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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1878)
122 THE WEST SHOKE April, A MURDEROUS PLANT DAKLINUTONIA CAUFORNICA. The following interesting article was read be fore the (California Academy of Sciences, by J. G. Lfiinmon: No plant indigenous to tlie Pacific coast is more profoundly interesting tlian our Darl'my ton'ut l'alf'irnka. The eye of the uncultured tourist or listlcSH Btock-man, no less thau the studious naturalist, is at once fascinated when firBt its secret haunt is invaded in this fastnesses of the Sierra Nevada. A startling mass of green, yellow and crimson snake-heads, high raised in air and throating enormous, Aiming, forked, curling tongues in every direction; a develojied warning principle in the passive veg etable kingdom; a table-turner upon an old eternity -endured enemy; a coming plotter against an alert foe; an ingenious deludcr of the unwary; a cruel murderer of the alarmed; an insatiate vengeance-taker; a bold, watchful, cold-blooded, confederated assassin- the Durl inijton'm forms a frightful specter of the shadowy swamp, a horrid incubus of subsequent dreams! " Abhorred shape! That only pact of beauty tukc. A i iil brillioil RUM 1" compass irU." A COKSDMHATI VILLAIN. The paraphernalia which the IMrtinytonia employs for attracting its victims iH that of the saloon keeper and the Cyprian, gaudy colors, ravishing odors, delicious sweets and delightful apartments. Its machinery for destroying them is hat of tho highwayman and the arch fiend, deceitful traps, tripping obstacles for the feet, smooth declined planes, pointed dagger-thrusts from behind and silent wells of oblivious ft aters. What of enchantment and bewilderment is not furnished by the many-colored, involute, honey-coated mustache, inviting to the spacious, vaulted, sugar-lined, many-windowed hood of the large, tall leaves each robust plant provides extra by sending lip a long, slender, shining dagetan ami impending n flaunting array of green, gold nod crimson bunting, loosely enfold ing neotarlei of scented sweets, the curious (lower of tlio Darlingtonia, Surely no member of the vegetable kingdom has so remarkable and unmistakable a mi-sion, none steps so far out of its normal state to perform it and none executes its trust with more ingenuity and success. MOWS OPERANDI. Mow the DarliRQUmla is constructed nnd the mode and results of its warfare have been made tho subject of searching expeditious and elabor ate essays by Darwin, Hooker, Cray, Canby. and recently by a fellow member of this acad emy, Harry Edwards. Put I trust that an en thusiastic Is.tumst, whose facilities for observa tion have been most fortunate, may Iil pardoned for presenting a few facts, gained, not without many different interviews of this notorious rogue, at various seasons of the year. Living less than 110 miles from one of the few localities when tlie DarlinotOHiQ is found in its best make its battle -ground) 1 conquer my repugnance : its hideous aspect ami its cruel work, become accustomed in time to the stench of its rotting victims and 1 carefully study its wondrous mechanism. note its aspects and appliances varying wilh the seasons. I feed it with other food llosli, llsli, fowl ami farinaceous diet, sugar, vinegar, salt, ptfppcr, oils, snloratus, acids, ttC I witness the Welcome of agreeable diet, tlie sickening effect of poisons, l ply it witli unusual captives friu:s. snakes, minnows. tadpoles ami note the arrival of new forces or the adaptation of combined powers to meet tl new conditional I recognise the tenacity of purpose, the almost intelligent use of means and reverently I bumble my spirit before the revelation of Infinite wisdom and power. TBOUOBTKHi INyl iiiiks. 1 liave reported these observations so often and fullv, that every year Inings increasing in quiries from Hunkers in distant hunts, asking to have this or that mystery cleared up; or to know il tins or that phenomenon i" conneetetl with the history of the famous plant, (hie of the closest questioners is W. . Canby, of 'Wilmington, Del. The facts elicited formed the theme of a most exhaustive mUV, that was read before American Academy of Sciences and reprinted in most of the languages of EurojH). state lliitteilly valley, near Oiuney- 1 yearly pilgrimages to its home, L camp by ing a border nearly around the mouth of the pitcher-like petiole. During the first season four of these Bimple Sarace7ii'-like leaves appear of equal size generally, apparently in a whorl, but inspection reveals their alternate arrange ment. All face inward, or rather upward, as the leaves first push out horizontally, then ascend upward. The uncovered opening is fa vorably presented for the reception of moisture, inseets, or any objects obeying tlie law of gravi tation. Also, the mouth parts and interior of the