The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-03-31
Curious and Scientific.

EIGHTY-sIx species of monkeys inhabit
South America. OF bees, on the same
continent. there are one hundred and
fifty species.
EXPERIMENTS with the eyeless fish of
the Mammoth cave are about TO be made
under the auspices Of the American Fish
Culturist's Association.
THE juice of the maracure (S7yckno5
torit6ro), itself virulent poison. is spe-
cific for strychnine, whose perniciOus ef
fects are so difficult to counteract.
Or seventy samples of petroleum oil:
tested by the Board of Health in New
Orleans, thirty-seven were dangerous,
nine of the number burning at a tenn
perature below 81 deg. F.
VERY interesting discoveries have been
made by the German exploring eXpedi.
ton to Greenland. Extensive meadows
were found starred with flowers, with
butterflies and bees playing about them.
and having large herds grazing near by
of reindeer and musk-oXen.
No plant yields so great an amount Of
nutriment for the same extent of soil a.
the banana. Humboldt estimated that
it returns twenty times as much as corn,
forty.four times as much as the potato.
and one hundred and thirty-three times
as much as wheat.
CAPTAIN c. F. HALL is busily engaged
in fitting out his vessel for his next sum.
mer's cruise, and he will be amply pro.
vided with everything necessary for
his comfort and the success of his enter
prise. 1t is understood that DR.. David
Walker, the well known companion Of
Sir Leopold MClintock during his expe-
ditiOn on the Fox in search Of Sir John
Franklin, will accompany Captain Hall.
in charge of the scientific department.
PROFESSOR LISTING of Gottengen. in
an article on certain optical phenomena,
explains why birds are so often found
dead under telegraph wires. 1t is not.
as is popularity believed that they were
killed by a passing current while
perched on the wires, but because their
eyes, being in the same horizontal
plane, they cannot calculate their dis
lance from the wires, and are conse-
quently killed by flying against them.
1t is to this same fact-the horizontal
plane--that the difficulty of distin-
gushing the edges of the steps occurs
while going down stairs, and of clearly
calculating the distance from one to
| another.
MUcH difficulty is experienced in
vinegar factories and other establish
ments where acid fumes are disengaged.
in preventing the plastering or white
wash from falling Off This may, how
ever, be prevented, it is said, by wash.
ing the walls with solution of one part
Of sulphur in three of water. thin
layer Of sulphate OF lime is thus formed
upon the wall, which is not attacked by
the vinegar fumes at least, and conse-
quently remains firm. Ordinary plas-
tering, as is well known, contains car.
Donate Of lime, which is gradually trans.
formed into acetate of lime by the vapor
of the vinegar, and, as such. scales off
! from time TO time.
GINGILIE oil is obtained from an Afri.
can plant (.SeSamum Ladic,m) which is
now extensively used in Ceylon. This
oil differs widely in chemical compost
ton from olive oil, to adulterate which
it is sometimes employed. Ginglie is
prepared from the seed which yields
from 40 to "a per cent. of pale, straw
colored oil. Being devoid of smell, it
may be used for extracting the perfume
of flowers, such as the .jasmin, tuberose,
camomle and yellow rose. For this
purpose one weight of flowers is added
to three weight of oil in bottle, which
is corked and exposed to direct sunlight
for forty days, when the oil will become
impregnated with the perfume.