20 



NATUEAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



glowed red with heat, he deliberate- 

 ly drew off his long, wet boots. 

 Then a pair of socks, much the 

 worse for Quebec mud, came off 

 one after the other, and his com- 

 panions saw him cooly fling them 

 into the fire. 



They made no comment on his 

 action, but when, almost immediate- 

 ly afterward they saw him reach 

 into the stove with a poker, pull 

 out the apparently blazing socks 

 and, after giving them a shake, 

 proceed with the greatest uncon- 

 cern to draw them on his feet again 

 they stood aghast. 



It was plainly an exhibition of 

 witchcraft. Then 'they scrambled 

 over one another in their haste to 

 reach the door, through which 

 they burst into the dark. 



The next day they called on the 

 manager in a body and demanded 

 the instant dismissal of the English- 

 man, loudly declaring that they 

 would no longer eat or work with 

 such a monster. 



Inquiry being made at once, it 

 was found that the big Englishman 

 had worked in an asbestos factory 

 before crossing the water, and be- 

 ing of an ingenious turn of mind 

 he had managed to secure some of 

 the material out of which to knit 

 himself a pair of socks. When 

 they became soiled he cleaned 

 them in the fire. But such ex- 

 planations were of no avail with 

 his ignorant companions, and he 

 was compelled to leave his work. 



Asbestos is a wonderful sub- 

 stance. Its name comes from a 

 Greek word meaning inconsumable. 

 Fire will not burn it, acids will not 

 gnaw it, weather will not corrode 

 it. It is the paradox of minerals — 

 for a mineral it is, quarried just 

 like marble. Fibers of which it is 

 composed are as soft as silk, and 

 fine and feathery enough to float 

 on water. Yet in the mines they 

 are so compressed that they are 

 hard and crystalline like stone. 



Although the substance has been 

 known for ages in the form of 

 mountain cork or mountain leather, 

 comparatively little has been learn- 

 ed as to its geological history and 

 formation. A legend tells how 

 Emperor Charlemagne, being pos- 

 sessed of a table-cloth woven of 

 asbestos, was accustomed to aston- 

 ish his guests by gathering it up 

 after the meal, casting it into the 

 fire and withdrawing it later, clean- 

 sed but unconsumed. 



Yet, although the marvelous at- 

 tributes of asbestos have been 

 known for so long they were turn- 

 ed to little practical use until a- 

 bout twenty years ago. Since that 



time the manufacture of the mater- 

 ial has grown until it can take its 

 place shoulder to shoulder with any 

 of the giant industries of this coun- 

 try. Indeed, so rapid has been its 

 progress and development that 

 there is almost no literature of any 

 kind on the subject, and to the pop- 

 ular mind it is still one of those 

 dim, inexplainable things. 



A Chicago dealer in asbestos 

 gcods says that the majority of per- 

 sons who use the substance are 

 firmly convinced that it is all manu- 

 factured by some secret process 

 from wool or cotton. — Chicago 

 Record. 



Winter Birds. 



By Morris Gibbs. 



There are many more species of 

 winter birds found in the Northern 

 part of the Union than is supposed. 

 Sixty-eight are known to me in 

 Michigan alone, and in one county, 

 and these are divided into perma- 

 nent residents, sixteen; winter vis- 

 itants from further north, twenty; 

 half-hardy, or those which occa- 

 sionally remain with us, or come 

 from the south before winter is ful- 

 ly gone, thirty-two species. 



Space does not permit of even a 

 partial description of these feath- 

 ered friends, which subject them- 

 selves to our vigorous weather and 

 lend attraction and entertainment 

 to the months which would other- 

 wise be almost without interest. 

 But a few random notes will be 

 presented to the lovers of our 

 birds, and will, perhaps, form an 

 impetus to the study of this delight- 

 ful branch of natural history, among 

 general readers. 



Of the 330 species and races of 

 birds in the Peninsular State nearly 

 four-fifths spend the winter months 

 in the South, where they range ac- 

 cording to their requirements, from 

 the Ohio river to Yucatan. 



The Red-throated Diver from the 

 far north, is found in the dead of 

 winter occupying strips of open 

 water on rapid parts of our rivers. 

 The Goosander and Golden-eyed 

 Duck are also found feeding in 

 company in the same space, while 

 the Long-tailed or Old-wife Duck 

 is a rare visitor here in December 

 and January. Our common Loon 

 which nests here each spring, but 

 winters to the South, as I have met 

 with it in Florida, is sometimes 

 seen on our rivers with its northern 

 relative the Red-throated Diver in 

 late February. Two species, which 

 in the extent of their migratory 



ranges are separated at times by at 

 least 3,000 miles. 



Another still more remarkable 

 instance is the record of observa- 

 tion of the Rose-breasted and Eve- 

 ning Grosbeaks in the same piece 

 of woods in early May. The for- 

 mer bird which nests as far North 

 as the forty-fifth parallel, while it 

 winters way South, in Mexico at 

 least. The latter breeding at the 

 far North and only visiting South- 

 ern Michigan at irregular intervals. 

 This was a case where the return 

 of the northern bird was delayed 

 from some cause which resulted in 

 the strange meeting of the two 

 Grosbeaks on common ground. 



Of the other visitors from the 

 North the Great Northern Shrike 

 or Butcher-bird often appears and 

 merits our protection for its efforts 

 at destruction among the pernic- 

 ious so-called English Sparrow. 

 Vast flocks of Snow Buntings visit 

 us each season, lending a pleasing, 

 animated feature to the scene as 

 they wheel about above the snow- 

 clad fields, or feed on the seeds of 

 weeds and grasses. 



Pine Linnets, Crossbills of two 

 kinds and a few kinds of Hawks 

 and Owls, residents in the northern 

 parts of our state are not rarely 

 seen on our Southern boundaries, 

 Avhile the generally present resi- 

 dents, the Chickadees, several spe- 

 cies of Woodpeckers, Tree Spar- 

 rows, Snowbirds, Brown Creepers 

 and Goldfinches are seen on occa- 

 sions during the winter months. 



Then there is the regular Shore 

 Lark, which appears from the 

 North to take the place of the 

 Prairie Lark which withdraws to 

 more Southern latitudes for the 

 space of eight weeks or more, usu- 

 ally. This bird feeds in the road 

 or fields, and often alights on the 

 fences, but is rarely seen to perch 

 on a branch. 



Large flocks of Cedar, or Cherry 

 birds are often seen, and rarely a 

 flock of the much rarer Bohemian 

 Wax-wing, an arctic species, but 

 in over a quarter of a century of 

 careful observations in Southern 

 Michigan I have not recorded this 

 gregarious wanderer in Michigan. 



There are several species of 

 Woodpeckers, the Nuthatches, 

 Brown Creepers and Crossbills, 

 which appear in our village yards 

 nearly every winter, adding a charm 

 to the season which has few other 

 attractions to lovers of animated 

 nature. 



Prof, (in Geology) 'What is an 

 outcrop?" 



Student, "The result of a shave, " 



