The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-10-24
Compiled for THE AxxAxsAw TzAvx1xa.
 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

I
 French authority asserts that the cor. plaint known as "hay fever," supposed n be of quite recent origin, can be traced T, far back as the sixteenth century.
 A paper on flying machines lately read before the Royal Society of New South WaI., was illustrated with sixteen self suppor,,,. models, varying in weight from three-four,hs of an ounce to three ounces.
 The temperature of the Gult S:re,m has been found by Captain Pillsbury to rans. from 42 to ST degrees. The greatest velo,,,v at the surface is four and one half knots, br, the fluctuations are frequent and great.
 Carefully collected statistics show tb,, since 1859 the disasters from lightning ip h. kingdom of Saxony have been beco,.;,s more numerous each year, from which i, is inferred that some cause has increased he number or severity of thunder storms in ;b., part of Europe.
 Water pipes of paper have been sads. factorily tested by pr. D. Lewis, pipe O, feet long and TWO inches in diameter hay,pg been used for several years without leaking or impartng taste to the water. Wound ,ato pipe form and soaked in tar, the paper he. comes nearly as hard and strong as iron.
 An attempt is being made to ncreas. the number of plants grown in Iceland B,,. ley whose cultivation there was long go 1 abandoned, has been reintroduced, and A, Reiklavlk botanic garden has been esi.b lished, in which seeds of 382 kinds of pisnts from near Christiania have been planted
 King Oscar of Sweden has notified the Paris Academy of Sciences of his intentionio offer prize of 800 francs, with a gold med al valued at 1000 frances, to the author c, the most important contribution to matbr. matcal sciences, the award 10 be made or the kings sixtieth birthday, January 21, ls:.
 Longevity of Ants.--It has been geoer. ally supposed tha, ants survive but sng,. season. and one interesting result of Sir Iobo Lubbock's study of the creatures is the fad ing of unexpected longevity among them. S.t Ionn has kept work k=rs of Lasius niger and formica fusca for seven years, while two queens of the latter species must now be nearly twelve years old, and he hopes to keep them in good health for Q considerable time l longer.
 New lnstrument--A new scienGhc apparatus for measuring distauces-the "te etopometer "-has been devised by Prot Cerehotani of Verona, and is being exhibited in London. Its principle is that known lo surveyors as triangulation," but the essen al hoe 1ina tc b.
 tained in the instrument itself. wh ile a SCI ot tables enables the observer to read of qqite accurately the distance or height of any os- Ject Tn view without trigonomeuical calcu,a tion.
 Evidence of Mans Oigin.-The c4rs, ful and laoorious researches of Prof. Fo1 oi Geneva, have resulted in proving to his sa,s. faction that the human embryo has genuine tail, like that of the embryos of other nam, mals, althoug1 ii disappears in a short time The theory ot mans descent from the apes IS based upon several anomalies in tis structure and growth of the human body. bu, this discovery is regarded as an imporiar, link Tn the chain of circumstantial eviderce which makes the hypothesis seem very prob able to many students in certain branches c! science.
 Why Are Fishes Llminous?- Pncs. phorescence Is observed in a great variety 0, marine animals, but Prof. W. C. McIntosA remarks that the fun ctions of the luminosl.y cannot yet be explained, the conditions IT der which II appears being very diverse The numerous views which have been advancei to account for the phosphorescence tstI range over a wide area-from its producta1 by electricity, by ontinued agitation of tts water, by putrefaction, by intuition of lgh' to its m AniiestAtion as vital action in .es animals, or a secretion of phosphoresceG substance.
 Variable Star; The brightness o' some stars varies periodically, more thar hundred so-cailed variable stars being kno3u. F. while many more are suspected vara bles. The periods range from few days 10 may years. The variation IS usually slight, bu, very marked in the cases of Algol and M.ra the former star alternating from the secoaa to the fourth mag aiiuie in a little less ,h4' three days, while the latter IS still more -e marka6le variable, being invisible most . e4N Hihc auN otdIlHS up 10 second TDagnlti1- W brilliancy at intervals of eleven months The most interesting of stars of this class is O., own sun whose brightness is affected by tte immense spots which appear on its suri3c- and sometimes cover millions of square mic and whose period of variability is elegsk years. The new star" in Andromeda supposed by Lord kosse to be varia, now shining with abnormal brilliancy.
 The Value of Theory" Davy," sad Sir Lyon Piayfair in his late presidential a- dress to the British Association for the A vancement of Science, described hypoites. as the mere scaffolding of science, useful i5 build up true knowledge but capable of s~ ing put up or taken down at pleasure. IF doubtedly theory is only temporary a- the reason is, as Bacon has said that ,1= ma nfc c,-sa f1.. L