Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1884-12-31

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
). FoI the SPECTATOR.
+ The EARTH MoLDING WIND.-Tt appe
t that the direct action of the wind dur
: long ages has had some effect in the
: ing of the land. In tts plateaus of
s Asia, Gen. Pfjevalski has found evio
: that violent winds have moved the su
: stones about, gradually pulverizing ,.ie
5 fragments by friction, and that the finei
\ particles thus produced have been blown y
the valleys, where they have formed COZ
stantly thickening deposit. On the Puy q
Dome, in France, extensive wiDd-depos s,
J have been noticed, an ancient temple of NJ
curry on the top of that mountain havi
been covered up in sand for nearly twel
centuries.
PLANT TADAPTATIoN.-Some remarkallf
Illustrations of the power of plants to ada
themselves to diverse conditions have bes
furnished by the observations of SEMI 5l
Ladislao Nette, of Rio Janeiro. One pls
l-staychnos triplinerpia-was found growi 3
in an open space as a bush about six Fl
high, while another specimen of the sai 8
species was seen in the shade of some WOO
only few yards away as vine sixty ft
in length. Other plants were allowed l
become vines of considerable length in tsa
dense Brazilian forests, and at once began
to change their appearance to that of shru 's
on being given free exposure to the SUI
light.
A new lantern microscope, for displayipg
upon screen greatly magnifsd images u
very minute objects, has been exhibited be
fore the microscopical societies of Londo1
and has given results said to be greatly a
advance of any previous achievement. Al
one meeting blow-fy's tongue was show
from six to fourteen feet long, according
the powers used and the section of a drone
fy's eye was magnifed $500 diameters, Q,
more than six million times.
RAPIDITY OF Observation-Disclosures to
determine the speed of thonght have bee
made by Prof. Donders, Of Utrecht, with
two instruments, which he calls the noema
| tachograph and the noematachometer. EH
has found that the brain must act for .0ta
of second to produce a single idea, brt
this time will probably be shown to var
with different brains. For the eye to ro-
ceive an impression requires .077 of second
and the ear needs 149 of a second to az
preciate sound, the action of the eye be
ing nearly twice as rapid as that of the ear
A subterranean observatory is being esta'
lished in a very deep coal mine near Naga
saki, Japan, the object being to determins
what connection exists between earthquak
phenomena and those meteorological PHI
uomena belonging to the earth's surface
such as storms, tides, etc. The projectcr
is Prof. Milne. of the University of Toxic
the lndefatigable student of earthquakes L.
the land in which they are most frequent.
While some naturalists have seen reason
for believing that light of some kind mus
| exist several thousand fathoms below Nthe
| surface Of the sea, it is very improbable tha
sunlight can penetrate to such great depths
At depth of $50 feet in the Lake of Geneva
Messrs. Fol and Sarasin have just found ths
the strength of the light in the day is abou
equal to that which we perceive in clear
moonless night. At 400 feet below the sui
face the light is still quite strong.
An English surgeon, DR.. Leighton Keste
ven, reports remarkable success with nes
antiseptic method of treating wounds, cor
sisting in keeping the sores cleaused b.
means of a jet of steam charged with solu-
5ion of the oil of the eucalyptus or blue gur
tree.
According to Prof Attfield, F. r. S..
some tobacco leaves contain naturally ter
per cent Or more of sugar.
Moon AND SUN PowER.-Not taking int
account atmospheric absorption, Sir William
Thomson has computed that we receive from
| the full moon light equal to that which
would reach US from twenty-seven thousano
million million candles spread over tht
moons earthwaId hemisphere, painted
black. If allowance is made for the loss o
moonlight in passing through our atmos
phere, the number of candles must be mucI
greater-probably reaching forty thonsant
million million. The same eminent physi
cist has further calculated that, if the
moons side were painted black, and cover
ed with normally burning candles standing
closely packed in square order, the lish
would appear to us to be shout the same II
quantity as that we now receive. As com
pared with the sun, he has been led to the
conclusion that we cannot be very far wrong
in estimating the light of the full moon as
about a seventy-thousandth Of the sunlight
anywhere on earth.
| IMPROVEMENT OF THE PoTATo.--The
common potato (solonum taberosuna) is q ma
tive of dry mountain land, and by cultiva
tion in the moist climates Of Europe and
America it has become liable to what is
known as potato disease or ret. The sug-
gestion was short time ago made that il
might be reinvigorated by mixture With
some one of the many other known species
of solanuna, and an English horticulturIst,
Mr. A. w. Sutton, is now striving to accom-
plish this result. During last season he
succeeded, as he believes, in crossing S.
Maglia-a species discovered by Darwin
growing in marshy soil on islands west OF
Patagonia-with the cultivated potato, OBJ
tanning three well filed seed balls. The
seed will be planted next year, and it is
thought probable that they may produce
potatoes better adapted to moist climates
and soils than any of the varieties now
grown.
/ Pretty Mouths
Should have pretty teeth in them, but it is
not unusual to see between rosy lips, teeth
discolored and decaying through neglect.
This disiguring defect should be repaired
without delay, by using fragrant SOZO-
DON'T, which removes every particle of