The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-05-20
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.
CELERY seed will germinate VIII
twenty years old.

CELERY seed will germinate when
twenty years old.
The little, hard-coated fish called the
helix espersia has been known to live a
year out of water without food.
THE yultures of Africa will discover a
dead animal as soon as it falls. from
heights viewless TO the human eye.
The lions teeth are so strong that he
easily breaks the bones of his prev. and
swallows them with the rest of the BODY.
TIE mechanic stenographer is the lat
est invention under particular notice in
Parls, 1t beats the best professional
short hand writer's.
A TIGER has '5een Known To -..e-,
se.s .s cen .seff aa.o slrwmsss weagnsng animal
over his shoulder as a fox does a goose.
THE most poisonous snakes appear to
possess a perfect immunity from the
poison of their own species, and consid-
erable immunity from that of other kinds.
A RECENT calculation of Prof. Gelkie's
puts the species of English mammals at
forty, of reptiles at thirteen, of land
birds at 139. OF Towering plants and
ferns l, 425 species are now known.
WOMEN never appeared upon the stage
among the ancients. Their parts were
represented by men until as late as
1862, when Charles III. first encouraged
their public appearance.
In birds distinguished for their power
of flight, the air fills the bones, sur
rounds the viscera, insinuates itself be-
| tween the muscles, and buoys up the en-
| tire skin, so that the whole body is IN
hated like a balloon.
O.. he lot rf
! departing and returning with many
! species of birds, that, in certain Eastern
/ countries Mt the present day, almanacs
are timed and bargains struck upon the
data they supply.
TIE weight of the largest brain on
record is said 70 be sixty-seven ounces /;
/ the smallest-that of weighed
/ but two ounces and five grains. Cuvier' 8
brain has seldom been equaled IN
weight; it is noted at GA. 5 ounces. The
brain OF James Fisk, Jr., was considered
unusually large, its weight slightly ex-
ceeding fifty-four ounces. Yet it was
ten ounces below that of Cuvier, and
thirteen ounces lighter than the heaviest
known.
WHEN the herrings migrate from
south to north they travel in such mum.
bers that their shoals, says Kirby, con
sist of millions of myriads, and are many
leagues in width, many fathoms In deptt
and so dense that the fish touch eacf
other. This stream continues to move a
rapid rate for months. A pair of her
rings, says Button, if left undisturbeC
for twenty years, would produce (
progeny whose bulk would equal that o
the entire globe.
In certain parts of the East curiou
mode of capturing elephants is some
times adopted. A trained elephant vii
first be taught to walk on marrow patl
between two pitfalls which are coveree
with turf and then it will be taken int
the woods, in order that it may deco.
the wild herd into the neighborhood o
the snares The "decoy" elephant
having succeeded in the latter pur
pose, will next, we are told, walk slowly
round and close to the traps, and thel
suddenly hasten forward, as though
frightened, and proceed safely past tn,
pitfalls, in which some of the wild ele
plants are almost certain to become en-
tangled N their attempts. to follow aftel
him. DR.. Darwin, who tells rs of thi
method of capture, says that, if any o
the wild herd be fortunate enough t.
escape from the traps, they never fail,
possible, to pursue the traitor who ha'
endeavored to decoy them, and to hav
revenge upon him and sometimes the,
have been known, in their rage, to bea
one TO death.