The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-05-20

MISCELLANY.

Sixty lss:r cent. Ut the meehah1eat
energy converted into electricity and
applied IT, !, Taire storage battsry hi'
cllarging tl.e battery.
Tie librarian Of the Alessaa.liina
Library at Rome, Pref Dc Macs, claim
| 30 have evidence that 4 great Egyptia
,lelisk is buried in the vicinity OF til
piazzi ii San Luigi Iii Frnlces1, near til
isle entrances to tho Senate.
A remarkable cloud, observed i
Guatemala during eight consecutive day.
& las. February, was found to consist %:
seeds floating i'll The air. The stream Il
PARTICLES resems,lc.. snowtltl,es in ar
pearanc.., and was only visible whe
frt.reu The observer and the SIN.
Prof. Dufnnr has presented new ar
interesting proof that the earth is r"''ns'
| The images of distant objects rehec:s'
| il til. Lake of Geneva in calm weathe
show Just the. degree of distortion which
| ;. careful mathematical calculation wnn'f
| ,.reaiet on account OF The shape OF til
earth.
Tho element caesinm has been secured
in an isolated condition Ivy German
chemist, Herr Setterherg. 1t is fonn'i t.
be Il silvery-whiSe metal, resembling
sodium and potassium in general be-
bayior. C;esinm had hitherto resisted
nil efforts to separate it from its coln-
bin;,tinn with oxygen.
According to Mr. P. L. Selater, {. r. s..
the term lipo4ype which is comparative
IL new to science, ~ employed to ;n,'i
cate animals which we should naturally
sxpect to meet hut do not find in cert:si,
parts Of the earth. For instance, Austria
han liputyrcs "re ponkeys, yultures and
woodpeckers.
The appropriations of the British
! government for scientific purposes this
year include $4,000 to the meteorological
Council for furnishing Weather forecasts
to newspapers without cost. The same
liberal patron of science will be called
upon tn contribute 275 900 to dafray he
EXPENSES If observing the transit of
Venus in December.
| The micro-teephone has been applied
by Count Won Eugeni,crg, in the Tyrol,
to the discovery Of underground streams
of water He huries several microphones
|
telephone. With This arrangement he
is enabled, i'll the quiet Of night, to
distinguish the gnrgle of flowing water
at IA considerable depth III the earth.
Tie story is told of the famous German
scientist, Alexander Won Humboldt, tina:
being engaged iii experiments with Gay
, Lussac in Paris and needing large
unmhcr Of glass tubes on which, very
heavy duty was imposed, he instructed
III. manufacturers to seal tue ends Of the
tubes and label them "GerHan am.
The air of Germany was not OH the list
Of duty -paying articles, and the tubes
) duly passed the customs officers without
any demand.
, Mr. w. II. Preece, F. r. S., states that
the explosion of II cannon can be heard
to a distance Of twenty to twenty five
miles and instances are known where
the homha,lmebt Of q town has been
heard ut a distance of one hundred
miles. 1t is very we'll known, he thinks,
I - ~ ,,,,
was heard on the English coast, more
than ono hundred miles from the battle
field.
| NJ. Arthur Morin, of Paris, states that
experiments continued for !, number OF
years Ivy garrisoneI cavalry regiments ii,
various parts of France have proved that
horses are healthier and stronger when
kept in stables with doors and windows
open night and day in all seasons than
observations have been made in stables
containing large numbers Of cattle,
i w llich are by good ventilation relieved
from epi1cDic affections ofthe rcspir;,-
tory organs
The ground in tho Jura mountains is
III a state of movement, rs is shown by
some curious observations pointed out
by NJ. Girar.lot. Villages that were
/ invisible to each other at the beginning
, of the century, or even thirty or forty
years ago, are now visible. First the
roofs appeared, and then the upper part
of the walls. Such is the case with the
r. villages Of Doncer and Marigny, neal
Lake Chalain, Important changes have
been noted even within ten years.
The ventilation Of the great Alpine
tunnels under Mont Gems and the St
Gothard so as to free them quickly from,
/, the smoke Of trains has been work oil
E to create Il current of mir by the keeping
J. of large fires at one end, but the expense
. has been found excessive. A Frenc!
: engineer, NJ. Pressed, suggests that the
same object may be attained by cooling
the air at some point in the tunual BY
I, water, which would give the ,.ifferenc,
in density Of the atmosphere necessary
to cause q dranght. Cool mount tain
streams are numerous in the Alps, and
could be readily applied to the purpose
The havoc wrought by lightning is
D often frightfnl. A few weeks ago Il
I | thuntlerInIt struck :. rhi,nn.,r 1sn fna,
: high-located in town in the north OF
France-and cut II deep fissure in liz
| eutira lnuntL A,nan.. OF ,-a.,.ul.,.