Zurich Herald, 1924-02-28, Page 7The Mystery of: the Beehive
Ninth e las many marvellous sec-
Tete winch mankind hail not yet suc-
-Seeded in solving, and perhaps the
meet:.fxtseluating:- is thatconcerning
the leaner in which bees. succeed' in
'wilding their honeycombswith such
• remarkable geornetriea•1 accuracy as to
;rival even the greatest of human en-
gineere.
The bees' cellsare hexagonal in
brae A great naturalist named Ream
niur, noticing this, asked au equally
famous nrathematcian to calculate the
angles, and so on, which would give
the most space with the greatest econ-
omy of material in the oonstruc3tion of
a cell similar' bo that of the bees. The
mathematician gave the figures, which
Reaumer then compered with the
:for the bee -cells and found that the
latter were: exaet.
The Queen's Circular Cell,
In either words, if man endeavored
to construct a cell such as . the bees
build, and wished to use the steeliest
antonnt ofmaterial and secure the
greatest amouut'of'epace possible, he
coulinot do better than the, bee.
How have bees succeeded in •solving,
with snob marvellous accuracy, this
,geometrical problem? :Many explana-
tions' have been put foltward; but if
we afire to believe the latest theories
•of various naturalists, .the been does
not deserve so much credit as she is
given; .The•. fact is that the bee aims
to make her cellsbeircular inform, but
by'dthe 1awe of. Nature the cells be-
Come hexagonal.
The, .be take the •little pieces of
wax they have manufactured in their
bodies' and pack them into circles with
little more method than a child exec-
oiees when making mud pies. In the
course of this work the bee keeps go-
ing into the cylinder to press the sides
• ,4
flat, It there were only .one cell, the
Pushing out .of the sides would make
a cylinder; but there are other bees
Close to this making other cella, and it
is tilts pressure on all sides, with' not
the slightest intent or elfin on the
bees' part, whieb crakes the hexagon.
That beef do not make their cells
hexagonal is evident from a glance at
the queen bee's cell. This is built
alone and is always circular,
t Though science has thus shown that
the bee is not so clever as we imag-
ined, ah.e Is yet very ingenious, parti-
cularly' in the making of wax. • To
make the wax, a few bees' climb to the
tog of the hive and there hang motion-
less. Others follow, clinging to. the
first •arrivals, till there fa a great fes-
toon- of bees hanging from the ceiling.
They- remain thus for from ten to
twenty hours. In that time the heat
of "their bodies has set to work, and
from the eight segments of the abdo-
men exudes a whitish substance,
which forms in scales. This substance
is the result of honey and a little pol-
len being digested in the stomach. un-
der .the influence of heat,
When the exudation has reached its
limit one of the bees. will detach leer -
self from the mass .add climb to a spot
high on the roof. Suspended by two
legs, she uses the others to tolled the
scales from one segment and convey
them W. her mouth. There she chews.
and mixes the wax till it is of the Pro-
per consistency, after which site press-
es the tiny bit of wax, so small as to
be almost invisible, to the roof, flat-
tens it. out, and moulds it firmly into
place,
'Each of the other seven segments of
her abdomen are thus cleared and she
goes back to resume the business of
wax -making with the hundreds other
sisters.
•A Fifty -Pounder.
What angler for salmon but has
dreamed of a ditty -pounder? Niven in
the famed waters of Norway few fish-
ermen have had a go with such a mon-
ster. Maj.. Harding Cox iu A Sports-
man .at Large, describes an encounter
in Norwegian waters that gave'him all
the thrills both of success and of fail;
ire. ,
After breakfast, he writes, Tom and
T entered the scow with Tolle to have
another dart, though the conditions
were anything but favorable. As us-
ual we started off with the fly, but
neither of us met with a rise. Then
• we tried a prawn -with no better re-
sult After that just for a lark I af-
'fixed a weird mother-of-pearl epinner
to 'my .line. Toile's steady blue eyes
opened wider than I had., everseen
th•ern before; I think he -thought the
continual run of bad luck had affected
my brain. '
Stiddenly a great body surged up
from the depths and snapped .my • des-
pised' spinner hard and good. In do-
ing so the fish came half out of the
- wager. •
Toni nearly fell' backwards into the
bow of the boat. "Good gracious,
Cookie, what a fish!" he yelled. "It
can't be a salmon; 1 believe you're
foul of a, porpoise or;. shark!"
Whatever it was that had taken a
fancy to my decorative lure, it went
,down deep ---and then it ran] Oh, my
aunt! I had no chance to check it un-
til niy whole line and half its backing
was ripped off and my finger was cut
halfway to the bone. At last the fish
.turned and sante towards us. Shout-
ing to Tolle to row for his life, 1
Snatched in the slack hand over hand
Until I had a direct: feel of the fish.
