Morris tribune., 1883-10-13
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

anita nili tnafSe bi tI 'taiiltN II -
pinde,I by electricity. The force OF
the explosion drives tie pi.r int" the
mud II far as would five t'io". struck
va weight Of $3.50 pm il@ftiitis Ir''n
h'ighj % Cnl 49,. - sy'.'n VS.
originated by Herr pradamovir, city
engineer Of Pe@th.
In recent essay Herr August Noscl
aliudrs to the possibility OF "fltu@i"g
the colurs Of flowers at will by the APP
plicatiOn of suitable chcinich'S u tie
soil. In this authors view, tannin
plays an important pari in the gencr-
alton OF vegetable cnl"rS. 1t Ii found
in almost every plant. the petals not
excepted, and BY the action Of the
most varying Observation-Disclosures,
earth's metallic salts, eic.-!t ASSUMES
the most manifold hues from pale rose
to deep black. 4 darker color, there
fore, is produced in flowers rich in
tannin, when maIured with iron
salts, since, as everybody knows, tam
min and iron salts dye black, and Pro-
duc"ini This fact has bean pat 10
practical Use III the culture OF horton
sian and dahlas. Blossoms III the
former were changed from Il pale red
when the plants grew in ordinary sol!
to sky-blue when transplaeted into
soil heavily manurcd with iron och c,
or VIXEN watered occasionally with a
dilute alum solution. Similar na!:ip-
ulations have enabled an English gar
dener to raise black dah!iaS. F!'>r;-ts
are aware that change Ct location Of
ten produces new colorS i'm flowers
the whole subject al the chemistry Of
vegetable pigments is, however. oRe
OF which vr:y lice is known yet, and
which offers Il promising field for eX-
pertinent and research. IN this con-
nectlon it may II" noted that the cnl0r
of birds may be changed ar;iticaily as
we'll as that Of flo vers. a young ca
nary was fed upon mixture Of stcepcti
bread and red Cayenne pepper when
without injury to the bird, the pig
ment of tn" spice entered thc Blood
and dyed the plumage deep red. It is
the opinion Of the celebrated ornit!o-
logist Russ that the plunag" Of birls
may be changed to al desired color
by the use Of appropriate reagents.
The International Bureau OF
Weights and Measures, established al
Paris as result of international con-
ferance in 1875, has thus far received
the support. of the following countries
Germany, Austria Hungary, Belgium
the Argentine Confederation, Den
mark, Spain, the United States of
| America, France, Italy Peru, Portugal,
Russia, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland
Turkey, and Venezuela. These gov
ernments, representing over $50, 000,-
600 people, have already contributed
| over 5000, 600 toward the foundation of
| fl,ic IN FNl,., Io
Bureau is to secure an international
metric system, and its work consists
| chiefly of accurate comparisons and
| kilogrammes used ia the different
| countries to common standard. 1t
| is provided with suitable building,
| wonderful delicacy and precision.
committee Of fourteen members,
tic:ans and astronomers, all of diff
erent nationalities.
The theory that copper eXerts pro-
tective influence against cholera is
confirmed by the Observation that the
| disease has never appeared at the ia
! nous copper mines in Fahlun, Swe-
| den, which are decribed as the largest
| and oldest in the world. 1t is even
| related that members of the royal
family once sought Fahlun as re-
| fuge during cholera epidemic
Mons. Bailly has lately denied the
| protective action of copper, and has
! shown that copper workers in GER
tain locality had fallen victims to
cholera and typhoid fever. To this
Mons. Burg replies that the substance
worked by these men was an alloy
containing only very minute pro-
portion of copper.
A very successful trial of an electric
tramcar was lately made on the street
railroads of Paris. The power was
furnished by Faure storage batteries,
weighing about 5000 pounds, which
were fixed under the seats of the car
and connected with a Siemens ma
| chine under the floor. The machine
made 1900 revolutions per minute,
imparting--through system of pull
leys and chains-siX revolutions to
the wheels of the car. The speed of
the car was nine and third miles on
level ground, and five and half miles
on an ascent. The expense of running
was estimated at one half the cost OF
horsepower.
While Prof. Tyndall's doctrine that
cholera germs are bred III the human
intestines may hold good. DR.. VIM.
B. Carpenter, the English physiolo-
gist, shows that such germs may have
other breeding places. He gives three
remarkable instances in which the
outbreak ofcholera, or at least of the
almost eqnally fatal choleraic di-
arrhoea, was directly traced to often
sive piggeries, to an imperfect drain
in marshy ground, and to compost
heap of unnamable filth in an unused
yard.
Prof. Robert Collect, an eminent
Norwegian zoologist, states that
beavers formerly inhabited many
parts of Norway, but has now found
only in two rivers in the south. He
estimates that not more than one him.
dred of these animals exist in Norway
at the present time, yet he does be-
lieve that the number is diminishing.
After much experimenting, Ger
man savant, DR.. Haensel, has sue
ceeded in securing photographs of
several lightning flashes. The pictures
include part of the landscape, making
1t possible to estimate the spot where
the lightning struck. 1t was found
that the length Of the course traversed
by the electric current might also be
determined,
Prof. julius Wiessner, German ex-
perimenter, finds that the effect of rain
dew and artificial watering upon the
leaves Of plants is to promote trans
piration and accelerate the movement