J. G. Wood

“ Then comes the welcome thunder-storm; clouds overcharged with electricity come to restore the balance. The lightning flashes from the clouds to the earth as soon as they are near enough; the rain falls, carrying with it stores of silent electricity; and in an hour or two all seems changed.
The air, which hitherto seemed to afford no nourishment to the lungs, is bracing and invigorating. The nervous system recovers its tension, and the brain can act without a painful effect. All Nature seems to put on a different aspect, and brightness and vigour take the place of dulness and languor. ”

“ In Esquimaux-land, where no trees can grow, where for months together the sun never rises above the horizon, where the temperature is many degrees below zero, and where the land and ice are alike covered with a mantle of snow so thick that every landmark is abolished, it would seem that no human beings could support life for one week. There is neither timber for house-building nor wood for fuel, so that shelter, warmth, and cookery seem to be equally impossible, and as these are among the prime necessities of human life, it is not easy to see how mankind could exist. ”

“ There is the vast hammer, striking blows which are felt throughout a large area as if a succession of earthquakes had been let loose. In the furnace there is an enormous mass of iron, heated to such a degree that an unpractised eye could no more dare to look at it than to stare a midsummer sun out of face. ”

“ WE will now take some of the analogies between Projectile Weapons of Art and Nature, selecting those in which the propulsive power is air or gases within a tube. Whether the weapon be a blow-gun, an air-gun, or a firearm of any description, the principle is the same. We will take them in succession, choosing first those of the simplest and most primitive character.
Taking ourselves as examples, and looking upon the toys of children as precursors of more important inventions, we find that the simplest and most primitive of projectiles is the Pea-shooter, so familiar to all boys. ”

“ A few stalwart and grimy men come forward, each man with a curious but unmistakable air of one who wages a war of giants. The furnace door is opened, and out rushes a blinding light which strikes on the eyeballs like a shock of electricity. ”

“ In the first place, there is the curious point, which I have already mentioned, and which is shared by nearly every race of human savages, that when an animal feels that it has received its death-stroke, it accepts the conditions, withdraws itself from those who yet have life in them, and yields up its life as calmly as if it were but sleeping.
But what becomes of the body? As to such enormous beings as elephants, the various species of rhinoceros, and whales, which are as large as several elephants, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus put together, I cannot say from practical knowledge. ”

“ Here we are in some little difficulty, for it is not very easy to draw the line where domestic life begins, or the mode in which it shall be defined. We may at all events connect domestic life with a residence of some sort, and may, in consequence, neglect all such primitive savages as need no domestic implements.
Such, for example, are the few surviving Bosjesmans of Southern Africa, not one of whom ever made a tool or an implement, or looked beyond the present day. The genuine Bosjesman can make a bow and poison his arrows, and he can light a fire; but there his civilisation ends. ”

“ It is really a pitiful thing to see human beings endowed with reason and aspirations performing such a task as dibbling by hand, one going backwards with a dibble in each hand, and the other following and putting seed into the holes. Yet the field labourers have the greatest objection to the machine dibble, as, indeed, they have to any sort of labour-saving machine, thinking that it will lessen the demand for labour, and prevent them from earning a livelihood. ”

“ He is being ‘played’ with such a fishing-line as the skill of a Wilson or a Stoddart never could invent; a living line, with elasticity beyond that of the most delicate fly-rod, which follows every lunge, shortening and lengthening, slipping and twining round every piece of gravel and stem of seaweed, with a tiring drag such as no Highland wrist or step could ever bring to bear on salmon or on trout. ”

“ Some of my readers may be aware that slavery exists in the insect world, and probably existed long before man came on earth.
There are many species of Ants which are absolutely incapable of managing their own nests or rearing their own young, and which, in consequence, impress into their service the workers of other species of Ant, and hand over to them the entire labour of the establishment. They can fight, and they can establish fresh colonies, but they cannot build nests, nor nurse their young, and so they impress into their service those Ants whose instinct teaches them to do both. ”

“ If upon the spectrum were printed the word BLOOD in the largest and blackest of capitals, it could not be more legible to an ordinary reader than are the two blood-bands to the eye of a spectroscopist. There is nothing like them in nature, and whether it be by association of ideas, or by absolute fact, these two bars have a strangely menacing look about them. Not only that, but if the blood should be that of a person suffocated with carbonic acid gas, the Spectroscope will say so.
Some years ago a man owed his life to the Spectroscope. ”

“ The doors slowly open, the saw emerges, revolves so fast that the eye cannot detect the teeth, seizes on the tree-trunk, tears its way through with a scream and roar, and then sinks back into its cellar. ”

“ But they never seemed to realise the fact that, if it had not been for these wires, all the particles would have been drawn into the lungs, and gradually choked them up, brought on inflammation, and extinguished their life altogether. And, with the usual repugnance to new ideas which is inherent in undeveloped minds, the men stoutly resisted the introduction of the Respirator, and did their best to reject an invention which doubled the length of their lives, and enabled them to find long happiness in the world instead of brief pleasure ended by sure and painful death. ”

“ Every green leaf, and blue or pink or yellow petal, every varying tint of the mackerel sky, every blaze of sunset and bluegrey of sunrise, owes its beauty to those wondrous laws of light which had been hidden for so many centuries, until they were unveiled by the simple prism of the Spectroscope. ”

