The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1883-02-16
Meeklu Corvallis Gazette.
FRIDAY MORNING, FEB. Is, 1853.
sc1eNrrrrr m1scEILANY.

sClENTIFIc MISCELLANY.
written expressly for the GAZETTE by celebrated
Eastern Scientist
At the recent congress- of German
surgeons, DR.. Neuber commended
the antiseptic virtue of peat on black
earth, which is put into loose gauze
bags and tied over wounds by means
Of ganze bandages. AS used in Kill,
rkis dressing is seldom changed or
not at all. In DR.. Neuber's opinion
the turf absorbs all secretions rapidly,
and by its porosity tavors their evap-
Grafton, while healing takes place as
under a scab.
DR.. Thomas Taylor finds it quite
possible that flies may convey the
germs of infections or contagious
diseases from place to place. Wheth-
er diseases are really ever so distrib-
uted is question, of great impor-
tance.
A doe with horns seven inches
long, which gave it the appearance
of the mail animal, was recently
killed near AK la-Chappelle. Horned
does are rare, although some of the
old ones are known to have small
rudiments OF horns.
The movement of the electric
lamps which light the foreign settle
ment at Shanghai has been ordered
by the Chinese governor of the dis
trict, who says he has heard of the
terrible accidents which have been
caused by electricity, and he cannot
allow his people to be exposed to the
frightful risk of having hundreds of
thousands o! houses destroyed, mil
lions Of persons killed, or the walls of
the city blown down, by any irreg-
ularity in the working of the cleo
trio machines.
It is reported that in parts of
Switzerland there had been 200
rainy days last year up to the end Of
November with only so days of sun
shine.
From observations of the planet
jupiter from September, 1879, 20
December, 1881, Herr Kortazzi has
concluded that the great red spot
must be either of a liquid or solid
nature. In the former case it may
be considered as large lake in an
ocean Of other liqnid. If it is solid
body it must be a floating mass on
the surface of al. ocean, as it is only
on this hypothesis that we can ac-
count for the changes in its position
which are observed.
One of the glaciers mentioned in
the "IHmalayap Journals" of DR..
Joseph Hooker has vertical height
of $4,000 feet. It's source is the
great Kinchinjunga mountain. whose
summit reaches an altitude~of $4,000
feet above the sea.
The loss of human life caused by
snakes in India is alarming, 1860
persons having perishcd from snake
bites in 1880 and 1880 in 1881.
Rewards for the killing of venomous
reptiles have been offered, but this
measure has heen found to give in
sufficient protection, and the adop-
tion throughout India of an organ
ized system for the determination of
all dangerous kinds of snakes Is
urged.
1t was at one time believed, ac-
cording to DR.. Keller, that the open
ing OF the Suez Canal would be fol-
lowed by rapid and extensive in-l
terchange OF fish between the Med
iterranean and the Red seas, but
such has not been the case. Some
of the smaller Mediterranean fish
have been found in the Red se., and
for some unknown reason the tide
OF migration appears to take that di-
=eetion in preference to the other.
The pearl oyster is said to be now
moving toward the Mediterranean
with very slow progress but in con-
siderable numbers.
In Germany, the increasing con-
sumption of rice has led Prof. Volt,
as well as DR.. KONG. to investigate
the question Of the relative nutritivc
value Of this article and other kinds
ei food--especially potatoes. The
conclusion reached is that rice is a
very efficient food, while potatoes
largely consumed fail to satisfac:o-
rily nourish the body, making the
muscles weak and the blood watery.
Dr.. Kong estimaes that, when equal
quantities of the two articles are con.
sidered, rice has four times the value
of potatoes in really nutritiye pro-
perties. A further advantage OF rice
is that its quality is always the same,