Show IN THE ODD CORNER QUEER AND CURIOUS THINGS AND EVENTS strange animal animals of the deep sea gem sea T ger gers be co va vs sea alepha ltv ta sea rat cats gea sea foxes As to the mermaids to mr ale tap jrp you were centuries beainy us but you bustled little man and a dozen years may find us buying patents from japan a handicap tremendous but you youre re gaining every lap and we like the goods you send us and their markers mr air jap men have hailed us with derision called us harpers pers yes and worse but they lie ile who say our vision never goes beyond our purse and the heirs of nelson nelsons s glories and of those who conquered nap love to bear hear the gallant stories of your valor mr jap adding ever to your glory every day fresh praise you win till you finished off the story with the capture of ekin pekin we who fought beside behind you saw you fill each blood stained gap we just take you as we find you yoa re a white man mr air jap B 13 fletcher robinson in london express strange sea animals fl sailors never worry themselves much about natural history so when hawkins and his explored the falkland islands and found the beach in the po possession session of a colony of huge seala seal they promptly dubbed them sea lions and the name has stuck to them ever since the big barred snarl s os off the gulf of alex ico are called sea tigers the name however is not given from any tan fau cled resemblance to the great indian beast of prey but on account of the savage greed display in seizing and rending to pieces such food as comes their way another shark smaller and spotted but equally tero fero clous is known as the sea leopard around the british coast the fish most hated and dreaded by fishermen s a sort of which hunts in packs and from this and its ferocity it is gen orally known as the sea wolf but there are sea representatives of other loss less savage creatures the sea horse tor for instance which though his kick ing wo ild be harmless as he has no legs and is only about six inches long yet has a head most curiously similar I 1 in n S shape ha D e to the animal he Is named ater we have too the sea cow which was once common enough in the brackish estuaries of florida and cen con aral america its real name is mana tee and it looks anaut as little a e a cow as any creature could it Is in tact fact one of the seal family and only resembles the cow in its placid disposition its devotion to its calf and its habit of peacefully peaceful lv grazing along the meadows of sea graass which line the bottom of the broad shallow waters A sea cow which was nearly four times as big as her land namesake used to inhabit the islands of the behring sea but its beet beef was so excellent that it waa visa killed oft off and is now extinct another creature of the same family which inhabits the re mote antarctic is known as the sea elephant from its quaint trunk shaped nose the sea cat is not true to name tor for she would scorn to take the slight est notice of a sea mouse which Is nl merely rely a sort of gray fluffy annelid indeed why the catfish was called so is a mystery to inquirers tor for he Is a heavy ugly creature with a huge mouth and a row of poisonous spines on his back sea chickens are not so profitable as their namesakes of the farmyard indeed they are b birds I 1 ads of evil omen as their other names mother carey careys s chickens or stormy petrels will indicate the sea hen Is quite a different species of bird from the sea chicken it is far bigger Is found in southern waters and Is known by sailors as the molley terns are the sea swallows so often seen been and a kind of small plover is often called the sea lark like the sea cat the sea fox does not feed on his natu ral pre prep instead of sneaking into ocean poultry yards tor for sea fowl of any description the sea fox attacks game much larger than himself for the sea fox there is no other than the thresher shark a creature crea turp which is the bane and terror of whales he at tacks them generally in company with the swordfish and using his pov a erfil erf jl tall as a flail while the other wields its lance below soon mal makes kes an end of his big cousin mermaids should not be without sewing utensils tor for sea needle the long and pointed gar fish are common enough nor should d their gardens be with out crops these perhaps might seem peculiar to land gardeners consisting as they do chief ly of sea cucumbers and sea nettles neither of thee theve are really vegetables Os at all the former being the common name of a sort ot of sea slug bing and the latter for stinging jellyfish sea frogs and tea sea toads might be found wander ing between the beds of this marine pleasure ground but they would car alarm the little mermaids for few things exist in nature uglier than th tha huge mouthed angler or fishing frog and the spotted shapeless toad fish torch FI 1 hes h of tl e sea ra mr air langley secretary of the smith conlan institute bays that the ideal light from an economical point of view is furnished by the firefly and other animals which exhibit the phe called phosphorescence this kind of illumination Is produced by JV U the oxidation of animal fat and baa has apparently no waste be ng actually light without heat in the case of the so c lied tied lantern fly of south america it renders luminous the