St. Landry democrat., 1881-06-04
J. In Providence we trust"-everybody else cas-
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

"In Providence we trust'-everybody else cas-
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
The degree of heat necessary to des
troy trichinae in pork is matter of i'm
portance as safeguard against trichi
nosis. A German microscopic state
that only the most thorough cooking O
the meat will insure perfect safety. a
pork cooked to the degree known a
"rare" may still contain the living par
asites so much dreaded.
A French electrician, M. Cattle, ha
investigated the peculiar sounds which
interfere with messages sent OF
telephone lines. He finds that tn,
sounds are largely due to the Vibration
of the telephone wires by the wind. Til.
sounds are doubtless often produced BY
the inductive action of electric currents
passing over neighboring telegraph
wires but this is far from being the
only cause, as has been generally be.
lieved.
A German naturalist has contrasted
the behavior of different animals to-
wards steam machinery. That proven
bially stupid animal the OK, stands COM
posedly on the rails in front of loco
motive without having any idea of the
danger which threatens him dogs run
among the wheels of a departing rail-
way train without suffering any injury
and birds seem to have peculiar de-
light in the steam engine. Larks Of
ten build their nests and rear their
young under the switches Of railway
over which heavy trains are constantly
rolling. and swallows make their homes
in engine houses. A pair of swallows
have reared their young for years in a
mill where noisy three hundred horse
power engine is working night and day,
and another pair have built their nest
in the paddle box of steamer.
The oldest specimens Of timber in the
world are supposed to be the dowel
pins contained in the ancient temples
of Egypt. These dowel pins are incor-
porated with the stone work, which is
known to be not less than 1000 years
old, and are believed to have been
made from the tamarask or shittim
wood of ancient Egypt-a tree now
sometimes found in the Nile valley.
Careful observations have shown the
following to be about the average
growth in twelve years of several va
Tieties of hard wood when planted in
groves and cultivated: White maple
becomes foot in diameter and 30 feet
high; ash, leaf maple or box elder,
foot in diameter and 20 feet high;
white willow, Is inches in diameter and
40 feet high; yellow willow, 10 inches
in diameter and 35 feet high; Lombar-
dy poplar, 10 inches in diameter and
% feet high; black walnut and butter
nut, 10 inches in diameter and 20 feet
high.
DR.. Hammond states that there are
very few, if any cosmetics that do not
contain lead. He also says that death
from lead poisoning is by no means an
case. The introduction of
the lead into the system produces vari-
Gus effects, collie, paralysis. prostration
of the nervous system and insanity
being the most common results.
Recent investigations have shown
the incorrectness of the pretty stories
OF iusect-eating plants which have SO
often been given. Insects are often
caught by sticky exudations Of certain
plants, or otherwise, but no evidence
can be found to show that the plants
digest or eat the insects and thrive by
an abundance of such food, as has been
30 often asserted.
A tricycle. driven by electricity was
J recent exhibition in the streets of
Paris. The experiment was made by
N. Trouve, who adapted two of his
small electric motors to the vehicle. The
irst trial was so successful that the ex-
perlmenter proposes making a larger
motor, by means of which he expects to
attain speed Of 70 to IS miles an hour.
Prof. Huxley declares the supply of
herring in the sea to be practically in
,xhaustible, and that nothing which
nan can do in the ordinary way of des-
ruction will ever appreciably diminish
he stock.
II. Raoul Pictet, Of Geneva, whose
discoveries in the liquefaction of gases
ave given him a worldwide reputa-
ion, announces the discovery of pro-
less of distilling alcohol by ice! He
tates that the method is a very cheap
me. /,
Two eyeless species Of snails, living
q sluggish underground streams of
Tater, have been found in Austria.
1t is reported that eight hundred
heep were, not long since, killed by a
ingie stroke of lightning in India.
Inquiries instituted by French ply
lcian have shown that cases Of illness ;
rising from sleeping in newly papered {
ooms are not infrequent. Such effects
nay be prevented by adding salicylic
cid or some other antiseptic agent to !
ne paste used, to prevent its putrefac- :
ion.
The little city of Brantford, Ontario
lalms the honor Of having been the
birthplace Of the telephone-Prof. G
!eIpa first eynerimants ha uinn l,oan c