The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1901-11-07
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Shrubs growing in a poor soil seldom
produce bright. high-colored flowers.
Iron filings and scales collected about
a blacksmith's anvil have tendency
to Intensity the color Ut many plants,
II dug into the soil about their roots.
The towering Of potatoes has been
found by Mr.. NJ. Michalct to withdraw
much starch from the tubers, and ex-
periments in France have convinced
him that the product OF the plants may
BIZ improved by removing all blossoms.
There has been marked decrease in
the population Of French India OF late.
In 1--WE settlements, with u total of 273,-
1856 Inhabitants there has been de-
crease OF more than eleven thousand
In the last ten years. though they have
been free from famine and plague.
Beginning with the present year.
Spain has adopted Greenwich time In
the place Of Madrid time. which was
previously used as the Spanish stand
ard. Madrid being west OF Greenwich.
the change involved the setting Of
clocks IA minutes and ~ seconds
ahead.
The labor cost of scientific research
Ia not easy to realize. A British ento-
mologist has just shown series Of
about thirty pictures illustrating every
stage in the metnnorphosis Of a drag
on-hy from the nymph to the perfect in
sect, and relates that he took over one
thousand photographs before getting
his complete set Constant watching
was necessary. as after the first indica-
ton Of change the drag0n-fy might
emerge at any time within the next
three days. the emergence being SO rap
i'd that three pictures were taken In six
seconds.
H. F. Witherby, a recent traveller on
the White Nile, describes the sacred
bird Of ancient Egypt. the ibis, which,
he says. very few travellers in that
country ever see, because 1t only visits
Egypt during the period of inundation;
but the dragomans, knowing the desire
OF all foreigners to see the famous bird.
point out to them. as q substitute. the
bun-backed heron, which is really to-
tally unlike the ibis. The head, neck
and legs Of the latter. all bare Of feath-
ers. are Jet black, In sharp contrast
with the pure white plumage Of the
body. "The wings are edged with black
like mourning envelope, and from
each shoulder dr0op green-black feath-
cry plumes. When flying toward one
the bird seems to he streaked with
blood, for the wing bones are bare Of
feathers on the under side. and the skin
which covers them Is Of rich vermil-
lon color"
The unusual optical phenomenon Of
rainbow produced by the sun shining
not on ralndrops. but OH particles Of
sand suspended In the air by wind, was
witnessed over part OF the Great Salt
Lake recently by Prof. James r. Tai
mage Of the University Of Utah. The
coa0rs were very brilliant. and there
was a secondary bow Visible. The main
bow was fully double the width OF an
ordinary rainbow. Only q segment Of
It was seen. The sand was oolitic,
consisting Of calcareous spherules Of
fairly uniform size, ranging between
the limits Of No. 8 and No. 10 shot,
which are polished and exhibit . pearly
lustsr. Prof. Talmage points out that
the production of the bow must be due
to reflection from the outer surfaces Of
the spherules, and cannot be explained
on the principle Of refraction and total
reflection. generally applied to the ex-
PLANTATION Of the rainbow.