The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-16
Cufiositles from Darwin.

"Darwin's Voyage of a Naturalist
i Around the World" is now for the
first time placed by the Appletons
within the reach of ordinary book buy
ers. 1t was made in the Beagle, Capt.
Fitzroy, in 1876, at the ouset Of a
life that will not be without its infu-
ence on coming generations of scien-
fists. 1t is surprising how fresh ii
opens: t,7s a-,.-.,....-..
Singular Effect of Fear.-The huge
marine lizard of the Galapagos Islands
will not enter. the water when fright
ened, though it swims like fish, and
feeds on deep growing sea weeds. 1t
may be driven down q point, and
caught, but if thrown into the sea will
instantly swim ashore again, and can
not be driven into the water. His en-
emies all live in the water. Experience
has taught it to fear nothing that
breathes the air.
The 7brtoise of the Galapagos
This huge quadruped swarms on the
islands, and unless gobbled up by the
buzzard-hawk in tender infancy, is
supposed to die only by falls from
pReeipices, or by the hands of visiting
sailors. 1t feeds on fruits and vege-
tables. 1t stores in its pericardiuE
and bladder large supplies of water,
which it finds only at springs high up
the hills. In its journey to them it
travels night and day, making four
miles day, by a speed of ten yards
per minute. The female can only hiss,
but the male when in her company
bellows just to please her. The sailor
who hears the sound is sure of finding
two. Their hearing is very poor.
They grow to the weight of fat hog.
Inherited IVildness.-The fear of
man seems te be inherited, not created.
Several generations of birds, on an un-
inhabited island, may be knocked over
with sticks, before q brood is Matched
with the instinct that the forked ami
NAL is a demon that kills the inoffen-
sive and condding, just for the fun of
slaughter.
Extreme Human T'ask.-The aver
age load for man to bring up from the
deepest mines is two hundred pounds.
An extreme load, brought up from the
deepest mine as an exhibition of
strength. was 800 pounds, the greater
part of the way by nosched logs, lean
ing from side to side of the shaft. The
apire is not allowed to stop for breath,
except the perpendicular depth ex-
ceed six hundred feet. At depth of |
two hundred and forty feet, twelve
loads are days work. The men are
healthy, cheerful, and not very muscu-
lar. Their food is bread and beans,
with meat very rarely. They would |
gladly dispense with beans, but, as
they cannot work without, their en-
ployers require them to eat them.
Little Worlds.-The Galapagos tier
rdpin) Islands are stocked with home
" birds, plants, insects and reptiles, |
few species found elsewhere in Gre
alton. Ten plants had been intro
1uced by sailors. Darwin found on
four islands something like one hun
dred and fifty species of plants; eighty
i've of these are found nowhere else in
the world, save ON one of these Is
|ands,
Scanty Botany. the Keeling
Island, COO miles south of Sumatra; |
we're gathered twenty of its twenty
i've native plants. These were of |!
nineteen genera, and sixteen families.
Botany would be an easy study in such |
! region, and classification would be as
lsele 8 as impossible.