The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-10-27
Curious and Scientific.

A KANSAS paper says that M. G. Page,
while digging awell OH his farm short
distance from Salina, in that State, came
upon the most perfect fossils yet found
in this country. He found wonderfully
perfect specimens OF oak, walnut, ma
pie and pine leaves, which would be of
great value to museum.
AN AMERICAN who was in Germany
during the late war, and had opportu
nifty TO see much of the treatment of the
wounded. says "At one of the hos
pitfalls the mode of dressing was to clean
the wound gently from the outside, not
allowing the fluid to enter deeply then
a covering of zinc foil, lint above this,
and the whole bound with adhesive
plaster. Fhe results from this mode OF
dressing seemed perfectly marvellous,
leaving always a clean, healthy, granu-
lating surface, and avoiding all the in
convenience of lint directly applied.
The zinc foil seems to act through the
oxide which it fo.ms in contact with
pus, and eXerts most healthy influence
upon the wound"
IT is generally understood that the
value of potatoes depends upon their
specific gravity, and that the heavier the
potato the greater the amount of nitro
genous matter it contains. This has
suggested the idea of convenient test
by which the excellence of different va
rieties can be lradily determined, and
which consists IN the use of saline So
lutions of different degrees of strength.
| If, assuming one variety as a standard,
we make solution of such strength
that the potato will float at about the
middle of the mass, neither falling to
| the bottom nor rising to the surface,
and apply the same test to other pota-
| toes, we may conclude that if one fall
to the bottom it is better, or if it rise to
the top it is poorer than the standard.
ONE of the divers employed in clear
ing out the channel of the river at Ban
COR, Me-, recently, found an ancient
cannon on the bottom, nearly imbedded
in the mud and rocks. 1t was hauled
up and cleaned off, but is so rusted that
no date, if there ever were one, can be
found on it, The piece is of a very old
pattern, and is made Of iron so soft that
| it can be cut with knife. 1t was load
ed with x-pound ball, which has been
removed, together with the wooden sa-
bot and the powder, the latter still en-
closed in its bag.
MODERN Greek FIRE is a solution of
| phosphorus in bisulphide of carbon.
When this solution is poured upon pa
per, rags or shavings, the ulphide
evaporates rapidly and leaves the phos-
phorus in state of very fine division
so fine that it takes fire spontaneously.
1t furnishes the means Of performing a
very pretty lecture-room experiment,
but, us an inoendiary agent, 1t is worth
less, for the simple reason that it does
not set fire to even the thinnest and
driest boards. The phosphorus in burn
ing produces a fusible and non-volatile
compound, and this glazes over all OBJ.
.jects in its vicinity, and protects them
from the action OF the flames.
FROM paper on the vertebrate ami
mails of Australia, lately published by
Mr.. Kretft, the curator of the Sidney
Museum, we learn that no woodpeckers
or humming birds have ever been met
with in that country. Among birds,
the parrot is the most prominent, there
being more than sixty species. Reptiles
abound, among them species of croco-
die, individuals OF which frequently
grow to the extraordinary length o.
thirty feet, and occasion much trouble
to the cOlonists. No one of the five
venemous snakes of the country is so
deadly as the English viper.
Bits of iron will prevent water from
becoming putrid. Sheet iron or iron
trimmings are the best. The offensive
smell Of water III vases of flowers would
be avoided by putting few small nails
in the bottom of the vases.