Newspaper Page Text
H •
Z5he MaRing of BooKs
“Oh, that mine enemy would make a book,”
Conducted By R W Me Adam
rs
Under the tamp
With Late Books
LJ
AVID GRAHAM PHIL-
DIPS' “Fortune Hunter” is
a story of what he calls
"the society of the real
New York—the three and
a hnlf millions who work
and play hard and live
plainly and without pre
tense, whose ideals center
about the hearth, and
whose ispiratlons are to re
tire with a competence
early in the afternoon of
life, 'thenceforth placidly to
the prosperity of their ohil-
assist
clren, and to have their youth over again
in their grandchildren.” And a most
realistic acid readable story does he tell
of the »lti delecatessen merchant, Brau-
ner, with Jits motto of "Work and home
and love/’ and the good Frau Branner,
and their beautiful Hilda, the catch of
Avenue A. It is a community of honest,
industrious and thrifty folks, and their
wholesome, cheerful existence is pleas
ant to coivttemplaie. In strong contrast is
tlie case of Mr. Carl Fouerstein, soldier
of fortune, as he calls himself, and un-
sticcessftij actor, who maintains his ele
gant and idle self at the expense of sim
ple and kindly souls who are more than
duly impressed with his distinguished ap
pearance and the fall of yellow hair over
his velvet collar.
.Work ha s never entered into the plan
of the imposing if Jmpecuinous Teuton of
boastwl birth, and having exhausted
every source of supply—borrowed of
every gullible human being in sight-
action of some sort becomes at last im
peratively necessary. Accordingly he,
like many other better men, turns to
soft-hearted woman for sticcor in his
drowning condition—women have always
adored him—and begins to play his
charms In those quarters where the game
is clearly worth while. Brauner Is owner
of tiiree Oats that bring in SI 1,000 ren
tal, and a good business. Hilda, then, an
undeniable beauty and a whole fortune In
her charming self, may he the prize Mr.
Fouerstein is looking for. He thinks so,
until the rich brewer's daughter appears
with her richer dower. Never burdened
with troublesome scruples, yet too cau
tious to throw away a chance even while
grasping a better, the ardent suitor for
whichever lady can show a father with
the most available cash, loses no time,
even while treating Hilda to the most
entrancing and histrionic love scenes, in
making the brewer his surprised father
In law. Which complicates in more ways
than one and brings about disclosures
the most startling.
Otto Hehllg, the sturdy young German
who all his life has loved Hilda, but in
her eyes has shown a very plain and
"common” ' article as compared with the
glided Feuerstein, now does some star
acting which is the real thing, and Hilda
awakened to bis worth is nothing short
In her part. Incidentally the New York
police are very neatly exposed and their
high-handed dealings given a well-aimed
blow.
It is a well rounded story, told In the
author’s clear, pleasant style, and with
out being, at all pretentious, a very clever
little piece of work.
The Illustrations are by K. M. Ashe.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, publishers,
Indianapolis.
The Law Breakers.
"The J<aav-birea.kers is the na.me Rob
ert Grant has .given a compilation oif half
a dozen stories which he offers in neat
book form to the reading public, encour
aged by its kindly acceptance of former
works, and wit:'.! faith, it would a-ppear
that there are still people who will read
quiet narratives, which if they have lit
tle to •commend them, certainly have noth
ing to condemn.
"The La.w-(breakers,” the first of the
stories and that which gives to the book
its name, points a very patent moral,
and in a pleasant way. The second,
"Against. .His Judgment,” we confess wo
have not read. The third, “St. George
arid the Dragon,” we were interested in
after we had read it, for the reason that
it administers a very wholesome rebuke
tc the over-zealous representatives of the
daily press, whose morbid appetite is fed
in this .particular instance to the point of
acute and congested s< nationalism on
the tragic death of two lovers. When
we come to think of it, we do not know,
but t.iie message contained in this story
is excuse enough for the hook's being.
