Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-06-25
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

81 ,OOO,OOO Will be required to com.
plete the excavations at Pompeii.
A submarine volcanic eruption was
lately observed near Corsica. It
lasted about IN hour, producing
much agitation of the seq, while the
air became charged with sulphurous
vapor.
Five entombed skeletons have
been discovered in Switzerland.
which, from the absence of metal
ornaments and other indications, are
supposed to belong to au age prior
to that of bronze.
Attention has been called to the
existence of large apialies in q
crowded quarter of Paris. From
sugar refneries in the vicinity the
bees secure an abundant supply of
sweets, making the hives profitable
investment 10 their owners.
Scientists have of late had grow.
ing conviction that the development
of parasites upon the phylloxera will
prove the most effective plan of des-
troy ing that and similar insect pests.
A parasite Of the phylloxera has
now appeared in SICILY, and its effect
will be watched with interest.
A correspondent of a Tasmanian
journal records an instance of the
self poisoning of snake. The rep <
tile being pinned to the ground by
forked stick instantly buried its
fangs in its own body. Its coils
around the stick quickly relaxed and
in less than three minutes the snake
was dead from the effects of its own
venom.
DR.. Schmidt has proven by ex-
pertinent that sponges may be grown
artificially. A sponge is cut into
small pieces, which are fastened to a
pile and immersed in the sea, where
they rapidly grow into perfect
sponges. The system has been
adopted by the Austrian Govern
ment, and is being carried out on
the Dalmation coast,
The animal king of the world is
Hartmann, of Berlin, from whose
great gardens come most OF the wild
beasts exhibited in this country.
His collectors are mainly young
geological students or trained hunt
ers, and they SECURE for him the
animals of all which af-
terward appear in numerous great
est shows on earth" 4
An old milestone, five and half
feet in diameter and seven inches
thick, with a central hole eleven
inches in diameter, was left in an
English orchard many years ago.
In 1912 filbert-tree sprouted from
the earth at tho bottom of the hole,
and gradually increased in size from
year TO year until, in 1868, it was
found that the tree had completely
filled the hole and actually lifted tho
stone from the ground, wearing it
Us girdle about its trunk.
According to the generally accept.
ed theory, what we call light is i'm
preston produced upon the retina
by the wave.like motion OF particles
of matter. The lengths of these
undulations have been measured,
and it is shown that 36.918 waves of
red light, or 81, 631 waves of violet
light, placed end to end, are re-
quired to make single inch. From
the velocity Of light it has been
proved that more than $50 millions
of these minute waves flow into the
eye and dash against the retina in
each second of time.
The moon was once a region of
intense activity, as is clearly shown
by tho vast volcanic craters covering
its surface, but it has long been 4
believed that all changes in its form,
due to cooling from a molten mass,
ceased ages ago, leaving our satellite
cold. dead world. Recent obser-
vations, however, have shown great
black crater. oyer three miles in
diameter, which was never seen
prior to 1876 As many very min
ute features in the same vicinity
were mapped by careful observers
before that time IL cnn hardly la