M :The creature went deep again, sud-
denly stopped and then began "jigger-
- :bug." I gave half a. dozen short, sharp
jerks; the ilsii suddenly stopped his
bull -dog -like worryings and made axe
Other terrific run. But -I was able to
turn him ere he had traversed fifty
Yards,
And so the battle waged; first the
fish and then the angler got the bet-
terr o fit. After about forty minutes I
Ordered Toile to pull gently to the
Ltrand, where it was our custom to
land in order to fight out the 'final
Stages of our struggles with the vase -
elks fish we had on hand. This one
Was now Swimming deep but steadily
abort ten yards off and parallel with
Ata. As soon as our scow landed Tom
said I jumped out, and I had another
ten minutes' sight with the Ash.
At last when I had manoeuvred it
late a favorable position, "Tolle wasted
Art with the gaff. But no sooner did
ttte. great salmon ---for salmon indeed
It was! ----catch sight of Tulle's sub-
traerged leges than it was off again with
k • terernendons rush! An ':I' could do
-to scramble back into the boat.
Irma-to
retrained on shore, but Lars, who
ha dbeen watching the performance
With wide-eyed astonishment, took his
place, and We shoved off just in time.
to es -et a catastrophe.
The fi•sb was going so fast that erne
U whole of my line and mast of the
ackleg was ou. the two boatmen
t,
'dad to row for all they were worth,
Never clid the sainxon stop -in the,
estuary, hut 'went oareering some hun-
dred yards• out into the fjord itself and
then went fathoms deep! •
Well, at last; I managed to raise the
Oat fish to the surface, where it be -
Ell
roll.iu about like a porpoise, en.
g p b
.
n lin itself in the cast. It vas ex-
ngling
rusted,; but the question then arose,
�1O when . gaffed, u d i • be lifted
�1 w, en ga ted, co 1 t
Pao the, scow? 'Thank goodnoes,
Tolle and Lars between thein man-
Igect to heist it over the g°dnWele,
though We alm'xst streamed In the site
rorty -nine pounds, nine ounces!
Net one jot or little more would the
steel register. Tom suggested that I
cram a large stone down the throat
of the fish, but I did not think that
was altogether "cricket."
When Sleep is a Peril:
Most motroiste are aware that the
seat at the steering wheel often be-
comes, after an hour's driving, one of
the drowsiest corners in the world.
This fact .is often responsible for a
dangerous state of affairs, and -there
have been many serious mishaps from
"falling asleep at the wheel."
A medical correspondent leas sent
some interesting suggestions on the
causes of this phenomenon to "Truth."
Commenting' on the fact that the
other occupants of the car are less
liable to succumb, he points to the
driver's "intense mental concentra-
tion, fixation of the eyes .on the road
ahead, and gentle monotonous, stimu-
lation of the senses"—the very condi-
tone which are frequently created
artificially to produce hypnosis and na-
tural sleep.
Even in well-designed cars which do
not hinder natural respiration, "the
shallow breathing which accompanies
voluntary mental concentration might
conduce to the effect in . an 'inexperi.
enced driver."
To this a writer in "Truth" adds the
following remarks:
"It is astonishing in what unlikely
t situations 'human beings will manage
to go to sleep. Most men With any.
experience of trench warfare can con-
firm this. I have known cases of men
reaching the nodding stage even on a
motor bicycle, Which is not, on the
face of it, a particularly soporific ve-
hicle, but where there are only two
wheels, the loss of balance which fol-
lows immediately the brain ceases to
function generally brings the rider to
his senses with. a sharp swerve.
"Not always, however, for a friend
of mine achieved, in the days of his
youth, the astonishing feat of going to
sleep on one of the old high bicycles.
He woke up in the ditch,"
_re— --
Forward
—
Forward Child!
Brown and Grey are both fathers.
"How's' your baby getting on?" ask-
ed Brown, "Can he talk yet?"
"No, he's only just beginning to," re-
plied Grey..
"He's a bit awkward, surely?" said
Brown. "He's older than ours, and
ours can talk splendidly."
"Well, ours can walls across the
room without heron• held," •countered
the other.
"My dear .chap, ours toddles down
the garden -,path to meet me every
evening; How about your baby's
teeth ?"
"Well. he's got a few.,,
."Our; has got them all but three,
and he's--"
Here he was interrupted by the ex-
asperated Grey.
"I say," lie exclaimed, ,"does yours
use a safety razor or an ordinary
one?"
