The Black range. (Robinson, Socorro County, N.M.) 1882-1897, 1886-11-05
Nature the Great Teacher.

heN. y. ". WooQ. IN um NV uuoAs
Natures Teechlngs.- hss discussed =
subject not before handed at length
The object 10 TO show how mans i'm
plements and mechanical devices have
been anticipated In nstnre: that all
biz mechanical devices hzse been used
In Nature Tor counties ages. He
claims that the great diseoveren Of
the future viii Be those Nho carefully
study the natural world.
The Burr-stOnes Of mils are . copy
OF molar teeth. The hoofs Of horse
are made Of parallel plAtss like . car
riage spring. The finest slils made by
man 10 . rough affair wheh compared
with Dutch rush used By cabinet max.
ers. The jaws Of the turtle and tor.
toise are natural scissorh Rodents
have chlsel teeth. and hippotaml have
ada teeth, which are constantly re-
paired 40 they are worn. The carpent-
er's plane is anticipated bv the jaws Of
the bee. The woodpecker has power.
ful little hammer. The diving bell
only initiates the work Of the water
spider. This insect. although as easily
drowned as any other. spends q great
part OF its life under water. Having
constructed small cell under the wa.
ter, it clasps q bubble OF air between
its last pair of legs and dives down to
the entrance Of Its cell. into which the
bubbleis,put Anproportionate amount
of water is thus displaced. and when
all OF 1t is expelled the little animal
takes up Its abode In this sub-sQueous
retreats
Iplating Its eggs on the water. the
guat combines them In mass shaped
somewhat like alife boat. 1t 10 i'm.
possible TO sink 1t without tearing 1t to
pieces. The iron mast Of . modern
ship 10 strengthened by deep ribs run.
ing along It's interior. A porcnpine
quill is strengthened by similar ribs,
When engineers found that hollow
beams were stronger than solid ones,
they only discovered principle which
had beeen used In nature for centuries
before the creation Of man. A wheat
straw, II solid. could not support q
heavy head. The bones Of the higher
animals, IL solid, would have TO be 9
great deal heavier TO bear the weight
which they have TO support The
frame work Of . ship resembles the
skeleton of . herring. and he who
would improve aerial navigation migki
study the skeleton Of . bird with I'D
vantage. Palissv made careful study
of the shell by the seaside, In order I,
learn the best method of fortifying |
town.
The ship worm feeds on wood. and
gradually tunnels it's way through an!
submerged timber. II also lines ID
burrow with a hard. shelly coating
Brunei, taking hint from this. wa
) the first to succeed In sub-aQuatic tun
neling. The Eddystone lighthouse Il
= built on the plan Of tree trunk. ant
fastened TO rock In . manner some
= what similar to the way tree is fas
tened to the soil. 1t 10 supposed tina
the frst idea of q suspension bridR
was suggested by the creepers Of
, trypical climate.
Mr.. Wood gives an interesting aC
, count of the origin Of the plan for tn
Crystal Palace. Mr. Paxton, q garden
or, having noticed the structure of tn
i great leaves OF the Victoria Regia.
' plant which has teen introduced 'int
!; England q few years previous, struc
the plan of copying In iron the ribs Q
: the leaf and nlling the remainin
J. space. which corresponds to the celll
. lar portions of the leaf. with glas
n Thus, by copying nature, an obscur
q gardener became Sir John Paxton. th
!; great sct.-Wilmington Coli
oiAn.