The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-07-23
1lonalOsollbllle Gblef.
Two Dollars q Year
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

The temperature Of any place at con
siderable distance through the agrnc,
of electricity.
A new safety lamp for mines enits ;
loud sound whenever an explosive mix
turc Of Gas and air enters it, thus giving
warming of tho presence of fire damp.
M. Leon Manct has succeeded III
bleaching by means of the electric light
The concentrated rays completely DC
colorize blood albumcn in enty-four
hours. under ordinary conditions.
Eminent ocnlists having pronounced
tie reading Of German text to be in
furious to the eyes, tho Bcrnese govern
lncnt has resolved to discontinue its use
us much as possible, and all their official
announcements will hcnceforth be pTin-
ted exclusively in Roman characters.
At the Toronto General Hospital a
Young mans leg was lately ampntated
ut the hip by y platinum wire raised to
4 white heat BY an electric current. The
great heat contracted the ends OF the
arteries as the limb was cut by the wire,
so that it was necessary to tie the larger
ones only
in Sheffield, England, it has been
proposed to fix Il microphonc in the
tower of the town clock, and connect it
with the telephone exchange. Through
This means any telephone subscriber may
have his wire switched to the micropllone
wire, and thus be enabled to hear the
clocl. strike any hour of the day.
A Telegraph wire in India is stretched
between the SUBMITS Of two hills-cach
hill being 1900 feet high-across the
kistnall river. The span of wire is over
5000 feet III length, and is believed to be
The longest in the world. The only
engineering appliance used i'll stretching
this cable was common windlass.
The cranium in giants is usually
small in relation to their stature, but
often enormous in absolute measure, al
though their intelligence is generally
small. An example was Broca's giant
Joachim, credited with II very slight
amount Of sense. Yet this great mbcclc
had n huge Uranium, and his brains
weighed nearly as much as that of
Cnvicr.
M. Mnntz, by means Of a test so deli
cate as to detect the presence Of alcohol
in Il million times its weight of water,
has found that alcohol exists in all
natural waters except very pure sprin.
water. 1t il, found III greater quantity
in SNOW, and without doubt floats as
sapor i'll the air. In soils, especially |
those rich in organic matter, there is u
considerable quantity.
M. de Rossi has been led by certain |
experiments to believe that explosions of |
fire damp arc preceded by slight undnla-
tions and noises too small to hr detected |
by any means except the microplonc.
He thinks that by the aid of nlcrophonic
observations in collirries the presence of
large quantities Of in1lammablc gas in
the earth might be detected in season to
prevent disastrous consequences.
A recent investigation has led to the
discovery Of the remarkable fact that
intense cold may deprive magnctizcd
steel bars OF nearly all their magnetism
This fact has an important bearing upon
observations of the magnetic condition
OF the Garth taken il, high ATTITUDES for
what appear to be daily and yearly
be due i'll large part to conditions Of
temperature, whicl, effect the magnets
used ia the observations.
The obscure poison which produces
hNdrorhobl;, has been known to lie
latent III tho human system for years
before developing its fatal results. NJ.
iastcur declares tho suprostion to be
well supported that the virus docs dc
vci"p III certain organs, and not, rs in
other similar nala,lIes, ia tho blood;
and that whcn-;,itcr a period variable
according to circumstancrs,-th organ
.Ecd poison passes into the blood severe
symptoms come Oh rapidly, and the
victim soon dies. An explanation sub
the same as this had long
been advanced as :, mere theory, but
now NJ. Fastrlu advances it as an nscrr
tanned III, sio'o1ical fact.
The carth's eastward rotation, to-
rcil with the increase in rate from the
poles to tho equator, has II tendency to
throw tho waters of streams against
their western banks sufficient to produce
quite mal >rd effects in many parts of
he world. 1t is noticeable in larrc
rivers where the deposits are calthy. and
the pitch OF the water is small and il
The direction of the stream, the bank
against which the water strikes the NOR.
otrlbly being high and steep while the
ether Is lew. The cifrc, las been OBJ
served Ill many streams Of Europe and
ASIA. aud on Tie rivers inter<cctin.e the
"W land OF the Atlantic border OF the