Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-03-11
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
COMPILED for the EPEcTAToR.]
FISH IN WARM WATER.--An experiment
has been made at South Kepsington to de-
termine the degree of heat which various
fishes may endure. The water containing
them was slowly warmed, when individuals
Of the several species were prostrated at
the following temperatures: Perch, SS0;
roach, $40; salmon, 800; minnow, 800;
gudgeon, $50; dace, 800; common tench,
$50; golden tsDch, $50; carp, 90. Brandy
about which as fish-restorer much has
lately been said-sesmed to have good Of
feet in restoring to animation the exhaust
ed objects of the experiment.
MORE WORK FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
by one the instruments and process Of our
fathers are being relegated to the domain
of the antiquated. Now the churn must
go. According TO French patent, the
passage of suitable electric current
through milk causes the rapid separation
of the butter, and renders churning unnec-
essary. The manufacture of cheese and
the removal Of rancidity from butter BY
electrical aid, are also claimed.
The conclusion has been reached BY
Mons. Fayol that the absorption of atmos-
pheric oxygen by coal dust usually produces
the rise in temperature to which spontane-
Gus combustion is due. He finds that ig-
mite is ignited at the low temperature Of
5000, anthracite at 575o, and other variet es
of coal, in powdered form, at intermediate
temperatures.
A writer from FIJI asserts that when
flocks of tern and other sea-fowl rest upon
the sea, the water tecomes smooth, an ef-
feet which he ascribes to oil emitted by tie
birds.
An International exhibition Of animals ID
proposed for next year at Buda- Pesth.
SHAPE OF THE EARTH's ORBIT.-Proc-
tor remarks that common error, is tie
supposition that the earth moves in an OBJ.
viously eliptical path, whereas it really ap.
pears to travel in circle. Taking the
earth's orbit when its eccentricity was very
nearly at its greatest-s50, 900 years ago
the numbers 325 and 1874 represent the &C.
tual proportion between the greatest and
shortest axis of the figure described by
our planets motion around the sun. So
that if circle is drawn with radius Of
three and one-fourth inches it nowhere de-
parts more than the hundredth part of an
inch from the ellipse which would repre-
sent with perfect accuracy the orbit Of the
earth $4,000 years ago. when it was SO
much more divergent from an exactly cir
cular form than now.
Potato CELLULoID.-A material pos
sessing the properties of celluloid is now
made from potatoes and is being used in
France for imitation meerschaum pipes,
and for billiard balls. The substance is
prepared by boiling the peeled potatoes in
dilute sulphuric acid-eight parts of acid
to one hundredth parts of water-for thir-
ty-six hours, and then drying between blot
ting-paper by pressure.
A brain-model of gigantic size has been
made for an American museum by Buechi
of Berne. 1t is about four feet in height
by two feet and half in width, and shows
the intricate mechanism Of the brain in de
tail.
Distilled water saturated with oxygen ia
now prepared in Paris, and is rapidly gain
ing favor. Aside from its healthfulness
for ordinary table use, it is said to be val
liable in the treatment of diseases of the
digestive organs.
The Dutch Government has had collect
ed the reports of l, 300 eye-witnesses in or
der to prepare an accurate history of the
Krakatoa volcanic eruption, which many
suppose was the cause of the wonderful
sky-glows seen over large part of the
world.
PLANT PARAsITEs.-Almost every sort
of plant furnishes living to its own pecu-
liar species of Aphis, or plant-louse, by
which great destruction is occasionally
wrought. DR.. ]. 6ibley Hicks, an English
entomologist, states that the Hop Aphis
caused loss in 1882 amounting to nearly
$4,000 GOO. This enormous damage is ex-
planned by the fabulous rate of increase of
the Aphis, it being possible for single fe-
male to see in her lifetime progeny of
over 1850 millions individuals. Another
destructive species, known as American
blight, occurs on apple trees, and was first
observed in 1855 in an orchard near Lon
don. The Vine Aphis (Phyllorera) has
done immense damage in the vineyards of
France, where it was first found in 1865.
Fortunately, the Aphides have numerous
enemies, especially active ones being the
caterpillars of the lady-bird, the lacewing
fly and it's grub, and the ichneumon fly. A
lady-bird caterpillar will devour forty or
fifty daily.
An oppo' tunity OF studying case of lep-
rosy has been afforded DR.. P. Guttman,
who assures the Berlin Medical Society
that there can be no doubt that the living
bacilli found in the system of leprous pa
tients are really the cause of the disease.
Evidence of the sanitary value of sum
light is afforded by the recent experiments
in France of Mon. E. Duclaux, who finds
that the light of the sun, in its action on
germs, is fifty times destructive as its
heat.
It is reported that Herr -Palisa- of Wen
ma, the well known discoverer of asteroids,
wishes to sell for $3.50 the right of naming
small planet No. 244, the money to be APP
piled by him to the fitting out of an ex-
petition to observe the total eclipse of Au-
gust, 1885.
The seas of India and China now have
twelve tidal observatories each of which is
moved to a new spot every fifth year.
The discharge of Irish people in various