The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1881-09-02
POPULAR SCIENCE.

The canal across the Isthmus of Cor
NTH, begun by the Romans under the
Emperor Nero, but. never finished, is
likely to be cut by the French, General
Turr having lately received concession
from the Greek Government to carry
out the project.
A paper on rabies, the joint pro-
duction of Pasteur, Roux, Chamber
land, and Thuillier, was read before
the French Academy of Sciences on
May 30th. The authors state that the
seat of the virus is not confined
to the saliva. The brain contains the
poison, as the authors have produced
rabies by inoculating animals with brain
substance. They also succeeded in
shortening the time of incubation of the
virus through inoeulating directly the
brain of a healthy dog with cerebral
matter taken from mad dog, and by
having recourse to preparation.
Valuable coal deposits have been shown
to exist in Natal by Mr.. F. w. North.
Among the various and prolific seams of
anthracite and bituminous coal, some of
them ten or twelve feet in thickness, he
has found several that yield products
well adapted for locomotive and general
steam purposes. In fact he thoroughly
tested the coal in locomotives before
leaving the country. The impetus which
these coal mines will give to progress in
South Africa is incalculable. Costly i'm
ported English coal has been the main
obstacle to railroad construction. Now,
however, these coal fields are to be placed
in direct communication with the coast
and with the diamond fields.
M. Flammarion is inclined to the be-
lief that comets tails are not material
and are rather some sort of excitation
Caused by electricity or otherwise) of
the ether. The transparency of the tails
goes to support this view. He calculates
also that the tail of the comet Of 1843,
at the distance of the sun from the earth,
must have swept space with velocity
of 64,000,000 metres per second. Any
molecule of matter flying at such rate
would not remain a single instant de-
pendentupon standardization, and would
not go in closed orbit.
Mr.. G. Fl. Darwin has taken pains to
rior of the earth by the weight of con-
tinents and mountains, and he concludes
that either the materials of the earth
have about the strength of granite at
1000 miles from the surface, or that they
have much greater strength nearer to
the surface He confirms Sir William
Thomson's theory that the earth must
be solid nearly throughout its whole
mass, and he attributes the lava of volca-
noes to the melting of solid rock which
exists at high temperature at points
where the pressure is diminished, or to
the existence of comparatively small We
sicles of motion rock.
The presence of disagreeable oders in
the atmosphere was the source of con-
siderable annoyance to people in certain
districts of Paris last summer. The
smells were found to originate in GER
tain establishment where refuse matter
is manufactured into fertilizers. M.
Bouchardat, of the Paris medical faculty,
has examined the question of the effect
of these emanations upon health and has
concluded that they are innocent. He
does not believe that they convey with
them the germs of disease, and finds
that the gases of which they are COM
posed do not load the air enough to pro-
duce aperceptible poisoning. Assuming
that contagious diseases should manifest
themselves within eight or ten days after
the planting of the germs, the weekly
health bulletins of the year have been
examined to learn if any increase of NOR
tality followed the introduction of the
unpleasant odors. No such increase has
been detected.