New York MACMILLAN AND CO. AND LONDON 1892 All rights reserved Copyright , 1892, By MACMILLAN AND CO. Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A. Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston, U.S.A. CHAPTER I PAGE Introduction 1 Beauty and Happiness 3 The Love of Nature 5 Enjoyment of Scenery 14 Scenery of England 19 Foreign Scenery 21 The Aurora 33 The Seasons 34 CHAPTER II On Animal Life 39 Love of Animals 41 Growth and Metamorphoses 43 Rudimentary Organs 45 Modifications 48 Colour 50 Communities of Animals 57 Ants 58 CHAPTER III On Animal Life — continued 71 Freedom of Animals 73 Sleep 78 Senses 84 Sense of Direction 93 Number of Species 96 Importance of the Smaller Animals 97 Size of Animals 100 Complexity of Animal Structure 101 Length of Life 102 On Individuality 104 Animal Immortality 112 CHAPTER IV On Plant Life 115 Structure of Flowers...
Preparation of a handbook of reptiles and amphibians by the junior author has led to a survey of the collections of these animals at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. Numerous locality records of interest and importance have been accumulated there through the efforts of the senior author and a number of his students, particularly Mr. Allen Downs. The more important records, including the first record for Kansas of Rana sylvatica , are reported here. We have not mentioned specimens that are from counties from which the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History already has specimens. Specimens examined by Smith are indicated by an asterisk; those identified by the late Dr. F. N. Blanchard are indicated by an encircled period (none of these specimens are now available). All other specimens here recorded have been examined either by the senior author or by Mr. Allen Downs, or by both. Specimen...
Glimpses of the Country about the Daniel Webster Place Down in Marshfield early morning brings to the roadside troops of blue-eyed chicory blooms, shy memories of fair Pilgrim children who once trod these ways. They do not stay long with the wanderer, these early morning blooms. The turmoil and heat of the mid-summer day close them, but the dreams they bring ramble with the roads in happy freedom from all care among drumlins and kames, vanishing in the flooding heat of some wood-enclosed pasture corner to spring laughingly back again as the way tops a hill and gives a glimpse of the purple velvet of the sea. No wonder Peregrine White, the first fair-skinned child born in New England, strayed from the boundaries of Plymouth and chose his home here. No wonder Daniel Webster, New England’s most vivid great man, wandering southward over the hills in search of a country...
BY HENRY W. SETZER University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History Volume 1, No. 23, pp. 473-573, 27 figures in text, 7 tables December 27, 1949 University of Kansas LAWRENCE 1949 University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History Editors: E. Raymond Hall , Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson Volume 1, No. 23, pp. 473-573, 27 figures in text, 7 tables December 27, 1949 University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1949 22-6114 Subspeciation in the Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys ordii By HENRY W. SETZER The geographic range of the kangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys , extends from southern Canada south to the southern limits of the Mexican Tableland and from the Pacific Coast east to the eastern limits of the Great Plains in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. These animals are usually restricted to sandy soils in semiarid regions....
The tiny white petals of the barren strawberry open under the April sunshine which, as yet unchecked by crowded foliage above, can reach the moist banks under the trees. It is then that the first stroll of the year should be taken in Claygate Lane. The slender runners of the strawberries trail over the mounds among the moss, some of the flowers but just above the black and brown leaves of last year which fill the shallow ditch. These will presently be hidden under the grass which is pushing up long blades, and bending over like a plume. Crimson stalks and leaves of herb Robert stretch across the little cavities of the mound; lower, and rising almost from the water of the ditch, the wild parsnip spreads its broad fan. Slanting among the underwood, against which it leans, the dry white "gix" (cow-parsnip) of last year has rotted from its...
