The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-07-03
Scientific Miscellany.

0clenIlllc NLlSCeIldIl
Alta conference in Hamburg, in Oc-s
tober, 1879, Lieut.. Weyprecht's plan of
establishing circle of international OBJ
serving stations around the polar regions
was considered. As result several gov
ernments agreed to organize such sta
tions during the present year, and active
preparations are now being made in va
rious parts Of the world to carry the
scheme into effect. The United States
Signal Service proposes to locate an OBJ
servatory Point Barrow, in Alaska; while
the Howgate colony will form, ut Lady
franklin Bay, another station in the in-
| ternatiOnal series.
The trite aphorism, "Tllere is moth
ing new under the sum-" seems again ex-
emplifed by statement to the effect
that the Japanese were practically
acquainted with the art Of luminous
4 painting nine centuries ago, thus antici-
pating the inventor of the supposed new
| phosphorescent paint. A Japanese cy-
clopedia cites an account of wonderful
picture Of an OK which left the frame to
Craze during the day and returned at
night. This picture came into the pos
session of an emperor of NE Sung dynasty
| CA. D. 976-998) who sought an explana-
ton, which none Of his courtiers could
give. At length u Buddhist priest
showed that q certain nacreous sub
stance obtained from oysters, when
ground into color material, rendered the
pictures painted with this phosphores-
cent pigment, and becoming invisible by
day, the superstition arose that the ami
NAL had gone out to Craze. &
Cremation appears to be making
rapid progress in Germany. Fifteen Gre
nations were performed last year at CO.
tina, and forty eight bodies have been
burned in Milan during the past three
years.
Prof. Thurston, testing pieces Of the
wire cable of the Falmouth Suspension
Bridge, recently taken down ct Philadel-
phia, after being in use about forty years,
found the iron to be fully equal in ten
acity, elasticity and duetility to the
best wire of the same size found in the
market. This fact and similar results
obtained by another experimenter in
1873 lead him to the important conclu-
sion that iron subjected to the ordinary
strains Of properly designed bridges does
not deteriorate with age.
Most Of the ferns found in our woods
contain more or less starch, and when
properly prepared are very p;elatable and
nutritious. An attempt was recently made
in France to popularize them as an arti-
Gle of food. The young shoots of the
common brake fern, when exposed above
the soil to the air and sunlight, become
exceedingly tleshy, white and tender.
The hill tribes Of Japan live on ferns all
the year round, eating the tender leaflets
in spring and later in the season the
starch extracted from the roots. A GER
tain famous French painter is known to
pride himself on his fern omelets.
The height Of tides is augmented by
converging coast lines. As laid down by
Bache, the eastern coast of North Ameri-
ca has great southern bay" between
Florida aud Cape Hatteras, q middle
bay" between Hatteras and Nantucket,
and an " eastern bay north Of Nantuck-
ct and, while the tide is one to one and
one-half feet at Southern Florida, two
at Southeastern Nantucket, the height is
seven feet within the southern bay" at
Savannah, five feet in the "middlc bay y
near New York, and ten feet in the
"eastern bay" at Boston. In the narrow
bay Of Fnnday it reaches forty feet, and
sometimes seventy feet at the spring
tides.
Among the recent discoveries is
"natural lime," which occurs in Kansas
1t is Of a clear, white color and fine tex.
tnre, and is readily converted into q
plastic condition by the addition of sand
and water. The mortar thus prepared
has apparently the same qualities as the
best made from burned lime" It sets
and hardens quickly, and turns very
white.
"A curious feature of the creeks and
lagoons of northern Queensland is men.
toned. 1t is called floating grass" II
grows on the surface of the water, put.
ting forth stems and roots which become
SO densely intcrwoven that, even with
twenty feet Of water underneath, horses
have been known to cross OH the mats
thus formed
Some peculiar medicines are en-
ployed by the Chinese. Calcined and
powdered antelope horns are used in
cases of commissions, rheumatism and
even apoplexy. Plastcrs of elephant
skin are believed to cure bruises very
quickly. Pills made from the sloughs OF
caterpillar larvae are taken to expe]
worms and relieve headache. Int1ama.
ton OF the lungs is treated with glue
from the hides of donkeys. Alcoholic
preparations Of scorpions are given in ali
kinds of maladies For most internal
diseases powdered insect, the name Of
which has not been determined. is adj.
ministered. The skins Of serpeats, ap.