The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-01-23
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY


terestiDg work. Among them may be
found a Chinese chart of the heavens,
made about 600 Yeas b. c. In this
chart 14e0 stars are correctly inserted.
as eorroborated by the observations Of
modern astronomers.
|. Among the petroleum springs OF
Baku, on the western shore of the Cas-
plan, is one communicating with the
sea, which produces at times a very
striking phenomenon. The floating oil
that v the surface of the sea, is
frequently ignited by accident, turning
the smooth water into a yeritaLle lake
Of fire. The most famous of these
confiagrations-to which the supersti.
ton of the natives gave the name of
tShaitaun Moor" or DEVILS Light
occurred in 1872. 1t broke out in the
middle of the night, and was declared
by a Russian naval officer, who wit
messed it from the deck of a gunboat,
to be the most remarkable spectacle he
had ever seen. The sheet of flame
waved to and fro in the wind like a flag,
lighting up sea and shore for miles, and
throwing a deep crimson glow into the
sky which was visible to the inhabitants
of several inland districts far out Of
sight Of the sea itself.
1t has been found by several micro
scopists that the cause of whooping
cough is a peculiar fungoid growth,
which first terminates under the tongue
and then pervades the air passages.
Quinine is found to be a valuable anti
dote, by virtue of its well established
power to destroy microscopic vegetable
organisms.
Concerning the duration and charac-
ter of the Arctic winter, Lieut.. Schwat-
ka, the Arctic explorer, makes these
interesting comments: 1.-THE generally
received opinion that the Arctic win
ter, especially in the higher ATTITUDES,
is a long dreary one, of perfect Opaque
darkness, is not strictly correct. In
latitude 23o 90 H., the highest point
ever reached by man, there are four
hours and forty-two minutes Of twi-
light, on December 22d the shortest
day in the year in the northern hemis-
phere. In latitude $50 81 n, the high
est point where white men have win
tered, there are six hours and two min
utes in the shortest day, and 32S geo.
graphical miles from that point must
yet be attained before the true platonic
zone, or that one in which there is no
twilight whatever, even upon the short
est day of the year, can be said to have
been entered by man. The north pole
itself is only shrouded in perfect black
ness from November 18th to january
Goth, a period of II days. Surprising
the sun has set (supposing also a cir
cumpolar sea or body Of water unlimit-
ed to %vision) on September oath, not to
rise until March 18th for that particu-
lar point, giving a period of about 80
days of uniformly varying twilight, the
pole has about 1873 days of continuous
daylight, 100 days of varying twilight,
and n of perfect inky darkness (save
when the moo has a northern declina-
tion) in the period of a typical year.
During the period of a little over four
days the shines continuously on
both the north and south poles at the
same time. owing to refraction, paral-
lax, semi-diameter and dip of the hori-
zon.n
Near Herculaneum the ruins of a
once magnificent bathing establishment
have lately been discovered by Prof.
Giuseppe Now. The romaiAs were
found under a layer of more than thirty
feet of ashes and lava, and are said to
eclipse all previous discoveries of a sim
liar nature, both in H%erculaneum and
Pompeii. The fountains and tanks are
made of oriental marble, and adorned
with..sculptures, the floors are of col
ored glass mosaic, while the walls of
the various buildings are elegantly or
namented with paintings and stucce
| work.
Dwellings which have long remained
empty may become fever breeders when
reoccupied. 1t is asserted by an Eng
lish sanitarian that typhoid, diphther-
itic and other zymotic affections have
been found to arise under these circum.
stances. The cause is supposed to lie
bin the disuse of cisterns, pipes and
drains, putrefactivo process going on in
the impure air they contain, while this
foul air gradually permeats the entire
house. Persons moving from the city
to their country homes for the summer,
should see that the drains and pipes are
in perfect order, that the cellars and
cisserns1nre cleared of rubbish, and the
whole house thoroughly aired before
being occupied. Carbolic acid freely
used in the cellar is n cheap and effec-
tive disinfectant.
1t was estimated in n recent lecture
that sixty tons of SCOT are daily sent
into the air by the chimneys of Shelf
field. The opinion is rapidly gaining
ground in England that the way to
avoid smoke is to burn the solid and
gaseous constituents of the fuel sepa-
rately.
TTnrrnTUC 1000. .Es