Some people have an extreme repugnance to the idea that man should be treated of in connection with other animals. The development theory is shocking to them, and they would deny that man has anything in common with the brute creation. This is of course mere sentiment; no history of nature would be complete without the noblest work of the Creator. The great gulf that separates the human species from the rest of the animals is the impassable one of intellect. Physically, he should be compared with the other mammals, otherwise we should lose our first standpoint of comparison. There is no degradation in this, nor is it an acceptance of the development theory. To argue that man evolved from the monkey is an ingenious joke which will not bear the test of examination, and the Scriptural account may still be accepted. I firmly believe in man as an original...
No subject has lately excited more curiosity and general interest among geologists and the public than the question of the Antiquity of the Human Race—whether or no we have sufficient evidence in caves, or in the superficial deposits commonly called drift or "diluvium," to prove the former co-existence of man with certain extinct mammalia. For the last half-century the occasional occurrence in various parts of Europe of the bones of Man or the works of his hands in cave-breccias and stalagmites, associated with the remains of the extinct hyaena, bear, elephant, or rhinoceros, has given rise to a suspicion that the date of Man must be carried farther back than we had heretofore imagined. On the other hand extreme reluctance was naturally felt on the part of scientific reasoners to admit the validity of such evidence, seeing that so many caves have been inhabited by a succession of tenants and...
By the word μύκης, ητος or ου, ὁ, whereof the usually received root, μῦκος ( mucus ), is probably factitious, the Greeks used familiarly to designate certain, but indefinite species of funguses, which they were in the habit of employing at table. This term, in its origin at once trivial and restricted to at most a few varieties, has become in our days classical and generic; Mycology, its direct derivative, including, in the language of modern botany, several great sections of plants (many amongst the number of microscopic minuteness), which have apparently as little to do with the original import of μύκης as smut, bunt, mould, or dry-rot, have to do with our table mushrooms. A like indefiniteness formerly characterized the Latin word fungus , though it be now used in as catholic a sense as that of μύκης; this, in the classic times of Rome, seems to have been...
Charles Robert Darwin was born at Shrewsbury on February 12th, 1809, the year which witnessed the birth of Alfred Tennyson, W. E. Gladstone, and Abraham Lincoln. Oliver Wendell Holmes, born in the same year, delighted to speak of the good company in which he came into the world. On January 27th, 1894, I had the great pleasure of sitting next to him at a dinner of the Saturday Club in Boston, and he then spoke of the subject with the same enthusiasm with which he deals with it in his writings; mentioning the four distinguished names, and giving a brief epigrammatic description of each with characteristic felicity. Dr. Holmes further said that he remembered with much satisfaction an occasion on which he was able to correct Darwin on a matter of scientific fact. He could not remember the details, but we may hope for their ultimate recovery, for he said that...
By Ellen Churchill Semple Author of "American History and Its Geographic Conditions" TO THE MEMORY OF FRIEDRICH RATZEL Hither, as to their fountain, other stars Repairing, in their golden urns draw light. MILTON. The present book, as originally planned over seven years ago, was to be a simplified paraphrase or restatement of the principles embodied in Friedrich Ratzel's Anthropo-Geographie . The German work is difficult reading even for Germans. To most English and American students of geographic environment it is a closed book, a treasure-house bolted and barred. Ratzel himself realized "that any English form could not be a literal translation, but must be adapted to the Anglo-Celtic and especially to the Anglo-American mind." The writer undertook, with Ratzel's approval, to make such an adapted restatement of the principles, with a view to making them pass current where they are now unknown. But the initial stages of the work revealed...
The elephant is the largest living land animal; and, though numerous forms existed in early geological times, it is represented to-day by two species only,—the African elephant, Elephas Africanus , and the Asiatic elephant, Elephas Indicus . The geographical range of the former originally included nearly all Africa, but now the animals are more closely confined to the central interior regions. The Asiatic elephant is found in the forests of India, Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Cochin China, Sumatra, and the Malay peninsula; and, while the introduction of railroads into these countries in ensuing years will perhaps result in its extinction, at present its numbers are not growing less. The African elephant differs from its Asiatic cousin in several particulars. The apparent distinguishing features are the tusks that attain a much greater development and occur in both sexes, while in the Asiatic species the males alone possess them. The African elephant is...
