SCIENTIFIC BREVITIES: by the Busy Bee
EGYPTIAN mummies have been put to a use for which they were probably never intended—the manufacture of a particular fine brown pigment. The body, being preserved in the finest bitumen, has assumed an appearance like leather; and it has been found that this mixture of bitumen and leather, when ground down, makes a brown pigment prized by portrait painters for the representation of brown hair.
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The Scientific American is responsible for the statement that the power which drives the mechanism of a watch is equivalent to only four times that used in a flea's jump; or, in mathematical language, a watch is a four-flea-power motor. One horse-power would suffice to drive 270,000,000 watches, whence we infer that one horse is equivalent to more than a billion fleas! We suggest the dividing of the horse-power unit into convenient sub-multiples, such as the dog-power or the mouse-power, instead of using the names of people, like Watt and Joule.
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Medieval churches took whole reigns to build, and some of the monuments left to us from antiquity may have taken centuries. Structures designed for more immediate and less enduring purposes can be rushed up in a very business-like way. In fact the stately pile can be reared by gasoline jacks. Reference is had to the description and pictures of a church which was built in this way. It is of concrete; the molds are laid horizontally upon the jacks, and the walls cast each in one solid piece. Then the motors are started and the structure rears itself into place.
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Evidence as to the persistency of life is afforded by some experiments in which fish were frozen up in their water, and the block of ice then cooled down to 20° C. below the freezing point; after thawing, the fish came to life and swam about as usual. Yet, if the frozen block were broken, the fish would break up into little pieces along with the ice. Frogs can be frozen down to 28° C. below the freezing point and still revive; while snails will resist 120° C. From this it may be inferred that life can be preserved throughout long periods of glaciation.
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It is reported that the farmers in the province of Skåne, Sweden, have organized to build a central station to furnish their farms with electric current, which will be used both for mechanical power and for lighting; and that in another part of the country the farmers have formed a company to purchase power from a power station and distribute it to the farms.
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At a meeting of the Selborne Society (for Natural History) England, it was suggested that a sanctuary for wild birds should be provided and a tract of wild country acquired and set aside for the preservation of birds likely to become exterminated, such as the chough, the raven, the buzzard, the peregrine, and the kite. If the Government did not see its way to undertake the work, it might give a grant as the nucleus for an appeal for subscriptions. The United States, Switzerland, and Austria already provide such sanctuaries.
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By looking at one object too hard we may so bedazzle ourselves that we can see nothing else. This remark is suggested by the views of a botanist who appears to regard the colors and scents of flowers as being designed entirely and solely for the benefit of insects, in order that the insects may pollenize the flowers. We dare say that object forms part of the plan; but we surmise it does not form the whole plan. Birds carry seeds, but that is not the sole object and purpose of a bird's existence. Besides, the idea that insects and flowers were created for each other reminds one of the old story of the posts that held up the wires and the wires that held up the posts.
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The Swiss correspondent of the London Morning Post said recently that the glaciers in the Rhône district of Switzerland are in retreat, some of them to an extent "which may almost be described as alarming." The Arolla glacier has receded 85ft. in the past twelve months; the Aletsch, the longest in the Alps, 65ft.; the Gorner, 58; the Zinal, 51; while the Turtmann, in the Zermatt range, and the Zanfleuren or Sanetsch have retreated nearly 46ft. each. Within the last ten years the Zigiornuovo glacier has shrunk by 904ft., the Zanfleuren by 718, the Aletsch by 459, the Zinal by 378, and the Gorner by nearly 190. Other glaciers were observed, and all showed more or less shrinkage; but, as for the small Mont Bouvin glacier, in the space of four years it has entirely "disappeared from sight"—a cautious expression. These changes may of course be part of a periodic variation.
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The encroachment of the sea on the east coast of England is such that at Pakefield, near Lowestoft, a row of cottages has been brought to the edge of the cliff. In one of these cottages live an old couple, who own the house, but are now forced to move, as the cliff edge is only a few feet from the front door. The woman was born in the cottage and remembers when it was a good walk to reach the cliff. Old fishermen in Pakefield are now catching fish where as boys they gathered blackberries.
