Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1883-08-09
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

reiatlOn 10 the antiquity OI man. In plefc-
ing 4 new gallery a cavern was broken
open, which disclosed the fossil remains
Of five human beings fairly preserved,
together with fragments of arms, utensils
Of petrifed wood and of stone, and re-
mains of mammals and fishes. A second
subterranean chamber contained the re-
mains of eleven human bodies, several
animals, and large number of various
objects, with some precious stones The
human bodies were Of large size, man
from the first chamber measuring about
seven feet and a woman six and one-half
feet. Drawings representing men fight
ing gigantic animals adorned the walls
of the cave. A third chamber found was
believed to be empty, but was not explor-
ed. If the fad proves to be what it at
first appears, it is a remarkable relic of
prehistoric people.
The French Academy's prizes for 1883
number seventeen and amount to a total
Of more than 10000 francs the largest
being one Of $4,000 francs (s5, 1000 for
. satisfactory remedy against diphtheria.
In paper read before the Royal So
ciety Of Canada Mr.. Robert Bell has at
tributed the fertility Of the vast psoduc-
tive tract of the Canadian Northwest
Notwithstanding from the Red
River valley to the Lizard river--largely
to the work Of burrowing animals. The
mole and ground squirrel are singularly
active in the autumn, and in burrowing
bury immense quantities Of grass and
other vegetable matter, which are thus
confined jim the soil and have gradually
produced rich mould.
A committee Of Vienna physicians
found in Moravia 81 per cent. of rates
examined trichinous; in Vienna and its
immediate neighborhood, ten per cent;
and in Lower Austria, about four per
cent. A lato writer insists that it is a
well established fact that swine owe their
infection with trichin@ entirely to the
eating Of the flesh and excrement of rats.
At the three stations in Northern Eu-
rope from which special attention was
given last winter 10 studies of the aurora
borealis efforts were made to photograph
the phenomenon, but no impression on
the sensitive plates could be secured.
GAS quick as lightning" is a phrase
well chosen to illustrate an inconceivable
rapidity, but Of those who use the ox-
preston probably very few appreciate its
full meaning, for Sir Charles Wheatstone
has shown that fash of lightning lasts
less than millionth part of second.
This is vastly more rapid than our percep-
ton Of the fash, as at least one-tenth of a
second must elapse-according to Prof.
Swan-before our sluggish sight can take
in the full effect Of the light. On account
Of the slowness Of our PERCEPTION we new
or see the light at its real intensity. Prof.
TAFT has suggested that the full brilliaDcy
must be IN some degree comparable with
the sun, as Wheatstone's aud Swan $
data prove that the apparent brightness
Of the landscape as lit up by lightning
lash u less than one hundred thousandth
part Of what it would be were the light
ming permanent. The apparent bright
ness, it should be mentioned, was shown
BY Swan to diminish in about the ratio
borne by the length of time the flash
lasts to the time required for us to pre-
eeive it.
In North America, the Mississippi
river drains a land area of about 1877
900 square miles; the Mackenzie, Az
600; and the St. Lawrence, 29s OOO In
South America, tho Amazon drains 2,
264,OOO square miles; and the La Plata,
$4,000. In Europe, the drainage area
Of the Volga is $4,000 square miles;
OF the Danube, 234,000 of the Rhine,
$4,000; and of the Elbe, $4,000. In
Asia, the Obi draws its water from 925,-
600 square miles; the Ycnesei, 1855 900;
the Lena, $4,000; the Amur, So, 900;
Yang-tse-kiang, $4,000; the noang ho,
s37 900; the Ganges, AZ, 900; and the
Indus, $4,000. In Africa, the Nile re-
eeives its water supply from $4,000
square miles of territory. The volume
Of water the rivers carry to the sea is
very far from being proportionate to their
respective drainage areas. The discharge
Of the Amazon exceeds that Of the prin-
sipal rivers of Asia together, and is five
times that of the Mississippi,
In his experiments at Skerryvore, off
the west coast of Scotland, Stevenson
found the average force of the waves for