New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-04-30
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.
CONSCIOUS AUTOMATONS.

In an insects body. says Mr.. Grant Allen
there j. no regular subordlnauon Oh an lhe l'ICs
comDOSing the nervous system 10 Il SiuE, '''
tral orrau like the brain III man. ne iaI-es'
lnot of nerve matter, it Is true Is Senefaily 10
10 found in the neighbOThOOd or the sense
ORGANS. AID il receives direct nerve Duhdies
from the ewes. antcnna, mouth ana VIieI Cilcl
adjacent parts; but the wings ana IesS are
moved hH separate knots OF nerNe,cehS' con
nected hv a sort of spinal cord with me head'
Int coDol1e of acting quite independently on
their own account. mus, we CIt oI4
wasp's head and stick II On heeule III iIol1 ~
some sugar and water, the mouth VIII EiceuH1
begin t. eat the sweet syrup, apparently IN
coHsciors of the fact that II has LOST lis stomach
and that the food l. quietly dropping ouu VI
the gulet at the other end a. idSl as il - SNd'-
lowed So TOO. II we decaPHdie tiaI quoTI
insect the PRAYING maDtls, the hcaQlcos DOdy
will snll stand catching flies with us OUT
stretched arms and tumbllng about Tor us
mouth when il has caught one, evidently much
surprised to find that It's head Is unaccOuhGbIy
missing.
In fact. whatever may be the case with man,
the insect at least, Is really II conscious autOm-
atom. 1t sees or smells food, ana IL i al once
impellcd hy its nervous constitution 10 eat H.
II receives A Sensc-ImpressIOn from the bright
hue of il flower and 1t Is irreslSubly attracted
toward II. rs the moth l. to the candle. III has
no mower of dcliUeratOn, no ability even 10
move It's own limbs IN unaCcustOmed manners:
It's whole life il governed fol II 10y IT. liked
IT receives from outside Aud So though the
world probably appears much the same to a
beetle as 10 US the nature OF Its lie Is very
different 1t acts ike a piece of clOck-Work
mechanism. wound up to perform certain
number of fixed movements, and incapable Of
ever going beyond the narrow circle for which
ii Is designed.
WHY THE PRAIRIES ARE TREELESS.
Mr. l. F Ward gives in The Kansas City
Per;e,r some reasons Why the Western plains
sre destitute Of forests. Where the annual
rainfall exceeds tWenty-fOur inches the absence
of forests Is undoubtedly due to the repeated
hurnin.ys which take place on the pralIles IRON
human agency. " here the annual rainfall l.
below twenty OF perhaps tWenty-fOur lncht >
there can be no growth OF forests, ana this Is
the true cause OF the absence OF tees on tile
great p'ains But this does not prevent the ex-
istence in arid regions OF certain specialized
types of arb0rescent vegetation. he sage
brush that covers the dreary wastes OF the
Rocky Mountain region the Laramie plains,
the Bitter Greek valley, ana Sucn vast areas OF
the West while in Its botanical characters IL Is
little more than an OvergrOWI weed, Is To all
intents and purposes tree, and often attalns
a great age The region II occupies is even
more arid than the great plains, yet no fires
occur and no forests grow. ID the nearly RAIN
less areas of Arizona, Southern Utah and New
Mexico, and stretching eastward INTO Texas
there occur "a number of arbOTesccnt forms, the
CreOSOte bush (LarTea MeXcand, the mcSqult
(PrOsOpis jullhOral various acaclas and
mimOsas. and one yucca y. brevfolia), to-
gether with the tree cactus (Cereus giganteus).
These grow scattered at great distances from
each other and rarely form thickcts or groves.
Why no such characteristic species are found
occupying the great plains Is not known, and
1t is probably "a mere accident that none hap
pen 10 exist adapted both to their tempera-
lures and their arid condition Did any such
exist there seems no reason why they might not
thrive. as well a. the sage brush further west or
the mesquit Of the South.