The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-03-10
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Entomologists in Great Britain con-
slider tho year 1882 to have been remark
able for the scarcity nf insects.
s. 1t is reported that in parts of Switzer
land there had been 200 rainy days last
year up to the end of November with
only 50 days of sunshine.
From records of the appropriateness of
the London Geological Garden it appears
that the maximum age reached by these
animals is about thirty years.
A spectrum line of heliu1n, the element
of which no traces have hitherto been
found except in the spectrum of the sun,
has been discovered by Nous. Palmieri in
the lava of Mount Vesuvius.
One of the late finds at Pompeii is a
collection of surgical instruments, the
extent and nature of which Indicate that
the practice of surgery had attained
high development in that city.
Mr.. c. II. stears has adopted small in
candesceht electric lamps to the illumi-
nation of objects under the microscope,
and has exhibited the brilliant results to
the British Royal Microscopical Society.
or the 247 species Of cultivated plan ts
which De Gandolie recognizes as useful,
1879 are natives of the Old World, As were
Furnished by America, while the original
home Of only three are considered doubt
full.
DR.. Thomas Taylor finds it quite posi-
bic that flies may convey the germs of
infections or contagious diseases from
place to place. Whether diseases are
really ever so distributed is q questi on
Of great Importance.
Sir William Thomson accepts DR..
Thomas Reid's enumeration of six senses
namely, the sense of force, of heart, Of
sound of light, Of taste and Of smell-in-
stead Of the five we have boon accus-
toned to attribute to man.
1t has been asserted thst opium eaters
are comparatively exempt from malaria,
and in the East are quite sure to escape
the cholera epidemics. TIE opium habit
is itself, however, disease hardly less
serious than malaria or cholera.
A doc wish horns seven inches long,
which gave it the appearance of the
male animal, was recently killed near
Aix-la Ciiapelle. Horned does are rare,
although some of the old ones are known
to have small rudinents of horns.
One of the glaciers mentioned in the
Himalayan Journals" of DIR. Joseph
Hooker, has vertical height of $4,000
feet. Its source is the great Kinchln-
junga mountain, whose summit reaches
an altitude of $4,000 feet above the sea.
Mr.. Frank Motfat has described to the
Edinburgh Photographic Society a pro
cess for obtaining photographs by moon
light which he has successfully tried. A
picture exhibited shows house and
trees very distinctly, while the differ
ences in the level OH grassy lawn may
be clearly seen.
The American prnjoct of establishing
common method of measuring time
throughout the world has been laid be-
fore the French Academy. Mons de
Chancourtois advocates decimal divis-
ion of the day and of, the circle, the lat
ter to contain four hundred degrees. As
q universal primo meridian, he suggests
the adoption Of the meridian of Ptolemy,
about 81. degrees ,fro.n that of Paris.
In a design submitted for a proposed
monument in Rome to the late Father
Secchi, the structure bears, in addition
to statue of tie eminent ast1 onomer, |
several embletnatical figures. One of
these, representing Meteorology, has in
its hand gigantic barometer, which |
can be seen from Il considerable distance;
while thermometer on aia equally large |
scale is held up to publicview by another
figure, representing Physics.
AT the recent congress of German sur
genns, DR.. Nrubcr commended the an
tisepsic virtue of peat or black earth.
which is put into loose gauze bags and
tied over wounds by means of gluze ban
dages. As usual in kie, this dressing is
seldom changed or not at all. In DR.
Neuber's opinion the turf absorbs all Sc
oretions rapidly, and by its porosity
favors their evaporation, Willie healing
takes place as under seab.
Mr.. +. j. Faraday has offered novel
vie" of disease germs and epidemcs. He
states that Pasteur's researches show that
deadly microbes may by tho ac-
tom of oxygen Ire modified into compar-
atively harmless organisms. Assuming
the change thus demonstrated it appears
not Improbable that, on the other hand.
harmless organisms may become altered
MT" disease parasites when lacking suf-
icient oxygen; aud just as this lack of
seration may give deadly character to
he organisms so may an abundance of
oxygen destroy the virulence of the
germs. A gale of wind may therefore I've
more effective in stopping epidemics
han any amount of disinfectants-wh
after all, may lie really harmful by re- 6
:ucing the proportion of Oxygen in tile
ir; and it is possible to imagine fight
liz .lS,as., will. Il si.ar, Engine and Il
AZ,