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About Aurora observer. (Aurora, Marion County, Or.) 19??-1940 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 1892)
Scientists TeSì Sight of Bees DORIS MAY SCH O O L OA X u ^o-tiLa Experiments Expected to Have which most attracted the bees by their colors or scent were pollenaied in Important Bearing on greatest numbers, while those less at tractive received fewer visits from the Natural Selection. Tí»« Research is Expected to Last for Years and to Establish Just What Bee or Moth Can See or Not See. I the newest brides .the stars t e p 'STorhT May. The act r^^p|f\6w presides over a colony at Holly- pJrs- is a Seattle,¿Wash., . ^B&Stwas a San Francisco j[ f ' y . A. WALKER ri ^ 4 oncosis maqsV ri auo si SJ0ÊÉÊ, imoiStussiari' tf/StlTSTtU. OF ¿/RIGHT : Q tJ a t the m the'banishment of | from phe".gArdeh’ i f THING I RIGHT TIME ! thèì^ e has .been a quesi their m ^ w M c h has^coritinui By MARY MARSHALL DUBLEE Dut intèî/nlssipn.^ï •h In m útióti "turn:■©# oo&Mnds m 8$ ouf eyfes, s t o s ^ f 5 ^ oubt C A N P Ï M A N N EES F e a s t of ,n ec ta r *d sweets?—Miltón. greed. Time ìig h te ir? * BIS R I it,i t>pp. the cháse y^oues. Al cuânÿ- áre' in tli#'tniggle» * Bopetliing—a ch¿jpe(* ideal o^| usual question for young Í T girl IS to a write asking who should take ~ * the first piece of candy frofà, a box bhbught to her by a ypung. maalealler. Afljd when-you come" to thinkT/of it, there are a good many puzzling things involved • in the prohlems.1: connected with à box . of candy., . To begin with,* if a man brings á girl a box,.of candy, she usually opens it while he i&present. She'tMniassës. I it to any other.^pmen ’in.. me robin, ¿tíuíh to the mari,1 ajad tlien h ë helps herself. Ifjlfe, she ■ases it, g ^ ^ to lly clasp to fh^f bosoms and#?all ^ K e i r own. Bui t l ^ ewarA the ^ j . | W ¿The faithful K HFteachings^ Gojd^SJB^^^pidcT ^ an(t si- New York.—A series of delicate ex periments will soon be started by three eminent American scientists to dis cover whether bees and other insects are color-blind or not. The scientists who are now busy inventing devices for testing the vision of bees are Dr. F. E. Lutz, a biologist of the Ameri can Museum of Natural History; Dr. J. Arthur Harris, an entomologist of the Carnegie Institution, and Prof. F. K. Richtmyer of Cornell University, a physicist and specialist in color vision. They form the committee on the bio logical relations between flowers and insects of the National Research coun cil... * : ■Their tests of the sight of insects are expected to last for years and to establish just what a bee or a moth can see arid what it cannot see,; These years of elab orate experimentation have not been planned by the National Research Council and undertaken by three eminent scientists solely for the purpose of ascertaining a bee’s optical equipment A greater question lies behind. The controversy about the bee’s sight, it is said, involves the validity of the whole theory of natural selection. The evolution of man from the lower animals and the evolution of all plant and animal life from a primitive form of life originating on earth bil lions or hundreds of millions of years ago are almost universally believed by scientists, but the hypothesis that the evolution was brought about almost solely by the process of natural selec tion has come under attack recently from many quarters. This is where the bee’s sight becomes important. Theory on “Selected” Flower. bees and tended to die off. In each gen eration the flowers which-pleased the bees most would be “selected” to live. These “selected” parents would have offspring, some brighter than them selves, some about the same as them selves and some less bright (that is, of course, bright from the standpoint of the bee, whose standards of brightness might differ greatly from ours). The action of the bees, tending to preserve the prettiest colors, would make each generation of flowers slightly lovelier than its predecessors, thus producing finally the gorgeous natural varieties in existence today. This theory had been accepted for many years, but recently it lias been rudely shaken. Investigations in Ger many and Belgium have made it doubt ful whether a bee can tell one