The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-02-14
esstiisS fsv S7xS As&snssaav ws-sshsys < n SCIENTIFIC aAescRLI.AsY.

A German ornithologia,, Dr. A. cE
 Haidamus, has specimens of the nssts ana
 eggs Of a.oOoA species of hiFds,. nossly En- ropcaa.
 t has beea reosaily RlSss RlSSs II thas saltih.
 worms are. capable of .Fsseasrasing tissue. srge pieces cut Hom tkeir hcdies bein0 re- lplaced hy nev aFoyths+,as s1n.sss A new spider, the fen ale ,Af vhieh
 measures six and '6 half inches lsom tn to
 ap of the fore and Bind ies,, hassae Seen dis
 covered in ! cave Of rssmahia.s s9ns In Birmingham. Engiand.a company
 has been ox9aaiznd for tha noxei purpose of
 distfihafingl to fhss mnnafaeturess os the
 tovn air strongly eompressedat central l station. pseE assas J'cDa 1 'aG bB The nnmber of fossil plant species nov known Is estimated 10 be not less than a ooo
 and may bs considerably greater. A easa-
 logue of all which have been described
 down to the present year is being prepared 1 at the National museum. The discovery was recently announced
 of a fossil air-breathing animal of an earlier age than any before known-a scorpion from
 the upper sasurian deposits of Sweden. A cockroach'scwing dating from ssiii more
 remote period-the middle Siiurian-has
 since been found in France.
 Flying ish do not fly is the assertion
 of Dr. K. Mobius, German soologist. The
 muscles of their pectoral fins are too small
 to sustain the weight of the body in the air.
 The impulse to which they owe their long
 shooting passage through the air is delivered
 while they are still in the water, by the power
 ful masses of muscle on both sides of their bedy. =e
 A Quinine Substitute.-The doundaks plant (Cephalina esculents, Schum) has been described to the Paris Academy of Sciences as an astringent and febrifuge capable of re- placing quinine, as yell as e dye yielding q beautiful yellow color. It grows in West
 Africa, and resembles the Morinda os the South Sea Islands quite closely in many re- spects. Its active principle is doundakine.
 A New Food.--In the seed of the cot ton-tree, of which several varieties are euiti- vated in Bolivia, a correspondent of the French academy an nounccs the discovery of the richestof all known grains in nitrogeneous substances. He is convinced that the nour of this seed is destined to become an Import ant article of food. A paste made frem it may serve as substitute for milk. 4s Prompting Eye-G Glasses. s.-The micro photoscope." devised by a schoolmaster ef the Isle of Mah, Is pair of spectacles in the rims of which are several micro photographs, each provided with little msgnifying Iens
 The instrument is worn as an ordinary pair Of spseiscles, and the wesrer may al any lime see the pictures by slightly turning his eyes. 4 public speaker may thrs have in view pho tographs of his notes; a traveller, mapa or tables of information; deteetive, lis, of criminals sought; and so On.
 Temperature Perception "A German physiologist, Prof. Eulenberg, has found that different parts of the body are very ua- equally sensitive so differences of heat aaA, cold, the sense of temperature being most acute in the forehead and the back of the hands, and least active in the back and the upper pars of the abdomen. At the former spsts differences of about Q third of . Fahrenheit degree were distinctly perceived, but al the other two points differences were only detected when reaching nearly two de- grecs.
 Chemistry for the Kischen.-Mr. W. Mattien Williams states that he is rnak inT ex- periments to learn the efficiency of the diastase of malt, and also that of various acids, in converting vegetable tissue into dextrne and grape sugar. When a process for efecting such conversion Is made gen erally available, our food supplies will be greatly extended, Turnips and similar veg etables will become delicate diet for in valids; horse-besns will be better than beef; and delicate biscuits and fancy pastry, as well as ordinary bread, will be produced from sawdust and wood shavings pius little leguminous -four. This may be done now. Chemists have long been able to transform old shirts and rags into sugar in their lab oratories. It has yet to be done in the kitchen.
 Lacustrine Revelations.-Smce I873no less than ,o seo relics of the Proso-Helve- tians. as the prehistoric lake -dweliers of Central Europe have been named, have been dug from the beds Of lakes Neuehasel and Bienne. Swiss museums have received Is.- 67s of ahese objects, while Dr. 0oss. of Neuveville, has nearly 6,poo. Dr. Gpss finds evidence that the progress of this vanished race was marked by three successive stages -an age of stone, an age of bronze. and an age of iron. There may also have been an age of copper, preceding that of broase. Remains of villages of the ssoae age are most ,, having been Soand in lake Bienne, with only two of the brsaxe age but those belonging to the era of metals are much more extensive. Besides the stone and metal implements, various wooden ob- jects have been found, such as canoes, an sx yoke, fragments of tables and benshes, toy beats, hammers and spades. No complete dwelling has yet been found among .As y:,-. lages of the lakes. but eharfed pianks and