The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1880-02-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

half or two per cent of mercury.
Prof. Hagenrhas decided that the ap-
plication of yeast on insects produces a
fungus which proves fatal to the insects.
Potato-beetles sprinkled with diluted
yeast die within twelve days.
A French surdnt has succeeded in
killing the phylloxera by means of elec-
| tricity. He passes powerful current
through copper wire wound about the
infested vine, when both eggs and in
sects are killed by the shock.
| Marat, the notorious hero of the first
French revolution, the same who met
his death at the hands of Charlotte Cor
day, was the author of several import
ant essays on electrical science; while
Napoleon Bonaparte on many occasions
dabbled in scientific lore, and was the
liberal patron of men of science.
Among its many objects of historical
interest, the Paris Astronomical Muse
um contains pair of Mercator's globes,
dating from the middle of the sixteenth
century. That figuring the earth is the
FIRST on which meridians of longitude
and latitude were laid down. 1t is re-
ported that the great equatorial lakes
of Africa are all to be found on it.
Excavations in the vicinity of Bonn,
Germany have brought to light the site
of an old town, supposed to be of Ro-
man origin. The remains of large
Roman villa were discovered near by,
situated little below the site of an ex-
tinct volcano-a a Circumstance tending
to show that at the time of the Roman
occupation volcanoes of the Rhine had
ceased to be dangerous.
A foreign journal states that in re-
cent experiment thirty-seven cats be-
longing in the city of Siege, Belgium,
were taken in bags long distance into
the country. The animals were releas-
GAS of the same day one of them reach
ed its home. His feline companions
arrived at Siege somewhat later, but
within twenty-four hours every one had
reached its home. 1t is now proposed
to substitute cats for carrier pigeons,
and to establish a regular system of cat
communication between Siege and the
neighboring villages.
1t is known that a great quantity of
invisible and finely-divided meteoric
matter is floating in space. AT the late
meeting of the American Association,
Prof. Peirce expressed the belief that
the aggregate of this matter exceeds the
mass of the visible celestial objects. The
idea is not new, as Mr.. Isaac Taylor
said nearly half century ago: "The
invisible material creation, it is prob
able, vastly outnumbers the visible; and
it may justly be thought that the worlds
made known to us by their inherent
splendor are to the unseen only in the
proportion of the chiefs of an army to
the thousands that fill the rank and file.
1t is as if from the summit of tower
we were looking by night upon bound
less plain filled with the array of war,
and could discern nothing but the
gemmed crests of the captains gleam-
ing amid the countless and unseen
multitudes they were leading on.''
Sir William Thompson last year com
menced new and curious experiment
on shoemakers'wax as aviscous materi-
al. A large circular cake of it, about
eighteen inches across and three inches
thick, was made. This was put into
shallow cylindrical glass vessel, which
was filed with water to prevent any
sudden change in the temperature. Sew
with some bullets on its upper surface.
The result is that, in year, the corks
have foated up through the wax and
are coming out at the top, while the
bullets have sunk through the wax and
come out at the bottom; and this has
gone on while the wax was at all times
in such condition as to be excessively
brittle to any suddenly-applied force,
such as blow from hammer. Mr..
J. 7. Bottomley has been experiment.
ing vita the same material, and has
constructed miniature glaciers in wood
en- channels, which present all the
phenomena of flow to be seen in real
glaciers.
The immortality of the practice of
consuming cows milk is thus set forth
in Chinese placard translated for the
FoochoU Herald: "Strictly refrain from
eating cows milkl Man should not rob
the beasts of their food. Moreover, Of
all beasts the COW is the most useful
and meritorious. Men who do not dis
criminate between mankind and Leasts
are worse than senseless. Those who
sell milk darken their consciences for
gain, and those who eat cows milk
foolishly think they are beneftting their
bodies. Men who take medicine should
first carefully investigate and find out
its nature. Why do not those who eat
cows milk consider and inquire intoits
origin? For instance, men Leget child
rem, and while the children, are small
they depend upon milk for their
nourishment; SO it is also with
beasts. But when men buy milk to eat,