Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1882-03-02
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

IL believed to exceed in quantity that
Of anyether known place. Cherrapunji
. occupies the summit of one of the
j Khasia Hills, at an elevation Of 400
Snfeet. These hills rise abruptly from
} low plains, and lie directly in the course
> of the Southwest Monsoon from the
Bengal coast. SurcharSed with moist
; ute, the air currents sweep across the
lowlandsand are detected upward by
the hills, the expansion of the currents
on rising causing fall of temperature
aud condensation of the moisture. The
i. effect is surprising, for, while the low
!. plains have an average yearly fall of
/. only about 100 inches of rain, the an
= nual rainfall of Cherrapunji is 493
inches, or more than Al feet. As a
; comparison, it may 10 stated that the
/. annual rainfall of the United States is
!. from IL to so inches, being greatest
! near the sea board.
In late paper DR.. James Geikie
!. shows the great size of the Gulf stream
!. and its vast influence upon northern
!. climates, and concludes that tho open
ing Of the proposed canal across the
isthmus Of Panama will have as much
. effect upon the Gulf stream and the
!. climate Of Northwestern Europe as the
/. smptying of teapotful of boiling wa
ter into tho Arctic ocean would have
in raising the annual temperature in
aGrssnland.
A. European observer, M. de Mer-
/. sjswsky, has lately studied certain of
: the lower crustaceans with view of
/. deciding whether or not those creatures
I: arc able to distinguish colors. AS
result Of his experiments, he has con-
cluded that, while the crustaceans are
fully alive to the difference between
light and darkness, it is solely the
]. quantity Of the light and not the quail
ity which effects them, for they cluster
lin nearly equal numbers around two
rays Of equal intensity, whatever may
b the colors. There appears to be,
then, I wide difference between the
lower crustaceans and man in the per-
csption Of light. While we see different
colors and their different intensi,ies,
the crustAcsans sea only one color with
variations Of intensity. We perceive
colors - colors, they only distinguish
them ~ light.
According to the recent calculations
Of Mr.. G. H. Darwin, the earth and
the moon must have formed only one
body soma fifty-four mill on years or
more ago, and at time when this body
Vas rotating at the rate of about one
revolution in five hours the mass now
forming the moon became separated
from It. Thus was the moon born,
and Prof. Ball, in his exposition of
Darwin's views, concludes that in time
the wound on the earth became entire
y healed, leaving no scar to testify to
the mighty catastrophe. To this final
conclusion Mr.. Q. Fisher now offers an
amendment He believes that the scars
yet exist, and that those scars are the
ocean basins. When the moons mass
WA thrown from the earth, the liquid
interior must have risen to fill the hole
and portions Of the granite crust must
have leon borne toward the cavity.
The hole only partially filed up, and
the crust become broken into fragments
which now form the continents.
as the human skull growing thin
hnsrf Is . question raised by Mr.. W.
B. Cooper, who endeavors to provo by
igenerally accepted laws of evolution
that such must be the case. These laws
stsach that the stronger organisms must
:survivs the weak in the struggle for
fife. and that all living creatures pos.
.sess the natural tendency of becoming
accommodated to altered circumstances
within certain limits. Mr.. Cooper ar
ignss that when barbsric warfare and
The dangers Of the chase were common
occurrences tho law Of natural selection
snust have operated to eliminate indi.
viduals with skulls too weak to with
.stAnd the severe shocks to which they
we're exposed. Adaptation, also, must
have sxerted an influence in causing
tho bony armor OF the brain to become
thicksned to serve as protection for
that delicate organ. With civilized
man change is found. Natural selec-
tion no longer has special occasion to
3 remove persons Of weak crania, As the
'akall Is seldom exposed to violence.
For the same reason, the law of adap.
tation, which like all evolutionary laws
may b either progressive or retrogres-
'sive, lands rather to decrease the skull s
thickness than to increase 1.-THE brain
no longer having need of strong pro-
tective covering. Mems skulls are now
les exposed to violence than at any
former period in the worlds history,
y bat in view Of the fact that the most
edvanced races Of to-day, were harbar.
4ans few centuries ago it is obviously
teo carly too look for any great change.
He maintains, however, that in accord
Ance with theory the brain must be
fhst losing its shield, and points out
chat it u no unusual event NOWADAYS