Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-01-07
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

speed of not less than 100 miles an
hour was attained.
An embalmel Egyptian asp, pro-
baby three thousand wears old. is
in ,hc possession Of Boston gentle
man.
"Life, SAYS a distinguished Strl>-
burg rhysiologist, - Is all that can
not be explained by chemistry or
phys,cs.'
late experiments have shown that
seeds thoroughly dried are mucA
slower III producing plants than the
undIicd, while the crops yielded are
considerably greater.
Ei>rlir'iGo of carbon, which has
proved an effective destroyer Of the
phylloEcrl Of tn" vineyards, has also
been found " potent agent for tho
destruction of many other insect
/ pests.
it is stated, on tic authority Of
eve who claims 10 have tried thc cX-
pertinent, that Il handful OF hay
plAccG in pal! Of %3'cr in & newly
painted room w.. - rely ncutral-
ICES the oder. e., a,nt.
!
AZ the !, ,,.ou meeting OF the
American Association for the AL
Iaucemcnt of Science about six hun
bred new lnemhers were elected
Two hundred and eighty papers
We're entered for the meeting.
The so"row!ul tree, 50 called be-
cause /! iiouishes only in the night,
is found on the island Of Goa, near
Bombay. The flowers, which APP
pear soon after sunset, close up or
fall off as tue sun Uses. The tree
has II ilagraut odor, and blossoms AZ
night the year round.
BaGdad, according to a medical
authority, is distinguished for cur
ious and mysterious malady, which
affects every inhabitant of the city,
whether citizen or stranger. 1t is Il
sore, called Il "date mark" because
after it has healed it leaves an indel,
IDLE mark about the size and shape
Of date. It generally makes its
appearance upon the face, lasts Il
year, and then disappears. The
check of nearly every man and wo-
man in BaSdal shows the inevitable
mark. Sometimes it settles upon
the nose, and then the disligurc-
ment IS great; sometimes on tie
cyelid, when blindness results.
Strangers are attacked even after
Il brief residence, but fortunately if
they arc adults, the sore is more apt
to appear on the arm. In every
case the attack rams its course for
one year, and no treatment accelcr.
ates or rctards it, DR.. Thorn has
examined the ulcer microscopically,
and finds it to be composed of
fungoid growth.
NJ. j. Plateau has suggested
method of estimating approximately
the distance at which tho moon
seems to be to different persons.
This plan consists in looking at the
moon steadily until the retina is
sufficiently fatigued to produce an
accidental image or spectral APP
pearauce. The observer must then
turn his gaze to blank wall, on
which he will see the accidental im-
age projected as Il tinted patch of
the same shape as the moon. He
Is 'h"n to retreat from, or advance
to, tie wall until this image appears
to him TO be of tho same size as the
moon itself did. The distance be- |
tween the observer and the wall will
be the same rs that at which he !
unconsciously takes the moon to be.
y person who tried the experiment |
found the distance in his case to
be about one hundred and sixty
feet. This seems Il small distance,
but it may be very inaccurate, rs it
was the result OF a single trial I'M
der rather unfavorable circum-
stances. NJ. Plateau concludes his
paper on the subject by cautioning
all persons who may be Interested
to take care i'll repeating the expert
ment lest the great brilliance of the
luminary. should injure their sight.
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