Armor.
In days of 'old when knights were bold
And armor was the style,
When wifie got to throwing things
You merely pulled a smile, •
Youd'd quickly clamp yens visor shut
• And simply sit and grin,
The while the china pattered down
'Upon your roof of tin,
..-
And whenyou, went to sleep o' nights,
Wife didn`t have a change,
Because you'd have .locks put upon
The pockets of your pants,
Edgar Daniel Krarcer,
Brake Power Strong.
The force that must be applied to
fixe iirttkes to stop a car in at minute
egtrtts five horses ewer.
Buffalos are not the only boarders which receive free meals and lodging from the government at. Wain-
wright Park, Albert. Some. of` the members of the' elk family also live at the same address. They have become
so tame that they don't resent advances from total strangers
Digging.
The history of industry is filled with
true tales of men who struggled for
a long Mule before they succeeded,_
There is 'more inspiration in reading;
about those who made stepping -stones,;
of their failures than there is in the
stories of people who got what they
wanted every time they tried for it.
We like to hear of prospectors who
were not easily daunted; who kept on
digging till they found the gold. We
take heart of grace again when we
come upon members of our race who.
persisted in any quest till they come
to the haven where they would be. It
is easy to give up, easy to let go.
When we are hard; beset, it nerves us
to look to the example of those who
held. on and .didnot quit.
Sucoess comes -"by persistent dig-
ging, not in the mining industry alone.
Any builder knows that the super-
structure
uper structure will some toppling, unless it
has a, sound foundation; and to lay
that -foundation he must dig deep, per-
haps through treacherous soil, per-
haps through • obstinate flint:' In
thirsty lands there were faint-hearted
pioneers who found no water and .who.
went their way. Others of stouter
fibre remained and "carried on," sink-
ing their wells to lower levels till they
•cane upon water. • Thus they made
the wilderness blossom as the•, rose,-
and reaped a fortune from the arable
land that was nothing but a desertto
thdse.who did not stay there and dig
deep.
The scholar who has, set himself to
"track shy truth" has. spent labor ve
days and nights in research, sublime-'
ly oblivious of the dollar. The bine
uess man who has developed a new,
andprofitable field took off his coat
and hustled ;• he did not gaze out of a
window at hie • horizon, but he marched
toward it. Homage goes to self-denial
and hard toil. It is not bestowed en
those who took the easy path of dal-
,Ziance, the line of least. resistance:
Youth has its right to happy confi-
dence, but youth must learn of "toil
and the end of toil." It must not sup-
pose that the rewarded ones it sees
came easily and swiftly by their places
and their possessions.. The successful
*ere the survivors from a host that
quit too soon. -
The Irish of It.
• An old Irishwoman sent a parcel to
her sen, in which she enclosed the fol
lowing note:
"Pat,—I am sending your waistcoat;
to save weight I have cut all the but-
tons offff.—Your loving mother."
"P.S: You will find them in the top
pocket."
se -
Mum's the Word.
"Well, 'whets the good wore? from
+ass White House to -day?"
um's the word."
The Sea Wolf. -
The Fishermen say, when ,your catch
is done •
y
And you're, sculling in with t'he'tide,
You must take great care that the Sea
Wolf's share
Is tossed to him overside.
They say that the Sea Wolf rides, by
day,
;Unseen on the crested waves,
And the sea mists rise from his cold
green eyes
When he domes from hie salt sea
caves.
The fishermen say, when it storms at
night
And -the great seas bellow and roar,
That the Sea Wolf rides on the plung-
ing
lunging tides,
And you hear his howl at the door.
And you must threw open your door' at
once, •
And fling your catch to the waves,
Till he drags his'share to his cold sea
lair,
Straight down to his salt sea caves,
Then the storm will pass, and the etifl
stars shine, }
In peace-sa the fishermen say 1.
But the Sea Wolf waits by, the cold
Sea Gates
Far the dawn of another day.
-Violet McDougal.
Bad Luck or Inexperience?
What ° is termed "bad luck" . in mo-
toring is more often: inexperience and
poor judgment;': "
Music, I take it, is one of life's great
primaries. 'We can hardly imagine a
people without a love for it. For how-
ever rudimentary it may be it is to be
found In every clime and nation; and
ehough..we know so little ,of its origin
there's hardly tribe or people, primi-
tive or advanced, who do not own a
national. music.
I think it was Carlyle who said that
music was the speech of angels, and
that all nations have prized song and
music as vehicles for worship and
prophecy, and whatsoever was in them
was divine.
