St. Landry democrat., 1881-05-07
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

~ PAR OF Italian twins are now being
eAniolted in Vienna. From the sixth
i'o downward these boys are grown to-
sether. They have but one abdomen
"u TWO 1eet. The upper part of the
'o'S 10 completely developed in each,
ana the intellectual faculties of each
=" are OF normal character. All
.'o operations of eating, drinking,
s'oeplng' speaking and thinking are
performed by each child independently
Vi 'ne other. Further than this, it is
poss'oie Tor one to suffer an indisposi-
',on without affecting the other. The
oh''ofen are in perfect health, and are
now over three years of age.
"hile our knowledge of the regions
surrounding the North Pole has been
greatly extended by the energy and en-
'erpf'se OF modern explorers, compare
lively little has been done in explora-
lions OF corresponding PORTIONS of the
soutiern hemisphere, At the head of
an Amrr'can expedition, Lieut.. Wilkes
believed thar he had established the
existence of an antarctic continent and
''''S discovery was verified year later
ny o'r james Ross, who found the ex-
frnSivt Victoria Land, with mountains
l4,OO0 feet high and an active volcano.
It" expedition now being fitted out for
exploration under the auspices of the
Italian Geographical Society, will it is
stated he furnished with everything ne
ceSsasy for prolonged voyage, it being
the Intention of the party, under the
command of Lieut.. Beve, to winter in
the polar regions.
The following experiment very pref.
tlIy shows the gain in weight by oxida-
ton. A handful Of fine zinc filings is
placed on the scale pan of a common
balance, which is then brought into
equilibrium by weights in the Other
scale-pan. The application of a spirit
lamp now readily intlames the finely di.
vided zinc, and as it is slowly converted
to cohesive mass of oxide the scale
pan will descend, showing that in burn.
ing it has gained in weight.
1t is claimed that more rain falls now
in Nebraska than formerly, and tha
this rainfall is increasing with the
march of settlement and consequent
cultivation.
By keeping the soil beneath charged
with moisture, forest regions tend t.
make gradual and constant the supply
of water to the rivers, and give uni
fornity to the flow and hence, whe1
forests are cut away, the rains reacl
speedily the streams, making them liza
bic to alternate periods of wasteful vi
olence and worthless feebleness. TIL,
cutting away of the forests has led, il
the French Alps, to uncomfortable
floods, despoiled fields, and an impov
erished people; and, in America, to an
nual seasons of dry mill ponds, an i'm
mense sacrifice of available WATERPROOF
er, and the desertion of many II mill
site.
In the tropics of the Old World TIN
annual rainfall is, according to Dana
about n inches, while it is 1856 inches j.
South America In the Eastern Unite,
States, it il 40 to SO inches but vest o
the I.undredth meridian, beyon'
the Mississippi to the Sierra Nevada
it is mostly 10 to 16 inches. The annu
al amount in Great Britain averages
inches; in France, 30 to 81 inches; far
Their from the coast, in Central Germa
ny and Russia, only Is to 90 inches
but about the Alps, it is mostly IS to 5
inches.
The researches of P. Plantamour hav
shown that every rise in temperature
accompanied Ivy an elevation of til
ground, and fail of the thermomete
is marked by sinking of the groun
level. The txtent of the movements
in some case quite remarkable.
Fragments Of celestial bodies in til
form of meteors occasionally reach u
from the distant regions of space
These stones exemplify the same chem
ical and chrystallographic laws as tn
rocks of the earth, and have afforded n
new element or principle of any kind.
A very remarkable deposit of petro
leum is described as existing in Vene
zuela between the Rio Tara and Lula
Near the former there rises sandbanl
abont thirty-ive yards in extent, an
some ten yards in height. On it, SUI
face is visible collection of cylindri
cal holes, apparently artiicially made
through which streams of petroleum
mixed with boiling water, gusl on
with great violence. accompanied wit
a noise resembling that of several boil
ers blowing off steam. The column q
yapor that ascepds from the spot woul
doubtless be seen from a long distapc
were it not sbrouded by the thick fores
to which the petroleum beds that evi
IDENTIFY lie underneath give q perpetaa
greenness and freshness of foliage
From one of these holes oil has bee
collected at the rate of four gallons pc
minute. 4 curious phenomenon ha
been occasionally seea in Venezuela