The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-08-20
NUGGETS OF KNOWLEDGE.
A Feto Intentions and Matters Ne,o
and TaefnE

IL hSS U0Ou ldlSly oioOOfCACO OAAao
glycerine of low specific gravity will
burn with a steady blue, and non-lu-
minous flame when heated to $50 deg.
G. This will permit it to be burned by
means of a lamp-wick.
THE "YELIow SPOT" OF THE EYE.
From the examination of several per-
fectlv fresh eyes, DR.. Schmidt, of Mar
burg, Germany, has come to the conciu-
sion that the "yelIOw spot" in the hui
man retina is not yellow, but dark
brownish red. Its yellow tint is due to
post mortem change.
THE TEMPERATURE OF AUSTRALIA.
Australia is one of those countries
which has an apparently very comfoIta-
BILE mean temperature, So to 50 deg. F.,
but in reality very uncomfortable ex-
tremes. In June, July, and August the
thermometer sinks to 2722 deg, and in
January it rises to 1T deg, and in some
places to 125 deg. The rainfall is 1896
inches year.
PROMOTING GERAIINATION OF SEEDS.
Some interesting and significant ex-
periments on the influence of certain
compounds on the termination of seeds
have recently been made by Hackel,
the results of which appear to confirm
views advanced by observers years ago.
Certain seeds which, when exposed to
the action of pure water alone, began
to terminate after eight days, when kept
moist with iodine water, germinated in
five days. With bromide water the same
result followed after three days, and
when chlorine water was used the inter
val vas decreased to two days. These
experiments belong to the order which
"anybody can try"
ALCOHOL AS AN ANESTHETIC.
The aDBsthetic effects of alcohol are
sometimes manifested in a surprising
manner. An cid case is that of drunken
man who lay down near top of
lime kiln, with ore foot resting on
lump of limestone. The fire crept
through the furnace until his foot be-
came blackened cinder, but his sleep
was not interrupted, and the first init
nation he received was when he was
aroused at daylight and attempted to
stand. Lately a similar circumstance
has been reported from England. A
drunken man lay down before fire and
remained there until the front part of
his body was literally roasted. He died
in few hours after being found.
FACTS ABOUT THE EsQUINAUX.
Although the EsqUimaux are placed,
IS race low down upon the scale OF
humanity, they are said to have consid-
cradle inventive and constructive skill.
Their boats are ingeniOusly made, and
their ice huts are arched on correct
mathematical principles. A recent
writer describes, too, cruel but really
| novel method in use among them for
killing bears. They sharpen the ends of
| a piece of whalebone a foot or more
long, then bend it double and wrap it
closely in fat meat, which is exposed
to the air till it freezes. These treach-
| erous pellets are thrown to the bear,
which bolts them whole. They thaw in
his stomach f.: the bent whalebone
| straightens, and the sharp points pierce
his vitals whenever he attempts to
move.
| INCREASED SPEED AND SAFETY OF YES
Sells AT SEA.
A Mr.. A Pierra writes to the Phlia-
| delphia Press that, after long study, he
| has made two inventions to increase the
speed and safety of passenger vessels
at sea. One he describes as q contri-
vance that cln be applied with little
| difficulty to any ordinary steam vessel,
and the other as a peculiar construction
OF the hull. He says; " My object in
publishing this commnnic alton is two
fold to place, without disclosing the
result of my labors, my discoveries on
! public record, and to call the attention
! of inventive minds in a direction in
which they may work out the problem
| of obtaining high rate of speed for
steam vessels. believe in my schemes,
but I am not blind to the fact that
every inventor has faith in his own de-
vices, and that the most plausible
schemes in theory may prove utter fail
ures when submitted to practical tests.
EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE CONFORMATION
OF THE EARTH.
Sir Charles Lyeli would have been
delighted TO chronicle the results of the
late severe winter weather upon the
cOntiguratiOn of the earth's surface
Several instances of unusually marked
effects have taken place. Large land
slides, attributed to the frost, have oc-
CURED on the chalky Danish island of
Moen. In one spot several million cubic
yards slid down. Similar occurrences
have been frequent on the Seine in
France. The cliffs at Sainte Adresse
near Havre are suffering steady degra-
datlOn by the action of the waves and
weathering. The city of Caub in Mas
! sau, near Bacharach, will before long
! be crushed by the fail of rocks not less
than 600 feet in height. The catastro-
phe is reported to be so certain and ap-
! pan emily so impending that two rows of
| houses have been deserted.
THE GAS GUN FOR FOG SIGNALS.
A very ingenious application has been
made of the explosive nature of a mix
tuTe of ordinary gas in air. There is
| established, at any point on the coast
! where fog signal is desired, gas gun.
| 1t is simply tube of iron, connected
with the gas-holder by the proper pipe;
! the latter, of course, may be at any
convenient distance. The holder is
| filed with mixture of one fourth air,
/ and the remainder coal-gas and oxygen,
and this mixture is above to flow into
the gas gun, W zen it may be fired off
! by touching match TO the proper orr
| fee, taking care, of course, to close all
| communication with the hl lder. By
using an electric spark, instead of the
match, the service of the gun may be
made still easier. The flash from this
gun is said to illuminate the fog much
better than that from the discharge of
! gun powder.
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF LIGHT,
In memoir on the physiological &C
ton of light by Pref. Dewar and Nc
kendrick, these authors have especially
directed their attention to the effect pro-
| duced on the retinG and optic nerve.
Their inquiry divided itself into two.
parts, first to ascertain the electromotive
force of the retina and the nerve; and,
second, to observe whether this was al
tered in amount by the action of light.
They conclude that the action of light
is such as to alter the amount of the
elec!romotive force to the extent of from
three to seven per cent. of the total
amount, so that strong flash of light,
lasting the fraction of a second, produces
a marked effect. A lamp held at dis
tance of four or five feet, and, equally,
the light of small gas flame, after
passing through depth of twelve inches
of a solution of salts of copper and
potash, also produced sensible effects.
When a diffuse light is allowed to fall
on the eye of frog, after the latter has
arrived at a tOlerable stable condition,
the natural electro-motive power is In
the first place increased, then dimin