The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-01-03
SCIENTIFIC MISC ELLANY.

ONPs1sS =
A,permanent school OF forestry will prob
ably be established IN connection with the
University Of Edinburgh.
Wet winters in Germany havs been found
70 result disastrously to insects, each season
of food greatly lessening the "bug-crop
OF the following Summer.
To recent progress in sanitary science
Sir Joseph Fay.er formerly Surgeon Gem
eral Of the army in India, attributes the
factthat England's death rate has decreased
during the present century from forty n
tie thousand to twenty in the thousand.
p An English chemist has confirmed by
analyses the opinion thai tho lack Of NAL
liability in heated iron Or fred -shortness,'
Is it is calied-is due to Tho presence Of
oxygen. A red-hot specimen contained
1884 per cent Of oxygen. while samples
free from the defect had only 0.750 perscsnt
or less.
A mountain explorer inst returned from
Asia states that during q four months resi-
dence at height Of more than 1900 feet
above the sea his pulse. normally only si5-
ty-three beats per minute, seldom fell be-
low one hundred beats per minute, and his
respirations were often twice IS numerous
a. at ordinary levels.
After many observations at sea-level and
at Is, COO feet above, Prof. s. r. Langley
concludes that the mean absorption Of
light and heat by the atmosphere is Of least
double the usual estimate Of twenty per
cent. He believes, also, that dust particles
play more important part in this absorb
! ton than is generally supposed:
A new building materials mixture Of
cork, silica and ime-is coming into OK
teneive use in Germany. Il has the the adj
vantage of keeping out heat and cold. and
| is aleo claimed to be an excellent preven-
tive Of damp and deadener of sound. It is
| substantial, light and durable, and seems
to be especially adapted for ceilings and
| wall lining.
| Tlp hexibility Of itacolumite-a remark
| able sandstone existing in Georgia and
North and South Carolina-seems to be
| surpassed by that of magnetism imetone
found at the entrance Of the Tyne, in Eng
land. This limestone Is reported to be 80
flexible that thin layers three feet or more
in length may be bent into circle while
damp retaining that form on being al
lowed to dry.
The Royal Geographical Society Of Lon
don has published list Of 10 stations 90
cupied by Europeans in Central Africa in
1884, with their latitude and Longitude. OF
these, sixty-one are situated between the
equator and the Zambezi, east of the TWEEN
ty-flfth degree Of east longitude; and fifty
nine are west Of that meridian. between the
equator and the Kuim6n or Cunen6.
From experimental measurements Of the
temperature Of the body during acts Of
motion the following conclusions have been
reached by French observer: That the
lowest temperature in man. following q
period Of rest, is 1874 degrees; that the tenn
perature rises under the influence Of an
ascending effort to 1906 degrees, and I'M
der the influence Of, a descepding.eRo to
1908 degrees; that it increases after any
eKertion, but more after an ascending than
after descending one; and that the chenli-
cal ACTIONS OF the organism are augmented
after every movement.
Avariety of articles made from aa y
sons doing business IN saiaa-4.-- to-calieo
phdephJffc glass, which is composed sim
ply OF phosphate of lime, have been ex-
| hibited to the French Academy Of Sciences
! by Mons. Sidot. Unlike ordinary kinds,
this glass resists the action Of fuoric acid,
and it will probably be useful to chemists
and others on that account. A novel use Of
| it in connection with cremation is sugges-
ted by Mons. Henry de Paryeille, who pro-
poses that the phosphate OF limo remaining
| as the ashes Of each burned body be con-
yerted into phospkoric glass, and nodded
into vase, medallion, or statuette OF the
person from whom it has been derived.
The remarkable river Reka rises in the
Austrian province of Carniola, and disap-
pears in the Kust caves. There are rea-
sons for believing that it flows long
distance underground, emerging twenty
miles away as the Timavo, a stream which
mysteriously pours out of Il hillside. Mem
bers of the Austro German Alpine Club
have lately attempted an exploration of the
subterranean course of the Reka, and have
sncceeded in following it about furlong,
passing si1 waterfalls and reaching sew
enth which proved to be impossible without
special apparatus. One of the caverns en-
counted is reported to be capacious enough
to contain st. Peters Cathedral of Rome.
| A very general but erroneous belief is
that the breathing Of pure oxygen would
rapidly destroy animal life by quickening
the combustion in the body as the same
gas hastens the burning of the fuel of an
ordinary fire. A German psychologist has
just shown by exact experiment. on men
and dogs that the inhalation Of pure oxygen
produces no effects-at least upon pulse,
respiration and body temperature-which
distinguish its action from that of pure at
mospheric air; and that its use in cases OF
poisoning with chloroforu. alcohol, sulphur.
cited hydrogen or carbonic oxide offers NO
advantage over that of pure air. The same
experimenter has determined that diluted
ozone does not possess the narcotic indu-
ence usually ascribed to it, and that concen.
trated ozone causes an injurious irritation
of the mucous membrane when breathed
| -~0O-
Among the interesting and beautiful
| exhibits in the New Orleans EXPOSITION il