Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1890 — CURIOSITIES OF NATURE. [ARTICLE]

CURIOSITIES OF NATURE.

Jain piny: Gail, the Aerobatic Ereaa, ut Meed* that Kfcplode. “Here is a curiosity, “ said a botanist, it was a little ball of wood or fiber that when held i> the palm seemed endowjd with life, robing over and over and fly* ing into the air. Tva had people como to me with these,” continued the speaker, "and say they were bewitched. One man be* Ueved lie had discovered spontaneous generation; another wrote an exhaustive E which he tried to read at all the id societies, showing that here was ihe 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.” "So it is only a plant,” said a re* porter. “Not exactly a plant, but the unnatural growth of vegetable matter oa 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 gall is produced in this way; The eggs of u 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 ft ball of fiber separate from the leaf, from which it finally drops. The larva’* movements in restraint create the curi9ns 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 arc made by a cynips. When they are green, bln*, 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, Egy _ <- China, and Bombay. The galls a* *sed for a variety of purposes. One sort of blastlag powder is made of powdered galls sad 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 stranger* see a curious seed known as devil'* bean, or jumping seed. In appearance ft is a small triangular body. The first time I saw these seeds I was sure that they were arranged with mechanical Springs, as they not only rolled about, out jumped several inches in the air. Bat open one of the seeds and the mystery is explained. The shell is hollowed out, containing nothing but a white larva, that has 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 esce, and placed them on his cabin tablet 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 war shattered. The seeds had become heated, and all at once the covering exploded, scattering the seeds in all lirecriops That is thoir manner oi lispersal, and a large ttam&er «i giants have a similar method of l arisii** ’hail ***d.'—Af*u> York flu*