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

We OJbCOv6JCU UOWcI0 su1S Nv ~ Uuu Os00sW-
cd and moved their limbs at will, and
had, moreover, the detestable passion Of
mankind for ensIaving other creatures, and
contining then, ia horrid and solitary pris.
ons until The ful6lment Of appointed
tasks.' a'as
'Pshaw said the king.
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 oftwo very
difficult problems, they were solved upon
the spot--the one 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 wriling Of an infinity Of big books, du-
ring long series Of years, that the men
mathemaiicians at length arrived at the iden.
tical solutions which had been given upon
the spot by the bees and by the birds.a
ooh my ? said the king.
we bad scarcely lost sight ofthe empire
when We found ourselves upon another,
from whose shores there flew over our heads
flock Of fowls mile in breadth and two
hundred and forty miles long; 30 that, a.
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
sOh fyv said the king.
'No sooner had we got rid of the birds,
which occasioned us great ANNOYANCE, than
we were terrified by the appearances Of
fowl Of another kind, and infinitely larger
than even the rocks which I met in my
former voyage: for il was bigger than the
biggest Of the domes upon your serngiio. Oh,
most Munifcent Of Ca!iphs. This terrible
fowl had no head that We could perceive,
but was fashioned entirely of belly, which
was Of prodigious fatness and roundness,
ola soft looking substance, smooth, shining
and striped with vnrious coIors In its tai.
ons, the monster was bearing away to his
eyre in the heavens, house from which It
had knocked of the roof, and ia the interior
Of which we distinctly saw human beings,
who, beyond doubt, were in a state OF fright
ful despair At the horrible fate which await
ed them. We shouted with al our might,
in the hope Of frightening the bird into let
ting 60 Of its prey; but il merely gave a
snort or puff, % il Of rage, and then let fall
upon our heads very heavy sack which
proved to be filed with sand
growing at the foot of the Rata tree, with plant
growing out its heal. The most peculiar and
and most extraordinary insect travels up bothlthe
Rata and Reryir trees, and entering the top, eats
its way, pTeforating the trunk the tree until i
reaches the root, tthen comes out OF the root, ami
dies, or remains dormant, and the plant proPa-
gates out Of its head; the body remains perfect
and entire, of harder substance than wi On asve.
From this insect the natives made q coioring Tor
tattooihg.'' t
tin mines and natural caves we find srecies
Of crytogamou.tan fungus that emits an intense Phos-
phorescence. As.
H.Ths eorolla Of this flower, (.anissoloehoe
Clematihs,) which is tubular, but Terminating up
ward in lgulate limb, is inflated into globular
figure at the base The Tubular part il internally
beset with s,iffhairs, pointing downward. The
Klobular part contains the pistil, which consists
merely Of germen and stigma, together, with the
surrounding stamens. But the stamens, being
the pollen 30 a. 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 must unnecessarily fall down
10 the bottom Of the flower. Nov, the aid that
Mature has furnished in this case, Is that OF the
Typuta Rnicornis, small insect, which, entering
the tube Of the corolla, in quest Of honey, de-
sends to the bottom, and rumages about ill it
becomes quite covered with pollen; outHnot pc
ing able 50 force its way out again, owing to the
down W ard position OF the hairs, which converge
to point like the wires OF mouse-traP and being
somewhat impatient of its confinement BRUSHES
backward and forward, trying every corner, till.
with pollen sufficient for its imrrsgnation; in con-
sequence Of which the flower soon teglns 10
droop and the hairs to shrink to the side OF the
tube effecting nm easy passage for the escape OF
the insect. ~ Rev. p Keith "Systena Of Rt,lo.
sophieoi Botany."
sThe becs--ever since bees were-have been
constructing their cells with just such sides, IN
Just such number, and at Just such lnclinat,ons,
az it has been demonstrated Gin problem ms
yolyinp the profoundest mathematical principles)
are the very sides, in the very number, and at
the very angles which will afford the creatures
tbs most room thasis compatible with the great
est stability Of structure.
During the latter part Of the last century, the
question arose among the mashsmaticians--to
.sdetermine the best form that can DO given to
the rails OF windmill, according to their vary |
ine distances from the revolving vanes. and ike
wise from the centres Of revolution" This 10
an excessively complex problem, orit is in other
words 10 fndth best possible position at On in-
fnity Of varied distances. and st an inhnity 81
points on the arm There were thousand fu-
tile attempts to answer the query on the part Of
the most ilustrious methematicians; and when, |
at length, an un1eniable solution was discover
ed, men found that the wings Of bird had giv4
en- il with absolute precision, ever since the fint
bird had traversed the air.
TMHe observed flock Of pigeons betwixt
Frank fort and the Indiana territory, one mile as
least in breadth, it took up four hoursin passinej
which. at the rate Of one mile per minute, gives
length Of 24O miles, and, supPosing three p.
geons to each square yard, gives q 3o, S72OOo
pigeons 's--"z |suels in Csnsdo and ~ Usssied
States" BY Lieut.. +. Hall