Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-08-23
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.

THERE Is q banyan tree on the banks
Oh the Merbudha, in India, which meas.
ures $500 feet, or nearly half mile, in
circumference. Its foliage is the home
OF thousands of birds and monkeys.
The abundance of herring ova
spawned upon the coast of Labrador has
been reported by trustworthy obsery-
er to be so great that he has seen the
shore covered with it to the depth Of two
feet for several miles.
A NEW theory of the so-called fascina-
tion OF birds by snakes is that the bird
mistakes the snake s.tongue, which the
reptile keeps In constant motion. for a
lively worm, and watches it with the ex.
pectation of deyouring it.
BACTERIA is the general name given To
the smallest forms of living organisms |:
they are prevalent everywhere In nature.
and there is reason to believe that they
constitute the major part Of the bodies
OF both animals and plants.
The tiger takes particular care OF
those terrible weapons, his claws. Trees
are frequently seen in jungles scored
with long vertical assures to the height
OF eight or ten feet from the ground.
where tigers have cleansed and sharp
ened their claws.
1T may not be generally known that
cobwebs have been applied to various
uses. The delicate cross-hairs in the
telescopes of surveying instruments are
tine webs taken from spiders Of species
that are specially selected for their pro-
duction OF an excellent quality of this
mvterial. The spider, when caught, is
made to spin his thread by tossing him
from hand to hand, in case he is indis-
posed to furnish the article. The end is
attached to piece of wire, which is
doubled into parallel lengths, the dis
tance apart exceeding little the diam
eter OF the instrument. AS the spider
hangs and descends from this the web is
wound upon it by turning the wire
around. The coils are then gummed to
the wire and kept for use as required.
a century ago, a pair of gloves and a
pair OF stockings were made from the
thread of the spider. They were yery
strong and of beautiful gray color.
Other attempts of the kind have been
made but with moderate success.
DR.. r. b. BUTTON writes: Sirius dog
btar), which rises about 10 o'clock in
the evening during the month Of No
yember, is the largest and perhaps
nearest of the fixed stars. In order to
make its amazing distance from us nm
derstood, will say that there are some-
thing over 1,006, 600 of people in New
York city, and from the Battery to
Spuyten Duyvii is thirteen miles. Both
the length Of this island and its number
nj l.s.< Il
There are thousand times as many
people in the rest of the world as in
New York, and thousand can also be
easily comprehended, for the number
can be counted in five minutes. Now
If all the inhabitants in New York, and
all the Inhabitants in the rest of the
world beside, should walk the distance
from the Battery to Spuyten Duyvil and
return every day for five years, and these
distances should be added together. the
amount woulG he the distance to the
Dog Star, viz fifty trillions) 10000
DOC, 900, 900 of miles |
The strange Dragons Blood tree of
the Canaries excites deep interest on
account OF its immobility, like some
huge, rocky cliff, which has been we'll
known landmark for long ages. Famous
for its strange look, its great size and
longevity, 1t is no less so for the station
airy condition of its growth. The legends
OF Teneriffe proclaim that this tree was
worshiped by the original inhabitants,
and in the fifteenth century the Roman
priests celebrated mass in the interior
OF its trunk, where there are still stand
ing the ruins of rude altar. So little
has this tree grown since It's discovery
In 14O2 that no perceptible change in the |
circumference can DO noted. Nearly |
$50 years have made no difference in its
girth. When Humboldt assembled the
peak of Teneriffe, in 1899, he found it
forty-fve feet around little above the
level OF the ground, and thus it has been
from time immemorial. What sugges-
tions of antiquity this fact carries 1t
may be fancied standing q great tree far
pack in remote ages antedating the very |
beginning of reliable history.