Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1845-11-21
CUht1SpTlES OF SCIENCE.

CUht0StTiES OF SCIENCE.
TIE fc'owing passage is from an ad-
dress rec uy delivered before the Me-
chanic'S slilu,c," of New YoDk;
| mention .anss f1c.s. o ly in lpps of
showing yon there il pi"asure in study
ing the Sciences, and when We cone 70
Natural History, We shlli Fl I'D the stuIy
OF that sill more amusing. The animol ,
aud vegetable worlds are WILL worthy Of
ohservato". Probably you all know what
is meant by cycIojd. five max a SPOT
in the periphery oil a wheel, tr yelling on
plane, the figure which that spot de-
scrbes is cyc,ojd. Now, there il 10 f.
guIe in which "A tody ran lie moved with
50 much velocity and with such rcguari-
ty Of speed, not even in straight line
Mathemalicians discovered th.s nola great
many years ago; Iut Natures God taught
it to the eagle before mathematics were
invented; and whea the eagle pounces
upon his prey he describes acycIoid.
A globe placed in water, or in ar, in
moving meets with rcsis arcp, and its We
IociIy is retarded II you alter the g'oje
to the form Of an egg, there will be less
RESISTANCE. And ten there is form call
ed the solid OF least resistance, which ma
thpmatjrianA have studied long line to
discover and when they had discovered
it, they found they had the form Of fsh'-
he ad! Nature had "rgged cur" The fish
with Just such a figure.
The feathers Of birls and zach parlicu-
lar pant Of them are arranged at such an
angle as 10 Ue mos. Efficient in assisting
fl .ht. The human eye has a mrror OF
which they are conveyed 10 the brains and
thus we are enabled to take an interest in
objects which p SIS teiore the eye. Now,
when the eye is too convex, We use one
kind Of glasses to correct the tauE and i
it be not convex enough, or il we wisl
to look AZ oIjec S at distance, We Wse
glasses Of oIcn,ireIy another description.
Eut birds cannot get spectacIes. Prov
idence his given 'hcm mellIod Of sup
plying the deficiency. They have The
power Of cOnWlctng the eye, OF making
il more convex, 30 a: 10 see the sEeCk
which GoN in the atmosphere, aud caDct
Them for TODD; also, fl.tr"iug the eye
to see Il great dstanCr, and observe whs.
ther any VWltmp ~ threatening them. II
addition 10 this they have film or coatin2
whicii can le suddenly thrown over The
eye 10 rrcteCt l.; ecauSe at The velocity
with which they Fly, AM with the delicate
tex!Nre OF Their eye, he cas-! speck Of
dust woWd act uPon II as a penkniie
thrust iUlo The human e,ei aud the same
thing exists 10 some extent in tie eyes o
he hose. The horse b n arge eye vp'
Ty liabe 10 tke dnst. This ccatng in d
! hcrsc's We is called HAw, or lhitd Pyr-
lid, and YOU vii wach closely, you may
see it descend and lptarn with electric
velocity. 1t cI, ars away the dNst anC
protects the eye from injury. II the eye
shcuId catch cold, the haw haIdpns and
projects, and ignorant persons cut it Of
and thus destroy this safeguard.
Eou all know, if you take pclnd Of
iron, make Of it rod foot 10 =, Y hl'
weight it will support. Lat if it lc a
hollow rod it will support a weigh; m1ny
times greater than before. Nature seems
70 have taken advantage Of this, also, long
before malhematciuns had discover d it,
and all the Ionps Of animals are hollow
The homes OF birds are large, because they
must BIZ suorg to move their large wings
with sufic Put velocuy; nut they must o!.
30 Le light, in order to Iloal easily upon the
air. Birds also illustrate another fact in
natural phi'o ophy. If you take Tag,
make it air tight, and put it under water,
it will support a large weight. Now, a
bird has such an air bag, When he wish
ps to deerend, h. congresses it at will,
and falls rapidly; when he would raise, he
increases it, and floats with ease. lie has
also tie power Of forcing air into the ho!.
low parts of the ody, and thus to asbjst
| his flight. The sume thing may be OBJ
served in fish. They have also an air bag
10 enable them to rise or sink in the Wa
ter till they find their proper tempera.
ture.
If they wish 10 rise they increase !, and
il they wish to sink they compress ii, and
down they go. Sometimes the fish, ir
sinking, make too strong an effort tr CON.