Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1882-03-30
.,ECIHNTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Many%astronomers have held tn
-,opinion that -A!cyonc, the chief sta
= Of the Pleiades, is the center abou
our solar system revolves. Very curl
= ously, an extraordinary iwp1rtanc
seems also to be given this group .
stars by many savage aud semi civiliz
ed Wild tribes, who have: peculiar he
',liefs concerning it, apparently handet
down TO them from antiquity.
Anothera prehistoric cone has beer
discovered in the old bed of the Rhone
in France. 1t is about 80 feet long
three feet wide and two feet deep. 4
was excavatcd from an oak log, which
was left in its original form with the
exception Of the ends, which were
beveled so as to givea sharp prov and
stern.
Numerous cases of fire from the
spontaneous igni ion of coal have been
recorded. After considerable exper.
'iusnting Mr.. ". NJ. Williams has
concluded that spontaneous combustion
takes place in some degree in all cases
where coal is exposed to the atmos
.phere, although the combustion may
sproceed SO strongly that tho rise Of
temperature will amount to only few
degrees.
Granular vegetable carbon, sa.urat.
cd with sulphuric acid, of which it
holds about seventy times its own vol
ume. is now being tested as a destroy
er Of phylloxera. Buried amongst
roots, it gradually gives off sulphurous
acid gas, aud this being heavier than
Dir, not only pcrmeates the soil, but
hangs about the surface aud aspbyxiates
.the phylloxera.
Cases Of poisoning by carbolic acid
aare not infrequent. Two drachms is,
according to DR.. Reichert, the mini
'msm fatal dose on record, and recovery
rIarely follows dose of half all ounce.
Icebergs are often of enormous size,
measuring miles in area and many
hundred feet in thickness. Hayes saw
: one reaching an altitude of 3l5 feet
above tho sea, and most OF the Arctic
explorers have encountered bergs OF
200 feet or more in height. Pyer has
estimated that in All iceberg 200 feet
above the water a total height Of 600
sto 500 feet may, as rule, he inferred.
An exception to this rule must be the
bergs Capt. Ross saw aground in 1900
feet Of water. A mass Of ice floating
lin the Southern ocean is reported by
Cspt. dUrville to have boon thirteen
smilss long with vertical wallis. 100 feet
high.
In = recent address in justification
Nof compulsory vaccination, DR.. w. b.
Carpenter, the eminent British physi-
ologist presented some interesting ia.
'tistics showing the decrease Of small pox
rim Great Britain with the adoption of
modern protective measures. From
-lG6O to the commencement of the
present century the average annual
snunber'ef deethsfrom small pox was
upwards Of 1000 for each million Of
inhabitants. For the decade lSOl.lO
the yearly small pox mortality was g.
sO4O per million inhabitants. In. 1881.
80 It had fallen to $40. In 1910 means
Tor vaccination were provided BY the
government, aud tho annual rate fell
to 400 million. Then came compulsory
fvaccination in 1853, and in the decade
loo!-6O there were each year but 278
deaths from small pox in each million
inhabitants. In lS6l.7O the number
was .27S. In lS7l.SO the rate was
increased, but the circumstances were
80 decidedly exceptional that these
years can afford no basis for an arcu.
'nent against vaccination.
Archaeological researches have shown
andisputably that the art of weaving
VAS practiced in prehistoric times. 1t
may even date back nearly to the Gre
stion Of man, As fragments of woven
cloth have been found among the rel.
acs Of the Lake Dwellers, who, arc sup
posed 70 have beenab out the first rep
sessntativss Of the human race. The
Bronze Age furnishes specimens which
place Me art above most others in de-
Rree Of peffec.ion, oven fabrics of wool
being found in The remains Of Denmark,
'Scandinsvia and England-the remains
ot France and Switzerland yielding
linen fabrics. The oldest historical
Fefsrsnce to the art of weaving is furn.
sshed by the Bible. Job lamented
shat his days were passing with the
'nsctness OF weaver's shuttle; and
Joseph was attired in "vesturcs of fine
linen"