Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1883-02-22
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


antisep'ic virtue Of peat or black earth,
which is put into loose gauze bags and
tied over wounds by means OF gauze
bandages. AS used in Kiel, this dres-
sing is seldom changed or not ct all.
In DR.. Neuber's opinion the turf alb
serbs all secretions rapidly, and by its
porosity favors their evaporation, while
healing takes place as under 'cab,
Dr.. Thomas Taylor finds it quite
possible that flies may convey the
germs Of infectious or contagious dis
eases from place to place. Whether
diseases arc really ever so distributed
is question of great Importance.
Tho removal Of the electric lamps
which light the foreign settlement a,
Shanghai has been ordered by the
Chinese Governor Of tho district, who
says he has heard Of the terrible accl-
dents which have been caused by cleo
tricity, and he cannot allow his people
to be exposed to the frightful risk Of
having hundreds Of thousands Of houses
destroyed, millions Of persons killed,
or the walls Of the city blown down
By any irregularity in the working Of
tha s1actric machines
From observations Of the planet
Jupiter from September, 1879, to De
cember, 1881, Herr Kortazzi has con
cluded that the great red spot must be
either Of liquid or solid nature. In
the former case it may be considered
a. large lake in an ocean Of other
liquid. If it is a solid body it must
be q floating mass on the surface Of an
ocean, as it is only on this hypothesis
that we can account for the changes
in its position which are observed.
One Of tho glaciers mentioned in the
"Himalayan Journals Of DR.. JOSEPH
Hooker has vertical height Of 1900
feet. Its source is the great kinchin
junga mountain, whose summit reachc.
an altitude of $4,000 feet above the
sea.
The loss of human life caused by
snakes in India is alarming, 1906
persons having persisted from snake
bites in 1880 and 1860 in 1881 Re
wards for The killing Of the venomoui
reptiles have been offered, but thi
measure has been found to give insult
6cient protection, and the adoption
throughout India Of an organized sys
tenn for the determination Of all dan
gerous kinds Of snakes is urged.
It was at one time believed, accord
Ing to DR.. Keller, that the opening O
the Suez Canal would be followed b
rapid aud extensive interchange Q
fish between the Mediterranean an,
the Red Seas, but such has not becl
the case. Some of the smaller Med
terranean fish have been found in tn
Red Sea, and for some unknown reaso
the tide Of migration appears to tax
that direction in preference to tn
ether. The pearl oyster is said to b
now moving toward the Mediterranean
with very slow progress but in consid
cradle numbers.
In Germany, the increasing consumr
ton Of rice has led Prof. Volt, as we
as DIR. KONG, to investigate the ques
ton Of the relative nutritive value Q
this article and other kinds Of food
especially potatoes. The conclusio
reached is that rice is q very efficien
food, while potatoes largely consume
failed to satisfactorily nourish tn
body, making the muscles weak an
the body watery. DR.. KONG estimate
that, when equal quantities Of the tw
articles are considered, rice has fou
times the value Of potatoes in reall
nutritive properties. A further advar
tags of rice is that its quality is Away
the same, While great variation in pota
toes is caused by the state of the weatl
er during their growth.
A spot which appeared 10 the sun
southern hemisphere on April 18th {
last year was measured by Rev. /
Hewlett and found to have superf,
ial area of not less than 1850, 10000
square miles Even this was surpasse
by one seen in Noven.ber which co
respondent of the London Echo repor
ed as extending over space Of :, $50
$4,000 square miles.
The discovery of q so called Ignite
snake in Brazil caused a seusatio
among scientific men few months ar,
The specimen was iound letween III
bark and wood of a tree and il il W.