Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1883-02-15
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

DR.. II. J. Van Hulle, of Belgium,
has made some experiments to test
Darwiu's conclusion that soil acquires
additional fertility by passing through
the bodies of worms Six kinds of seeds
we're selected, and each kind was plant.
ed in two pots, enc being filed with
worm casts and the ether with exactly
the same class Of soil which had not
recently, if ever, passed through the
bodies Of worms No difference in the
growth of the plants raised in the diff
ferent poss-could be detected, and the
experimenter therefore concludes that
the worms do not Of themselves ferti-
lize the soil, although he Acknowledges
the value of their work from other con.
siderations.
Physicists have long regarded odors
a. due to small particles thrown of by
the odoriferous subs ances, but the fact
that some substances emit powerful
odors + r great length of time with
out appreciable loss Of weight makes
this theory unsatisfactory. Light and
heat are now explained ~ modes or
forms Of motion. This view is known
~ the undulatory theory, and it has
been suggested lately that the phenom.
sna Of odors may be best accounted tor
BY the same hypothesis.
Wasps' nests sometime talk Ere, the
ignition being caused, it is supposed,
by chemical action Of the wax upon the
paper-like material forming the nests.
1t il believed that many mysterious
fres in haystacks and farmers build
ings have had their origin in spontan-
eous combustion Of this nature.
Miss A. T. Ormerod, the well-known
entomologist, says that lime applied to
land is very destructive to the eggs Of
many insect pests.
In lecture on chrysanthemum
delivered before the Royal Horticul
tural Society of London, Rev. G. Hen
slow referred the plant to two species
.-one Indian and the other Chinese,
Tho Indian species grew in England in
1894, but disappeared and was rein.
troduced in 1916. The Chinese species
was brought to England 10 1890, al
though probably known in Holland a
century elore. II entirely disappear
ed from Europe, however, and was not
again introduced until 1879. The
total number of varieties Of chrysan.
themums under cultivation in 1866
was estimated at 700.
It appears that some eminent chem
lists and psychologists are advocating
tho general use Of flour made from the
entire grain Of wheat, instead of from
its inner part only. Mr.. Arthur At
kins, while admitting the nutrive value
Of the outer portion or germ Of ths
grain, states that -four containing i,
will not be approved for two reasons
In the first place, tho uminoid,
which the germ contains are largely
soluble, making it impossible to pro
duce good light bread from germ flour.
The second reason is that the oil con.
tanned in the germ not only discolors
the -four but--but what IL of greater
importance--renders it much more liza
bic to .poil.
The typhoon at Manila in October
carried away the thermometers Of the
observatory. Tho highest velocity Of
the wind was therefore not recorded,
but la miles an hour was registered
before the instruments yielded to the
tremendous pressure.
A striking illustration Of the anti.
septic properties Of copper is furnished,
according to Mons. Margat, by cur
i,us observation of the eighteenth cen.
fury. In l7l9, the body Of Mats Is.
raelson. who had persisted forty. nine
years before, was recovered from a
Swedish copper mine in such a state of
preservation as to be promptly recog
nized by an old woman to whom he
had once been betrothed. After being
taken from thu mine the remains were
kept in glass case for twenty one
yesrs before the progress of decompo
sition made burial necessary.
While the year 1882 will long be
remembered by astronomers on account
OF its great comet and its transit of
Venus, 1883 bid, fair to witness some
celestial events Of hardly less interes,
and importance. In May total eclipse
ct the sun will occus which viii be re
marka5le for the great length of the