The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-12-19
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 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

e'~SsSuoH VI AuS PVt4to into EE09ce Is Goon
 to be celebrated.
 Chemically prepared palmetto 6ber has
 succ -ssfully stood remarkable tests as A GOV.
 ering for underground wires.
 A new apparatus. called the "meldo.
 meter," is desgaed for the microscopic s,udv of minerals in q state of fusion.
 By the addition of all percentage
 of cobalt the tenacity of copper is greatly in- creassd-even as much as fifty to one hun-
 dred per cent according t0 Mons. GuiIlsmia
 The alloys are all red.
 The continuous heating of cast iron for several days in a vacuum, without melting, |, found by Mons. L. Forquignon to cause the metal to become malleabIe, with a uniformly black surface, dotted xith black grains os Amorphous graphite.
 A remarkable dust shower which fell fn Italy one night In October is though, bv Father DenEa, of the Observatory of Mon. calieIi to have been of meteorie origin. By others the sand is supposed to have come from the distant Sahara.
 In certain Austrian coal mines work is suspended in dangerous places during fall of the barometer, experiments siili in pro- gress having shown that the quantity and in tensity of explosive gases greatly increase as the atmospheric pressure diminishes.
 Trouvelot fods some reason for believ. ing that he has seen a second new star ia the Andromeda nebala- Win a comparatively small telescope, he now ob seIves a thirleenth magnitude star which the large instrument of the Harvard college Observatory failed to show him in 1874.
 The production of magnesium having been cheaPeaed by new electrolytic pre- cess, efforts are being ade in Europe to ex- tend its use as source of light. Two prizes -$Ias and $sO-have been offered by a Bro. men firm for the best designs for magnesium lamps with clockwork movement.
 Recent observations, according to Mir. E. ] Miers, of the British Museum, show that crabs do nos reach great depths in the ocean. The Challeng.r expedition obtained flaw specimens from points moro than zoo fathoms below the su'face, and ony a single speci- men was found at depth of I,ooo iathoms.
 Effect of Long Clim mbs.- During eight cen ascents of lofty mouniains-from s,oos IS 900 feet in height-Mons. Vernet has made number of physiological observations on himself. He finds that the s,' oag exertion- both in mounting and descendiag-caused an average rise in bodily temperature of about three degrees ,ise in tue pulse from about $ to 8 in a miRute; and aR increase in res piration from about aI to as ia minute.
 A Carbonic Acid We'll Near Burg brohl on the Rhine bore-hole about IFS feet deep yields laigs and steady supply of car boaic acid gas, which is now compressed in wrought-iron vessels end used fer various purposes. It's eno'mous expansion is em- ployed by Messrs. Krupp at Essen for com pressing steel and other eats. and il is also utilized for inpregna,ing beer and natural water, for hre'extinRus ming apparatus, as . motor force for torpedses, etc.
 Beetle Parasites of Ra,s-At recent meeting of the Linnsan Society of New South Wales was exhibited curious beetle-Cryp- tommasus ,nsoni Matt.-which Is [ ,und un- der the fur of the comnon Tat in Tasmania. The belief was expressed that new and in teresting species with similar habits might be discovered ia Australia if the smaller man. mals were examined whe n freshly killed. I've allied species from Peru are known, one be- ing found in the fur and nests of mice.
 Electricity in Engraving, a new engraving machine, Lieutenant 3. Garter, of London has m sde an in eresting applica ion of electricity. The machine is chic iy intended for decorative work upon metals, and rapidly pr roducss high finished results. he words or designs 10 be engraved are frs t furnished by setting oforname ntal types or stereotype plate. fac pl ,tinum point traverses this, it's motion being responded to by a table carrying the metal to be engraved under the poini of the graver. AS the platinum point is raised or let down by the design au cleo tric current acting upon and electro magnet, produces a corresponding movement of ,As graver, which is thus made to accurately cut ia the metal an enlarged or reduced copy Of the types.
 Intellect vs. Fecundity.-A study of statistic al tables has made 1t apparent that human life is decreasing in quantity bat im- proving in qualuy-at least in some parts of the world. An astonishing falling of Tn tbe births h France has taken place since the beginning of the century, the average num- Der oi children per marriage having been re- duced nearly one fourth. But the average life has increased in length about one-sixth. similar results are obtained in England, Aus tria. Prussia, and other countries of advanced civilization. Among inferior races births are more numerous, and life is shorter. In gem eral the lower species of plaats and animals are mo'e fertile than the higher. The female Of the white aus lays sixty eggs per minute "a queen bee, from 5000 to 6,ooo eggs annually. In verte brates, fecundIty diminishes as VIC ri, C from fishes to reptiles, from reptiles to birds, from birds to mammals.