Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-10-05
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The new German dictionary Of the
carbon compounds names 74,147 of
these substances, and the end is yet far
off
Elephants have only eight teeth-two
below and two above on each side. All
an elephants baby teeth fall out when
the animal is about fourteen years old,
and a new set grows.
Experiments by Prof Loeb show
that chemically pure salt is fatal to
fish, though present in the same proper
| tiOns as in sea water. 1t is agreed that
it is useful to animals, but the mixture
of it with other salts renders it non
toxic, as proved by his further expert
ments.
Nature notes remarkable fact in
connection with the West Indian hur-
ricane of September, 1898. 1t appea.
that before the hurricane one of the
tamest and cOmmonest birds ON the isl
and of st. Vincent was small hum.
ming bird, but none of these birds have
been seen since September, 1898.
According to Mons. Sigriste. of the
French Academy of Sciences, the only
thoroughly scientific shutter for instan-
taneous photography consists of slit
moving rapidly across the sensitive
plate. But to obtain good results the
space between the plate and the shut
ter should not exceed one-tenth of
millimetre. and the edges of the slit
must be sharp and cal lefully beveled TO
exclude reflection
The blue coral is known as one of the
most isolated of living animals 1t has
been described as the only species of
it's genus and the only member of its
family, with no close living relations
and no! Known ancestors" Recently,
however. Prof. J. w. Gregory has dis
covered in the British Museum what he
believes to be an ancestor of the lonely
blue coral in fossil coral of the Gre
taceous period. called Polytremacis.
By distilling fresh herring and oily
pine wood in an iron retort, and then
condensing the products in a I.iebig
condenser, William G. Day reports. in
the American Chemical Journal, that he
has produced an artificial asphalt close
| ly resembling the natural product. This
experiment is regarded as confirmatory
of the opinion that asphalt and petrol
cum are the products of a natural dis
tillation by which the remains of early
forms of animal and vegetable life
have been transformed in the heated
crust of the earth.
Bret Harte's "outcast in gray" the
10 IL,
Holder as species of wolf which is
virtually wild dog. Domestic dogs. he
says, although they will kill the male
coyote. will often refuse to injure the
female. Prof. Holder defends the
coyote against those who would exter-
inmate him, on the ground that he is
the only effective enemy of the jack
rabbit and the ground squirrel. which
cause SO much damage in California
A coyote in a camp after chickens
yelps so fast that he creates the impress
sion that whole pack is abroad.
Naturalists have generally accepted
the opinion that ants are not able to
perceive any sounds that are audible
to human ears. Prof. Weld. of the Iowa
State University, controverts this opin-
ion. He describes in Science careful
experiments made by him with four
species of American ants, from which
he deduces the conclusion that these
| species, at least, are able to perceive
| sounds, but whether they do it by
| means of organs of hearing. or through
| the sense of touch being excited by at
mospheric vibrations, he is unable to
say with certainty. He inclines to the
opinion that they do really hear. as
| some individuals showed a perception
l of the direction Of the sound. such as
that Of shrill whistle. and others,
which were not disturbed when vio-
lently shaken in their glass prisons,
seemed to be driven nearly frantic by
shrill sounds"