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Marvels of the Universe 





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Photo 6»] [fi. X .S/»i»a, F.RJf.S. 



THE GRASSHOPPER. 



A photograph of a specimen prepared for a microscopic slide. Notice the large flying wings, the difference between the four 

 fore-limbs which are used for alighting and the long jumping legs; also the thick thighs of the Grasshopper. 



has expressed an opinion tliat in sucli a case as that of the toad-flax there seems to be almost suffi- 

 cient evidence for assuming that the plant possesses some kind of instinct. More recently Professor 

 Francis Darwin has declared that he can discern the dawnings of consciousness in some of the more 

 advanced cases of vegetable movement. Altogether, one feels that the subject of light-seeking and 

 light-avoiding on the part of plants is one which presents a fascinating subject for research. 



THE OAR-FISH 



BY I"RANf-: T. BULLEX, F.R.G.S. 



Students of the Book of Revelation must immediately recall the Beast with seven heads and 

 ten horns upon seeing a picture of this extraordinary inhabitant of the deep sea. Not only so, but 

 those who have read and been interested in the many quaint accounts of sea-serpents, which, to 

 the detriment of the general gaiety, have become so scanty in the newspapers of late years, will 

 also find in the fearsome crest of this creature some justification for the lurid descriptions of the 

 maned serpent of wondrous size so often reported. The connection between the imaginary monster 

 and the real fish is closer even than might be suspected froin just a glance at the picture, when 

 it is realized that the Oar-fish has been found of a length of twenty feet, and is believed by 

 ichthyologists to reach a much greater length in its mysterious deep-sea habitat. 



Its trivial name has been given with less justification than usual merely from the blade-like 

 expansion of its two ventral fins. It is unsatisfying, for one cannot but feel that so strange a deep- 

 sea monster should have a far more striking epithet to distinguish it from the ordinary. Fishermen, 

 because of its appearance having at times coincided with the arrival of the herring shoals, have called 



