The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-05-07
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

hibited at the forthcoming exhibition of
electrical apparatus at Paris. and will
doubtless attract much attention from
scientific men.
"A late novel application of electricity
is the construction Of !. soldering iron
in whicl, Il piece of platinum is heated
by the electric current, and employed to
fuse any kind of solder.
BY means of newly y-improved pumps,
it is possible to secure Il vacuum SO near
ly perfect that given space will contain
not moro than the hun.lred-mllont Of
its normal quantity of air.
The body of colossal rhinoccros
was recently found in Siberia, a country
most rich in gigantic fossils. Like the
mammoth washed ashore by the Lena
River in 1899, it is remarkably well pre-
served, the skin being unbroken and
covered with long hair.
The effect of aIloying certain metals
with certain other metals is quite re-
markablc. The presence If one-twen-
gold will render bar an inch thick so
brittle that it may readily be broken by
a slight rap with a hammer.
Recent Investigations have shown
the depth of the ocean between latitndcs
sixty degrees North and sixty degrees
Sonth to be nearly three miles, or $500
fathoms. The greatest depth which has
been asccrtained by sounding is five
miles and quarter, or 1920 fathoms,
and occurs in the Northwest Pacific
Ocean. This represents a thickness Of
the water layer nearly equal to the
height of the loftiest known mountain.
An Australian correspondent fur
nishes interesting proof of the provident
and far-secing instinct of bees. Last
year the drought in New South Wales
was of long duration, and the denizens
of tho apiaries suffered much from it..
This year the bees have made provision
against Il similar emergency by filling y
large number Of the external cells in
every hive with pure water instead of
honey. 1t is believed that the instinct of
the insects leads them to anticipate Il
hot Summer and to provide against it.
After IL cruise of IL few months in the
South Pacific Ocean, 4 French man-o Of
war was recently found to have speci-
mems of living coral growing upon it's
hull, which interesting discovery has
thrown some light on the question of the
rapidity growth Of corals. The evidence
tends to show that the vessel OH passing
u reef of the Gambler Islands. against
which it rubbed had picked mp II young
tungia, which adhered to the sheatliiny
Of the ship, and grew to the size and
wei light it had when observed Il, diameter
Of niue inches and a weight of two and
half pounds-in nine weeks.
A new use for photography in con
nection with the higher arts has been
found i'll the discovery that it may be
relied upon to detect amy restoration OF
tanlpering with old paintings. On re.
Gently examining the first proof of /;
well-known Madonna, in the British Ma
tional Gallery, the photographer observed
a disfignrinS blur over the forehead. Nc
i, III l.,
except upon close inspection with The
aid Of magnifying glass The micro
scopic examination showed that the re
storer had repaired some casual lamag,
Will, 4 skill that reproduced the colo
and the texture of the painter; but Ii,
had not used the same pigments, an,
this was instantly detected by the subtl
chemistry of light
The Journal de Physique - long etlite,
by NJ. TAlmri,l;,, lately deceased
rates this interesting episode: Durin;
the Investment and siege of Paris hy til
German armies in 1901 NJ. dc'Almeid
took Il prominent part i'll certain attempt
to rc-cstablisl telegraphc commulica
ton between Paris and the provinces
using the river Seine as II conductor
This suggestion originated with NJ Boul
bouze (of gaivanometcr fame), WHO was
after the war, created a clIevalier for hi
suggestion. 1t was proposed to sen
e. ~.
from batteries at the nearest availabl
point outside the German lines, and t
receive in Paris by delicate galvanomt
ters, from the river snch II portion {
, these currents as might not have leakc
into the earth. After some lreiminar
experiments, it was decided to make Il
attempt, and accordingly on Dec.
i $50, NJ. d'Almeida was despatched l.
> balloon to the provinces i'll order to II
to esta blish this novel mode Of telegraph
> witlunlt wires. The balloon ,ltsseudt
after slIn'lry perils III the Arcadian sol
tudes Of Champagne outside the Prussia
lines. Thence he proceeded to Havl
where lie was compelled to wait for II
arrival OF apparatus from England. II
= instruments We're conveyed to Poss
where NJ. d'Almeidl arrived on Jan.
= 1871. lee in the river now interfere
; and ere the attempt at communicate,
could be made the armistice was ,l
. claimed 1t was too late: and the wor
missed Il famous scientific exploit fro
among those which made the siege
Paris notable beyond all other sic.es
:. history.