The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-02-21
CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.

CORlOOSs USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.
Plans for tunnel through the Great st.
Bernard have been prepared by III. Vau-
theleret.
Thick blotting paper soaked in a con-
centrated solution of oxslic acid and dried
will take out an ink blot without leaving
trace behind.
Paper pulp strengthened with cotton or
wooden fbres is now used TO make q neat
and sufficiently durable stocking costing
much lees than the price of laundrying q
pair Of cotton or wooden stockings.
A few weeks ago, during heavy storm,
the Rio Grsnde suddenly changed Its course
by cutting through bend near Csmsrpo,
and thus placed several acres of inha bited
territory within the legal limit of the
United States.
TIE retreat Of vegetation from the polar
regions is attributed by M. NJ. Rey de Nor
ando to the gradual decrease of the Diane
ter of the sun. He thinks that the great
center of our system was once large enough
to send its rays at the same time over both
poles.
After q recent violent storm on the En-.
glish coast quantity Of saline matter was
observed on windows at distance inland.
The deposit is believed TO have been made
by ocean spray, which il this case must
have been blown by the wind at least sixty
miles.
Water saturated with alum is recommen-
dsd by the veteran scientist M. Dumas, as a
speedy and effectusl remedy for extinguish-
ing fires. His proposition if based on the
theory that the alum would coat the OBJ
jects wetted with it, intercept the access of
atmospheric oxygen, and thus stay combus-
ton.
A chemist of Vienna has invented glass
which contains no slick, potash, soda, lime
or borax. In appearance it is equal to the
common crystal, but more brilliant; it is
transparent, white and clear, and can be cut
and polished. 1t is insoluble in water. and
is not attacked by furoic acid, but it can be
corroded by hydrochloric and nitrid acid
When in q state of fusion it sdheres to iron,
bronze and zinc.
In Eschershsusen, in Germany, q farm,
the soil of which is rich in alkalies, has for
twenty years been MANFRED with srtIicials.
The crops have always been good, and
only falling off of straw has been noticed
when "silica' plants were grown for four or
five years in succession, but the original
yield has been obtained when a slime"
plant had been introduced into the rotation.
A remarkable statement was made recent
ly before scientific body in London-the
statement given ss on the authority of Mr..
Veitch, the well-known authority on "Con-
fer@"-that the cones of many of the spe-
cies on the Pacific coast never open and
permit the seed to escape unless opened By
forest fire, when they fail out and replen-
ish burned waste. They hang on the
trees for many gensrstions-even for thirty
years."
1t is not much use asserting, says the
Lancet, that assemblies of sane persons
ought not to become victims Of panic, but,
in truth unless the nervous system of man
could be reconstructed on new principle,
which would necessarily deprive it of some
of its most excellent qualities, it is impossi-
bic thst there will not always be ten
dency to impart and receive this impression,
which SO powerfully affects the body and
mind that Judgment is for the time suspend
ed, and the limbs either refuse to act impul-
sively or under the control of tie emotion
al part of the being. Discipline is the only
remedy for tendency TO panic.
Adoption is an evolution theory which
has received strong confirmation. One of
its principles is that organs or functions OF
living creatures gradually disappear if I'M
used. A familiar illustration is furnished
by the blind fish of caves, whose eyes,
through long disuse, have been reduced tos
documentary and sightless state. 1t ap-
pears, however, that the evolution view
does not always hold good il it be true, as
lately stated, that in some Europeal in
stances mice have been raised in absolute
darkness for many generations without ap-
pearing to have lost in the slightest degree
the sensitiveness of the eye to light.
A correspondent of the Chicago Medical
Times recommends Mr. Gezon's formula as
q cure for corns, which is as follows: r sail
cylic acid, 80 parts or grs. Xxx; extract
cannabis indica, parts, or grains "; COLO
dion, 240 parts, or (. IS. The Times says;
The collodion fixes the acid on the diseased
part, and gives speedy relief by protecting
it from friction. The cannabis indica acts as
an snodyne. and the acid reduces and loos-
ems the corn so that it comes off in four or
five days adhering to the collodion. The
remedy is applied with scsrels-hair pencil,
and if the corn is not we'll cured the spplica-
cation may be repeated. In four or five
days the patient should use warm toot-bsth
and rub off the collodion. If any portion of
the corn remains the acid should be applied
again, and the treatment continued until
the whole of the corn has disappeared. The
skin will be soft and smooth, as in the healty
state.