New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1856-06-24


INSECT PowER-The muscular strength Of insects is
immense. We once were surprised by feat performs
ed by a common beetlein the United States We had
put the insect for want Of any box at hand beneath
quart bottle full Of milk upon table, the hollow at
the bottom allowing him room to stand upright.
Presently to our surprise the bottle began slowly to
move and glide along the smooth table, propelled by
the muscular power of the imprisoned insect, and
continued for sometime to perambuate the surface,
to the astonishment Of all who witnessed it. The
weight of the bottle and its contents could not have
been less than three pounds and half while that
of the beetle was about half an ounce, so that it
readily moved weight of Sl3 times exceeding It's
own. "A better notion than figures can convey will
be obtained Of this feat by supposng lad of fifteen
to be imprisoned under the great bell of ST. Pauls,
which weighs II 900 pounds and to move Tito ana
/ fro upon smooth pavement by pushing within MI.
Newport has given other instances of insect power
/ equally remarkable. Having once fastened q small
kind Of Carabus an elegantly formed ground beetle,
weighing three and half grains, by silk thread, to
piece Of paper, he laid weight on the latter Al
distance of ten inches from its load the insect was
ableto drag after it, upon an inclined plane of TWEEN
ty-tve degrees, nearly eighty-6ye grains; but when
placed on plane of five degrees inclination, it drew
afteTit one pound and twenty-five grains, exclusive
Of the friction be overcome in moving its load as
though o man were todrag up hill Of similar incll-
nation wagon weighing two tons anJa hall, having
first takenthe wheels off, According the same ex-
&cellent authority the stag beetle-Lucanus cervus
has been known to gnaw hole an inch in diameter
through the side of an iron canister in which II
q Was confined, and on which the marks OF Its jaws
aware distinctly visible; proved by Mr.. Stephens
no exhibited the canister at one Of the meetings
4 d& the chronological Society. &
look at the powers ofinsects exercised in the
act of flying The house tiies-Musca domestica:-
thatRheel and play beneath the ceiling for hours to
gether ordinarily at the rate of about five 1ee
per second but if excited to speed, they can dart
along through trty:fye feet in the same bret space
of time. Now in this period, as Kirby and spenee enc
observe, ga race horse could clear only ninety eet
which is at the rate of more than a mile minute.
Our little fly, her swtest flight will go more thar
= one-third Of a mile. Now compare the immense dill
ference Of the size Of the two anmals-ten mlnl9s
the fly would hardly counterpoise one lncer-and nov
wonderful will the velocity of this minute creatur
appear! Did the fly equal the race horse IN slze an!
n retain its powers in the ratio OF Its magniSuae
( would traverse the globe with the apidty Of ghi
ming. Some Of the flies that haunt our gardens shoe
along SO rapidly that the eye cannot follow them i
! fight.
Nor are these tiny creatures less masters Of the art
, Of running and leaping. De lise mentions fly S
minute as almost to be invisible, which ran nearly 81
inches in second, and in that space was calculate
= to have made one thousand and eighty steps? Thi
e according to the calculation of Kirby and Spence,
as if man whose steps measured only two feet, ,shoul
e run at the incredible rate otwenty miles in mlnut
. Every has had occasion to observe, not alWa.
: without an emotion of anger, the leaping powers
the fea-Ptlic ilrtans. a bound OF two hundre
: times it's own length is a common feat, as if ma
i, should Jump twelve hundred feet, quarter of
70 mile! What a pity that insects were not allowed
.e be competitors in the athletic games Of old u
Df 0u.u
,n ., TEcBY !,-The following is uer6atin eonyers
: ton which occurred between two middle aged men,
the corner of Back street and Hog alley, Pass Chr
II tian. Friday morning, at eight O'Clock: t'5
Il How do you do Mr.. BroWn?'s z{1
g, do what?' 80
rs, sWhy, how do; you find yourself!!'
= I never lost myself
"A ~ WELL how have you beenE
= Been;-been where?l
= IN Pshaw how do you feel 2
~ ~ Feel of me, and see, N - = qss'
M nMs Good morning, Mr.. Brown 5 F
4 1t isn't a good menning either 4
n He@ho has outlived his friends, feels that his no
is beyond the grave,
- IF5s 80 ---------T - - -
nd Habit in a. child is at first like spiders web
neglected it becomes thread of tPfine; next a G
: ofrope; finally a cable; and then who can break i