large hollow head of the insect the head be n ns made of a thin and pap alike oe through which shines the light from within says the saturday evening post really interesting examples of scent light produce produces s however are to be found in the ocean many of whose inhabitants utilize utilise their own means of illumination at times the surface of the sea is fairly aglow every breaking wave having actually the aspect ct of a flame this appear ance is due to the presence in the wa ter of inconceivable multitudes of ex small animals each of which holds up its tiny torch so to speak to contribute to the general bright ne a 9 the minute pelagic crustaceans are mostly and some of the jellyfishes at n look like veritable balls of fire recent investigators have expressed the opinion that in the depths of the sea to which no ray of sunlight reaches there is a consider able illuminator on by various animals inhabiting those abyssal regions it this were not so why should the large crabs and other cri crustaceans raked up from the nether deep be found to wear such scarlet and yellow colors why too should many of the fishes of the depths possess bach enormous eyes of the fact that many of the fishes themselves ara are light producers thre la is no doubt the tha equipment for this pur P pese ase possessed by seme berrie of them being elaborate while one well known species cles Is believed to have power to turn its light on or off at will some of the dep drep sea crustaceans are bril phosphorescent and it is able that they the often use their light to illuminate their surroundings and to reveal their prey certain cephalopods related to the common cuttlefish have an all apparatus to v the light down ward to the bottom over which they pass as it if they were provided provId sd with re fleeting ting lanterns some of the abyssal fishes have luminous plates on their heads while others have I 1 emi ting spots along their ides and still others are rendered luminous over the whole of their bodies by a phosphorescent slime one fish carries on the end of its nose what looks like an electric bulb and in all probability pro bablity this serves as a bait tor for attracting finny victims baitin falling upward ordinarily things fall downward within the depths of the ocean this rule is reversed deep sea fishes are P peculiarly liable to this curious form of accident if in chasing their prey or for any other reason they rise to any considerable distance above th the a floor of the ocean the gases in their bodies become very much expanded and their specific gravity tery iery greatly reduced up to a certain limit the muscles of their bodies can counteract the tendency to float upward and en ell abletha able th fish to regain its proper sphere of life at the bottom but beyond that limit the muscles are not strong enough to drive the body downward and the unfortunate fish becoming more and more distended as it goes is gradually killed on its long and in voluntary journey to the surface of tho th sea balloons which theoretically should rise in the air often fall sud bud dely for immense distances to 70 ex pla aa this aeronauts hold that there exist in the earth earths s atmosphere at tain places and under certain condi condl eions veritable holes or pits of vast depth into which it if a balloon unwittingly sails it drops like a piece of lead on one occasion M sandler happened on one of these aerial era cra and tell fell a distance of over a in ie le with such rapidity that the sand bagi thrown out by them were left behind and disappeared above them and the earth seemed to be rushing up at them through space with the speed of a comet luckily when within a few hundred feet of the ground a denser stratum of air was vlas encountered with the result that the balloon balloons s down ward rush was checked almost as sud bud denly and quite as effectually as would be that of a falling life striking upon a pneumatic cushion new york herald chinese cuto s with the chinese there are a great many ceremonies connected with a wedding when the marriage coa con tracts have been exchanged the future bridegroom sends his bride two brace lets in gold or silver according to the position of the family these are the betrothal presents and they are attached by a scarlet string the wed ding presents themselves are much more nume numerous rousI they often consi const t on the part ft tf the young fellow ot of it dozen elegant baskets containing silk stuffs embroidered materials flow ers etc there Is also a substitute tor for the wedding cake in the shape of ex prepared dehes of which the friends are invited to partake before the wedding day the young girl sends her future husband his wedding dress on the eve of the marriage the bride brides parents send the whole of her outfit and even the amount of her dow y to their son in law elect the whole affair is picturesque and ano accorn panted with a great deal of gaye y tor for 0 01 i that same evening the bride groom sends his bride a sedan chair upholstered in embroidered crimson satin the chair is accompanied by musicians and torch bearers each family on that evening gives a separate dinner party at which the various presents are shown respect always a silent woman ays says a chinese proverb great Is the risdom wisdom of the woman that goldeth her tongue |