PHYSICS OF ORGANISMS.
A brief discussion of some physical characteristics of organisms will conclude our articles on “Home Studies in Chemistry and Physics.”
The abundance of metaphorical expressions even in common language, indicates the numerous resemblances between the living and inorganic worlds. Description and poetry are full of imagery. A metaphor implies a resemblance between objects, a simile suggests it, and a comparison states it.
THE DIONÆA, OR VENUS’S FLY-TRAP.
Thus to the human mind, the different departments of nature seem to reflect a light and beauty upon each other, even as the “earth-shine” lights the moon in the absence of the sun. The sky is a dome; the groves are temples; the sea moans and roars; the falling cataracts laugh and shout, and the calm lake is the smile of the Great Spirit. “Language,” says Dean Trench,[5] “is fossil poetry.” “Architecture is frozen music.”
Many of the forms of art and devices of human invention have been suggested by Nature. The Doric column was borrowed from some stately tree shaft. The ornamented capital of the Corinthian column was decorated by carved copies of the graceful acanthus leaves. Gothic architecture found its models in the tree tops of the arching forests.
A HUMAN HEART, SHOWING CHAMBERS AND VALVES.
Every experimenter in science is simply one who is inquiring of Nature for her analogies, truths, forms, forces, and machines; and like the wise and good mother that she is, she has granted many a pregnant suggestion to the busy brains of discoverers and inventors.
THE NEPENTHES,[6] A PITCHER PLANT OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
MOVEMENTS OF PLANTS.
Plants in their action illustrate many of the principles of natural philosophy, as if directed by intelligence. Turn their roots upward in the soil, and they will invariably turn down to the moisture. Bend their stems to the earth and they will seek to mount upward. The young sunflower greets the sun at his rising, and turns to behold his setting. Unwind a twining vine, and wind it in an opposite direction, and it will soon assert its right to assume its own method. Some plants shrink from touch; others, like the Venus fly-trap,[7] hold out their open palms to catch flies; many sleep; most seem to select special places, seasons, and conditions. They seem almost, at times, to be possessed of moral qualities. They adapt themselves to situations. If the season is dry, they are sparing of moisture; if the soil is scanty, they penetrate deeper for sustenance; if the winds are fierce, they grow strong by struggle; if gashed or broken, they have “philters for healing;” if pruned and chastened, they yield richer fruitage.
SKELETON OF A FROG.—A GOOD SET OF SPRINGS.
One can not help feeling that certain trees have a personality. They are friendly with their shade. They are proud in their loftiness, confident in their strength, satisfied in their usefulness.
Other plants are almost equally interesting. Flowers have long been chosen to express the language of sentiment. Even the lowest forms of vegetable life, like the algæ, the mosses and lichens, arrange their parts with symmetry and beauty. Even the microscopic diatoms[8] are exquisite in the perfection of their curves and markings.
ANIMAL MECHANISM.
Comparative anatomy long since showed us that there is great harmony in the construction of animals. A few principles seem to govern in all. For example: None violate the law of gravity with regard to the line of direction’s falling within the base. They employ the lever, the inclined plane, the pulley, and the mechanical means of applying power, precisely as we do in machinery. The heart is a pump; the stomach is a churn; the backbone has springs; the elbow is a hinge; the muscles are ropes; the nerves are telegraph wires; the ear is a harp, the eye is a telescope. The most perfect mechanism characterizes the construction of all the animal kingdom, but one can do little more than suggest the interest of this most fascinating subject.
SHOWING PRINCIPLE OF VENTURI.
Ex.—S V is the sub-clavian vein; J is the jugular vein; D is the thoracic duct, through which the chyle is poured into the blood.
THE TRADES AMONG ANIMALS.
An ancient saying declares that “Poets are born, not made,” and classic story informs us that Minerva sprang full armed from the head of Jove. Something like this natural perfection appears in the occupations of the lower orders of creation. Man is a creature of education, absolutely unlimited in point of time in the possibilities of his development. Other animals, within their own limited scope often attain an excellence superior to his. Note the scent of the greyhound, the hearing of the cat, the sight of the eagle. As artisans they have few apprentices, though it must be confessed that some are better workmen than others, and they are not without “bosses.” Observe a few of their trades. The brant-goose is a navigator, which may have already found the pole. The heron is a fisherman, who carries his torch upon his breast. Swallows are excellent masons; so are wasps and the caddis fly.
There is a spider that is a diver; he makes his own bell and fills it with air. The bee is a geometrician that never studied Euclid. The ant is a political economist, who, like Joseph, lays up supplies for a time of want. There is a “tailor bird.” There are hosts of hunters among the carnivora. The nautilus is a “little sailor,” and weavers are innumerable. Beavers unite the trades of lumbermen and civil engineers. There are carpenters and paper makers, indeed, time would fail in the attempt to mention all the occupations pursued in this busy world of animate creation. Yet over all these the Almighty has given man dominion. They are but organisms impelled to their appointed tasks by unreasoning instinct, but, as Sir William Hamilton has said: “Man is not an organism, but an intelligence served by organs.”
A BIRD’S HEAD.
Ex.—The mandibles form a pair of scissors. The tongue is a spear.
Note.—Through the courtesy of Messrs. Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., of New York, the cuts in this article are taken from two of their excellent publications, Gray’s “Lessons and Manual of Botany,” and Hitchcock’s “Anatomy and Physiology.”