The Opelousas courier., 1902-03-01
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.


Piermont Park, at Atlanta, Ca, has
recently made a strange acquisition
In a number Of sea gulls, which now
make themselves at home on ani
about the waters of a little lake in the
park. The queer part of it is that the;
came Of their own accord, and seem
to be satisfied with their new habitat
three hundred and fifty miles away
o their natural one-the sea. AS
they appeared the day after q severe
gulf storm, it is supposed that they
Were driven there by the wind.
; An English naturalist says that the
speed of birds is often exaggerated
The swift, for example, has been
credited with a speed of $50 miles ar
Tour, and the popular imagination
compares the flight Of a sparrow-hawk
NTH that of a cannon ball. Without
aid from the wind, he says, the pigeon
will fly about 40 miles an hour; but
the homing pigeon may be relied on,
unde fair conditions, to make 60
miles an hour. On a short course the
sparrow-hawk can outfy this, but it
frequently fails to catch smaller birds
tina r its prey.
The suggestion is made in London
that while they are installing an up
to-date underground electric railway
If would hn u GOOD iIo, In n ,-1 =, ~ Fo,.
supply of ozonized air to the passen-
ger coaches. 1t is pointed out that
car-sickness is in a large measure due
to the vitiated air in coaches and tup-
nels. 1t would be a comDarauve1y
easy matter to supply each train with
an ozonizing apparatus, inosnuch az
such devices are operated electrically.
1t is even suggested that the steam
underground roads might arrange for
such an outfit by driving it from the
car axles, just as dynamos are driven
for the generation of current for car
lighting.
The Jet Of water, SO useful in ny.
draulic mining, is now employed by
engineers in building reservoir dams.
The jet is directed against the upper
slopes of a valley, and the sandy soil
and gravel thus washed out are car
ried by the force of the stream to the
site of the dam in the lower part of
the valley. The jet is so managed
that 1t not only carries the materials
where they are wanted, but consolt-
dates them in position, dropping the |
larger stones at the sides and bearing
the finer material to the centre of the |
dam. So well is the jet managed that
it does it's work as well as human |
hand could do it, SO far as accuracy is |
concerned, with Immediately in
creased force. 1t reminds one Of old
Amphion, who built the walls Of The
bes with no help but his Tyre, putting
the stones in place by the notes.
Some n has said that the Egyp-
tians were the only nation that ever
had sufficient patience to domesticate
the cat. A very high idea of human
patience Is given by the account Of a
correspondent of Forest and Stream,
who has, he says, tanned a common
cat to retrieve. Patience, g%entleness,
entire absence of force was his max
inns. Whenever game had been killed
the cat was led to it and the game was
given to him. Next the cat sought the
game on his w account. Next, he
was taught to stay close to his master,
at first perched on his shoulder. He
was then taught not to fear the sound
Of the gun, beginning with a little car.
bine, then proceeding to the fowling-
piece. When the gun was fired a com
mon ball was pitched forward by the
master, and the connection between !
the report of the piece and retrieving
was established. Then a dead bird
was substituted for the ball, and it
was at first thrown from the hand,
and afterwards dropped from the
Of a distant tree. The educa-
lion of this particular cat is now com.
plete. He retrieves perfectly, points
sometimes, and in general conducts
himself like a hunting dog. The biol
ogists deny the inheritance Of &C
luired characteristics; If it were not
or their doctrine this learned animal
might become the p%rogenitor of a long
inc of useful hunting cats. AS it is,
ne stands as a living monument to
human patience and as a proof that
sven the cat may be educated. /.
a Eloafinp Te1aecnuo