The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-07-02
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

3 picture in the world" "a fresco from
; tomb at Maydoom representing six gees
5 Two naturalists have found that IL
trunks of trees undergo daily changes
: diameter. From early morning to earl
t afternoon there is IL regular diminutio,
, followed until twilight by an ncreas
This is repeated at night.
, By means of the 0detective Camera
new feat in pAotography-photograpl
, asay be takea in the street, or i'm an
other place, without the knowledge {
tue individuals being Photographic,
The apparatus appears externally Ike
book or small box
Some of the remedies adopted b
modern medical sciencs are peculiar
Fnchsinc-a bright aniline dye-wa.
not long since recommended in Bright
disease, and now the use of nitro
glycerine i'll minute doses is advised fo
certain chest affections.
1t has been proven by experiment tha
the tarriny Of ropes slightly diminisle
their tenacity against il pulling strain
but preserves i'll them a high average o
tenacity much longer than in the un
tarred ones, on account Of the protectio,
the tar affords against the destructiv,
action of the air and moisture.
The desert interior of Australia proba
bly, affords tho hottest climate in tin,
world. A thermometer graduated to II.
degrees Fahr. was hung in a shaded
place, and the heat became so great us tt
cause the expansion of the mercury t,
burst tho tube-indicating temperatur,
OF not less than 1913 degrees in the shade
Scientists expect the activity Of the
suns surface-shown by the number and
size of the dark spots-to rcacl, maxi
mum in 1882 or 1893. The tremendous
energy Of the solar commissions is far
beyond our conception. Ifcaught in the
| track OF a sun tempest body like our
earth would be swallowed up bodily and
almost instantly.
NJ. Trfcul has described q remarkable
phenomenon, of the nature of globuIar
lightning, observed by him during !,
thunderstorm last August A very
bright ball, somewhat elongated, passed
out OF a dark cloud and into it at another
place; but, just before disappearing, it
gave off Il little of its substance, which
fell vertically, like Il body having
weight. The falling body, which left a
luminous track, divided and was cxtin-
guishcd Il little above the tops Of the
houses
NJ. Treve recently made the singular
observation that the flame of Il lamp ap-
pears brighter, and that Il vertical shaft,
Il post, or mast is seen more distinctly
through u vertical than through hori-
zontal slit; while a house, landscape
or the disc of the sun or moon is per-
ccivcd more clearly through horizontal
slit. He finds similar differences in pho
tographs according as the light passes
from the object to the plate through a
vertical or 4 horizontal slit, and ascribes
the effect to the action of ditfused light.
Some interesting statements concern
ing early dentistry have been lately
made i'll a discussion in tic British Med
ical Journal. Sir Gardiner Wilkinson de
clares that teeth stopped with gold have
been found i'll Egyptian num1nics-a
thing which others pronounce impossible.
DIR. John Cal gor affirms that he has seen
i'll several museums teeth bound to-
getl'er in skulls Of ancient date by
threads Of gold twisted around them.
Another gentleman once saw in Il Liver
pool museum the jawbone of mllmmified
Egyptian in which a number of teeth
were secured by gold wire. These state
ments seem to show the existence of
some sort Of dentistry at very early
date. The art of binding teeth together
was, it is claimed, practiccd by the
EIindoos about six hundred years ago.
A recent publication of the Brussels
Observatory states that there are at
present 11a public astronomical observa-
tories in full activity, viz /: 81 in Europe,
2 in Asia, 9 i'll Africa, 3 in Octanica, and
"a in North and South America. The
United States has 10; Mexico 2; Brazil,
Chill, Columbia, Ecuador, the Argentine
Republic and New Britain, ] each. In
Europe, Prussia contains tie largest
number, %; England has "a. Russia II;
Italy, 9; Austria, 6; France, 6; Switzer-
land, 4; Sweden, 3; Holland, Norway
and Portugal, 2 each Belgium, Greece
ant, Denmark, each. The oldest obser-
vatory now iii operation is that of Ley
den, founded in 1882 Six observatories
of the most perfect equipment have been
established in America since 1870.
The following curious optical Illusion
has been described by DR.. Can,lczc, of
Liese. Take sheet of paper eight OF
ten inches i'll length, and, having rolled
it into a tube, apply it to the right eye
with the left hand. Keep both eyes open,
and look at an object a few yards off,
say a small statuette. 1t will appear
that the right eye, imprisoned by the
paper tube, does not see the object; but
that the left eye alone perceives it, and
seem to distinguish it through an orifce
open in the left hand. The left hand
holding the cylinder appears very dis
tinc,|y perforated Another very inter
-rStiu.1 o ,..ri,ucut zauSiSts T.. L1.IL;