The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-06-13

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" NUMBER Al.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A Weekly Summary Of Current Events In
All Departments Of Science.
During all seasons Of the year, It is said,
the earth at Yakutsk, Siberia, IL frozen
from the depth Of fifty feet to that Of about
1000 feet.
The increase of suicide is scientifically
to the fastness of modern life. to
forced education, and to the increasing
difficulty of existence.
To the grea. variety oe seienti6c cco-
crosses of recentyears isto be added an In
ternational Congress Of Hydfology ana
Climatology, to meet at Biarritz in 1888:
Smallpox was accurately described by
Rhazes, an Arabian physician, about 500
A. D. 1t is supposed to have been intro
dpced into Europe by theSaracens, and 1t
was spread widely among the Indians by
the early explorers Of America.
The annual meeting Of the American As
sociation for the Advancement Of Science
will open on August 2s, at Ann Arbor,
Mich, continuing one week. The British
Associations meeting will be held at Aber-
deem, Scotland, commencing September 0.
A remarkable specimen lately exhibited
tn <hn okp
Brazilian snake which had partly swal-
lowed live lizard. The lizard had nearly
succeeded in eating its way out, through.
the body of the snake, when death overlook
both creatures.
The salts Of sea- water, according to Prof.
w. G. Williamson, F. b. g., are rendered
inert by the addition of citrate of silver, an
ounce Of that substance converting half
pint of sea-water into drinkabls fluid. Il
is proposed to pack citrate of silver in the
ife-boats of ocean going vessels, for use in
case of need.
1t has been shown experimentally that
seed corn is rendered more valuable by be-
ing slowly kiln-dri at a high temperature
the corn 30 treated terminating in much
colder weather than would otherwise be the
case, while, on ths other hand, it may be
exposed to much greater heat without
losing its terminating power.
Prof. Tsomholt, in Norway, has met with
partial success in photographing the au-
rora boreaiis, feat which his many fail
ures had led him to pronounce impossible.
After exposing plate for eight and a half
minutes he secured a negative of an aurora,
but the impression is so very faint that it
can not be reproduced as positive.
That earthquakes exert q destructive in
Auence on the phyllo1era insect Of the
grape is the opinion Of y. Villalongue, who
has told the Paris Academy Of Sciences Of
a vineyard near Malaga which he'd appar-
emily been destroyed By the parasite but
which vigorously burst into leaf after the
recent earthquakes in Southern Spain. d
DIR. G. E. Saunders, Of the West Herts
Medical Association in England, contends
that cholera is transmitted from one local
ity to another by humaM aaeneiea rather
than by climatic causes. Evidence Of
this is the fact that no oatbreak has been
known to occur in less time than it would
take a man to travel the distance from the
nearest place where the disease already e.
listed. -f# i,as
The seeds of the kola tree, the hishs
priced stimulant OF the natives Of Afries,
appear to possess qualities which shoatd
give them a commercial value in civi:dD6d
COUNTRIES Mr.. T. Christie, an Er Jiell
writer ON new commercial plants and 6 lAxA
asserts that chocolate made with kola lpste
10 ten times as nutritious as that made with
cocoa, and that q laborer can work a.iHej
without fatigue Oh n single cup tax su.aI
breakfast time. ..
A living species Of four-footed bird ..in
habiting the island of Marajo in the I aAs.
Amazons, was short time ago desc-jbtd
| by Mr.. E. NJ. Brigham. It is only dcsns
infancy that the remarkable feature Of tAif
bird is seen, the two .fore-feet appes1ns
early in the development Of the embryo
and continuing perfectly formed for sev
eral days after Matching, whsn they art
gradually shed. The geological name, o1
this curious creature is Opisttoc0ma cris
tdta. *.s..
With the present organization Of tn,
United States Geological Survey, according
to Mr.. j. w. Powell, its map Of the Unite,
States will be completed in about twenty
four years, about one-fifth of the countr,
-exclusive of Alaska-haviDg thus ia
been mapped. Where tho topoHsapAy ami
geology are simple, a. h Tie prairiss an.
great plains, the sheets Of this map ar,
made on scale of 1-25A 900, or about fou
miles to the inch: farther west, where botf
structure and topography are more com
plex, special districts are made to twice thi
scale, and important mining districts ar,
drawn much larger; while in the east th,
more thinly settled sections are given
scale of 1-125, COO, and the more densel,
populated portions one of 1-62, 800, or abou
one mile to the inch. Upon this plan, tn,
whole Of the Unites States and Alaska viii
require not less than 2eOO sheets, beside.
several hundred special maps.
After following up the experiments o
Siemens on the influence of the electric
light on vegetation, p. p. Deherain, ,
French Investigation, has recorded these con
clusions: The electric light contains ray.
quite injurious to vegetation: the greate
part Of these rags are kept back by trans
parent glass: the electric light contains, OF
| the other hand, safiieient rays useful Il
| vegetation to maintain the life of plant.
entirely under its influence for two and .
half months: this amount of useful rays is