The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-07-17
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Another severe outbreak Of scarlet
fever, which occurred near Manchester
Eng, has been traced by the health Off
GERS to tho distribution of the infection
through the milk supply.
The finding Of petrified shark dt
the La P..nza gold diggings, Cal, is re-
ported. It's weight Is about two hun
tlred pounds, and its original length
was about eight feet. A pctrifed whale,
some forty feet in length, is imbedded in
the earth in the same locality.
Some experiments with reference to
the spontaneous combustion Of various
materials, snch as wadding, raw flax,
hemp, sponge, wood dust, and the waste
OF silk, wool and cotton spinning, appear
to demonstrate the important fact that
small quantities really take fire sooner
than largo ones.
DIR. Abercromble relates that gen
tlc,nan who had been a soldier, dreamed
that he heard signal-gun, saw the PRO
ceedings for displaying the signals, heard
the hustle Of the streets, the assembling
Of troops, etc. just then he was aroused
by his wife, who had dreamed precisely
the same dream with the addition that
she saw the enemy land and friend of
her husband killed, when she awoke in a
fright. This occurred at Edinburgh at a
time when q French invasion was feared,
and it had been decided to fire q signal
gun at the first approach of the foe. The
dream was caused, it appears, by the fall
of a pair Of tongs in the room above, and
the excited state Of the public mind was
quite sufficient to account for both
dreams turning on the same subject.
in 522 cases of damage to buildings
by lightning four were found in which
rods were used to carry off the electrict
fluid. An investigation of the four cases
by . scientific expert has shown the con-
ductors to have been in every case faulty.
AT Osnabruck, Germany, building
stone is manufactured on . large scale
from the Stag Of blast furnaces. Six
million bricks were delivered by one
firm during last year. The artificial
stone is valuable for ventilation as it
permits the passage of several times as
much air as ordinary building stone. It
has the advantage over burnt clay bricks
of being much less easily saturated with
moisture.
Some time since manufacturer had
occasion to construct machine for cut
ting bars Of cold hardened steel. For
this purpose he mounted disc made of
soft wrought iron upon u horizontal axis,
SO as to he rotated with great velocity.
With moderate speed no cutting was
produced. But on causing the periphery
of the disc to move at the rate of about
25,OOO feet per minute the steel was rap
idly cut by the soft iron. Sparks were
thrown off in state of fusion, and
became welded together as they fell, al
though both the disc and the steel bar
were but very slightly heated.
"A naturalist in Brazil tells of an ex-
pedition he made to one of the islands of
the Amazon to shoot n-bills, ibises,
and either birds. His design was COM
tpletely baf1ed by a wretched little sand
piper that preceded him, continually ut
tering his tell-tale cry, which at once
aroused all the birds within hearing.
Throughout the day did this individual
bird continue his self-imposed duty of
sentinel to Others, etfectually preventing
the approach of the fowler to the game,
and yet managing to keep out of the
range Of his gun.
The oldest scientist in the world is
NJ. Chevreul of Paris, who, in his ninety
fifth year, has just commenced a course
of lectures on chemistry.
During an earthquake in 1919, all
area of two thousand square miles about
the Delta of the Indus became an inland
sea; and the fort and village of Sindree
sunk until the tops of the houses were
Just above the water. Five and half
miles from Sindree, parallel with the
,sunken territory, region fifty miles
long and ten miles broad was elevated
ten feet above the delta. In reference to
its origin the natives call this the Mound
of God. In 1888, the fort of Sindree was
still half buried in the sea; and during
an earthquake in 1916, the Sindrec Lake
was turned into salt marsh.
Built upon piles in the midst of the
lakes Of Switzerland exists numerous
dwellings, which are assigned to the era
sof polished stone Or Neolithic age, many
interesting discoveries have been made
and are yet being made. Three kinds of
wheat-one an Egyptian variety-have
sbeen found !; also two kinds of barley.
two kinds of millet, the remains of fruit
such as apples and pears-peas, flax and
weeds. For their cattle and swine these
ancient lake-dwcllers seem to have laid
APP winter fodder in the shape of acorns
and beech-lluts. They made cloth of
their flax, and terms. From an exanipa-
:tion of tlse human remains found in
these Curious hsbitations an in the Sc
pulchral caves, The eminent geologists are
Of the belief that our Neolithie ancestors
were OF the same race as the Basque