St. Landry democrat., 1883-04-21
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


pieion that all common mushrooms are
poisonous. Washing and boiling de-
prive them of their poisonous qualities
in greater or less degree. Dried mush-
rooms require atleast month of dry
ing, and are not really safe until at
ter four months.
A natural intermittent spring has re-
Gently formed in the French Alps. The
water appears at regular. intervals OF
five and seven minutes, about ten
quarts being Yielded each time. A sin
gular circumstance is that one flow of
water is lukewarm and colorless, while
the next discharge is cold and wine-
red
Prof. Young, in the light of Meyers
calculations, regards it as highly prob
able that the comet of 1880 was return
of that of 1s43. Concerning the comet of
1868 too little is known to form the ba
sis of a theory as to it's identity. He is
quite certain, however, that the comets
of 1880 and 1882 are not the same, as
they have periods too great to be con-
sistent with such view. He thinks it
more likely that they are twins, moving
in nearly identical orbits, with per-
haps common origin in some ancient
disruption, like that which divided
Biela's comet in 1916.
1t was asserted by a Brazilian dele
gate to the Geneva Sanitary Congress
that coffee is natural antidote to al
cohol, and that the consumption of al
coholic stimulants is comparatively
small where coffee is a popular drink,
as in his country.
It is very general belief that during
a considerable fall person must be as
phyxiated by the rapid rush through
the air, which constantly accelerates as
the distance fallen increases. The sui
eide Of a young girl by a leap from a
height of about 215 feet has raised a
discussion of this subject among French
sauants. DR.. Bronardeli suggested
that asphyxiation may have caused the
girls death before the ground was
reached. Mons. Bontemps objects to
this view and points out that the veloci-
ty attained in such a fall must be some-
times exceeded by railway trains, and
yet engineers and stokers are never as
phyxiated. Mons. Remy states that in
1859 he was shown native of the is
land of Oahua who had fallen from q
verified height of about 1000 feet with
but little injury, his fall having been
broken near the end by a growth OF
ferns and other plants. The weight OF
opinion seems to favor the view that,
if asphyxia ever results during falls,
the distance fallen must be very
great.
The old experiment of table-tlrning
has given evidence of an unknown
force which has perplexed scientific
men and fostered the trickery OF charl-
atans and professors of the black art.
In genuine table-turning phenomena,
where the table is too heavy to be
turned by the unconscious muscular ac-
ton of the hands placed upon it, the
movement is said to be slight, but is
nevertheless remarkable. Faraday
demonstrated that lateral pressure ON
the part of the operator always accom-
panied the movement OF the table,
and DR.. Percy r. Wilde now claims to
have proven by means of instruments
of his own construction, that the un-
conscious lateral pressure is due to a
slight rotary motion impaired to the
body at every breath by the action OF
the powerful muscles Of the chest.
Il is maintained by Nordenskloid
that the aurora is a permanent phenom-
enon in polar regions, appearing con-
stantly when the sun is below the ilorl-
zon and the moon is invisible. .
Prof. Moos, OF Heidelberg, has found
good reasons for believing that many
railway accidents have been due to de-
fective hearing on the part of engineers
or others in charge of trains. Expert
medical testimony shows that railway
employees are especially liable to affec-
tions Of the ear.
DR.. Burcq has suggested that solu-
tions of copper salts be used to impreg-
nate clothing, furniture and building
materials as preserVative against IN.
fictitious disease. He was led to offer
this suggestion by observing that work
ers in eotton,-Who absorb a conslde-
rable amount of dust from the me-
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