The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-10-28
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
II has been demonstrated at Havre
that the use of the telephone between
ships in the l,arbor and the town il
practicable even IN rough weather
The fifteen years research Of the Bri
fish Associations Committee on Under.
ground Temperature shows, rs the main
result attained, that the temperature, OF,
u wide average, increases downwartls ut
the rate OF one Fahrenheit degree for
every sixty.four feet.
With u new apparatus for ascertaining
the velocity of railway trains, train
weighing LIS tons aud travelling ut q
speed Of forty-fve miles M hour las
been found to rim few feet more that,
five miles after STEAM had been shnt off.
The track was level and the day calm.
The constant appearance Of y minute
quantity Of copper in bread led a Euro
pean chemist to make u careful cxamiDa-
tion of wheat, wllei, ina million partssof
the grain le found nine and one-fonrth
parts of metallic copper. A somewhat
larger proportions Of the metal was found
in oats.
A Belgian physicist, Mons. Nelson's,
proposes forming u cage Of rods over
buildings to ensure absolute safety from,
lightning. He las shown by late expert
,nonts that the most powerful discharges
from a Leyden battery could not injure
living animal enclosed in hollow
sphere Of metallic links.
A study Of OLE records has shown "a
Roman sanitary engineer that the ma
larial region now surrounding the city
OF Rome was once healthy and populous,
and his Investigations have CONVINCED
him that a restoration of the ancients'
system of deep draining would free these
lands. from their tevcr-taint.
Mr.. w. B. Wickcn says that the large
wart-jike glands Oh the head and back
Of the toad secretc thick, yellowisl,-
white fluid Of All exceedingly acrid and
offensive nature. II these glands arc
squeezed or handled roughly, the sccre-
ton is cxutlcd through Il number of pin.
like pores i'll the surface of the glands
This fact is doubtless what gave the toad
It's reputation as a.vcno,nous reptile.
At the summit of the Ritlel-S5OO feet
hisli-Capt. Abney has found the spec
trum of the sun to be tho sane as in
London, but there is u vast tlilninution
OF light rs well...as Of aqueous vapor.
The quantity Of alcohol and bcnzine in
the atmosphere was found to bc much
greater at that altitude than ut sca-level,
which leads Capt. Abncy to conclude
that these substances come to lis FROM
space.
The soy l'can-soja aospida -api,fo on chcs
more nearly to animal food in its proxi-
mate composition than any other known
vegetable productions, being singula,lv
ssN' ~ NAIu III 6lbuuIIHOlllS. i his
bean forms an important article Of food
in Japan aad China, where dozen or
more varieties are known. OF late it has
attracted considerable attention in
Europe, and numerous attempts hav.
been made to acclimatize it in several
L"rolean countries, some OF the expert
mrnts being reported tolcrably success
full.
An English clergyman, Rev. W. Hough-
t'n, has male a study Of the stomacl,s of
sca-tishes with "a view of lcarning the
relations which exist sbetw.cn The f,,o}
"t til. various species aud the quality OF
their flesh, rs well us the bearing of their
.ona-snlplics upon distribution and
migration. ilis Investigations have thus
far hrcn chiefly confined 10 North Se.
fishes. lIe finds that whitehall aud
,aackcrrl live largely upon small crust:,-
cra:,s, aud lcii.ses that the rich quality
1T the hrrrins's flesh is dua to the sam.
nutritious food.
From experiments made With various
.tisini.c,ing substances upon vaccine
Virus, llr. e. Z. Sternbery, l.. S. 4. sur
:se"n, has concluded that chlorine, sui
phuro.s acal and nitrous acid are rel.-
able tlisinf,'ctants in tbs proportion Of
one yelune TO one hundred volumes of
air. In !. lt:.,ist atmosphere :; considcra-
bly, s,tsslisr lropariion might be effec-
live. He considers the u>c of c.rbolic
acid ia a a,si.ft.etant to be Impractical
hl- an acc"alnt Of the high cost Of tho
pine acid aud ,ho large quantity rcccs-
6aly 10 cnsu,o thorough results.