Such rapid encroachments of the sea on some shores, accompanied by recession of the sea on others, alone suffice to account for great changes in the course of ages. These changes include tilting of the strata and change of the configuration of the shores. Judging by general analogy, one would infer that geological changes are of various speeds, some very gradual, others more rapid, just like the work of running water, which goes on all the time and yet may accomplish more during a single flood than during several ordinary years. There is room for both the "catastrophists" and the advocates of slow and gradual movement.
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That the presence of comets causes or indicates hot weather is an item of ancient belief, and theorists may choose between rejecting or explaining it. There is a well-known story of a philosopher, who, desirous of proving that his philosophy could, if need be, be turned to material profit, bought up some vineyards in view of a prospective comet, thus reaping the harvest of a good season. The phrase "comet vintage", as applying to wine, is also well known. A recent theory, as announced in the papers, attributes the great heat of the summer of 1911 to the presence of a comet in the solar system, the head of the comet being supposed to act like a lens and to concentrate the solar power. Whether or not this lens plays any tricks with optics, we are not told. As science progresses, more attention is paid to the influence of electric and magnetic conditions upon the weather; while recent discoveries provide us with an ample machinery of rays and emanations to act as go-betweens from celestial bodies to the earth.
This is the Dog that worried the Cat
That killed the Rat
That ate the Malt
That lay in the House that Jack built.
So says an ancient poem, and it reminds us of the "balance of nature" which people are always upsetting. If we kill the Dog there will be too many cats and they will have to supplement their rat-diet with birds. If we kill the Cat, the Rat will eat all the Malt; and if we kill the Rat, we starve the Cat. So with agriculture; one scarcely knows what to kill or what to spare. We are told now that we must avoid deep plowing, or we shall kill the Spider which worries the Grub which eats the Crop that Jack sowed. This spider is the aerial spider, a small but very numerous creature who—doesn't fly, but uses a filament of web as an aeroplane. A writer in The Technical World Magazine has studied their habits. Their webs are seen during the warm autumn days floating in countless numbers through the air; but even these are but a small fraction of the real number; for what we see are merely the ones who have made failures and got their aeroplanes caught on something. It is estimated that on cultivated grass-land there are enormous numbers of these spiders per square foot.
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As to the "old style" and "new style" calendars, people are often in doubt as to the number of days by which these differ from each other, and whether to add or subtract the days. If we remember that when the new style is adopted anywhere, days are omitted from the calendar, and the date thereby set forward, we shall see that the old style dates are always behind those of the new style, and we must add or subtract as required. The astronomer Clavius, whose work has lent immortality to the name of Pope Gregory XIII, put the calendar date ten days forward, to make up for the error which had been accumulating for centuries. This was in the 16th century. To prevent the calendar from getting wrong again, he suppressed the intercalary days (Feb. 29) three times in every 400 years, namely, in 1700, 1800, 1900, but not in 1600 or 2000, the intercalary days being thus allowed to remain in every century year whose first two digits are divisible by 4. By the time England made the change it was necessary to put the date forward 11 days, as this was in the 18th century, and the year 1700 had intervened. Those countries which have not yet adopted the change were 12 days behind in the 19th century, and are now 13 days behind. The correct way to write a date so as to represent it in both styles is, for instance, July 31 / Aug. 13, 1911; or July 31 / Aug. 12, 1831. The calendars, unless the old style is given up, will continue to differ by 13 days until March 1st, 2100.
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A writer on heredity says that if a person has not inherited the music disposition, he will never become a musician, although he may acquire a knowledge of music; and that a person not born with the potentiality of the poetical disposition will never be a poet, although he may gain a knowledge of prosody. This is a dogmatic statement, but it does not amount to much after all; for it can be turned around by saying that if a person does not become a musician or a poet, the inference is that he has not inherited the faculties. Thus it is mainly a question of words and phrases.
At all events let the aspirant to the Muses put the matter to a practical test. Let him strive to become a poet or a musician; and if he succeeds, he can say: "See, I must have inherited the power." If he fails, why then he can foist the blame upon heredity.