color from another, or whether the flowers which are gorgeous to human eyes have any power, by reason of their coloring to attract the attention of the bees at all. The results have so far been so uncertain, however, that the American scientists and institutions agreed that it was necessary to make a far-reach ing study of the whole subject. Biologists have attempted to account for the coloring of many insects or animals, as well as flowers, on the principle of “natural selection.” The plumage of birds and the colors of fishes aid in courtship, mating and the increase of the species. Zebras,7 gi raffes .and thousands of types of animals, birds and. insects have camouflage or protective coloration which makes it difficult for their . Harlow Shapley, Harvard Observatory Director, Dis cusses Climate Changes. LYRICS OF LIFE U. S. S. California Seen Bows-on YOUR HAND « O Dog Receives Snake’s Fangs to Protect Lad Hayward, Cal.—A new niche has been set aside in the hall of fame of dogdom for Joan of Arc, an Airedale dog owned by Frank Belval of Hayward. Belval, his thirteen-year-old son, Robert, and the dog set out on a hiking trip from the Bolinas valley ranch one Sunday after noon. At a sharp turn in the trail Belvel heard the warning signal of a coiled rattlesnake., He jumped aside barely in time. Before he could seize diis son the snake struck. But the faithful dog, seemingly sensing the dan ger, met the snake in midair, re ceiving its poisonous fangs upon the lips. One shake and thé dog had killed the rattler. According to Belvel, the snake possessed nine rattles and was almost a yard long. First aid applied to the wounded dog saved its life. Duái: Cause of Ages of Cold The theologian holds generally that the beautiful colors of the flowers were placed there by the Creator for the delight of man. The biologist has generally denied this, and argued that thè colors are there because they at aDd ^^^eiT ifyin g fear tract the attention of bees. The visits 7 ^ now' i | ^ ^ \cls of the, lag- ;of the beès result in carrying pollen t ;. /uiiikcs I j. an(J .ire from one flower to ¿another, 'which Earth .Cooled Off During Long Periods ’ ^ b0 sb J M * da witn.-UKi- When Sun, Earth and Other ashamed to t ^ the-. candyí*<li)es/by M f|| ‘fertilizes the s®dSv Unless they re ^ :T ' Planets Passed Through ceive the pollen thè "seeds do' not grow. or riiëssë’ r igir, she fipf ái ft, off çoursel T h e commandment which saysy^ Six The cumbrous phràséfof “natural se and does not wait i S o e calls, even Region of Dust Clouds. days shalt thou labor” has no terrors lection” In this base is intended to de if she knows who tie candy cornés for them, so they shoulder their bur-, from before opening it, : and; knows scribe a process probably millions of dens and march on to the end with New York, -A new theory relating years old, under which the flowers likewise that the don op’ is to? call. clean souls and smiling faces’: to one of the greatest mysteries about Perhaps the most iiripprtant thing to These are the real workers, the salt the past of the earth has been offered remember in connectiw with the good of the earth, the faithful and the by Dr. Harlow Shapley, the measurer manners connected witli/feandylis that trusting, the builders of nations* of the universe, whose appointment as the person who always greedily eats director of the Harvard observatory candy and never buys it is very ill .was announced recently. bred. It is the week-end custom for This mystery' concerns the changes some S men to bring borne ¡já box of New York?—--Becoming con of climate over millions of years, çcanay. In some families there is one fused as she drove her automo which at one time caused the polar ice candy-loving member who lies iri wait bile on to the driveway on the cap to extend as far south as New for the weekly sweets and feats as ferryboat WeehawkeiL.and plac York and at other times warmed the many pieces, as she cán gët. She takes ing her foot on the accelerator arctic region so thoroughly that the one every time the box is prisse^, and instead of ffhe brake, a . young animals and vegetation of the temper perhaps helps herselOjetween times. woman believed to, be Miss Edith ate zone could live there, as shown by Now it is quité to accept B. Stewart of Wtlkesbarre, Pa., fossil remains in that region. candy, if yoti like iff \^l|ri it is passed. high school , teacher, crashed The earth has been cooled off during But you. should not.