The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-02-12
NUMBER 20.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

1t was estimated in q recent lecture
that sixty tons of SCOT are daily sent into
the air by the chimneys of Sheffield. The
opinion is rapidly gaining ground in
England that the way to avoid smoke is
to burn the solid and gaseous constitu-
ents of the fuel separately.
The largest library of the world, at
Paris, contains many curious aud in
teresting work. Among them may be
found Chinese chart of the heavens.
made about 600 years B. G.. In this chart
145O stars are correctly inserted, rs cor
roborated by the observations of modern
astronomers.
1T has been found by several micro
scopists that the cause of whoopinp
cough is peculiar fungoid growth, which
first germinates under the tongue and
then pervades the air passages Quinine
is found to be a very valuable antidote
by virtue of its welLestablished power to
destroy microscopic vegetable organisms.
A matchmaker at Copenhagen is re-
ported to have made watch which re-
quires no winding up, inasmuch as it
performs that work itself by means of an
electric current. An electro magnet fixed
inside the watch keeps the spring per-
petually in a state of tension. To keep
the watch in running order all that is
| necessary is to preserve the battery in
proper working condition, for which pur-
pose one or two inspections year are
said to suffice.
Near Herculaneum the ruins of .
once magnificent bathing establishment
have lately. been discovered by Prof.
Giuseppe Novi. The remains were found
under layer Of more than thirty feet of
asLes and lava, and are said to eclipse
all previous discoveries of similar ma
ture both in Hercnlaneum and Pompeii.
The fountains and tanks are made of
lures, the floors are Of colored glass mo-
sale, while tie walls of the various
| buildings are elegantly ornamented with
paintings and stucco- work.
| Dwellings which havsti rsmained
| empty may become fever-beeders when
reoccupied. 1t is asserted by All English
sanitarian that typhoid, diphtheritic aud
zymotic affections have been found to
arise under these circumstances. The
cause is supposed to lie in the disuse Of
cisterns, pipes and drains, putrefactiye
processes going on i'll the impure air they
contain, while this foul air gradually
permeates the entire house. Persons
moving from the city to their country
homes for tho summer should see that
the drains and pipes are in perfect order,
that the cellars and cisterns are cleared
| of rubbish, and the whole house thor
oughly aired before being occupied. Car
bolic acid freely used in the cellar is q
cheap and effective disinfectant.
Among the petroleum springs Of Ba~
ku, on the western shore Of the Caspian,
| is ono communicating with the sea,
which produces at times very striking
phenomenon. The floating Oil that COW
ers the surface of the sea is frequently
ignlted by accident, turning the smooth
water into veritable lake Of fire. The
most famous of these conflagrations-to
which the superstition of the natl, es
gave the name of "Shaitaun Noor," OF
DEVILS Light-occurred in 1872. 1t broke
out in the middle OF the night, and was
declared by Russian naval officer, who
witnessed it from the deck of o gunboat.
to be the most remarkable spectacle he
had ever seen. The sheet Of flame waved
to and fro in the wind like flag, light
ing up sea and shore for miles, and throw
ing deep crimson glow into the sky
which was VISIBLE to the inhabitants of
several inland districts far out Of sight
of the sea itself.
-Concerning the duration and char
acter of the Arctic winter, Lient. Schwat-
ka, the Arctic explorer, makes these in-
teresting ments: The generally
received opinion that the Arctic winter,
especially in the higher latitudes, is il
long, dreary one of perfect Opaque dark
ness, is not strictly correct. In latitude 2S
degrees 20 minutes n, the highest point
ever reached by man, there are a hours
and AZ minutes Of twilight on December
%, the shortest day in the year in the
Northern Hemisphere. In latitude ~
degrees 81 minutes N, the highest point
where white men have wintered, there
> are hours and minutes in the shortest
day, and 325 geographical miles from
that point must yet be attained before
the true Platonic zone, Or that one III
which there is no twilight whatever
even upon the shortest day of the year
can be said to have been entered by
= man. The North Pole itself is only
9 shronded in perfect blackness from No
vember 13, to January 20, a period of q
days. snpposing the sun has set (sup
posing also circumpolar sea or body o
water unlimited to vision) on Septemhe
J. "a, not to rise until March Is, for tina
p particular point, giving period of al,ou
Y so DAYS of uniformly varYtng twilight