short time the Duttertiie* lost their oid colouring and took that of the insect to whion the head had belonged, in the same way a ieinaie butterfly (Mi which the head of a male had been grafted became a male. REVERING VEGETABLES. Many vegetables were revered by the ancients, neroules, the man who conquered the Nemean lion, crowned himself with parsley after the combat, while the philosopher* of his time regarded the plant as an emblem of .joy and festivity. But even more was thought of the cabbage. it was regarded as a god, and altars were raised to it. That it preserved those who partook of it from drunkenness, and that it was a remedy against certain forma of paralysis, was the belief of Greeks and Romans. The onion was first discovered in Egypt, where, it seems, the Hebrews had been cultivating it for several centures before Alexander introduced it into Greece for the purpose of feeding his enormous armies. This was done in the belief that the onion inspired courage. MEASURING GROWTH OF PLANTS A wonderful machine has been invented which measures the growth of plants. A small thread conuects the plant with the appartus, which consists of an electrical battery and a drum which revolves slowly. Above this drum is a pen worked by electricity. As the plant grows the thread slackens and causes a connection between the battery and the pen. I’he latter drops on to the drum and makes a mark. At the same time a small rod is pushed up, which tightens the string again. Thus the drum shows the growth ef the plant over a given period. AN ISLAND Ox CHURCHES. One of the most remarkable islands in th© world is Patinos, where John wrote the Book of Revelation. It was always the destination of thousands of pilgrims, and in the odd aaya the rich man who wished to expiate his sins usually did so by building a church. The result is that tin* tin/ islands contains the ruins of no fewer than 300 churches. The entire population numbers about 4,000, and it ia considerably larger nov than it v»* when most of the buildings were founded. As there are only <OO houses on the island there is almost a church for each two families. The people are Greeks, whose only occupation is sponge-fishiug, though there used at one time to be a trade in the manufacture of stockings. Curiously enough, though the island lies quite close to Turkey, there has never at any time been a mosque upon it. Possibly the Mohammedans could not find room for one. BE A PILOT. •If you want to make money, become a pilot. Many Thames pilots get more than £IOOO a year. The total number of pilots at work in the London district is i*3o. Last year they piloted 33,249 British ships and 14,414 ioreign vessels, for which they received £344,890. Three hundred and eighteen pilots earned on an average £IU63 Is 9d each, while six at Rochester averaged JE1063 6s Bd. Of course, not everyone can be a pilot. To enter the profession a man must first be a ship’s officer with a master’s certificate for seven years. Then he must spend three months learning every inch of the waters through which he is to pilot vessels, while he must be able to pass a yearly examination in local geography. WORLD S GREATEST SMOKER. Not long ago there died in Holland a certain Mynheer van Klees. who could justly claim to have been the world’s greatest smoker. He seldom smoked leea than a pound of tobacco a day, and sometimes managed to turn as many as ten pounds into blue clouds in a week ! In spite of this he lived to be eighty-one. It is calculated that during his lifetime he consumed eleven tons of tobacco—enough to make a pile as big as a large house. Another great smoker kept a careful record for 45 years. During that time he enjoyed 628,713 cigars, which works out at 38 a day ! It was lucky for him that he lived in Austria, where cigars could be obtained for less than a penny each. NIAGARA THRILL. A thrilling story of a Canadian youth’s flirtation with death in his attempt to enter the United States without paying the bead tax of eight dollars, the Niagara Falls. With bated breath, a group of people watched this youth traversing nonchalantly, like a tight-rope walker, the narrow girder beneath the cantilever bridge, which rises 150 ft above the rapids, from the Canadian to the American side. The path selected was lOin w ide, and a mis step would have meant a plunge to death into the raging torrent of the whirlpool rapids beneath. Several times the hoy almost ran. in his eagerness to gain his objective, and the crowd sighed with relief when his foot touched the abutment on the American side. The youth, whose name is I<eo Castle, is 18 years of age. He had previously been barred entrance to the United States because he was unable to pay the eight dollars head tax. In consequence, he chose the more hazardous route. Sad to relate, when he achieved his goal, immigration officials seized him and marched him back to Canada. Blondin, the famous tight-rope walker, it may bo recalled, crossed the falls three times —twice in 1859. and again in 1860; and a man named Dixon crossed the river on a wire rope below the falls in 1890. BOILER USED AS HOUSE. “ Never mind me, my house is on fire,"' cried a retired sea captain, who was found in a street of San Francisco with his clothes ablaze. He pointed to a big, rusty boiler, standing in .*v vacant plot, amid small piles of debris from buildings which had been fitted up like a ship's cabin. The ceiling and walls were painted white, and altogether the strange abode was furnished very comfortably, even to the extent of a batli tub. For 17 years Captain John M’Kenzie had resided there. Hi* house was destroyed by the earthquake, and he crawled one night into the boiler to sleep. Finding it comfortable, he decided to make it hit borne.