Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-10-14
SCIENTIFIC.

THE seed vessels of the ird-catching
tree of New Zealand secrete a very
sticky gum, in which not merely IN
sects but birds are entangled and
perish.
A NUMBER of granite rocks have
been found by Indians on the Snake
River, Oregon, which contain impress
sions Of deer and bear feet, and one
which has very distinct human foot
print.
A -FOUR, OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES" lead" sent
down from the Challenger in the abysses
of New Guinea struck bottom at the
tremendous depth Of 4, 45O fathoms or
20, 700 feet, which is the deepest sea
sounding yet effected.
FROM statistics collected in the
abattoirs of Munich and Augsburg,
Strauss has found that not more than
one calf in 100000 is consumptive.
The danger of conveying consumption
with vaccine obtained from these ami
mails is, therefore, slight.
THE value of vaccination is illus
trated by the registers of an old hos
pital in Prague, where the mortality
from smallpox from 1910 to 1915,
that is, in the pre-vaccination period,
was twenty seven per cent, while from
1915 to 1885 it has been only 4.53
per cent.
ACCORDING to Henry Vivarez, a
French electrician, silicious bronze
has conductibility comparableto that
of copper, and strength greater than
that Of iron. For telegraphic pur-
poses silicious bronze wires may be
used to replace those of galvanized
iron more than five times as heavy.
In countries having marked winter
seasons, earthquakes are found to be
more frequent in winter than in sum-
mer. DR.. Knott, of the chronological
Society of Japan, finds only two pos
sible meteorological reasons for this
one being the stress of accumulated
snow, and the other that of high bar
ometric pressure during the cold sea-
son.
The use of nitro-glycerine as a sub
stitute for alcohol for stimulating the
action of the heart has been recon-
mended by DR.. J. B. Burroughs. The
advantages claimed are, that only a
minute quantity is required, that the
ululO-SIJ NCI I1IO 10 IL lOUICCplly l1CC IL Olll
taste and odor, that it acts immedi-
ately and that it is not likely to in
duce a craving for alcoholic stimu-
lants.
WATER does not boil until the ten
sion Of the vapor formed by heating
it is greater than the atmospheric
pressure. At the sea level, where the
pressure Of the atmosphere is about
fifteen pounds per square inch, the
water must be heated to 212 degrees
before it's vapor has sufficient tension
to overcome this pressure. At Argenta,
Mont, where it is so much above the
sea, having a much less depth of at
mosphere the pressure is not so many
pounds, and the boiling point is cor
respondingly lower. Water boils at
about 200 degrees there.
PROF. A. VoGEL observes that the
hemlock plant which yields conune to
Bavaria contains none in Scotland
and he concludes that sunshine plays
an important part in the generation
of alkaloids in plants. This view is
confirmed by the circumstance that
thetropical Cinchonas, if cultivated in
feebly-Iighted Northern lighthouses,
yield no quinine. The formation Of
tannin seems to be influenced by ex-
posure of hegrowing bark to the light,
the proportion Of tannin in the bark
Of the beech Or Of thelarch having been
found to increase from the less illumin-
| ated to the more Illuminated parts.