The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1910-03-09

UNIQUE motion pictures is that of the
Iamoeba. This organism is shown as
lit passed through it's many changes.
lit practically is a speck of prOto-
plasm-the simplest form of animal
life. 1t is all mouth and stomach,
for it simply flows over and around
the substance on which it feeds, so
that the object becomes imbedded in
it's gelatinous body.
In addition to these moving pic
lures of germs English film manu-
facturers have devoted a good deal
of attention to insect life. One Of
the most exciting OF these motion
photographs depicts water feas.
Swarms of these minute aquatic
creatures sometimes impart a shining
white appearance to the surface of
the water. They have gained their
popular name from the curious, jerky
motion which they have when swim
ming AS matter of fact, the water
| flea is not an insect at all, but a
cousin of the shrimp. By means of
great magnificatiOn this flea is shown
on the screen as large as a st. Ber-
nard dog. 1t is transparent and its
heart beats and the movement of its
internal organs are perfectly visible.
About the most wonderful feature
of this infinitesimal creature is it's
eyes. They are very large, and can
look a number of different ways at
once. One of the water flea films
shows a battle royal between two Of
them They do not bite or scratch
when fighting, but kick continually
and return repeatedly to the fray as
long as there is any life in them.
These film manufacturers appar-
emily have caught a number Of in
seCts and animals engaged in COM
bat with each other, and have pre-
served them for the edification of the
public. One doesn't have to take a
naturalist's or microscopist's word
for these things any longer. One of
them is an enormously enlarged
film Of a battle between two armies
of ants which show how they assem-
bic at the call to arms, and how,
when the battle is ended, the victors
remove the bodies and limbs of the
slain and carry them away to the
cemetery, while the captives are
taken to the nest. Another shows a
fight between a caterpillar and half
a dozen wood ants. This fight is in
terrupted by the appearance of a
toad who had decided that the cater
pillar would make a good meal. The
ants, however, realize that they are
lin danger Of having their hard
earned spoil taken from them and
COurageOusly attack their enormous
foe, the toad, and, incredible as it
may seem, put him to flight quickly.
Another terrible conflict in the in
sect world, which was CHANGED upon
by the patient naturalist who made
these wonderful motion pictures. is
a battle between two spiders. This
series Of views was taken in Smyrna,
and shows a new species Of spider
with four eyes, called the ereSeda
This rare insect is not so large or so
strong as its opponent, the wolf
| spider" and is quickly dispatched.
A scorpion arrives upon the scene
! from an adjacent opening in the
rocks and attacks the "wolf spider. -
After an exciting combat the spider
is stung by the scorpion, loses one
leg, is forced to reIinquish its prey
and retires into one corner to die
| larger size, appears and battles with
the victor for the possession of the
fOur-eyed spider. The biggest scor-
piOn wins, dissects the spider limb
/ by limb, and carries off each portion
! to his larder. Practically all of
these insects battles, as we'll as the
conflicts between the germs, are
fights for food. All of them are con-
Quoted without quarter, and end only
! when one or both of the combatants
are killed.
! These same film makers of natur-
/ al history subjects have succeeded
. in making moving pictures even OF
! fish in the ocean. These show their
methods of capturing prey, of at
| tack, defense and retreat, with the
armOr and weapons employed by
| these jewellers on the sea floor and
the river bed. They show the giant
skate at laughing in a hearty
manner" says the description of the
film. The usual battle pictures are
not absent; one of the most striking
| is that of a free fight among spider
crabs. One series Of fish pictures,
which numbers nearly two score, is
said to have taken more than a year
of patient watching
One of them, which seems incred-
ible as the subject for a moving pic
ture is the oyster and its foes The
oyster is shown at various stages OF
its life, from a tiny youngster of
three months to a veteran of 10 or
l12 years. The various enemies of
the oyster are seen at work. There
is the dog whelk, who from his seat
on the oyster shell drills a hole
through the hard substance to reach
his dinner. Another foe is the star
fish, who clasps in his arms the oyster
of his choice, and pressing the sides
of the shell against his mouth in a
fatal kiss eXcretes a fluid which