The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-05-13
SCRAPS OF SCIENCE.

writer in the second volume of the In.
ternatlonal Encyclopedia of Surgery pre-
diets that the bow and arrow may yet come
into use again In warfare. He saws the ar.
row can be aimed at fifty yards as cor ectly
AS the revolver and can be shot almost as
fast. In the hands OF cavalrymen the bow
and arrow might be most efficient weapons
even on modern battleiields. We are told
tnat an arrow which has once entered the
flesh, is grasped by the tissues with such
ilrmness as to render extraction extremely
difficult, even when the shaft remains al.
tached, while, II the shaft is gone, the head
cannot be removed without enlarging the
wound for the purpose. Arrow.wounds are
not inirequent in the fights of the United
States troops with the hostile Indians in
the west.
The Lancet suggests that medical prac,i.
TONERS would do well TO test specimens of
coated pills by placing them in a iquid as
rearly AS possible like that which would
act upon them In u patients stomach. IL
will oe found, says the journal, in many in.
stances that the coating is able to resist the
nnld for long time, so that when such
pills are given. the drug they contain NAV
not be absorbed for hours after ii was adj.
ministered.
The illustrations to the memoir on the
Brittle Stars (Ophinroidc }, in the tinh vol.
lime of the scientific reports OF the Chal.
lenger exposition, were drawn by ladies.
Over fifty ofthe creatures therein Denoted
or described "live exclusively in depths be.
low a thousand fathoms, where they en-.
dnre cold near to freezing, an enormous
water pressure, and an absence of sun.
light"
A new explosive. which is said 10 be rs
powerful rs dynamite, aud yet contains no
nitro glycerinc whatever, has been invented
by an artillery officer in Saxony. While
II will burn II cannot be exploded without
the use OF special cap; II prod Lces no tox.
ious gas; and II is unaffected by cold or
n DISTURB. II these claims are verified by
practical tests, the compound ought TO
prove u very valuable invention.
The slow deterioration OF bricks at the
surface, which sometimes occurs, is usually
attributed TO purely atmospheric inil uences
or some inherent defect In the brick. The
researches Of French observer, Mons
Parize, have revealed the presence of mi.
croscopc plants in the pulverized brick In
such cases. These organisms probably
came from the clay OF which the bricks
were made.
The coast OF Greenland Is now gradually
SINKING. ms depression Is attributed by
Mr.. w. +. Stanley, OF the London Geolo.
eists association, to the pressure e.erted
by the vast mass OF ice which overspreads
the country, ana 10 supposed to rise TO
q great height In the interior.
An economical tidc.mil has long be, ,
sought after in vain by meohanicians and
inventors. We notice now, however, that
Mr.. McWhirter, OF Barrow.in. Furness, In
the north Of England thinks that 80 COO
horsepower might readily be obtained
from the rise aud fall OF the tide In a chan
mel near that port.
An account of American locomotives was
given by Mr.. W. IL. Fleming, at u recent
meeting OF the Liverpool Engineering
society. There is more cast iron In Amer.
can than In English locomotives, and they
cost less than those n AIDE In England, not.
withstanding the higher price paid for ma.
terial here.
Alphouse de Candolle, Ia his treatise on
the origin Of cultivated plants, speaks only
OF Europe and Western Asia as the homes
Of the hop.plant. Professor Asa Gray de.
clares thatit Is undoubtedly indigenous
also to America.
X ller skating, or rinkihg, az. Il Il called
10 England, is highly approved a. an exer
else for the young BY some IF the highest
German authorities on school hygiene.