Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1845-04-15
SCIENCE.

You wish 10 know how to pack the great
est amount OF bulk in the smallest space
The forms OF cylinders leave large spaces
between Them. Ma,hernatcans labored
for long time TO find what fl cure could be
used SO as 10 lose no space; and at last found
that it was the six sided figure, and also,
that three places ending in point formed
the strongest roof or floor. The honey
bee discovered the same thing good while
ago. Honey-comb is made up of SIX sided
| figures, and the roof is built with three
plane surfaces coming 10 point.
If a flexible vessel be emptied Of air, its
sides will be almost crushed together by
the pressure Of the surrounding atmos-
phere. And if tube partly filled with
fluid, be emplied Of its air, the fluid will
rise to the top. The bee understands this,
and when he comes to the cup of the small
honcysuckle and finds that he cannot reach
the sweet matter at its bottom. be thrusls
in his body, shuts up the flower, and then
eXhausts The air, and so possesses himself
Of the dust and honey of the flower. The
feet Of flies and lizards are constructed on
IA similar principle, and thus they with ease
on glass o. ceiling. Their feet are made
so as 10 create vacuum beneath them.and
so they have the pressure of the atmos-
phere; fifteen pounds 10 The square inch,
10 enable them to hold on. The cat has
the same power to a less extent.
Plants require the sunlight, and some
flowers turn themselves towards the sun as
it travels round from east to west. The
sunhower does this. and so does field of
clover. These facts, though we have not
got at the reason Of them, are still extreme
ly interesting.
I You all know that a hollow ball, filled
with gas lighter than The air. will rise
and float away. This fact is BEAUTIFULLY
carried out in nature. The ferna, or I'M
pregnalng dust of lanls, are little balls,
extremely thin, and filled with lighl gas
They are blown off from the male plant
and by falling upon the the female plant,
impregnate it Mature haze so arranged ii
that the unctious matter which causes the
mpregnating par of plants TO ATT CHI to 9TH
ers, never occurs at precisely tie same time
in male and female plants This if,he ia
rina from the male plant hit the male. it
does attach; the balls burst but they are
fastened and take effect. Thus impregna.
ton often takes place many wards distant
In raising Indian corn, you must all have
noticed that a single hill of red corn will
impregnale an entire field, and red corn
will be scattered to long distance through
the whole.
The Virginia creeper throws out iendrls
in the form of loot, with hve toes; each
toe has large number of hairs or spine,
which, entering the small ops nings of brick
or lime, swell and hold on; but when de-
caylng. they shrink and The plant tails off
The vanlla plant oflhe West Indies exhib-
its 4 similar construction, except that il
winds itself around other objects.
The gastric Juice is worthy of remark
II is a tasteess, coorless, inodorous, Iimpld
fluid. like water. and is adapted in differ
rnt animals to different purposes. Ia the
hyena, and other carnlverous animals it
will not dissolve live flesh, but will dissolve
dead flesh. These creatures then live up
on other animals, and even bones are So
uble III their gastric juice, while 1t will not
dissolve vegetables at all. On the other
hand, some animals live eotireI y upon veg
eiabIes, and their gastric juice will not d.s-
solve animal food
We cannot alter the nature Of an animal
by changing its food. 1t will still belong to
the family. In this particular, bees are
better instructed. When hey lose their
queen bee-which is an entirely different
animal from the working beef you pre-
sent another to them within twenty-four
hours. they will not accept of her nor obey
her. They peter taking an ordinary grub
before il has become flier, aud feeding it
with particular food, and treating it in a
peculiar way; and wher it leaves the grub
state it becomes a queen bee. and hey al
ways suffer themselves 10 be governed by
her.
The habits of ants ale extremely curl
Gus. We all have heard Of ant houses.
sometimes twenty feet in diameter, flied
with halls and rooms Of grea, size and
strength. These and beaver dams are con-
structed npon strictly mechanical p.inc-
pies.
In some insect species the males have
wings while the females have none. This
10 hlc SoSC WIN Sio' "oi"'s obu VIC
female has the property ofemitting phos-
porescent light, and were it not for this,
the gentleman glow worm would never find
the wav 10 his lady's chamber.-The os-
trch like the cherubim, is not provided
with the means Of sitting down. She cam
not therefore, hatch her eggs, but buries
them in the hot sand. and leaves nature to
hatch them for her. Some birds build no
: nest, like the cuckoo, which deposits her
eggs in the nests of other birds. but she
knows enough always 10 select the nests of
birds that have bills shaped like her own;
for then she is assured her youngwil have
the same kind Of food as she herself would
procure"
+ VICE PREsIDENT-IN CoURT-Mr. Dali
las returned 10 his home in this city on Fri
day from Washington, after having finish
ed his frs, tour of duty in the Senate, and
! is now attending The Courts as usual in the
exercise of his profession.