The New York herald., 1866-04-01
Scientific Intelligence.
DISEASE AMONG THE sILKwoRxs OF THE cAu-

CAsUs.
great calamity has February y fallen on the cau-
ekworms 1t rages throughout the country, especially
In the province Of Noukha the principal seat Of the silk
development there Until 1853 the Caucasus was believed
70 be exempt from the diseased which occasionally pre-
vailed in Europe. In lS63k considerable mortality
prevailed among sikworms; the cause however was not
supposed to be contagious disease but one sporadic
ther instance All doubt 70 its true nature has now
disappeared, for the disease has spread over great
extent Of country with most fatal enects To give idea
.S,u. aO 600 pound: Is.sh q E SO which usually
value exceeding 9, ,ooo, 600 roublcs
AN ACADEMY PRIZE IN FRANCE.
Tho Academy OF Sciences Of France has awarded its
work on the losses sustained BY the allied armies in The
CrimeA
WHAT Is THE SHAPE OF THE RARrH,
this subject has the following in 1859 We gave an &C
count Of n Gumpach's work the True Figure Of
published, entitled Our Weekly Gossip, in which we
md series Of poemca papers addressed to those who
have repudiated hts doctrines with moro less
or scrmony. Our author, We stated former
sion, assrts that the earth 10 not . compressed but
probate epsoid, or In other words that has not the
ing TO Newton and the dominant school, has il that Of
orangef First because In measuring various arcs
srees longer the pole than near the equs
Tor Secondly because the seconds pendulum Is longer
q the poles than at the equator. its length being
cad thirdly bscssss, IN consequence Of the ssrth's
durna rotation IL particles at shs equator are scsualsd
lcos q ihsss arguments srs thsorsscsiy conciusive q
70 The aryt oecsuse probate agurs 70 innuttsy more
favorable % sn inorsass Of length In Pol.s dsye ssa
hs ssoasas q sns his oumpassss ssd ssscrssss q s
ssms ssua1es arss, compressed ellipsoidai quadsnt
A 70 the sscood argument because II the one hand
Be- argasd tha srav acreasss ne poss becsuss
arsusd wRh equal force that gravity ineresses Al
no:: au.Sy Ss'':ss o. ss
= replied ths, rsd body IKE the earth The eject &
no the earth would By this time have become q na q
pancake BY constant rotation The origin Of the idea
grauIious supposition that The earth was once nud
mass opinion In favour Of which there s not shadow
Iii the ssroes sks isv: sen on our earS ana yhss
may within tho compes o. our present knowledge II
thsre II something rotten In the state OF asrou.
omy cannot bs denied the showing Of astron.
omsn themselves, who are con,tantly complaining Of
therefore strongly incline towards such innoys,ors
- n Won oumpach aud n Charles Emmanuel
ELxcrRIc BELLS As cARRrA0E SIGNALS ON RAIL
An interesting experiment has been ted ss the Dion
Frsncel railway terminus with system OF electric hc's
applied 70 nilway train Of passenger car-sos u
OF the carriages and the compartment occupied ,, 10
head conductor Of the train instantly Effected ly
merely pressing button attached TO one Of the rirs
EXPLORATIONS IN PALESTINE.
Captain Wilson, chief Of the nrst English expedition
the association in London II 10 dated Damascus De-
cember 70, and 10 In substance ~ foows:-The party
for Damascus the 10th OF December Astronom cal
observations have been obtained fixing the position or
Bsy,Ss psm.ssns sa.,oes ssTshsys sur wsey