Morris tribune., 1884-11-05

A species or ant observed III tne
island of st. Thomas has been descrb-
cd to the French Academy of Sciences
\ large fire having been kindlod at
certain distance from the anthill, the
| ants were seen to precipitate them
selves into it by thousands, until it
was completely eXtingu;shed. 1t Is
proposed to call the species Formica
ignOra.
One of the remarkable things which
hotanists tell us is that we have more
plants of the Japanese flora than
Europe has and that even the Pacific
coast of America has fewer than are
found on the Atlantic slope. A few
American plants may have reached
Europe by natural means but in the
main the course of plant migration
has been from the Old World to us
from west to east.
In this and other countries there are
said to he 1000 scientific societies. The
two great and leading bodies of such
character as to embrace all the scien-
tific men of Il nation are the British
and American Associations for the
Advancement of Science, both of
| which have met this year on Ameri-
can soil. The British Association is
54years old, the American 33.
The international COMMITTEE of
weights and measures, whose work is
chiefly to test the standards of meas
urement used in the different coutriess,
was established ut Paris in 1873 by q
| concentration of nation, but has only
just received the adhesion of England
With the further accession of Rou-
! mania and Servia the Committee now
represents an aggregate population of
42l ,44O, 1886, distributed over Germany,
England, Austria, Hungary, Belgium,
the Argentine Republic, Denmark,
Spain, the United States, France,
Italy, Peru, Portugal. Roumania,
Russia, Servia, Sweden, Norway,
Switzerland, Turkey and Venezuela.
Mr.. Richard A. Proctor reports that
the lunar eclipse of Oct. 4th presented
to him very unusual appearance. AT
| the time of greatest observation the
moon was barely Wis; bic rs an Hide
fined ring ola sicklv green hue, while
its ordinary appearance ut such a time
is that of huge glowing coppery-red
ball hung up in the sky. He thinks
it probable that the earth's atmos-
phere was laden with something
which acted as Il dense screen to the
SUMS rays, which are pretty certainly
known to be refracted through our at
| mOSphere into the shadow cone to
| such a degree as to produce the usual
| ruddy tinge of the moon when totally
eclipsed. He asks whether we are
here once more brought face to face
| with the cause of the persistent haze
in the suns neighborhood, and of the
| late wonderful sunrises and sunsets.
The clothing reform proposed by
DR.. Gustav Jaeger, of Stuttgart, is
said to have been already approved
and carried out by thousands of Ger
mans, not few Russians, and some
Englishmen. DR.. Jaeger contends
that clothing made exclusively from
wool, natural covering for animal
bodies is the safest and most health
full for mankind to wear, and he urges
its use for all purposes of men and
women. Not only would he exclude
every article made from cotton or
other vegetable fiber from apparel in
use by day, but he would also reject
them from the beds OH which we sleep
at night. He advocates garments of
such form that draughts of cold air
under them are prevented, while he
doubly protects the throat and chest
by an extra thickness of cloth, and
keeps the feet clean and dry by the
use of boots of porous leather or felt
and porous inner soles. The advan-
tages of wool over vegetable fibers are
claimed to sbe very great as the latter
impede the circulation of the air, re-
tain the noxious emanations of the
body and expose the surface of the skin
to sudden change of temperature,
while wool is free from those objec-
tons.