tube are armed with strong hairs, pointing inward, while inspection of the contents reveal minute insects (generally of the IchneumonUhi' and Tinnam families), entrapped, drowned iu water and being digested by these tiny rogues, le g; the irly playing their litth TBI TRUE DABUXtt game. SIA LEAK. Ihmii. the second year the creeping, rhizo- matie character of the plant is manifested ; also, it increases rapidly in size. The whorl of leaves now produced, from one-half an inch to several inches beyond the iirst whorl, are lung and large, two to three inches long hy halt an inch wme, inc. Yvnolu striated with longitudinal veins, ana colored with yellow and crimson. Often, too, tlie other kind of leaves make their appearance, forming one or more of the first members of the whorl. So very different are they at the very beginning, that it seems impossible that both forms should be found on the same plant. They may be larger or smaller than the infantile form loiten am nan an men long), nutwu sney will be perfect types of the true DarUnotoniQ leaf -the twisted petiole, the swelling, light- admitting hood, the small, round aperture facing downward, the enormous, depending, curling, flaming, und, in the season, honey-smeared, two parted lamina or true leaf. The fourth year's leaves ami all subsequent are all ot the vaulted, lug tnusiached torm the plant is of age, is mature ; but occasionally on offsets and rnnuers from weak plants at any age, the infant form of leaf is found, but no graded, transitional stages have yet been detected, though much research has been applied in this particular direction, as liearing upon the popular theory of evolution. The linear, strict petiole, with Upturned mouth and long, naked, midrib, always accompanies the infant form, while tlie adult leaf is never deficient iu the least chaean teristic feature of its wondrous organism. I should have noted before the manner of vernation or budding. In the bud, the petioles of both kinds of leaves first take form and ex tension. The midrib of the infant is but a minute, subulate spur ; the future mustache of the adult form is a pair of involuted, close-rolled, awl-sbaped horns, not unlike those waxen pilose appendages which the incipient dandy sometimes displays beneath Ids nose. tiik kacchabixi mcbbtioh. Not at all times of the season is a prominent For several years I "WllV auk Till LBAVM TWuTTID way MOUND!" IN K- II AI.I Was Canby 's last demand. It will be the cs pet i d object of this essay to answer this ques tion. To discuss this subject thoroughly mid with the expectation of arriving at the truth, we must Wgin where the zoologist does with his uunlea with embryology, the infant state. The seed of the AiWifiifom'n is a brownish, hairy, Indian club shaped object, about three lines long. It would V a bur, but for the llavcid, hollow, liarhles haim. Throwu out in hundreds by the large, bursting jiencarps, they fall uhui tho running water or mossy carpeting of tho bog, A seed here and there is caught by its hair iu favorable conditions and sends down a tiny radicle in search of a foundation, whereon to erect a unique charnel-house of many tall, feeding funnels. The precursor of tho prospective ptialani of rapacious, cylindri cal stomachs, is a very innocent looking little flair. IsrASi IOMB OK UUf. fhi' plumule tirst levolops a thin, flat, fal cate, union leaf, alout half an inch long. Soon it Woollies reddened, tubular and veiny, while a relatively Urge opening appears at alsuit two thirds of its iongtb, Iwyond which extends, curving inward, the slender, dorsally (fattened, cntiukni, naked midrib, representing the true laf, of which the tuli below is the petiole. Aloug the inner face of tho imtiole, a broad wing extends from tlie lower edge of the in dined orifice, down straight to the coUttM ' the root, where it divides and clasps tlie stock This primary leaf is constructed similarly t Uiom of the related amMMM, except that in the Utter genus the true leaf or tanuna is short. broad, and is bUobed, or roauy lubed, and form characteristic observable. did not detect one of the most distinctive fea to roe of this insect trap, the saccharine secretion. This phenomenon waa not certainly known for several years after the discovery of the plant. On the ltli of duly, 7, iu company with Mrs. Austin and family, 1 went to celebrate the na tion's holiday beside our peculiarly Californiau curiosity, located in a large oval bog in the center of n grove of alders. Much to our sur prise, the tall, crowded cobra heads, upreared among snowy paflUUHU, azure triiieronx, yellow MrtAemfflU and purple asters appeared, dripping Will. llllWIimi ui mooi UUUWJ, Hie CiHCOlllg operation waa in full progress. This saccharine lluid, of the consistence of honey, is secreted by elands of the hood, both w ithout and within, standing in Wads