Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1884-07-31
scIENrIrIc MISCELLANY.

The remarkable storm which crossed
the British Isles between September Is
and Sd has been traced by Mr.. G. Hard
ing, +. r. NJ. s., to two original center
Of disturbance, one being first shown AT
. point about $50 miles to the south Of
Bermuda on August Goth, and the othel
10 the east Of the Rocky mountains on
the 9th. These two disturbances merged
on the goth, when about 300 miles north
of Bermuda, and formed one great and
destructive gale, which continued to grow
in violence as it crossed the Atlantic un.
Ill it reached the British coasts. This
storm crossed the Atlantic at an average
speed Of fully forty miles an hour, which
is more than double the usual rate OF
storms which traverse that ocean.
Among the many substances formerly
considered valueless but utilized by mod
crn science is the nettle This weed is
now actually being cultivated in Ger
many, where its fiber is made into vari-
ety Of textile fabrics. A Dresden man
uiacturer has produced from it the finest
thread known to the trade, Of which a
length of sixty miles weighs only two and
. half pounds.
A disease peculiar to persons who dig
potatoes has been described by a Prussian
physician. 1t appears to be an affection
Of the nerves Of the legs and feet, and is
produced by the strained position into
which the lower cxtremities are thrown
a the laborer gathers his potatoes. The
patient finds one or both feet and legs to
be heavy, cold, numb and sometimes pain.
full, while his gait becomes clumsy and
linping. The disease may be Of short
duration, or it may continue for years.
The tea-plant has been successfully
acclimatized at Auckland, New Zealand.
Tho term "telpherage' has been ap-
Piled by Prof. Fleming Jenkin to "thc
transmission Of vehicles by electricity to
. distance independently Of any control
exercised from the vehicle" In a sys-
tenn Of telpherage worked out by Profs
Jenkin, Ayrton and Perry, trains Of buck
eta, each bucket carrying 200 or 800
pounds Of freight, arc drawn by small
electro. motors over single rail Of rods
ropes suspended on posts, the movement
Of trains being controlled entirely by op-
orators At the stations. BY keeping up
\ constant stream Of these light trains q
large amount Of freight may be forward
cd, while the expense Of fitting up such
= line is very small compared with that
Of building railways for concentrated loads
An experimental telpherage line has been
constructed in England.
The supposed germ Of pneumonia--be-
longing to the class of microscopic organ
isms known as micrococci-- been dis
covered by DR. Friedlander and exhibited
70 the medical societies Of Berlin. When
the germs were introduced into the bodies
Of mice, either by incubation or iuhala-
ton, true croupous pneumonia was invar-
iably produced.
Dust-either volcanic or cosmic--is
the rejecting medium to which the bril-
liant sunsets witnessed in November from
. large part Of the world seem to be quite
generally attributed. Some scientists sup
pose that the dust had dritted with the
dir currents from the Java volcanoes,
and others believe that the earth encoun.
tered dust cloud in space. In this con-
ncction it may be noted that fall Of dust
covered the snow Of valley in Central
Norway on the night of November 18th.
It viii be interesting to learn how this
dust compares with that from Krakatoa,
which has been chemically and misroscop-
ically examined.
Prof. Edland, Of Sweden, believes that
he has proven that perfect vacuum is
. good conductor Of electricity.
Although science has not yet robbed
consumption Of its terrors, the discovery
Of the so-called bacillus Of Tuberculosis
has already pointed out to medical men a
possible means Of saving the lives Of many
patients. Speaking recently in Paris,
Prof. German See dwelt upon the i'm
pcrtance Of searching for this organism
u the matter expectorated by persons
having apparently slight lung troubles
He regards its presence as an unfailing
'ign Of consumption, for the most careful
esearch has failed to detect it in other
Jung affections, and as it may be found
'efore the appearance Of other symptoms
may enable the physician to successful
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