Very wonderful is music, fat more
so than speech, for to the heart it
speaks direct; it soothes us, stirs us to
tears or exalts us with joy; and in so
marvellous a manner as nothing else
can. Charles Kingsley once said:
"Music has been called the speech of
angels. I will go further and call it
the speech of 'God himself."
Gradgrinds often say: "What is the
use of music?" We might • reply,
"What is the use of emotion?" What
would life be without it?' Does it not
make More beautiful the grandest
thought? have not multitudes listen-
ed enraptured to the glorious music of
the "Messiah," or the almost equal
"Elijah"? Beautiful are those lines in
Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's
Dream";
"I know a hank whereon the wild
thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet
grow;
Quite over -canopied with lush woad-
bine,
With sweet musk -roses, and with eg-
lantine,"
The words themselves are gems,but
when wedded to haranony they are.
lifted out of Blank verse and become a
never failing delight that makes the
heart throb and brings "amist beeare
the' eyes." I knowt
I finely believe that in no time in
our history have the claims of music
Been more insistent or more recog-
nized than at the prosent moment. I
feel sure that there is scarcely a great-
er influence on earth better fitted to
help u e wear s in th and tear of life as
nt
this wonderfully beneficient thing.. R
is as effective In the battle of life as
it was to our soldiers in the Great War.
not se many years ago.
I remember reading a passage In
some open the utterance of Captain'
R. Hughes of the U.S. Infantry: "There
$ nothing that helps the troops.rteross
the miles like music, nothing that
cheers or solaces them more in camp,
nothing that more vividly expresses,
glory and the rapture of sacrifice, and
in expressing it, enkindles it" And
so it does. - -
And so in our daily fight for bread a
real vital influence for spiritual
strength is music; it should be in
every, home, that place where we gain
refreshment and strength for that war
day. after day, a war in which there is
no release. Believe me when I say
that the greatest and most beneficent
investment, next perhaps to making
'Provision for our loved ones, is the in -
Vestment in some musical instrument,.
for it is a "tie that binds."
Outside the home circle, at this
Period more than at any other tune,
"all is rush and hurry." We rush to
business, we rush home, we rush to
ourfriends, to our amusements. We
rush through our meals, through the
countryside, never heeding 'the beau-
ties that surround us. Everything id
sacrificed to rush, and •one of its great-
est, most potent incentives is the auto-
•
mobile. Without wishing to decry its
great usefulness, ' and source of re-
venue, it is a most expensive adjunct
to our everyday life,' while its upkeep
is -a, serious drain 'on ,pile's -resources.
I mean old-fashioned `fellow, so it has
'little charm for me."
While there is nothing more .eujoy-
able than home music, there is -iia bet-
ter way afforded for getting a Mutual
musical acquaintance than by the aid
of the 'piano. It is so friendly, so
handy,`always open and. ready to re-
spond to the touch of those who love
it, and by its aid, sight reading and
technique are benefitted, the apprecia-
tion" of each other's attainments is re-
cognized by those who practice, and
persist in its study and use,
Of all the many nntsical instruments
(many eery beautiful) none seem so
fitted in every way for the home circle
as the piano, for it is so thoroughly in
harmony with every kind of music, it
so beautifully accompanies a song, and
is such a marvellous exponent of the
composer's genius.
pL
trait;
,.
os
i' via tuson
14 a
e••
HURRYING ALONG
The days of my years do' not linger, the gait of old Time
can't be slowed; he loads me along by the finger so fast that 1
burn ,up theyoad. .I ory in the dawn, "It is morning," I turn, and
behold it is noon; I sigh, and the shadows give warning that
evening is Coming eftsoou. I cry inthe snow, "it is winter," 1
thaw, and ods bones, it is spring; this season departs like a
sprinter,; and seminar is having its fling. And still I find time as
I hurry tq help out a neighbor or four, encouraglug pilgrims who
worry, tinct cheering up hearts that are sore. "I'm never S0 busy,"
I mutter, "t can't do a ltiiidness or three"; I carry the sick man
some butter, the widow a firkin of tea, "Bach minute is price-
lass •I oliatter "but still I shat] rause for a spell, and visit that
, 1
suffering hatter -luno felt .fifty yards down a well" If a yuan
would be counted a whiner he'll look at his watch as he jumps;
and still I shall comfort the Winer wlto'e down with the heaves
and the Mumps, Life ends, with its plans and its worry, the
treasures of earth are laid down and what shell avail ail my
]tarry, if there are no stars in my crown?
