Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1885-02-02
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Compiled for tho woop RIVER TINErl
A late investigation shows that
Australia contains los species of
snakes-35 OF them harmless, and %
vcnomous.
At the Danish scientific station in
South Greenland, at Namortalik, heat
and mosquitoes in summer are 50
troublesome as to be suggestive of a
tropical climate.
Quite successful experiIne nts in dis
trihu,ing the elecwic light to great
distances have been made in connec-
ton with the Turin Electrical .exfihi
ton. 4 Siemens dynamo OF thirty
horse pc wer generated current which
was srnul:aneo usly used by three cleo.
trio light systems distributed over a
circuit Of "a miles.
Most experiments with hydrochlor.
ate of cocaine have been confined to
mucous surfaces, like the eye and the
mouth. BY applying it under the
skin, however, Mons. j. Grasset has
found that the new atesthetic may be
made to produce local insensibility in
any part of the body, the duration
being sufficient for various surgical
orcra:ic"s.
1t has just been made known that
during the grea: volcanic disturbance
at krakatoa, telephone communica.
ton was ALMOST impossible in Singa,
pore, 500 miles away. On a subter-
rama. ca lie, Of about two miles in
length, words were drowned by pecu-
liar sounds resembling pistol shots.
The phenomenon seemed to be of an
electric nature, rather tLan acoustic
Authorities arc not agreed concern
ing the poisonous properties Of the
ani!ine dvos. Or. Grahdhomme, who
has had the benefit Of prolonged Oh,
serva,ion in German aniline works, is
Of the opinion shat they are poisonous
only when containing arsenic.
Messrs. Poincare and Nas>ias, how
ever, consider them dangerous even
in state of purity, magenta being
the least dangerous Of all.
St. Stephens College, Delhi, boasts
of prodigy in the person of blind
student named ChanIa Singh. He
cannot read or write, but has such a
wonderful memory as to be able to
repeat all his text books--English,
French, and Crdu---hy rote, and to
rapidly work out sums IN arithmetic,
even the multiplication of any num-
Der of figures by another equally as
large.
The littleness of any one persons
! knowledge is astonishing. 81 do not
even know an astronomer" says Mr..
Richard A. Proctor, "w!o is not igno,
rant IN some departments OF his OWL
subject; nor any cheMist, geologist,
bota mist, entomologist, or other spe.
ciallst, who---if really a master--wil
not admit that there are departments
of his special subject about which he
knows very little. How much more
ignorant must he be OF subjects out,
side the few be can have made bis
own"
In recent experiments, the image:
of canals were seen through the cleal
water Of Lake Geneva when sunk &c
a depth Of about 100 feet, the electric
arc being still visible when some ter
feet lower. At greater depths the
clear images disappeared, being re
placed by ditl'usc light, family percep
tibie when the luminous bodies hae
reached little more than 900 fee il
depth. Sunlight affects Photographic
plates after Passing through thick
ness Of about 500 feet of the water.
Travellers in polar regions hav,
survived exposure to cold as grea
) as IS degrees below zero Fahsenhei,
On the other hand, the inhabitants O
some parts OF the globe are force,
to en- ur- at certain periods n4turs
temperature considerable higher thar
100 degrees above zero. 4 still