The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-12-04
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

so11E1NIAfIC nISCltLl4ANy.
-Acce1sling to Prof T.it, fash 81
lightning ten miles in length has been
recorded By Trustworthy oLseryor.
/ The celcry-growers of France have
united in an offer of prize Of 5000 for
the rsrpesc Of encouraging investigation
into thess'lataresef oelery -rsst, antf the
d'soesery Of = remedy.
Prof. Tait Il Edaagls4gA estimates
that the energy developed IN tho form of
heat by . fall Of only s,,e-tenth of An
inch ut rain over the whole Of Great
Britain 10 equivalent to the. work OF .
million millions Of horses for half ar
hour
| Fer the discovery ofa comet, on tho
10th Of October, Prof. Lewis Swift has
been presented with check for $500 by
Ar. Warner, and expects to receive in I'd
dition y gold medal FROM tke Imperial
AcadeRy Of Sciences Of Vienna. Dur
| ing the whole history of astronomy" re-
! marks the distinguished astrono,aer, II
think this is the highest price evcr paid
| for . comet.n zsss
M. Pirot has called the attention ef
the French Academy to the fact, that
neither insects, scorpions, tarantulas nor
rattlesnakes are, 80 far as his knowledge
extends, ever observed among the ab-
sinthe plants with which large tracts il,
North America are esreresl. This le:..ls
him te suggest that the nlanuring Of
land With absintle might be fatal to the
development Of the grapevine phyllo1-
era.
barring recent boring for water in
the Wimmera district, Victoria, 8 tree
was passed through for q distance Of ak
feet at a depth Of 25Ofeot. Several fruit
stones were brought to the surf:.ue. At
some period in tho worlds history. 4
grove Of trees probably oceupied this spot,
and the great depth af eanth now cover
lug the remains Of tho vegetation intli-
Gates vast lapse Of time since it flour
| ished.
The adnlteratisn Of tea IL carried ON
to surprising extent. ii. Hussen, d,
| eminent French chemist, has inyesti-
gated tho subject aud Matlc. q report to
the Paris AcadeMy Of f.scienccs. He finds
that great variety Of Substances arr,
used as adalterants, such as Prmssian
blue, indigo, 81 psum, chromate of lead,
arsoAiate Of copper, sulphate Of iron,
stearite, carbonate Of magnesia, plnmba-
go aud kaoli1. TAo Chinese often mix
with tea tho leaves and howers Of other
plants.
--ltswas recently announced that Mr. J.
! ". Swan, an English electrician, had
succeeded In overcoming the difficulties
met BY Edison in perfacting Ibis iacAn-
descent electric Light. Mr.. Swan haa
since read 2 remarkable paper in which
he claims a priority Of discovery Of ali
! the essential featnres of the Edison lamp.
He paonoances his sun lamp m entire
success. and sssents that by ass plaa
4 af establishing circuits he can secure
great economy over the system, proposed
by Edison
-In bamboos, tle dow OF tho saI,
takes place at the beginning Of tho rainy
season, but vigorous shoats rarely grow
before the thunder storms, whanA 1kener-
ally precede tho harvest. Tho rasli4lity
Of their growth increases with the vio-
lence Of the storm, amounting to %
| much as seventy feet within thirty daya
in some instances, the vegetation being
most active during the night. These facts
offer q curious confirmation &c the exper-
iments Of DR.. Sinmens on the influence
Of electricity upon plant growth.
1t is vel. known that, if u long dry
| tnbe, open At botk ends, he held over =
jet Of burning hydrogen, a musical sovnA
is protlnced, tho pitch and quality Of
which vary with the lengtl,. thickness
! and diameter Of the tube. It has l.een
proposed to adapt such a tnbe ts tho
safety lamp used in nainoa, placing it
near . telephone in collaun;cation will,
another telephone in the tnanagsl's office.
Tho alteration Ot the sound, duo to Il
greater or less atfmixturs Of gas With the
air Of tho mine, would warirtlse ulanager
af the state Of the atmosphere in tho
workings.
FROM observations made during
nearly twenty years in y forest in the
Jnra, it appears to be pro, ed--first, that
when light strikes the ground without
having been sifted BY foliage, it stimu-
lstes tho production Of earbonic acid in
the soil; secondly, that tho growth Of
woods diminished when tleMlalerlarash
is 20 thick and tall as to dnape.le the pas
sage Of sunlight to the soil, and its reflex
sctioD Oh the branches Of the trees and
thirdly, tI,atnould in too grea4 "A thick
ness becomes inert, and thus REMAINS for
many years, - is the Case with l,srnyarti
manure when too deeply buried.
-"Fhe inconrenient young lady, re
marks the Electrician, whom tho now.
papers have lately discovered admins.
tering electric shocks to every body ~l,e
shakes hands with her IL nat Al, oriyiua
phenomenon. To say nothing Of tl,s
Canadians who haaitually lighted th'
gas with their fingers ends ID quite moe.
ern times, Virgil tells rs that tue hal
of Asca'lius emitted . harmless fininr
aud Sersius Tullins is known to has