Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1885-06-20
WOOD RIVERS RECORD.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


Compiled for the woop RIVER TIMEsl
In paper lately read before the
Philadelphia Academy Of Natural
Sciences, Mr.. Joseph Wilcox stated
that shell.mounds are very numerous
on the west coast of Florida, marking {
the former favorite camping grounds
of Indians. A portion of the town of
Cedar Keys, where the largest accu-
mutation is found, is built on great
mass Of oyster-shels. Human bones,
stone implements, and fragments OF
pottery are frequently discovered
among the shells. The site of all an
cicnt mandatory of arrowheads aud
other implements may he seen on
Johns Island, at the mouth of tile
Cheesowiska river. Several bushels
OF chips are here scattered about, all
made of ebert rock-the only material
in Florida suitable for the purposes of
the Indians.
In work soon to appear in Lon
don, Rev. DR.. Henry Lansdell pro-
poses to make generally accessible
what is known OF the animal and veg
etable life of Russian Turkestan. The
animals of Turkestan he finds to en-
brace over so species OF mammals;
nearly 400 species of birds, with an
additional n frequenting the Pamir;
33 species of reptiles; probably more
than so species of fishes; 90 species
of mollusks; so species of crustace-
ans; Jag species of spiders; probably
1000 species of beetles; several hun
drcd species Of butterflies and moths;
over GO species of dragon flies and
other neuropterous insects; 70 species
of locusts, crickets. and other orthop
ferrous creatures; AZ species Of intest-
inal worms: and an unknown number
Of other insect species.
"In the ordinary health lung" says
DIR. Curtis, "perhaps even in persons
who have consumptivc heredity. the
germ which causes the break. down Of
the lung may not be able to make an
impression; but if the physical in
tegrity is destroyed by poor food, or
any facilitating influence, or by a
cold, then the germ Is able to get in
its work, and to multiply and produce
its kind, and fill the lungs with tub
crcles."
Although the present theoretical
limit of visibility with microscopes is
fixed at 146,52S lines to the inch, Mr..
Il. Bausch remarks that there is no
reason why we should not attempt to
pass this point. The limit which was
accepted some years ago as the true
one was considerably Lower, and most
microscopes refused to believe that
test object having 100000 lines to
the inch could be resolved, while it is
now the work Of beginners to do So
Several years ago two white spots
were detected on the planet Venus
and have since been studied by Mons
Trouvelot in nearly $50 observations
The spots appear to be near the poles
of the planet, and the eminent astron-
omcr concludes that they are the sum
mits of high mountains projecting
above the opaque cloudy envelope
which covers Venus.
1t has been found that compressed
teak may be made to serve some o.
the purposes for which boxwood-
which is rapidly becoming scarce-i'
now used. A powerful hydraulic
press for COMPRISING teak for loom
shuttles has just been made in Man
chester, Eng.
The British experiments to test the
relative merits Of oil, gas and electric
ity for lighthouse illumination, have
resulted in demonstrating the superi
ority Of electricity over all other light.
even--as has been generally doubted
in dense fogs.
The phenomenon Of red hail, thu
ccloring matter being ditfusse
throughout some Of the stones, anC
the others being white, was lately oh
served in the English county o