743 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



WttBKT 



tion, and can be less frequently procured 

 by a voluntary effort. CARPENTER Mental 

 Physiology, bk. ii, ch. 17, p. 640. (A., 1900). 



3678. VOYAGERS, AERIAL, UNSEEN 



Gossamer-spiders in Multitudes Floating 

 through the Air. The gossamer-spider, most 

 spiritual of living things, of which there 

 are numerous species, some extremely beau- 

 tiful in coloring and markings, is the most 

 numerous of our spiders. Only when the 

 declining sun flings a broad track of shiny 

 silver light on the plain does one get some 

 faint conception of the unnumbered millions 

 of these buoyant little creatures busy weav- 

 ing their gauzy veil over the earth and float- 

 ing unseen, like an ethereal vital dust, in the 

 atmosphere. HUDSON Naturalist in La Pla- 

 ta, ch. 14, p. 184. (C. & H., 1895.) 



3679. VOYAGERS, INVOLUNTARY 



Bees on Mountain Summit Butterflies on 

 Ship in South Sea. To the surprise of the 

 adventurous travelers the summit of Fre- 

 mont's Peak was found to be visited by 

 bees. It is probable that these insects, like 

 the butterflies which I found at far higher 

 elevations in the chain of the Andes, and 

 also within the limits of perpetual snow, 

 had been involuntarily drawn thither by as- 

 cending currents of air. I have even seen 

 large-winged lepidoptera, which had been 

 carried far out to sea by land-winds, drop 

 on the ship's deck at a considerable distance 

 from land in the South Sea. HUMBOLDT 

 Views of Nature, p. 33. (Bell, 1896.) 



3680. 



Organisms Borne 



"by Fallen Tree to Distant Lands. It is well 

 known, from numerous examples, how far 

 in many cases trunks of trees, hard-shelled 

 fruits, and other not readily perishable por- 

 tions of plants are carried away from their 

 original home by the course of rivers and by 

 the currents of the sea. Trunks of palm 

 trees from the West Indies are brought by 

 the Gulf Stream to the British and Norwe- 

 gian coasts. All large rivers bring down 

 driftwood from the mountains, and frequent- 

 ly Alpine plants are carried from their 

 home at the source of the river into the 

 plains, and even further, down to the sea. 

 Frequently numerous creatures live between 

 the roots of the plants thus carried down; 

 and between the branches of the trees thus 

 washed away there are various inhabitants 

 which have to take part in the passive mi- 

 gration. The bark of the tree is covered 

 with mosses, lichens, and parasitic insects. 

 Other insects, spiders, etc., even small rep- 

 tiles and mammals, are hidden within the 

 hollow trunk or cling to the branches. In 

 the earth adhering to the fibers of the roots, 

 in the dust lying in the cracks of the bark, 

 there are innumerable germs of smaller ani- 

 mals and plants. Now, if the trunk thus 

 washed away lands safely on a foreign shore 

 or on a distant island, the guests who had 

 to take part in the involuntary voyage can 



leave their boat and settle in the new coun- 

 try. HAECKEL History of Creation, vol. i, 

 ch. 14, p. 372. (K. P. & Co., 1899.) 



3681. VOYAGES, TOO ADVENTUR- 

 OUS Butterflies at Sea Frail Creatures the 

 Sport of the Elements. Several times when 

 the ship has been some miles off the mouth 

 of the Plata, and at other times when off 

 the shores of Northern Patagonia, we have 

 been surrounded by insects. One evening, 

 when we were about ten miles from the Bay 

 of San Bias, vast numbers of butterflies, in 

 bands or flocks of countless myriads, extend- 

 ed as far as the eye could range. Even by 

 the aid of a telescope it was not possible 

 to see a space free from butterflies. The 

 seamen cried out " it was snowing butter- 

 flies," and such in fact was the appearance. 

 . . . The day had been fine and calm, and 

 the one previous to it equally so, with light 

 and variable airs. Hence we cannot suppose 

 that the insects were blown off the land, but 

 we must conclude that they voluntarily took 

 flight. . . . Before sunset a strong breeze 

 sprung up from the north, and this must 

 have caused tens of thousands of the butter- 

 flies and other insects to have perished. 

 DARWIN Naturalist's Voyage around the 

 World, ch. 8, p. 160. (A., 1898.) 



3682. WAKEFULNESS PARTIAL 

 AND CONTROLLED Mother Hears the Stir- 

 ring of Her Babe Does the Mind Sleep f 

 The mother who is asleep to every sound 

 but the stirrings of her babe evidently has 

 the babe-portion of her auditory sensibility 

 systematically awake. Relatively to that, 

 the rest of her mind is in a state of system- 

 atized anesthesia. That department, split 

 off and disconnected from the sleeping part, 

 can none the less wake the latter up in case 

 of need. So that on the whole the quarrel 

 between Descartes and Locke as to whether 

 the mind ever sleeps is less near to solution 

 than ever. On a priori speculative grounds 

 Locke's view that thought and feeling may 

 at times wholly disappear seems the more 

 plausible. As glands cease to secrete and 

 muscles to contract, so the brain should 

 sometimes cease to carry currents, and with 

 this minimum of its activity might well 

 coexist a minimum of consciousness. On the 

 other hand, we see how deceptive are appear- 

 ances, and are forced to admit that a part 

 of consciousness may sever its connections 

 with other parts and yet continue to be. 

 On the whole it is best to abstain from a con- 

 clusion. The science of the near future will 

 doubtless answer this question more wisely 

 than we can now. JAMES Psychology, vol. 

 i, ch. 8, p. 213. (H. H. & Co., 1899.) 



3683. WALKING AN INSTINCTIVE 

 MO VEMENT Impulse Suddenly Developed 

 in Human Beings. The walking instinct 

 may awaken with [remarkable] suddenness, 

 and its entire education be completed within 

 a week's compass, barring, of course, a lit- 

 tle " grogginess " in the gait. Individual in- 



