The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-12-29
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Rabbits, asserts q naturalist, have
white tails so that the young may dis
tinguish their mother in case OF pur-
suit. The natural color Of the rabbit
Is SO like the surrounding ground that
this would be impossible otherwise.
Since 1878 to the present time nearly
every year has seen continued and
steady decline in the amount OF rain
fall in Ecuador. No exact statistics
are obtainable, but there Is said to be
little reason to doubt that the decline
within the period cited Is upward OF
80 per cent
According to DR.. P. Marchal, some
insects are as fond Of eggs for food as
human beings are. He has observed
that a hymenopterous insect, Tetrasti-
chus xanthomelanane, makes a prac-
tice of sucking the eggs of the elm
beetle. It first perfOrates them with q
small hole, and then swallows the con-
tents. Afterward the tetrastichus util-
ICES the emptied egg-shell by depositing
It's own eggs within. 1t might be sup
posed that the primary object of the
operation was that implied by the last
statement, but DR.. Marchal is confident
that the eating Of the egg is no less
important motive.
A German engineer claims. to have
discovered an efficient method Of pre-
venting the violent melton of ship
at sea. The invention consists Of
kind Of turbine fitted vertically to the
ships keel. When set in motion the
turbine counteracts the ships tendency
to roll from side to side. An old tor
pedo boat was fitted with the appar-
atus for trial trip In rough weather
off the mouth Of the Elbe. The ship
rolled to the extent Of nine degrees,
but after the turbine was set In motion
she only rolled one degree. The result
was attained without any reduction of
seaworthiness and the ships buoyancy
was unaffected.
The Kusel electric lamp, invented by
DR.. Hans Kusel Of Baden, and manu-
featured In Austria, is remarkable not
only for its excellence In practical use,
hut also for the novel manner in which
the ilaments are made. Alloys of
chromium, manganese, molybdenum,
uranium, thorium, chromium, platinum,
osmium and iridium are first dissoci-
ated in water by the electric spark,
and being precipitated in infinitesimal
particles, they form a colloidal mass,
which, because Of its Elasticity, can be
nodded like wet clay. After drying,
the flaments thus nodded become ,suffi-
GENTLY hard and resistent to bear all
the manipulations needed for their in
PRODUCTION into electric lamps. As soon
as they have been heated to redness
by the passage Of a current they return
to the metallic state, and thus form
filaments of pure metal, perfectly
homogeneous throughout, and of uni
form caliber.
Interesting studies have lately been
made by Miss Rina Monti on the ear
Hest forms of life appearing in Alpine
lakes One of these, the Lake of the
Seracs, has been created within human
memory, and it seems to justify the
statement that the first living forms
inhabiting lakes are of vegetable ma
ture. Only five living species are found
In the Lake of the Seracs, all of them
plants, and four Of the order Of
diatoms. In the older lakes Of Ong and
Of Tignaga animal forms begin to ap-
pear, feeding upon the diatoms. The
first two steps in the populating of q
lake. according to Miss Months conclu-
sions are. first, the appearance Of
diatoms absorbing carbonic acid dis
solved In the water, and second, the
appearance Of simple animal organ.
isms, such as rhizopods, whose nourish-
ment depends upon the pre-existing
vegetable forms. Biologists have sup
posed that the first living forms In the
nc0ana xUoro vovot0h lo