The record-union., 1899-08-20

Ne~e1NA%c.
marked the position of the tendril IN
pencil on the wood and then shifted
the nail about an inch lower. Next
day the little feeler had DETECTED itself
very noticeably, and was again head
ing for the nail.
1.-The marking and shifting were re-
peated four or five times, always with
the same result. and finally one night
the tendril, which had grown consid-
erably, managed to reach the coveted
support, and we found it coiled tightly
around it. Meanwhile another bunch
of tendrils had been making for
hook that was formerly used for
thermometer. Just before it reached its
destination my daughter strung cord
across the window sash directly above.
It was a choice then, between the old
love and the new, and, as a morning
glory always seems to prefer a cord TO
anything else, it wasn't long in making
up its mind. In very few hours the
pale, crisp little tendrils-which, by the
way, convey a surprising suggestion OF
human fingers-had commenced to lift
toward the twine Next day they
reached it and took such a firm grip
that I don't believe they could possi-
bly, have been disengaged without
breaking the fiber Scientists are no
doubt familiar with such phenomena,
and if so, would be very glad to learn
whether they have formulated a theory
on the subject. To me it seems sim
ply inexplicable."
Copper has risen and aluminium de-
clined until the price of the two metals
is almost the same. One pound of
aluminium is equivalent to two of cop
per in carrying electrical energy, and
if it We're as easy to work and solder
would probably displace copper to a
considerable extent.
X
Maryland Medical Journal: The re-
cent statements of Professor Atwater
on the amount of alcohol which can
be taken in the human system in a
healthy condition in twenty-four hours
can not but do harm when garbled by
a sensational press, anxious to create
notice at any cost. The difficult ques-
ton of the poisonous dose of alcohol
in any form has not yet been settled,
and the statement that two ounces,
more or less, of alcohol or it's equivalent
may be taken daily with impunity can
hardly be accepted at this time with
out attaching so many conditions that
the original statement can hardly be
found.
In determining what becomes of x
rays after they have impinged on the
body, two writers, says the Electrical
World" the Nuovo Cimento divide all
int III
which simply diffuse the rays, those
which transform them into other rays
having different properties, and finally
those which do both. This is analogous
to a white body and a colored body.
According to Sagnac there are no bod
les corresponding to the white bodies
in the case Of light, but the present
authors point out that Sagnac's trans
formation is often simply a diffusion
and there is no reason to assume the
existence of "Sagnac rays" they con-
clude that X-rays can be diffiusively re-
hected as such.
The catfish belongs to an ancient
type not yet fully made into fish, and
hence those whose paired fins are all
properly fastened to the head, as his
are not. hold him in well-merited
scorn. He has no scales and no bright
colors. His fins are small, and his
head and mouth are large. Around
his mouth are eight long "smellers,
f1eshy feelers, that he pushes out as
he crawls along the bottom in search
of anything that he may eat. AS he
may eat anything, he always finds it.
His appetite is as impartial as that
of a goat. Anything from a dead
lamprey or a bunch of sunfish eggs to
a piece of tomato can is grateful to
him. In each of the fins which repre-
sent his arms is a long, sharp bone
with Shiny surface and a serrated
edge. These are fastened by a bali.
and-socket joint, and whenever the fish
is alarmed the bone is whirled over and
set in place. There is another such
bone in the fin on the back, and when
all these are set there is no fish that
can swallow him.
When he takes the hook, which he
surely will do if there is any hook to
be taken, he will swallow it greedily.
AS he is drawn out OF the water he
sets his three spines, and laughs to
himself as the boy pricks his fingers
trying to get the hook from his stom-l
ach. This the boy is sure to do, and
because the boy of the Mississippi Val
ley is always fishing for catfish is the
reason why his fingers are always sore.
The catfish is careless of the present,
and sure of the future. After he is
strung on a birch branch and dried
in the sun and sprinkled with dust and
has had his stomach dug out to re-
cover the hook. if he falls into the
brook he will swim away. He holds
no malice, and is ready to bite again
at the first thing in sight.-David Starr
Jordan, in Appleton's Popular Science
Monthly.
Taxation in Italy.