The National tribune., 1885-06-11
SCIENTIFIC CHAT.

= Cremation is becoming rapidly popularized in
Italy. according TO late accounts. The Milan Gre
matory makes very clean work of incineration, and
leaves only couple of haudfuls of dust and ashes
to be taken of. The system is such as to make
the process rather attractive than otherwise and
nothing ghastly meets the eye. 1t is cheap. too
that it recommends itself to cremation societies
everywhere. The cost OF ofeverything including the
mural tablet, is only "a francs-not s2O. rhe time
required Is only two hours, and an improvement
has just been adopted which reduces the time to 50
minutes.
People live longer than formerly. The decline
In the death rate shows gain of two years in the
average duration of life among males and of three
and half years among females The tables show
an enormous increase In the consumption OF food
per head since 1910.
DIR. Zintgraff. of Bonn, has taken phonograph
with him to Africa He intends to bring home pho
nogram5 of the savage dialects which he will hire
the natives to speak into the machine.
In a lecture on physical culture, DR.. J. W.
White. of the Pennsylvania University, said that
students at Harvard take about the same rank in
required gymnastics that they do in their regular
studies. Brain and nerve substance are behind
every well-confrolled muscular movement" The
lecturer attributed the circumstance of breaking
down from what is called overtraining to at
tempt to reach the desired bodily development
within a few weeks. The enlargement of the chest
aud legs the Strengthening of the muscles. and the
expansion Of the veins cannot be safely accom-
The wheatfields of the Pacific Coast have
heretofore been free from the ravages of the Hes
forwarded from California to be the genuine old
pest which has crossed the Rocky Mountains at
last
Some French greengrocers have just been con-
victed and fined for using q dye called eo-ine to
make their stock of tomatoes deep red. and. there
fore, moro salable.
wise insects always locate over a vein of water.
Sir Henry Thompson, the eminent physician,
three-fourths Of the nutrient matters they eat are
from the animal kingdom. and that a reversal of
these proportons-i. e.. one-fourth only from this
source and three-f -fourths from vegetable sources
would "tend to maintain cleaner palate, a lighter
and more active BRAIN and better state of health
for most people not engaged in the most laborious
employmentS OF active life"
"A Salt Lake jeweller has invented a novel time
piece in the shape of a steel wire stretched
his show-window on which stuffed canary htps
from left to right indicating it goes the hours of
the day by pointing with its beak dial stretched
beneath the wire and having the figures from 1 to
"a. When ii reaches the latter figure it gides
across the window to 1 again There is no mech
anism whatever that can be it all being inside
the bird The inventor says he was three years in
studying it out.
=" Bath bags" coming into use in Paris
They consist of q bag containing half pound of
bran. some meal and little powdered soap On
wetting and pressing the bag u ather is produced.
and at the same time a soft pad for rubbing pur-
poses.
The art of making paper from wood originated
long before man ever dreamed of it. On a drowsy
Summers day the wasp aiights somebody's
front fence and slows away in his hind leg all the
loose fber he can gather This he mixes with sa-
Hva and forms into a substantial paper covering for
his nest. The male wasps usually die in the Win
ter, and the females. alternating in some warm,
sheltered nook, come out with the sunshine and
become the mothers Of new broOds. WaSpS
crete themselves in leaves. pounce upon the young
bees that come out to gather honey kill them. and
carry them home to feed their Larvae. The wasp
also kills for the same purpose spiders and cater
pillars.
-One-seventh part Of the land surface Of the
earth, and one twenty-eghth part of its whole
constitute the dominion Of the Gar of all the Rus
sas More than iOO.OO0G 600 people call him father
and are under his absolute Government. In Rus
STA a Chlid Is born average every eight sec
onds throughout the year. and death occurs every
Ii seconds At the present rate of increase the
population will double in about 60 years. But Rus
sia is very far behind civilized nations in the
care of children and in the preservation of life.
Statistics show that go per cent of all the children
tion of life in Russia is only 26 years. which is much
below the average in the Western countries of Eu-
rope and in the United States.