The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-03-21
FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE.

tury in ali iatitudes show that the years dis
tinguished by maximum OF spots on the
sun coincide very closely with those mark
ed bv exceptionally severe hail storms and
an unusual hight of the great rivers. Prof.
Fritz, of Zurich, has lately confirmed these
observations by comparison of annual me-
teorological statistics. The maximum OF
solar spots occurs at intervals OF eleven
years.
NJ. Mariotti has sent to the Roman Acade-
my some notes on the rate OF utteTance OF
certain Italian orators. 1t was estimated
that De Foresta pronounces sixty words in
minute, Massmo d AZaglio ninety, Giobertl
100. Ratazzi $50. Mameli $50, and Cordova
21O 1t is possible to pronounce in the
Italian tongue 300 words in minute. Glib
bon once observed that a facile English
orator pronounced 200 in an hour. e.,
120 in minute, and two in second.
Professor Agassiz. who has been studying
the collections made by the Challenger ex-
pedition. reports that he has never examined
any alcoholic preparations of marine animals
better preserved or more carefully arranged.
The whole amount of material is so extern
sive that to work il up properly would re-
ouire the diligent labor of a single person
for 20 or 80 years. 1t will be distributed by
Sir Wyville Thompson among able special
lists. who will classify the whole of il under
his supervision
Or. Richardson, f. r. s., in his second lee
ture at the London institution on Health
Improvements in Great Cities" remarked
that the standing temperature of room
should be 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Men and
women engaged in sedentary pursuits should
begin the work of the day in this degree of
warmth. and the diffusion of warmth should
be so perfect that at all parts of the room the
thermometer should indicate the same de-
gree To introduce cold air by doors, win
| dows and chinks. in order that IL might be-
come warm in room by the heat radating
| from an open fire crate, was to expend that
air uselessly, to insure draughts, to prevent
| the possibility of equable temperature, and
to destroy warming and ventilation at once
and the same time.
Pink stockings having been discarded on
account of the poisonous qualities OF the dye
used it is now found that the head, instead
of the ankles, is threatened with disease If
not actual danger. A shoemaker in Stettin
recently bought a felt hat from we'll known
4 firm. Soon after wearing il, though the hat
exerted no pressure, headache set in, with
frontal swelling, followed by pustular
| eruption. The eyes also became so infamed
that they closed, and the swelling began 10
spread to the lower part of the face. Ii was
evident that these symptoms were due to
the wearing of the hat and the latter having
| DSen SuDfn1tJeu 10 eNdlPlndtlOn ny ~ Chcui'
ist il was ascertained that the brown leather
Inning was colored with poisonous aniline.
A writer in the London Standard argues
that electromagnetic telephony is not Q
novelty per Sc. To prove his poStion, ht
says: twenty-five years ago met with an
extract from the Builder, entitled iMusiC
laid on like gas. The notice ran thus: Al
the Polytechnic band playing in distant
| apartment is unheard, but connect the diff
| ferent instruments by means OF thin rods oil
wood. each with the sounding board of 4
harp in the lecture room, and the music be
comes as audible to all as il il was present
The experiment proves that music might bt
laid on to the houses Of town from a cen
tral source, like gas. A well known joke
proposed the establishment of band-ditty
company on the spot
The Scottish cairns are now found 10 b,
among the oldest of mans work in tina
country In treating on Gave Life in Scot
land" DIR. Arthur Mitchell says: "The,
were before commonly thought of as mer'
heaps OF stones, but now they were found I,
be constructed on definite plans, each with
purpose and meaning. They were not I,
be taken as the work Of feeble people or
thin population, many Of them being yer,
large-one in Caithness measuring 240 fee
long by 20 wide They showed power ant
soundness, both OF the intellectual and mora
nature, on the part of those who built them
Neither in conception nor in execution wer
they insignificant and poor, and il did nc
affect the conclusion that no stones in theI
were finished into shape, and that inscriI
tions or sculpture were wanting"