The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-02-21
q SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

all Departments of Science.
1t has been recently proven that earth
worms are capable of regenerating tissue,
large pieces cut from their bodies being
replaced by new growths.
A German ornithologist, DR.. A. G. E.
Baldamus, has specimens of the nests and
eggs $4,000 species of birds, mostly Euro
pean. z ."E..
new spider, the female of which meas
ures six and half inches from tip to tip of
| the fore and hind legs, has been discovered
in cave of Tasmania
In Birmingham, Eng, company has
been organized for the novel purpose of
distributing to the manufacturers of the
town air strongly compressed at central
i station.
| The number of fossil plant species now
known is estimated to be not less than
5000. and may be considerably greater. A
catalogue of all which have been described
down to the present year is being prepared
at the National Museum.
| The discovery was recently announced of
fossil air r-breathing animal of an earlier
age than any before kuown-a scorpion
from the upper Silurian deposits of Sweden.
A cocsroach's wing dating from a still
more remote period-the middle Silurian
has since been found in France.
| Flying fish do not fly is the assertion of
DR.. K. Mobius, German zoo,ogist. The
muscles of their pectora1 fms are too small
to sustain the weight of the body in the air.
The impulse to which they owe their long
shooting passage through the air is deliv-
cred. while they are still in the water, by
the powerful masses of muscle on both
sides of their body.
The doundake plant (Gsphalina escu7e,,to.
Schum,) has been described to the Paris
Academy of Sciences as an astringent and
febrifuge capable of replacing quinine, as
well as dye yielding a beautiful yellow
color. 1t grows in West Africa, and resem-
bles the Morinda of the South Sea Islands
quite closely in many respects. Its active
principle is doundakine.
In the seed of the cotton tree, of which
several varieties are cultivated in Bolivar
a correspondent of the French Academy
announces the discovery of the richest OF
all known grains in heterogeneous sub
stances. He is convinced that the flour OF
| this seed is destined to become an i'm
poftant article of food. A paste made
from it may serve as a substitute for milk
German psychologist, Prof. Gutenberg
has found that different parts of the body
are very unequally sensitive to differences
| of heat and cold, the sense of temperature
being most AGATE in the forehead and the
back of the hands, and least active in the
back and the upper part of the abdomen
At the former spots differences of about q
third of Fahrenheit degree were distinct.
iy perceived, but at the other two points
differences were only detected when reach
ing nearly two degrees.
The micro-photoscope," devised by a
schoolmaster of the Isle of Man, is pair
of spectacles in the rims of which are sew
eral micro photographs, each provided with
Il little magnifying lens. The instrument
is worn as an ordinary pair of spectacles,
and the wearer may at any time see the
pictures by slightly turning his eyes, A
public speaker may thus have in view pho
tographs of his notes; traveller, maps OF
tables of information; detective, list of
criminals sought, and so on.
Since 1873 no less than 19, 599 relics OF the
Proto- -Helvetlans, as the prehistoric lake
dwellers of Genital Europe have been
named, have been dug from the beds of lakes
Neuchatel and Bienne. Swiss museums
have received 1858 of these objects, while
DIR. Goss of Neuveville has nearly 5000. DR.
Goss finds evidence that the progress of this
vanished race was marked by three success
sive stages-an age of stone, An age of bronze
and an age of iron. There may also have
been an age of copper, preceding that OF
bronze. Remains of villages of the stone
age are most abundant-thirteen having
been found in Lake Bienne, with only two
of the bronze age-but those belonging te
the era of metals are much more extensive
Besides the stone and metal implements
various wooden objects have been found
such as canoes, an OK yoke, fragments ot
tables and benches, toy boats, hammer:
and spades. No complete dwelling has ye
been found among the villages of the lakes
but charred planks and timbers remain te
tell of the mysterious confagration il
which penshed remarkable and ancien
civilization.