“The Romance of a Soul," it api>ears to
us, had 'been been called "The Diagno
sis, or the Dissection of the Intangible
■Member"—the author having a.botit as
much right from our point oif view to
lay 'bare the innerness of .poor little Miss
Willis’ meager existence as have the med-
j.-ul harpies to feed upon the bodies of
such as have left us word according them
that privilege. Miss Willis 'being gone,
we should like to take up her cause anil
have it out with the author as deserves.
"An Exchange of Courtesies” is a sort
o' "Nalboth’s Vineyard” affair. Money
covets the land of those who have, be
sides land, what money cannot buy. Two
spinsters of pedigree and associations re-
li'sc 'to sell out to a fabulously rich fur
niture dealer, and 'he learns that there
are things even ills millions cannot get
for him, chief among them the good
breeding which he is conscious he lucks,
liut love, the leveler, finally intervenes
in hio behalf when his son Is romanti
cally .rescued from drowning by the
•'•modern'' niece of the maiden ladies, and
given besides his life the heart of his
athletic young resouer, and, incidentally,
and in course of time, the coveted acres.
•'Across the Way” is another love story
relating tho rather quixotic action of a
charming little kindergarten teacher who,
having been disappointed In 'her college
t>v, tel heart, forswears matrimony and
inat klnd In general, and at twenty-live
knows she will nover marry. How she
refuses to accept tho legacy of an eccen
tric old man who wishes to provide her
tv ith a daw,or In order mat she may mar
ry. and how even without it and In spite
of her avowed spinsterhood, she does
y.eld to the doctor's importunities after
all, makes a pleasant little story. And
"The Surrender,” tho lust ot the number,
is also pleasant and wholesome, setting
forth the harmony which may exist In
demestic relations where husband und
wife are agreed on mutual interest, anCC
slowing that even the strongest natural
fcert may be sometimes better sacrificed
to what brings sure competency and In
dependence. The book is published by
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
The Fraying Skipper and Other
Stories.
“The Praying Skipper and- Other Sto
ries” admits into the banks of bookmak
ers one more light from out the shining
world of journalism which has contrib
uted so much talent to contemporary let
ters. Ralph D. Paine, the author of these
strong sketches, has had a career of w'Je
opportunity — opportunity, by-the-w.iy,
made by his own native ability. Pos
sessed of a high ord< r of gifts he has
since his student days at Yale done con
spicuously good work—lie made his wav
through college by writing. Immediately
on leaving he accepted work on the staff
of The Philadelphia Press, and mort of
his newspaper connection was with t’ais
piper and Tho New York Herald, until
three years ago he began writing for he
magazines. His special commissions took
him to Cuba before and during the war,
and to China at the time of the Boxer's
uprising. He remained in Peking nearly
a year, and two of the seven stories in
the collection are laid in the old Chinese
cl t y.
“The Praying Skipper." "The Hast Pilot
Schooner." 'Vaptain Arendt's Choice”
and "Surfman Brainard’s 'Day Off' ” are
all talcs of the sea: "Corporal Fnvee.icy,
Deserter,” and “The Jade Teapot" are
incidents of American sodier life in
Piking, and “A Victory Tnforsoen,” the
thrilling account of a race at Yale, aid
the displacement of an oarsman and suc
ceeding interesting events consequent On
it. Mr. Paine was originally ifrom Flo—
Ida, and this last and “Surfman Bral-
r.ard's 'Day Off.’ ” connect, his far sou’h-
ern home with the scene of his college
trlijmphs.
“The Jade Teapot" gives a vivid Idea
of the sufferings of our soldiers in the
etast. A young fellow from Kansas !s
dying of nostalgia, and a letter from his
mother comes telling that the home is
about to be sold, which threatens to
hasten his end. Fe-ling himself doomed
lie wishes to entrust all that he has for
the home folks to a comrade Just dis
charged and starting for “Little New
York"—a jade teapot which he has picked
up, and transit not the value of. The tea
pot in transit is sold for eight hundred
dollars, and six hundred, the amount
needed to lift the mortgage, cabled to the
mother, an! the home saved.
