Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 19 October 1916, Page 49

Science Siftings

By 'Volt.

Telling Time by Plants. In Borneo there is a plant called the clock plant. The native men go to work by its movements. It has three leaves, • and when the sun strikes a leaf, it begins to stir; it takes just three-quarters of an hour for each leaf to move its entire distance. In many parts of this country the clock plant is cultivated for a curiosity. Should you find one on your walk, it will be interesting to stand and watch it for a time. If you get up early enough in the morning for your walk, you can time yourself pretty accurately on your trip. At 4 o'clock in the morning the salsify begins to awake ; at 5 the poppies begin to expand their silken petals : by half-past 5 the dandelions are beginning to awaken ; at 6 the bittersweet is wide awake, and at 7 the scarlet pimpernel, which is also called the poor man's weatherglass, begins to peep forth. If the weather is fine, it stays out; if cloudy, back it goes for another nap. At 8 o'clock the water lilies begin to open ; at 9 o'clock the tulips are wide open, if the sun shines brightly, and the marigold soon follows. By high noon the crocus, which opened before dawn, is beginning to go to sleep and at 1 the morning-glories on" the north side of the house are all sound asleep on their drooping steins. At 3 the dandelions in the shade are asleep, and by 4 the four-o'eloeks are beginning to open for the night. About 5 o'clock the nicotina and the datura are spreading their white trumpets, while the gorgeous tulips have begun to close their cups for the night. The evening primrose opens at 6, and the moonflower at 7 in midsummer. Heard at 151 Miles. Records of gunfire in the battles of Flanders heard in various parts of England were; presented to the Royal Meteorological Society by Mr. Miller and Mr. William Marriott. 'Living on fairly high ground, and not far from the east coast, I enjoy specially favorable opportunities of hearing the gun-firing in Flanders, said Mr. Christy. 'My house stands in the parish of Chingal St. James, between two and three miles north-east from Chelmsford, in Essex, and about 125 miles north-west from Ypres. To reach my ear, the sound" had to traverse about 25 miles of Flemish soil, and 75 miles of the water of the North Sea, and just 25 miles of Essex land. The most distant point from Ypres at which the firms; has been heard (so far as I have been able to. ascertain) is Elmdoii, in the north-west corner of Essex, about 151 miles from Ypres, and at an elevation of about 400 feet above sea level.' . The Oldest Living Thing. Towering a giant among giants the oldest living thing that connects the present with the dim past, majestic in its mien, its dignity, and its world-old experience, the ' General Sherman Tree ' is the patriarch of the Sequoia National Park of California. It was already 2000 years old, when Christ was born, says The National Geographic Magazine. In the age when the known world was rocking in the throes of the Trojan Wars and the time that history tells us marked the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, this greatest of Sequoia gigantea was a flourishing sapling of some 20 or 30 .feet in height, and truly under the" especial care of the Creator, who held it safe from the lightnings of His wrath as He did from the attacks of earthly enemies. The ' General Sherman' was discovered in 1879 by James Wolverton, a hunter, and named by him in honor of General William T. Sherman. t It towers 279.9 feet into the sky; its base circumference is 102.8 feet; its greatest diameter, 36.5 feet, and it has developed a diameter of 17.7 feet at a point 100 feet above the ground. v