SCIENCE SIFTINGS

New Zealand Tablet, 29 December 1921, Page 46

SCIENCE SIFTINGS

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the; ARDAGH CHALICE. - ' The following extracts, descriptive of the world-famed Ardagh Chalice, are taken from Coffey’s Guide to the Royal Irish Academy Collection of Celtic Antiquities Preserved in'the National Museum, Dublin. It is difficult, as one reads of the perfection of workmanship,, the beauty of design, and the wealth of ornament to be found in this masterpiece, to realise that it was-made over 1000 years ago. Its date is uncertain, but it would appear,; from expert verdicts, to belong to the eighth or, early ninth century. •,'

“The chalice is composed chiefly of gold, silver, and bronze, with rich settings of enamel and amber. In its construction 354 different with 20 rivets, are inclu- ' ded. The band that surrounds the bowl,, between the two silver. rings, consist of panels of fine filigree work, divided by..half-beads of cloisonne enamel. The ornaments on each side of the chalice are divided into panels and decorated with gold spirals, which are finely beaded. In the centres are fine cloisonne'enamels, and on the margin of the circle are four small settings, two of amber and two of blue glass. The stem of gilt bronze is decorated with interlaced work. The very beautiful design on the under side of the foot is richly ornamented with interlaced patterns trumpet and zoomorphic ornament, the two last divided by a circle of amber surrounding a large crystal set in a second circle of amber. Below each handle are three fine bosses of cloisonne enamel, each surrounded by a circle of amber. The centres of the lowest of these bosses are filled with large gold, granulae work, impressed on the enamel when soft.” THE FLY’S TONGUE. ' --V : The so-called tongue of . the fly is not truly a tongue, but a tube with an expanded end, which the scientists term a ‘‘ligula.” Through this ligula the fly obtains its nourishment. The fly does not need to get down to its food, but draws it upward byjneans of this trunk or proboscis. Nature recognised the fact that the insect had many enemies and that it must therefore take up in the shortest possible time the food it might discover. For that purpose the tongue is fitted at its free end with a curious padlike modification of the ordinary tracheal structure, which has puzzled some of those who have studied its-uses. ~ Much discussion has arisen in regard to the reason for this peculiar formation of the fly’s tongue, but it appears, to be generally conceded by entomologists that nature has provided these singular ramifications of the instrument to assist in quickly taking up the drop of sweet or other liquid material. These narrow strips of horny substance that form the 'proboscis are curved, and are united to one another by a membrane that forms a tube split along the border of the tongue where it comes in contact with the food. '' : A FOREST OP DWARFS. By methods as drastic in their way as the Chinese ■ dwarfing of the feet of their women, the Japanese gardeners rear pines and other forest trees, which when fully grown are not more than a foot or two high. But in England (observes Everyday Science ) there is a forest of dwarfs none of which ever increase in -size, but remain and- have remained : for 500 years only 10ft high: -They are the dwarf oaks of : Wistman s Wood, on Dartmoor. Their position is curious. They extend' for about five acres in the centre of the moor,l at an elevation of 1500 ft, and they spring up in the deep - crevices of huge granite blocks, locally called a “clatter.’’There is no soil to be seen. The rocks are heaped together in such a precipitous confusion that no grazing animals ever : cross the forest track. The toy-like oaks are in all respects remarkable. Most of them are of bushy or scrubby habit* some of ■ them only 4ft in height, • with fantastically gnarled* and twisted branches, and often overgrown with shaggy lichens," and hanging moss, yet they are healthy, acorn-i bearing trees, and yet none of them seems to be dead or dying. At the first glance they are like the stunted trees of Japan, but their sturdy little trunks measure 60 to 70 inches round. The wood was mentioed 300 years ago by a local historian, who described it in ; - detail just as it exists to-day. It is believed to be a. survivor of .-.other similar - groves which may once have occupied scattered areas upon ; the moor, - and; owing- to the protection :of -the: granite ram- * part, it‘has survived-them: X;. ’ ,