The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1880-11-07
SCIENTIFIC MIsCELLANY.


SAfAGd ~ % L~-NsN
For the discovery 81 . comet, Oh the
10th II OeL0bsT, Prof. Lewis swift has
hssH presented with = check for 600
~ Mr.. Warner, and expects 10 receive
in addition . gold medal from the I'm
psT i Academy Of seieBess u Vienna.
During the whole history Of sstTo-
nOmy," remarks the distinguished astro-
nomer, Il think this is the highest price
ever paid for a comet"
n. de Leaseps states that the opening
Of the suez canal has increased the rain
fall in the surrounding country to a re-
markAble extent. Previous TO 1870,
rain fell only about once a year, while
il now falls at least twice = month.
n. Raudaire has presented to the
French academy the result Of his recent
Algerian survey. He believes that an
inland sea Of $50 miles In length may
be created without serious difficulty.
IL is surprising how quickly the veg
citation Of many countries settled by
Europeans has been modified. A Ger
man writer, describing the fora Of
Chill south Of the Valdivia River states
that the scenery between the Rio Buena
and is winding aninents reminds him
very strongly Of home. In the park
like prairies. associated with ~deciduous
beeches, are numerous scattered apple
trees, originally introduced from
Europe. The apple tree has spread
fIom Valdiyia 10 Osorno, and even
crossed the Andes into northwestern
Patagonia, and spread thence eastward.
Indeed. II has become SO widely distri.
buted aud so general. that the Indians
from the distant regions Of the Argen.
tine rivers, RIO Negro and Rio Colo
ado, are called manzaneros or apple
Indians.
Two French chemists have accom-.
plished the important result OF liauefy'
ing ozene. A pressure upon the gas OF
seyenty-iye atmospheTes was applied
the liquefaction Of oxygen requires the
enormous pressure OF three hundred
atmospheres, or $500 pounds TO the
square inch. These investigators found
ozone To have al azure blue color under
all circumstances, the shade deepening
with increase Of compression. They
discovered also that the gas Is an ex,
plosive one, since. unless compressed
slowly and at u low temperature, it ex
ploded with n blue flame.
A French sardnt has made u carefn
comparative analysis OF the statistical
tables OF suicides for France ant
Sweden. lie finds that they establish
two laws, viz: that widowers commit
suicide more frequently than Marie,
men; and that the existence and pre-
sence OF children In the house dimin.
ishes the inclination 10 suicide both II
men and in women.
Prof. Huxley says he has long enter
tained the conviction that any man VIII
has taken Al active part in scienc
should be strangled Mt sixty. In hi
experience, ninety-nine men out O
every hundred become simply obstruc
tionists after that age, and are not fexi
BILE enough TO yield to the advance O
new ideas. They are. in short, sol
fogies," and he thinks the world woul
be benefited blythe operation he sug
gests. 1t may be interesting TO note, b
the way, that the learned professor him
self is ifty-fve.
Hans Biichnea, n skillful German ex
pe.imenter, announces a discovery O
great interest and Importance in II
bearing upon the theory OF evolution
He has succeeded in transforming on
kind OF Of microscopic fungi, which is
dangerous agent Of disease, into anothe
kind of fungi which is perfectly harm
less. This remarkable result wa
reached by acontinuous treatment OF III
fungi for six months during which tim
l,5uO generations were produced. ii
was through this process enabled I
transform the bacteria which caus
"milZb-and" the inflammation Of Ill
spleen, into the 'henpilze." or harmles
fungi of hay, and rice rersa. lie ais
produced m organism hitherto ur
known which forms "A connecting lin
between the above named fungi.
The Investigations OF Herr Welt
have shown that OF various bodies of WI
ter, under otherwise similar condition.
that one has the greatest quantity q
fish which contains the most dissolve
bicar Donate Of lime. A simple expla
nation Of this seemingly strange fact
given. The simple carbonate of lime
widely distributed on the bottoms
lakes, but, being insoluble, Is not u
ken up by the water. II, however, til
water contains an abundance Of carbon
ic acid which is produced, Of course
by animals in respiration-this trans
forms the carbonate OF lime into the b
~carbonatc, which readily dissolves Il
water. 1t appears, therefore, that by
sure chemical analysis, one may wit
considerable probability estimate tn
quantity of fish in n body Of water; an
conversely. Herr Weith has often hee,