The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1881-05-12

sgIENTIFTQ

Copper has been detected in the soil
Of church yard, and in portions Of exc
humed bodies.
A new scientific instrument is the
'' 'uviOmet6r,' which registers the
/ quantity Of rain falling within a certain
period, and the duration and hour Of
the fall
/ According to a London Journal, the
| orange specks Of the gasights along the
| Thames embankment were seen to shine
| dimly through o recent fog while the
brilliant white glare Of the electric
I lamps was indistinguishable.
/ Mr. W. n. Lockington states that
Of three hundred and eight species Of
! fishes, mostly marine, occurring on the
| Pacific coast, all but thirty-seVen are
found in California. OF the dFe hum
dred and forty fresh-Water species
known in the United States, but thirty
/ seven are found in California.
The authorities Of the postofiee in
| Glasgow, Scotland, are about to make
arrangements for the permanent light
ing of the main departments Of the
building with the Compton electric
system. Satisfactory experiments had
/ been made with that system for some
time in the sorting room and in the tel
/ egTaph instrument Office.
If aIoes are believed to be present in
cOrdials, eliXirs, liquors, or beer, Hugo
Borntrager gives this rapid method of
testing the question: A portion Of the
| liquid is well shaken with twice its
volume Of benzine, and the behavior Of
the mixture with ammonia IS observed
If no red COlOratiOn is apparent, aloeg
can only be present in very Insignificant
quantity or not there at all
With the view Of approximately as
certaining how long after death phOs-
phOrus can be detected in cases Of poi
sOning, DR.. L. MediCus killed a hen
with that substance. TWenty-three
days afterward the fowl was disseCted.
The digestive organs were observed to
be quite luminous, and the presence Of
phosphorus was easily detected.
/ Opium is harvested in this manner in
the Province Of KweichOW, China: As
soon rs the petals fall an incision IS
made in the pOppyhead with a small
three-bladed knife again and again,
until all the milky Juice escapes and is
secured in a bamboo tube. When the
Juice is dried in the sun and turns
black it is considered fit for market.
According to the experiments Of NJ
Grehant, air containing 1900 Of its
volume of carbon diOxide proved fatal
to a dog which inhaled it for fifty min
utes. With another dog Of the same
size the fatal dose was 1880. A rabbit
resisted various proportions Of mixtures
Of air and carbon diOxide until the lat
/ ter rose to 1-60 of the volume Of air;
while a sparrow died with 1-5O0
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 q
rapid succession Of sparks is passed be
tween them, whereby they are raised to
incandescent heat A disadvantage i5
the noise attendant on the rapid sparks
An easy method for showing whether
butter is adulterated with beef fat has
been submitted by Hager. He satu-
rates q cotton wick with a suspected
sample, which is first melted. He then
lights the wick and permits It to burn
for about two minutes. At the end Of
that time, when the wick is eLtinguish-
ed, an OdOr ike that given by a talOW
candle when its flame is blown out is
readily perceived if the butter is aTti-
fetal