Morris tribune., 1883-04-21

DR.. w. III. Stone pronounces stam-
mering a disease of modern civiliza-
ton, and states that Livingstone never
| met with it. among the savage tribes
I of Africa. Statistics show that in
civilized countries two persons stam-
mer in every thousand.
According to Tyndall, not more than
0ne-hundredth part ofthe heat evolved
in an ordinary gas-tlame is converted
| into light. To increase the illuminate
! ing power means must be sought to
raise the temperature of the carbon
particles to which the light is due.
One ofProf. Simon Newcowb's latest
papers is discussion of all the tram
! sits of Mercury hitherto observed, in
which he decides that Leverrier's
planetary bodies nearer the sun than
Mercury is extremely improbable.
The practice of keeping night lights
| in children's bedrooms is pronounced
very injurious by DIR. r.. III. Bakewell.
Instead of allowing the optic nerves
the perfect rest afforded by darkness,
| the light keeps them in perpetulation,
with the result of causing the brain
and the rest of the nervous system to
| suffer.
4 striking illustration of the value
of systematic exercise in expanding
the chest has been given by DR.. Cath
cart, of Edinburgh. Alta certa' boys
school, where regular exercise was
compulsory, it was found that new
pupils fourteen wears of age had an
average chest measurement of 1913 ];
those of fifteen measured 30.16; of six
teen, 81; of seVenteeny 1876; and of
eighteen, 32.5; Pupils of the same
ages no had been at the school for q
considerable time measured 30.6, 81. /,
81, 35.S, and 1868.
DR. GenZmer states that the sense of
touch is present in infants at birth, al
though the faculty of feeling pain is
slowly developed, and is clearly indi-
Gated only after the child has reached
the age OF four or five weeks; smell
and taste are not Distinguished Die in
new-born infants; hearing is percep-
tible in the first, or--~at latest-the Sec
ond day Of life; light is quickly per-
ceived Immediately after birth, but
evidences of complete visual power do
not appear for four or five weeks, and
it is only after four or five months that
colors are clearly distinguished.
Various travellers have abserved in
deserts, on mountains, in forests and
in valleys peculiar and impressive
sound like tOlling of distant bells.
The phenomenon is doubtless pro-
duced by air currents, but in some in
stances it has appeared to be due to
the friction ofparlicles Of sand rolling
under the feet. To prove the correct
ness of the former view, Mons. Forel
has made very pretty experiment, in
which he has, as he believes, repro
duced the phenomenon artificially.
Taking his rifle into the open country
when brisk breeze was blowing, he
held the gun in the wind at an angle
of about forty-five degrees, and soon
succeeded in getting a sound which a
shepherd near by declared was the
ringing of bells in neighboring vii
lage,
In view of late uses-or misuses-
made of dynamite, and the inaccuracy
Of many statements concerning it,
Prof Proctor's knowledge reminds
it's readers that "the base of this eX-
tremely powerful explosive is nitro
glycerine-sometime known as METRO
leum-wich is an amberlike fluid dis
covered by Sobrero in 1847. Nitro
glycerine itself is made by adding gly-
cerine, in a manner not necessary to
particularize, to a compound formed
of one part of nitric acid and two parts
of sulphuric acid. This terrible agent
is known as glonoin oil, and is yell
low oily liquid, of specific gravity
ranging from 1.525 to 1.6. 1t has a
pungent taste, and but one drop placed
on the tongue induces intense pain of
the spine. Sobrero, when he discov-
cred this fluid, was a student at the
famous Pelous observatory, Paris. He
did nothing to develop his discovery;
but Alfred Nobel, Swede, being in
want of new blasting agent, expert
mented with the new liquid, know to
be highly explosive, and by adding
other ingredients obtained the now
well-known dynamite. This, as usu-
ally manufactured, is composed of in-
fusQrial earth, porcelain earth, coal
dust, silioeouS ashes, etc., and all this
base has to be saturated in certain
proportion with the nitro-glycerine
The process of manufacture is DANCE
rous, and the cost about four times
that of gunpowder, while it's power is,
perhaps, ten times greater. Besides
dynamite other explosive compounds
have been made from nitro-giycerine,
such as dualline, combination of
wood gunpowder soaked with this ter
rible oil, while lithofracteur consists
of fifty-two parts of nitro-glycerine,
thirty ofsilex, twelve of coal-dust and
two of sulphur Then there are varie-
ties known respectively as colonia
powder, lignose, seha-tine, heracline,
aud fulmi,iafint.