èât more than your through the iron chains and car long periods, according to this theory, spare, and you sbpujxlS.^o.t. eat . even and driver disappeared under when the sun, the earth and the other this much if you are notgip/ thé jiabit the waters- of the Hudson river. planets were passing through regions occasionally of standing treat yoqrself. Air bubbles, and a number of of space filled with clouds of dust or You should, if*you have á sweet .tooth roses and carnations floated to dark, nebulous material, which cut off and eat other people’s sweets, provide the surface. The body and the enough of the sun’s heat to freeze a box fuir of: your own occasionally. car were recovered. most of-the globe. At other times, Candy is one off thé gifts that a-! man apparently, the solar system moved may give a woman; candy, floweriand books By DOUGLAS MALLOCH Nobody wonders if the.donbroi aibox off candy , to. a. girl is thinking iof ^fall ing in Jove, with /her. .; Candy" nowa LIVE LIKE A ROSE. days is quite the correct arid &cce|>ted gii;t from anybody .thaff can; afford ft. HE year is coming to a close; The days are falling one. by And no girl need feel hesitant^ about accepting candy in this. wiy*; Of Ooiirse, one if she thinks; a man cannot lafford it, Like petals of a dying rose, but buys it former simply OeCarise he A bloom that still in beauty goes thinks he ought to, she might suggest When all her garden days are done. to him that he really should not/ in dulge her sweet tooth so often? And fAnd what is life? It is a year, never, -never should a girl hint for However many" years it span— How to Read Your Characteristics In childhood’s springtime to appear, sweets: There are. some girls who and Tendencies—the Capabilities or- To live the summer of a man,_ cannot pass a candy store windgvy with Weaknesses That Make for Success And then to feel the autumn here. out casting Jonging.glances at them, or Failure as Shown in Your Palm. and. sometimes even commenting oh" And what is death ? The final day their fondness/for c a n r i y , Nd mah THÉ HAND OF A LAWYER, Of life’s short year, a day like these should feel * rude, in ignoring' these When summer puts her garb away symptoms. g ; * 0 JUDGE whether a person is And winter winds begin to play It is not necessary to. w rite,arnote fitted for success in the profes Their wild, tempestuous harmonies. thanking .a man for a g ift. of -c^dy if sion of law, note whether the he; foliowsv the.. g i f |; *sh©rtly with a hand possesses the following--charac-. Live like the rose: The roses bloom call. The* thanks ■ shopld Nriot ;be for-? teristics : :V-T7".7?vr^ ^ ’ r/^fffor themselves but for the earth, „ Thq second phalanx^ of the thumb Pink lamps that garden walls illume— A decoration for our mirth, (between the ’first or nail joint, and The ‘rest of thVhand) -.should be* long, A holy; solace for the tomb. >stcong and well, proportioned. This^ A LINE O’ .OWEEB indicates good reasoning power, a logi Die like a r o s e I t s 'petáis fall, But it is sweetness to the end- cal mihdy. and stroqg intellect general By John Kendrick Bangs. ly. Now, as the will power in a ' lawyer? Oh; i t is something/ after all, 'beside the wall, must be strong, if he or she is to* at ~ ‘ To be tain-any:-rank in the chosen profes Beside the way to be; a friend. (C opyright.) OUT OF THE ASHÉS. sion, th e ’first phalanx of the thumb v •’ | | g must also be markedly strong?'and F F o n 't h e 's h e l l - to r n ’ fields of Well, developed. *'F ra n c e ? v r - 1.-1.-., r r TveSt; -t(T '^n^hfspecttmr^aff ^ H a r^ by -a c h a r r e d _l&ncP -shat- the Line ..of the- Head. Necessarily, this must be good. Eloquence must ac U p fro m th e m id s t o f ashenrgloom I sa w a p e rfe c t ro se in bloom. company thé successful -career in the A nd k n e w th e re b y t h a t if fro m pain law, and this is indicated by various T h e fo^rn o f b e a u ty m a y rise ag ain A remarkable bows-on view , of the sijperdreadnaught California, at an signs, ‘ one of them being a decided So too fro m so rro w deep m ay we chor, in-San Diego1 bay, which givds a real idea of the floating fort’s great line running between the second pha E m e rg e , a n d rise triu m p h a n tly . bulk and width. She is-97i£ i^et wide, or about 50 per cent wider than a (C opyright.) lanx of the little finger and the third.