Science Sittings

New Zealand Tablet, 5 November 1908, Page 35

Science Sittings

BY -VOLT

. - Bird-Machines. If, as is reported, M. Marcel. Deprez, a French engineer, has discovered a method by which "men can fly like birds, he has been more fortunate than his predecessors in the same field of invention. As long ago as 1872 M. Clement Ader, of Paris, spenf many years and more than in designing an artificial bird for the purpose of human flight. The bird was 54ft across, and was driven by a motor propelling-screw ; but, although it is said to have flown a distance of 300 yards, nothing practical seems to have come of it. Herr Lilienthal sacrificed his "life in similar experiments with a flying machine made by stretching linen over a scientifically curved wooden frame. Running down the slope of a hill against the wind, with the apparatus held in position by his arms, he was able to sail over a distance of a few hundred yards ; but in his last flight in August, 1896, he fell to the ground after covering 200 yards, and fractured- his spine. Messrs. E. P. Frost, R. F. Moore, and many others have experimented with ' bird-machines,' but all with unsatisfactory results. The Bamboo. The word bamboo suggests to most people a faithful fishing rod or a dainty fan. To the Japanese and Chinese, who are the most practical agriculturists in the world, it is as indispensable as the white pine to the American farmer. They are not only dependent upon it for much of their building material, but make their ropes, mats, kitchen utensils, and innumerable other articles out of" it. There are some varieties of the bamboo plant, from the species which is woven into mats to the tall bamboo tree which the Chinaman uses for the mast of his large boat. One variety is cultivated as a vegetable and the young shoots eaten like asparagus, or they may be salted, pickled, or preserved. The rapidity of growth of the bamboo is perhaps its most wonderful characteristic. There are actual records of a bamboo growing three feet in a single day, or at the rate of one and a half inches an hour. Varieties of bamboo are found everywhere in Japan, even where there are heavy falls of snow in winter. It is a popular misconception that bamboos grow only in the tropics. Japan is a land of bamboos, and yet where these plants grow it is not so warm in winter as it is in California. The Cactus. \ The cactus is the strangest and most fascinating plant in the world. Some specimens are no ' larger than a thimble, while - others often attain a height of 60ft., and weigh several tons. Scientists state these larger plants are as much as 2000 years old. The ' Water barrel of the desert ' is the name given 40 the giant cactus of America, for the plant conains a fluid which is a fair substitute for water. Paper of an excellent quality is made from another variety of cactus — the yucca — while the agave" species, largely' grown in Mexico, supplies the .Mexican with his national drink. This latter plant may be likened to a goodsized bush made" up of a series of flat armored blades radiating from a central bulb. The ' honey water 'is found in the innermost leaves, which roll themselves into a conical shape. A Mexican extracts the liquid by sucking it into a vessel which much resembles a pumpkin. After he has drawn as much of the fluid as.possible into his pumpkin he empties it into the pigskins on the donkey's back and conveys it to. the plantation brewery, where it is placed in tanks'to ferment. After fermentation has taken place it is ready for sale, and' is known throughout Mexico as Pulque. To the stranger this is anything but an appetising beverage ; it looks very much like dirty soapy water, » arid its smell is most offensive.