Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-05-30
The Eye of an Eagle

line eyes of all birds have a regularity OF
structure which enables them u cI
distant objects equally WELL and this wonder
al power carried to the greatest perfection
n the bird OF prey. When We lecollect that
ne eagle will ascend more than u mile IN
perpendicular height, and from that enormous
elevation Will perceive Its unsuspecting prey,
and pounc5 on 1t with unerring certainty :;
and when the same BIRD scrutinIzIng
with almost microscopic nicety, an object close
at hand, We shall at once perceive thas he
possesses Il power Ot accOmm Jdattpg his sight
u distance IN m am = 10 which our eye is
united, and ot which Ii Is totally lncapao ole.
1t We take printed page, We snail Ind that
there Is some particular distance, probably
ten inches, at which we can read the words
anu see each letter with perfect distinctness
but Ii We move this page to distance OF
forty inches, or bring 1t within u distance of
| i've inches, We shall find II impossible to read
1t at ali ; scientific man would, therefore,
call ten inches the focus or local distance OF
our eyes We cannot alter this focas except
by the aid OF spectacles.
But an eagle has The power of altering the
locus OF his eye just as be pleases ; he has
only to look at object at the distance of
I@o feet or two miles IN order 10 1t with
perfect distinenes-. OF course, the eagle
Knows nothing OF the wOnde .tul coutrivance
which Coo has supplied Tor his accommoda-
sion; he employs 1t lnstincslveiy and because
he cannot ne,p IT. The bail OF his eye Is sur
rounded by fifteen little plates, called sclerot-
lc bones , they ilrm u complete ring, and
their edges sll htly overlap each other. When
ne looks ut distant object, this little circle
OF bones expands, and the ball OF the eye be-
ing relieved from the pressure, becomes flat
ter and when he looks at a very near otJect,
she little bones press together, and the BAH of
tie eye is thus squeezed into rounder
more convex form the feet is very familiar
10 verybody; person with very round eyes
Is near-sie e hted and only sees clearly an OBJ
lect that Is close to hIu. and person with
Hat eyes, as IN OLD age, can see nothing clearly
exceps at a distance the eagle by mere will,
can make his eyes round or fat, and see with
equal oiearness at any distance.
SALT LAKE CITY.-It is impossible to con-
cieve OF any sight more beautiful and refresh
ing than when the traveller, having trudged
his weary way tor more than a thousand
miles, with only ssge brush to relieve the
scene from stark savage desolation, emerging
from the deep gorge IN the mountains, ana for
the first time looks down upon Great Salt
Lake City. To the right, twenty miles dis
tant, the lake itself stretches Tar away to the
North. Twenty five miles across the valley
Of the JordOa is n high range of mountains !;
for miles, North and South, the valley is COW
cred with splendid farms : while at your feet,
with its broad streets and houses embowered
in trees is the far famed city OF the saints
AS you enter it, you observe pure stream of
water, piskling along each side of all the
streets, from which each thrifty Mormon, as
it babbles along, leads IA little thread into his
garden, and around among hls fruits and flow
ers, forming perfect paradise of beauty.
Seen 10 June, as we saw it, Salt Lake is GER
tainly one of the most delightful cities upon
the continent.
The New Bedford Mercury tells story Of q
witty Col. B, who, when on his death bed
and near his demise, assured his friends that he
could not possibly survive many hours. Nom
sense, Colonel encouragingly remarked one !;
Z" your feet are warm, ad no one ever died un-
til their lower exlremi,ies we're cold" Don't
tell me that" squ.alsd out the sufferer do
you think John Rogers feet were cold just
before ne died p
man recently obtained divorce from his
wife on the ground of extravagance. She i'll
sisted on having waterfall although she had a
| cataract in her eye. This was more than he