The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-07-23
Scientific Scraps.

A geological specimen, alleged to be one
Of the saurians, resembling turtle, was
found recently in the south coal-shaft of
Springfield.
One of the only two remaining Roman
milestones in Great Britain is in Cannon
Street, London, the other being in Chester
holm in Northumberland. There is Ro
man work about the Tower of London.
Until quite recently an old Roman turret
was standing within hundred yards of
Ludgate Hill station, and in Cripplegate
may yet be seen a splendid specimen of
the original Roman wall
Further accounts of the Austrian Arch
duke Rainer's collection of papyri confirm
the idea of their importance. A speech,
hitherto unknown, against Isocrates, an
other fragment of Thucydides, manu-
script of the eleventh book of the Had,
fragments of an esthetic treatise belonging
to the Second century of the Christian era,
of the Fathers, etc, are said to have been
unearthed; also leaf of translation of
the Book of Ruth i'll the Sahidic dialect.
During last autumn Prof Euting of
Strasburg, made an archaeological tour
through the interior of Arabia, whence he
brought several valuable inscriptions, no
tably from Palmyra, the Tadmor of the
Bible. Particularly remarkable was He
brew inscription which he deciphered on
the ruins of gate of an ancient synago-
que in Palmyra. According to Prof Eut-
ing the inscription cannot be of later
date than 2T3, the year of the destruction
of Palmyra, if it is not still older.
The London Medical Times believes that
the sympathy expressed for criminals sup
posed to suffer pain on account of the con
tinued action of the heart after the neck is
broken in hanging, is misplaced 1t cites
the recent triple execution at Prague to
show that the heart may pulsate for a
quarter of an hour after deaths which are
shown to be instantaneous Many cases
are recorded where the hearts action has
continued long time after complete de
capitation.
NM. Depiere and Clouet have been late
ly experimenting in regard to the bleach
ing action of rays of solar and electric
light upon colors printed upon calico, and
from the results communicated by them
to the Industrial Society of Mulhouse, it
appears that both the electric and solar
light bleach; that all colors of rays bleach,
but not equally; that the bleaching takes
place either in air or in the vacuum; that
the yellow rays are the least active, and
the red rays the most active; and that of
all artificial lights the electric light is the
most active.
The arrangement of the papyrus collec-
ton lately bought by the Archduke Rainier
of Austria has revealed hitherto unknown
speech of Isocrates, one of the finest speci-
mems of Alexandrian caligraphy. Another
fragment has been found of the book OF
Thucydides manuscript Portions have
also been discovered of the Iliad and OF a
paraphrase of the Fourth Book. Then a
metanyia has been found, dating from the
beginning of the Fourth century, being
thus one of the oldest Christian manu-
scripts. The collection contains many
we'll preserved documents in an almost
continuous series of the Roman and By
zantine emperors, beginning with Trojan
and ending with Heraclius.
The preliminary surveys for the great
Simplon tunnel have now been definitely
accomplished by commission of experts,
the result being report adverse to any
operations being undertaken on the route
suggested, in view of the extreme heat
likely to be encountered in the interior of
the vast mountain-the normal tempera-
ture of the same being estimated at nearly
ninety-eight degrees-during the process
OF construction. In other respects, how
ever, it is admitted that the geological
conditions are quite as favorable as those
OF St Gothard They propose, under the
circumstances, line slightly different
from that originally contemplated, and
which, though somewhat longer than the
first, would reduce the temperature to
about eighty-six degrees, and would afford
better opportunities also for the required
ventilation.