MISCELLANY. 



SO? 



world are thought to be derived from that 

 stock. 



De Candolle, however, speaks of the 

 more profound hibernal repose of northern 

 plants producing in the buds greater sus- 

 ceptibility to the heat of spring. But, 

 Prof. Gray, commenting on this in the 

 American Journal of Science for Septem- 

 ber, suggestively remarks that " the way in 

 which this increased susceptibility arises 

 is not stated," and adds, "that natural se- 

 lection would operate upon trees as upon 

 cereal grains, inducing precocious races 

 better adapted to the short summers, only 

 more time would be required in case of the 

 tree." 



liiflaeuee of Water oa Climate. At tiie 

 .ate meeting of the British Association, 

 Prof Heunessy read a paper on the " In- 

 flence of the Physical Properties of Water 

 on Climate." The object of the paper was 

 to contradict the opinion formerly expressed 

 by Sir J. Herschel, that " water does not dis- 

 tribute heat in any thing like the same de- 

 gree as land." According to Prof. Hen- 

 nessy, of all substances largely existing in 

 Nature, water is the most favorable to the 

 absorption and distribution of solar heat. 

 A sandy soil, such as that of the Sahara, 

 although capable of exhibiting a very high 

 temperature during the day, becomes cool 

 during the night, and is one of the worst 

 media for storing up the heat derived from 

 sunshine. Water, on the contrary, stores 

 up heat better than almost any other body. 

 An objection was offered by Prof Everett, 

 based ou the generally-accepted fact that 

 the temperature of the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere is lower than that of the noruiern, 

 despite the greater predominance of water 

 in the former. This Prof. Heanessy de- 

 nied to be a fact. 



Curious Behavior of a Snake. For the 



following account of an interesting exhibi- 

 tion of serpent-cunning, we are indebted to 

 Mr. E. Lewis, of Brooklyn : " On the 20th 

 of June lust, while visiting at the house of 

 a relative on Long Island, I saw on his 

 lawn an adder, a species of snake common 

 in that region. It seemed gentle, and, when 

 approached, made no effort to escape. Wish- 

 ing to observe its motions, I touched it with 



a stick, when, instead of moving away, it 

 commenced a series of contortions that 

 greatly surprised me. Nothing that I had 

 seen in the motion of serpents of any kind 

 showed so clearly as did this instance the 

 extraordinary flexibility of their vertebral 

 column. The contortions ended by the 

 creature thrusting its head and open mouth 

 into the loose dirt on the surface as if in 

 great distress, when, partially extending 

 itself and turning on its back, it lay as if 

 quite dead. I lifted it on the stick, and 

 carried it some yards, and laid it on the 

 grass, but observed, in laying it down, that 

 it showed some rigidity, in its tendency to 

 turn or lie on its back. Others, who had 

 witnessed the action of the snake, now 

 left, and I stepped behind a tree for fur- 

 ther observation. 



" In two or three minutes the head of 

 the snake rose a little, and I could see 

 that it was observing the situation. Pres- 

 ently it turned on its belly, and was in a 

 position to move away ; but, on being 

 touched, it turned on its back again. 

 Finally, it raised its head, turned over, 

 and, seeing no one, crawled slowly away. 



" This behavior in the snake was new to 

 me, and has not been observed by any 

 with whom I have conversed concerning it. 

 It seems to me probable that it arose from 

 the instinct of self-preservation, or from the 

 equally strong instinct for preservation of 

 its young. No young ones were seen, how- 

 ever, but they may have been near in the 

 grass, and it was a season of the year when 

 their presence might be expected. There 

 was certainly nothing more curious or 

 strange in the snake's feigning death than 

 in birds feigning lameness, and other ani- 

 mals feigning death, when themselves or 

 their young are in danger ; but I conclude 

 the phenomenon is unusual with serpents." 



A New Enemy of Submarine Cables. 



In 1865 the world-renowned special cor- 

 respondent of the London Times, W. H. 

 Russell, modestly gave utterance to a 

 prophecy which time has since fulfilled 

 almost to the letter. He then wrote : " As 

 a mite would in all probability never have 

 been seen but for tlie invention of cheese, 

 so it may be that there is some undeveloped 

 creation waiting perdu for the first piece of 



