The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1882-03-16
POPULAR SCIENCE.

TIN function of yeast is to change
starch into sugar and that into alcohol.
MULLER asserts that certain butterflies
will only visit blossoms of primitive
tints.
THERE are several thousand volcanoes
known, and the number of active ones
may be set down as 323.
CAST iron is said to be permeable to
certain gases at high temperatures, and
to hydrogen gas even when cold.
M. PAsTRuR has succeeded in COM
municating rabies by incubation from
the brain Of q dog dead with the disease.
CORDS stretched in network near the
ceiling have been satisfactorily tried for
destroying echoes in churches and public
halls.
IT HAS been estimated that one square
foot of soil will evaporate six times as
much moisture as the same amount Of
leaf surface.
IT IS about settled in the minds of ex-
perimenters that plants absorb very lit
tie moisture through their leaves, by no
means enough to keep the plant alive
without the aid of moisture at the roots.
BooKBNDINas of Russia, calf or sheep
absorb sulphuric acid when exposed to
the products of the combustion Of IL
Eliminating gas, as they are in nearly
all libraries, and are liable to suffer great
injury.
TEETH do not belong to the bony skel-
eton, but are developed by the living
membrane of the mouth, which is only
a continuation of the skin. Hence the
teeth are classed with other SKIN ap-
pendages, as the hair and nails. s
PROF. SCHLAGER of Vienna has been
experimenting for three years on the in
fuence of blue light in the treatment Of
the insane, and records a quieting and
soothing influence in cases of an alb
normally excitable temperament.
A SHOWER of fine dust which fell in
France in 1916 was found by analysis to
be composed of the fine sands of Guiana
and to contain the characteristic micro
scopic shells of South America. Such
showers originate in volcanic eruptions.
A SCIENTIST who has been experiment
ing for twenty five years on the varia-
ions of plants admits that he has gradu-
ally lost the idea of species, inclining to
the opinion that variation takes place in
definite directions, and that its cause is
internal. asi
No REMAINS of the bison have been
found among the bones in the she'll
heaps along the Atlsntic coast, and there
is no evidence, among the early lists of
the natural products of the country, OF
it's occurrence anywhere ON the seaboard
for long period before the discovery of
the continent. a4s4i-ea,..t
The average height of the Japanese is
five feet three inches. Climate can
scarcely account for their smallness,
since that is temperate, though subject
to violent changes. The use of charcoal
braziers for heating may affect their
growth by causing them to inhale the
carbonic oxides.
THE respiration of o cold-blooded
creature may be increased by artificial
heat. In extremely bad weather frogs
may have to leave the water entirely,
and fishes come to the surface for air.
Reversely, frogs can be kept for years in
state Of suspended animation and re-
vived by warming.
ALMOST all volcanoes, are found in
proximity to large bodies Of water. The
greater number are situated on islands,
and the rest, with very few exceptions,
near the borders of the sea or on lacus-
trine basins. This gives rise to the opin-
ion that pressure of steam is the force
which expels the lava torrents.