The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-02-04
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

Some French scientists now regard the
zoadical light as simply a reflection OF
light from the illuminated part of the
earth upon an open stratum OF the at
mosphere.
In Paris, an electric lamp fed with q
portable accumulation has been selected
and rendered obligatory for use in seek
ing leaks in gas pipes. 1t is probable
that many disastrous explosions will be
thus avoided.
Paper bottles now made in France are
built from sheets rolled together, ce.
mented with albumen, lime and alum.
They are impervious to water and alco-
hol, and hence are reckoned specially val
liable for travellers use.
A considerable industry has grown up
in San Francisco manufacturing the pet
rifed wood which is found along the At
lantic and Pacific railroad in the Rocky
mountain region. 1t receives a high pol.
ish, and mantels, tiles and a variety OF
things are made from it.
A device for keeping grain and other
uncertain kinds of cargo from shifting
has been patented by q firm IN New
Orleans, and promises to prove cheap,
simple and in every way desirable. The
ship is divided into longitudinal COM
partments, secured by rods from side to
side of the vessel; and different kinds of
grain, without using bagging, may be
Completely separated from each other by
dividing the compartments longitudin-
ally by sections into such space as may
be desired.
Professor Huxley lends scant coun-
tenance to what has been called by our
English brethren the "mackerel scare"
In a letter he says: 1t is quite true that
mackerel, like other fish, are more or less
infected by parasites, n of which, a
small thread worm, is often so abundant
as to be conspicuous when the fish is
opened. But it is not true that there is
any reason to believe that this thread
worm would be injurious to q man even
if swallowed uncooked and alive, and to
speak of it rs q possible cause of cholera
is sheer nonsense.
The parasitic worms living within or
on the outside of other animals gener-
ally have o sucker at one end, or under
meath, serving simply for attachment,
and another which is perforated. The
latter is a true suctorial mouth, being the
sole inlet of food. 1t is often surrounded
with booklets, or teeth, which serve both
to scarify the victim and secure q firm
hold. In the leech the mouth is a tri-
angular opening with thick lips, the
upper one prolonged, and with three
jaws. In many worms it is a t1eshy tube,
which can be drawn in or extended. like
the eye-stalks of the snail, and contains
a dental apparatus inside.
A remarkable worm known to the
natives of the Fiji islands by the name
of "Mbalolo" and to naturalists Us salolo
virides-is found in certain of the coral
Archipclagos Of the Pacific. The worms
appear periodically in great numbers,
and are highly esteemed by the Fijians
as an artical of food. The worms only
make their appearance to spawn, and the
time is reported to be the day of the last
ouartering of the moon in October, un-
less that falls ut the beginning of the
mOuCn, III WuiCll CaSc IlelC WILL FSnS
another lunar month. There is, however,
a second appearance of salolo each year,
occurring a month after the first, and
probably comprising such worms as were
not sufficiently mature to spawn in Octo-
Der.
A German investigator, H. r. Goppert,
has made some experiments to determine
whether, as had been previously stated,
plants, bulbs and roots are killed by
sudden thawing, and not BY the preceding
freezing. He submitted potatoes and the
bulbs Of hyacinths, narcissus, etc., to a
temperature of about three degrees be-
low freezing, and then suddenly to fifteen
degrees below freezing. This killed oil
the bulbs, whether they were afterward
thawed either slowly or rapidly, but
none of the bulbs were damaged by ex-
posure simply to three degrees below
freezing, the potatoes only being frozen.
Certain flowers which were tried were
killed directly when frozen, and could
not be revived by gradual thawing, The
buds of some woody plants bore q tenn
peraturc of zero, or a few degrees below,
and subsequent thawing at seventy-seven
degrees without injury.