Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-06-27

celebrated naturalist, Strauss Durckheim.
In his work on "The Comparative Anat
omy of Articulated Animals" he estab.
fishes the point that two animals of SINH
lar form, but of different dimensions, will
jump the same height above the point
where lies their center Of gravity at the
moment when they quit the soil He
takes as an example the cat and the tiger,
and adds that the same conclusion is ap-
plicable to crickets and grasshoppeTs. |
The principle which serves as basis for
this theory is, that the motive power of
animals increases with the section and not
with the volume OF ths muscles. 1t de
pends only on tnt number OF
fibrcs of which the muscles are
composed; from whence it follows
that it ought to be in proportion to |
the surface of the section of these organs,
whilst the weight of the animal is proper |
tional to their volume. The weight aug
ments more rapidly than the motive |
power, and the relation between this |
weight and this force becomes the more |
unfayorable as the animal is larger. Other |
naturalists who agree to this as a whole |
do not consider it to be an absolute gener- |
al law Among the insects that dig or |
burrow in the ground, a different plan |
was tried to see their power of pushing |
forwards. They were placed in a card |
board tube, which had been blackened |
and made rough for the feet; at one end a |
transparent plate of glass was fixed to a
horizontal level. Perceiving the light be.
fore it through the plate which barred its |
exit, the insect when excited pushes with |
all its strength; the plate gives way, the
lever turns, and raises at its other eXtrem- |
ity the balance, which Is attached by a
pulley and into which the sand is poured
as before. In this way the oryctes,
weighing about forty-six grains,
pushed three or four times
its own weight, whilst the little
onthophagus moved eighty or ninety
times that amount. The experiments in
the way of flying lead to the conclusion
that insects employ much less muscular
force in that way than in drawing or push
ing; perhaps it is that, unlike birds, they
are not intended to carry large weights
through the air A ball of soft wax of
weight little superior to what the insect
might be expected to bear, was fastened
round its body, and it was tried as to
whether it could support this in the air:
if it fell, the size was diminished. Among
various insects belonging to the five orders
of Coleoptera (heetles), it was found that
they could raise from one sixth to double
their own weight; the common fly could
manage triple that amount. Yet the flight
Of insects is so rapid that some can dis
tanoe the swallows that pursue them, and
certain kinds of flies are said to be able to
pass race-horse or a locomotive going at
full speed. If we inquire why the smaller
species are the stronger, the answer may
be that their way of life necessitates
it. Thus the hardness of the soil
10 q h1trr at.s
the grains of sand which the larger
can easily displace are rocks to the small
er ones; and, comparing them with ami
mails, the mole and the rabbit require
much less strength to force passage than
the ant. The prodigious leaps of the
| cricket, the locust, and the gTasshopper
would, in the same proportion, make a
| lion spring over half mile. Not less
| surprising is the power of destruction in
| certain classes: the termites have under
| mined whole towns which are now sus-
| pended over catacOmbs. Such is the case
with Valencia, in New Granada; La
Rochelle is menaced by the same fate.
The Larvae or the sirex pierce through balls
of lead with their mandibles During
| the Crimean War, packets of cartouches
were found the conical balls of which
were perforated in various parts. The
| little African ant can raise mounds of clay
five yards high, and of such solidity that
the wild cattle stand on them to explore
| the horizon. Such edifices are thousands
of times larger than their architects,
whilst the pyramid of Cheops Is but
ninety times the height of man.
Another subject which has engaged the
attention of naturalists of late is the
| strict relation which exists between the
habits, manners, and mode of life in in
sects with the conformation of their
organs Mr.. Darwin has acknowledged the
organic adaptation of species to the con-
dition of existence; but lie thinks that,
| owing to their want of exercise on one
| side, and natural selection on the other,
these organs may undergo deep and hered-
itary notifications. Thus he explains the
want Of wings in many cOleopterous in
| sects which inhabit the island of Madeira;
they lose the habit of flying, because, if
| they used it, the wind would carry them
away into the sea, and the race would
soon disappear. Thus, winged insects
| made for flight can transform themselves,
| in time into walkers or swimmers
If we consider the locomotive organs of
insects, 1t is easy to see that broad men,
bers which can be converted into oars be-
| long TO swimmers; when they are short
and indented, they are to be used like
shOvels and pickaxes by the burrowing
tribes. Though the mouths of insects ars
| formed with the same number of appli-
ances, yet they are adapted to the condi-
tions of each species. BY examining one
or two parts of the mouth OF larva, a
naturalist can discover the food it lives
upon and the way in which it
partakes of it. Thus, if two cater
pillars Of different kinds live on the same
| al ,1r 81,
the edge, the other will perhaps eat the
| flower-bud. These habits are recognized
| by indubitable signs when the lips and
mandibles are examined. BY similar
means, the inspection of the foot will de-
eide whether the insect walks on leaves
or climbs up the stem of the shrub it has
chosen for its home. There are some in
sects which lead an idle life, whilst others
have one of work and fighting They are
each armed with the necessary appliances
for their particular destiny, some having
at their extremities nippers, pincers, a
| saw, an auger, or even q poisoned sword.
| Looking at the class of spiders, what an
arsenal of work and war they possess! the
mandibles are scissors, grindstones, Ian.
Gets the jaws are trunks and suckers; the
lower lip is often a spinning plate. Their
locomotive organs adapt themselves to a
NUMBER OF uses-spades, picks, oars, some
times ending in -rakes, forks, spindles,
brushes, and baskets; and all these instru.
ments are of far more delicate cOnforma
tion than the clumsy tools of mans max
ing. Those kinds that spin weave an in
finite variety of webs; some are closely
spun like stuffs, others are net or simple
threads thrown by chance. Here the
claws play principal part; they resemble
combs or cards among those which pro
duce the close tissue, and forks in those
which weave with wider mesh.-Ohana
berss Journal
Discovering the Thief.