The Meeker herald., 1890-09-13
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Information on Many Points c!
General Interest.
fsmrsrstaT. of IT..s-i"nssSity Of He
phsnt- E.iation at fisnts 4" soil
sIEurt1r. of ruipy Fruit.
or iisTTi...

TEMrfEATtTE or TEEEs.-From some
observations recorded hy Mr, II, l., Rus
sol in the Botanical GaAoIte, it ppears
that az a general ILie tue peraturo
Of the Interior Of ire" IL somewhat
higher than that Of the air, except dur
Ing the warmer parts of the day, the
maximum temperature OF the air be-
ing generally between one and two p
m, and the minimum between six and
seven a, a., The comparative tables
show that heat Is absorbed and radlaiei
more rapidly la the outsE layers than in
the ccntsr.
Experiment. made AZ . time when tho
buds were starting, in order "a do
teruiue whether the chemical action
carried on in the ti,,urs gives Tlsr TO
heat, led Ia the conclusion that il Is
very doubtful Nhcthor the mctahollle
processes involved general" enough
heat 10 influence the ordinary thcTtLJin'
otsr. 4 curious difference, however,
Wss discovered in iho wooI " the oak
and piho in winter the author having
found that the temperature Of the Pine
was lower than that OF the oak At all
times except duFins tho latter part Of tho
tributSl "a the thick coating OF tho
leaves on III" pin" preventing aissorp-
ton of heat by the trunk, since the
lar-h, which has similar wood, rcsom'
hlrs the oak rather than ia" pine In tho
matter Of temperature, Tho further
conclusion il reached that IN" direct
Absorption ot heat II tho main cause Of
the high tsmp"Tatur" Of trr"s, and that
II il largely dependent upon ih- charar-
ter Of u" bark, smopth-haTkcd trees be-
Ing warmer a. Fu.o than thlck-haEk,d
ones,
i.nNGEVIff or ELfriiANTs.-Th iotirn-
ais Of C"yion have r-erntlY mentioned
tho death 81 an elephant that Was we'll
knoEn on the i-laHi and bad been seen
rs several generations Of Engliahm-n,
lie was called Se.,o snI had belonged
- tho lastuf the kInss Of Handy. lie
was ono % the hundred elephants shat
w-r- taken by Jhr English Government
In ISIS, when tho Kaalyan Dynasty Nas
0VoTihFnwH, 4, this rPpvh thr elephant
Was said Ia h. hfi""n yrars old. II this
Is correct, he died natural death a. tho
age o, clsh;y-niHc years,
Rnt.,Ti"S 49, ft4NNr. To Soii--Nr q.
VILE, In a paper rad b"fuF" the Arai-
cmy uf >Ci~Hrrs Of Paris, shows that
tho composition Of ii" spll Influences
plants Ia I've principal chs'artrrs, viz;
The stature. the color. the amount oi
caroline and ch!oruphyi and the guam
ii;y Of vegetation. \ ial!- Il given
showing the dl''rrrnc" In stature and
color Of plants Of ~" common hemp &C.
coulins 10 III" manure ua,-i, fruu Ahirh
IL IA evident that ibls plant iiourlhhcs
lcas, In sull without MANURE. next In
mauuF~ without potash AMI 10 manure
without nitrogen. TLu ~ s-nr- Of lImc
AMI phuspEat" 10 the manure In the
ease Of hemp did not Interfere 80 largo
Is with the color and stature 81 the
plants, IL would appear, therefore.
tina, rich manure Ia essential. at least.
10 the d"y-:opmcn, Of foliage.
SturcrruI ~ Perry fGvtr-.-To tho
Annals Of botany Mr.. j. u. Farmer
contribute an article Ia which. after
pointing ou, tn" very different sources
Of the pulp in dlrrrcn; fruits, h" gives
detailed descriptions II it, mode OF for
nation In the elder. duicamara, black
berry and Ivy. Tho term berry il
usually applied to fruits In which
dc.yci from the pcricarp, hu; In Daphne
mcf"Tvon IL l. formed not only from the
p"rlcArp. bu; from the outer inirEumcn,
ot the seed also. In Citrus IL 1, due "a
hairs which spring Into the ovarian
cavities and become diatrnIcI .lih
fluid. In Wits and Soianum DulcamaFa
the pulp Is formed partly from the pia.
ccnta and partly from tn" p"Firarp. In
tho latter. after fertilization Of the
,sary, the cells Of the plac"nta grow
out between tn" seeds, 10 a. t. give
them the appearance Of being sunk In
It, and thu, growth Is continued until
met by y similar growth from the peri.
carp. 81 that IN" cavity Of the oyary Is
then filled up with pulpy tissue. The
ou,crmost layer OF coils Of the uvulcs
also undergo change, their inner and
side walls becoming i'snihrd and the
outer wall becoming mucilag.nous and
forming par; Of the uurilagc Of the
pulp, just as II doe, in linsccd. The red
color of dulcamara berries H. due To the
appearance Of largo number Of chrome.
plastids derived from the ohlorophyl
rranulcs. At the same timc that this
formation takes place the starch in the
fruit becomes changed - sugar.