The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1881-11-03
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.


THE roes of various kinds of Ash con-
tain from about 10000 to over 8, ,686, 600
eggs.
The lions teeth seem formed rather
Tor destruction than for the chewing Of ,
his food.
A FoUR-F1NaERED monkey, in it's ma
tive state, has been seen to 90 down
to the edge of q stream, rinse it's mouth
and then clean its teeth with one Of its
fingers.
In Bavaria medical men are shorter
lived than any other class. Out of eve
ry 100 individuals, 53 Protestant clergy
men, Al professors, 80 lawyers or mag
istrates, 81 Catholic priests, but only 26
doctors reach the age of SO.
THE octopus has O. gland which Sc
cretes an inky fluid, and this he squirts
out, making thick, dark cloud behind
him which battles his pursuer at the
same time that it helps himself to dart
away. Mr.. Darwin asserts that the oc-
topus often takes deliberate aim at an
enemy when it squirts out this unpleas-
ant fountain.
OsTRICHEs, when the full number of
eggs has been laid, invariably place one
sisting naturally of hollow scooped out
of the land by the action of the wings
and legs of the birds. 1t has been found
that these eggs are reserved as food for
the chicks, which are often reared in O
natural stall, miles away from blade OF
grass or other food.
The periwinl1le has 600 rows of teeth,
three in q row, growing on o long strap,
n n n cfr
two inches long, closes the edges
together at the back of the mouth 30 as
to wrap over the rough points, and is
then rolled up into q coil and slowed
away in fold of the neck. AS the front
teeth wear away, this strap comes grad
ually forward on the floor of the mouth,
the new teeth grow up and are sharp
ened ready for use.
PAPER rots under the influence of
moisture until it is reduced to white
decay which crumbles into powder when
handled. Damp attacks both the inside
and outside of books. The mold spots
which are so often seen upon the edges
OF leaves and upon the sides of the bind
ing under microscope are seen to be
miniature forests of lovely trees, covered
with beautiful white foliage. "Fhey
are upas trees" says a bibliophile,
'whoSe roots are imbedded in the leath-
er and destroy its texture"
THE thirty three navigable rivers of
the Mississippi system comprise IA, 900
| miles of navigable waters, intersectinR
or bordering on eighteen States and two
| Territories. The extent of territory
| subject to overflow waS, in 1874, esti-
! mated to be Al, 1913 square miles, an area
as great rs the combined areas of New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and New Jersey, and much
moro productive under proper condi-
tions. Up to the year 1878 Congress
had made for the improvement Of the
Mississippi river and its various tribu-
tarics about 200 appropriations, amount
ing in all to the sum of l8.50O,O00.
A THOUSAND wonders in nature are
lost to the human eye, and only revealed
to us through the microscope. Think
of dividing q single spiders web into O
Thousand strands, or counting the arter-
les and nerves in the wing of gossamer
moth. Yet, by the aid Of the powerful
lens of microscope, it is found there
are more than 4, 900 muscles in cater
pillar. The eye of drone contains a.
900 mirrors, and the body of every spi-
der is furnished with four little Jumps,
pierced with tiny holes, from each OF
which issues single thread and when
n thousand of these from each lump are
| joined together, they make the silk line
| of which the spider spins its web, and
which we call II spiders thread. Spi-
, dcrs have been seen as small as o grain
OF sand, and these spin thread 80 fine
that it takes 1000 OF them, put together,
to equal in size single hair.