The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-09-27

ce~srii<d fev IA A,ksxsev 7,sysky. SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. A work on North American mosses
 by Messrs- Lesquereux and James, de-
 scribes about goo species.
 Dr. Wood has found that, with birds capacity for eating, man could consume
 a whole rosnd of beef for dinner. Dr. Spencer Cobbold has reminded vegetarians that abstaining from meat
 does not afford security against parasis-
 ism, for the most common parasise in
 England is almost entirely nourished by
 vegetables. and it is by means of veeeta-
 bles, that certain parasites are introduced
 into the husuan body.
 The interesting fact has been demon
 ssraied by Mir. Arthur Searle that the
 Milky Way is about two magni.udes
 brighter than the mean brightness of the
 sky, and q square degree of the Milky
 Way must give between five and six times
 as much light as an average square de-
 gree of the rest of the sly.
 Recent experiments On dogs have shown that the hypodermic injection of solution of theine, the active principle of tea, almost instantly coun,eracts the ehect of norphia, animals having been revived after the action Of the heast had ceased to be perceptible. Similar prop erties are possessed by caffeine, the active principle of coffee, bu. it operates less quickly.
 A New Theoy.-The development of various forms of mental and nervous dis orf-ss is supposed by Dr. B. w. Richard son, the widely knowa English pAysiolo- gis,, to depend on the presence in the body of certain unnatural or ahoormal chemical processes carried on within the body itself He has proven that amyiene -an organic substance sometimes formed in the body = produces phenomena identical with somncmbulism. His re- searches have led him to believe that the presence of tactic acid in the system will account for certain forms of heart disease and rheumatism. He advances other similar suggestions concerning the prob- able ssect of other chemical compounds which he believes may be developed in the body by abnormal processes.
 Tech Fungi.-Caries in teeth, accord ing to paper read by Herr Miller before the hygienie society of Berlin, may be traced to ferment existing in the saliva. and appearing to result from the growth of two tactic acid fungi. Experiments have shown the author that corrosive sublimate is an effective agent for ssop- ping the development of the organisms, and the consequent formation in the mouth of acid, to the action of which on the teeth he considers the carries to be due. A corrosive sublimase solution of I in Soo,ooo checked the formation of acid, and solutios of in 10000 com plesely destroyed the organisms, thus leading him to think that corrosive sub innate in solutions too weak to be dan gerous might prove a valuable mouth wash. The organisms were also de-. 'sroyed by asolution of potassium per! manganate ( in I,ooo). a solution of car polio acid q in soo) and salieylic acid | in i,5); while the development oi lod was checked by solutions half as 'uong.
 Hair Discoloration.-The varying CO., aitions of health and disease sometimes produce changes in the color of the hair other than that of turning gray. Blue hair, according to recent paper by Dr. S. I. Jackson, has been frequently ob- 'erved among workers in cobak mines md indigo works, and green hair occurs n workers in copper, the color in these ,aes arising from minute particles Of the mineral or vegetable deposited upon the aair. Prentiss has reported a case in which the hair changed in a lev weeks rom light bloade to nearly jes black, an increase of normal pigmens-seen h the 'yss as well as in the hair-appeari.g to sssit from the hypodermic use ofmuriase t pilocazpine. The color of the hair in case noticed by Snyiy turned from | mouse color to reddish yellow as an :hect of a disease of the boae of tAe lezi emPle. Squire has mentioned pisAald z ,ooditico of the hair of deaf and dumb 'oy of sixteen, the lek aide of he head lsviag fur-like covering with light ,aaches q true auburn tint asd dark aaachss of dark brown oo;es, wAile sAs taeT ss6e ho~a ds~& k~- k~. r