“ wide city^stEeeL^^ - S enemies to detect them at a distance. The curious coloring of the skunk is supposed to warn his enemies that he has developed a wicked art of self- defense, while at the same time his colors blend with the twilight, so that the skunk makes a natural part of the skyline to the mice and insects on which he preys. The light of the lady glowworm is her matrimonial ad vertisement. t I While evolution explains thousands of these things, it has many hard nuts to crack. One thing hard to explain, for instance, is the beauty of the pearl, Which grows. inside the body of the oyster. The pearl is really the mauso leum of a parasite which has invaded the shellfish and is elaborately inurned by it in lustrous calcium carbonate, slightly different from the material of which the oyster makes its shell. through a region of space almost en tirely free from such material, so that the sun’s rays beat with full force on the earth, probably making- the polar regions pleasant and the rest of the earth unlivably hot. At present .the* sun is apparently moving through a part of space thinly scattered with in terplanetary materials. .An Age of Murk. A few million years ago, according to Doctor Shapley, the e^rth^ .the sun and the other planets w.ere moving through a murk which is observed by astronomers in the constellation of Orion. This is one of many vast black pockets, or “coal sacks,” in the sky, some of which may be detected by the naked eye. Behind this yeil in Orion are 70 faint stars which vary in in tensity. They average about 800 light years (about 180,000,000,0Q0,Q0O miles) from the- earth, which is a moderate distance ’astronomically, and many of them would probably be -^very - bright, except for the curtain pf dark mate rial hung between them and the earth. The density of the curtain apparently varies, from the inanner In which the stars behind it are flickering; At the densest, the black nebulae are believed to be very rare, large stretches />f vacuum separating thè particles -of matter. Still they are sufficient, be-, cause of the great space they occupy, to blot out stars, and some astron omers believe the sky would be blind ingly brilliant except for the smoky patches. The black spot in Orion .:4s calculated to be vastly greater tfian our solar system. In a brief account of his theory in the Journal of Geology, Doctor -Ship ley said that it is calculated that ¿“a few million years ago our'sun wasT in the vicinity ..of-the- Orion nebulae ?#at its present speed .the sun wouldtfire- quire nearly a iriiilion years to pass through -that particular nebulous . re gion.” - After showing how starlight?is cut off at . present by billions of nftles of dusffclouds in Orion, Doctor Shap- ley proceeded to suggest how fthe eàrthv would ^fare when our solar sys tem* moved through the same region. Effect of Dust Clouds. “A ;Change of 20 per cent In.jthe solar radiation/’ said Doctor Shapley. “if maintained for a considerable period of years, would sufficientl^ial- ter terrestrial temperature to firing about or remove an ice-sheet; an 80 per cent change, unless counteracted by concurrent changes in the iérrì- torial atmosphere, would completely desiccate or congeal the surface off the earth. Doctor Shapley offered this theory as an addition to many other causes of climatic change discussed by Dr. W. J. Humphreys of the United States weather bureau. There are apparent flaws in nearly all the theories which have been put forward. None of them account for the many far-reaching changes in climate indicated by the geological record. A period of .volcanic activity might cause an age of cold, according to Doc tor Humphreys. He calls attention to the fact that the great volcano of Tomboro in the Malay Archipelago in 1815 darkened the sky during the day and night for three days for a dis tance of 300 miles and produced a long season of cold because of the ef fect of the atmospheric dust in inter cepting the sun’s rays.