The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1871-11-24
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.

Professor Wyville Thompson, OF
the University of Edinburgh, saws
that it is impossible to draw a def
mite line between the animal and veg
etable kingdom.
The fact seems well established
that certain articles, such as old ap-
parei, well-dried wood. etc., are cap
able Of generating sufficient heat to
induce combustion within the appli-
cation of fire. We think that not a
few of the numerous fires Supposed
TO be the v DIRK of incendiaries" are
caused by perhaps a rag which had
been used with benzine BY the frugal
housewife to clean a coat. OF by the
heat which is known to be generated
from articles, of silk, cotton, ETC., shut
up in a close room.
The substitution of slate for box
wood in engraving has been lately
found to be both economical and eff
tcient for the desired purpose. Es-
pecially is it adapted for engravings
IN relief. tits stated that while blocks
of slate are easily cut, they will wear
as we'll as eletrotypes, and fuFnisb
over one hundred thousand sharp
| impressions without -lOss of detail.
| The plates are not affected by oil OF
water, do not vary with temperature,
| and become warped, which is the
! great fault with lockwood under GER
tain conditions.
a swarm of bees have been sent by
mail from Lancaster, Pa, to Wash
! ington. The means employed for
] their transit consisted of a block Of
wood about six inches in length,
four inches wide, and about an inch
| and a quarter thick. Four holes
| about an inch in circumference were
! bored through with an auger, in each
! of which were confined a queen bee
and some half dozen Others, the
! foundation for a colony or hive.
Each end of the sugar-hole was pro-
tected by wire screen, affording
| plenty of ventilation. The postage
| amounted to 81 cents.
Mr.. IIetiodOro Ruiz, of Opin in
Columbia (New Granoda), reports to
| his government the successful treat
ment of snake bites by cante .ization.
! That country abOunde i'll Yenomous
snakes, and their bites are quite fire.
quent. In all, this gentleman had
treated some seventy cases. His
method is to drop melted sealing
wax On all the fang-marks, and he
! looks upon the result as due not SO
much to the cauterant action of the
| hot wax as to the complete exclusion
of the air which the adhension Of the
| wax secures. At first the wax was
| given internally as well as applied to
the wound, but that part of the treat.
ment has been long since abandoned
as useless.
/ In late murder trial in London
DIR. Letheby gave evidence, stating
| the results of his examination OF
blood stains found upon the clothes
| Of the prison. He testified that the
blood was that of a vertebrate ami
NAL, but whether twas human blood
he could not say. To question OF
the Judge as to how long it takes for
a blood stain to dry up and change
so as to be insoluble in water, he re-
piled a fortnight. When requestiOn
ed, be said it depended upon the
state of air. DR.. Taylor says it is
difficult after week to give an opin-
ion as to blood stain, but a good
deal depends upon the acidity or
otherwise of the atmosphere. In
| London a blood stain would become
insoluble quicker than in the coun-
| try; and, after large experience, the
result of his observations is that the
solubility might remain for a fort
night.
In the department of zoology and
botany at the last meeting of the
British Association, Mr.. c. w. Leach
read paper describing a tailless
| variety Oftrout, specimens of which
were exhibited. They were taken
in lake about one thousand feet
above the sea-leveI, and not above an
acre in extent. This was so shallow
that a man could wade through it,
had a hard firm bottom, with but
| few weeds, and although surrounded
by other lakes, these tailless trout
were found only in it. They fed on
the small crustaceans occurring in
the lake, and were all in good con-
ditiom. A sportsman who had fish
ed the place for thirty years had
never found one with a perfect tail
whence it was suggested that the
trout, being unable to mix with 9th
or trout, were perpetutaed in this
| way. Cases were cited OF streams
where the trout were found with de-
ficient fins, the tails, no attempt was
made to account for the peculiarly,
but the author mentioned as one OF
the popular notions regarding it that
because of the shalloWness of the
water the fish had ground their tails
away against the bottom.