Inventions Often Learn From Nattural Objects

Many of the inventions with which we are familiar and which serve to bksj humanity, have been suggested by the sludy of natural objects. An observing man watched an aquatic spider descending into the water, went home, and invented the diviagbell. Another dissected and carefully exarained the venom-injecting apparatua of a serpent, and conceived that medicines might be thus advantageously given. The resuit was an advauce in medical science, for as a consequence of his reeearches the hypcdeimic syringe made its appearance. A. Stothard studied minutely the shades and tinta in butterflies' wings, and tbus learned the art of combining colora. The phenomena associated with ihe extinction of lighted chips in brewery gas, turned Priestly int ) chtuiistry, and iudirectly lpd to the discovery of oxygen. The Marquis of Worcester, when a prisoner in the Lsudon Tower, saw the ught htting cover cf a vessel of hot water blown off, aud publUhed that remarkable but nuw antiquated iüuiry iato the power of 8team entitled 'A Oentury of In ven dons.' James Watt examined a lobstera shell and saw iu that a model for iros tubes. These were afienvard invented and ujed uoder the Ciyde as a means of canyiag water. Sir Lambert Brunei studied the habits of the ehipworm. Fie watched that little animal prforatiog the wtoi first in onedirection and then ia auotLer, and coating over the cavily thus xcavated with an impervious wateiiitl. Brunei took tUe cue, reproduced that animal's work on a grand scale, and the tunnel uader the Thames appeared. Capt. Brown observed the arrangement of a spider's thread ttretched betweeu differen objects, and this was the tueans of directing his thoughts to the feasbility of constructing bridges in a similar manner. The coneeption thu8 produced was afterwarda carried into effect, and Brown's suspension bridge appeared crossiug the Tweed. iu a tojaewbat similar mauner was the perfeetion of the telescope due to the study of a natural object. The discovery had previoudy been made that gla3s grouud to the form of lenses would ivfraci. lighl and f.irm an image. However, the outliae of this image assumed a blurred and indiatinct appearanc. Chroniatio aberration nearly or quite vitiated all the aJvantage gained iroru the use of such ltnaes in aatronomy. How then was this to be avoided? An anatomist Btudying tbe f-ye saw there how the tvil was corrected. Iu that orgaa the crjsallir.e l.us would produce such te-iolutiüii of ligkt intn the colora of tbc spectrum, hut by combining different re!'rac.i?e media like the corma, Itn3, tqutou?, and vitreoua humur, this abtrratiun was neutralizetl. Advarr.age was taken of the hint thus given. A lens of crown glass was combiutd with one of flint g!a?s; the tlmniatic aberration disappeand, aud the elcscope became a most useful aud pnteot instrument of research. Thus it haa b:tn in tbe progresa of discovery. The stüdy of liitle ihing in nature has sugfsted great thingg in brt. The tiny instct, tiie üffensive worm, aud the dreadei serpent, beCSÜ18 the instructor8 of humanity. Man glorifies his reason and pridea Inmself upou his iutellect, but the bumb'.est of God 's creatures have, at. times, betn his teacher.