along the margins of the expanded cells, the transluceut windows of the balloon-like hood. It is often so abundant as to unite nnd How down, that on the inside into the forward, depressed part of the hood, that on the outside smearing the mustaches completely, iu addition to a similar secretion of the latter. Not only was the curling, crimson streaked mustache smeared throughout, but the border of the wing in its spiral curve- half-round dow n to the root was gemmed with a line of honey globules. These globules in the oldest leav es were crystallized into sugar plums, form ing a uot-to-ho resisted decoy to the groundlini: beloWi TBI WAT Kits OK PKA'ITI. So of the watery tluid found in the lower portion of the jwtioles at times. Only at a cer tain season just at the opening of the months above, may this phenomena be detected. The main veins OB the inside of the tubus may then lie seen gemmed from top to bottom with beads of a water-like secretion, which tinally becomes so abundant as to flow down and form the wells of death. When the trap is favorably placed, or the quantity of insects is unusually large, so that the gormand gets his stomach full, or uhi D fed by hand to the top, slowly, w ith flesh food, the tluid is secreted as demanded by the necessities of the case, and soon tills the tulni to overflowing, .ate in the season the water is evaporated and only the skeletons, wings, legs, etc., of insects remain the tunics of the carnal feast Again tho arrangement and different altitudes of tlie leaves are not at once observed- and cannot he made out clearly from tho usual crowded specimens supplied to the herbariums ot the world, l inly young, vigorous, solitary plants display the typical plan of growth a plan conformed to the want, or rather, tlie wicked designs of the ItrlinatoHia; and here we are brought round to the solution of the liiostion under particular description -WHY THE TWISTING LEAVES? First as to the facts. The leaves of mature rhuoim-s the true Amiri Jo-iki leaves are ach twisted one half wav round whatever the length, w hether one half inch, or over three feet All the loaves on one plant turn one wav but exactly half laocordmg to repeated counts oy .irs. Austin KM myself, i Have leaves turn iug one way and half tlie other. The four loaves of the season rise successively to differ ent elevations, the last in time, to the highest place. Each tutns half-round and holds out its Haunting lures into space in a direction radii ting from the center or axis of the plant The reason for this twistinc of tho petiole must W to farther the design the malicious animus of the whole plant s history, to favor the catching oi loaccis coming mini an quarters. The less crafty-related Saracema and the in fant Darlingtonia leaf depend on gravitation mainly, for their food, and their mouths bor dered indeed with retrorse hairs open upward The full-grown, full-armed Darlinytoma, with its added attractions of gay colors, fragrant odors and delicious sweets, best compasses the wholesale capture of insects necessary to satiate its rapacity, by decoyiug them into a brillianly lighted chamber, over the ceiling of which are spread a net-work of honeyed path-ways, bor dered, however, and ultimately shut out by hedges of short, stiff hairs that topple the vic tim from his footing. A high rim prevents re turn by the aperture. A long portion of the in ner side of the tube, commencing just on a level with the' edge of the orifice, is smooth as glass, so vainly the poor victim stretches his legs fur rescuing aids to stay his descent. About half way down long, stiff, declined hairs begin to be met with, which give way easily from above but close up behind, and with mul tiplied numbers, as the struggling victim nears the goal, pushes him down to the rising Hood, and OfOWaS him beneath the silent, noted, de composing waters ot oblivion. THE CLIMAX OK L'l'NMNQ. Now, why the peculiar characteristics of the Dariimjonia f Why would not less elaborate macliiuery answer as well ? Let us see: A tulnj bo capacious as to hold a half pint of insects, the usual meal it seems of the DttrUii'jtonia, must be very wide or very long. If wide, there would be great expenditure of the saccharine secretion, since it must surround the mouth and smear all the approaches an expenditure not to be incurred by our economical plant. If long and prostrate, it would be interfered with Dy other plants, also would be in danger ot visi tation and robbery by insect-loving animals. If upright and with mouth upturned, it would be above the usual range of insects, while its digesting fluid would be weakened by tho recep tion of rain and dew; but, most of all, other plants are created and set to work on this prin ciple: The wonderful climate ami soil of Cali fornia must be expected to produce a finished insectivorous plant, with all iossible