But the gem of all this line cluster, and.
wo venture, one of the fittest short
stories in existence, is that of the brave
Captain Arendt and his “broken flower,”
his wife, end the disaster which lo«e.t
them the savings of twenty-seven years,
the ten thousand dollars which was to
buy the home across the sea where she
was to get back health and—Joy of all
joys—their separations need be fewer an 1
shorter. The fearful accident which sinks
the ship and the heroic bravery of the
noble, unselfish captain who realzes that
he can snatch no moment to save his own
treasure while there is yet a life unsaved
on the deck of the ship, almost takes the
breath, so realistic la the recital, so
strong in simple grandeur.
The book is an unusual collection of
extraordinary merit.
The Outing Publishing Company, New
York.
The July Magazines.
An examination of The Red Book Mag
azine for July leads to the conclusion
that the interest of the stories in the is
sue is no less great than the charm of
the distinctly American canoe-girl whose
portrait forms the cover. Some account
of timeliness is taken in giving Henry
Louis Mzncken's Fourth-of-July story.
“The King and Tommy Cripps,” tile first
place in the number. Poor little Tom
my's patriotic attempt to celebrate his
nation's natal day in a foreign land was
marked by ill luck for Tommy, but all
came right in the end—even for the
king. William Hamilton Osborne’s story
in the July Issue, entitled, “The Wicked
Waste at Wilkinson’s" is concerned with
a girl's extraordinary managment of a
cotton mill in the face of strikes and
trusts; and Campbell MacCulIoeh's ac
count of “Trimming an Infant,” may,
perhaps, deter other infants from being
“trimmed.” Readers of magazines have
learned to look to the far west for those
stories of broad humor which make for
laughter rather than for smiles. Such a
one, perhaps, is “The Jilting of Mr. Dris
coll” by Herbert Quick, who is well and
widely known as the author of one of
the season's most successful novels, it
is a tale of cowboys, eggs and calves in
which the three component parts become
souflled to the end that Mr. Driscoll
loses faith if not in humanity, at least,
in two blue eyes. Three tales of deli
cate, summery charm are "Otsugata-no-
Gata,” by Isabel McDougal; “Miss Prim
rose and the Patient,” by Marjorie Ben
ton Cooke, and "The Chrysalis" by Jean
nette Scott Benton. Further contributors
to tlie Red Book Magazine lor July arc
Harriet A. Nash, Charles Hanson Towne
Hugh Pendexter, W. J. Lampton, Elea
nor M. Ingram, Theodore Grayson and
Eunice Ward. The magazine as usual is
opened with twenty-eight exquisitely
printed portraits of as many' beautiful
women, and the two departments, "Pa
risian Modes" and "Some Dramas of the
Day” are contributed by Reutlinger and
Acton Davies.
Six articles of first-rato interest, six
stories of exceptional quality, make up
the bulk of the American Magazine for
July. In "The Taming of Rogers," Sher
man Morse recounts, in its full signifi
cance, Attornoy General Hadley's suc
cessful attempt to make Standard Oil
obey the law. Hadley differs from many-
public prosecutors In that he obtained
his results by the simple enforcement of
existing laws. "Reaping Where We
Have Not Sown,” by Julian Willard
Helburn, Is an Illuminating article on
practical forestry as distinguished from
sentimental preservation or stupid de
struction. it Is splendidly Illustrated.
The same writer, l n "The Quickening
Spirit, ’ has assembled a number of in
cidents Illustrating the "sand” and re
sourcefulness of the San Franciscans in
their hour of disaster. "The Confes
sions of a Life Insurance Solicitor," by
Wllllam McMahon, is a bena fide narra
tive, written with on -xde-like humor.
Another article of strong personal Inter
est Is “The Single Woman's Problem,"
which tells of tin eduenlod woman's
struggle to support herself and those
dependent on her. “The Slave of Cot
ton" Is the second article by Henry K.
Webster on the south's great problem.
