The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1849-12-27

We Uncovered U0WerS S0oy ItveO oOO Ov01tu.
cd and moved their limbs at viii, and
had, moreover, the detestable passion Of
mankind for enslaving other creatures, and
combining them ia horrid and solitary pris-
ons until the ful6Iment Of appointed
tasks. ae
'Pshaw + said the king. .s..
Quitting this land, We soon arrived at an
other, in which The bees and the birds are
mathematicians Of such genius and erudi-
ton, that they give daily instructions, in
the science Of geometry TO the wise men Of
the empire. The king Of The place having
offered reward for the solution two very
Difficult. problems, they were solved upon
the spot-the ono BY the bees, and the 9TH
er by the birds; but the king keeping their
solutions secret, il was only after the
most profound researches and labor, and
the writing of an infnity Of big books, du-
ring long series Of years, that the men
mathemaiicians at length arrived at the iden-
teal solutions which had been given upon
the spot by the bees and by the birds.a
sOh myv said the king. rss
I'VE bsd scarcely lost sight fshe empire
when we found ourselves upon another,
from whose shores there flew over our heads
q flock Of fowls mile in breadth and two
hundred and forty miles long; 20 that, al
though they few mile during every min
ute, il required no less than four hours for
the whole flock to pass over us--in which
there were several millions Of millions Of
!owls.T
oh fyv said The king.
'Nn sooner bad We got rid of the birds,
which occssioned 10 great ANNOYANCE, than
we were terrified by the appearance Of
fowl Of smother kind, and infinitely larger
than even the rocks which | met 10, my
former voyage: for il was bigger than the
biggest Of the domes upon your seraglio. oh,
mos. Muhificent of Ca.iphs. This terrible
fowl had no head that we could perceive,
but was fashioned entirely Of belly, which
was Of prodigious fairness and roundness,
ola soft looking substance, smooth, shining
and striped with vnrious colors. In its tai.
ons, the monster was bearing away to his
eyre in the heavens, house from which il
had knocked Of the roof, and in the interior
Of which we distinctly saw human beings,
who, beyond doubt, were in a state Of fright
ful despair Mt the horrible fate which await
ed them. We shouted with all our might.
in the hope Of frightening the bird into let
ting 60 Of its prey; but It merely gave q
snort or puff, % il Of rage, and then let fall
upon our heads very heavy sack which
proved to be filled with ssnd.'
growing at the foot Of the Rata tree, with plant
growing out its heal The most peculiar and
and most extraordinary insect travels up bothsthe
Rats and Perrin trees, and entering the top, eats
its way, preforating the trunk OF the tree until il
reaches the root, tthen comes out ofthe root, and
dies, or remains dormant, and the plant propa-
gates out Of its head; the body remains perfect
and entire, OF harder substance than wlEn alive.
From this insect the natives made coloring for
tattooinE.'' s'a
lin mines and natural caves we find srecies
Of crytogamou.f fungus that emits an intense phos-
ph0rescence. ~
ltThe eorolla Of this flower, (.dritoloehoe
C2emata,,) which is tubular. but Terminating up
ward in ligulate limb, is inflated into globular
figure At the base The Tubular part Is internally
beset with s,iffhairs, pointing downward. The
globulsr part contains the pistil, which consists
merely Of a germen and stigma, together, with the
surrounding stamens. But the stamens, being
shorter than even the germen, cannot d!scnafge
the pollen 30 AZ to throw it upon the stigma, -
the flower stands always upright till after impreg
nation. And hence, without some additional and
peculiar aid, the pollen mustnecessarily fall down
10 the bottom Of the flower. Now, the aid that
Mature has furnished in this case, is that OF the
Tputa Rnicornis, small insect, which, entering
the tube Of the corolla, in quest OF honey, de.
scends to the bottom, and ruma9es about t!i!
becomes quite covered with pollen; utInot pc.
ing able so force lis way out again, owing to the
down .ward position Of the hairs, which converge
to point like the wires OF mouse-trap and being
some what impatient Of its confinement II brushes
backward and forward, trying every corner till,
after repeatedly traversing the stigma, i covers i
with pollen sufficient for its imprsgnation; IN con-
sequence Of which the flower soon begins to
droop and the hairs to shrink to the side OF the
tube. effectine an easy passage for the escape Of
the insect.'-( Rer. r. Keith "Sy'tens Of ftilo-
sophicai Botany"
SThc becs--ever since bees were-have been
constructing their cells with Just such sides, in
lost such number, and at Just such inclinations,
as il has been demonstrated Gin problem ins
yolyinr the profoundest mathematical pTincipies)
are the very sides, in the very nambsr, and a
the. very angles which will afford the creatures
the most room thatis compatible with the great
During the latter part Of the last century, the
question arose among the mathematicians-
.sdetermine the best form that can be given TO
the calls Of windmill, according to their vary
ing distances from the revolving v.ne:, and l;ke-
wise from the centres OF revolution" ms is
nv excessively complex problem forit is in other
words to find the best possible position at an in-
fni,y of varied distances, and 1t an inhnity OF
points on the arm. There were thousand fu-
tile attempts to answer the query on the part OF
the most ilustrious mathematicians; and when,
at length, On un 1eniable solution was discover
ed. men found that the wings Of bird had Civ
en- il with absolute precision, ever since the hrst
bird had traverscd the air.
S"He observed flock OF pigeons oetwix.
Frsnk for, and the Indiana territory, one mile 1t
least in bresdth,it took up four hour:in passing;
which. at tho rate Of one mile per minute, gives
a length Of 240 miles, and, supposing three p,
geons to each square yard, gives 2,23O ,z5y.UOo
pigeons. s.--"7 }a,~ls in C1nsdo and ~ Ussited
Stotes," by Lieut.. r. Hall.