Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-09-30
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. .
GCompiled for the SpEcrAToF

bill, entirely built by some ancient race of
men, stands on the margin of a lake in the
of Marajo, and, although reduced by
erosion and weathering to fifth or sixth of
its original size, is still about 1000 feet long,
500 wide and 20 high. In its outlines, those
of gigantic jabuti turtle, it shows analogies
with the works of the mound builders in
the Mississippi basin. Its varied contents
include stone Implements of all kinds, idols,
amulets, and vast quantity of earthen-
ware, funeral urus, vases, etc. Many of
these are covered With remarkably delicate
painted or engraved designs, some of them
appearing to be hiersglyphic signs and hav-
ing certain resembhnces to the carly
Chinese, Egyptian ant Mexican writings.
One inscription seems to tell of long migra-
tions-probably from the Andes highlands
down the Amazon valley.
A French Psychologist, 0r. Reenard. is
endeavoring to study marine animals under
their natural conditions, an apparatus de-
signed by Cailletet enabling hiI, to watch
the creatures in water under any pressure
up to that of $50 atmospheres, which cor
responds with that of the sea at the GREAT
est depths at which dredgings have eeen
made-about four miles.
The recent experiments on the Britisl
coast to test the relative merits of oil, gas
and electricity for lighthouses, have result
ed in the decision of the committee that oil
is the most suitable and economical illumi-
nant for ordinary necessities, and that elcc-
tricity offers the greatest advantages when
very powerful light il needed.
London is to have an international cook
cry and food exhibition in December of this
year.
LENGTHS OF HEAT lu-
minous rays of the solar spectrum have
wave-lengths ranging between the narrow
limits of 000014 and 000025 of an inch. Below
these are dark heat rays of somewhat
greater wave-length, but Prof. s. P. Lang
ley finds good reason for believing that the
heat radiated by the soil has wave-length
twenty times as great as that of the low
est visible line in the solar spectrum, and
that there are probably wave-lengths of
something more than one two-thOusandth
of an inch. These results are of much in
terest and Importance, as showing that all
heat is not of the same quality as that of
the sun.
AN ERROR CoRREcTRD.-At a recent
Meeting of the French Academy of Sci
ences, Colladon corrected popular belief
by remarking that the presence of masses
of metal in building does not add to the
risk of being struck by lightning, provided
the metal is not connected with the ground
by a good electric conductor. In case the
building is struck, however, combustibles
near the metal are very liable to be set on
fire.
By carfully conducted experiments, Mr..
]. G. Arthur has demonstrated that bac-
terra are the direct cause of the disease
known as pear blight. Sap from an affect
ed tree invariably produced the disease
when inoculated into a healthy tree.
Valuable as is the microscope to various
sciences, its use alone does not properly
constitute distinct science. This fact has
been at length recognized by the American
Association for the Advancement of Science
which at its recent Ann Arbor meeting
abolished its section of microscopy.
In the Mark Museum, at Dantzig, is
now piece of amber for which 6 1900 had
been refused. It weighs eight pounds, and
is probably the largest piece in the world
without blemish. A museum at Berlin
contains piece, once owned by Frederick
the Great, weighing thirteen pounds, but
it has gaps and cavities.
ALUMINIUM ALIoYs.-From recent inves-
LEGATIONS it appears that aluminium greatly
increases the strength of metals alloyed
with it. With a cheapened method of
making such alloys, by means of new
electric furnace. Messrs. e. H. and A. H.
Cowle, and G. F. Mabery have added alu-
minum to copper in the proportion of two
OF three per cent, and obtained product
which is stronger than brass and would
serve as an excellent substitute for that
metal. With five per cent. of aluminium
an alloy was produced having a tensile
strength equivalent to a strain of $4,000
ponds to the square inch. The addition
of two or three per cent. of aluminium
doubled the strength Of common brass; and
a composition of copper, nickel, zinc, and
q small percentage of aluminium withstood
strain of 1O5, 900 pounds to the square
inch, and has been named Hercules met
al" Though very abundant forming tho
base of common clay, aluminium, either
pure or in alloys has been obtainable only
by expensive processes.
OUR PITCHER PLANTs.-The North
American pitcher plants, states Mr.. w.
Watson, of Kew, number only seven spe-
cies. There are six species of Sd1rdcenid,
all characterized by the same trumpet
shaped leaves, growing in tufts, and in sew
eral species attaining length of yard;
and the seventh kind of pitcher plant is the
Ddrlingtonia California;, the top of which
is curved over, forming sort of hood, and
having rather small aperture at each side.
While the Sarracenias allure and finally
destroy insects in their pitchers, botanists
do not yet know whether the entrapped in
sects furnish nourishment to the plants, al
though it has been proven that animal food
is not essential to the plants existence.
1t has been discovered that heaps of un-
ripe rice soon undergo process Of fermen-
tation which is said to give the grain de-
licious flavoring.