The Nationality of the
Married WOIT/03),
A curious anacbironistil int the Can--
adian laws governing -the natio,:dbty
of • married women was recently •dis-
cussed at a •convention of the uocial
Service Couxi it of Canada, Accord -
lug to the present, system a Canadian
woman who marries an .alien herself
becomes an alien aril reelable one
even after her husband's deat'b, : A
young woman may be an active mem-
ber of the League :of Women Voters,
a 'United- Furze Women's organiza-
tion,. a. Local Council' of Woman, or
the Imperial:'Order of the Daughters
Of the , Empire, may devote a , large
proiiortion .of her time to the study ,of
Canadian public affairs, may contd.--
bete
ontribee to the solution of national, prob-
lems in a number of ways, may use
the : franchise with intelligence ; and-
discretion,
nddiscretion, and may be conscious of a
deep attachment far .Canadian .tradi-
tions, Canadian, customs and Canadian
environment. But -if she should marry
a man who is ani American ortizen,
a French citizen, or a Ne rwegia;n citi-
zen, she is forthwith .deprived of her
British nationality. Moreover; it is
impossible for her to resume British
nationality during the lifetime of her
Husband except in the extreme case
of the outbreak of war between His
Majesty and the State of which her
husband is a subject. In such event it -
is provided 'that if the wife declares
her desire to resurne British national-
ity she. may be granted a certificate
of, naturalization provided the Secre-
"tary of State of Canada approves.'
But -ordinarily it is impossible fee her
to regain her British nationality dur-
ing her husband's lifetime, no matter•
how earnestly she may desire it, The
unsatisfactory character of this law
is all, the more apparent when the
family continues to reside in Canada,'
the husband refusing to become nee <.
turalized, and the wife prevented by,
an outdated, law from exercising the
rights of . citizenship which • were` •
formerly hers.
The present law is patently unjust
'As international communication grows
easier and as travel increases . there
will naturally occur an increasing
n.uxiiber of international Marriages It
is therefore important that ;the:Viet-.
ter of revising the law touching • na--;
tion,ality of married women be -given
careful attention in Canada in theay
very near. future. Marriage with an
alien' is not an offence against the
state and should not continua -to be
penalized as at present. To deprive a
;woman of her British • nationality
undein,these circumstances is to class
her deliberately with "infants, idiots
and imbeciles," to whom are applied
the seine disabilities.
It has been argued that it would be
absurt to allow a husband and wife
to retain distinct nationality—that
the difficulties arising from such an
anomalous condition would be so great
'that it would he impossible to adopt
any ether -pollee/ thar,the one which is
now in vogue. But it must be realized
that British women ldt've not always
been deprived:oi their citizenshin u' -,n
marriage with arc alien, Until the
year 1870 a British national remained
a British national unless he or she
voluntarily abandoned that national-
ity. The system had prevailed for
centuries in Great Britain, and pre-
vailed also for many years in same
of the British colonies, as well as in
the United States. What was possible
before 1870 in this regard is possible
now also.
Canada made an attempt in 1919 to
remedy the situation, but failed to
achieve success. In that year a bill
was passed which, among other things,
provided that ordinarily upon max-
i riage with an alien a woman was to
±'assume his nationality, but ilxat she
was -net to be bound inevitably t re-
s tain it. She was to be permitted to
take out naturalization papers on her
own account as if she were unmarried,
This Act was later repealed because
it conflicted with the Ixitperial Act.
The British Parliament has recent.
ly been considering a revision of its
law in this regard, however, and the
time is now apparently ripe for con-
certed action on the part of Great
Britain and the overseas Dominions.
A suggestion has been made that
this question be placed upon the.
agenda of the next Imperial Confer-
ence. It is a matter upon which the
various parts of the Empire should
take action simultaneously, and this
can be done if there is sufficient cient a-•.
x
pression of public opinion in Canada
and' other Dominions to warrant the
alteration of the present inadequate
laws,
Hearing the Brain Work.
A new invention which wi.Il enable
vessels at sea to pick up the sounds of
fog -horns and other warnings beyond
the reach of the human ear has just
been perfected.
It is alt electric. "uitra•audible rift'•
rophona," and it is said to do for the
human ear what the microscope does
for the eye. It will he dnvaluable in
studying the finer sound vibrations of
the organs of the body, outfit as the
heart and the brain.
The average telephone can trans-
mit and receive sounds vibrating not
over 5,000 per second, but it is claimed
that • the new device wilt register
sounds et atx infinite firtt4 IxUn1 her of vi"
bratioua from 20,000. up, and will en-
able one to record' and reproduce, if
not actually' to hear, all sounds of the
earth externally and internally of
which hitherto we have been ignorant.
Vocal sounds made by certain in.
sects in communicating with ascii
other have been rendered audible by
in davlc/e