St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-09-21
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

IOf6eF.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
FLYING MACHINEs-To accomplish fight,
according to Mr.. Richard A. Proctor,
advantage must be taken of motion
athwart the air, this motion being
aeronant or flying machine is on the ground.
Given an adequate velocity, with a sufficient
extent OF supporting surface, any body, how
ever heavy, may be made to rise from the
ground; and there can be no
no question that mechanisms can produce
sufficient velocity to raise either man or q
flying machine, provided with no greater sup
porting surface than would he manageable
in either case. The real difficulties to over
come are to maintain in the air the velocity
OF motion attained upon the ground, to in
crease the elevation to guide the aeronaut's
flight, and to preserve the balance of the aer-
onant or flying machine. Mr. Proctor he
lieves that these difficulties will be CONQUER
ed. The mastery of the problem of flight he
regards as a solution of the problem of trav-
cling more swiftly than is now possible. Iron
and steam have enabled man to surpass the
speed of the swiftest of four-footed crea-
lures, and he has full confidence that the
same useful servan IS place it in mans pow
er to outstrip in like manner the swiftest of
winged creatures.
VOLCANIC INFLUENCE UPON RAINFALL
Physicists agree in declaring that the pres
ence of solid PARTICLES in the air facilitates
the condensation of vapor, and an unusual
quantity of atmospheric dust might be ex-
pected to cause an extraordinary fall of rain.
In paper read before the Paris Academy of
sciences, Mons. Gay stated that the rainfall
of the early part of the present year was very
heavy, aud he was inclined to attribute the
circumstance to the same dust-evidently of
volcanic origin-which is believed to have
given rise to the brilliant sunrises and sun
sets of last autumn and winter. 1t has been
shown that several other volcanic eruptions
besides those of 1888 have been followed by red
glows in the sky, and Mons. Gay thought
that it might also be proven that they have
been followed by abundant rains.
GUM-A Dutch scientist, Dr. Beijerinck,
found that the gum which collects on the
branches of certain trees-especially the cher
~, peach and others bearing stone fruits
is due to disease of the tree. The disease is
produced by a highly organized fungus, whose
action causes the formation of the gum, aud
1t is quickly reproduced in sound trees,when
they are inOculated with pieces of the gum
containing of the fungus. This knowledge
of the nature OF gum may enable fruit-grow-
ers to protect their trees from a troublesome
disease, while it also indicates that the product
Of valuable gums like arabic and tragacanth,
which are produced in the same man ner, NAV
be largely increased by simple system of
cultivation by incubation.
SINGING SANDs.-0n walking upon or dis
turbiug the sand of certain beaches pecu-
liar sound is heard, which has been de
scribed as somewhat resembling the bark of
a dog. The sound seems to arise from the
friction of PARTICLES Of dry sand. Until re-
Gently these so-called singing beaches have
been known to exist at only two places, one
in Europe and one in this country, but
samples of the singing sands have now been
collected in no less than twenty-six local
tiles in the United States.
Mr.. Edwin II. Evans, of Seem edang, Java,
reports what seems to him a remarkable case
of snake cannibalism. On killing one Of
the most deadly of Javan reptiles, about a
yard and a half in length, he found it to
contain another snake of the same species,
which, although not more than three inches
shorter than the larger snake, had been COM
pletely swallowed, only part of the tail about
two inches long protruding from the mouth
of the swallower.
DISEASED PEAs.-Samples of green peas,
from a lot alleged to have caused sickness
aud dlarrhoea, have been found by DR..
John Muter to be affected by fungoid
growth on the inner surface of the outer
coating of the seed. When boiled with water
the peas have a sickly, pale-green color, with
yellow >pts; but when the water contains a
little sofa they show deep violet-brown
markings, and emit fragrant odor on keep
ing.
A VOLCANO or VESUs.-From q careful
study Of q series of drawings of Venus,
Mons. P Lainey infers that perfectly cir
cular protuberance in the southern bemis-
phere, presumably volcano, has an eleya-
ton Of probably not less than seventy miles.
He attempts to prove that the existence of so
enormous a mountain on Venus is not in
compatible with the volcanic nature of the
planet
After a careful and labOrious in vestigation,
DR.. Edgar Holden concludes that death from
consumption, instead of being, as is almost
universally supposed, most prevalent in ear
" adult life in this country, IS in reality not
so, but grows relatively more frequent as
life advances.
Among some curious results of spectre
scopic study Of gases, the Astronomer Royal
mentions the fact that the spectrum OF nitro
gen indicates it to be compound, while
oxygen and hydrogen act ike simple sub
stances.
The use of arsepical wall papers in all
places where malaria abounds is advocated
bv Mr. W Mattieu Williams. He considers
slight doses OF arsenic an antidote IN malar-
ial poisoning.
recent estimate, made by means of q
very intricate testing apparatus, places the
rate at which an electric dot travels over a
telegraph wire at 16, 600 miles per second.
Prof. A. Fl. Ssyee has deciphered an As
syrian record of = transit Of Venus In the
sixteenth century before the Christian era.
She Was from 81 Louis.
Narragaasett Pier Letter
One fair maid blessed by nature with a