I had wondered in my childhood how an elephant could digest the contents of a fruit without breaking its hard shell. My sisters had informed me about this that elephant swallows the entire fruit, and after digestion we could see the whole fruit intact in its dung - but without its contents! It explains well about the great digestive power of the animal but it may be an exaggeration. OK. What is that fruit?
It is a well known fact that every Hindu temple ritual is being conducted on certain fixed and approved days of the month. These days' names can be found printed on each date-slip of a daily calendar. Do they belong to Astrology only? No, they have been so named simply, with respect to the phases of Moon only. They are called as Tithis (Lunar days, 'Thithis' in Tamil). For every thirty days these tithis repeat themselves. Among them there are two groups each having fifteen tithis.
One day I was walking barefooted on the cellar of the house. I felt a pinching pain on one of my toes. I found a vermin move away from my foot. It is the Common Centipede (Scutigera forceps, 'Pooraan' in Tamil)! Though its name implies that it has hundred legs, it has only fifteen pairs of legs.
The word, camouflage was introduced to me when I joined N.C.C. (National Cadet Corps) at school. Then the ways of camouflaging practiced in battlefield were taught. Later I learned that animals also practice this camouflaging to evade a predator attack. Animals change their colors similar to that of their surrounding environment to become invisible!
While doing certain household experiments as a school boy, I was shocked in two incidents to see my experimenting work spoiled. First one occurred when the glass bottle in which I had poured hot water broke down and the other one when I poured water in a hot glass bottle ('Horlicks bottle', as it was called then) - it cracked and fell down in pieces! My efforts to set up a 'home laboratory' was thus shattered!
We, the human beings, are the medium-sized member in the Mammal group of this world. We bear in our body the smallest bone that measures only 3mm in length and 3mg in weight! It is the Stapes bone (Stirrup bone). It is one of the three auditory ossicles (bones) found in the Middle ear of us, one on each side. It is the innermost bone. The other bones are the Incus present in the middle and the Malleus in the outer side.
We call turncoats as 'Chameleons' ('Pacshondhi' in Tamil), comparing their changing character! Though this Common Chameleon (Chameleo chameleon) is popular for its changing its color, it is not easily seen here. But this animal has many other special modifications also, like mobile eyes, long extrudable tongue, prehensile tail. Its toes are found fused in into two groups - an adaptation for climbing up the tree with good grip.
Finding out small birds makes the hobby of Bird-watching quite interesting. Unless we search eagerly for their details of identification these birds will seem to be of one and the same kind of birds! For example, Sunbirds, Honeyeaters and Hummingbirds are there. Though these birds have a common feeding style of taking in nectar (sweet fluid of flowers), they are different and are not related!
In my school age days I was sent by my sister to buy Sabza seeds at groceries shop. She used the seeds to reduce her body heat. She soaked them in water overnight before drinking it on the next morning. I used to peep into the tumbler to see the wonder that the water in it had disappeared and that the seeds then had a white mucilaginous covering. The seeds also became sliding on the tongue and palate! I later found that these seeds are that of the Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum, 'Thiruneetrupatchai' or 'Karunthulasi' in Tamil).
