SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 4 March 1920, Page 46

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

(By “Volt.”)

Rare Tropical Woods. The woodlands of temperate climes yield of course the bulk of the world’s lumber, but comparatively few treasures; but those of the tropics are filled with rare cabinet woods, spice woods, dye woods, and many with medicinal virtues. Their name is legion. Some are of vital importance, too, in the industries, such as the rubber and guttapercha, trees. The forest resources of the Philippines are" only slightly explored, but they are known to contain vast stores of wood products representing incalculable wealth. i hey n ere practically untouched during the Spanish regime, and fortunately for the future of the islands, they have been wisely administered since the American occupation. L Origin of the Gas Jet. A woman’s thimble is said to have been the means of suggesting the first gas burner. William Murdock, the inventor, first burned the gas simply as a flame from the end of a pipe. One day in an emergency ho wished to stop the illumination. Hurriedly looking around for something, Murdock seized his wife’s thimble and thrust it over the light, which was immediately extinguished. There was a strong odor of gas, however, and the experimenter applied a light to the thimble, discovering that it was full of holes, through which tiny jets of flame appeared.. The importance of the result was that the illumination from those two or three tiny jets was much brighter than had been given by the great flare from the end of the pipe. Acting on the principle which this chance discovery revealed, he constructed what was known as the Cockspur burner. Why Men Become Bald. Bach time a man lifts his hat his head experiences a sudden change of temperature, and it is this constant heating and cooling of his head, according to a recent .medical writer, which causes the hair to drop out in the long run. It is very seldom that soldiers go bald early, for they do not raise their hats, but salute. Women, too, never go bald so soon as men ; that is because their hats are retained on their heads when they are out of doors, and are only taken off when indoors. Another reason why men go bald is said to be because they so often wear their hair clipped close. Swimming Powers of Animals. ' Have you ever noticed a gull dropping on to the sea how it spreads its wings high so that the feathers shall not be wetted? If a gull’s wing-feathers got wot it cannot rise until they dry. Throw a mouse into the water. It can swim a little, but as soon as its fur is soaked down it goes, and drowns. So, too, in the case of a rabbit. As soon as its fur is wet, it is done for. A mole can swim like anything, but a monkey is very helpless in the water. Almost all land birds drown very rapidly j if unlucky enough to fall into the They strike out with their legs, move round and round in a circle, but cannot get off the water. Lions and tigers are very good swimmers, and do not share the common cats’ hatred for the water. But of all the cat tribe the South American jaguar is the finest performer in the water. It seems often to plunge in for mere joy of’ a swim. A rabbit, as we have said, drowns as soon as its fur is soaked through, yet curiously enough its near relative, the hare, swims quite well, and will often cross a river when hunted. Bears are good swimmers, even those that usually live far from large sheets of water, and the common rat is no mean performer. One of the best of animal swimmers is the horse. Horses have been known to swim a river nearly a mile wide simply to get back to their old stables. Deer, too, can all swim well. There are cases of caribou having swum across lakes 10 miles wide when escaping from forest fires.