But surely it would be difficult, in many cases of musical genius, to trace the effect to heredity. Still harder would it be, reversing the process, to predict such hereditament. So the above-quoted theory is only tantamount to an acknowledgment of the facts and the provision of a plausible formulation of them.
Characteristics come partly from the parental and ancestral soil wherein the human seed grows; partly from the mental atmosphere of the race and community; partly from one's education; and partly from qualities which the Individual himself has brought over from his own past. All of these concomitants have to be taken into account in considering the question of heredity. Needless to say, nobody should permit his efforts and aspirations to be relaxed in consequence of any dogma or theory which may tend to cast discouragement thereon.
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To be conscious of one's ignorance is to have taken the first step from folly towards wisdom; and doubtless the tremendous overhauling that is now taking place in the stock of our ideas should be taken as a hopeful sign rather than an omen of woe. Hence the fact that chaos, as it seems, reigns in our ideas about the science of agriculture may be regarded as the sign that something is about to hatch out.
According to quotations made by The Literary Digest, a university professor of agricultural science takes to task the Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture. These opponents take diametrically opposite views with regard to the care of the soil. The Bureau is credited, on the strength of quotations from its circulars, with maintaining that the soil contains an inexhaustible fund of plant food which is continually replaced by natural processes. Its opponents declare that this teaching is wrong and disastrous. The professor in question claims to have taken the opinions of most of the land-grant experiment stations, and maintains that the opinions of the Bureau are derided by these and by most other authorities in this country and in Europe. The soil needs to be taken care of, or else it will become barren. History is quoted in support.
This controversy indicates that our theories are in a state of chaos. The more we learn about agriculture, the more there is to learn; for each new discovery opens up a new field. Plants need mineral food; they need nitrogen; they need bacteria to help them get the nitrogen. The chemist, the physicist, and the biologist all have a say in agriculture. Some of the great nations of the past seem to have known a good deal about agriculture; and probably there is a good deal of their knowledge that has not yet been transmitted or revived.
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The statement that the emu is almost extinct is misleading, says an Australian correspondent to a scientific paper. The birds exist in large numbers in north and northwest New South Wales and practically all over Queensland, and South and Western Australia. And he adds that he does not think they will become extinct yet, "because they are practically valueless." Can this be an instance of the survival of the fittest? The naïve assumption that man destroys that which he values can but lead to the scientific inference that the world will become stocked with things which man does not value. Hence, whatever may be supposed to be the case in nature, the influence of man is to promote the survival of the unfit. True, this works out all right for nature, but man becomes reduced to a mere destructive agency whose influence nature eliminates. Eventually, on this theory, man will find himself the denizen of a world stocked with things which are to him "practically valueless"; and then, presumably, he will leave off destroying, for want of anything to destroy.
Still it must not be forgotten that man, even in such a destructive civilization as the present, is a creator. He is potent on the invisible planes where thoughts are things; and according to hints given in the ancient teachings, mankind is concerned in the processes by which the animated forms of nature are evolved.
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With regard to instinct in animals, people are sometimes prone to take too extreme views. Experience teaches us that instinct which is so reliable in beaten tracks of habit proves a failure in unfamiliar circumstances. A bird in a room cannot find the way out, even when door and windows are open, but flies back and forth just above the level of the openings. But even here we must be cautious; for animals can adapt themselves to new circumstances. The timid wild-bird learns to feed from the hand. In this respect we notice degrees among different animals, some having more plastic minds than others; this marks different upward stages in the perfection of the animal monad.
Because instinct, the accumulation of age-long experience, is so infallible in ordinary cases, we must not assume that it cannot err. On the contrary we often meet with cases of dunderhead stupidity and of a blind addiction to custom that savors almost of automatism. Thus a correspondent of an English paper writes about a blackbird which had been brought up as a nestling in the house. When grown up and given her liberty, she insisted on coming back to build, and made her nest in a bookshelf. But the family was a failure, because the hen had no mate and nature failed to depart from her rule; there were no young; fertile eggs had to be procured for her to hatch.
