Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1884-12-27
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Compiled for the WooD RIVER TINES.

the Swan type has sustained $500
hours Of use. Many have lasted 1000
hours.
In France symptoms OF poisoning
have followed the eating of vegeta-
bles grown on SOL which had been
treated with chemical poisons to des-
troy the phylloxera insect of the grape
vines.
The deep-sea crustacea, according
to Prof. Moscley, either have very
large eyes or are eyeless, aud there
must be source of light in the deep
sea. That source, he claims, is pl,os-
phorescence, but its light must be very
dim.
The plan of making charts of the
stars by Photographic means is rapidly
gaining favor among astronomers. A
photograph exhibited the other day to
the Royal Dublin Society showed II
stars in part of the heavens to which
the best published star maps assign
but five.
Hvdrochlorate Of cocaine, new 10.
cal ane sthetic discovered accidentally
by Vienna student, Is now being
tried in dentistry. 1t has already been
very successfully used in producing
insenslbility of the eye, rendering OPP
erations upon that organ painless, or
nearly so.
Late Belgian experiments have had
the obiec: of preserving wood by ex
hausting the air from the pores and
causing liqui! cutta-percha to take
its place. The gutta-percha is lique-
fed by being heated with paraf}ine,
and it hardens on cooling after being
introduced into the wood.
To prove that DR.. Koch's "comma
bacillus" is not the cause of cholera,
and that the vomit of cholera patients
is not infectious, French physician
has swallowed some pills made from
the vomit of person who died from
cholera. He was only slightly af-
fected, if at all, but two guinea pigs
and dog which were inoculated with
the same vomit succumbed at once.
1t has been asserted that the COM
mon white lily Q,ilium candidum)
grows in Palestine onv as cultivated
flower and is not native of the
country, and that consequently the
lilies of Scripture must have been de-
rived from some other plant. A
French botanist, however, states that
many wild specimens Of this lily have
been obtained from the Lebanon, one
of which he possesses.
In experiments by Profs. Milne and
Gray it has bsen determined that nor
NAL earthquake waves are transmitted
through hardened mud at the rate
of 1873 feet per second, and transverse
waves at 357 feet per second Mallet's
earliest experiments showed that earth
quakes traverse sand at a speed of
S23 feet, jo;nted granite 1908 feet,
and solid granite 1865 feet, per second.
Prof Ewing considers the last numbe.
to be very much too small.
Were the human inhabitaat ats of the
globe as numerous as are the hum.
blest Of our servants, the earthworms,
every acre of land would have to sus-
tain great city. In his memoirs
showing the importance Of the work
done by the worms in fitting the soil
TOR the use Of plants, Darwin estimat-
ed that 1856 of the creatures exist
ed in All acre Of old pasture land,
while Hcnsen gave the number for
garden soil as 53,767 per acre Re.
cent researches by Mr.. T. a. urqu.
hart indicate that these figures are
much too low for some localities, as in
pasture near Auckland, New Tea.
land, he has found 34S,4SO per acre,
with an aggregate weight of more than
600 pounds
The Sianese, according to an &C.
count lately given by DIR. f. A. Surge,
regard all nature as composed of four
elements-earth, water, FIRE and wind
These same elements are supposed to
make up the human body, which is
composed of twenty kinds of earth,
twelve kinds of water, six kinds of
wind, and four kinds of fire. The bodv
is divided into thirty.two parts, such
NC tho shin ba.yt l,,urc a., l. =.