“ A single man turns a little handle, and the whole machinery starts into life. Beams rock, cranks and wheels revolve, rods slide up and down, and all in a silence which is nearly appalling in its manifestation of unassuming strength. Indeed, many a hand sewing machine{453} makes far more noise than one of those giant engines, and all because in the latter friction is avoided as far as possible, every screw is well braced up, and every joint is kept well lubricated. ”

“ If the reader can imagine to himself a toothpick, a foot or more in length, made from bamboo instead of quill, and having its edges nearly as sharp as a razor, he can realise the force of even so simple a weapon. In the case of the bamboo, too, celerity of manufacture has its value, for any one can make a couple of spears in less than as many minutes. All he has to do is to cut down a joint of bamboo transversely, and then with a diagonal blow of his knife at the other end to form the point. ”

“ But there are occasions when the hand of the most cunning file-maker is baffled, and when it is necessary to cut files so delicate that the unaided human eye cannot trace their teeth. Art, therefore, has recourse to Nature, and the cabinet-maker, who cannot obtain any file made by human hands which will answer his purpose in the higher branches of his trade, makes great use of the “Dutch Rush,” as he calls it. It is not a rush at all, but simply a species of Mare’s Tail, or Equisetum, a plant which fills in profusion almost every marshy spot in England. ”

“ The brightest gas becomes dull, and its shadow is thrown on the wall which it formerly illuminated, and the most delicate tints of silks and satins suddenly display themselves in the blinding whiteness of the Electric Light. ”

“ We have already noticed that hydrogen gas is fourteen times lighter than air, and infer necessarily that the weight of the atmosphere must be very considerable if so heavy an object as a balloon, with its car, instruments, sand-bags, and passengers, can rise and float in it.
We are not conscious of its weight, because it permeates us, and the pressure is neutralised. But, in fact, we live at the bottom of a vast ocean which we call the atmosphere; and as, on an average, there is a pressure of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface, we have to sustain an almost incredible{442} weight. ”

“ It is this beautiful structure which allows the horse to tread without a jar being sent through its whole system by every step which it takes.
A similar structure is to be found in all hoofed quadrupeds, and is especially noticeable in the case of the Elephant. All those who have watched the walk of an Elephant, no matter what its size may be, must have been struck with the curious noiselessness of its movements. Its weight may be measured by tons, and yet the enormous animal steps as noiselessly as a cat. ”

“ In all trials of a new life-boat, one of the most important is that which tests her capability of self-righting; and any one who has witnessed such experiments, and has tried to upset a Gnat-boat, cannot but be struck with the singular similitude between the boat made by the hand of man and that constructed by the legs of an insect, without even the aid of eyes. ”

“ It is, that as existing human inventions have been anticipated by Nature, so it will surely be found that in Nature lie the prototypes of inventions not yet revealed to man. The great discoverers of the future will, therefore, be those{viii} who will look to Nature for Art, Science, or Mechanics, instead of taking pride in some new invention, and then finding that it has existed in Nature for countless centuries. ”

“ Finding out, by scent or some other means, the habitation of the young Seal, the Polar Bear leaps upon the snow, bringing his feet together, and with his enormous weight breaking through the roof of the dwelling. He instantly captures the young Seal before it can make its escape. Then, driving the talons of one paw into its hind flipper, he lets it into the hole, and allows it to flounder about in the water. When the mother is attracted to her young, he draws his prey slowly up on the ice. ”

“ On the right hand of the illustration (page 495) is shown the simplest mode of enriching the soil, namely, by spreading the manure on the surface of the earth, and then digging it in. Any mode of thus enriching the earth is a proof of civilisation. No savage ever dreamed of such a thing, and I doubt whether barbarians recognised the principle at any time.
Nowadays we have recognised the necessity of returning to the soil in one form the elements which we have taken from it in another. As usual in such arts of civilisation, the Chinese have long preceded us. ”

“ Unlike, however, the grated windows of the castle, which had no pretence to beauty, the Caddis always constructs its barriers in some definite pattern. Each species appears to have its own peculiar pattern, but all agree in making their window, if we may so call it, exactly like a wheel-window before the glass is inserted.
When the pupa is about to make its final change into the perfect form, it cuts away the tracery with a pair of sharp jaws, with which it is furnished for this sole purpose, emerges from the water, throws off the pupa-skin, and issues forth as a Stone-fly. ”

“ There are two inventions, for example, which have changed the face of the earth, and which yet sprang from sources that were despised by men, and thought only fit for the passing sport of childhood. I allude, of course, to Steam and Electricity, both of which had been child’s toys for centuries before the one gave us the fixed engine, the locomotive, and the steamboat, and the other supplied us with the compass and the electric telegraph. ”

“ Below the spider’s foot is given the head of a Toucan, one of those beautifully coloured and large-billed birds that inhabit tropical America. These birds are very particular about their plumage, and even when in captivity dress their feathers with the utmost care. When they do so, the saw-like notches of the beak act the part of a comb, and the fibrils of the feathers are by their action dressed parallel to each other, and give to the whole bird its proper appearance of health.
I may here mention that there is one comb in Nature, the use of which has never been clearly ascertained. ”

“ When this insect is alarmed, it has the power of ejecting a peculiar liquid, which, when it comes in contact with the atmosphere, bursts into a sort of pale blue-green flame, followed by a kind of smoke. Sometimes, when a tolerably large stone is lifted, the little explosions will go popping about in a most curious manner. Indeed, they carry reminiscences of school days, when it was a joy to distribute single grains of coarse gunpowder on the bars of the grate, and watch them melt, take fire, explode, and send forth little clouds of smoke. The insect is popularly called the Bombardier-beetle. ”