Another story in the same paper tells of a mare which lost her foal and was given a calf dressed in the skin of the departed. The giving of stuffed calves to cows, while being milked, is a familiar practice. In animals we see minds in course of development, capable of considerable growth, but within limits. The self-conscious ego, characteristic of man, is not there. We must bear in mind that the animal is an animal soul (or monad) within a form; that it is the monad which undergoes the evolution; and that though an animal does not become a man, that which ensouls the animal will in some future cycle of evolution enter into the making of man. It is by the gift of the self-conscious Mind, which links the Spiritual to the terrestrial, that the animal consciousness was made to subserve the purposes of the human kingdom.
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While the acknowledged scientific method of inquiry consists in logical inferences from observations, it is well known that a very limited amount of observation is frequently made to support an unlimited amount of inference. The "scientific use of the imagination" (Tyndall) is highly recommended, but may o'erleap itself and "give to airy nothings a local habitation and a name," unless checked by some sedater quality.
We see that a biologist has gone back in imaginative speculation beyond "protoplasm" as the origin of life; for, just as the physicists have subdivided their atom into electrons, so this theorist has subdivided his protoplasm into something still more elementary and primordial, which he calls "mycoplasm." The first part of the word means "fungus," so now we can speak of our ancestor as the primordial fungus; and indeed fungoid traits do seem to survive in some people. Science, we are told, knows a whole world of minute corpuscles which do not need oxygen for their existence and cannot be killed by boiling water. They do not make the amoeboid movements characteristic of protoplasm and are immune to the strongest poisons. This kind of creature, therefore, could exist on earth long before protoplasm could, as it is so very hardy; and from it, as soon as the crust had cooled and oxygen been formed, the protoplasm sprang. Such is the theory, but it may be wrong. What we want to know, however, is what the mycoplasms sprang from; because either they must have sprung from something else, or else they are the great "I Am," eternal and uncreate.
It is a curious method, this, which traces the great back to the small, thus making the small greater than the great. The man in a silk hat proceeded from the man without a silk hat, and he from the ape, and the ape from the duck-billed platypus, and so on back to Haeckel's "moneron," and back again to this primordial mushroom.
So we may trace the scale of numbers back to prime factors and to unity; but between the unit and the zero, infinitude stretches. Is not unity, though in one sense the smallest of numbers, in all other senses the greatest? From whatever source we derive life, that source must be greater than life itself. So let us set up an image of the Mycoplasm and worship it. Jehovah himself could not have done more than it has done.
Is it not clear that material evolution is but one aspect, and that a small one, of the process? Growth and evolution mean nothing if not a coming into visibility from invisibility, into actuality from potentiality. A seed grows; and, seen from the material point of view, it seems to grow from nothing. But all the time the material plant is unfolding, something unseen is expanding into it. Evolution is a twofold process. A mycoplasm would lie forever wrapped in its complacent hardihood in the primordial fiery atmosphere, unless some Impulse gave it the word to unfold and turn itself into protoplasm. The view of the world as a great machine without any motive power, and running by the power of its own motion, may be interesting, but it is not convincing.
If ever our globe were in such a primitive condition as that imagined, it is equally certain that the life-impulse which it received came from somewhere; and all analogy would lead us to surmise that that life-impulse came from another globe. But obviously the matter is too vast for little theories. The important point is that some theorists, in spite of good intentions, appear to have got things wrong way up.
Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept.
THE SURF AT CORONADO, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
THIS VIEW SHOWS THE SOUTHERN END OF POINT LOMA
Photograph by Slocum, San Diego
Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept.
THE MAMMOTH CAVE, LA JOLLA, SAN DIEGO
Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept.
SERAEJEVO, CAPITAL OF BOSNIA
The minarets of the city's mosques are especially elegant
Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept.
KLAMATH RECLAMATION PROJECT, OREGON-CALIFORNIA
PART OF TULE LAKE, OREGON, LOOKING TOWARD BLOODY POINT
Nature frequently puts too much water in some places, and too little in
others, to suit the purposes of man. Draining a piece of wet land is just the
opposite of irrigating a piece of dry land. Both processes are called reclamation.
This picture shows Tule Lake, in Oregon, which required to be drained
that its fertile bed might be turned into farms.