Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

19 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

CLUB WINDOW. -

STRANGE AND WONDERFUL, j

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DEATH OF LORI) iaTOHlE. I

BURIED IN AVALANCHES. I

SOMNAMBULIST COMMITS SUICIDE.…

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IFAMOUS ANIMAL PAINTER. ,I

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I COUNTRY NOTES.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

COUNTRY NOTES. The Eyes of Fish. A protested or cased eye which very newly approaches a glass eye—or, at any rate, an eye in glass—is to be found in fish. From the character of the element in which they live and the subdued light that reaches them, fish have no need of eyelids either to wiasn the eye or protect it from glare, and, therefore, eyelids are absent; but some of them need the protection of the transparent, horny, convex cases which defend their eyes without obstructing the eight. Teeth of Animals. The first thing that strikes one on looking at the skull of a rabbit or squirrel or rat is the grea/t gap on eaoh side of the jaws, which looks ae if the animal had lost a tooth or two on each side, and, as if fo compensate for this, the incisor teeth, reduced from six to two in each jaw, are extremely latrge and chisel-shaped, ad- minaMy adapted to the puipoee for which thel are required, namely, cutting bark off trees and. shrubs, slicing pieces out of turnips, and nib- bling grass and other herbage. Wading Bird. The moorhen, a. little more than a foot long, with brownisih plumage above and dark grey bellow, has the base of the bill carried up on to the forehead, there forming a "frontal plate." It frequents ponds rather than running streams, resorting to the latter chiefly when the standing water is frozen over. There are two- and some- times three broods in the season, end the birds FFHE MOORHEN. of the first will help the parents la nest-building and in oaring for 'the second brood. Allied to the moorhens are the purple gollimules, showy- looking birds, with brilliant blue metallic plum- age, contrasting strongly with their red lege and frontal shields'. Snake Poison. The poison of cobras is very deadly, and if a person is bitten by one whose poison-glands are prerfjtv full, medical treatment is of little use. The number of deaths every year in India from the bite of these reptiles is very large, but the efforts of the Europeans to diminish the number of cobras are rendered powerless by the natives, who regard these creatures with veneration. It was formerly believed that the natives bred them for the sake of the Government reward for their heads. This seems improbaible, though Dr. Guillemard tells a story of a Dutchman in the MiaLay Archipelago who kept a kind of crocodile farm,. He had staked off a small reach of the river, where these animals multiplied at a rapid ra;te, and their heads brought him two dollars apiece. A Piebald Fox. A somewhat unusually coloured fox is among the new arrivals at the "Zoo" Gardens, where it may be ,seen in one of the. dens facing the Lion House. Pale-furred foxes, white foxes, and al- bino foxes are by no means uncommon but this animal is piebald. The whole of the under-parts, and a good deal of the rest of the body, are White; the head, back, and part of the "brush" being marked with great, patches of brown, of the usual "foxy" tint. This animal is unusual, but it is not n early so good-looking as a normally Tine-iv* W,. or was a little while back, m the Gardens a very-<p*j«_fnrrvil fox, the general hue of whose pelage was a kind of creamy white. Abnormally coloured cubs often occur in litters of which 'the other members have nothing unusual in their appearance. The Moth as a Mimic. An interesting case of protective mimicry is related by Mr. G. H. Cotton, of Hiram, ouio, in an American scientific journal. One day he ob- served the. stuib of a branch projecting from the trunk of a young cherry-tree which he had re- cently pruned, and, wondering how he had THE MOTH ON THE TREE. overlooked it, drew ou,t his pocket-knife to cut it away, but found that he had startled a moth. The insect was attached by its head to the bark, which it closely resembled, and at the uisual angle of the branches' as shown in .the sketch above. Moreover, the abdomen being white resembled the end of a decaying branch. Flower Fertilisation. Lord Avefbury, in his new book, has something interesting to say on the fertilisation of flowers. He remarks thait it is that flowers which are fertilised by night-flying insects would derive no advantage from being open by day; and on the other hiand, that those which are fertilised by bees would gain nothing by being open at night. Nay, it would be a distinct disadvantage, be- cause it would render them liable to be robbed of stihedr honey and pollen by insecte which are not capable of fertilising them. It may be observed also that wind-fertilised flowers do not sleep, and that. some of these flowers which attract in- Becrts by smell emit their scent at particular hours. Taking Honey By Force. H. Muller observed a bumble-bee (B. terrestrds) come to one of these flowers and lick the base of the sepa-Ls. Finding no honey there, she tried the petal, but 'her proboscis was too short, and, after thrusting her head as far as it would go and vainly trying to reach the honey, she gave it up, want round to the end of the spur, bit a hole through, and so was able to suck the honey. After this she visited several other flowers, and with- out losing time by trying other means of access at once bit h<aies in the spurs. Lord Avebury says that he has found alaiosit all the columbines in his garden thus bit,ten through. The mig- nonette keeps its honey in a cliosed box "the lid of which must be prized up before it can be removed.

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POSTMAN HONOURED BY THE KING.

ISUICIDE IN COURT.

DOG AND CAT SLAUGHTER |

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POPULAR SCIENCE.

I RUSSIA'S TROUBLES. I

FRANCE AND GERMANY. )

I RUN TO EARTH! I