Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1883-09-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

thlrty-slX years, a writer III Il beiiha'
scientific journal concludes that the wheat
crop is mainly determined by the state
of the weather in July and Augustine
higher the temperature and the smaller
the rainfall in those two months the bet
ter the harvest The best harvest was
that of 1868, with a temperature for the
two months of fl Fahrenheit degrees
above the average, and rainfall of FL
inches below the average; while the poor
est yield was that of 1860, with dehc-
iency of temperature of 4.6 degrees, and
an excess of 2.6 inches of rain.
The plan Of burying in the earth ami
mails which have died of Charlton or other
contagious diseases is unsafe, as the pois-
on may find its way through the soil and
reach other creatures Mons. Anne Cir
ard has experimental with a method Of
disposing of such dead bodies by dissoly-
ing them in concentrated sulphuric acid.
The acid is capable Of dissolving more
than twothirds of its weight of animal
matter, and the resulting black, sirupy
liquid may be used to advantage for max
ing fertilizers. The acid cifcetually de-
stroys all disease germs.
DR.. w. T. Bedfeld has discovered that
crystals characteristic of lard and tallow
can be obtained by evaporating solutions
of these facts in ether The lard crystals
yielded are rhomboidal plates with bovcl-
ed ends, while those of tallow are plume
shaped and curved like an italic +. This
difference of crystals gives very simple
means Of testing lard, and has enabled
the discoverer to testify in court that a
given sample contained no tallow.
Moas. Daubree has analysed metcrtc
which fell in the province of Entire Rios,
Argentine Republic, and finds that it
contains iron, lime, magncsia and carbon
in an organic form. The last discovery
leads him to hope that he may some day
find organic remains in mcteorite 1t
may be recollected that Sir William
Thomson, in 1871, suggested the idea
that even living organic germs may have
been brought to the earth by meteorites,
and that the present animal and vegeta-
bic life Of our planet had its origin in the
germs thus introduced. This speculation
gives special interest to any remains Oh
other evidence tending to show that me
teorites or the worlds of which they may
have once formed part ever bore living
forms.
BY a comparison of analyses Of soil.
from different vineyards, the last rcpor,
Of the Scottish Horticultural Association
shows that the soils on which the crap.
crops fail are deficient in lime and potash
Deaf mutcs have been taught to speak
and to understand speech by noticing tn,
movements of the lips, 1t is stated thai
Mons. Wankerke has produced photo
graphs showing the form assumed by tn,
lips for each sound and that these pic
lures have enabled inexperienced person,
to recognize the different articulations
Such photographs ought to be of grea
value in giving instruction to deaf mutes
DR.. Werner Siemcns has demonstrate,
BY experiment that intensely hot gasel
do not emit light, and that, consequently
all light given by heated gas must com,
from solid impurities, and not from tn,
gas itself.
For ten or twelve years new form
Of potato disease has been slowly Blu,
steadily spreading in Southwestern Nor
way, and is now reported to be extending
its ravages with increasing energy. On
the stalk Of the plant, which is the par,
affected, Herr Anda has found a fungoiJ
growth, which is successfully white
greenish and black in color, and which
attains the size Of small bean. The
development Of the fungus causes the in
terror Of the stalk to dry up and disap.
pear, leaving only the outer she'll The
fungus Is most active near the close Of
July or the beginning of August, when
whole fields of potato plants are often
quickly reduced to the condition of with.
cred straw.
The mineral waters of France, accord
ing to the Minister of Public Works il
that country, come from 1927 sources
of these springs 3l9 are sulphurous, 357
alkaline, l36 terruginous and 215 saline
1856 are cold-the temperature being be.
low sixty degrees Fahrenheit-and GAL
are warm. The entire flow of water from
the l,021 sources is estimated at 46,4l2
lltres lover $4,000 gallons) per minute,
In paper in the bulletin of the Paris