Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-04-23
SCIENTIFIC.

One square inch of lilac leaf has 130, ,O00
mouths, whose office is tc give out the moisture
in which the foOd absorbed by the roots has been
dissolved.
II is found that fishes can live under water
/ upon which is pressure of four hundred at
mospheres, thus rendering it probable that the
greatest depths of the sea may be inhabited.
( 1t is said that one of the principal causes of
the depopulation Of the oyster banks on the
coasts Of Europe and America, is to be found in
the increasing abundance Of bivalye shell-fsh
called the anomia. These cover the oyster
banks in a continuous sheet, one overlapping
the other, so as 10 prive the oysters Of the
means Of obtaining any nutriment from the
water, and ultimately killing them. Some Of
these layers of anomias on certain oyster banks
have attained a thickness Of three or four inches.
The most common method for destroying mi
asmatic effiuvia IS chlorine, or else its well
known combination with lime but when this is
not at hand the fumes of deutoxide of nitrogen
will produce similar effect. This is obtained
by pouring little nitric acid On piece Of cop
per in a saucer; but as this gas irritates the
respiratory organs the experiment should be
performed in corner Of the room, and care
should be taken not to inhale the emanations.
The time during which the earth has genera
ted organic beings is small compared with the
ages during which the world was mass Of
molten rocks. The experiments Of Bischof upon
blsat show that our globe would require i;s50,-
O0O, 900 Of years to cool down from 5000 de-
grees. which is the most intense heat that We
are able to produce, to $50 degrees Fahrenheit.
and II regard 10 the period during which the
first ne5ulous masses condensed 20 form our
planetary system, conjecture must entirely
cease.
Mr.. Prank BucsAnd relates, In his L9Ad and
EIrier, the story Of bis success in tanning the
skin Of IL salmon. lt male leather As tough As
wash leather AMI about the thickness of a dog
skiu glove The marks Of the scales remain
and give 4 neat pattern TO the leather. 1t is
said that the skin Of 4 salmon in good condi-
tion will not tan. but the skins Of kelts are ad-
mirabiy adapted to the purpose. Mr.. Buck
land recommends that all piscat0rial books be
bound in salmon skin. He Judges from a pic
ture pre-. .eryed in the Jerusalem chamber ad-
joining the Deanery Of Westminster, that King
Edward the Third used - wear slippers of this
material.
Swiss professor Of mineralogy has discoy-
cred means Of communicating to the fossil coal
which abound, In the valley Of the Alps all the
qualities Of the rest fossil English coal The
process Femployed consists Of aH inexpensive
chemical preparation by which the coal Of the
Alps Is mixed with uaphtha and bitumen, OBJ
tanned in large quantities from the Apeunines.
Should present expectations be realized, italy
will no longer neei to import coal Il is stated
,La. the plan is aiready in use in France.
Artificial eb NJ is prepared by taking sixty
parts Of powdered selweed, obtained by treat
ing the seaweei for two hours N dilute sulphuric
acid, then drying aud grinding 10. and aiding
10 it ten parts Of liquid glue, five parts gutti
percha, ami two and a half parts % India rub
her, the last two dissolved in uaphtha then
adding ten parts Of coal FAR, five parts pulygri-
zed sulphur. two parts Iuiveri-ei alum, and
nve parts uf powdered r5siu. and heating the
mixture 20 about taree hundred degrees E4hreu-
he.L We thus outtiu, after the mass h4. be-
come coll, material which, in color, hardness
and CaPi3ility OF taking polish, is equal IL
every respect 10 ebony, add much cheaper.
Scientific discovery has destroyed another of
our most popular theories. Hemlock. 20 which
Socrates and Phocion were said TO owe THEN
death, is pronounced by eminent t5xiclla gist- t.
be no poison az all SKY grains Of tincure o
heul,-k were recently administered 70 young
women without any apparent effects, and per
son after a dose OF Jweuty-iour grains Of th,
pure iu zee uf the leaves If the hemlock only "a,
rsriencgl q slight muscular uumhness. Vhicl
passed Of after an hour. From further expert
meuts Do appe rs that JLl common hem.1ck d
neither "a poison upr evcl medic nal remedy
VIVA. the ..u-iants called hemiocs was doubles.
tbe cIcutr uiI0sI. L.. which Is, in fact. mos,
poisonous plant.