Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 20 December 1906, Page 35

Science Siftings

By 'Volt/

,' '_ V When Reptiles Die. , •, > " Reptiles lately' die in the day li'gjit — usually {between high t'f all- and"^" midnight. Many of them have -an-, in-,, stinctjLv.e,. :pr£?ciejici£ \of ""death, "and seek *". 'particular places' > to £■ await*? the vendj while those whose lives -" are' spent .underground come to the surface before death. Snakes, -chameleons, crocodiles, and" turtles-" show* in " their faces. ".the" • approach of death. ~ '"><* <•' ,--_♦ ; A Natural Mystery. _,-. , .'- High in the mountains of the State of Vera Cruz, an immense lake ol quicksilver, valued at many- million pounds, has, Jjeen discovered.'. Volcanic aelio'n 7 /\ itMs believed; smelted the -quicksilver out of 'the cinnabar 'ore and :it ran down and filled the depression. it is proposed to bring " down the" "precious product through a tunnel-. \ , — - ' \ '■ * The Lake of Geneva. , , - - According to M. Boson,- a Swiss meteorologist, the La>k€- Of- ,G-ene.va possesses , the q.uality of -a -kind '.of* natural seismometer ,in the case of volcanoes. The lake seems -to -be liable"; to^ periods of severe^ _depression' and' of equally severe upheaval, and these violent oscillations are, . according to %he professor, mere-. - ly the outward signs of agitation in the bowels *o4r; the earth which may. -be relied' upon ,to i break put-r somewhere, on the surface. ~ ~ J ' S \ "■ A . -Remarkable Operation. I.1 '. \ r/V-" i. A remarkable hair ball from the stomach of a young ' girl has ' been^ brought" to notfice by Professor- Von v - Bramann of „ Halle. . She had .a haoit of swallowing^ ends Mtten from her long hair, forming in time / k\\ bulky aqcumulation,- thought felt only-- as : " " a slight/pressure, and- when ,the mass was removed by an- operaticm. it was found to have shaped itself to ,the ~ cavity, -like a a' mold. Iron ' tonics 'had"-" changed the Ught' color to black. - -- r Effect of Vibration. In a gun factory a great bar of steel, weighing; five . hundred pounds,, and eight feet in, length, was suspended" vertically by a very -delicate chain. Near-by a -.'common .bottle . cork r was. suspended, by ' "a'- silk" thread?' The" purpose- was to- bhow that the cork would set the ■ steel -bar in mo-tfonv- 1 It seemed impossible. The cork was swung gently against the steel bar, and, the steel . bar remained mot ; i6riles's.> But s it was done again ," andagain and again -for ten- minutes, ' aud -lo ! at the end L:~L :~ of that time -'the bar ' gave evidence -of feeling /uncomfortable < a sort^of .nervous, chill ran over it. Ten " utes later and the chill' was . followed _by vibrations I .':*' At the end of half^ an hour the-' great bar was swing- • tag like the 1 pendulum of ,a clock. -- - ' ■ 1" ( . _ The Chimpanzee. » /. " . Liberia is the home of -the chimpanzee, of the beautiful monkey %nowiv as' 'Dandy Jack,'' of the water " 'cnevrotains,. and: such strange beaste as the manatee and the armadillo. The chimpanzee is said to _ bear a real relation 1 to man, and people who do- notjenter- . tain that view will be able" to gauge the sagacity- of the\_ animal from* the following interesting .Snecdote :— ' 1 saw- in 1904: a youiig - female chimpanzee from the ' Cavalla River -in the possession of the s German- Consub at Cape' Palmas. It '".would have been difficult to' meet ' with a. more Iranian creature nob actually- of the genus homo. This chimpanzee lived in her owner's .'.house as . ~a child might -have 'done,, witfh a negro nurse to look 'after her. She was generally allowed complete lib- - erty, and "did" not abuse, this - freedom by breaking or, "Spoiling" anything' within her reach, and, strange vto say, : was- wonderfully ■ clean in -her habits,, a -virtue- • too - often wanting in chimpanzees. ' •• Puppe would come when" her name -was called and fling herself into' 'jhei'7 1 masji.ei-'!s arms. Pujipe's "sympathy with stf angers? was dis-"' criminating. It she liked -the person. introd'uoed. v \ she. - would -climb- on- his knee and "tender-, charming- tear es-^ ses, pushing- out the long lips in a pout to he kissed. ..--i.\ v.-;-.- -, - :,'.: ,'. :•-.;- "."• ' '-"'V/V,, \ '/j