St. Landry democrat., 1882-11-04
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Channel Is that 1t WOulu open HlSl
way for the invasion of Great Britain
in case of a war with Continental pow,
ers' Dr. Siemens suggests a mover
plan of defense from such INVASION
should the tunnel be constructed. tie
would arrange chambers of chalk, in
communication with the shore ends or
the tunnel, in such manner that the
chalk might be readily Hooded With
dilute muriatic acid. The result OF
tnrning on the acid would be the rapid
filling Of a half-mile or more OF the
tunnel with carbonic acid gas, through
which no human beings could pass
alive.
In the operation known as skin graft
ing, DR.. Samalleree, OF Paris, recently
used at the same time CRAFTS from the
abdomen of rabbit and from the fore
arm of a man. The skin from the rab-
bit gave much the better results, as 1t
readily adhered and grew while the
other did not. Three months after the
operation the healing OF the sore had
continued to progress favorably, and
the engrafted skin showed no trace OF
its origin.
1t has been estimated that there are
about 5000 species OF birds, OF which
of North American birds now embraces
SS9 rpecies, 100 new species having been
added during the last eight years.
By what he terms gaivano-plastic
method, member of Berlin Physical
Society has succeeded in coating or
ganic bodies with metal, so that they
may be indefinitely preserved. He has
shown numerous artlcles-such as
L., Axy q mi In
leaf and rosebud-plated with gold,
silver aud copper, and showing perfect
lv every detail Of their external forms.
DR.. Berenger-Feraud has described a
curious peOple-the itinerant musicians
who travel in every part OF Central
Africa, from the Atlantic to the Indian
Ocean. They are known as Griots, and
constitute distinct confederation, un-
der the authority OF a chief, whose i'll
tuence is very powerful among its scat
tax from their general receipts. They
are regarded with fear and repugnance
by the negro natives Of the lands which
they traverse, and are looked upon as
members of an impure caste, whose
dead are capable of bringing sterility
and perpetual drOuth to the ground in
which they are buried. They are skill
full in improvising and reciting; some
play the violin and guitar, while others
beat the am-tam, or play on various
discordant wind instruments. Their
confederation is undoubtedly of long
standing. They maintain some degree
OF intercommunicatiOn among the Afri-
can races, but frequently make mis-
chievous use Of the extraordinary Ii
cense granted them of going where
they will by fomenting quarrels among
the various tribes.
Prof. William Ramsay suggests that |
the vibration theory be applied to ae-
count for the sense of smell, as he |
deems it probable that smell is excited
by vibrations of lower period than
those which give rise to the sense of
light or heat. These vibrations are
conveyed to the network of nerves in
the nasal cavity by gaseous molecules !
from the substance giving the odor.
The difference OF smells is caused by
the nature and rate Of such vibrations,
just as difference in tone Of musical
sounds depends on the nature and rate |
of vibrations.
Transitory color blindness has been |
produced by a few hours stay in snow
fields illuminated by the sun, all artiti-
cial lights appearing green for short
time.
Before an English committee of in
quiry, DR.. John Hopkinson has ex-
pressed the belief that the whole Of the
electricity generated by one horse
power would not do more than boil
gallon and half of water an hour.
This opinion was given as evidence
bof a1oofrioitp icp NOT I1yn1u fo ax-o,, 1,o
come economically useful for heating
purposes.
A prize of $4,000 has been offered by
the French Government for the most
useful application of Voltaic electricity
made during. the five years ending
July /, 1877, the competition to be open
to all persons. Several of these So
called "Volta prizes" have at different
times been awarded, the first having
been offered by Napoleon l. just after
Volta invented his celebrated "pile."
The last award was made to Prof. A. |
Graham Bell in recognition of his tele-
phonic achievements.
The electrical exhibition soon to be
held at Munich will be Of especial in
terest, as it is proposed to use the 5000 |
horsepower Of the river Isar to drive |
the dynamo-electric machines, and to
show the possibility of employing it to
light streets and houses at a distance Of
some miles as well as to distribute the I
force to the various workshops.
DR.. Hasselberg Of Pulkova has been
able to trace to some distance in the
tail OF the comet the bright lines of
sodium seen by many observers in the
spectrum of Comet Wells. This OBJ
is an important one, and must
explode many OF the theories advanced
the constitution of those re-
and mysterious appearances
known as comets tails.
An Italian, Prof. Carlo Pavesi, pro-
loses as an imnrnvad disinfactant a