428 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[May 4, 1888. 



place and for pay. I claim some credit for Cirencester, 

 for Downton, for Aspatria, Hollesley Bay, Kole- park, and 

 for all other independent efforts to meet the very languid 

 demand which no doubts exists for sound agricultural 

 information. Let the subject be ventilated, and let the 

 ideas spread through this wealthy, intelligent, free, and un- 

 fettered country. Nay, further, if a Government grant is 

 to be given, let it aid existing efforts without greatly 

 controlling them. Let it follow out the instructions 

 given to Sir Richard Paget's Commission, namely, to 

 " inquire and report upon agricultural and dairy schools 

 in Great Britain which may properly receive Government 

 grants." Let scholarships be given, that young men of 

 talent may take advantage of existing means in instruc- 

 tion, or of those means of instruction which are speedily 

 arising, and will continue to arise, if not throttled by an 

 overshadowing State-aided system, fettered by officialism, 

 and a prey to place hunters. Neither let us too hastily 

 conclude that agriculture requires such aid. The cloud 

 is lifting. Although we have passed through tim.es of 

 extreme pressure, we seem at last to have touched 

 bottom, and the man who thinks of investing money in 

 land, or in farming, can do so at the present moment 

 with a better expectation of commercial success than he 

 could have entertained at any time during the last twelve 

 years. I do not deny that agricultural education has 

 had much to do with this happy result; but it is not 

 solely the education of the young nor the instruction of 

 the professor or schoolmaster. It is the education which 

 comes from conflict, the education which comes through 

 the printing press, the instruction which flows from our 

 agricultural literature and agricultural exhibitions ; and 

 I devoutly hope that this free course of knowledge and of 

 enterprise will continue to be allowed to flow on without 

 State patronage, and in harmony with the independent 

 and courageous instincts of the British nation. 



Wave-Power Motor. — The San Francisco Call gives an 

 account of a new wave-power motor. The construction of 

 this machine or apparatus was begun in July, 1886. Great 

 difficulty was experienced at first in getting the materials to 

 withstand the force of stones thrown against them by the 

 waves, and the pipes which conduct the water up the bluff 

 were broken and carried away no less than fourteen times. 

 The motor, which was designed and built by E. T. Steen, is 

 a very simple contrivance, and still is capable of exerting 

 great power. Across a chasm in the rocks just north of 

 Parallel Point, a bridge of heavy timbers was built. Sus- 

 pended from this is a huge fan or paddle of oak timbers with 

 the spreading portions downwards. This is fastened to the 

 bridge by immense hinges, which allow it, when in operation, 

 to swing back and forward a distance of 6 feet as the 

 waves strike it. The handle or upper portion of the fan is 

 connected with a solid plunger pump 12 inches in diameter, 

 and having a stroke of 9 feet to 12 feet. This pump, in 

 turn, is connected with a suction pipe running out into deep 

 water. When a wave comes in, the fan is thrown forward 

 and forces the air out of the pump barrel in which the 

 plunger works. On the wave receding, the fan is carried 

 seaward and the plunger drawn out, causing a vacuum, and 

 causes a quick rush of water into the suction pipe. The 

 force with which the water is drawn up is sufficient to raise 

 it to an elevation of 3^0 feet above the sea level. This motor 

 is capable of raising 12,000 feet of water 350 feet high in 

 every twenty-four hours. The uses to which the water will 

 be put are various. A 36-inch pipe will be conducted to the 

 city, and water will be supplied to all branches of industry 

 where machinery is used. Bathing-houses will also be sup- 

 plied with salt water, and sewers flushed where it is 

 necessary. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents, nor can hetake notice of anonymous C07n- 

 Tnunications . All letters must be accompanied by the naine and 

 address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a 

 guarantee of good faith. 



ENEMIES OF TREES. 



Sir, — I enclose £1 for 1888 as a contribution to the Egyp- 

 tian Exploration Fund. I should be much obliged if you 

 could get the writer of the article " Enemies of Trees," in the 

 last number of Scientific News, to examine the enclosed 

 tips of fir branches. Thousands of these fell in the autumn, 

 and again now when the wind is high, but I scarcely think it 

 is only the wind. They fall from old and young trees alike. 

 There are squirrels here, but not many and not enough to do 

 the amount of work, and they could hardly get to the ends 

 of the branches. The ground is covered with them, and I 

 shall be very pleased to have a satisfactory explanation. The 

 men here say it is the wind. William Lance. 



[Specimens of the fallen tips of fir will be forwarded to 

 anyone interested in the subject. — Editor 6". A^.] 



RABBITS ATTACKING A CAT. 

 On reading page 372 of Scienific News for April 2oth, I 

 saw that in Australia domestic cats have been used as rabbi 

 destroyers. I will mention an incident in which rabbits 

 seemed as if they would have been cat destroyers. Among 

 other pets, I had two black buck rabbits, a large tom-cat, and 

 a skye-terrier. One day the rabbits got loose, and they, seeing 

 the unhappy cat, immediately began to attack it. The cat, 

 although a first-class ratter (like the dog), was terribly 

 frightened, and never attempted to defend itself. The rabbits 

 had gone so far as to bite a piece of the cat's ear before I had 

 time to stop them. The rabbits, strange to relate, were on 

 excellent terms with the skye-terrier dog. S. E. Dunkin. 



CRIES UTTERED BY FROGS. 



In one of your recent numbers there was an interesting 

 account of some barking frogs, which recalled to me a curious 

 experience of last summer. I was talking to my gardener at 

 Malvern, standing by the side of an asparagus bed, and 

 watching the gambols of a very playful pet cat, who ever and 

 anon disappeared down one of the overshadowed little 

 trenches of the bed. 



Presently 1 heard a loud, unfamiliar cry, as of pain or 

 alarm, proceed from the midst of the tangled asparagus, and, 

 with the gardener's aid, I began carefully to search up and 

 down the tiny green glades — puss darting in and out as if 

 sharing our investigation. To my surprise, I found the 

 source of her excited enjoyment to be a large yellow frog, 

 whom she had tormented to such an extremity that it had 

 uttered this cry of anguish in its distress. 



My gardener, a very intelligent and observing man, informed 

 me that more than once before he had heard a similar cry 

 from a frog in distress. 



I send you this, thinking it might be of some interest to 

 your readers. L. H. 



Malvern. 



CUNNING OF THE FOX. 



The anecdote on page 34S of Scientific News was very 

 interesting. Perhaps the following one, which I recently 

 noticed in a book of natural history, may prove the same to 

 some of your readers : — 



" A tame fox, that was kept in a stable-yard, had managed 

 to strike up a friendship with several of the dogs, and would 

 play with them, but could not induce the cats to approach him. 

 Cats are very sensitive in their nostrils, and could not endure 

 the vulpine odour. They would not even walk upon any spot 

 where the fox had been standing, and kept as far aloof as 

 possible from him. The crafty animal soon perceived that 

 the cats would not come near him, and made use of his 

 knowledge to cheat them of their breakfast. As soon as the 



