The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-05-17
SCRAPS OF SCIENCE.

A writer in the second volume of the In
| ternational Encyclopedia of Surgery pre-
diets that the bow and arrow may yet come
into use again In warfare. He says the ar
row can be aimed at fifty yards as correctly
as the revolver, and can be shot almost as
fast. In Ne hands of cavalrymen the bow
and arroY Knight be most efficient weapons
even on modern battlefields. We are told
| that an arrow which has once entered tire
| flesh is grasped by the tissues with such
| frmness as TO render extraction extremely
difficult, even when the shalt remains at
tached, while, If the shaft is gone, the head
cannot be removed without enlarging the
wound for the purpose. Arrow-w wounds are
not infrequent in the fights of the United
States troops with the hostile Indians in
| the west.
The Lancet suggests that medical practi.
TONERS would do well to test specimens OF
coated pills by placing them in LIQUID as
nearly as possible like that which would
act upon them In a patients stomach. 1t
will be found, says the journal, in many IN
| stances, that the coating is able TO resist the
! fluid for long time, so that when such
pills are given, the drug they contain may
not be absorbed for hours alter 1t was ad-
ministered.
The illustrations TO the memoir on the
Brittle Stars (Ophinroidea), in the fifth vol
ume of the scientific reports of the Chal-
llenger exposition, were drawn by ladies';
over fifty ofthe creatures therein depicted
or described "live exclusively in depths be-
low a thousand fathoms, where they en-
dure a cold near TO freezing, an enormous
water pressure, and an absence OF sun
ligh.."
A new explosive. which is said 10 be as
DO gerful as dynamite, and yet contains no
nitro-glycerine whatever, has been invented
by an artillery officer in SaKony. While
it will burn, Il cannot be exploded without
the use Of > special cap; i produces no noS-
ious gas: and it is unaffected by cold or
moisture. II these claims are verified by
practical tests, the compound ought O.
prove a very valuable invention.
The slow deterioration Of bricks at the
surface which sometimes occurs, is usually
ettffbulNYH rsiy atmospheric inf lences,
NJ some i1ey INT defect in sts brick. The
researcbesN gf a French observer, Moi
PArize, have revealed the presence OF mi
! croscopic plants in the pulyerized brick IN
such cases. These organisms probably
came from the clay Of which the brick'
we're m ade.
, The coast Of Greenland Is now gradually
sinking. This depression is attributed By
! Mr.. W. i. Stanley, Of the London Geolo
gisfs' association, 20 the pressure ererted
by the vast mass Of ice which Overspreadi
. TIE country. and IL supposed 20 rise =
p ErthL De Eut N Nut AAArlAnAs
An economical tide-mll has long beer
sought after In vain By mechaniciAns anc
/. inventors. We notice now, however, tbs
, Mr.. McWhirtsr, Of Barruv-in-f urness. b.
The r,Orth Of England. thinks that 500
: horse-pOwsr might readily be obtained
, from the rise and fall Of the TIDE In chan
mel near that port.
An account Of American locomotives wa
: given b. Mr.. ". II. Fleming, e q receu
meeting Of the Liverpool EnEineerlni
society. There Il more cast iron In Amsl1
can than in EnElish locomotives, and tfel
: c1sf less than those made In England, not
outstanding the higher prics pad Tor M
feriai here.
4 Alpbouss De Candoiie, IN his treatiss q
the 0riain % culfivated plants, speaks o. 7
81 Europe and Western Asia - the home
7 or The hop-plant profess0f Asa Gray %
ria-ss thaf ID IL undoubfediy indigsnou
als1 - Anerica-
D r Ter sfafinr o. rirEinE, ~ i Il Gale
I IN EnEland. i hirhly spproved ns ~ ere
80 81 he vcurf ~ sorns - ne hiEnes
/ Germn autboritiss On school hTgisns.