St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1882-01-14
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

LdulICS die CfiuSA1tty oSoSia dsASo oAA"e
something shall be done to increase the
usefulness of this department of science.
The balloon society, formed in England
some months ago is now followed by
similar association in Berlin which
intends to hold an aeronautical exhibit
ton at some time during 1882. Among
the plans proposed to the British Bal
loon Society, is that of a balloon to be
kept under control by means Of COM
pressed gas. The gas would be stored
in suitable tank under pressure, and
the balloon would be reduced in size or
enlarged at pleasure by admitting or
withdrawing gas-which might be eff
fected by simply turning crank. The
balloon would Of course fall when re-
duced in size and rise as it became ex
banded, so that ballast and waste of
gas would be rendered unnecessary.
Improvement in another direction is
still sought by aeTonauts who are striv-
ing to travel considerable distances in
predetermined courses. Little success
has attended these efforts. The most
important ballooning scheme now be-
fore the public is Commander Cheyne's
project for reaching the North Pole.
He proposes to travel by sea as far as
practicable, and to complete the dis
lance to the pole in immense balloons.
He is very sanguine OF success. 1t is to
be sincerely hoped that the thought
and money now being devoted to air
navigation may lead to useful results.
Progress thus far has been very slow,
and it must be confessed that little
material advance has been made since
the time Of Montgolfier.
DIR. Born, of Breslau, has found
that when young tadpoles are fed ex-
clusively upon certain articles Of diet
an astonishing preponderance of females
is developed. The proportion in the case
of 144O tadpoles thus reared reached
ninety per cent. The experiments
of NJ. Yung also show that special food
has remarkable effect upon the de-
velopment Of sex in tadpoles. @
How greatly would human knowl-
edge be narrowed had the microscope
never existed This wonderful instru-
ment has not only revealed the magni-
tude and Importance of the unseen
world about us, and shown us many
hidden marvels, but it has furnished a
means Of studying disease which will
never cease to be an inestimable boon.
1t has shown that the animal body is
preyed upon by variety Of organisms,
producing diseases whose cause would
have never been suspected without its
aid. The knowledge thus gained has in
several instances led to the discovery of
methods of rendering the attacks Of the
minute parasites comparatively harm
less, thus conquering certain dreaded
maladies. Observations of this kind
are only Of very recent date, but the
progress made has been very remarka-
BILE. All epidemic or contagious dis
eases are now believed to be due to
microscopic organisms in the blood,
and it appears quite probable that M.
Pasteur's plan of vaccination may ere
long be successfully applied to all all
ments of this kind with the result Of
greatly reducing their ravages. It is
hope9+hat these new ideas concerning
disease may soon lead to material
lessening OF the death-rate from such
wide spread disorders as scarlet and
typfrus fevers and diphtheria. Truly
great is the work of the microscope.
I'm 1885 q prize Of twenty-five thou
sand francs, offered by the King Of the
Belgians, is to be awarded for the best
work on means and measures for max
ing the study OF geography general and
furthering instruction in that science in
educational institutions.
e
In a new work Paul Du Chaillu des-
cribes curious scene, encountered by
him in Lapland, illustrative Of the
habits of the most generally known of
Arctic animals. On entering a forest
he suddenly found himself in the midst
OF great number of reindeer which
were digging through the snow for the
moss of which they are SO fond. All
except the younger ones were working
Justify, evidently being very hungry.
They dug first with one fore-foot, then
with the other, the holes gradually
becoming larger and larger, and the
bodies of the animals becoming more
hidden. The snow was about four