1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



141 



one side to listen. Tiicn Mnia Gold- 

 schmidt sans to it roulades and long 

 shakes and high, sharp notes which 

 made the bird most inquisitive. But he 

 continued silent until she turned to go, 

 and then he gave a loud, shrill chirrup, 

 as if to call her hack. " — Cincinnati En- 

 quirer. 



"Living Stones" of Falkland. 



The most curious specimens of vege- 

 table or plant life in existence are the 

 so called "living stones" of the Falk- 

 land islands. Those islands are among 

 the most cheerless spots in the world, 

 being constantly subjected to a strong 

 polar wind. In such a climate it is im- 

 possible for trees to grow erect, as they 

 do in other countries, but nature has 

 made amends by furnishing a supply of 

 wood in the most curious shape imagi- 

 nable. The visitor to the Falklands sees, 

 scattered ht:ru and there, singular shaped 

 blocks of what appears to be weather 

 beaten and moss covered bowlders of 

 various sizes. Attempt to turn one of 

 these "bowlders" over and you will 

 meet with a surprise, because the sup- 

 posed stone is actually anchored by roots 

 of great strength. In fact, you will find 

 that you are fooling with one of the 

 native trees. No other country in the 

 world has such a peculiar "forest" 

 growth, and it is said to be next to im- 

 possible to work the odd shaped blocks 

 into fuel, because it is perfectly devoid 

 of "grain," and appears to be nothing 

 but a twisted mass of woody fibers. — 

 St. Louis Republic. 



Soda Propelled Engines. 



A fireless locomotive engine was re- 

 cently used on the Aix-la-Chapelle 

 Julich railway. The motor power is de- 

 rived from soda. The invention is based 

 on the principle that solutions of caus- 

 tic soda, wl.ich have high boiling points, 

 liberate heat while absorbing steam. 

 These engines eject neither smoke nor 

 steam and work noiselessly. Compared 

 with coal burning locomotives, soda en- 

 gines show a capacity equal to the for- 

 mer, while they are worked with greater 

 ease and simplicity. 



Cowper always spoke in a diffident, 

 hesitating way, as though afraid of the 

 effect of his words on his auditors. 



Phosphorescent Light. 



Some experiments have been made in 

 France to determine the specific action 

 of a considerable lowering of tempera- 

 ture upon the brilliancy of certain 

 bodies which shine in the dark after 

 having been exposed to sunlight. Tubes 

 of glass filled with the powdered sul- 

 phides of calcium, barium, strontium, 

 etc., all substances possessing the prop- 

 erty of phosphorescence in a high degree, 

 were exposed to the solar rays and after- 

 ward proved to be luminous in the dark, 

 this being done in such a way as to fix 

 upon the memory the mean value of the 

 progressive diminution of the emitted 

 light, and the time also was noted dur- 

 ing which the light was strong, less 

 strong and weak respectively. The tubes 

 were next placed in bright sunlight for 

 one minute and then suddenly intro- 

 duced into a double walled glass cylin- 

 der, the interspace of which was filled 

 with nitrous oxide at 140 degrees C. In 

 about five or six minutes the tempera- 

 ture of the tubes was some 100 degrees. 

 They were then withdrawn, and when 

 observed in a perfectly dark chamber no 

 luminosity whatever was perceptible. 

 As the tubes recovered their normal tem- 

 perature, however, the phosphorescence 

 returned without the exciting agency 

 of the sun's rays or of diffused light. 

 These results were proved to be general 

 for all phosphorescent subvStances em- 

 ployed. The experiments showed, too, 

 that the production of the phosphores- 

 cent light requires a certain movement 

 of the constituent molecules of bodies. 



3Iaking Himself Solid. 



"Didn't yuu think that was a beautiful 

 girl with mo tuday, Arthur?" 



"What girl, my dearest?" 



■'Whj', she was with me when you mot 

 us in front of the church!" 



'Was there a girl there, dear? I didn't 

 notiee. I was looking at you." — New 

 York Recorder. 



Emperor Fo-hi. 



The Emperor Fo-hi, the first of his 

 line, is the Chinese model of politeness. 

 He is said to have been so civil that he 

 always spoke, even of himself, with pro- 

 found respect, and when the Chinese 

 habit of self depreciation is remember- 

 ed this degree of civility will be better 

 appreciated. 



