Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-14

card returns to the feet Of the throwsr, simply
Tor the reason that it is easier for il TO do that
| than to do ANYTHING else. The only problem
| involved in throwing the boomerang is to start
It revolving in lite own plane. II is believed
that the Australian savages discovered the thing
by accident. They find playthings in all sorts
OF objects that come in Their WAY. Prof Lum-
holtz saws that he has frequently seen them
| fold the leaf OF a common palm into q square,
giving two opposite corners a little twist, and
throw IL into the air. making il skim round and
return. They used often to amuse themselves
with the leaves of a kind of acacia, which have
much the Shape of a boomerang. They gave
them flick with the finger, causing the leaves
to start off. and they came back in the same
| manner as the boomerang.
The risks which Prof. Lumholtz underwent
while on his expedition were not unrewarded,
inasmuch as he came across great many ex-
traordinary animals, some of which were en-
trely new to science. For example. he found
a certain very beautiful parrot which built its
nests always in the hills of white ants The
bird enters the side Of the hill. having a small
passageway to get out by, and makes a chamber
within that is about a foot high and two feet in
diameter. None of the building material is
carried away, but all the cells ard canals are
trampled down. SO that there remains simply a
wall one or two inches thick around the whole
nest Here the female lays five white eggs.
The two most remarkable mammals in the
world are found IN Australia-the duck billed
platypus and the spiny anteater. both OF which
lay eggs, sucking their young after they are
Matched out
TIE KANGAROO.
As to its fauna the island continent is a re-
gion of forms that are most weird and strange,
nearly all of lbs beasts being surviyals of types
which pas ed off the rest Of the earth millions
OF years ago. Not least astonishing are the
numerous species Of pouched animals, such as
the Kangaroo, the largest specimens of which
are as big as stag. This huge creature brings
forth an offspring no larger than the little
finger of a human baby and not unlike it in
form. This helpless, naked. blind and deaf be-
ing the mother puts into the pouch on her
belly, placing it on one of the long. slender
milk-giving strings found in the pouch. Here
the young one remains hanging for weeks and
grows very rapidly. The mother possesses a
peculiar muscle with which she in able to press
milk into the mouth Of the little kangaroo and
the larynx of the latter has such a structure
that 1t can breathe while il sucks All Of the
marsupials, like the opossum, are propagated
In this manner. Some Of these marsupials are
beasts OF prey and very ferocious. The mar
supial wolf and the marsupial devil are very
ferocious and powerful, doing great damage
among sheep. Australia has the only birds in
the world which do not hatch their eggs them
selves, but like reptiles, bury them in earth
mounds, where they are Matched by fermenta-
ton. The vegetation of the country is almost
equally extraordinary. with some trees that are
leaf1ess and others which bear leaves extended
In vertical plane instead OF horizontally, re-
minding the scientific observer of the vanished
flora Of the tertiary period.
ENORMOUS FROGS
Frogs are enormously plentiful in Australia.
Prof. Lumholtz speaks of being greatly an
noyed by them in the houses at sheep ranches.
where mot only on the floor, but even in the
water jar. the batrachians croaked merrily and
often SO loudly as to interfere with conyersa-
uon. There Is one species of frog very big
which buries itself during the dry season in the
ground. Frogs of this kind contain much
water, a fact known to the natives who dig
them up In the dry season and quench their
thirst by squeezing the water out of them. The
white people sometimes resort to these frogs
for water. They know the little mounds, re-
sembling mole hills. under which the frogs lie
hid. and dig them out. According to report
such frog contains about n wineglassful of
clear, sweet water. The Australian farmers
have many enemies to fight against besides
those which have been imported into the
country, like the rabbit Large fruit-eating
bats do much damage to the orchards. and il ia
no pleasant sight for the industrious agricul-
turlst to see devouring swarms of these So
called flying foxes advancing on his crops of
an evening. Wild dogs we're formerly
very numerous, but they did so much damage
that they were DESTROYED without mercv On
large plan tations man is kept whose sole work
Is to lay out poison for them. One of the
greatest annoyances in certain parts of Australia
Is the poisonous nettle or 'stinging tree" It
Is SO poisonous that if its beautiful heart-shaped
leaves are only put in motion they cause one
to sneeZe. They are covered with nettles on
both sides. and a sting from them gives great
pain. Horses wounded by them roll as if mad
from pain. and ii they do moi at once receive
attention they will In this way kill themselves