St. Landry democrat., 1883-03-10

proposes forming cage OF rods over
buildings to ensure absolutesafety from
lightning. He has shown by late ex-
periments that the most powerful dis
charges from Leyden battery could
not injure living animal enclosed IN
hollow sphere of metallic links.
Mr.. w. B. Wicken says that the
large wart-like CLANS on the head and
back of the toad secrete thick, yellow
ish white fluid of an exceedingly acrid
and offensive nature. If these glands
are squeezed or handled roughly, the Sc
cretion is exuded through a number of
pin-lik pores in the surface Of the
glands. This fact is doubtless what
gave the toad its reputation as q veno-
nous reptile.
I DR.. Mittendorf states that American
students are less afflicted with near
sightedness that German students. The
| affection is developed by sedentary oc-
cupations and lack of exercise, women
being therefore more liable to contract
it than men. 1t usually appears in
childhood, rarely after the twenty first
year. Weak glasses of slight blue tint
should be worn early to stay its pro-
gress, as blindness often follows neg
lect of treatment. In his paper on this
subject DR.. NJ. tells of a fine horse in
Berlin which became intracticable and
was found to be suffering from near
sightedness, but was as docile as ever
after pair Of glasses had been fitted to
its eyes.
The existence of a prehensile tree in
certain islands Of the Pacific is..reported
by Lieut.. Houghton. The branches OF
the tree send out long, slender tendrils.
which touch the ground without taking
root and twine about any objects with
in reach. These tendrils contract
after time SO that they do not touch
the ground, and in this way they often
lift objects of considerable weight
around which they have become coiled.
The tree seems to be allied to the ban
yan, which sends slender fibres from its
branches down to the ground where they
eventually become rooted and form
new stems, which have the same func-
tion single tree thus gradually ex-
tending into a complete forest in which
the trunks are united to eachother by
the branches.
ha Of 1ioF scl
quoted to show that potatoes produce
symptoms Of poisoning more frequently
than we suspect, especially among peo-
pie whose diet is chiefly these vege-
tables. The tubers often contain much
sOlanine.
Efforts are still being made to prove
a connection between the appearance of |
the suns surface and terrestrial phe-
nomena. That sun spots are in some
way associaten with the earth's magnet
ic condition seems to be quite well es-
tablished, but it has not been so certain
" shown that the causes which produce
the spots and magnetic variations have
an influence upon the meteorology of our
globe. This theory is a bone of con-
tention. As bit of evidence bearing
upon the subject, Prof. Balfour Stewart
cites certain inquiries into the heights
of the rivers Elbe and Seine in Europe
and Nile in Africa which indicate that
these great streams reach their greatest
height ata time closely corresponding
to the maximum of the. eleven-year sun
spot cycle, and their lowest point at
the minimum of the same period. The
rain fall in these river-valleys must,
therefore, be greatest when the distur-
Dances on the sun are most extended I
and violent, and uice uersn.
In the report of a committee Of the
British Association it was stated that
the maximum pressure of wind on small
plane sufaces had been ascertained to
exceed eighty and even ninety pounds
to the square foot. The pressure over
any large area was considered mat
ter of much uncertainty, but it was
possible that the maximum pressure of
fifty-six pounds allowed by the Board of
Trade might take effect over tbe whole
of very exposed structures.
Prof. o. Silvestri has found crystal
lized parafine in the lava near Mount
Etna.
To obviate the great risk to which
aeronauts in war balloons are exposed |
Mr.. a.. Cooper Key has suggested a |
method Of securing the desired obser-