1880.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



iOl 



aiul abdomen, an ample and solid brain, 

 and a skull composed of Uw, usual number 

 of parts, joined to each otlier by stituics. 

 "They have the same sentient system, and 

 tlie same organs of digestion and secretion" 

 as other rniuit))i<th, wbicli alone and separate- 

 ly show that they must In; classed with them. 

 But tliat is not all; in their anatomical struc- 

 ture, and es|)ecially their bone system, they 

 make a neanr ai)proach to the Iliniana and 

 Quadrunuind. than to any other order in the 

 whole class Mammalia. The only bono struc- 

 ture that makes the least approximation to 

 birds is their powerfully developed ^tcriuans, 

 which is essential to their mode of a-rial loco- 

 motion. This tact also illustrates the futility 

 of any man attemiiting to construct wiuL's by 

 which he could be able to fly through the air, 

 without first being endowed with the scapu- 

 lar, the clavicular, and the sternal develop- 

 ment of a bird or a bat. 



I'erliaps there is no subject of the animal 

 kingdom that is endowed with a more deli- 

 cate sense of touch than the Bat. In 179:5 

 Spallanzani put out the eyes of a But and ob- 

 served that it seemed to lly with as much ease 

 as it did before, and without striking against 

 objects in its way, even such delicate objects 

 as silken threads stretched hither and thither 

 in such a way as just to allow room enough 

 to pass through with cxiianded wings, and 

 when the threads were placed closer together, 

 l)y a contraction of the wings, the animal was 

 enabled to pass through without touching 

 them. 



Cuvier, in a paper read before the French 

 Academy, in 170(i, referi'ed to this delicate 

 sense of touch in the Bat as resident in the 

 ears and wings. "During the Hight of the 

 bat, and especially if it be blinded, whenever 

 it approaches any oliject, the air set in motion 

 by its wings reacts against their surface with 

 a greater or less degree of force, and being in 

 this manner warned of the proximity of the 

 object it is thus avoided." 



The wing of the Bat is nothing more than 

 an extraordinarily prolonged development of 

 the humeral, radial and phalangial bones of 

 the arm and hand, covered by a delicate 

 membrane, which commences at the neck and 

 extends to the ends of the lingers, and from 

 thence to ends of the posterior limbs and the 

 end of the tail, leaving the thumbs and the 

 hind feet free. These free members are pro- 

 vided with sharp, hooked ungues, or claws, 

 which are only used as instruments of pre- 

 hension. 



In no respect does the Bat make a nearer 

 approach to the Bimana than in the develop- 

 ment of the genital organs, in which they are 

 hardly excelled by the Quadrumana. 



Linne says, ^^ Penis illis, generis humani- 

 more, propendens : diameter profecto talibus 

 animanliOus miruin.^'' It would be utterly 

 impossible for Bats to accomplish a sexual 

 embrace otherwise than vis a vis. 



When Richard Locke wrote and published 

 his celebrated " Moon Hoax," Sir John Her- 

 chel was down at the Cape of Good Hope, in 

 South Africa, testing his great telescope, and 

 the public was expecting some great discovery 

 in relation to the inhabitants of the moon ; 

 and in view of the relation of Bats to the 

 human race, Locke seized the opportunity to 

 pahii his hoax upon itscredidity,by represent- 

 ing the inhabitants of the lunar orb as a spe- 

 cies of "Man-Bats." No one but the adult 

 readers of that period can form any concep- 

 tion of the immediate popularity of that tale, 

 nor with what credulous avidity it was " gob- 

 bled up" even by scientific readers. The 

 natiiral history and the anatomical structure 

 of the Bat, in its comparative affinities with 

 the Bimana and Quadrumana, made it proba- 

 ble that if such a secondary planet as the 

 moon was inhabited, it would be by beings 

 somewhat below man in their physical struc- 

 ture and mental character. Perhaps it would 

 not have done, in a comparison between the 

 earth and the moon, to have made them four- 

 handed, or representatives of the monkeys, 

 therefore he made thera winy-handed, or repre- 

 sentatives of the Bats. This superiority of 



the physical structure of Bats, in their com- 

 parative relations to other animals below them 

 in mamnuilian classification, was also recog- 

 nized by till- author of an interesting litth; 