"The Mystery,” by Stewart Edward
White and Samuel Hopkins Adams, Is
continued, and among the fiction writers
are Mrs. L. H. Harris, Gilbert P. Cole-
ma.n W. H. Cline and John Fleming
Wilson.
The Pilgrim for July opens its four
teenth volume with a beautifully- Illus
trated and entertaining story in refer
ence to a vacation retreat for our stren
uous president, selected toy Mrs. Roose
velt in the fastness of the Virginia
mountains. "Two Famous Monaster
ies" Illustrates In picture and story tho
famous old Chartreuse retreat. “Out
door Life for Women and Children” is
a timely special article, attractively Illus
trated, and “A Vanished Corner of Ca
thay” tells of ’Frisco’s Chinatown,
which will probably never be resurrect
ed. The celebration of the glorious
Fourth cannot be disassociated from
Deeping with the day. A little excerpt
from one of the famous addresses of
Charles Sumner, "Our Nation and Our
Flag,” “The Celebration of the Fourth"
by Everett T. Tomlinson and "Home
made Fireworks for the Girls,” all re
mind us of the nation's b.% hday. Not
to be forgotten ln this connection Is a
patriotic story for tboys, by Frank 11.
Sweet, entitled “Cuba Libre."
Cycling Coming ln Again.
Now that mild weather has set in. It
Is surprising to see the number of
wheels in use on the streets and pleas
ant country highways. It begins to look
as i' the pastime of bicycling will soon
bo as jiopular as it was several years
ago, when everybody who could buy, beg
or borrow a wheel was out "on pleas
ure bent."
The Mead Cycle Company of Chicago,
a firm who-have made a specialty of sell
ing bicycles only, for a number of years,
report their sales up to May 1st greater
than the same months of any year in
their history.
The explanation of this statement lies
in the fact that the low price at which
this coneern is now able to offer high-
grade wheels Is a strong inducement to
the lover of this sport to again own a
bicycle.
Improved methods of manufacturing
and a riper knowledge of the require
ments have made it possible to produce
better wheels than were sold during the
craze at two or three times the prices
now charged. For instance, a bicycle
which then sold for $75.00 to $100.00
can now be purchased for S27.00.
Not only arc the wheels better as a
whole, but every one is equipped with
puncture-proof, self-healing tires, insur
ing rides free from disagreeable mishaps.
Another strong feature is the Coaster
Brake, the greatest invention pertaining
to bicycles ever made since the pneuma
tic tire. This device enables the rider
to coast down hill with the pedals mo
tionless. To slacken speed or stop in
stantly, all that Is roqtirrccr is to back
pedal. One-third less pedaling Is needed,
and the wheel Is under the rider's con
trol at all times.
The i.Mead Cycle Company ship wheels
on approval for free examination and
trial all over the United States. Canada
and Mexico and is always ready to es
tablish connections with desirable repre
sentatives. •••
Odds and Ends.
Ilisen Is said never to have written any
thing unless he had a tray of little toys
on the desks beifore him- Among these
toys were a wooden bear, a wooden fig
ure of Mephlstopheles, two cats, one play
ing a fiddle, and some cotton flannel rab
bits.
The duke of Devonshire possesses
Claude Lorraine's “Book of Truths.” It
is worth six times as much as the "Maz-
arin” Bible, the most valuable bbok ln
the British Museum. The late duke re
fused an offer of $100,000 for it. ,
Kate Douglass Wiggins, the authoress,
has Just concluded a visit to the vice
regal lodge, Dublin, as the guest of their
excellencies, the earl and countess of
Aberdeen.
A i.'st of Ibsen's Important works In
order of publication follows: “Catiline,”
1849; “The Warrior's Mound,” 1850; “St.
