Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1884-05-15
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

win cpibWbu Gay eoitaib4H- hNH Has
just been opened again by DIR. Fleit'nsn
who has found, to his grea, surprise, tina;
the clay has be :omc white and is perme
ated BY cracks filled with compact iron
pyrites, these V ms being from twenty
fifth to a sixth Of an inch in thickness
While the work Of the international
stations was in progress in the Arctic
regions, German scientific party was
making similar observations in South
Georgia, desolate island containing
about 1000 square miles and lying, in
latitude $40 south and longitude 81
west, directly east Of Cape Horn. The
lowest temperature registered by the party
during little over year was = above
zero Fahrenheit, and the highest was 81
but the usual range of the thermometer
in all seasons was from 23' TO As, the
difference between winter and summer
consisting chiefly in the length Of days.
Snow covered the ground from April to
August, aud several snow storms occurred
in the middle Of the summer, as, for in-
stance, at Christmas. The lofty and in
accessible mountains Of the interior were
partly covered with glaciers. The land
animals consisted Of few species of bird
and two or three kinds Of insects, and il
the sea were found two mammals, tw
fshes and variety Of lower animal forms
Only about forty species Of land and
marine plants were seen, and an attempt
to cultivate northern food plants failed.
The manufacture Of asbestos rope-for
purposes requiring frc-proof qualities
bids fair to become thriving Industry
in ENGLAND. Asbestos has about one
fourth Of the strength Of hemp, a rope
Of the former material an inch and a
half in diameter supporting about ton.
The Queen Of Tahiti lately stated in
Paris that dcaf.mutes are unknown among
the Tahitians.
In recent lecture DR.. p. II. Carpen-
ter, Of Eton College, mentioned the case
Of Greenland as an illustration Of the
manner in which the earths history is
read from fossils those remains Of by-gone
life which in the Middle Ages were re.
graded as "spots Of Nature Fossils Of
four climates, all warmer than the present
icy one, are found in that country. Re
mains Of the oak and the maple tell us
that the climate was once very similar to
that Of England to-day, and the coal,
found lower down, shows that something
approaching tropical heat prevailed at an
earlier period. The fossils Of certain sea
creatures appear on the land, and prove
that Greenland once lay behcath the sea
and that it, water was temperate; while
the coral, obtained still lower down, must
have grown when the waters were still
warmer.
At . late meeting Of the Royal Micro
scopical Society, Of London, attention was
called 70 the existence Of two societies
containing only lady microscopists. One
Of thcse was last year incorporated in San
Francisco as the California Microscopical
Lociety, and the other comprises students
Of Wellesley College.
Besides proving that tho so-called
bscilli Of cholera are the actual cause of
the disease, Dr.. Koch has discovered
that these germs are quickly destroyed
BY drying, and that they will grow only |
in alkaline solutions. Even the healthy |
stomach appears to contain sufficient acid
70 resist their development, infection
with cholera probably taking place dur
ing some gastric disturbance. With
knowledge Of these facts some means of
preventing cholera ought soon to be
found.
Western chemical science is being
adopted in China. A large sulphuric acid
Actery has just been established, and two
English chemical textbooks have been
ranslated into Chinses.
Prot. Rcinsch states that copper and
liver coins in circulation soon become
oyered with bacteria and microscopic
lgae,
The famous book Of travels Of Marco
'olo, the Venetian traveller Of the thir-
senth century, tells of the feathers Of
'onstrous African bird known az the
&c, and mentions specimen sent from
Madagascar to the Great Khan as being '
inty spans in length and having quill
70 spans in circumference. 1t is sup.
ed BY Col. Henry Yule that these So
He'd Gathers were fronds Of the rofia
I'm. The British consul at Zanzibar =
. lately forwarded to London four of