The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-07-22
SCIENTIFIC. MISCELLANY.

/ A~A-s
A physician reports musk to he the
only efficacious remedy for whooping
cough he has ever tried. ,
An English aeronaut, Mr.. Joseph SIM
mons, has made balloon trip Of ITO
miles in an hour and three-quarters.
The number of hours Of bright suu-
shine recorded at Greenwich Observatory
during 1901 was 1901, which is more than
100 hours above the average of the four
preceding years.
A regular and strong electric current
has been observed in terminating seeds
exposed to moisture, the radicle being
negative tn the cotyledons. The phe-
nomenon is being investigated by Herr
Herman.
According to the report of the Paris
Electrical Exhibition judges, the great
est efficiency of incandescent electric
lamps can not be assumed to be more
than 300 candle-lights for each horse
power of current. s ILL.,.
The height of the atmosphere has been
estimated by DR.. A. Kerber from the
phenomena of refraction. By two differ
ent methods of working out the problem
he obtains a result of liza and of 119. z
miles respectively.
Straps made from various materials
have been tested by Herr Weinlig, who
finds that tho straps of Russian hemp
are about ten per cent. stronger than
those of Italian hemp and twice as strong
as those of cotton. Is
In all departments Of science the
microscope is rapidly gaining favor as a
means of investigation. In a recent
paper H. Reinsch claims that its use in
chemical analysis is not only increasing,
but that i'll some respects it surpasses
the spectroscope in usefulness.
A subterranean forest was recently
uncovered ut a depth of ten feet below
the surface on tt q estate of Lord Norman.
ton, near Peterborough, England. Some
of the trees are of great size, and SO well
preserved that the different varieties
such as oak and elm-may be readily
distinguished.
| The strength of hosting cables fol
mines has been investigated by Frencl
commission. Greater care is found to b
necessary with metallic cables than wit
those of textile materials, on account Q
liability to corrosiop1 and preference
given to the latter for most mines.
By an improved method, the quantit
of blood in living mammals has bee
ascertained to be between one-twelft
and one thirteenth of the weight of til
body. Under normal conditions thi
proportion varies but little. A health
man weighing $50 pounds must therefor
carry about twelve pounds of blood.
Mr.. R. McLachlan gives it as hi
opinion that many of the wood -eatin:
insects do not attack healthy trees, bu
only those which have commenced t.
decay from the operation of other causes
These insects are not responsible for th'
, destruction of the trees, but simply 70
fastening the process after it has beer
begun.
Prof. w. Zenger has for a considerabl
time been trying to prove the existenc
of a tolerably well-defned period in til
occurrence of terrestrial phenomena
such as earthquakes, storms, variation
in atmospheric pressure and i'll tempers
ture, magnetic disturbances, etc. Th
length of Prof. Zenger's period is II.
days, corresponding to a half-rotation c
the sun.
A remarkable block of amber wa
lately found in the Baltic Sea. Piece
Of amber rarely weigh more than
pound, but this specimen not onl
weighs more than eight pounds bt
possesses all the qualities Of the rares
kinds. The largest piece of amb.
4 known is one in the meteorological mus
: um of Berlin, weighing thirteen and
8 half pounds.
a An Italian, Prof Carlo Pavesi, pr
= poses as an improved disinfectant
i solution composed of chloride of linn
: camphor and glycerine. This eompour
4 may be used in all cases where phen
n acid is now employed, and its oder
}, less poisonous than the latter. It
: claimed that the putrefaction Of amin
n bodies is Immediately arrested by it.
# Croll, in his I" Climate and Time
8 says: "Here is one way of conveyil
to the mind some idea of what millis
J. of years is. Take strip of paper ;
it inch broad or more, and eighty-thr
e feet four inches in length, and stretch
9 along the wall of large hall, or roul
II the walls of an apartment somewh
over twenty feet square. Recall
l. memory the days of your boyhood, so
e to get some adequate conception o. VIII
" a period of hundred years is. Th
lc mark off from one Of the ENDS of t
t. strip one-tenth of an inch. The or
ID tenth of an inch will then represent O
,e hundred years, and the entire length
ID the strip million of years. It is "
c. worth making the experiment, jnst
F. order to feel the striking impressi
ID that it produces on the mind. Could