The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-01-19


aeclimatised At Auckland, Nev Zealand
Prot. Edland. Of Sweden, believes thu.
he has proven that perfect vacuum is :
good conductor Of electricity.
Observations taken at Colon bv the en-
gineers engaged on the Panama Inter
oceanic canal indicate that the grea,
earthquake wave caused by the lava
eruption made its way in about thirty
hours from Java round the cape of Good
Hope to the east coast Of Central Amer
lea.
The supposed germ Of pneumonia-
belonging to the class OF microscopic Or
ganisms known as micrococci-has been
discovered by DR.. Friedlander and e..
hibited TO the medical societies Of Berlin
When the germs were introduced into the
bodies Of mice, either by incubation or
inhalation, true croupous pneumonia was
invariably produced.
A professor Of the Faculty of Sciences
Of Narcotics is reported to have exam
ined section Of French railway with the
result of finding that all the rails which
had been in use for a considerable time
had become converted into magnets
capable Of strongly attracting pieces OF
iron. After being taken up the rails
gradually lost their magnetism.
Among the many substances formerly
considered valueless but utilized by mod
ern science is the nettie. This weed :
now actually being cultivated in Ger
many, where its fiber is made into :
variety Of textile fabrics. A Dresden
m a nuf1 rturer hae Drodn1.J g.. :. =
finest thread known TO the trade, of (which
a length of sixty miles weighs only two
and half pounds.
DR.. Sach, OF Buenos Ayres, Furnishes
assurance that the world is not in DANCE
Of having a quinine famine The planta-
tons established experimentally in lava
and the Island of Reunion have been very
successful in producing this drug; while
in Bolivia the trees have been cultivated
by the million for ten years. At three
places in the last-named country, taken
in order, the number of trees growing IS
given, severally, at 10000. 100000 anc
$500. 900.
A disease peculiar to persons who dig
potatoes has been described by a prus-
sian physician. II appears to be an at.
lection Of the nerves Of the legs and fee;
and is produced by the strained posit,cr.
into which the lower exiremities are
thrown as the laborer gathers his pota-
toes. The patient finds enc or both fee:
and legs to be heavy. cold, numb AMI
sometimes painful, while his gait be-
comes clumsy and limping. The disease
may be of short duration, or il NAV cor
tinue for wears.
Dust-either volcanic or cosmic-is
the rejecting medium to which the bri.-
liant sunsets witnessed in Noverabe
from large part of the world seemed 70
be quite generally attributed. Some
scientists suppose that the dust had drifte6
with the air currents from the lava Vol
canoes, and others believe that the earth
encountered a dust cloud in space. II.
this connection it may be noted tina. :
fall of dust covered the snow Of valley
in Central Norway on the night of Nc
vember 18th. II will be interesting 70
learn how this dust compares with tia.
from krakatoa, which has been chem
ically and microsoopically examined.
The remarkable storm which crossed
the British Isles between September an;
has been traced by Mr.. c. Harding. +
X. NJ. 5, to two original eenters of dis
turbance, one being first shown a, poin.
about $50 miles to the south of Bermuda
on August e6, and the other to the cas-
Of the Rocky mountains on the 9TH
These two disturbances merged on the
,9th. when about 500 miles north of Ber-
muda, and Termed one great and destruc-
tive gale. which continued to grow IL
violence as it crossed the Atlantic UNI:
it reached the British coasts. This
storm crossed the Atlantic at an average
speed Of fully forty miles an hour, whica
is more than double the usual rate q
storms which traverse that ocean.
Although science has not yet robbed
consumption of its teTors. the discover,
OF the so-called bacillus of ,uberculos,.
mas already pointed out to medical me-
a possible means Of saving the lives OF
many patients. Speaking recently in Paris.
Prof. German See dwelt upon the impor-
lance Of searching for this organism in
the matter expectorated by persons hav-
ing apparently slight lung troubles. He
regards Its presence as an unfailing Sign
OF consumption, for the most careful re-
search has failed to detect i, in other luns
affections, and as II may be found before
the appearance Of other symptoms it NAV
enable the physician to successfully apply
treatment in the early and durable stages
of the disease.
The term telpherage has been ap-
piled by Prof. Fleming Jenkin to ",he
transmission Of vehicles by electricity 10
distance independently Of any control
exercised from the vehicle" In a systen,
Of telpherage worked out by Profs
jenkin. Ayrton and Perry. trains OF buck
cts. each bucket carrying 200 or ,oo
pounds of freight, are drawn by small
eieciro-motors over single rail of rod
or ropes suspended on posts, the move
men' OF trains being controlled entirely
by operators at the stations. By keeping
up constant stream of these light trains
large amount Of freight may be for.
warded. while the expense Of fitting up
such line IS very small compared with
that OF building railways for concentrate
loads. An experimental telpherage line