St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-10-12
SCIENTIFIC GLEANINGS.

black rain, the colOring matter being
carbon, lately fell in Shropshire, England.
German experiments have proven that sea
mud is a much better fertilizer for rye and
oats than farm yard manure.
An early human skull has been found near
Prague IN bed of chalk from which the tusk
of a mammoth had been dug few DAYS pre-
viously. The skull has an extremely low
forehead and a great development of the
ridges.
Dr. Aiming, late assistant to Prof. Neisser
Of Breslau, Germany, has been sent to Homo
lulu in order to investigate the pathology of
leprosy and especially the part played by the
bacillus of leprosy in causing the disease.
Continued observations made since the
year 1875 at the Mendon observatory have
confirmed the conclusion that the rings of
Saturn are extremely variable and do not
retain a fixed form.
When it looked as if the chinchona trees
of Bolivia would be exterminated fifteen
years ago, the Jesuit fathers induced the
| government to require the bark gatherers to
plant five seedlings for every tree killed, and
so the quinine supply was kept up.
Many scientists now maintain that the
Garden of Eden was in the neighborhood of
the north pole, that being the first part of
the earth to cool sufficiently TO be habitable
Fossil tropical plants and animals are found
there in great abundance.
Mons. J. c. Houzeau has attempted to
prove that object which has been occasion
ally seen since 1872, and which some as
tropomers have regarded as a satellite Venus,
is really little planet revolving about the
sun between Venus and the earth. He
names it Meth.
During the solar eclipse of May 9th, Mons.
| Trouvelot saw near the sun bright red star
which he has since been unable to find dur
ing careful search OF the part of the heavens
where the sun was situated at the time of the
eclipse. This would seem TO indicate that
the object was planetary body moving
along with the sun.
The discovery of vein Of natural coke at
Los Cerrllos has quickened speculation
among biologists. This coke which has all
the appearance of the artificial product found
in vein three feet thick between a stratum
Of btumnous and of an ,hracite coal None
of the theories respecting its formation
which have yet been published appear to be
quite satisfactory.
Studying the power of flies to walk on glass
DR.. j. Z. ROmbouts in the Popular Science
Monthly says: | have concluded from nv
experiments that it is not the pressure of the
air nor the power of an adhesive liquid that
gives flies the faculty of running over smooth
bodies, but that the power should be attributed
to the molecular action between solid and
liquid bodies; or, in other words, to capillary
adhesion.
The very remarkable climatic eccentrici-
ties, if so they may be termed. that have
latterly attracted attention the world over, are
typically exempified in the last winter season
about Stavangov, Norway, where in latitude
IS degrees and 5S minutes, or only one de-
gree south of the extremity Of Greenland. the
thermomete, but once during the month of
January fell to the freezing point. The
grass plots of the various gardens are de-
scribed rs having been practically as green
as in summer. Daisies, Snowdrops. pans
les. violets and 2rinroses had their blossoms
well set; peouies had appeared above the
ground, aud many roses had thrown out Wig
orous shoots.'