John's Night,” 1851 ; 'The Banquet at
Solhang,” 1866; "Lady Inger of Ostraat,”
1857; “The Vikings of Helgeland,” 1858;
"Dn the Mountain Plains,’’ I860; "Love's
Comedy," 1862; “The Pretenders,” 1864;
“Brand," 1866; "Peer Gynt.” 1867; "The
League of Youth,” 1869; "Emperor and
Galilean.” 1873; “The Pillars of Society,"
1877; "A Doll's House,” 1879; “Ghosts,"
1881; "An Enemy of the People," 1862;
"The Wild Duck," 1884; “Rosmerholm,”
1886; The Lady from the Sea," 1888;
“Hedda Gabler," 1890; “Master Builder
Solness," 1892; “Little Eyolf,” 1894;
“John Gabriel Borkman,’’ 1896, and
"When We Dead Awaken," 1900.
Publication Notes.
Professor W. J. Rolfe has written 8
long introduction to Miss Elizabeth Wil
der's translation of Karl Werdcr's study
of “Hamlet.” whicih G. P. Putnom’s Son»
are about lo publish under the title o<
"The Heart of Hamlet's Mystery.” This
extraoixiinary piece of German criticism
must now be regarded as one of the
landmarks of the literature that is de
voted to a study of the prince of Den
mark. It 'has won over to its point of
view Shakespearean critics of the first
rank, among them Furness, Corson and
Hudson. Werder advances, and, it would
seem, triunmi-thantly champions, the
theory that that Hamlet’s Inaction and
procrastination were forced upon him by
circumstances which were beyond his
control. He vehemently denies and ut
terly dismisses the theory that
weakness' of will, or any sut»-
iec.tive cause, paralyzed the hand of the
prince. For Werder and for those who
accept his conclusions this play is seen
in a new light, it becomes a tragedy of
fate, and can no longer be regarded as
a tragedy of character in accordance
with the views of Coleridge, Goethe and
other critics. Werder’s essay, now for
Hie first time appearing in English, will
not fail to engage the attention of all
students of Shakespeare
In view of the hue and cry now being
raised lor proper food inspection, the
table regulations for the inhabitants of
Atlantis in “Tlie Scarlet Empire.” D. M.
Parry’s novel of socialism, are not with
out interest. There the meals were
served in courses, each course consisting
of a sample of food, carefully measured
out and weighed, so that no person had
the fraction of an ounce more than an
other. Minute rules provided for the
amount of food to be inserted in the
mouth at a time, and the manner in
which the eating utensils should be han
dled, and so on ad infinitum. Innumer
able meal Inspectors were on- hand with
alert eyes ever ready to detect the least
infraction of the rules. All food came •
from the government granaries and stock
yards and was prepared In, the govern
ment kitchen*. The hero made a great
reputation by Introducing a bill ln the
legislature requiring that food should be
chewed nine times on the right side of
the jaw and nine times on the left side.
A competent authority on things Chi
nese states that during the last iwo years
China has made more real advancement
tnan in the previous millennium—a judg
ment with which Dr. Joseph Franklin
Griggs, medical missionary at Peking for
the Prebyterlan board of foreign mis
sions, is heartily in sympathy. He calls
the changes now in progress in China "a
miracle of natural resuscitation;” and has
prepared an authoritative account of
these changes in the July Century under
title of "China Awakened."
Even Gabriele D'Annunzio s detractors
admit that the famous Italian is a mas
ter ln the' art of short story writing.
“The Death Watch,” by D’Annfinzio, in
July Young's Magazine, though it may
substantiate the claim of decadence and
ultra-modernism brought against D'An
nunzio, Is nevertheless a brilliant, force
ful story.
“The Woodkind Elf" is the title of a
new juvenile by Florence A. Evans. It
Is a series of Ingenious stories told by
a sprite to a little girl lost in the woods.
Ho explains numerous wonderful things—
Why snakes shed their skins, why seals
wear furs, why cat tails grow, how wo
come to have the morning glory, why In
dian pipes grow, how the darning needle
got its name, why wishes no longer come
true, and so on through the 11s'. These
are just a few of the pretty tales the
author has so cunningly woven around
the life of the forest, thicket and sea.
She has a way of telling the stories that
will delight the fathers and mothers no
less than the small folk at their knees.
