The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-09-17
M. Roman, a French engineer, states

developed III hungary and in yariou
parts of France. He thinks that it ma
in the future. become as important a
article of food as the potato. 1t grow
IN any soil, even the dryest and th
plant is an excellent fodder for cattle
| The seeds are very nutritious, and hav
the form Of small kidney beans. Al
agreeable soup may be made of them
The Chinese use them for various kind
ct cheese, to make q condiment with oil
etc. In France, the. seeds have bee1
roasted like coffee, and NJ. Roman say!
the decoction Of the SOFA bean is yer,
similar to that of average coffee.
An official publication of the Ger
man post office contains report on til.
disturbances in telegraphic communiea-
ton caused last August by a display OF
the aurora borealis. 1t is we'll known
| that both storms and the aurora borealis
disturb the electric currents passing
over telesraphie cables, but recent cx-
perence seems to prove that the dis
turbing influence ofstorms chiefly affects
short lines, while the longer lines are
more liable to be affected by the north
ern lights. There was strong distur-
bance of the latter kind from the 11th
to the 14th of August, 1880. It seems to
have manifested itself throughout The
greater portion of the northern section
OF the eastern hemisphere, sending off
however, sontherly stream in the d.
rection of Mozambique, which reached
to Natal. 1t does not appear that the
Western Continent was affected. TIE
general features of the disturbance CON
sisted in manifestations Of the presence
of strange currents e. earth currents.o as
they are called) of fflnctuating intensity,
the duration and fluctuations varying in
different localities, and the direction of
the currents changing frequently.
M. Pasteur, whose researches in re-
iation to infectious diseases are so we'll
known, is now directing his attention to
the subject Of rabies. The virus of that
disorder of course exists in the saliva,
but M. Pasteur has now proved that it
does not exist there only. The brain
substance also contains it, and, used to
inoculate healthy animals, will repro
dnce the disease as effectively as the
saliva. Again, one of the great difficult
ties in research, on rabies arises from the
uncertainty of the evil after incubation
or bite, and the long time of incuba-
ton. NJ. Pastcur is now able to commu-
nicate the disease surely, and to shorten
considerably the time of incubation.
His method is to inoculate directly the
surface OF the brain, having recourse to
trepanatlon, and using as inocuatine
matter the cerebral Substance of a mad
dog as pure as possible. In that case
the first symptoms of rabies infal,ibly |
appear i'll a week or two, and death en-
sues in less than three weeks. The re-
suits of Pasteur's further investigations |
Will be awaited with unusual interest,
N the hope that they may lead to the
out of some means of allevia-
ing the sutferings of humanity from
5his terrible disease, of the nature of
which so little is thus far known.
Il
set of teeth, Prof. Owen says: "Teeth
Ire organs that, as a rule, have term of
more limited than that of the
organism OF which they form part. In
many of the lower vertebratcs they are
he'd very soon after they are completed
md in use, and are as quickly replaced
" others. In the mammalia, however.
here IS but one succession of teeth nat
lrally shed, but though tho successors
# the so-called milk teeth last long
nough to acquire the title Of sperma-
nent,' they are rarely retained to very
dyanced age. There is, however, a be
Ief entertained by many of the occa-
ional acquisition of IL third set in hu-
lan centenarians. Thus it is recorded
f the Countess of Desmond, in 'Tyncs
Itinerary I617), that, not
lany years before her death, which IL
aid to have occurred at the age of 40
ears, she had all her teeth renewed,
was led to discussion on this point
) worthy clergyman at the house-of a
'lend whom I was visiting, and to my
lkeptielsm as to the alleged age and
bird set of teeth of the old Countess. he
eplied that there then lived in his
arish an old woman alleged to have
assed her hundredth year, who was
ctually then cutting her third set of
eeth. | rejoiced 1T this instance. I
ad long been convinced that actual
henomena had suggested the state
lent, but that the nature of these had
cen misinterpreted, and | deemed nv
slf most fortunate i'll having an oppor-
unity OF testing the matter. The fol-
wing morning | was driven to tile old
'omans cabin. 1t was III the north Of
feland, and size was sitting crouoline
Yer her peat fire, typical example of +,
uman decay. To the shouts of her pas :
u the deaf old crone replied by pulling t
own her skinny lip aud exposing the f
de of her lower jaw, from whicl. there /
rejected through the gum the black {
ned stump of a tooth, the crown of =,
Ilch Lad gone many years before. The !
bsofptioh Of the gums consequent OH
1e efIent ui0US ST tf af A. ha i.,,,, -, ,.:t. |