The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-05-06
Scientific GOSSIP.

Mr. Ii. Ii. tOuflnSlOn cnutdNOTS 20
maintain that the languages OF MelaneSia
had one common origin. Under Melanesi ID
he includes New Caledonia with Loyalty
Islands. the New IIcbrides, the Banks and
Torres Islands, Fiji, santa Cruz, and Reef
Islands, and the Solomon Islands. The
parent stock OF the various tongues SpO-
ken i'm Melane>ia he considers the same
as that to which the other ocean languages
belong-Maylay Polynesian, the lam
guages Of the islands which connect Mcla-
neSia with the Indian Archipelago, and
/ Malagassy.
Card-teiegrams are much in Use in Paris.
There are two kinds OF them one like the
ordinary postal-card in form and color,
and the other blue, and capable OF being
so closed a. to conceal the writing. They
are each large enough to contain message
Of fully sixty words. When card is
dropped into the card-telegram box Of the
nearest telegraph office the official in charge
/ hicks il up and has it transmitted through
one OF the pneumatic tubes, which extend
all over the city, thus inSuring its delivery
/ at the place to which it Is addressed in less
/ than half an hour from the time it was
posted
Man, according to Mr.. W. J. Knowles,
must have taken up his residence in Ire
land at a very early stage in the history Of
the world. Mr.. Knowles has discovered
ilints at Lane and other places on the north
east coast OF that country, some OF which,
he believes, show evident traces OF human
workmanship. one large, Clipped nipple
ment was found in what appeared TO be
true, mdisturbed boulder clay. There are
other tools which Mr.. Knowles has in his
possession which seem TO indicate that
man has lived in Ireland long before the
paleolithic period during, in fact, the gla-
cial epoch.
Ii is said that Mr.. Giltay, Of Delft, has
discovered that a gloyed hand Will act ~ 4
receiver when il is put in telephone err
cult. He used an Adler micrOphOne, the
primary OF an induction coil being con-
nected to It and To three Bunsen cells. The
secondary Of the coil was in circuit with Il
nine-cell Leclanche battery and the line,
the ends OF the wire being held in the naked
hands OF two persons standing In room
some distance away. On whistllng or sing
iDg near the microphone the sounds were
distinctly heard by one OF the persons mold
ing the wire line, while the other pressed
glOved hand firmly against his ear. In the
case OF speech the sounds were TOO feeble
to enable more than a few words to pc I'M.
derstood.
Professor Erdmann, OF the Physical So
ciety, Berlin, has described an optical eX-
perience OF bis, which he has frequently
repeated since he first observed il. In
perfectly dark room he was able only by
Indirect vision to perceive an object which
reflected light very family; while endea-
yoring to look at il fxedly the object COM !
pletely disappeared. This phenomena he |
noticed only in the evening in going to
bed, after he had been working consider |
able time in brightly-iIluminated room.
On the other hand, when he awoke in the |
night he perceived the falntly-ucent OBJ |
ect quite As well rs by indirect VISION He |
was Of opinion that his phenomena was
connected with the lassitude OF the middle |
part OF the retina, but Professor Won Helm !
holtz explained it by the inferior sensitive
1ess TO light OF the yellow spot In COM
parison with Its surroundings.