The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-08-14
Scientific Miscellany.

"A German chemist has discovered d
practicable method Of manufacturing ar.
tifcial indigo.
The French Government las allotted
NJ. Pasteur 1000 francs to enable him to
carry out his researches on the contagi
GUS diseases Of animals.
-Microscopists have found that mos.
qnitoes frequently carry filaria in their
probosces, and infect the human subject
will, that much dreaded worm parasite.
A strange story is told of a Bohemian
sexton. He is said to have killed and
eaten q mad dog confded to his keeping
q short time ago, and to have experienced
no i'll effects from the singular food.
according to a Chicago diamond ex-
pert, many of the so-called solitaires,
sold as single stones, are made up OF
small stones put together. He further
affirms that very few first-water dia-
monds are sold in this country.
An "Arctic exhibition has been
opened in London. A great variety Of
articles connected with Arctic explora-
ton arc shown. The display is made in
the interest Of commander Cheyne's
scheme for reaching the North Pole in
| balloons.
Tho Caspian Sea is gradually hecom-
| ing lower. A portion of the Eastern shore
is now transformed into series Of la
| goons separated by muddy spaces, and
measurements have shown that in 1887
the level was nearly four feet higher than
in 1861. A similar dninution of water
seems to be in progress i'll all Asiatic
lakes.
1 Recent observations upon the habits
Of the woodpecker have shown the curl
Gus fact that the sounds made by strik-
ing its bill against trees constitute per-
formance taking the place of song i'll other
birds, and have no connection with it's
quest for food. 1t carefully selects the
| spots on decayed trunks from which the
most sonorous sounds may he produced,
and fre1uents the same places day after
day. This is probably the only case
among the feathered tribes in which yo-
cal is replaced by instrumental music.
"A very interesting archaeological
discovery was lately made in Norway.
From burial mound nearly $50 feet in
diameter was dug well-preserved viking
ship, in which some chieftaiD had been
entombcd centuries ago. The craft is
the largest ancient vessel now known to
exist, it being "a feet long and Is feet
wide, with twenty ribs. Along its sides
a row of circular shields extends com
pletely around it. The mound is nearly
mile from the sea, but it is evident
that in olden times the waves washed
its base, and that the vessel was drawn
out Of the water and buried at its edge.
The threatened collapse of the st.
Gotharl tunnel, in the part known as
the "windy stretch" is due to its passing
through alnminous and calcareous strata,
which absorb water with avitlity and
swell enormously on exposure to the
moist atmosphere. It was at first be-
lieycd that IL considerable portion of the
tunnel would have to he rebuilt, and
detour made for a long distance to avoid
these strata. The expedient finally
adopted is the, Strengthening of the ma
sorry by the construction of an i'm
mense granite tube, the wall of which is
to he III places not less than ten feet
thick.
la San Salvador more than 600
shocks Of earthquake were felt during
the last ten days Of 1879. They were the
heaviest December %, in the vicinity of
Lake Ilopango, Where one shock broke
the telegraph wire, made the ground a
network Of cracks, opened new springs,
increased tile riyulets to ten times their
volume, muddied tho water of the lake,
and rolled hundreds OF thousands of tons
Of rocks down the steep hills. As Sc
quel to these disturbances, q volcano
arose in the middle of the lake oil the
night Of January 81 and %, and now re-
mains as n volcanic island of five acres
in extent.
1t is the general practice to judge of
the wholesomeness of water by the guam
tity Of organic matter which chemical
analysis shows it to contain. Hence the
opinion expressed by Prof. Huxley is
somewhat startling. He says that "a.
water may be as pure us can be as re-
CARDS chemical ananlysis, and yet, as
regards the human body, he as deadly as
prussic acid; and on the other hand may
be chemically gross and yet do no harm
to any one" That is, much organic
matter is harmless, while the particular
germs which produce disease may exist
i'll very foul water or iii that in which
the chemist can discover no impurities.
Several eminent physicists .lave at
different times attempted to settle the
question of the suns temperature. Their
results il ccntigrade degrees, are as fol-
lows: Newton, 1,669,ooO degrees Pou-
illet, 1861 degrees; ZaeIlner, 1O2 900 de-
grees; Sccchi, 6,384,840 degrees; Erics-
son, 2,72G,9oO degrees Fizeau, $500 de-
grces; sporer, 1900 degrees; Watersor.
7 100000 degrees; Waterston, 5000, 900
degrees; Deville, $500 degrees; soret,
$500 ,s46 degrees ; Vicaire, 1898 degrees