Morris tribune., 1883-12-29
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

In lecture delivered at Manchester
England, the other day, Mr.. Lee
G"indon estimated that out of 100.
coo known specie OF Towering plants
10000 are Of direct service TO man
and 5000 are more or less poisonou-
or hurtful.
The fog and smoke of London in
winter are largely due to the uucon-
Sumed constituents of coal which es
cape into the air, and chemical experts
have estimated tie cost of the fuel
which thus goes to waste 10 be $25,-
100000 yearly. The problem with
the Lnnlouers is, how to prevent this
loss and purify the atmosphere.
Mr.. d. Howitz has considered the
relation of forests to fresh-water fish
cries in a paper which appears among
ihe lu iications Of the late Fisheries
Exhibitio /, in London. He regards
if us ut least probable that the dis
appearance of salmon from rivers has
III some cases been due to the removal
If the forests from the banks of the
streams.
Miss L. \. Omprod, consulting en-
tomologist To the II Iyal Agricultural
Society OF England, refers particularly
10 the uAdiSlong-legS in her report
on the insects which caused injury to
last seasons farm crops. Many crops
were attacked by this creature, but its
ravages were efftctu,,lly checked when
the plants We're given Il dressing of
guano and salt.
By long continued observation sup
plemented 10y experiment upon rab-
bits, II German Investigator has con-
WINGED himself that premature bald
ness may be communicated from one
person to another, at least in the form
associated with dandrutf. He be-
lieves that the disease is spread by
hair dressers, who employ combs and
brushes on their customers in sue
cession without any regular cleansing
of the articles after each using.
For several years Il record has been
kept of the health of the 672 persons
employed III the aniline color works
at Hochst-on-tne Main, in order to
ascertain the extent to which aniiine
colors are liable toinjure people hand
ling them. The result has shown
that the mere poisonous compounds
have caused few mild cases of all
ment, but DR.. Grandhomme finds that
the average mortality of the work
people has been low. 1t appears
therefore that users of coal-tar cOlOrs
have little to fear from poisoning.
The International Bureau Of
weights and measures at Paris,
whose object is to verify the metric |
standards of the world according to
one universal standard, is able to per-
form work OF really wonderful accu-
racy in the comparing rooms. With
the means there provided it is p0ssi-
BILE. accordIngto Mr.. Fl. J. CLANCY,
to ascertain 4 diiferance between two
itilogram weights not greater than a
Observation-Disclosures part of one
Of the weights and in the comparison
Of two meters difference so small as
ihirty-nine ten millionths OF an inch
[or one ten-thouSanth of an miIlime-
ter) can he determined.
y single plant Of new species Of
has received the batani-
cal name of Solanum Ohroudi-Was
some time ago discovered on a small
island at the mouth of
he River Plate in South America.
The tuhers, about the size of hens,
Eggs, were carried to France and
planted. The taste of the tubers was
bitter, with a chestnut flavor, but I'M
Ter cultivation the quality is reported
to be improving. The yield is alum
liant, and AS little labor is required to
raise the crop, it is Thought that the
new potato may furnish Il desirable
'ood for cattle, even if it does not be-
come sufficiently improved for table
Use.
In the last ten years relics of the in
lustry of the early inhabitants OF
Switzerland known as the lake well
arc, hnx ham I.,tn1 ~,
quantities. DR.. Victor Gross states
n a recent work that the articles of
,ronze alone which have been found
n the lakes of Bienne and Neufchatel
lumber 1860, of which more than
900 are in his own collection. Many
articles of stone, pottery and iron
lave been brought to light in addition.
n these archaeological discoveries
Dr.. Gross finds evidence that the
period in which the prehistoric Swiss
Inhabited the dwellings built on the
axes was one of long duration, cover
ng the successive stages of civili-
;ation from the primative age in
mans implements were rudely formed
n coarse pottery and rough stones
Trough the age of finely-worked
tones, followed by the age in which
tones were still used and metals
we're introduced, then by the age of
Inc bronze and highly-developed
tate of the arts, to the age in which
ron appeared.
The kola nut, the stimulant so
highly priced among African tribes