The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-10-02
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

~ = LAY = - ~ 1AAASNlL1A4kAN II
"a case IL recorded Of q remarkable
fondness Of . kitten for raw cucunbers,
even when covered with pepper.
The Swiss are said to be the only
nation in the world who have done moth
ing for geographical exploration beyond
the limits of their own territory.
Late observations ~ Sir John Leu
block confirm the prevalent notion that
ants have, as means of communication,
something approaching language
The director of q German insane asyl-
um expresses the belief that much Of the
insanity in Germany may be attributed
to the oyerwork Of children in the ma
tional schools.
Some experiments by a number Of
German scientists seem to show that the
nutritive value of pea-straw is equal to
that of clover-hay. 0at-straw is inferior
both in proportion Of nutritive matter
and in dlgestibility.
AT Bath, England, there has been
discovered, about thirty feet below the
present surface of the earth, q perfect Ro-
man bath, eighty feet long and forty feet
wide, the whole Of the interior being
lined with lead three-fo -fourths Of an inch
in thickness.
About 1912 DIR. Montgomery noticed
in the hands of native of one of the is.
lands in the Indian Archipelago the
handle Of a hatcllet formed Of o very Pc
culiar material which became plastic in
| warm water and capable of being
moulded to any shape. This accidental
discovery led to the introduction Of gutta
percha.
After considerable investigation, DR..
Frankland concludes that the persistence
of fogs in large cities is due to the fact
that the minute particles Of Yapor become
| covered with an oily coating from the
smoke of the towns, evaporation of the
fog being thus greatly retarded. This is
considered satisfactory explanation Of
the nature of "dry fogs," so often OBJ
served.
1t has been discoy cred that by
breathing rapidly four or Ave minutes
state, called ana1gesia, is induced in
which ones sense of pain is greatly di
minished. This phenomenon is now at
tracting considerable attention, as it ia
thought that rapid breathing may be
made to supplant the use Of the ordinary
anaesthetics in dentistry aud minor sur.
gical operations.
"A sweet syrup-like liquid exudes
from the bodies of plant-lice (Aphides1
which feed upon the younger portions Of
trees. This honey dew" as i. is called,
is frequently so abundant as to cover tho
ground beneath, and in many places is
usually spoken of as the oil from the
trees" Bees gather the sweet exudation
for the purpose Of making it into honey.
and ants are also fond Of it.
Investigation shows that the blood
Of the Bengalee contains far fewer red
corpusc1es than that Of the European.
The difference in question is believed to
be due chiefly, if not wholly, to the cir
cumstances in which the lot of each 10
cast, since the inhabitants of swamps and
jungles are supposed to be necessarily Of
lower organization than those of breezy
and well cultivated uplands.
"A museum in the city Of Mexico con-
tains remarkable sword, made from an
aerolite or meteor that fell in the State
of Durango, Mexico. A slab, weighing
two pounds, was sawed from the meteor,
and presented to Gen. Ord of the United
States Army. 4Gen. Ord sent the piece Of
meteorie iron to the national armory at
Springfield, whore, after considerable
trouble in annealing tho metal, it was ut
length fashioned into q small fancy dress
sword.
I'm the course Of q series Of inyestiga.
tions, Prof Geikie has found that in some
cases tombstones of marble are worn
down quarter Of an inch in less than q
century, by the action of storms; in other
cases the stone is disintegrated internally,
SO that the very substance of the marble
crumbles away. On the other hand
slabs Of freestone and other unlaminated
sand rocks arc 30 enduring that the
sharpness of the letters cut upon them is
scarcely blnnted to an appreciable degree
by century's exposure.
An agricultural journal tells of .
man who plants, two or three weeks
after the crop planted, . new hill Of corn
in every fifteenth row each way. This
is the reason: II tho weather becomes
dry during the filing time, the silk and
tassels both wither and dry up. In this
condition, return Of moist weather re-
wives the silk, but the tassels do not
recover. Then, for want of pollen, the
silk is unable to fill its proper Office. 1t
this time, however, the rep1antei corn 10
ready to supply fresh pollen, and the
filing is completed.
AT tho exhibition of fishing applian-
ces which recently took place in Berlin,
an electrical fishing apparatus attracted
considerable Attentions. This consisted
Of q kind Of small. boat, worked by =
screw, and capable Of being directed to
any required point IN the water. On ar
riving at this point the boat anchors it.
se1f and af the snma mG1,enk n heck and
line are projected. The boat contains .
battery and an electromagnetic apparat-