Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-06-20
CURIOSITIES OF SCIENCE.

Inc following passage is from an address re-
Gently delivered before the Mechanics Institute of
New York:
mention these facts, only in hope of showing
you that there is pleasure in studying the sciences,
and when come to Natural History. we shall
find the study of that still more amusing. The
animal and vegetable worlds well worthy OBJ
servation. Probably you all know what is meant
by cycioid. If we make spot IN the periphery
of wheel, travelling plane, the figure which
that spot describes is a cycloid. Now, there is no
figure in which body can be moved with so much
velocity and such regularity Of speed not even in
a straight line. Mahematicans discovered this
not great many years ago; but Natures God
taught it to the eagle before mathematics were in
vented and when the eagle pounces upon his
prey, he describes ycloid
A globe placed in water, or in air, in moving
meets with resistance, and its velocity Is retarded.
If you alter the globe to the form of egg, there
will be less resistance. And then there is form
called the solid of least resistance, which mathenla
tcians have studied long time to discover; and
when they had discovered it, they found they had
the torn of fsh's head Nature has rugged out
the fish with Just such figure.
The feathers of birds and each particular part of
them are arranged at such an angle as 10 be most
efficient in assisting flight. The human eye has a
mirror on which they are conveyed to the brain {;
and thus we are enabled to take interest in OBJ
iecls which pass before the eye. Now when the
eye is too convex we use one kind OF glasses to
correct the fault and if it be not convex enough,
or if we wish to look at objects at distance, we
use glasses of entirely another description
Bit birds cannot get spectacles Providence has
| given them method Of supplying The deficiency
i They have the power Of contracting the eye, OF
| making it more convex, so az to see the specks
which float in the atmosphere, and catch them fol
food and also fattening the eye to see to grea
distance and observe whether any vu!ture is threat
ening them. In addition to this they have a hlI
NNl cal bp Suddenly thrown
eve to protect it because at the velocity will
which they 1y, and with the delicate texture o.
their eve, the least speck of dust would act upoI
! it, as penknife thrust into the human eye. Tit
film is to protect the eyes and the same thing eX
lists to some extent in the eye of the horse. The
horse has large eye, very liable to take dust
This coating in horses eye is called haD, o
third eyed, and if you will watch closely, yo
may see it descend and return with electric veloci
= ty. II clears away the dust and protects the ey
n from injury. If the eye should catch cold tn
= haw hardens and projects, and ignorant persons Gu
e it off, and thus destroy this safeguard.
You all know if you take pound of iron, maxi
: of it a rod foot long, what weight 1t will support
n But If il be hollow rod il will support weigh
= many times greater than before. Nature seems t
c have taken advantage of this, ALSO long befor
mathematician had discovered it, and all the bone
c of animals are hollow. The bones of birds ar
p large because they must be strong TO move the
+ large wings with sufficient velocity; but they mus
Is also be light i'll order to float easily upon the al
Birds also illustrate another fact in natural philost
N ply. If you take bag, make it air tight, and pit
10 it under water, 1t will support a large weight
h Now, a bird has such an air bag. When he wisl
e es to descend he congresses it at will and falls RI
Is pidly; when he would rise, he increases it an
le floats with ease. lie also has the power of forcr
rs air into the hollow parts Of the body and thus
d, assist his flight The same thing may be ob ervC
ID in fishes. They have also an air bag to enab
i'll them to rise or sink IN the water till they find the
ii proper temperature.
II they wish to rise they increase it, and il tn,
Id wish to sink they compress it, and down they 9
r. Sometimes the fish in sinking makes too strong
re effort to compress his air bag: then down he go
at to the botlon and there remains for the rest of
ID life Founders and some other fish have no
of bag; and so they are never fund swimming
d. the surface but always caught at the bottom.
no In this way are the principles of science appi
IA to almost every thing. You wish to know how
pack the greatest amount Of bulk in the smallt
he space-the form of cylinders leave large spac
pc between them. Mathemacians labored lol
time to find what figure could be used so as to lo
of no space and at last found that it was the six
on ded figure, and also that three planes ending in
ng point, formed the strongest roof or floor. The
vt ney bee discovered the same things good VIII
i'll, ago. Honeycomb is made up of six sided fgur
ler and the root is built with three plain surfaces co
80 ing to point f+s.