The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1883-04-06
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SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


ness the .otal eclipse OF May 9th from
small islands in the South Pacific.
A special effort will be made to dis
cover any planet which may exist
nearer the sun than Mercury, and
the unusual duration of this eclipse
nearly six minutes-wlil greatly
favor the observers in their search.
After series of inter esting ex-
perim.nts in Paris, Mons. L. II.
Deherain has concluded that while
the radiations from an electric arc
lamp may maintain mature plants In
vegetation for a considerable time
without aid from the sun. the light is
not sufficiently powerful to cause the
growth of terminating seeds or to
allow of the maturing Of fruit on
the older plants.
Mons. Jansen has found the high
deser. plateaux of Algeria to have
an atmosphere so remarkably clear
that the moons of Jupiter arc visible
to the naked eye.
a new book Of Siberian travels
mentions that the native winter fish
ermen stir up the surgeons, which
lie congregated in the muddy hollows
of the river Irish, by dropping red.
hot Jumps Of clay through holes in
the ice. The heat rouses the fish,
which rise, swim up the stream, and
are caught by -pring-liues previously
Set for them.
A prize Of about $3.50 has been
offered by the Agricultural society
of BresIaw for a cheap, easily applied
and effective destroyer of field-mice,
proposals to be sent in before Sep
tember.
Baroc Nordenskjold is to under
take an Arctic expedition to Moth
Greenland this year.
The excavation of Pompcii
was begun in 1748, and about two
fifths of the city have since been
brought to light, giving to the mod
ern world a remarkable monument of
civilization. This work has also
shown something OF the nature and
extent of the catastrophe which over
whelmed Pompeii. The destruction
was no: caused by lava, but by bul-
ial in rain of ashes and cinders
from Vesuvius. The larger part of
the Inhabitants had time 20 escape,
but there is good reason to believe
that at least 100 perished about $50
bodies having thus far been found.
1t was happy thought of Fiorelii,
some twenty years ago, that by pour
ing plaster of Paris in the moulds left
in the soft ash casts might be made
of the victims in the attitudes in
which they met. their death. This
plan has been carried out since then
whenever human remains have been
discovered, and the result is that an
extraordinary collection of protraits
statues of the men and women of
eighteen centuries ago is now being
made. The arcbaeologists are rot
only restoring the stage but they are
also bringing before US the actors in
the terrible Roman tragedy OF Au-
gust, '79.
Herr Wagner has found that the
a. plication of phosphoric acid to soili
already rich is not always desirable;
and an excess of the acid may, espec
ially in a dry soil, prove actually
injurious, probably by fastening the
death Of the plants organs of uutri-
ton.
Tyndall has supposed the color of
the sea to be due to a reflection bv I
the water of the blue rays ossunIight |
red rays beng transmitted Were
this view correct the light which
passes through the water must be
red, but Mons. Spring of the Belgian
Academy finds that such is not the
case, a distinctly blue color being
seen through long tube of pure
water.
Attemps have been made by va
rious delicate experiments 10 measure
the time which elapses between the
movement when u persons sense oil
touch, sight or hearing is excited
and the inomens when he indicates
by signal that he has become con-
scious of the sensation. Mons. Bea-
unis, of Nancy, has of late been try-t
ing to determine the length of the
"reaction time" so-call-
the case of smell. With ten
lie has obtained deiermin
ations ranging from, IS hundredths
Of second tor ammonia, and 46 for
acetic acid, to So for mint, and 81