St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1881-02-05
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

A matchmaker at copenhagen Is re-
ported to have made q watch whic.i re-
quires no winding mp. inasmuctl as il
performs that work itself by means OF
aneiectrlc current. An electromagnetic
fixed inside the watch keeps uDe spring
perpetvally III state OF tension. 10
keep the watch in running order all
that is necessary is to preserve The bat
terry in proper working condition, fol
which purpose one OF two inspections r
year are said to suffice.
The enquiries of Prof. Col,n, OF B1es-
lan, indicate that shortsightedness is
rarely or never born with those subject
TO it, and that it is almost always the
result Of stratus sustained 10y the eye
during study in early yonth.
Even so infiamable a material as cot
ton can now be used for the coDstruc-
ton of fireproof buildings. 1t is con-
verified into a paste-hy chemical treat
ment-whch becomes rs hard az stone.
1t is moulded into large slabs, and des.
ignated as architectural cotton.
Another scare is to follow that in re-
gard to color blindness. Statistics have
just been published by learned Held
elbcrg professor to prove that engln-
GERS on railways are peculiarly subject TO
affections OF the ear which might COM
promise the safety of passengers.
The force excrted by the discharge Of
heavy guns is something tremendous.
In some recent experiments ut Wool
wich it was estimased that the pressure
npoR the base of the gun at the moment
of the explosion was more than sixty
tons per square inch.
One of Edison's inventions, in con.
nection with his system Of electric
lighting, is the aceJe,n,eter. This is an
instrument for measuring the amount
of electricity flowing through circuit,
or, in other words, q meter for electric
currents to tell tho Number of webers
that have been!supplied.
Atmospheric pressure has /. very de-
cided influence upon the melting point
ofrarious substances. Under ordinary
circumstances, ice melts ut thirty.two
degrees Fahrenheit, but, ia some re-
cent experiment., DIR. Carnel!y is said to
heated it in vacuum to $50 de-
grees before it became liqueiied. At
much lower temperature the ice rapid
ly disappeared. however. passing di-
rectly from q solid state to that of vapor.
A Hungarian chemist has lately shown
some surprising experiments in Paris
with a new light-siving substance
which burns with so little heat that its
fame will not set fire to q handkerchief,
carpet, or other fabric with which it
may come in contact. A person may
hold the bnrning liquid in his hand
without injury. This new illuminating
fluid is prepared from petroleum..
White light being the sum total OF
the various colors, it has been generally
believed BY. physicists that the sensa-
tion of white light is simply the sum
total of tho sensations of It's constituent
colors. On the ground that the sensi-
tiseness Of the eye for white light may
be illcreased--as, for instance, " II.
previous absence of all light-wishout
the sepa;45Ar for color being ip-
creased, erof. charpentic. ,.sves fire
novel theory that there is color sense az
distinct from that OF light as ia the
sense OF touch from the scnse Of beat.
At the Castle OF Sinlonetta, abont
twenty miles from Milan, Surprising
echo is produced between the two wings
Of the building. The report of q pistol
is repeated BY this echo sixty times;
and Addison, WHO visited the place on
a somewhat feggy day. when the air
was unfavorablc to tile experiment..
fifty.six repetitions. 1t is
stated that the sound Of one masieatin-
strument 10 this place resembles great
number playing IN concert.
A new island. $50 feet in diameter. is
reported to have lately risen III the SEES
OF AEoff. Its appearance wasaecompa-
sfa b. marin it e e ssaapp.ien,