St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-06
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

/
special Investigations Of tOrnadoes in 1882,
and 1888 have led the L. s. Signal Office to
adopt plan for thoroughly studying tornado
| phenomena. The work is now carried out
by about 500 observers, called tornado re-
porters, whose stations are mostly located in
the states of Alabama, Georgia, South Caro-
lima, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas.
Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska
Wisconsin and Minnesota. Since March 10.
1884, according to Sergt. ]. P. Finley. tor
nado predictions have been made a matter
of daily study. The average up 10 June |
shows that it has been possible on ffty-fve
days to successfully predict from the morn
ing weather-map that no tornado would
occur on that day; on twenty-eight other
| days tornadoes were predicted for particular
states or larger regions. and of them the tor
nadoes ON seventeen days occurred in or
near the specified region, while on eleven
days tornadoes occurred in regions for which
they were not predicted.
THE Victims OF TooTH DECAY AT a re-
cent meeting Of the Physiological Society Of
Berlin Prof Busch called attention to the
fact that carries of the teeth appears 10 be
peculiar to man, as it has been observed in
no other animal II is not, however, a char
acteristic Of civilized man alone, as 1t has
been seen throughout large collections Of
skulls, even in those of prehistoric time.
Some races are more disposed b il than others,
the Celtic, Arabian and Polish races being
but little affected with unsonnd teeth. Ger
tain families are particularly predisposed to
carries. General habit of body and certain
diseases have great influence upon its devel-
opment. Teeth with undulating enamel
have much less power Of resisting carries than
those whose surface is quite smooth. As is
well known, diseased teeth are rendered
practically sound by removing every particle
OF carious substance and covering the sound
dentine with a protective coating of gold,
gutta percha, or other addressing material.
AN ATTACK on LONDON Foe.-Dr. 0. J.
Lodge has been engaged in certain researches
concerning atmospheric dust, a summary OF
which he has given in a lecture TO the Royal
Society of Dublin. DR.. Lodge believes that
dust-which properly includes fogs. smoke,
and clouds OF mists-may be artifcially with
drawn from the atmosphere, and by expert
ment he has shown that a small quantity of
air may be freed from its dust by discharg-
ing electricity into it. He thinks that it may
be possible to clear the air of railway tunnels
in the same manner anu that some impress
sion may be made on London fog by suf-
ticiently powerful electrical discharges. lie
intends to experiment in a genuine London
fog with large machines.
AT the London Health Exhibition Mr..
Francis Cation has established a laboratory
for the measurement of human faculty.
Each visitor will leave record of name,
age, sex, occupation, place Of birth, color Of
hair and eyes, height standing and sitting,
weight length of span of arms, strength Of
squeese and pull, swiftness of direct blow,
capacity of chest, acuteness of vision, con-
ditions of color sense, and acuteness of hear
ing, and will take away q duplicate. Mr..
Cation regards the art of measuring human
faculties as the dawn of a new and interest
ing science.
BEES IN New ZEALAND.-Clover does not
seed in New Zealand because there are no
humble bees to fertilze the flowers. Various
attempts which have been made to intro
duce the insects have proven futile, but Mr..
j. c. Firth has succeeded at length in getting
a consignment of humble bees, which were
transported in torpid state in a chilled
room. If successful in acclimatizing them,
Mr.. Firth expects them To save him So, 600 a
year in clover seed, all supplies having now
to be imported.
DIR. Albrecht, of Neuchatcl, has been eK-
permimenting to determine the effect Of me
thodic limitations of oxygen gas upon the
development of tubeTcular consumption.
Loss of weight was checked in the consump-
tiveS, difficulty of breathing was diminished,
and an apparent decrease was caused in the
number of the bacteria which always accom-
pany the disease. 1t was his hope that the
oxygen might totally destroy the bacteria. or
supposed cause Of the malady, and thus eff
feet a cure.
Several years ago two white spots were de-
tected on the surface Of the planet Venus,
and have since been studied by Mons Trou-
velot in nearly $50 observations. The spots
appear to be near the poles of the planet,
and the eminent astronomer concludes that
they are the SUBMITS of high mountains pro-
jecting above the Opaque cloudy envelope
Which covers Venus.
Probably large majority Of scientific men
connect the remarkable sunrises and sun
sets of last year with the volcanic eruption of
Krokatos. This fact gives especial interest
to a recent letter from Mr. F. Nelson. F. R.
~ s., stating that the brilliant sunsets were
seen by him in Natal in February, 1883,
more than six months before the eruption Of
the Javan volcun O.
Mons. J. c. Houzeau has attempted to
prove that an object which has been occa-
sionally seen since 1872 and which some as
tronomers have regarded as satellite OF
Venus, is really a little planet revolving
about the sun between Venus and the earth.
He names il Meth.
According to Dir. a Berghaus, the nettle
was formerly extensively employed in Ger
many for woven fabrics and its use is being
revived. The common singing netile may
be made into good yarn, but the Chinese net
tie gives the best results.
From chemical analysis and the character
of the prevailing vegetation, Kelner and
Imai find japan S soil to be poor.
A black rain, the coloring matter being
carbon, lately fell in shropshire, England.
Hot UNfer ReguedfeS