The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.
a Niennese professor has made public
the fact that the chances OF a smoker
suffering from diphtherla OF other dis
eases u the throat, as compared with
those Of a nOn-smOker. are as one 10
twenty-eight- His observation enables
MIN 20 assert that smoking tends 10 check
the development OF bacteria and 10 XIII
mem 50 much is this the case that u
has been found essential 10 forbid smok-
Ing in meteorological laboratories. After
an, there IS something 10 be said for to-
baccO-
The Oldest and. it is SAID. the largest
match factory in the world is in Sweden.
Matches were made there long before the
Oh roughly trimmed SPLINTER OF WOOD
/ tipped with sulphur was discarded with
lne unger-boxes for which they were
used IN twenty-five years the export
trade OF Sweden IN modern matches in
creased 10 1000 million boxes a year. Some
OF the machines for making the matches
Which We use IN these days make 200 rev.
Olut0nS minute each, and turn out
about 100000 of matches daily, or 81
mlllions annually. Altogether there are in
Europe about 5000 factories, and they
yearly produce matches valued at $J0,0OO,-
j. Willoughby Fraser. writing in the
London Spectator from Cairo, gives, in
as nearly as possible the words in which
N.
Arabic account Of the iorigin of rabies:
Behold, now, there are great birds which
live IN the air, beyond the sight of the
chldren OF men (Beni ADAM. Now, the
females lay their eggs flying in the air,
and the eggs that are good float, and the
small birds come out of them full-hedged;
but the eggs that are added fall to earth
! and are broken, and the dogs and cats
ScaVenging round the villages eat of the
fallen eggs, and forthwith they become
mad, even man himself, II ne puts his
hand to the broken eggs, and then places
it on his lips, Will become mad also"
There are many of the lower animals
that feign death when it serves their pur-
pose TO do so, says the Chicago News.
Creatures as low in the scale as micro
scopic animalcules will, when surprised by
an enemy, pretend that they are dead.
| There is a fresh-water worm which when
approached by "a giant water beetle makes
use of this stratagem: 1t will be swimming
along when suddenly it Will hang limp
and threadlike the sport of the currents
and waves. The reason for this peculiar
action IS the approach or ore or the bee
ties. After the beetle disappears the worm
comes to life. Grubs and caterp!Qars feign
death. A naturalist watched a caterpillar
one day which accidentally fell into a lit
| tie sandy pit. Every time it attempted to
climb up the side of the pit Ii fell back,
Dragging with 1t a quantity OF sand. 1t
! tried all sides and finally when almost up
d1slOdged a corn cob, which fell into the
pit, dragging the caterpillar The caterpu-
lar thought the cob was an enemy and
| curled up in tight ball, lay dead" some
minutes and finally cautiously came to life
and successfully craWled away. The black
viper ana tree moccasin snakes have the
| habit of teigning death. A wonderful piece
of acting was witnessed by a man who
was teasing a black viper. The snake sud
denly rose, bent over. bit itself in the back,
shuddered and stretched out for dead. The
man sat down and watched it. In about
fifteen minutes II woke up and scurried
away This snake is called the suicide
snake by farmers who insist that it poi
| sons itself. Ants play dead and the
| opossum's tricks in this direction are very
| Wen known.
When an aimal is killed and skinned,
| says Sir Samuel Baker, before the opera
| ton is completed the first bird to appear
| is the willy and omnipresent crow; the
next is the ordinary buzzard Both these
! birds are near the surface of the earth,
| seeking their food with untiring energy.
| But although they may have keen pow
| ers of scent, even they, in my opinion, are
| mainly guided by their acuteness of vi
| sion, as they are always on the alert, hunt
/ ing in every direction, and, in fact, keep
ing sharp lookout The third arrival is
| the small, red-necked vulture. This bird
| descends from great hight. 1t is now
/ most interesting to watch the concentra-
/ ton from all quarters of the compass; this
/ is easily arranged by lying beneath a bush
and shading the eyes while you gaze into
| the deep, blue sky. 1t Will appear to be
4 all alive with the smallest flies, all NOV
/ ing, all hurrying and descending. These
! become rapidly larger, and you are aware
I
| enormous attitudes that, We're a mountain
| top exposed, it would be capped with ever
| lasting snow. While you are straining
| your eyes to peer into these blue vaults,
| you are startled by tremendous rush, like
| the roar of a rocket; this is the descent
| with closed wings, of some of the large,
! bare-necked Vultures who have plunged
| like plummet for some thousand feet
to share in the feast below. All those birds
! flying at high attitudes have been soaring
| upon endless wings, never fatigued by mo-
! ton, as they seldom flap, but only adjust
| themselves to the currents of air upon
which they float, and having. with their
! extraordinary powers of sight, oh. rived
| the hurry of smaller birds to some attract
! i've point, they have at once directed their
course to fulfil the Biblical expression,
| Where the carcass is, there shall the
| eagles Vultures) be gathered together"
No matter where plants grow how
| unfavorable the soil or atmosphere, they
always manage to adapt themselves to
circumstances, says the Chicago News.
| Excepting the greatest ocean depths there
| is no place in the world where vegetable
NE does not exist OFF Terra del Fuego
| where the tremendous breakers roar and
| crash against the rocks they wear away
| there floats on the surface of this turmoil
! of waters acres of a marine plant which
| rises from depth of 200 or more feet
It's roots imbedded in the ocean bottom
| No force shakes it loose Its stem is
| never an inch through, and is round and
| sEppery, yet few of them will support
! an immense weight. Darwin, in writing
OF the constituencies Of the tip ends of
| the roots of plant says they are so sus-
ceptible to external impressions that they
| are in reality brains and direct the move
ments of the other parts OF the plant.
There is a plant which, by the opening
| and closing of its leaves, foretells rainy
| weather; the compass plant of New Next
| co has leaves so sensitive to magnetic
| currents that the bewildered Traveller can
tell from the way it arranges it's leaves
| which way is north Great fields of the
| sensitive plant in Brazil will, at the tramp
| of a horses hoofs, SILVER and close IN.
| the circles and waves over the field while
this is going on being very curious. The
| Venus hy-trap is well known; the leaves
are divided by the midrib into two halves
which are set with bristles, and if a dy
or insect aEghts on the surface the
two halves instantly clap together and
hold the fly prisoner for life. While
these movements are automatic, there are
| plants which seem to move whenever thew
| take a notion to do So a leguminous
| plant of the East Indies puzzlss specta-
| tors by moving its leaves up and down
| whenever 1t takes a notion to do so. The
SundeW IS another remarkable plant The
leaves are covered with hairs, in reality
| Stands each tipped with a sticky Amid
| looking like a drop of dew. Flies attract
l.