Bill rather large and strong, with the ridge of the upper mandible curved gradually from the base to the point—ridge of the lower mandible curved upwards. Nostrils at the base of the bill, in rather a large membrane, and partially concealed by projecting feathers. Wings moderate, rather rounded, fourth, fifth and sixth primaries usually longest; secondaries long, exceeding some of the shorter primaries. Tail rather lengthened and rounded; tarsi robust, rather long; toes and claws strong. Head usually with a crest or with the frontal plumes erect and crest-like. Plumage of various colors, mostly with some part of greater or less extent, blue. Exclusively American. Type C. pileatus . (Wagler.) Form. Feathers of the head in front or at the base of the upper mandible, short, erect and rigid—other plumage of the head above somewhat elongated; wings rather short, with the fourth and fifth quills slightly longest; tail ample, and...
Author of “Drawing and Design,” etc. RELATING TO HAND PUMPS; POWER PUMPS; PARTS OF PUMPS; ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN PUMPS; STEAM PUMPS, SINGLE, DUPLEX AND COMPOUND; PUMPING ENGINES, HIGH DUTY AND TRIPLE EXPANSION; THE STEAM FIRE ENGINE; UNDERWRITERS’ PUMPS; MINING PUMPS; AIR AND VACUUM PUMPS; COMPRESSORS; CENTRIFUGAL AND ROTARY PUMPS; THE PULSOMETER; JET PUMPS AND THE INJECTOR; UTILITIES AND ACCESSORIES; VALVE SETTING; MANAGEMENT; CALCULATIONS, RULES AND TABLES. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. ALSO GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS; GLOSSARY OF PUMP TERMS; HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS; THE ELEMENTS OF HYDRO-MECHANICS, HYDROSTATICS AND PNEUMATICS; GRAVITY AND FRICTION; HYDRAULIC MEMORANDA; LAWS GOVERNING FLUIDS; WATER PRESSURE MACHINES; PUMPS AS HYDRAULIC MACHINES, ETC. PART ONE. PUBLISHED BY THEO. AUDEL & COMPANY 72 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK, U.S.A. 7, IMPERIAL ARCADE, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.C., LONDON, ENG. Copyrighted, 1905, by THEO. AUDEL & CO., NEW YORK. Entered at Stationers Hall, London, England. Protected by International Copyright in Great Britain and all her Colonies, and,...
Botanists unite in describing the plants of this class as being destitute of chlorophyll and of starch. These plants assume an infinite variety of forms, and are propagated by spores which are individually so minute as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. They are entirely cellular, and belong to the class Amphigens, which for the most part have no determinate axe, and develop in every direction, in contradistinction to the Acrogens, which develop from the summit, possessing an axe, leaves, vessels, etc. Fungi are divided by systematists into two great classes: These classes are again subdivided, according to the disposition of the spores and of the spore bearing surface, called the hymenium, into various families. The sporiferous fungi are arranged into four families, viz: Of these four subdivisions of the Sporifera, only the Hymenomycetes and the Gasteromycetes contain plants of the mushroom family, and these two together constitute...
Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of North American Microtines BY E. RAYMOND HALL and E. LENDELL COCKRUM In preparing maps showing the geographic distribution of North American microtines, conflicting statements in the literature and identifications that, if accepted, would result in improbable geographic ranges have led to the examination of pertinent specimens with the results given below. The studies here reported upon were aided by a contract between the Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy, and the University of Kansas (Nr 161-791), by funds provided by the University of Kansas from its Research Appropriation, and by grants for out-of-state field work from the Kansas University Endowment Association. Grateful acknowledgment is made to persons in charge of the collections at each of the following institutions for permission to use the collections under their charge: Biological Surveys Collection, United States National Museum (herein abbreviated USBS); California Museum of...
