POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



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thread or tail ; the shot drops to the ground, 

 but the fine woolly fibre is sucked into a 

 large tube, and discharged into a chamber. 

 This chamber is very large, and is cov- 

 ered with fine wire netting. The steam and 

 air carry the woolly particles all over the 

 chamber the finest into recesses formed 

 for the purpose, the heavier into the body 

 of the chamber. . The wool is of a snowy- 

 white appearance. 



The Mechanics of Nature. The Rev. J. 

 G. Wood, author of several popular works 

 on zoology, has lately published a volume 

 entitled " Nature's Teachings," which is 

 intended to show that nearly every one of 

 man's mechanical inventions has been an- 

 ticipated by Nature. From a notice of the 

 work in an English journal we copy a few 

 instances of human inventions that have 

 their prototypes in the animal world. Allud- 

 ing to the principle on which the life-boat 

 is formed, Mr. Wood observes that "the 

 eggs of the gnat, which adhere together by a 

 glutinous coating, are arranged side by side 

 so as to form the figure of a boat ; that the 

 lines of the best life-boats are almost iden- 

 tical with those of the gnat-boat; and that 

 both possess the power of righting them- 

 selves if capsized." Mr. Wood observes the 

 principle of the screw in a fish's tail ; finds 

 a remarkable resemblance in the iron mast 

 to the quill of the porcupine ; and explains 

 how the improvement in the construction 

 of iron ships caused by making the outer 

 shell double and dividing it into separate 

 compartments is exemplified in the skull 

 of the elephant. Many of the author's nau- 

 tical illustrations are curious, and among 

 others he points out that the Boy ton life- 

 dress is simply a modification of the Phy- 

 salis, "which floats on the surface of the 

 ocean like a bubble." The weapons used 

 in war have also their prototypes in the 

 works of Nature. In a chapter on projectile 

 weapons Mr. Wood notices the archer-fish, 

 which gains its livelihood by shooting drops 

 of water at flies, and reminds us that the 

 same principle was employed, though un- 

 successfully, on the so-called pneumatic 

 railway at Croydon. From the archer-fish 

 we may pass appropriately to the angler- 

 fish, a creature with an enormous mouth 

 and small body. On the top of its head are 



some bones set like a ring and staple, and, 

 at the end of these bones, long fleshy ap- 

 pendages, which, on being waved about, 

 look as if they were alive. " The fish darts 

 at the supposed morsel, and is at once in- 

 gulfed in the huge jaws of the angler-fish, 

 which, but for this remarkable apparatus, 

 would be scarcely able to support existence, 

 as it is but a sluggish swimmer, and yet 

 needs a large supply of food." There are 

 different modes of catching fish, and the 

 capture by rod and line is curiously antici- 

 pated by the worm known to naturalists 

 as JVemerles Borlasii, which can extend it- 

 self, some say, to ninety feet, and looks, as 

 Kingsley has said, a mere knotted lump, 

 small enough to be put in a dessert-spoon. 

 The little fish that chances to touch this 

 " slimy tape of living caoutchouc " has no 

 chance of escape, for he is being " ' played ' 

 with such a fishing-line as the skill of a Wil- 

 son or a Stoddart never could invent." The 

 principle of the baited trap is illustrated by 

 carnivorous plants like the Venus's flytrap 

 of the Carolinas, and the Drosera or sundew 

 of England, and the principle of the spring- 

 trap by the jaws of the dolphin. Defensive 

 armor in its several varieties is strikingly 

 illustrated by the protection afforded in 

 many instances by Nature, and Mr. Wood's 

 treatment of this branch of his subject will 

 be found of great interest. 



How Ants stand Heat and Cold. The 



ability of ants to survive exposure to great 

 cold or great heat, and submersion in water, 

 is shown in a very interesting note by the Rev. 

 H. C. McCook, published in the " Proceed- 

 ings of the Academy of Natural Sciences " 

 of Philadelphia. In one instance, a few 

 ants, of the species Formica Pennsylvanica 

 (the Pennsylvania carpenter-ant) dropped 

 out of their nest and fell upon ice, in the 

 depth of winter. Forty-eight hours later 

 they were alive, being imbedded in the ice 

 within the small depressions made by their 

 animal heat. They moved about on being 

 taken from the ice, and became quite active 

 when placed in the closed hand. The power 

 of resisting great heat is illustrated by Mr. 

 McCook's own observations, as also by a 

 quotation from manuscript notes on the 

 " Ants of Texas," written by the late Dr. Lin- 

 cecum. A community of that highly-inter- 



