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INTELLECTUALITY OF ANIMALS.--Father Bougeant, a Jesuit, was placed in
confinement by his superior in the College of La Fleche, near Paris, for
what he had written on the subject of the intellectuality of animals. His
views, if not orthodox, were certainly curious and amusing, and there
is a sprightliness in his mode of treating the subject, graceful at
least in the Frenchman, if not conformable to the divine. The following
observations, extracted from that section of his work which treats of the
language of beasts, may amuse the reader:--“Our first observation upon
the language of beasts is, that it does not extend beyond the necessaries
of life. However, let us not impose upon ourselves with regard to this
point. To take things right, the language of beasts appears so limited to
us only with relation to our own; however, it is sufficient to beasts,
and more would be of no service to them. Were it not to be wished that
ours, at least in some respects, were limited too? If beasts should hear
us converse, prate, lie, slander, and rave, would they have cause to
envy us the use we make of speech? They have not our privileges, but in
recompense they have not our failings. Birds sing, they say; but this
is a mistake. Birds do not sing, but speak. What we take for singing is
no more than their natural language. Do the magpie, the jay, the raven,
the owl, and the duck, sing? What makes us believe that they sing is
their beautiful voice. Thus, the Hottentots in Africa seem to cluck like
turkey-cocks, though it be the natural accent of their language; and thus
several nations seem to us to sing, when they indeed speak. Birds, if
you will, sing in the same sense, but they sing not for singing’s sake,
as we fancy they do. Their singing is always an intended speech; and it
is comical enough that there should be thus in the world so numerous
a nation which never speak otherwise but tunably and musically. But,
in short, what do those birds say? The question should be proposed to
Apollonius Tyaneus, who boasted of understanding their language. As for
me, who am no diviner, I can give you no more than probable conjectures.
Let us take for our example the magpie, which is so great a chatterer.
It is easy to perceive that her discourses or songs are varied. She
lowers or raises her voice, hastens or protracts the measure, lengthens
or shortens her chit-chat; and these evidently are so many different
sentences. Now, following the rule I have laid down, that the knowledge,
desires, wants, and of course the expressions of beasts, are confined to
what is useful or necessary for their preservation, methinks nothing is
more easy than at first, and in general, to understand the meaning of
these different phrases.”--_Dublin University Magazine._
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ATMOSPHERIC RESISTANCE ON RAILWAYS.--In Dr Lardner’s third lecture on
railways at Manchester, he detailed a variety of experiments made in
order to ascertain the source of resistance. “He found that an enlarged
temporary frontage constructed with boards, of probably double the
magnitude of the ordinary front of the train, caused an increase of
resistance so trifling and insignificant as to be entirely unworthy of
account in practice. Seeing that the source of resistance, so far as
the air was concerned, was not to be ascribed to the form or magnitude
of the front, it next occurred to him to inquire whether it might not
arise from the general magnitude of the train front ends, top and all.
An experiment was made to test this. A train of waggons was prepared
with temporary sides and ends, so as to represent, for all practical
purposes, a train of carriages, which was moved from the summit of a
series of inclined planes, by gravity, till it was brought to rest;
it was next moved down with the high sides and ends laid flat on the
platform of the waggons, and the result was very remarkable. The whole
frontage of the latter, including the wheels and every thing, a complete
transverse section of the waggons, measured 24 feet square, and with
the sides and ends up, so as to present a cross section, it amounted to
nearly 48 square feet. The uniform velocity attained on a plane of 1 in
177, without the sides up, was nearly 23 miles an hour; whereas, with
the sides up, it was only 17 miles an hour; so that, as the resistance
would be in proportion to the square of the velocity, other things being
the same, there would be a very considerable difference, due to that
difference of velocity. Then, at the foot of the second plane, while
the sides were down, an undiminished velocity remained of 19½ miles an
hour, whereas, with the sides up, it was reduced to 8½ miles an hour; so
that a very extensive difference was produced. They would see at once
that this was a very decisive experiment to prove that the great source
of resistance was to be found in the bulk, and not the mere section or
the form, whether of the front or the back of a train; but simply in the
general bulk of the body carried through the air. It was very likely to
arise from the successive displacements of a quantity of the atmosphere
equal to the bulk of the body; or still more probably, from the fact of
the extensive sides of the train; and indeed there was little doubt that
the magnitude of the sides had a very material influence; for if they
consider what is going on in the body of air extending from either side
of a train of coaches, they would soon see what a mechanical power must
be exercised upon it. Thus, when a train is moving rapidly, the moving
power had not only to pull the train on, but it had to drag a succession
of columns of air, at different velocities, one outside the other, to a
considerable extent outside the train; and it did more, for it overcame
their friction one upon the other; for as these columns of air were at
different velocities, the one would be rubbing against the other; and all
this the moving power had to encounter. This would go far to explain the
great magnitude of resistance found, and its entire discordance with any
thing previously suspected.”
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GILDING OF METALS BY ELECTRO-CHEMICAL ACTION.--M. de la Rive has
succeeded in gilding metals by means of this powerful action. His method
is as follows: he pours a solution of chloride of gold (obtained by
dissolving gold in a mixture of nitric and muriatic acid) as neutral
as possible and very dilute, into a cylindrical bag made of bladder;
he then plunges the bag into a glass vessel containing very slightly
acidulated water; the metal to be gilded is immersed in the solution of
gold, and communicates by means of metallic wire with a plate of zinc,
which is placed in the acidulated water. The process may be varied, if
the operator pleases, by placing the acidulated water and zinc in the
bag, and the solution of gold with the metal to be gilded in the glass
vessel. In the course of about a minute, the metal may be withdrawn,
and wiped with a piece of linen; when rubbed briskly with the cloth,
it will be found to be slightly gilded. After two or three similar
immersions the gilding will be sufficiently thick to enable the operator
to terminate the process.--_Athenæum._----[By referring to the article
on the Electrotype which appeared in No. 20 of the Irish Penny Journal,
the reader will be enabled clearly to understand the mode in which the
gold is separated from the acid, which holds it in solution, and forced,
or attracted, to deposit its particles upon the metallic surface; the
solution of gold bearing in this case a precisely similar relation to the
metal plate, as the solution of copper in the other.]
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DEFINITION OF CHERUB.--A lady (married of course) was once troubled with
a squalling brat, whom she always addressed as “my cherub.” Upon being
asked why she gave it that appellation, she replied--“Because that it is
derived from cherubim, and the Bible says, ‘the cherubims continually do
cry.’”
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