The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-03-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Compiled for the Leader.
A naturalist has found that spiders
are completely deceived by the sound Of
o tuning fork, mistaking it for the buzz
Of a fly.
M. Poirot recently stated to the
French academy that NORWOOD proves
remarkably effective as an insectifuge,
driving away every kind of insect, as
well as mathematics and other serpents.
A new method of reproducing photo
graphs in colors on china will, it is
predicted, completely revolutionize that
art. BY the new process a dinner plate
a be converted into a veritable work
Of art at a slight expense-not one
twentieth Of the cost Of hand painting.
M. Blerzy describes an interesting
experiment in physics which is readily
performed by any person. Place an
iron pot full Of water on the fire. When
the water is boiling vigorously, remove
the pot. then, If the hands be brought
into contact with it, only a moderate
heat is felt. But Immediately the water
ceases to boil. the sensation of burning
ia received. The only risk attending
the experiment, states NJ. Blerzy, is
that Of b~lackening ones hands.
An invention which must prove of
much Importance in architecture and
sculpture has recently been made by
DR.. Gehring, Of Landshut, Bavaria.
By ear Of an enamellng liquid, he
claims to be able to render any kind of
stone or cement harder than granite,
and gives 1t the appearance of any other
mineral desired. The enamel may also
be applied to metal, and is said to eff
fectually preserve it from rust.
Meteorologists have found that United
States storms usually advance from the
upper Mississippi valley toward New
York and New England, less frequently
toward Virginia, and seldom toward
the Carolinas. American storm centres
most frequently pass of the coast be-
tween 45 and so degrees north latitude.
The great waves Of high barometer,
with fierce nosthwest winds in their.
front, usually advance from the Rocky
mountains toward Virginia and the
Carolinas, but less frequently toward
New England.
Sig. G. Bignaml Sormani, Of Milan,
has found that the density of snow at
time of falling varies remarkably.
During his observations he has found
snow 80 dense that 1t weighed over
thirty pounds to the cubic foot, being
nearly half as heavy as water, while the
lightest snow weighed by him showed
but a trile more than two and n half
pounds per cubic foot. y 1t is assumed
that the density Of new-falIen snow is
ordinarily about one-eighth that Of
water, or, in round numbers, eight
pounds each cubic foot.
During the past year two French ex-
p~erimenters have kept nine pigs in u
state Of habitual intoxication, in order
to test the effects Of various alcoholic
stimulants. The digestive apparatus of
the pig quite closely resembles that of
man, and for this reason these animals
were chosen for the experiments. The
savants have found that the pig taking
absinthe is first gay, then excitable, ir-
ritable, combative, and finally drowsy
the pig under the influence of brandy is
cheerful until he falls asleep; the pig
treated to rum becomes directly sad and
somnolent, while the gin taking pig
assumes a most eccentric line of con
duct-grunting, ~squealing, fitting his
head against the sty door, rising on his
hind legs, and otherwise behaving yer,
unlike ordinary, sober pigs. The ami.
mails subjected to these experiment.
are said to be none the worse for their
years drunk.
DIR. J. Holetshek has lately given a
review Of the worlds knowledge of the
asteroids, onlthe group Of bodies which
revolve in orbits between those of Mars
and Jupiter. OF the two hundred plan
cts Of this group which had been dis
covered up to July, 1870. sixty-three
we're discovered In the United States,
sixty in France, twenty eight in Ger
many, seventeen in Austria, fifteen in
Great Britain, eleven in Italy, five in
Asia, and n in Denmark. Prof. Pc
tiers. of the Clinton observatory, has
discovered o (36) than any other
single observer. The orbits OF lit were
calculated in Germany, those Of as in
the United States, and those OF the
others In Austria, France, England,
Russia and Sweden. No satisfactory
theory has yet been advanced to account
for the existence Of these remarkable
! little worlds.