Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-06
BITS OF SCIENCE.

German ingenuity has produced an eX-
plosive for mining purposes or firearms
from coal tar. This resultant is a mixture
of saltpetre, chlorate of potash and solid
hydro-carbon, the latter being paraffine,
asphaltum or pitch.
An early human skull has been found
near Prague in bed of chalk from which
the tusk Of mammoth had been dug
few days previously. The skull has an
extremely low forehead and a great de-
velOpment of the ridges.
Mr.. Bradlee, an architect, has proved
beyond all dispute that Portland cement
does expand. He filled three glass bottles
with cement and closely sealed them. One
of the bottles burst in two days, another
in eight days, and the third in ten days.
A committee of the Royal Medical ana
Chirurgical Society of London, appointed
to examine the micro-Organisms Forward
ed by DR.. Strass, of the French Cholera
Commission, reports an inability to dis
cover anything peculiar in them, as they
are Identical with germs commonly seen
in ordinary diarrh9a.
writer in the British Medical Journal
says: "The best remedy for cramp-the
simplest and the most efficacious that |
know offs a band of cork. 1t is easily
made by cutting small new wine cork
into thin slices, which must be sewn close
together upon ribbon or tape an inch wide.
1t can be tied around any part affected
and worn during the night
Investigations concerning the effect of
different forms of artificial illumination
on the health show that the tallow candle
is the most unwholesome agent and the
electric light the best. The incandescent
electric lamp produces only about one
thirteenth as much heat as the tallow
candle, while it gives out no carbonic acid
or water. One gas-Jet in room is said to
to vitiate the air as much as six persons.
Painting on zinc is facilitated by en-
ploying mordant of one quart OF chic
ride of copper, one of nitrate Of copper
and one of sal-ammOniac, dissolved in
siXty-four parts of water. To this mix
ture add one part of commercial hydro
chloric acid. This is brushed over the
zinc and fixes a dull gray color in twelve
to twenty-four hours, paint adhering per-
fectly to the surface thus formed.-H Manu-
fGctuTeFS' Gazette.
A great Swiss marine and pocket chro-
nOmeter competition is now going on at
Geneva, to last eighty-three days. A spe-
cial stove, in which an invariable temper
ature can be maintained for several con-
secutiVe days, was built. For five DAYS
the chronometers placed therein will be
kept at one temperature, which will after
ward be raised by degrees at a time from
) to 80 degrees centigrade, and then re-
duced in like manner from 50 to 30 per
cent.
The theory of memory is thus expound-
ed by DIR. r. Wood Brown: s'When an i'm
preston is received upon the retina, tym-
panum, tongue, fingers or olfactOry bulbs,
it is conveyed by proper nerve filaments
to cells in the gray matter of the BRAIN.
These cells vibrate from eXcitation and
undergo a change, say that of molecular
arrangement. If this impression is re-
peated often enough the molecules are
permanently changed, and we have men,
DRY cells and remember the impression.
But repeated impressions are not always
necessary to produce a memory cell. A
sudden, violent eXcitatiOn will cause
permanent change in cell.'
The very remarkable climatic eccentri-
cities. if so they may be termed, that have
latterly attracted attention the world over,
are typically exemplified in the last WIN
ter season about StavangOv, Norway,
where, in latitude IS degrees IS minutes,
or only one degree south Of the extremity
of Greenland, the thermometer but once
during the month of January fell to the
freezing point. The grass plots of the
various gardens are described as having
been practically as green as in summer:
daisies, snowdrops, pansies, violets and
primroses had their blossoms well set;
peonies had appeared above the ground
and many roses had thrown out vigorous
shoots. ''-Ihe american.