The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-06-07
Issssief fo~ IA A,ksxssy TrsvsLv.
 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

The total number ot species of AustYal- ian fishes thus far described is reported to be I ,eor.
 Rabbits are said to be increasing in Australia with astonishing rapidity. and they have become SO destructive to crops that schemes for their exrerminarion are now being discussed.
 The percepsible earthquakes of ,be civilized world are estimated to average Tn number iIo per annum. Slish, ,re- mors, detected by delicate instruments. are everywhere numerous.
 MT. w. ]. Knowles has exhibited to the London Archaeological institute a clipped fin, implement, which he found in undsstCrbed boulder clay in Ireland, and which he therefore regards as evi- dence of the existence of man in the glacial period.
 Microbes are those microscopic plants which abound everywhere and cause dis ease and decay. They include the germs of cholera, measles, diphtheria, etc, as well as those which cause an apple to rot, dish of preserves to mold, or a pan of milk to become sour. All forms of bacteria and micrococci arc microbes.
 A Cylinder of Gas.-At a recent meet ing of the Berlin Physical Society, Prof. Landolt exhibited solid cylinder of ear- bonic acid, which he had made an hour before by hammering flakes of the solid acid in cylindrical weasel. The ham, mered mass ot solidi6ed gas resenbled common chalk, and could be touched by the and.
 Mir. (. Reid, of the British Geological Survey contends that the formation of soil cannot have been wholly due to the weathering of the underlying rocks. since a good soil mus. contain a mixture of materials from different rocks. The mixture must have been effected, in high places at least, by the action of winds in dust.
 Mir. S H. Trowbridge has described a shovel-nosed surgeon, taken from the Missouri river, whose eyes were concealed by complete overgrovth of skin. Mir. Trowbridge suspects that the entire spe- eies is becoming sightless, as these s,ur- geons now have eyes smaller than those Of most fishes, while their life Tn mud must make sight as unnecessary to them as to t.e blind fishes of caves.
 Foos. for Babes.-rhe manufacture of artificial human milk is growing into an industry in England. It is made from pure cows milk, which is first boiled to destroy all germs, then treated with a digestive ferment called pancreatine, by which artificial digestion is produced, and is finally brought to the same consti- tuition as human milk by the use of diluted acids for precipitating the excess of albu- men. Sick children in hospitals have been fed on this product, and have gain ed most rapidly in health and weight.
 Fairy Rings.-The dark green circles of grass known as fairy rings" have been puzzle to scientists, but Messrs. Lawes. Gilbert and Warrington, of Roth England, believe that they can nov correctly explain the phenomenon. The rings appear to depend upon the growth of fungus plants, which abstract rom the soil a large amount of nitrogen, md it is supposed that the grass derives rom the fungi an extra supply of nitro gen, giving it very luxuriant appear lnce.
 Lightning in France.-Reporss to the Paris Academy of Sciences on the light ,ing-strokes in France during ISs,, how that such accidents were largely confined to the mouths of June and July, he number reported for July being I4,, esulting in thirteen deaths. Most of the 'ersons struck occupied positions near a rec, chimney, or house on an ele- 'ated site with trees around it but there sere cases of death in an open 6eld and n a roadway. Several accidents from lightning happened to persons carrying umbrellas.
 The San-Spot Cycle.-Astronomers lave found reason for believing that the 'ctivity< of the sun, as indicated by the lark patches on its disc, vaxes and wanes . pretty regular period, and have con- iuded that eleven years may be taken $ ciese estimate of the time which must elapse between one season of 'reatest disturbance and the next To 'ecord with this theory, a season of 'reatest disturbance-thas is, . sun-spos naximum-should have been reached in SS7 or early in 1883, but, instead, the |zv-god still continues to show in~r>...S