Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1883-04-04
SCIENTIFIC.


\ parisian has announced ANEW eX-
pl0SiVe--''pauclaatite " hich he
claims to be more powerful than dyna-
mite.
The solar eclipse ~ May I7.lgOl.
will eNcect, that of the present year in
its total phase by ahnut hHifa luiMutc.
The sun will be entirely covered for Il
period of six minutes and tWtuty-fOur
seconds at the most favorable point Of
observation.
For lighting minrr, Mons. Mangin
has proposed the use OF incaniCSctnt
electric lamps immersed i'll water con
tanned i'll glass globes. The safety Of
such an apparatus has been demons
Strated by placing it III the middle Of
Il balloon filled with hydogen.
The idea has become current that
submarine telegraphic cables do not
last more than ten years, but. accord
! ing to Sir Daniel GOOch, N. p. repairs
on one of the Atlantic lines last year
showed the cable to be still in good
order after submergence of thirteen
years.
In the experience of Herr Willer-
mOz plentiful application to sickly
| plants of water heated to about $50
degrees Fahrenheit has resulted bene-
ticially. He suppOseS that the warm
water dissOlves away from the roots
certain acid substances which inter-
| fere with the plants growth,
1t is considered remarkable that
| leprOsy, which the progress of civi1iZa-
! ton has driven from most parts If
Europe. should still flourish in Nor
| way. Late returns show that such j.
the case. although the number Of
| lepers in that country has decreased
from 2005 at the end Of 1875 to 1899 1T
the end of 1880. The disease i attriA-
uted to the use of fOod-particuiarly
fiSh-in an unwhOlesQme condition.
and also to l,ncioapltness,
Dr Rektam considers that head
aches and other consequences of Sleep
ing in rooms containing flowers do not
arise from any special properties of the
flowers themselves, but are due to
straining of the nerves Of smell in the
presence of perfumes for al unwontrd
length of time. The effect is analogous
to that produced upon the eyes by an
nnlnaIsual exposure to light, or Cn the
ears by long g-continued sounds.
A comparison of SKINNED with
unslimmed milk has shown Herr J
knnig that the former is by far the
cheaper and more nutritious food for
adults. It also appears that, in Ger
man markets, the price paid for the
a!buminoids III SKINNED milk i.
lower than that paid for them in any
other common food except &tocliG,A /
For example, a certain amount Of
mutritive matter from SKINNED milk |
costs Ill pfennigs; while in pork it !
would cost Ill; III butter, S1.7; and in |
eggs, 2O1.2.
Mons. TimiriaZetf informs the |
French Academy that he has found |
the leaves of plants to be capable OF |
transforming into chemical work as |
muci as f0rty pei ceht. of the energy |
absorbed by them from the suns rays. |
This chemical work is the locking up |
in plant tissue of great quantity Of |
solar energy, which remains ready to |
serve whomeyer shall liberate it, the |
leaf being the wonderful storage |
battery of nature which bottles the |
sunbeams SO securely that we are able
to apply them at pleasure TO heating
our furnaces, driving our engines and |
sustaining our bodies.
Some curious stones are found in |
many parts of Switzerland. They are
smooth, flat, evidently hand polished. !
and are covered with dots, lines. cir
cles and half-circles. In the opinion
of Herr Rodiger, these stones are
charts of the country made by pre-
historic inhabitants, and he claims to /
possess q collection of stones picked |
up i'll SolOthurn which form together
a map of the entire canton. The dots
are seen to correspond with towns and |
villages now in existence, and the
lines with roads now open. Even
fords and mountain passes are indi-
Gated. The stones are mostly dis
covered at intervals of about six miles.
and at spots where several roads meet.
Ii Herr kodiger is right in his con-
lecture, the yet-existing places whose
sites are marked on the stone-charts
must date from very early period.