The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1876-01-10

forty times its own weight; while by
similar method man could raise only
five-sixths of his weight, and horse
only one half or two-thirds of his. BY
each experiment three times
and employing . vast number of insects
of various sizes, and comparing his re-
suits, he came to the conclusion that
the smaller insects in the same group
invariably raise the greater weight in
proportion to their own weight.
He then tried their leaping power,
by fastening the wings and elytD, and
by suspending under the thorax (by a
thread) bits Of lead set in wax. He in
creased the weight till the insect could
no longer raise It. Then, by his deter
limitations as before, he found that,
while the largest crickets could raise in
this way only about one and half
times their own weight, the smaller
ones could raise three or four times
theirs.
To test the pushing power Of insects,
he placed some of them in long card
board tube blacked on the inside and
admitting light only by transparent
glass at one end. To this glass was at
tached lever which drew the scale pan
over the pulley, as in the first expert
ment. The insect, in its endeavors to
escape, pushed against the glass moved
the lever, and thus raised the weight.
As results of these experiments he
found that, in inverse ratio to their
weight, the pushing power varied from
three or four to eighty or ninety times
the insects weight. ..s,. s..,
The power Of fight possessed by in
sects was tested by fixing weights to the
body in the same way as inleaping. He
found that they employ much less force
in flying than in efforts of strength per-
haps this is because, unlike birds, they
are not intended to carry weights
through the air. Beetles raise in fight
from one sixth to twice their weight;
flies, three times their weight. A drone
weighs four times as much as q bee,
and drags less than fifteen times its
weight, while the bee drags twenty
three or twenty-four times her weight.
But in flying, the bee raises nearly her
own weight, while the drone raises
weight equal to Only half its own.
By these experiments, he found that
his law applies equally well, whether
the strength is exerted in walking, leap
ing, pushing, or flying. He finds that
it also applies, in measure, to the en-
tire class Of insects taken together, as
well as to the same group of insects
taken by themselves. There are some
exceptions to this, however, which are
probably due to differences Of structure.
By dividing all the insects into three
groups -hghtest, medium, and heaviest
-he finds that the law holds good.
Then the relative force is represented
by the numbers 26, 10, and 9 respec-
lively. The fact seems to be that the
strength of an insect increases with the
surface Of section, and not with the
volume of its muscles. This would
make the weight increase faster than
the motive power, and be consistent
with the law that the smallest are strong-
It takes but moments reflection to see
the wisdom Of this arrangement. OF
course the hardness of the soil, the
weight OF the grains Of sand, and all
the resistance to be overcome are equal
" great to the small as to the large in
sects, and it needs greater relative
strength to give the small ones fair
chance in the struggle for existence"
with their larger associates.
But these facts and conclusions give
rise to other questions which are not 50
easily answered. Since insects are
stronger than other animals, on what
food do these small Cesars feed that
they are grown SO strpngp Is their
physical Organization formed on differ
ent mechanical principlesp Have they
power of creating or utilizing greater
force from the food they eatp Their
food, being animal and vegetable, does
not seem to differ materially from the
food Of other animals; and they seem
to use the same mechanical powers in
their motions. They are, in the perfect
state Gin which state they manifest their
great strength) ~ rule, very small
feeders, and some eat even nothing.
As their strength must come from the
food they eat, the question as to how SO
much can come from so little is as in
teresting as it is difficult. So far as we
know, no attempt has ever been made
to determine the laws Of the relations
between the amount of food consumed
and the strength which it generates.
The difficulties are perhaps not insur-
mountable; but one great disturbing
element would probably appear in the
fact that insects may store up force in
their earlier stages which they use in
the perfect state .-Scjensi5c american.
A MIDDLE-AGED woman fell as she
was descending pair Of stairs on JET
ferson Avenue yesterday, and the first
man to help her reach her feet was .
harbnw rvhrs ha,,vsos,eSy 20 1o ,1oe.sro