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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



er insects too. The many little excavations 

 found everywhere pointed likewise to fond- 

 ness for crickets and worms. It seems from 

 his observations that foxes are not so mis- 

 chievous as they are reported to be, and that 

 while they may have their faults, these are 

 to a large extent compensated for by services 

 they render. Yet they are fond of fowls 

 and hares and rabbits ; but M. de Conferon 

 remarks that there are not so many hares in 

 the whole region around as in the neighbor- 

 hood of his estate. Squirrels, jays, magpies, 

 and the like, which are regarded as before 

 everything else destructive, are allowed to 

 build their nests and eat nuts at will on his 

 premises, but -he has never found that they 

 prevented his having an abundance of little 

 birds of all sorts, and his shrubbery is 

 filled with the nests of singing birds that 

 are scarce in other places. He ascribes his 

 blessing to the fact that no guns are ever 

 fired on his place. Birds are not destroyed 

 there, or frightened or disturbed, and the 

 children never take a nest. Nature is al- 

 lowed to take its course without interfer- 

 ence, and there is no trouble. That is the 

 secret of the whole matter. 



Electricity and Plant-growing. Experi- 

 ments in the application of electricity to 

 plant-growing are recorded by Prof. L. H. 

 Bailey in the Transactions of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society. Deherain had 

 found that the electric light contained rays 

 harmful to vegetation, and that the greater 

 part of the injurious rays were modified by a 

 transparent glass. Exposing different kinds 

 of plants to the light, Prof. Bailey found that 

 they were differently affected. He then tried 

 the effect of the light screened with glass 

 and also of the naked light running half 

 the night. The influence of the naked light 

 upon the productiveness and color of flowers 

 was found to vary with the different species, 

 and different colors within the same species. 

 Tulips were of deeper and richer color, but 

 the colors lost their intensity after four or 

 five days. Petunias were much taller and 

 more slender in the light. But all flowers, of 

 whatever species, which stood within five or 

 six feet of the naked arc were injured. It 

 was apparent, in general, that the light 

 hastened blooming and caused the production 

 of larger stems ; but this effect was much 



obscured by the injuries resulting from the 

 unscreened arc. It was afterward found 

 that the use of a globe or pane of glass will 

 avert the injuries to flowers as well as to 

 foliage, and the long stems and open inflo- 

 rescence, together with the increase in ear- 

 liness in some cases, may be obtained 

 without fear of injury. But Prof. Bailey is 

 not ready to recommend the electric arc lamp 

 for the growing of flowers. Lettuce, how- 

 ever, was greatly benefited by the electric 

 light, and filled its heads much earlier than 

 under normal conditions. The injury done 

 to the plants by exposure to the naked light 

 was found to be due to the fact that their vital 

 activity was so hastened by it that the plant 

 could not supply material quickly enough, and 

 it was forced to death ; but by removing it 

 to greater distances from the lamp a point 

 will be found where water can be supplied 

 with sufficient rapidity to meet the demands 

 of the quickened activities, and the plant 

 will grow more rapidly, or at least mature 

 earlier, than in normal conditions. The ap- 

 plication of electric currents to plant-growing 

 may be made to the plant directly, to the 

 soil, or to the atmosphere. Concerning the 

 first condition, little of an exact nature can 

 be said. A mild electrical discharge will 

 often seriously injure plants ; but application 

 to germinating seeds and ripening fruits 

 sometimes hastens the processes. The results 

 in application to the soil are various, and it 

 so far promises little in the way of commer- 

 cial returns. The effect of atmospheric 

 electricity has been studied by several ob- 

 servers, with the general results, from which 

 only Naudin dissents, that normal atmos- 

 pheric electricity is in some way beneficial 

 to vegetation. Lemstrom has suggested 

 that the modifications produced by it are not 

 the direct results of the electrification of 

 the plants or the atmosphere, but rather fol- 

 low some change in the atmosphere which is 

 engendered by the current and this, Prof. 

 Bailey thinks, is highly probable. 



The Vision of Spiders. Uncertainty 

 seems to exist among arachnidists concerning 

 the extent and quality of the spider's vision- 

 ary power, and methodical experiments have 

 been made by Mr. and Mrs. Peckham to deter- 

 mine the fact. Twenty species of Attidce and 

 others of other families were studied. The 



