Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-07-09
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

1t has been estimated that loo, 1000
miles of underground chambers exist
in the limestone of Kentucky.
The result of the great DERBY
race in England was cabled from
London to New York in twenty-five
seconds.
Prof. Proctor states that he found
the interest in scientific progress
much more general and appreciative
in this country than in England.
England has a new pest, the tin.
ula grub, which ultimately developes
into !" daddy lonslegs." It is very
destructive to vegetation, and it's
ravages have become quite serious.
At Parimaribo, in Dutch Guiana.
the annual rainfall is 229 inches, or
10 feet; and south of Bombay, in
the Western Chants at Mahabalesh.
war, the annual fall is 3O2 inches.
equivalent to layer of water Is feet
in depth.
Amazed the other day at the rapid
growth OF fungus, q botanist cal
culated that it had developed 1O,-
100000 cells in one day, or ZIG cells
second. Prof. Gray, however,
cites an instance where centu1t
plant formed 1000, 100000 cells in
twenty-four hours, or 231, 5S1
second.
~ rain of dust in the Bases Alpes
during five days of last April gave a
reddish tinge to the snow on the
mountains to height of nearly TO-
600 feet, the snow higher up remain.
ing white. The dust is supposed to
have been of terrestrial, although
not volcanic origin. Somewhat SIM
liar showers fell in France in 1916
and 1868.
From carefully studied records of
the occurrence of certain diseases in
the past, an English physician infers
that epidemics sweep over the coun-
try in quite regular periods. the cy-
cles being of about the following
length: whooping cough, four years;
small pox, four to five years; mea-
sizes, seven years; scarlet fever, fit.
teen to twenty years.
Among the elegant novelties of the
hour now offered for sale on the
Paris boulevards are phosphorescent
flowers, which glow with lamlaIpt
light in the dark, and rival their
natural tints. They arc rendered
luminous by coating the petals with
transparent size and then busting
them with some phosphorescent sub.
stance, such as sulphide of calcium.
An ostrich, which had long been
on exhibition in Rome, died the
other day, when an examination Of
the contents of its stomach revealed
four large stones, eleven smaller
ones, seven nails, a necktie pin, an
envelope, thirteen copper coins, four
teen beads, French franc, two small
keys, piece of a handkerchief, q
silver medal of the Pope, and the
cross of an Italian order.
Drs. De La Rue and Muller have
determined the height at which the
aurora borealis has its greatest bril-
liancy to DO about 80 miles, when
it should be visible to distance OF
nearly 600 miles. At height of 81
miles the light will be pale and
faint, and at 124 miles above the
earth's surface no electric discharge
can take place to produce the phe-
nomenon. They conclude that the
aurora may occur at times at an attl-
tude Of few thousand feet.
A foreign medical journal reports
that hypodermic injections of p1o'
carpine in certain diseases of the
eve had not only the effect of curing
the diseases, but of restoring the
hair on the heads of patients. One
man, quite bald, was suffering from
double cataract, Three injections OF
the philocarpine were performed IN
fourteen days. The membrane over
the pupil of the eye disappeared,
and the head first became covered
with thick down ana then with an
abundant crop of hair.
A singular phenomenon was lately