Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1883-02-10
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Mons. Fayol has found that the
duration of oak timber used in collie
ries is increased and sometimes
! doubled by treatment with tar. The
same substance has, however, little
influence upon the durability of pine.
The distinctness with which small
stars appear in photographs of the
great comet of last year leads Mr.. Gill
astronomer of the Cape of Good Hope
observatory, to suggest the possibility
OF making star-maps 10y direct photo
graphv of the heavens.
Sir George B. Airy thinks it probable
that the tides can have no beneficial
+ effect upon the climate of London, eX-
crpt that the agitation produced may
destroy Injurious stagnation ofthe air.
The sanitary action must be slight, as
about ali the matter carried out by the
ebhing tide is returned at the next
flow.
Mons. -Sequard recently dis
covered that carhonic acid has re-
markable anaesthetic action when
blown into the upper opening of the
larynN, iusensibility being produced
not only in that organ but in the entire
body. 1t is found that the effect is not
due to the passage of carbOnic acid
into the blood, as might be supposed,
but to an iiiuence eXerted on the nerve
centres by irritation of the sensitive
nerves of the larynN.
The readiness with which certain
solids conduct sound is Il familiar fact
of physics which Mons. Goblin men
ti0ns rs having long had curious APP
plication on the Rhone. Considerable
quantities of gravel are carried down
the river by the current, and, by plac-
ing one end of cane in the water and
applying the other to the ear, the
clash of the moving pebbles as they
strike together is distinctly heard by
persons in boats on the surface. The
sound is a cracking like that produced
in frying.
Good reason exists for believing that
hayfever is caused by pollen, accord
ing to MI c. b. Plowright, an Eng
! lish microscopist, who says the pollen
rapidly begins to throw out pollen
tubes when hrought into contact with
tho ,,-arY1l ap1 ,npiSt 1nuoOuS
hrane of the bronchial tract, SINH
larly, he thinks t..at the spores Of some
/ fuuSus growing on grasses must enter
the bronchial tubes of sheep and ger
inmate therein to produce the ''sheep
cough" known to English sheep-grOw-
erS.
\ Vienna chemist has made a new
glass, which seems to be an interest
ing production. Its composition is
not given. but it is said to contain
neither siie~, potash, Soda, lime, nor
borax. 1t is perfectly clear and trans
parent, and can be cut and polished,
while it is reported to he more brilliant
in appearance than the common crys-
tai. 1t is completely insoluble in wa
ter, and is not affected by fiuoric acid,
but hydrochloric and nitric acids cor
rode it. When fused it adheres to iron,
bronze and zinc, and would probably
form a valuable protective coating for
those metals.
Lockyer's supposition that part or
all Of the so-called chemical elements
are really compound bodies 81
upon speetrn~~ ".
,-opic observations of the
/ sun and stars. 1T appears that the
supposed hottest stars-Sirius, for in
stance-give spectra showing only
very thick hydrogen lines and very
few thin metallic lines characteristic
of elements Of low atomic weight;
while the cooler stars, like our sun,
indicate by their spectra much larger
number of metallic elements, but none
of a non-metaIlic character; and the
coolest stars afford evidence of COM
pounds of metallic with non-metallic
elements. These observations are
very simply explained by considering
that, as the temperature increases, the
compounds are first broken up into the
constituents which we have been ac-
custOmed 10 regard as their elements,
and that these substances then under
go decomposition into lighter ele-
ments.
IN the white sand of the Ergent
Mountains at Sarepta, Asiatic Russia,
are found some curious stones. They
have round, cylindrical and target
shaped forms, and range in size from
Jumps smaller than walnuts to masses
of more than fourteen inches in length
and from two to seven inches in thick
ness. Each Of the cylindrical stones
which are often forked and root-like
in appearance-is found to contain
brown kernel with white spot in the
centre. These singular formations
have perplexed many persons, includ-
ing Alexander Won Humboldt, who,
while declaring the stones to be of re-
cent date, could not explain their
origin. Alex Becker now believes
that he can with certainty assert that
they have been produced around the
roots of plants containing milky juice.
Several such plants grow abundantly
in the white sand. The long roots are
lacerated by insects, and the milky
fluid flows continually from the
wounds, sticking the chalky sand firm
ly around the roots. In time the roots
die and disappear, leaving in their
places white-often h0llow-kernels,
together with the brown color of the
root-cortex. The round and target
shaped stones-only few of which have
brown kernel-may have formed