improve ments; hence, the matchless DarlimjUmia, with its high reared, inflated heads, downward open ing mouths, sugar-plum, winding roads to lead foot travelers up; ingeniously, brilliant and honey-coated decoys to attract llyers; and the enormous mustaches obviously turned outward by tw isted petioles to catch the eye of distant voyagers in every direction; no feature of all the host is either accidental, useless or uninteresting. FALLING MOUNTAINS. We had an account not long since of a mountain in the Savoy, Switzerland, which from some inexplicable cause suddenly com mcuced tumbling down and for 20 days went on steadily disintegrating itself until much of it had rolled into tho valley below, causing tho tlie destruction of two flourishing villages. While this work of dismemberment was in pro cess it caused a terrilic Bound and tilled the air with clouds of dust. Immense roeka descended the mount-tin side, a distance of a mile, in 30 seconds, and bounding sometimes 1,500 feet, crushed the re.'it pine forests like thisth-s And now them comes from Montana, the story of another falling mountain. In the north ern part of that Territory, distant from Helena lit) miles, rises a singular elevation conspicuous lor many miles around, called hear Tooth mountain. It consists, or rather did consist, of two tusk like peaks, hence the name, standing on the summit of the rauire. above which, dark and grim, they lifted themselves to the bight of many hundred feet, A short time since n party hunting in the vicinity heard a heaw sound that so shook the earth that they sun- uifled it to lie an earthquake. On reaching the Kear'a Tooth a little after, they found the east ern tusk had disappeared, 'l itis w as a periien- liciil.ir mass ot rock ami earth, fullv 7AM feet high, 800 feet in circumference at its base and alHiut 150 feet at the top. This immeiiBo moss had become dislodged, and coming down with the speed of an avalanche had swept through a forest of large timlier for a quarter of a mile, entirely leveling it. The country around is now covered with a great mass of broken trees and tons upon tons of rocks, many of them as large as an ordinary house. PltK-SKKVISli WmOU HV THE Al'PLICATlnv nw LnUi The method of prescrvinir wood hv ska application of lime, as pursued by M. Svostnl, is published in the French iournalH. Ha iifB the planks in a tnnk, and puts over all a layer of (incK-unie, which is gradually slaked with wa ter, limlwr for ininoc require alnmt a week to be thoroughly impregnated, and other wood more or less time according to its thickness The material acnuires remarkable eons i and hardness on being subjected to this simple process, ami it is alleged, will never rot Beeehwood has been prepared iu tins way for hammers and other tools for iron works, and is said to become its bard as oak w ithout parting with any of its well-known elasticity or tough ness, and to lost much longer that when not thus prepared. Or NOTES ON THE CLIFF DWELlTuT NEW MKVin. LLEfi8 Thirintf Uta fi i.hl r,.: . uri'uiu oi one of n. parties connected with the United States 0 logical Survey of the Territories, jn I Prof. F. V. Hayden, portions of southweTj! Colorado, northwestern N.w Mexico, and eastern Arizona were traversed, emb'rarij? hrnketi-un winntrv n,;.i ;.. . 7 B a race of peoj mntry occupied iu remote timj? la who were known as the ,i;t dwellers. This i M 1 . , .ic.lMiliwuurelfM in general, but we must recur to it aEain to be able to reach the importance of tL Tjl covery to be described. In one of the canyons, known as the Ck Mr. W. H. Jacksou made detailed invJ? twns and measurements of the immense SB bnildinn. in one of th ... , ,MU"t courses, the sectional view of the sift depobit was exposed to a depth of abontfi feet. Fourteen feet beneath the surfto layer of pottery and debris enmo to vitu TL ' may not seem strauge, as, in a comDarititlil i narrow volley dirt and gravel to the depth d 14 feet might be deposited in a short term 3 years. But, 10 feet above this layer, thefj dation walls of ancient buildings ueie vJu: built upon another layer of gravel and Z These were in tunes covered with tho alluri. uj on nmvu now sLanu ti.e fatuOUl mins, of I which no history is extant, and of the buiWm oi wiucn no nisiory wm ever be known. Hot many ages have passed since tlie lower or tint bed was the surface, unon which moved uts numerous hordes of which all ovideuce at present 18 hiddou behind the veil of the dark paw Now, a skull conies to view unon ? i,.. lL. .i pottery, which is beneath tw o eras of oocqi tion nnd semi-civilization. This skull, in itj contour, is unique. Its closest relations are tin ancient .Mexicans, Peruvians, (.'aril ,,' i Natchez. There is an extraordinary ttatteninf of the upper posterior portion of the head lp terior parietic), which iB evident in tl,.. ngureii in Mortons "Lrama Americana." The contents of the skull as found, consists of aud, which is now as hard as ordinary agglutinated aaudstone, and has in nearly all portioni, th appearance of liminite. The skull will be J scribed and ligured by Dr. W. J. Hotfnun, of the Hayden Survey, and it affordB another strong link in the chain of facts and hypothew of the cliff-dwellers and the ancient Slexicsu being more nearly related than is genenllj .1' iim i i i ui -''1 i ii ' i il. Lamvs fok Kl.Kcnuc Ln:nr. The imnmM. menta nroiiosed by Messrs. ProBser and Mnor of Chelsea, England, consists in the modes of combining and mounting the electrodes, also ii the mode of forming them and in the mean of bringing them successively into action in such manner as to prevent the suspension of the cur rent of electricity and consequent extinction of the light, nrising either from defective elec trodes or other accidental causes. The eitin tion of the lisht would, therefore, be entirely avoided and the electric current, together will the light, ho automatically maintained. As bj our ordinary modes of arranging the electrodo, we require only two electrodes to lie in tctka at one and the Bame time, we cause those not in immediate action (where we employ a plural ity of them) to be completely iimnlated ud cause the electric current to pass through the opposing electrodes, the electric tluid bejof conducted through an ordinary feeder from tb battery and connected with the electrodes bj means of a Bpring commutator or other cot nector of platinum or other suitable metal, which, preserving contact by pressing upon U electrodes in immediate action, is so arranged and adjusted that when it is necessary U chugi or shift the electrodes from any cause, contirt shall at once be effected with the succeeding electrodes, so that the perfect continuity of the electric current, and, consequently, oi the light snail oe maintained. The UTBR Slaspek. A writer in the Wmern Farm Journal, with apparent honestv. gives the follow ing as an objection to California: "Another objection is, that the orb of day and of our lives, cannot lie seen to rise or set, only here and there except alonp the coast, where of course it is seen to set. In Iowa there is noth ing to hide this grand sight, but the clouds that are necessary lor our rains." On the 8th of March, asnow storm commenced in the Black hills country, and continued until the snow lay live feet deep on a level and from 40 to 60 mm deep in the canyons. A great many houses were broken down, bgfciueas of ail kinds waa stopped and a number oT live were lost Mneh stock also psriahsd. A New Lkitcre Experiment oh Psrsw Ann. A very simple method of showing Out there iB no free hydrocyanic acid in the ker nels of peach, cherry and plum stones, or hitter almonds, but that it is formed on heating the same with water, is given in the PolytttkiiKfa XotizbfaU, A long strip of SwediBh filter paper is soaked in tincture of gum guaiacum (1 ton)) and dried. It is next passed through eohi tinn of siilnhate of onnimr diluted 2 ' time, when tho paper will not be changed at ill a color. A few freshly-pounded bitter almonoi are put in a two-liter Mask with water. Oi suspending in it the strip of test paper sbo" uescnoeu, me paper will remain wmw, pouring into the flask a Bingle crushed hitter n moud tliat has been irnrmttl with water, tti test paper will at once be colored blue by B hydrocyanic acid generated in the flask. wh out bringing the paper in contact with B liquid This experiment, unlike most of thosa t,;..i, i. i itL. i uid sm its salts, is free from danger to the eip" nienter, and involving no risk or eipen serves the attention of teachers of chemistry. Sodium Avaum-u For the nreoarati sodium anialgum without danger, Mr. Hewj M. I'raper recommends, iu the (.ifrmrm that the mercury he allowed to run in a stream to the melted sodium held in bsa 9 paramne. The quantity of mercury adoeo pends whether solid or liquid amalgam ii aired. The former congeals sooner than u paratfinf, and the latter can be poured oft parafline still adhering to the amalgam is off by means of ether. A little girl, suffering from the mumps, de clares that she feels as though a headache had snppeu aown into her neck. ium uil nut Irish LiuMHorsia. We wad in English exchanges of the making of a Osioh Jnca tor Snxas. --The AV ''-- aava that tl,.. n.in .,,,,.,! hv the SOU a horse-fly may be instantly alleviated, DJf swelling which often accompanies it Hf rwucwi, dj simply rubbing tne injure r-, with the juice of an onion. Probably it be a useful application in the eaae of other sect stingm. tint FiLTin. Dr. Angus Smith finda tM cotton wadding between two layers of oB" cloth ia an effectual tiller for fungus spores air, and that ertn flour paste, left in m JR ure of such material for days, dshP - " iui w insn ngntriouse. muiji naieTr.