Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-05-27
Scientific Miscellany.

iridium has been discovered.
\ rare fossil bird, the Archacop-
ter>x, Of which but three specimens
are known 20 exist, has just been
Seculed for tie Balm University at
an eXHcusc 81 81 49,, ; COCO.
In late medical work which has
excited much attention and criticism
Dr.. Decla,c, Of Paris, argues that al
diseases are due to the development
Of invisible parasites either in OF
on the body.
Salmon i'll English waters are
found to be largely infected by Il
fungus which has resulted fatally
to many Of the fish. A recent ill.,
vestiSation showed the chief cause
OF the disease TO be ovcrcr0wding
and an extension of the 81 son for
catching was recommended.
According to DR.. Frankland, the
persistence Of London foes are due
to the fact that the minute vesicles
of water forming; the fog become
covered with thin oily coating
from the smoke of coal, thus pre-
venting evaporation even in u COM
paratively dry state of the atmos-
phere.
An interesting experiment in nerve
grating has been performed by a
Bucharest physician. He removed
a portion of the sciatic nerve OF
a fowl and replaced it by similar
portion of the sciatic nerve of a
rabbit. The ends soon united, and
the fowls leg completely recovered
its power.
About 1872, DIR. Montgomery no
ticeAl in the hands of native of one
OF the islands in the Indian Archi-
pelago the handle of Ratchet formed
of very peculiar material which be-
came plastic in warm water and cap.
able of being moulded in any shape
This accidental discovery led to the
introduction of gutta percha.
The enoculation of cattle as 6
preventative of pleuro-pneumonia
which was first tried in Australia
has been introduced on II large scale
into Edinburgh, Scotland. During
the past three years about 5000
cattle have been inoculated in thu
neighborhood Of that city, reducing
the mortality from seventy-ive tt
about five per cent.
In has been discovered that by
breathing rapidly for four or five
minutes a state, called analgesia, is
induced in which ones sense of pain
is greatly diminished. This phe.
nomenon is now attracting consider
able attention, as it is thought that
rapid breathing may be made to
supplant the use of the ordinary
anaesthetios in dentistry and minor
surgical operations.
A we'll recently developed in the
Pennsylvania region produces oil SC
black that even the glimmer of the
brightest light cannot be seen
through a bottle containing a sam.
pie of it. 1t bears perfect resem-
blance, i'll fact, to the substance
known as coal-tar and emits pow
erful odor precisely like that OF
spirits of tar. What it is good for
or what particular qualities and ele-
ments it possesses, have not yet
been determined.
The quantity of vapor present in
the air about us during the hot days
of Summer has very considerable
influence upon our physical comfort.
In q dry atmosphere evaporation
from our bodies takes place very
rapidly, and, a large amount of heat
being conducted away by the ex-
haiing moisture, an agreeable SEN
sation of GOODNESS is maintained at O
temperature which would seem OPP
pressively hot in an atmosphere al
ready surchanged with moist vapor.
Chemical science has recently sue.
ceeded in extracting the coloring
matter from human hair. Three
colorins pigments are found-yellow,
red and ack,--the various shades
being produced by mixture. 1t ap-
pears that in pure golden hair there
Is only the yellow pigment; IN red
hair the red is mixed with more or
less yellow; while in dark hair the
black is always mixed with yellow
and red-even the blacklist hair con-
tains as much red pigment as the
very reddest the lightest colors be-
ing overpowered by the black.
A horse dashes past series OF
cameras at full speed, and in the
brief interval of a single bound Mr..
L. j. Muybridgo secures dozen or
more photographs of the animal in
successive stages of the leap, each
picture recording a different posi-
ton of the body. To represent the
living animal upon a screen by
means of these views, Mr.. NIuy-