The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1884-04-26
Tbe Doqaldsoqville CRief'
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
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SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Capt. Fondacaro of the italian navy is
organizing the FIRST expedition for seeking
the north pole which has been ftted out in
Italy for several centuries.
Mons. Villermoz, a French horticulturist,
has met with remarkable success in treat
ing sickly plants with warm water. It is
supposed that the warm water washes GER
tain injurious acid substances away from the
roots, thus removing the cause of the weak
ness of the plants.
AS result Of his extensive experiences in
building compressed air locomotives for
European mines, Col. Beaumont states that
one cubic foot Of air under 2 pressure Of
1000 pounds to the saaare inch will convey
q load of three tons distance of O ne mile
on any Of the colliery tracks.
Or. Percy Pope, an English physician,
maintains that diphtheria is produced by
some influence Of the soil, as he finds that
it chiefly occurs among dwellers on clay.
He thinks that observations which have
been made indicate that the clay may fos-
ter germ which will cause the disease.
Mons. Angot having drawn the attention
Of the French Academy Of Sciences to the
fact that series Of brilliant twilights was
observed in Europe in 1881, Mons. Tissan-
der has pointed out that the effects were
preceded, as in 1883, by a great volcanic
eruption, which occurred in the Sicilian
Sea and caused large quantity of fine
ashes to be thrown high into the cir.
The Government Geologist of Australia
gives an instance of apparent suicide by a
Eenomous black snake which had been
wounded and was irritated by ants. The
reptile bit itself twice and died from the
effects Of its own venom. lie states that
one of his men assured him that venom
GUS Australian adder will invariably bite
itself and die if it is pinned to the ground
by forked stick.
An English writer states that the Than
Shan range of mountains in Central Asia is
twenty-five times as large as the Swiss Alps,
covering an area equal to France and Spain
in extent, and forming q protuberance
upon the earth's surface considerably
greater than the aggregate Of all the noun
tains of Europe. This remarkable range
is supposed to have no less than 5000
glaciers, and it has SHOW bridges mile in
length and more than 100 feet in thickness.
DIR. Zintgraff is about to take speaking
phonograph into the interior of Africa for
the purpoee of fixing the speech and melo-
dies of hitherto unknown tribes. If sue
.eessful, he will forward the indented phono-
graph plates to Berlin, where German
scientific men will place them upon du-
plicate instrument aud cause them to re-
emit the sounds received, thus reproducing
in the seats Of European learning the utter
ances of simple sayages who have never left
the heart of the clark continent" AS this
will be the first experiment. of the kind ever
made, the result will be awaited with much
interest.
Mr.. Geo. H. Barton states in Science that
the lava stream which burst from the side
of the Hawaiian volcano of Mauna Loa on
the 9Th of November, 1880, continued to
flow slowly down the mountain and across
the country for more than nine months,
at the end of which time it had extended
over distance of about forty-fve miles.
A part of its course passed through forest,
where the lava became sufficiently solid be-
fore the large trees we're burned to retain
complete moulds Of their trunks, and from
these perpendicular moulds the lava was
found to average twenty feet in thickness
st this point. NJ. Barton roughly esti-
mates the quantity of lava emitted at some
thing more than 5oo,ooo,ooo cubic yards.
The rapid cooling and solidifying OF the
surface Of the lave while the interior was
still flowing Caused a considerable part of
the stream to take the form of tunnel.
The art of sewing has been known from a
very remote period, as is shown by the fact
that bone needles have been found among
the Oldest remains of the Swiss lake-dwell-
ings and in the caves of France and Great
Britain which we're frequented by man dur
ing the reindeer age. Some of these early
needles were perforated i'll the middle
which was the thickest part-and others
were pierced at the larger end. a French
cavern has yielded needless much superior
TO those of the ancient Gauls and to the
ivory needles of the modern Esauimaux,
especial skill having been applied to the
boring of the eyes, which must have been
done with fine flint drill. The Swiss
lake-dwellers used linen thread or bark
fiber for sewing, and made garments from
woven fabrics of linen and bark as we'll as
from the skins Of animals. The cave peo-
pie employed thread made from split
tendons and perhaps strings of gut, and
the fineness Of some of their needles has
suggested the probability that they per-
formed some more delicate work than the
sewing of skins. : -
To the universally recognized five senses
sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch
Sir William Thomson, following out sug-
gestion by DR.. Thomas Reid, adds a sixth
by dividing touch into the sense of rough
ness or of smoothness and the sense of
heat. It has been suggested that we should
also have sense WHICH can perceive the re-
mar ls1sl'l. force which is created by mag
nets. Every schoolboy knows how iron
and and steel are attracted, and Faraday dis
covered that if piece Of copper or silver
is dropped between the poles of powerful
electro -magnet it falls slowly as if sinking
through II mud. 70 determine how this
magnetic N force is felt by the human sys-
tenn, Lord Lindsay and Mr. q r. ua.lo1