Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1888 — Page 8

CURIOSITIES OF NATURE.

Jumping Gall, the Acrobatic Bean, and Seeds that Explode. “Here is a curiosity," said a botanist It was a little ball of wood or fiber that when held in the palm seemed endowed with life, rolling over and over and flying into the air. “Pve had people come to me with these,” continued the speaker, "and say they were bewitched. One man believed he had discovered spontaneous generation; another wrote an exhaustive paper which he tri. d to read at all the learned societies, showing that here was the beginning of both animal and plant life. In fact, the little gall, for that is what it is, has attracted a good deal of attention.” “Ho it is only a plant,” said a reporter. “Aot exactly a plant, but the unnatnr 1 growth of vegetable matter on trees, bushes, or shrubs, caused by the secretion in the bark of an insect egg that hatches and causes the growth. In this case, you see, the gall is little larger than a mustard seed. “The ga)l is produced in this way: TLe eggs of a very small dark-colored insect, known as cynips, are deposited in the leaf, and, from some secretion introduced into the wound, the vegetable matter entombs the insect in a ball of fiber separate from the leaf, from which it finally drops. The larva’s movements in restraint create the curious activity. “There are many kinds of galls, and though they are injurious to trees they are invaluable to man, and are staple commodities. The ordinary oak galls of commerce are made by a cynips. When they are green, blue, or black, the insect is in them, but when white it has escaped. England is the center of the trade, and receives galls from Germany, Turkey, Egypt, China, and Bombay. The galls are used for a variety of purposes. One sort of blasting powder is made of powdered galls and chlorate, but the most valuable product is ink. This is made from them almost entirely.

“Seeds often jump about in the same mysterious way. In Mexico strangers see a curious seed known as devil’s bean, or jumping seed. In appearance it is a small triangular body. Tho first time I saw these seeds I was sure that they were arranged with mechanical springs, as they not only rolled about, but jumped several inches in the air. But open one of the seeds and the mystery is explained. The shell is hollowed out, containing nothing but a white larva, that lias eaten out nearly all the interior and lined it with silk. Its motions occasion the strange movements. “Some seeds move by an entirely different process—that of exploding. A friend of mine got some seeds in India once, and placed them on his cabin table. All at once came an explosion like that of a revolver, and he received a blow on the forehead that drew blood, while a looking glass opposite was shattered. The seeds had become heated, and all at once the covering exploded, scattering the seeds in all directions. That is their manner of dispersal, and a large number of plants have a similar method of scattering their seed.”— New York Sun.

Odd Antics of Birds.

A. relative of mine had a large marsh upon his estate, and here the great cranes u\ade their summer home, building their curious nests there and reiu* ing their young, says Prof. Holder in the San Francisco Call. The marsh was surrounded by high grass, and it was his practice to creep through and watch the birds unobserved. The antics they went through it would be incpossible to describe —now they would caper along in pairs, stepping daintily with the mincing gai> of the ide 1 exquisite, iifting their feathers or wings, taking short steps, and gradually working themselves up to a bird fr nz.y of excitement, when they would leap into the air and over each other’s backs, taking short runs this way and that, all for ttie edification of the femub's s-;oid-feg by, and finally, after a series of these exhibitions. the different b rds selected their mates. Among the birds of the western hemisphere the cock of the rock ranks next to the crane in the strangeness of its evolutions. The bird is confined to South Amerca, and is about the size of a smaj pigeon, has a bright orange web ia the male, with a plume-like arrange* ment upon the head. It is a pro.if bird, principally building its nest ,n rocky places not visited by man. At the commencement of the breeding season, a party of birds, numbering from ten to twenty, assemble, and selecting a clear space among the rocks, form a ring or circle, facing inward. Now a small bud takes its place in the center, and beg ns to hop about, toss its head, lift its wings, and go through all the strange movements possible, that appear to be watched with great interest by all the rest. When the performer ib thoroughly exhausted he retires to the circle and another bird enters the ring, and so on, until all have been put through their paces, when the pairs probably make their selection. Often the birds are so exhausted after the danoes that they can hardly fly, lying panting on the rocks. Near Hie bordt rs of Southern California is found a bii d, called the sunate, that hag a strange courtship. It is about the size of a magpie. During the mating season four or fivs birds collect together and seem to vie with each, other in the extravagance of the r posturing—wooing new in rows, now •ingle, in a regular dance, and, by way <?* musio, uttering loud, discordant squawks. Their long laile are lifted high in the air during this perform* •nee and their entire behavior is pw mskable in th* extreme

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