The Rugby news. (Rugby, Morgan County, Tenn.) 1890-189?, 1891-01-24
BIRDS ON THE WING.

Interesting Information Concernins Their
VA Flight.
A bird is one of the most wonderfully
organized of all animals, and almost the
whole of its organization is arranged to
facilitate fight. The flights some birds
will take, moreover, are extraordinary
phenomena in themselves. A falcon
belonging to Henry Nv. of France is
known to have flown from Fountaine-
bleau to Malta, a distance of 1850 miles,
in one day. The celebrated race horse
Eclipse ran one mile in one minute, but
hawk may fly $50 miles in an hour!
Our swifts and swallows fly every year
from England to Southern Africa and to
the Moluccas, and the restless, wander
ing fight of various oceanic birds is still
more surprising That such action
should be possible in hot-blooded
animal with an internal bony skeleton,
needs most careful and peculiar ar
rangement of it's organs. These are so
packed as to place the center of gravity
where it can best be sustained, and all
the organs are so constructed as to pro-
duce in combination the greatest
strength and warmth, with the least
possible weight. Nothing is more
marvellous than the structure of a
feather. No space can here be given,
however, to its description. 1t must
suffice to affirm it be an organ at once
so light and so strong, and one which
at the same time seems so thoroughly
to shut in and retain the body's heat,
that it is impossible to imagine any
thing more perfect
Bones are necessarily more or less
heavy structures, but the bones of most
birds, while their solid substance is ex-
ceedingly strong, are wonderfully light
ened by the details of their arrange
ment, and still more by the fact that
most of them contain not marrow, but
warm land therefore light air. In
some birds even every bone of each toe
is thus permeated, and air passes into
the skeleton freely by means of large
air sacs, into which cavities in the lungs
directly open. But for flight, great
power is no less necessary than light
ness of structure, and voluminous mus
sles are needed to bring the parts of
the skeleton, above an the wings, into
vigorous play. Hence the great mass OF
flesh upon the breast, where is accumu-
lated all the muscles needed to depress
the wings and so raise the body
in the air. But not only are these
muscles so placed, but by truly admir-
able continuance the antagonizing mus
cles, which raise the wing, are also
situated on the breast, and are
thus conveniently disposed with ref
erence to the center of gravity. In 9th
er animals the muscles which raise the
arm are situated on the back, but very
ingenious and simple contrivance ena-
bles them to be placed on the birds
breast. This continuance is the wind
ing of the tendon Gin which the elevat-
ing muscles end) around sort of bony
pulley, which permits its insertion into
that upper surface of the arm bone,
whereon it must be inserted if the wing
is to be raised at all. But muscles,
however voluminous, are useless unless
their action is stimulated by copious
supply of well-puriied blood. This
necessary stimulation is well provided
for in birds by double modification.
In the first place valve Of the heart,
which in ourselves and in beasts con-
sists but of membrane, in birds is form
ed Of contractile muscle itself. Second
ly, the stream of the blood tends to be
not only thus more vigorously propell-
ed bat also to be more purified by the
general permeation of the body with
air from the lungs.-Quarterly Review.
"A large stock raiser in the suburbs,
who buys the kitchen waste of two or
three hotels, gets good, part of his
money back by selling the articles that
he finds in the refuse food. These in
clude forks, spoons, knives, plates,
cups, saucers, and, in fact, specimens OF
every thing that is used in restaurant
or on dining table. This table furni-
ture is not broken or worn or damaged
in any way, but is simply good material
carelessly or viciously dumped in the
swill tubs.-N. Y. Sun.