The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-04-12
Scientific Miscellany.

The most accurate calculation vet
made of the pcriol of the great comet
of 1882 is that of Fabritius, who makes
it 1928 years.
Mr.. II. o. Forbes, an English an
thropologist who has Travelled in the
East Indies, reports the existence OF II
race of red-haircd people with blue
ewes in the interior OF the island OF
Timor.
Recent accurate dwellings confirm
the conclusions advanced by Mons.
BOurdalen in 1864, that the average
level of the Mediterranean is aboJt
twcnty-cight inches lower than that of
the Atlantic.
The Swedish iriga'c Nanrds has
started on "A scientific cruise round the
world, having among its Passengers
kim Oscars second son and govern
mcnr commissioner VINO is 10 collect
materials for starting a national mu-
scum OF cthnography in Stockholm.
II is probably not - morally known
that rain or dew from the vapOr pro-
duccd by the evaporation Of sea or salt
lake water invariably contains salt, Al
though Dr.. Pcizholdt, OF tn university
at Dorpat, Russia, states that chemist
have long been aware Of the TACT.
Prof S. p. Thompson has shown that
il electricity be regar ci rs se.i-r'-
pulsive medium, a surplus in one place
and deficit in another would give rise
to motion between thrm-that is, 10
\ ,N,t.nI- LA. hn..i-
until he infers that either the ether Is
electricity, or the ether is electrified
the former conclusion bong the more
probable.
Lquelicd carbonic acid is coming in
to use in Europe for Il variety of pur-
poses. II is conveyed from the place
of manufacture in strong wrou rht-irOn
cylinders fitted with brass screw valves.
To keep the acid in its liquid form these
storage tanks have TO endure Il pres
sure of as much as thirty-siX amos
pheres, or more than 800 pounds to the
square inch.
Dr. Beau, a French physician, has
observed that the tinger-naiis grow AT
the rate OF one-thirtieth OF an inch
week, while the toe-nailS increase in
length only onc-fourth rs fast. be
finds that the growth Of the thumb-naiI
equals its own length every twenty
weeks, but the nail of the great toe is
replaced completely only once in nine
ty-siX weeks
Russian writers have lately drawn
atten .Jl to the existence of various
poisonous species of fish in the japanese
seas. The eating of Il molerate-sized
bit of the flesh of one OF them, known
as the Fuku, is said to be almost in
stantly followed by death. Many fatal
ties are cause by this fish among the
lower classes of japanese, who eat it,
at the risk of being poisoned, on &C
count of certain marvellous properties
which they believe it to pos'e
In a communication to the Royal So
ciety of London, General Strachey has
considered certain remarkable baro-
metric disturbance which were re-
corded near the close of August at
various widely separated stations, and
has endeavored to trace them to COM
mon origin in air-waves produced by
the great volcanic eruption at Kraka-
toa, in the straits of Sunda. Such
waves would move in all directions
from the place where they were caused,
and from the data at hand he estimates
that these waves Travelled from east to
west at the average rate OF GA miles
per hour, and from west to east at 7O6
miles each hour He finds it probable
that a great wave moving from east to
west travelled more than 80, 200 miles
before its extinction, making the COM
plete circuit of the earth three and one
fourth times. The sea-wavcs resulting
from this volcanic outburst propagated
to distant parts of the globe at rates
reported as varying from 1873 miles to
40 miles an hour.