The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-10-09
NUMBER 80.
USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.

! USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.
PROF. MARSH, in his address at Sara
toga the other day, favored the view that
| man existed in Europe 25O,OOO years
ago, and that he probably had yet
earlier existence in America.
! THE calculations of the British OBJ
servers of the last transit of Venus es-
tablish value of s. &c. for the solar par
allax. This interpreted means a dis
tance of $4,000, 600 miles as. the distance
of the sun from the earth. h.ssss-~ss~ss@--
/ A MILK-CuRE Institution, first started
by DIR. Grub at Stuttgart, and since imi-
| tated at Frankfort, Berlin, Strasburg,
Munich, Cologne, Vienna, Basle, and
Zurich, is to be erected at Berne for the
benefit of infants and invalids.
DIR. THOMSON of San Francisco is
in London showing the profession there
his new method of .replanting teeth. 1t
/ is said that he takes them out, Keeps
! them in warm, cotton while he fills them
or builds them up, and then replaces
them. .,al ...rs-*st ,tf
Mr.. w. MATTIEU WILLIAMS, who for
] more than thirty yeafsh has closely studied
the electric light, and noted all its de-
velopments, does not hesitate to affirm
4 that, " although as a scientific achieve
ment the electric light is a splendid sue
cess, its practical application to all pur-
/ poses where cost is a matter of serious
consideration, is a complete and hope
less failure, and must of necessity con-
4 tiastte to remain so.
Mr.. MARrIn of, Paris has made a
series of observations on, nervous affec-
tions among the offspring of alcoholic
parents. His results may be summed
up as follows: In eighty-three families
in which one or more members showed
nervous excitability with a history OF
alcoholic origin, there were 41O chill
dren. OF these, 10S-more than one
quarter-h had convusions. In 1874 1863
were dead, and 24l still alive, but sS, l.
i e., more than one-third of the survivors,
were epileptic. ~ ~ 1S'''a-4' A'
THE fact that no od0r Of sewer gas ex-
lists, SAYS a correspondent of the Chica-
90 Times, is no evidence that it does not
exist in quantities sufficient TO produce
its evil effects in its insidiOus way. The
following is reliable, and delicate test,
which will show the least trace of gas
j Take piece of clean, white paper, dip it
into the solution called ssCrane's Chlori-
: dum," and suspend the paper over and
\ near the orifice where gas is suspected
of escaping. Let it remain over night,
4 when, if gas has escaped, the paper will
be found, darkened in color.iI The in
tensity of the color will be in proportion
to the amount of gas escaped.
II " r..
that during the last time the plague was
epidemic ut Vetljanka, Russia, not
single case occurred among the Kali
mucks, who lived not very far from that
place. This fact is surprising, as the
Kalmucks i've totally regardless Of san
itary rules. Their religion does not per-
nit them to eat flesh except that of ami
mails which are found dead they do not
bury the bodies of persons who die, but
simply throw them into the fields; and
in person they are far from being scrupu-
lously clean, The conclusion seems to
be that anti-hygienic conditions alone
do not produce the plague, and that
there is some other agent to which this
disease is really due.
THE chirping and singing of the crick
ct and grasshoppera are frequently spoken
Of; but they do not sing-they fiddle.
BY rubbing wings and legs together
in such manner peculiar to the species
these insects produce the sounds
which characterize them. Perhaps our
best insect instrumental performer is the
8. katydid'' Each wing contains lit
tie tamborine, and by the opening and
shutting of the wings these are rubbed
= nd v>pndyvno tho
sound Of g katy -did-she-did, !" which can
be heard at such a long distance, and
J gives the insect its name. These sounds
are supposed to be useful in enabling in
: sects TO find their mates, or. they may
indulge in them for their own gratifica-
ton and to add to the general harmony
. of nature. gs5it lEg9 ~ fl99
A LECTURE, delivered at the Berlin
University some months ago by Prof.
: Dubois-Reyinond, bears the ominous
! title, ssThe End of Our World" and
saws that every movement upon our
!. planet, with the exception of the ebb
and flood, which are caused by the at
traction of the moon, is occasiOned by
solar heat As, however, the sun loses
eyery year, a portion Of his calorlc,
science has lately come to the conclusion
that he will not exist as an emitter Of
: warmth longer than for seventeen mil
: lion wears to come. During that space
Of time our earth viii get colder and
! colder, in proportion as the solar heat
l shall diminish. The ice will advance
! from the poles to the equator; the
earth's populations will gradually re-
!. cede before the advancing glaciers; the
u sun will become less and less luminous,
until be will present the appearance OF
dark-red ball; and finally ice will anni-
J. hilate all vitality on our planet. a
!, Had the Wrong Sign.