Gini, do you have any more of these great stories? Can you share them with
us?
Jon Greenberg
Virginia Berg wrote:
> I read somewhere that the ancient Egyptians pounded dried wood into
> cracks or holes in the rock, then poured on water and waited for the
> hydration of the wood to split the rock. Where I read this, I cannot
> tell you. It would work, though, and would be more reliable than
> germinating seeds. This is in the collection of water relations stories
> written up for students so I won't spend so much time on them in class.
> So is the following:
>> Dr. Bastiaan Meeuse once put dried peas inside a cat's skull, then
> submerged the lot, and tried to videotape it to show "the power of
> imbibition." Indeed the swelling seeds split the skull, but it was over
> in an instant, not caught in the time lapse taping, and he had to glue
> to skull back together to try it again. This was at the University of
> Washington when I was a graduate student. He had a sense of the macabre,
> so this scheme wasn't so surprising. The part that got people talking
> was the roadkill cats in the freezer, source of the skulls to use for
> the demonstration, and the process of getting the skulls in shape for
> the job.
>> --Gini Berg
>> ---
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