Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-01-29
it is thought, do not start on a journey
or enter Office except on favorable

and twelve feet below the crest OF the
hill covering the Mammoth cave, the
subterranean rivers must be little less
than the number of feet beneath the
surface, and must also be the lowest
localities possible. Hence, he reason
ably concludes, no dome in that cave
could exceed three hundred and twen-
ty feet in height without cutting
through to the open air.
|: 1t is stated as a peculiar fact that
myOpism, or nearsightedncss, is exclu-
sively an attendant Of civilization, never
being found among savages, and rarely
among the peasantry of any country.
Investigation shows that the region of
the aaacola Mteai or g yellow spot" OPP
posite the pupil of the eye, has the
greatest percipient power, but is pecu-
llarly liable to disease, and that in
myepic persons this part of the eye
may become congested, resulting, per-
haps, ID partial or even total blindness.
-- The two methods of treating diph-
liberia, with chlorale Of potash and
hydrate Of chloral, have been COM
biped by DR.. Ceasre Ciatlagia, of
Rome, and, as he claims, with remark
able success. He tdissolyes a drachm
of hydrate of clcral in five drachms of
glycerine, and applies it to the false
membranes three or four times day,
by means Of a camePs-hair brush. Of
the chlorate of potash he gives from
two and half to four drachms a day,
dissolving in four and half ounces of
water, to children of from three to six
years. and an ounce to adults With
these medicines he always combines
tonic and restorative diet.
r. " Jules Verne's Voyage Round the
World in Eighty Days" says Gakgnani.
"has now been surpassed by Mr.. HAIRS,
American consul at Alexandria, Egypt,
who has done the journey in sixty
eight days. 1t took him twenty DAYS
to go from Alexandria to San Francisco
by Brindisi, Paris, London, Liverpool,
and New York; twenty. days to go
from San Francisco to Yokohama; six
days to reach Hong Kong, ten days to
travel from the latter place to Ceylon,
and twelve days more to go from Cey-
lon to Suez, when he got back to Alex
andria in a very few days.
A. NJ. Bailey, of Paris. has invented
an electric-spark pen which possesses
some points of interest. If sheet of
thin paper is attached to a piece of
copper or zinc, it is stated that an en-
craving may be made with extraordi-
nary facility by means of this pen. If
one of the poles of Ruhmkorf ma
chine is attached to the plate and the
other to the upper end Of the pen, the
current will run through, and in draw
ing the paper is perforated. When the
drawing is finished, ink is laid on with
an ordinary roller, and the greasy fluid
penetrates through the holes. The
plate is then plunged in water which
detaches the paper, and it is ready for
immersion in the acid. -
Sir William Armstrong, best known
as the inventor of the Armstrong guns,
lights his library at Crallside success
fully with an electric current produced
by a waterfall fifteen hundred yards
distant. A Siemens machine of the
smallest type is employed to generate
the current, and this is conveyed to the
lamp and back again to the machine by
copper wire Of three-tenths of an
inch in diameter, suspended at intervals
from iron posts. Sir William intends
to put up a large machine at the source
Of water-power, and to use the smaller
one as a motor for working the lathes
and other tools at his experimental
workshop during the daytime while re-
serving the faculty Of lighting his prin-
cipal apartments in the evening.
A paper Of some interest has been
read before the British association, by
DR.. Sorby, giving provisional account
of some experiments made by him
with reference to the coloring matter
contained in the human hair. Briefly
stated, DR.. Sorby has been able to sepa-
rate several well-marked, differently
colored substances, and the chief of
these were black pigment and red
brown substance which when oxidized,
passed into yellow coloring matter.
Very red human hair contained a
small quantity Of apink-red substance,
yet by far the greater number of differ
ent tints may be accounted for, he
| thinks, of supposing that it contains
varying account Of the above-named
three substances in mixture. In re-
gard to the possibility of hair changing
color in day or night, DR.. S. takes the
negative.
The success of the use of nitrous
oxide or laughing gas in producing tenn
porary insensibillty, while teeth are ex-
tracted, seems to have prompted M.
Paul Best to institute experiments TO
ascertain whether there was not some
method of administering the oxide
SO that it might cause anmsthesia like
chloroform, without any Of the danger
Gus effects of that substance. His ex-
| periments Complies Rend1s, Nov. III
were successful. Equal volumes OF
atmospheric air and nitrous oxide were
administered under pressure of two at
mospheres .(29 4 pounds,) and pro-
longed ansesthesia was effected, suf-
ficient for important surgical opera
tons. The heart continued to beat,
the temperature remained the same,
and after sensibility was restored the
animal, which was under the influence
of the compressed gas, manifested not
only activity but viyacity.