The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-06-17

denfy besSemer would have burned a,
the mines from which it is procured
Tho GOALS energy might then he trans
mitted to the metropolis over q coppe,
wire in the form Of electricity, at vast
saving OF expense. He estimates that
,OO0 horse power, requiring an annual
consumption of over Q million tons ol
coal, might in this way be conveyed to
London over q single copper wire one
inch in diameter. An important advan.
tage of the plan, in addition to the
saving in cost, is that the combustion Of
SO large an amount of coal at a distance
instead of the city limits wonld consider
ably reduce the quantity Of smoke in the
London atmosphere.
1t is proposed to try novel experiment
at Paris by producing series of scienti-
nc dramas at ono Of the theatres, with
the object Of combining amusement with
instruction. Three plays have already
been provided, and their titles clearly
indicate the direction in which the
audience is to be instructed. The titles
are: "Denis Pepin, or the Invention of
Steam; "Kepler, or Astronomy and
the Astrologer"; aud Gutenberg, OF
the Invention Of Printing" The Photo
graphic Ness suggests another subject {:
'The Triumvirate-Niepce, Daguerre,
Talbot-or the Invention of Photo
graphy." The number of such themes
capable of furnishing rare material for
the dramatists art would seem to he
almost unlimited. The result of this
new dramatic venture will be awaited
with interest. Its success may be the
Inauguration of new era in science
teaching.
Dreams may be more capable of control
than is usually supposed. It is known
that brain action causes a rise of craniai
temperature, and, reciprocally, NJ. Delau-
nay finds that an increase Of heat in the
head stimulates the action of the brain.
Dreams are generally illogical and ab-
surd, but by covering his forehead with
q layer of wadding NJ. Delaunay gets
sane, intelligent dreams- He has also
Experimental on modes Of lying in bed
which favor the flow of blood to certain
parts, increasing the activity of those
portions of the brain. He has observed
that dreams while lying on the back are
sensorial, variegated, luxurious; those
experienced when on the right side are
mobile, exaggerated, absurd, and refer tc
! old matters; while those which occur
when on the left side are reasonable and
intelligent, and pertain to recent matters
in which dreams one often speaks. It
is claimed that these observations con-
firm the accepted ideas Of the functions
of the different parts Of the brain.
For a number Of years Prof. Milne has
made {. systematic study of the earth
quakes of Japan. By plan of distri-
buting postal cards to important cities
for weekly reports of shocks, he has
obtained a record of large number of
earthquakes for considerable extent of
territory. These reports are of great
value in enabling him to compute the
source and extent of earthquakes. His
catalogue for Hakodate, in Yezo, shows
forty-two earthquakes in the period from
1876 to 1880. Comparison with the
catalogue for another place, showed that
ten at least of the Hakodate shocks were
felt at saporo, eighty miles to the north
cast in the same island aud it was
similarly shown that seven of the shocks
were felt at Toxic, five hundred miles to
the south. One interesting result of
these observations is the discovery that
earthquakes seldom pass the barrier of
mountain ranges. Mr.. Milne has esti-
mated that a distribution Of instruments
of ordinary sensitiveness throughout
Japan wonld record at least 1900 shocks
per year, or about three per day, which
is a number greater than that obtained
by Prof. Helm for the whole world.
Of the inconceivable minuteness Of
certain forms Of life, some Of which are
of vital concern to mankind, Prof. Proc
tor says: "The minute organisms capa-
BILE of inducing changes analogous to the
fermentation caused by yeast have
received great attention of late years
and several important diseases and
ailments are distinctly traced to them.
Bechamp estimated that 5000, 900, 600 of
germs of one miero-ferment only occu-
pied one cubic twenty fifth of an inch.
Not one of these minute bodies could
develop except by carrying on complica-
ted processes of q chemical nature,
involving very active movements of its
atoms and molecules. The mathemati-
eians have made calculations founded OH
the pressure exerted by the gases, and
other considerations, which show that
particle of the sort Of matter-snch as
alhumen and protoplasm-chiefly con-
cerned i'll life processes, contains in
space of one cubic thonsandth of an inch
more molecules than any ono could
possibly form any conception of. Sorby,
taking a probable mean of such calcula-
tions, snpposes one cubic thousandth of
an inch of water to contain !, 700 ,0OO, ,OOO,-
600, 600 molecules. A sheet of ordinary
note paper is about one-hundredth of an
inch thick. One tenth Of this would. of