The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-01-28
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

A anti-opium association exists in
England, which has for its object the
suppression Of the traffic in that drug
with China. From statements made at
recent meeting OF the society in Lon.
don it appears that all the opium i'm
ported from China, with n small excep.
tion, comes from India. There are two
opium.producing regions in India.
What is raised in the native states is
shipped from Bombay, aud upon it the
government simply levies tnx. The
British opium is grown in Bengal, and
is government monopoly. The most
of it is packed for the China market,
and sold by government official at
auction in Calcutta. In the y,ar end
ing March, 1872, 49,G9G chests of Ben
gal opium were sold at Calcutta for
export, and 80, 225 chests were shipped
from Bombay. The net opium reve'
nues for the year was f7, 7,G56, 00O. The
Chinese complain that opium is destroy
ing their country, and that laws against
rative.g grown opium cannot be enforced
on account of the admission OF the
Indian article.
Is the suns apparent diameter SUBJ
ject to any changes which Can be de-
tected by observation ? is question
which has engaged the attention Of
many astronomers since 1863, when
Won Lindenau came to the conclusion
that the sun was ellipsoid, and Bessel
explained that this was due to the
shifting of the frame of the transit
instrument, and that the figure OF the
apparent solar disk was really circular
and it's diameter constant But later
researches upon the subject give pos
tive proofs that the diameter is sub
ject to some variation.
Mr.. Hind, of Nova Scotia, calls atten.
ton to the fact that the equatorial
bulge of the earth's surface may have
been much larger in earlier geological
epochs than at the present day, and
that Capt. Clarke's and Gen. Schuberts
Investigations, according to which the
earth's equator is an ellipso and not a
circle, favor the idea that in these earlier
epochs this ellipticity must have as
sumed the nature of gradual change
in the figure of the earth, in virtue OF
which vast equatorial undulation has
progressed with extreme slowness in an
easterly and westerly direction.
Tho signal service observer on the
summit OF Pixies Peak reports that the
local storms there experienced originate
over the parks to the westward on hot
afternoons. On one occasion he was
favored with an excellent view OF the
interior structure Of the clouds OF a tor
nado, when he observed that while the
cloud.bearing currents of air float to-
ward the centre they had decided
downward movement, but that masses
of smoke like vapor rapidly assembled
through the interior funnel.
The Paris Academic des Sciences has
been investigating the qualities Of 4
valuable plant called the gombo. It is
OF the mal]ow species, growing in hot
countries, principally in Syria and
Egypt, and is cultivated for the sake of
its fruit. Its fbres have been made
into paper, rivaling the best products Of
the kind. The stem and outer covering
of the fruit produce species of the
gum called combine, which makes an
excellent cough syrup, while oil, avail.
able for the manufacture of soap and
candles, can be extracted from the seed,
and resin from the sap of the plant. 1t
has been proposed to cultivate the plant
to some extent in Algeria.
The Geographical Magazine, in noting
what it calls bifurcation between the
Danube and Rhine. states that it has
been noticed for many years past that
some distance below Donauaschingen O
portion of the water of the Danube was
sucked up by the soil, the river continu.
ing its course much reduced in size.
The water thus abstracted was supposed
to give rise to the source Of the Aach,
which rises beyond range Of limestone
hills to the south, and discharges its
waters into the Lake of Constance, and
thus to the Rhine. Recently the for.
nation of two large holes, or "swal-
lows" has been noticed in the Danube,
and the amount of water swallowed up
by them was sufficiently large to de.
prive the miIl.owners of Mohringen and
Tuttli- gen, lower down the river, Of
the necessary water-power. They ex.
amined the spot ON the Sd Of October
last, and resolved to stop up the holes.
But to this the mill.owners on the Aach
object, and the legal proceedings threat
ened by them may possibly lead to a
thorough investigation Of this interest