Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-09-28
ALMOST INCREDIBLE.
THE STRANGE BUT TRUE STORIES
THAT NATURALISTS TELL US.
Wonderful Feats of Strength Performed by
small Creatures - Astonishing Facts
ANGNt Seeds and Their Products-Long
There are many surprising things in

1900. ---i--S -
There are many surprising things in
-l,-,+ 80 s-,-o-+ We o--"~i~1'---',-- ~~---.
PARSONS are used to call attention to
them. For instance, Delisle tells us Of a
fly that ran nearly three inches and made
440 steps in half second. This is about
equal to q mans running 20 miles a
minute. The flea leaps 900 times it's own
length. At this rate q man six feet tall
would bound ct one effort distance Of
/, 300 feet. The mite in the cheese Is only
one- fourth of an inch in length, yet 1t can
take the tip Of It's tail in It's mouth, and
then, letting go with sudden jerk, jump
put Of a bowl six inches In depth. To
equal this man should be able to jump
out Of vertical shaft in mine 144 feet
In depth.
A beetle placed under glass tumbler
will push the tumbler around on a table.
10 match this a man relatively should DO
able to walk of with small lighthouse.
The brain OF u canary Is larger than the
brain Of an elephant. "Oh, that can't be
bruop' you exclaim. Remember we mean
proportionately.
President Clark of Amherst college
come years ago made q series Of expert
ments upon the growing force Of squash.
Whom 1t was IS days old and measured 81
inches In circumference, he inolosed it in
n sort Of iron and wooden harness, with
long lever attached to 1t. The latter was
weighted according to the growing power
of the squash. Beginning with 60 pounds
on tho twentieth day Of It's existence, on
the ninetieth day 1t lifted 5000 pounds.
A peculiar plant Is found In the states
of Oregon and Texas. 1t Is known as the
compass plant, the polar plant and the
pilot weed, owing to the polarity of its
leaves The radical leaves present their
edges north and south, while their faces
are turned east and west. This popularity
has long been known to hunters, who on
dark nights easily get their bearings by
feeling the direction of the leaves An
other guide to hunters Is the moss on the
trees. 1t grows more thickly on the north
side of the tree than on any other side.
The seed of the globe turnip Is not larger
perhaps than the twentieth part Of an inch
in diameter, and yet in the course of few
months this seed will be enlarged by the
soil and the air into 1000, 900 times It's
original bulk, and this In addition to a
considerable bunch of leaves. DR.. Des-
guliers made some experiments, proving
that in an average condition turnip
seed may increase it's own weight Is times
in minute. By an actual experiment
made on peat ground turnips have been
found to increase more than $4,000 times
the weight Of their seeds day.
There is shellflsh called the coat Of
mail, which has Its eyes not on its body,
1Ool- TO
but on its shell. They glisten like crystals
in their calcarous settings. AS well might
we expect to see eyes on the shell of tor
toise or on our finger nails. This discov-
cry, so new in science, has led to a closer
inspection. In one specimen 800 eyes were
counted "a rows with an average Of 10 in
ea& row. Another shell, In which tho
eyes were very small, had 8, 500 eyes on 1t.
Fish live to a wonderful age. Professor
Baird tells us Of pike in Russia whose
age dates back to the fifteenth century.
In the royal aquarium at st. Petersburg
there are fish that have been there for 140
years They live ON without seeming to
arrive at maturity. There are also some
very queer crabs in the world. The soldier
crab of Bermuda carries heavy shells up
the hills. A shore crab in the Cape Verde
islands may "be seen running along like
piece of paper blown by strong wind"
In Ascension island there are crabs that
steal young rabbits from their nests, while
the famous robber crab Of the Philippines
cracks cocoanuts and eats them.
Perhaps not one boy In 20while digging
worms for bait stops to wonder why
worms were made or how many there are
in the ground. The attention Of Darwin,
the eminent naturalist, was attracted to
the subject when boy, and one of the
last articles that he wrote was a treatise
on the vast Importance Of the earthworms
to the human race. The scientific world
was astonished at what he had to say on
the subject Tho fertility of our soil is
due to the labors Of these insignificant
creatures. By penetrating the earth In
every direction and deposlting their own
remains therein the fertility Of the soil Is
not only kept up, but is largely improved.
Their number is surprisingly large. In
old pastures In England the worms are
estimated at $4,000 to the acre and as
many as $4,000 in richly cultivated gar
dens. Mr.. Urquhart estimated the num-
Der of worms In the rich pasture lands
near Auckland at from 400, 0G0 to 800, 900
to the acre. Were 1t not for the earth
worms soils would become barren and half
of the world would die Of starvation
Frank II. Stauffer in P Philadelphia Times.