The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-01-09
scIENFIFIc hIscELLANY,
Compiled . rlAs Leader.

A new seieDtlne instrument Is D
HpluYiometer,H which REGISTERS the
quantity of rain falling within q certain
period, and the duration and hour of
the fall
The researches of Professor Quincke
INDICATE that the change of volume of
solid and liquid bodies under electrical
influence is not due 10 heat, for the
change produced in the volume of fatty
oils is one of contraction. The same
investigator has shown that electricity
diminishes the electricity Of flint and
German glass, which is also said to be
the case with India rubber, while the
chastity Of mica and gutta percha is in
creased
A new method Of producing light
from electricity has been patented in
England. Small balls of platinum or
iridium are arranged at the ends of
small platinum rods enclosed in pairs
in the center of a suitable globe, and a
rapid succession of sparks is passed be-
tween them, whereby they are raised to
i~ncandescent heat. A disadvantage is
the noise attendant on the rapid sparks.
A medical missionary has learned the
curious fact that Uongoldoctorsare not
entirely un~acquainted with the proper
ties of galyanism. 1t is said that, they
are in the habit of prescribing pulver-
lzed loadstone ore for sores, and a man
hard Of hearing was, l n one case re-
commended to put loadstone into each
ear and chew a piece of iron in his
mouth
A dairying company Of London has
lately established a laboratory at which
samples of milk received from farmers
are subject to chemical analysis. Prizes
have been offered by the company,
which are TO be given to those farmers
whose milk supply stands highest in
quality during a certain period of time.
The samples of milk are carefully ex-
amined by the %company's analyst,
whose analyses and reports will decide
the competition for the prizes. 1t is ex-
pected that much valuable information
respecting methods for producing the
richest possible milk will be secured in
this way.
For the purpose of determining the
capacity of a horse to undergo the pri-
vations incident to a state of siege, a
series OF experiments has been made in
Paris. The results show that a horse
may hold out for twenty-five days with
out n solid n~ourishment, provided it
is supplied with sufficient good drink
ing water, that n horse cal subsist for
barely five days without water; and,
thirdly, that lf we'll fed for ten days,
but insuniciently supplied with water
throughout this period, it will not out
live the eleventh day. A horse which
had received no solid nourishment for
twelve days was nevertheless in a cor
dition to draw a load of six hundred
pounds on the twelfth day Of its fast.
Copper has been detected in the soil
of a churchyard, and in portions Of ex-
humed bodies.
At Thebes, an ancient Egyptian
papyrus roll containing q treatise on
medicine has been found.
Mr.. W. N. Lockington states that of
three hundred and eighty species of
fishes, mostly marine, occurring on the
Pacific coast, all but thirty-seven are
found in California. Ofthe five hundred
and forty fresh water species known in
the United States, but thirty-seven are
found in California.
1t has recently been discovered that
a minute fungus will cause formation in
a ~sulution of glucose while it does not
affect that of zane sugar. Advantage
has been taken of this fact to separate
cane sugar from molasses, the glucose
undergoing fermentation, and thus al
lowing the a N sugar to crystalize out.
If elastic gum is warmed, then x
banded and wound in n spiral upon a
glass tube or wire and cooled for a short
time in q cooling mixture, it shows no
tendency to contract, but when it is
submitted to hot water it returns
quickly to its original length. The
phenomenon can also be made to APP
pear without the use of the cooling
mixture. If n holds heated gum a
second in az expandent condition it
shows 10 disposition to return to its
original length; but if l. immerses it
in hot water it contracts to one-fourth
or one-ifth its original length. Max
well has found that similar phenomena
are produced in gutta percha.
According to a London journal, the
orange specks of the gaslights along
the Thames embankment were seen to
shine dimly through a recent fog while
the brilliant white glare of the electric
lamps was indistinguishable.
EXPOSITION OF 1876. Wandering
through the United States section of
trY,alv vrapJarf,1 Ex;l;A,o. b-~....