The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-01-13
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

made some experiments to test Darwin's
conclusion that soil acquires additional
fertility by passing through the bodies
of worm. Six kinds of seeds were Sc
lected, and each kind was planted in two
pots, one being filled with worm casts
and the other with exactly the same class
of soil which had not recently, if ever,
passed through the bodies of worms. No
difference in the growth of the plants
raised i'll the different pots could be de-
tected, and the experimenter therefore
concludes that the worms do not of them
selves fertilize the soil, although he ac-
| knewledges the value of their work
from other considerations.
Physicists have long regarded olors as
due to small particles thrown off by the
odorifierous, but the fact that some sub
stances emit powerful odors for great
length Of time without appreciable loss
of weight makes this theory unsatisfac-
tory. Light and heat are now explained
as modes or forms Of motion. This view
is known as the ,.ndnlatory theory, and
it has been suggested lately that the
phenomena of odors may be best ae-
counted for by the same hypothesis.
Wasps' nests sometimes take fire, the
ignition being caused, it is supposed, by
chemical action of the wax upon the
raper-like material forming the nests.
1t is believed that many mysterious fires
i'll haystacks and farmers buildings have
had their origin i'll spontaneous combus-
ton Of this nature.
Miss A. E. Or1ne rod, the we'll known
entomoligist, says that lime applied to
land is very destyuctive to the eggs of
many insect pestax
!! In lecture ongclrysantEemums deliy-
cred before the Royal Horticultural soci-
ETY. of London, Rov. G. Henslow referred
| the plant to two species-one Indian and
the other Chinese. The Indian species
grew in England in 1864, but disappeared
aud was reintroducsd in 1876. The Chi
nese species was brought to England i'll
1890, although probably known in Hol-
land century before. 1t entirely disap-
peared from Eurobe, however, and was
not again introdaeed until 1879. The
total number of vasIeties of chrysanthe-
NUNS under cultivation in 1865 was esti-
mated at SO Ell hundred.
1t appears that same eminent chemists
and physicians are advocating the gen
eral use Of -four made from the entire
grain of wheat, instead of from it's inner
part only. Mr.. Atkins, while admitting
tie nutritive value of the outer portion
or germ Of the grsin, states that flour
containing it will not be approved for
two reasons. In tho first place, the albu-
mnnoids which the germ contains are
largely soluble, making it impossible to
produce good light bread from germy
| flour. The second reason is that the oil
contained in the germ diseolors the -four
but-what is of greater inlportance-ren-
ders it much more liable to spoil.
| The typloon at Manila in October car
ried away the thermometers of the OBJ
servatory. The highest velocity of the
wind was therefore not recorded, but IA
miles all hour was registered before the
instruments yielded to tue tremendous
pressure.
A striking illustration of the antiseptic
properties of copper is furnished, accord
ing to u ons. Margat, by curious obser-
| vation of the eighteenth century. III
1719, the body of Mats Israelson, who
had persisted forty-nine years before, was
in such u state of preservation as to be
promptly recognized by an old woman to
whom he had once been bretrothed. After
being taken from the mine the remains
were kept i'll a glass case for twenty-one
years before the progress sofdecompositiou of
made burial necessary.
| While the year 1882 will long be re-
membered by astronomers on account Of
its great comet and its transit of Venus,
1883 bids fair to witness some celestial
events of hardly less interest and import
ance. In May a total eclipse of the sun
will occur, which will be remarkable for
the great length of the period of totality
nearly six minutes. This extraordinary
duration will give observers unusual adj
vantage for studying the SUMS corona
at time when the solar photo
sphere is at its greatest activity, and
for search after the small planets which
are suspected to exist within the orbit ef
Mercury. Unfortunately, this important
| eclipse can be favorably watched only
from two small islands of the South Pa
cific. D'Arrests comets-seen last ia
in 1877, with period of about six and a
half years-is expected to return within
tile year as is also Tempeps comet-last
| Observed in 1873, aud having IL period
of five and a quarter years. A late cal
| culation of the orbit of the comet of 1912
| leads Msssrs. Shulhof and Bossert to pre-
diet the the possible return of that long
awaited object, although they think it
more probable that it will appear in 1884
-----.o~0O-D .
| A sure, safe and prompt female regulator Ii
in great demand among married and single
| ladies', yet strange to say, only one has ever
been offered and that is English Female Bitters.
| 1t restores and regulates all irregular monthly
uterine action cures female weakness and ex-
/ L.