 novelette entitled " I'etcr Wilkins," in which 

 it is represented that a beautiful winged 

 female had somehow passed beyond the 

 moon's surrounding sphere, and was brought 

 within thai of earth, and through some me- 

 teoric violence was landed, luihurt, on terra 

 Jirma; shewasalso "wing-handed." Animals 

 analagons to Bats in external form have 

 been found fossilized in the oolitic deposits — 

 the Ptiroductyla, for instance — but geologists 

 refer tliese to the licptiUn. 



Although the Bat may be repulsive, or 

 cause an involuntary shudder to many, and 

 perhaps cannot be contciuiplated by any one 

 with the pleasurable emotions that are called 

 forth in viewing a beautiful bird or (lower ; 

 still, as an element in naline's economy, in 

 the present condition of the physical world, 

 and especially as a factor in maintaining na- 

 ture's equilibrium, its presence is absolutely 

 necessary, and oiu' aversion to it may l)i! 

 agahist a useful, timid and harmless animal 

 friend. The Bat is only twice directly alludi'd 

 to by name in scripture. In Lev. 11 : 19 it is 

 designated as unclean, an abomination, and 

 therefore not to be used as tbod. There is, 

 nevertheless, a largo species of Bat (Pteropus 

 edtdis) that inhabits Asia, the Indian Archi- 

 pelago, Australia, Madagascar and South 

 Africa, that is eaten by the natives of those 

 countries, and is esteemed an excellent food, 

 but it is one of the frugivcrous Bats. In Is. 

 2 : 20, it is figuratively mentioned, as " cast- 

 ing idols to the moles and bats." But, how- 

 ever useful the Bats may be, in the present 

 economies of the natural world, wo can hardly 

 divest our-selves of the thought that these 

 feelings of aversion towards them may have a 

 deeper and more significant origin thaTi merely 

 hereditary transmission or the result of educa- 

 tion. At that point, liowever, the subject 

 passes the boundary of the physical plane. 



Contributions. 



h'on Thk Lancaster Faiimeu. 

 DURABLE FENCE POSTS. 

 The old joke, often repeated in my boyhood, 

 is not yet laid aside, that "a fence of locust 

 posts and chestimt rails will last forever, for 

 Daddy tried it once I" I often read directions 

 for lessening the enormous expense of farm 

 fencing, by prei)aring posts so that they will 

 last much longer than usual, by charring, 

 coating with tar, boiling in gas tar, soaking in 

 coal oil, whitewashing, setting upside down, 

 &c., &c. These remind me of an early ex- 

 periment, plausible as any, but which I have 

 not seen recommended, and the results of 

 which I never learned. In the hope that 

 some person may inquire and publish the re- 

 sults, and thus confer a great Itenelit on a 

 fence-taxed community, I send the following 

 for publication. I begin to learn that at 77 

 years, I am of little use except to tell what I 

 remember, and get others to inquire after, 

 and make known what is useful, when I can- 

 not do so in person I So to my story and re- 

 quest. 



