The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-02-17
a strIng of CurIous Facas.

The following striking scientific facts
were picked Up In the course Of our residing,
from vsrious authorities. We think many ol
them will be new to our resdeFs:
The difference between the skulls OF do.
nestle hog aud q wild boar, Is a. great as
that between the European and the negro
skulE Domestic animsls that have subse.
q1ently run wild in the forests, after a few
generations lose ell traces of their domesti.
cation, and are physically different from their
tame originals.
II is not natural for q cow, any more thsn
for any other female aBimals, to give milk
when she has no young 10 nourish. The per.
mHnent production Of milk is modified AMI
NAL function, produced by an artificial habit
for seversl generations. In Columbia, the
practice Of milking cows having been laid
aside, the natural state Of the function has
been restored. The secretion of milk con.
tinues only during the sucking of the calf,
and is only an occasional phenomenon. II
the calf dies, the milk ceases 10 flow, and il
is only by keeping him with HE dam BY day,
that nD opportunitc Of obtaining milk from
cows by night can be found.
The barking of dogs is an acquired hered.
tsry instinct, supposed to have originated in
an attempt to initiate the human voice. Wild
dogs and domestic breeds which become
wild, never bark, but howl. Cats, which so
disturb civilized communities by their mid
night scatter. waulf," in their wild state in
South Americs, are quite silent.
The hair Of negro is not wool, but a
curled and twisted hoir. The distinction be-
tween hair and wool is clearly revealed BY
the microscope.
The dark races have less nervous sensibi-
lily than the whites. They are not subject
to disease. They sleep soundly in every dis.
ease; nor does any mental disturbance keep
them awake. They bear surgical operations
much better than the white people.
A certain species of oungus has been
known to attain the size of gourd in one
night; and it is calculated that the ceIlules,
OF which it is composed, must amount to
forIy-seven thousand millions. II 1t grew in
twelve hours, this would give four thousand
millions per hour, or more than sixty.six
millions each minute.
Animalcules have been discovered 90
email that one million would not exceed a
gain Of sand, and FIVE hundred millions would
sport in drop of water. Yet each of these
must have blood vessels, nerves, muscles,
circulating fluids, &C., like large animals.
One OF the most wonderful achievements
OF astronomers, is the weighing of the bodies
OF the solar system. II is certain that the
mass OF Jupiter is more than 322 and not
less than 222 times the mass of this globe
80 accurately has this work been accom-
plished. The mass of the sun 10 339, 9,55l
times greater than that ofthe earth and moon
and 700 times greater than the united masses
of oil the planets.
The planet Saturn Is composed OF matter
half as heavy as water; Mercury 10 consid.
efably heavier than quicksilver, and a third
heavier than lead and our own globe is
twice as heavy as common rock, and half as
heavy as lead-a fact which shows the den.
atty OF internal parts.
flash of lightning on the earth would be
visible on the moon in a second and a QUAR-.
ter; on the sun in eight minutes; on Jupiter,
when farthest from US, in ftty-two minutes;
on Uranus in two hours; on Neptune in four
hours and quarter; on the star Vega, of the
first magnitude, in forty-fve years; on a star
OF the eight magnitude in four thousand
years; and such stars are visible though the
telescope.
La Place, the great French astronomer
says: 81 have ascertained that between
the heavenly bodies all attractions are trans.
mitted with velocity which, if it be not in.
finite, surpasses several thousand times the
velocity of light. His annotator estimes it
light.
The circumference OF the earth is 25, ,02O
miles. A railway train travelling incessant.
ly night and day. at lhe rate Of twenty.six
miles an hour would require six weeks to go
round it. A tunnel through the earth, from
England to New Zealand, would be nearly
eight thousand miles long.