Before a leaf unfolds or a flower spreads its petals, even before the buds swell, and while yet there is snow on the ground, the birds tell us that spring is at hand. The Song Sparrow sings "Spring, spring, spring, sunny days are here"; the Meadowlark blows his fife, the Downy rattles his drum, and company after company of Grackles in glistening black coats, and of Red-wings with scarlet epaulets, go trooping by. For the succeeding three months, in orderly array, the feathered army files by, each member of it at his appointed time whether he comes from the adjoining State or from below the equator. Besides the Blackbirds, March brings the Robin and Bluebird, Woodcock, Phœbe, Meadowlark, Cowbird, Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, Fox, Swamp, White-throated and Field Sparrows. Near New York City the New Year of the birds has now passed its infancy and in April each day adds perceptibly...
University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History Editors: Frank B. Cross, Philip S. Humphrey, Robert M. Mengel. Volume 18, No. 6, pp. 505-545, 7 figs., 4 pls. Published December 2, 1969 University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY ROBERT R. (BOB) SANDERS, STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1969 The Systematics of the Frogs of the Hyla rubra Group in Middle America BY JUAN R. LEÓN CONTENTS Introduction The tree frogs of the Hyla rubra group are abundant and form a conspicuous element of the Neotropical frog fauna. Representatives of the group occur from lowland México to Argentina; the greatest diversity is reached in the lowlands of southeastern Brazil (Cochran, 1955). The group apparently originated in South America; the endemic Central American species evolved from stocks that invaded Middle America after the closure of the Colombian Portal in the late Pliocene. Dunn (1933) partially defined the rubra group as it...
Just how far back the art of sub-marine diving dates, is a matter of conjecture, but until the invention of the present armor and helmet in 1839, work and exploration under water was, at best, imperfect, and could only be pursued in a very limited degree. The armor of to-day consists of a rubber and canvas suit, socks, trousers and shirt in one, a copper breastplate or collar, a copper helmet, iron-soled shoes, and a belt of leaden weights to sink the diver. The helmet is made of tinned copper with three circular glasses, one in front and one on either side, with guards in front to protect them. The front eye-piece is made to unscrew and enable the diver to receive or give instructions without removing the helmet. One or more outlet valves are placed at the back or side of the helmet to allow the vitiated air to...
LONDON WALTER SCOTT 24 WARWICK LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW 1887 Darwin’s ancestry; his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, a successful physician, and author of “The Botanic Garden,” “The Temple of Nature,” &c.; his father, Robert Waring Darwin, also a successful physician; his maternal grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood, the celebrated potter; his mother’s education and training; Charles Robert Darwin, born at Shrewsbury, Feb. 12, 1809; Mrs. Darwin dies in July, 1817; her eldest son, Erasmus, friend of the Carlyles; Charles Darwin’s education by Mr. Case, and at Shrewsbury Grammar School; his character as a boy; is sent to Edinburgh University in 1825 Darwin a member of the Plinian Society, of Edinburgh; makes natural history excursions; his first scientific paper read March 27, 1827; friendship with Dr. Grant; Jameson’s lectures on zoology; Darwin enters Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1828; his friendship with Prof. Henslow; his account of Henslow; Darwin at this time specially an entomologist;...
Fieldwork was carried on by the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology during 1917 in the Inyo region of eastern California. In going over the collection of birds obtained, the attention of the writer was arrested by certain peculiarities evident in the Mountain Chickadees. Comparison with series from the Sierras showed the Inyo birds to be paler colored and longer tailed; and in order to appraise these differences in taxonomic terms it became necessary to assemble material representative of the entire range of the species, in so far as possible. The results of the study thus undertaken are presented herewith. The material involved in the inquiry has amounted to 464 skins of the Mountain Chickadee, derived from the following sources other than the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: United States National Museum, through Dr. Charles W. Richmond; United States Biological Survey, through Mr. Edward W. Nelson; and the private collections of Messrs....