The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-04-01
Scientific Gossip.

The Prussian Government is to buy
this year 20, 800 tons of iron railroad
slecpers Mt cost of $35 a ton.
Lighting of railroad trains generally
in Germany by means of electricity is
considered to be merely question of
time.
Special poisons are secreted by the
toad, salamander, newt, frog, etc. Nj.
Paul Bert has collected a liquid from the
glands on the neck of the frog, which
caused the death, with commissions, of
sparrow to which the substance had been
administered.
Tannin of wines, derived from the
seeds and stalk of the grape, when
treated with ferric chloride gives a
greenish black coloration. When any
other color presents itself some astrin-
gent substance not to be found in pure
wine has been introduced into the
liquid.
Some observations were lately made
in balloon by NJ. de Fouvfele on an
opaque cloud which covered the region
of Paris for several days. The cloud
was hardly 800 meters thick. The up
per part of the guide rope was covered
with boar frost. The mean temperature
of the cloud was degrees.
Experiments on the petroieums of the
Caucasus by II. SehutZenberger go to
prove that petroleum. aniline and BEN
Zol, when distilled in contact with sodi-
um and kept in the dark, give. on analy-
sis, 101 to 101 5 of carbon and hydrogen,
but if exposed 10 tie light FOR two hours
the yield is only 100 per cent.
In coppcring cast-iron Nj. We'll uses
bath of copper sulphate rendered strong
" alkaline with an organic acid, added
to prevent tie precipitation OF copper
oxide. To effect the same object, NM.
Mignon and Rouatt employ a distinctly
acid solution Of !, double salt of copper
and any alkali with an organic acid.
Mr.. John Shields says he has succeed
ed Sin laying down in permanent
form outside the North Harbor, at
Peterhead, Scotland, an apparatus for
throwing oil upon troubled water, there
by making the entrance to the harbor
safe in any weather. He will have OPP
portuntity enough there to prove how
far his contrivance is of any value.
A new and interesting proof that the
earth is round has been presented by NJ.
Dufour in Il paper lately read before the
Helveric Society of Natural Sciences. In
calm weather the images of distant OBJ
jects reflected in the Lake of Geneva
showed lust exactly the same degree of
distortion which calculation would pre-
dict through taking into consideration
the figure of the earth.
Some people have maintained that the
close confinement of dogs is a fruitful
cause of rabies. They say that if dogs
were not chained up or muzzled hydro
phobia would soon disappear. The OBJ
scrvations of the late Col. I. G. Fraser
in Western India are altogether opposed
to any such views. He found that jack
ais frequently suffer from this disease,
and pariah dogs also. and the latter at
least have been known to communi-
cate the terrible malady to human be-
ings-
From. statistical tables compiled by
the Prussian Government, it appears
that the interest paid on capital in
vested in railroads is higher III France
than anywhere else except Ameri-
ca. In France the average percent
age yielded was 4.53 per cent; in
Germany, AL; in Austria. 81: in Great
Britain, 80; in Russia, 2.3; in Italy, %.
In the United States the capital expend-
ed yielded on an average a return of &c
per cent; in Canada, only is; and in
the British West Indies, "a.