Nature’s Forgiveness—See [Restoration in Nature].
NATURE’S PROTECTION
Fish are, we are told, very light sleepers, and frequently assume singular positions; but the most remarkable fact concerning them is the change of color many of them undergo while asleep.
Usually their spots and stripes become darker and more distinct when they fall asleep. Occasionally the pattern of their coloration is entirely changed. The ordinary porgy, for instance, presents in the daytime beautiful iridescent hues playing over its silvery sides, but at night, on falling asleep, it takes on a dull bronze tint, and six conspicuous black bands make their appearance on its sides. If it is suddenly awakened by the turning up of lights in the aquarium it immediately resumes the silvery color that it shows by daylight. These changes have been ascribed to the principle of “protective coloration,” and it has been pointed out that the appearance of black bands and the deepening of the spots serve to conceal the fish from their enemies when lying amid eel-grass and seaweeds.—Harper’s Weekly.
(2163)
NATURE’S RECUPERATIVE POWERS
A unique opportunity to study Nature’s processes in restoring the vegetation of a land swept clean by a great disaster was afforded after the eruption of a volcano on the little island of Krakatoa in 1883. All living organisms were destroyed. In 1886 a number of plants had already established themselves on the devastated island, those in the interior being remarkably different from those on the coast, ferns especially preponderating. In 1897 further progress had been made, and in 1906 the forest trees had advanced so far as to make it evident that within a short time the island will again be densely forested. It is believed that the first plants to establish themselves on the blasted soil—such as ferns, algae, mosses, compositæ, and grasses—were borne thither by the winds, and that ocean currents were probably agents in the importation of seeds and fruit.—San Francisco Bulletin.
(2164)
Nature’s Renewing Qualities—See [Conversion].
Nature-teaching to Children—See [Religious Education].