New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-24
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE,
AUTUMN BUDS.

branches for next years growth are prouuoeu
and elaborated in the preceding autumn: AS
the dead leaves fall Oft in October, tue living
chlorophyll and protoplasm which 1ormeu
their active functional parts are wltnuraN1
into the permanent tissues OF ,ne useH ntsr nm
their withdrawal, aided by various nter1al
chemical changes, chiefly OF the nature OF oxiu VA
tion leaves the minor col0Ilng matters oi ,no
foliage far more prominent than before, anu o ~
gives rise to the glow OF CRIMSON an" 80"
which we commonly KNOW as autuliu o,nrS,
Outside the buds are enveloped IN dry, Drown
scales. which make them very mconsMcuous
To the ewes of their enemies, VINO Woulu ctpSl-
wise quickly deyour these rsne mo- 0r sto
coats or cloaks TO cover the dormant liNlns
Germs from the cold of winter. Everybody
Knows that frost kills plants and everybody
has noticed that ii the 1oilage eApanuss 90
spring TOT soon, it is very apt 10 get nippeu y"
by n late return of morning rime.
Now what is true OF the vital matter III
leaves generally is especially true OF the Vnai
matter in very Young ana unueVelopeu III U H,oa,
In cannot resist the slightest irosI' hcnCo
natural selection has in the course OF long ages
insured the best possible. means 1or keeping
the true inner bud warm ana snug. ~ you ,
nick of some of the small brown sc.Ies; ,S SUu
will see how closely they are packeu 'oSo'ne n
overlanpinC enc another In regular IuNS; VI
imbricaied as the technical bo5snls3s cnti ~
That is an unusually goOd Wor1' Iiup iot.vo,
by way of scientific ternlnoi0gy; LOT inea aL
arranged like tiles on ROOF; ana III i 1aoe t tio
scales do really lap over one announcer Inv u tno
italian tiles that one sees on cottages III oVuIn-
ern Europe. These short. broad ploWn; cLo of'
set scales are themselves by orlglu aporIIVe
leaves: or to put it more Truly, they are
leaves which have gwen up thelr orIeiual
sanction of digesiirg fresh material nom inc
air, and have taken to the new junction I OF pro,
tecting their more active sisters from the sharp
teeth of the frost. Underneath The outer
brown pieces, however, You come AT laSt 10
some tiny bright green knobs ana tnese
shapeless little things. are the hvlng parts
which carry on the continuity Vi 'ho Jus" iiOii
one season to another.
SIN SPOTS AND MAGNETIC STORMS.
Professor Schuster, the English astronomer:
I'm a recent lecture ut Manchester thus spoke OF
SIM spots: "Sun spots were seldom seen ut the
noles' and seldom near the equator, though
sometimes seen at both. We were DOW after
long protracted absence OF sun spots rapidly
approaching their maximum, when would
probably he reached III few months When
there would be more than during the next
eleven wears. They would then slowly In
crease in number, until in five, Six, or seven
wears there would hardly be a sun spot
seen for some months, and then they
Wond begin to appear again, and
eleven years hence they would probably
he as numerous as now. These changes
were not absolutely regular, the numDer OF
wears having varied from eight anG one-halt TO
thirty Int thew. osclated round the period of
eleven years. The prOtuberances on the sun
surface occurred in the same way. Magnetic
storms took place much more frequently When
There were many sun spots than when there
we're few. and the anTOra bOrealis was very
nearly related to them. For some years we
had seen of the latter few, and there were lew
sun spots then, while now hardly q day passed.
without an aurora being observed somewhere,
and fhis was ALWAYS accompanied by magnetic
storms. There was a striking and regular CON
nection between them. Wnen sun sp0t OrOke
ont it was very probable we should see an
aurora and were almost certain to have mag
A a.
very bic SPOT on the suns surface, and aurOras
were seen all over England where the sky was
clear This connection between the sun anu
the earth was one of the greatest sclentiilc mys-
teries of the age, and we were absolutely with
out any explanation OF IT,
BIRDS AND TELEGRAPH WIRES.
AT a recent meeting. of the Eleetrotechmc
Society of Berlin, Herr Massmann read paper
ON SOME observations which he had made on the
immortal telegraph lines at the instance OF the
Secretary of the Post Office. lie fOnnd that III
districts where there are no trees the smalier
birds OF prey, such as crows ana magples, are
very fond of rOOStng on telegraph poles, Whlle
sparrows, starlings ANA swallows frequently
aiight Oh them III great numbers SWal-
lows like to build under the caves MheIe
wires run into telegraph Offices, and sometimes
cause an earth contact. Contacts between
wire and wire are frequently caused by large
birds, such as bustaIds stOrks, swans ana wild
ducks. They cause the wires to swing ana
sometimes to break. Accidents of this kind
were frequent when the wires ran by high
roads. along which Young geese were driven to
their pastures. Smaller birds, even partrdges,
are generally killed by the shock of striking
the the Wires. They do not cause much damage to
the lines Holes are often peckSed though the
poles by wcodpeckers 4he Pleas nNrtiaS, or
black wOodpecker, the p. UiridiS. or green
Woodpecker, and the p. major or ple-bald
woodpecker) These birds spare, no kind Of
wood, unprepa.ed pine and oak. poles, as well
as poles treated with Sulphate OF COPPER chic
even state that they VIII attack creosoted poles.
The theory that the birds mistake the yiDra
tons of the wires i'll the poles for insects hum
ming is doubted by Herr Massmann, who de-
clares that they often find insects in the dry
poles.
SOUARING THE CIRCLE.
In his recent address before The British Royal
Coci.tv Dy SnottisWOOde regarded as an I'M