^ Nearly GO 3'ears ago, an experiment in satu- 

 rating oak posts with lime was tried in Lam- 

 peter township, about fo\n' miles from 

 Lancaster, and wnthin a mile of Lampeter 

 Square, in the valley of a small tributary of 

 the Conestoga, called Mill Creek. The names 

 of the neighboring farmers yet rememliercd 

 were Meylin, Bowman, Strohm, Meek and 

 several named Rohrer— among them Esquire 

 John, (the father of Doctors John S. and 

 Amos K. Rohrer,) and two named Christian 

 — one of whom made the experiment. A 

 deep, square pit was dug near the stream, 

 and floored and lined with boards. The 

 posts, ready hewn and mortised, were laid in 

 the pit on a layer of quick lime, mortised 

 parts lapping, so as to make each layer as 

 compact as possible. Thus layer after layer, 

 posts and lime alternating, the pit was filled 



to within a font of the brim, lime covering 

 the whole. The posts and lime were closely 

 covered with plank, anil earth piled high on 

 the plank, and packed as tightly as possible, 

 except a small liole at one corner. Into this 

 hole the water of the brook was gradually 

 introiluced, making a terrific hissing and 

 rumbling, heaving the covering like a minia- 

 ture oiirthquake I The whole was then left 

 undisturbcil for several days or weeks. The 

 saturation and neutralizjvtion of wood acid 

 nmst have been complete — every pore .si-arched 

 with the caustic steam, and filled with the 

 powdered lime I 



Is there any person in, or formerly of that 

 neighborhood, who knows anything of that 

 experiment and its practical results V Will 

 not some boy or girl of 1S-J2, or some person 

 who has heard from such boy or girl, tell the 

 history of that singular experiment, and in- 

 form the world how those oak |)osts have 

 lasted, compared with other posts not thus 

 treated? Here is an opportiniity tor doing a 

 good and great service to the farming com- 

 munity ; for even if the experiment proved a 

 failure, a statement of tJiat fact will do good 

 by saving others from repeating the failure, 

 and by directing experimenters into more 

 successful »• (Torts. 



True, 57 or 58 years is 'a long time in a life 

 of cnntin\ial chances ai\d changes, but one 

 who was then IH years old, and engaging to 

 teach his first school in the little log building, 

 under the spreading chestnut tree, by the road 

 side, is writing this accoimt and request — why- 

 may not others who know more on the subject, 

 be living and active also, and living in that 

 neighborhooody Four or five years ago, of 

 my 30 to 40 pupils, three brothers were living 

 near Dayton, Ohio, a fourth was "living on 

 the old place" in Lampeter, and a si.ster was 

 also living. Besides these, two sons and a 

 daughter of another family, were yet living — 

 all of the name of Rohrer. And Isaac S. 

 Strohm, another pupil, (up to 187(3 or 1877 

 Engrossing Clerk of the House of Represen- 

 tatives in Congress), was also living in Day- 

 ton, O. Thus /iiiic (and possibly others not 

 known) were living more than half a century 

 after — from 20 to 25 per cent, of that school 

 of 1822-3! I am therefore encouraged to hope 

 that some i)ersons can he found in that sec- 

 tion, who know, or have heard and can tell 

 all about that experiment and its results. 

 Will not some i)ublic spirited and inquisitive- 

 minded reader of the Lancaster Farmer make* 

 it his business to search for .and publish what 

 he can learn on the subject? If either of our 

 county societies have any zealous antiquari- 

 ans in" membership, I would respectfully sug- 

 gest giving them "a mission" to Lampeter, 

 valley of Mill Creek, to see what they can 

 find of information on this subject. Should 

 the limed posts be yet doing good service — or 

 have proved much more durable than com- 

 mon^we have at once a sure method of les- 

 sening the cost of fencing, in all sections 

 where lime is abundant.— II. B. O. 



Fur The Lasca«teu Farmkh. 



OBSERVATION AND EXCERPTION. 



In the first book of Livy there is a descrip- 

 tion of the use made of the verbena; (Saga- 

 mina of Pliny)— to confirm and bind treaties 

 entered into by the ancient Romans on the 

 return of peace with their hostile neighbors ; 

 also used by the embassadors when they went 

 to reclaim anything that had been carried 

 away liy an enemy, and the person who had 

 the office of carrying it, was called Verbena- 

 rius. 



In the north temperate zone verbenas are 

 herbaceous annuals, rarely perennial; but in 

 tropical regions the verbenas are shrubs and 

 trees of great size. The Teak tree is a timber 

 tree of great value ; the wood is very close 

 grained, tough and durable ; it is suitable for 

 every variety of wood-work Botanically, 

 the Tectona grandis, of India. This may be 

 the verbena that furnished the insignia of 

 friendship to the ancients. 



I recently examined some gambling boats 

 from Burmah, made of this wood. They were 



