The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-12-04
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.


of fresh cinchona seeds were received
from India some months ago by the Di-
rector of the Economic Garden of the
University of California. They repre-
sented five different species, and germi-
mated most readily. At present there
are growing i'll the propagating house
of the Agricultural Department of the
University several hundred healthy
plants of each of the five species. AS
soon as the trees are sufficiently adj
| vanced they will be distributed to vari-
GUS sections in California, there to be
tried by careful and competent persons.
The accounts from India and Australia
of the success Of the cinchona in those
countries encourage the belief that some
of the five species will prove hardy in
| California.
To RELIEVE THE EYEs.-Reading is
rendered easy and fatigue to the eyes
very much relieved by a simple device.
Get slip of mica, about three inches
broad and SIX inches long, such as is
| used for filling in the little windows of
stoves. Place this over the page and
you read. A larger plate Of the ising-
glass may be employed, so as to cover
the whole page, if desired. The white
surface of paper is pleasantly shaded,
and book may be read in open sunlight
| or by bright lamplight without fatigue.
If the reader desires he may cover the
mica slip with light coat of green var
nish. This is better than green goggles,
and may be used with profit by the
over-worked student and the consumer
of endless novels.
| CHARCOAL FILTERs.-Charcoala as an
agent for the publication of water not
only holds back coloring- matters and
decomposes and partially retains most
mineral salts and gases, but it absorbs
and detains the most varied organic
compounds, nitrogenous and non-nitro-
genous. Claude Bernard first demon
strated its important power OF absorb
ing albumen. power which increases
with the quantity of the latter, with the
time of contact, and with the concentra-
ton of the liquid to be filtered, and
which is more important as the arrested
body is held so firmly as not to be re-
moved by solvents. One especial draw
back of charcoal is its ready saturation
with impurities, so that it requires to be
revived or freed from the retained mat
ters, or, if this is impracticable, to be
renewed altogether. As a substitute for
charcoal, varions substances have,
therefore, been proposed, and among
these spongy iron. Dr.. L. levin has
subjected spongy iron to elaborate ex-
periments which show that, when used as
filter, it neither decomposes nor holds
back nitrogenous substances in such a
manner that they may not be washed
out again The filtrate in one kind OF
experiment contained numerous bacte-
ria. Odors of putrescent matter were
but slightly removed by spOngy iron,
and plumbiferous waters underwent
very little improvement through contact
with it.
ARROW PoIsoNs-T South Ameri-
can Indians poisoned their arrows with
curare, dark resinous substance. Pro-
fessor Jobert of Paris, when in Brazil,
!. succeeded in bribing an Indian of the
Tecuna tribe to disclose the secret of its
preparation, and found it was prepared
+ from seven different plants, which were
; ground and boiled together. Less than
!. grain of this substance injected be-
meath the skin of an animal causes utter
abolition of motor power, the motor
nerves being paralyzed. While sensi.
!. bility is preserved, respiration is stopped
so that no evidence of breathing is per.
! ceived, but the heart still beats, and il
artificial respiration be kept up, and the
!. dose is not too large, the animal may
recover. The effect is one OF trance
: Strange to say, the poison has no effec'
! if taken in the stomach. The spikes o.
, the javelins and points of arrows are
thickly coated with curare, and a wounC
from such an instrument, however
+ slight, must prove fatal, the death be-
!. ing of the most horrible kind, when w
remember that consciousness and sen
sation are in no way blunted for time
and the individual must appreciate th'
condition he is in. The Australian ma
n tives killed their enemies with instru
!. ments dipped in the decomposing fluid
|. of the human body,which were kept un
! til decomposition had advanced to tn
o proper point. A scratch from this in
i strument called nielgerii always prove'
e fatal.