Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1883-11-29
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Of olive berries. Adultarltign by this
substance is readily detect d by scaiterin:
the suspected miStare upon iniE'ur.
Of equal volumes Of glycoliAr an' rats
when the pepper a'ats upon The aaF.aes
and the ol;ve-kcrncls sink
The Observatory of Paris is about ~
publish a catalogue Of tn. stars Observed
in Paris during the u year. from l5o.
TO 1881 inclusive. This catalogue records
abou. 100000 observations, Of which
10000 were made during the l,s, FIVE
years of the period covered, and gives tn
places Of 10000 stars.
In paper on myopia, or shortsight
sdness, DR.. Henry Power, F. X. {. 3,
states that the defect is one OF civilization
and culture, and that it does not appear
among the untutored sa,ages. 1t is prev
alent in civilized countries, but especially
20 in Germany, where the subject Of bat
tering the eyesight Of the nation is re-
cciving 4 great amount Of attention
Among the causes of myopia have been
found the overtaxing Of the strength Of
children a. we'll as their eyes, the Us.
Of books poorly printed in small type on
rough paper, reading and writing by a
dim light, the use in school rooms Of!
desks not inclined nor Of the proper height
to enable each pupil to sit upright when
writing, together with any work requlr-
ing the close application of the eyes for a
considerable time. 1t has also been shown
by some authorities that the German type
is much more liable to cause injury to
the eyes Of young students than the ROM
m letters.
A most remarkable discovery is that
announced by DR.. Brown-Sequard to the
Paris Biological Society some months
ago. This widely Psychologist has
found very simple means by which he
can produce insensibility to pain for a
long time without affecting the conscious
ness, the voluntary movements, or even
the sense Of touch in any part of the skin.
Wounds made on monkeys or other ami.
mails while in this state of analgcsia may
heal without causing pain. The method
has not yet been applied to man, however
II consists in irritating the mucous mem
brane in the upper part of the larynx by
carbonic acid or chloroform vapor.
According to the Transactions Of tn,
London Ophthalmological Society, tn,
proportion Of color-blind persons amons
the Quakers is nearly six per cent. while
the percentage in the general community
is only three and half. In his essay
upon human faculty and its development
Mr.. Francis Gallon expresses the opinion
that even greater difference might have
been expected, inasmuch as the ancestor,
Of most Quakers Of the present day sep
arated themselves from the rect of the
world, and were distinguished from others
i've or six generations ago, by their dis
like for color in dress.
The preserving of fresh meat by means
Of mixture OF carbonic oxide and car.
bonic acid is the subject Of recent Eng
lish patent. The former gas alone i.
highly inaammable and very explosiv,
when mixed with air, while the carbonit
acid by itself discolors fresh meat and
gives it an acid taste. When used to-
gether, in proportions of not less than 81
per cent. nor more than Is per cent. OF
sarbonic acid to not more than 40 per
cent. nor less than % per cent of carbon
70 oxide, the mixture preserves meat un.
changed, and cannot be SC. on fire.
From communications to the French
Academy Of Sciences it appears that Their
mometers and other instruments may un.
dergo considerable changes during long
heating. In manufactures of printers
ink, where oils are heated to tempers-
ture Of 53S degrees Fahrenheit for many
days, the most accurate Thermometers
often become so modified as to indicate
errors Of ten degrees or more; while in
sugar refneries the arcometers are SINH
larly changed by long immersion in liquids
having the much lower temperature of
2o3 degrees.
A catalogue of British birds has been
completed by committee Of eminent
ornithologists appointed in 1873 by the
British Ornithologists' Union. The list
embraces $40 species, and records every
species of which single specimen even
has been found wild in the British Isles.
The use Of food substauees-such as
meats, lentils, peas, beans, etc,-in dried
and finely powdered form is said to be