NEW THEORIES OF MATTER. 155 



pearance, died this morning. The good hen, which had been most 

 attentive to it to the last, seemed to miss it much. The cry of the 

 young condor resembled the squeak of a rat, and the dwelling-place 

 of the hen and her charge was infested by those predacious rodents. 

 Sometimes they would squeak, and then the bereaved foster-moth- 

 er would approach the hole whence the squeak proceeded, listen, 

 and abide there, clucking, as if in hope of seeing her charge come 

 forth. 



New Theories of Matter. 



In view of recent discoveries regarding radium, Prof. F. 

 W. Clarke again advances the theory, advocated by him 

 3'ears ago, that the various elements are evolved out of 

 substances less complex than themselves. The composi- 

 tion of the nebulae is found to be very simple, that of the 

 stars more complex, while a solid body like the earth con- 

 tains a large number of elements and thousands of com- 

 pounds. 



The theory is also proposed that in radio-activity we wit- 

 ness the decay of elements. 



Tornadoes. 



A curious phenomenon in connection with tornadoes, for 

 some time unexplained, is the blowing outward of win- 

 dows and walls of houses. This is due to the partial vac- 

 uum in the center of the whirling current of air. To- 

 wards this all the surrounding air rushes with tremendous 

 force. At Gainesville, Georgia, last June, the walls of a 

 mill were blown outward while the roof was lifted and sus- 

 pended in the air for several seconds before it dropped. A 

 stand pipe forty feet in diameter had its cover, weighing 

 several tons, carried high into the air and dropped loo 

 feet away. 



