The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-07-31
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
cuRrous MrMrrRY.

Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
CURIOUS MIMrcRY.
During his expedition to Mount Kihmanjaro
Mr.. II. H. johnson noticed singular resemblance
or "mimicry" between the appearance of the tall
red-brown antelope and the mounds built by the
white ant The color being the same and the long |
grass hiding the animals legs, it was really diff
fcult to distinguish an antelope from an ant-hiii
A more ludicrous exactness was sometimes given
mimicry by the sharply pointed leaves of kind
of squill, which suggested the horns Of an ante
lope.
THE coMINc nnNrnxz >lsa
Balloons as an adjunct of warfare are attracting
much attention in European military circles, and
their possible value in times of peace is not en-
tirely overlooked. An English writer remarks
that the recent successful attempts at
age in France have led many thoughtful persons
to believe the day not to be far distant when we
shall see balloons plying in ell-paying passenger
traffic between England and the Continent An
other writer adds that such a result would be no
more wonderful in its way than the discovery and
development of the telephone, which, though
scarcely decade old, is already so familiar to us
that it no longer seems strange.
THE UNITY OF LIFE.
am the old definition of the three Kingdoms of
nature" says Mr.. Edward Clodd, eve were taught
that plants grove end live, while animals grow,
live and move. But this no longer holds good, at
least in respect of the lower forms. There are
locomotive plants and stationary animals. The
swarm cells or zoospores which are expelled from
some of the lower plants, as algae and certain
fungi behave like animals, darling through the
water by the aid of hair-like faments called
vibratile ella, finally settling down and growing
into new plants; others, as diatoms and desmids,
are locomotive throughout Ife certain marine
animals, as sponges and corals; are rooted to the
spot where they grow while there are organisms
which appear to be plants at one stage of their
growth and animals at another stage" Other
marks of supposed unlkeness have vanished, and
that which was once thought special to one is
found to be common to both. So to the biologist
it appears that, call, from the lowest to the high
est, have their unity and kinship in ancestral life
which was neither plant nor animal"
THE WATER of TREES.
In the latitude of New York Prof. P. D. Pen
hollow has found the proportion of water in trees
and shrubs to vary according to these general
laws l. The water in woody plants is not constant
for all seasons, and depends upon conditions OF
growth. 2. 1t is in greatest amount late in May
or early in June, and least in January 3. 1t is
in greatest proportion in the sap wood; least in
II L =. ,nIo 70 M
rapidly they have most water.
CHANGING THE VOICE.
As the result of an experimental inquiry, Dr.
Sandras, physician of Paris, claims to be able to
change the nature, intensity, pitch and extent OF
thevoice in surprising degree by the use of diff
ferent inhalations. A few inspirations of alcoholic
yapor impart q decided hoarseness, some vapors
weaken the voice, while others strengthen it to
such an extent that it acquires new notes, high
and low. If the same effects are produced upon
people generally, this curious discovery must
prove of great practical value to public speakers
singers, and all who use the voice considerably.
PNEUMATIC LIGHTING.
A new method of lighting, called the pneumatic
system, has been described by Frenchman, M.
Bender. He employs the fatty residues obtained
from the rectifcation of crude mineral oils, through
which he passes current of air. The air takes
up definite quantity of this hydro carbon, and
the fame produced is very brilliant, giving off no
smoke. Cheapness and immunity from explosions
are advantages claimed
POISON IN EDIBLE MoLLUSKS.
The occurrence of poisonous mussels and star
fishes in German locality has led to an investi-
cation from which it appears that simple stagna-
tion of sea-water is capable of giving rise to
poisonous qualities in the animals inhabiting it;
and that, too, when it is free from sewage and
other impurities. The poison in the mussels has
been described ptomaine under the name of
mytiIotoxin but Prof. Virchow says it cannot
be true ptomaine, as it is not product Of de-
composition. 1t must result from the conditions
of the molusk's growth.
MISCELLANEOUS.
An ingenious astronomical theory is that of Mr..
Monck, of Dublin, who suggests that as shooting
stars are known to be dark bodies rendered lumi-
nous for short time by rushing through our at
mosphere, new stars are dark or family luminous
bodies which acquire a short-lived brilliancy by
rushing through some of the gaseous masses
visible, perhaps, nebulae-which exist in space.
A gradual increase in the average size of the
skull among the natives is believed by Bombay
physician to be taking place as an effect of civili-
cation in India.
A sum equivalent to S125,OO0 has been pre-
sented to the German Government by DR.. Werner
Siemens to establish and institute for carrying on
experiments in natural science.
The fall of meteor on ice was lately witnessed
on the coast of Norway, hole foot and half
in diameter being made through eight inches
of ice.
A French botanist, M. Buysman, has enumera-
ted 37s species of plants growing in Greenland,
and he finds that they resemble those of Lapland
more than those of the American continent.
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