Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1884-03-12
SCIENTIFIC GLEANINGS,
DRY FACTS STATED IN An ENTER.
TANNING WAY.

ts-PhOs phOrescent Limestone Orig:
inal Homes Of Domestic Animals
Folly OF Trying to Bring Drouths t.
an End by Fire Metal Strings ror
Instrumentation Mosquitoes may
Spread Yellow Fever.
Compiled for the wooD RIVER T1MEs.l
When seen from the temperate
zone, the aurora borealis appears
high above the earth's surface, the
estimates of its minimum hight
which have been made being stated
to average hardly less than 1875 miles.
In the Arctic regions, however, the
aurora is often very much lower A
member Of the Danish Circumpolar
Station, which was maintained at
Godthaab, in Greenland, during the
winter of 1898, reports that his
party several times saw aurora below
the clouds, and even SO low that the
tops of low mountains five or six
miles away were seen above and far
beyond them. Other observers have
given accounts of aurora which
seemed to be not more than a few
yards above sca-level. Prof. Streen-
strup, an eminent zoologist, even as
serts that, while walking in Iceland
in 1910, he and two companions saw
auroral streamers appearing between
themselves, and this occurred several
times during the walk, although the
pedestrians kept only about yard
apart.
A piece OF phosphorescent lime
stone from Utah was recently exhib-
tied to the Philadelphia Academy of
Natural Sciences by Prof. II. c.
Lewis. 1t emitted lurid red light
when struck, scratched or heated.
On seeking other specimens of lime
stone having such properties, it was
found that some from India gave
strong yellow glow when heated, but
yielded no such effect when scratched
or struck. These two lmcstones have
the same external characters, which
are different from those of other lime
stones-a fact which is of great inter
est, as it confirms Becquerel's view
that phosphorescence depends upon
physical rather than chemical con-
ditions.
Prof. N. Jolly, of the Faculty of
Sciences, France, thus briefly sums
up his conclusions concerning the
original homes of domestic animals:
'The Eastern origin of certain spe-
cles now domesticated among us is
open to no manner of doubt. Such
are, for example, the peacock, ma
tive of India, the common pheasant,
brought from the banks of the Phasis |
after the expedition of the Argonauts;
the cock perhaps; and the silLworm,
cultivated in China for nearly 5000 |
years. A few amin ais only come to
us from Africa. The guinea fowl,
the canary, and perhaps also the fer
ret, are instances. Others, lastly,
have been imported from America at
a comparatively y recent epoch. These
are the guinea pig, the turkey, the
musk duck Improperly termed the
Barbary duck the Canada goose,
and the cochineal from Nepal. To Eu-
rope belong, in our opinion, the dog,
the cat, the horse, the pig, the OK,
the goat, the sheep, the rabbit; among
birds the pigeon, the common fowl,
the duck, the common goose, the
swan; and among insects the bee"
In his presidential address to the
Royal Society Of New South Wales,
Mr.. II. c. Russell, government astron-
omer, has demonstrated the folly of
rying to bring drouths to an end hy
iring cannon or building large fires
n the hope that fall of rain might
De thus produced
1t has been recently shown that
much more sonorous tone in strinred
Instruments can be obtained with
metal strings than with those now in
Use, the best results being given by
teel wires plated with silver or cop
Yer.
DR., Carlos Finlay, of Havana.
MAINTAINS that mosquitoes may spread
'ellow fever, and reports having seen,
'nder the microscope, spores and FL !
lments of particular nature on the
ting OF mosquito that had Just bit
en- yellow fever patient.