The artist, Carroll B. Williams, has suc
ceeded in catching the spirit of the
stories, and his illustrations add much to
the charm of the book. The Saalfield
Publishing Company .Akron, Ohio.
In imagination children are perhaps
more resourceful than their grown-ups,
and one of the chief stimulants in aid
of this pleasing trait has been the col
lections of fairy tales gathered together
by Brimm and Andersen.
Miss Tappan in her new book, “The
Golden Goose” (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.)
has sot forth in charming simple English
a number of the old Scandinavian legends
which have a common source with many
of the tales of these classic story tellers.
Besde the title story may be mentioned
“The Stolen Princess," “The Simple
Minded Giant,” “The Black Fox and
Red," and many others. The. publishers
have printed the volume in a large at
tractive type and have provided many
text illustrations for ihe children’s pleas
ure, and to encourage them to read by
themselves.
roaches in English postoffices increased
until it reached the maximum recorded
since tlie day4 of Rowland Hill. So suc
cessful werO the British postoffice au
thorities in breeding roaches that the
services of the professional had to be
called in twice as often as they were
before the postoffice went into the busi
ness.
This could not last. Somewhere, some
time surely in the dark byways of of
ficial life there must be found a man
fit to grapple with any problem, no
matter how Immense. This much de
sired individual happened along about
a year ago. hence the retirement of the
•professional to the undisturbed enjoy
ment of his well deserved.
Inasmuch as no drug or other admix
ture seemed to have the power to make
the cockroach lose its 'Hne power of dis
cernment in the matter of the difference
between plaster of parls and sugar, It
would seem to be worth while to in
quire by what sense or senses the dis
tinction was made.
FINALLY MIXED BY MACHINERY
This led to the discovery that the cock
roach, while It might be very clever lit
some respects, has its limitations in the
matter of differentiation and that if the
sugat and the plaster o: parls were ab
solutely alike in everything but taste it
vould swallow 'both.
Microscopical examination of plaster of
Paris and sugar led to the discovery that
what is known as icing sugar exactly re
sembles plaster of parls in the size of
grain, the weight and the color. This
was tried, but the result was only partly
satisfactory—enough, however, to show
tha*. the secret was portly solved.
The problem seemed to be to mix the
two so thoroughly that they should be ab
solutely inseparable. This was done with
machines, which sifted the two pow lers
i: to the same receptacle with perfect
equality, half and half of each.
When this scientifically prepared mix
ture -was taken to the proving grounds
a ml spread upon the floor there were no
live roaches left in tiie morning. Bo.
a., there were no protessional there to
clean up, the place was a sight,' three
tratrowfuls of absolutely stone dead cock-
re aches being carried out of the place be
fore business opened.
ior thirty years they had been paying
*25 a night for every postoffice that had
t > 'be cleaned out, just 'because they aid
not know that little secret.
OFFICIAL COCK BOACH KILLER
TO BRITISH GOVERNMENT
AMASSES FORTUNE
Continued from Fifth Page.
not what to use. but how. to make the
inr»ct swallow it.
To make it swallow the sugar was
easy. Why was It that the roaches
would swallow the plaster of paris laid
out for them by the professional and
would not touch that offered them by the
government?
ROACH POPULATION GROWS
ENORMOUSLY.
Muture deliberations led him to* the
conclusion that the reason was that tne
cockroach could distinguish belween
plaster of paris and the sugar and that
the professional must possess some se
cret drugs which he mixed with the
other ingredients in such a manner a’
to blind the cockroach's fine sense of
discrimination in such matters.
This led to a long series of experi
ment « during which the number of cock
THE MOTH AND THE FLAME.
(From the Scientific American.)
Why does a moth fly towards a flame?
Because it is inquisitive, was the rather
puerile answer given by the great Ro
manes. Because of some inexplicable In
herited instinct, was the reason advanced
by other naturalists. Because it is the
nature of the insect, was a third and
equally unsatisfactory reply. One reason
was a s good as another, but that of Ro
manes undoubtedly carried off the popu
lar palm. Perhaps we owe it to him that
a moth and the flame have pointed many
a moral and adorned many a sad tale
of curiosity tragically satisfied.
