Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-05-20
Scientific MISCELLANY.


! The Swiss are said to bo tho on,,,
nation i'll the world who have done
nothing for geographical exploration
beyond the limits of their own Ter
ritory.
The director of II German insane
asylum expresses the belief that
much of the insanity in Germany
may be att!iM'od to the oycrwork of
children III the national schools.
Some experiments by number of
Gerrr.an scientists seem TO show that
the nutiitivc value of pea-straw is
equal to that of clover-hay. Oat-
straw is inferior, both in proportion
OF nutrltive matter and in disestibil-
ity.
In the course of series Of iuyes-
legations, Prof. Gcikie has found
that in some cases tombstones of
marble are worn down quarter of
an inch i'll less than Il century By the
action of storms; in other cases The
stone is disintcgratod internally. so
that the very substance of the mar
bic crnmble8 away. On the other
hand, slabs of freestono and Other
unlaminatcd sand rock are so cndur-
ing that the sharpness of the letters
cut upon them is scarcely b!unted to
an appreciablc degree by century's
exposure.
Muntz, Il French scientist, has
lately examined spring, river, sea
and rain water, also snow. He finds
alcohol iii all except voly pure spring
water. by comparison with water
holding known quantities of alcohol,
rain water and the water OF tho
Seine are estimated to contain about
one game per cubic metre. Snow
and cold rain seem to contain q
little more. The proportion in sea
water is much the same. There is
evident reason to suppose that al
cohol exists in the state of vapor in
air. This diffusion of the substance
III nature is easily explained by tho
destruction of organic matter by
various agents of fermentation. On
this hypothesis one should find u
good deal o. alcohol in tho ground.
\ Paris writer sends the fol-
lowing account of the scientific SEN
satlon: A remarkably interesting ex-
pertinent has just been made at
Calais and Dover, between which
places q conversation has been kept
up viva voco by means of new
kind of telephone, which has been
patented under the name of electro
phone. Net only We're words, whis-
pered into the apparatus at Calais,
distinctly beard at Dover, and of
course vice versa, but the listener at
one end was perfectly well able to
distinguish, by mere tones of voice,
the person who was speaking at the
other end. 1t should be observed
that while the human voice was
being transmitted through one of
the wires tho others were being en-
ployed for the transmission of ordi-
nary telegraphic messages. More
over, the experiments were conduct
ed between the hours of 10 and 4
that is, the busiest part of the day
when TIE wires are in unceusinS re-
QUESTION. The voice of the speaker
was distinctly heard as soon as the
wires were joined to the apparatus,
and conversations were carried on
without interruption in tho the pres
ence of competent spectators.
In paper on the origin of the
pillow, DR.. Taylor states that the first
agricultural implement seems to have
be, II a pointed stick four or-tivo feet
long, such rs many savage tribes
still carry for the purpose of digging
roots, knocking down fruits and I'M
earthing animals. At later date
the stick was bent and used as hoe,
the point being hardened by fire.
In the southern part of Sweden large
tracts of land give evidence Of early
cultivation, which is attributed to
prehistoric people called by tho ma
tives "the hackers" who are always
associated with the giants of mythol-
ogy, and whose rude hoe WAS fir
pole with a short projecting branch.
'Thara cop,o into pCo nFtnrunrl,, n