The investigations of Prof. Jacques
Loeb bid fair to relieve the moth of the
moral burden that has rested on its
wings. Prof. Loeb has proved very con
clusively that a moth, in common with
many insects, flies toward a flame for
the same reason that some plants turn
th'lr leaves toward the light. "Helio-
troplsm" is the awesome name in which
this tendenenoy of plants and animals
rejoices.
It happens that there are two kinds
of hellotropism. If your moth or bug
flics toward the light it is positively he-
liotroplc; If, like the earthworm, it
shrinks from the glare, it is negatively
heliotropic. Plants, too. may be classi
fied Into these divisions. Just as some
flowers open only by day and others only
by night, so some moths fly only by
day and others only by night.
The results of Prof. Loeb's experiments
explain with astonishing simplicity the
causes of a June hug’s merry antics as
well as the apparently aimless move
ments of squirming, new-born vermin. In
sect.-, it seems, move in the direction of
the light rays that fall upon them.
Change the position of the light and the
insect change-.- its course likewise. But
the light must be of a certain intensity
to produce a very mark'd effect. Sup
pose that in your experiments you ex
cised your hug to diffused ligut. He
would move toward the light, to be sure;
but h f would creep toward it rather
leisurely. Expose him to a bright glare,
however, and he will hasten toward it
with cheerful rapidity. That is why
winged insects flutter gayty about in
direct sunlight. Curiously enough, the
influence of light is limited by atmos
pheric temperature.
From the circumstances that insects
tend to arrange themselves and to move
in the direction of light it would almost
follow that their structure must have
something to do with their h<liotropism.
And such Prof. I/oeb’s experiments prove
to be the ease. The head of an insect
Is much more seniltive than the tail.
Here the omnipresent skeptic will prob
ably remark that an insect sc s with its
head and not with his tail, and that Ro
manes may be right after all. But such
notoriously blind animals a-" the earth
worm and other eyeless creatures are far
more responsive to light at the hrad
than at the tail. The mere possession of
sight cannot, therefore, account for the
earthworm's avoidance of light or for the
mruh's apparent liking for it.
Sometimes it happens that an insect is
stimulated by light only at certain pe
riods of its existence. In winged ants,
for example,, the period coincides with
the tirhe of the nuptial flight, in plant
lice with the appearance of wings and
in some larvae when full growth has
been attained. Occasionally catterpillnrs
may crawl toward a flame, while the
butterfly to which it gives rise may be
repelled by light.
What is tiie cause of this curious ef
fect? It must he confessed that science
can give no satisfactory explanation. We
might Just as well ask. What is the
cause of gravitation? The phenomenon
is exactly the same as that which is
produced In plant life. And that in ani
mals It cannot be due to the nervous
system is evident from the fact that
leaves and branches have no nerves.
To he paralyzed by light, to be con
fined to a certain path or to be incar
cerated ln an impalpable luminous pris
on would seem a serious limitation in the
search for food. Yet it so happens that
hellotropism may actually assist an In
sect in its struggle for existence. Cer
tain caterpillars Just after they are
hatched and when they are ravenously
hungry are compelled by the mechanical
effect of light to crawl to the tips of
branches, where they find their first
nourishment in tender buds. After their
first meal the caterpillars lose much of
their sensitiveness to light. Their helio-
troplsm explains what has heretofore
been vaguely attributed to Instinct. Prof.
Loeb even ventures the suggestion that
the periodic migrations of many animals
such as those of birds of passage, may
also be explained in part by heliotropic
irritability.
NOTICE.
If one of our readers has
a copy of The Weekly Con
stitution of March 6, 1905,
I will thank him to send it
to me. I need it for my
bound files. T. J. Kelly,
care Atlanta Constitution,
Atlanta, Ga.
SUMMER SUBSCRIPTION CONTEST!
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Creat Distribution Among Subscription Workers.
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