The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-07-11
back alive, and his innocence was es.aA. lished by other means, fer recsituie Can Eever turn out otherwise"
Compiled for TEK ARKAxSAW TRAvKLKR-
 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

aeelinAnEed in English poads.
 A piece os Plasnam wire only .ooo.zs of an iach ia thickness wAs lately exhibited by the Royal Society of London.
 The sense oftaste is an almost certain guide to Inc wholesoh-ness of foods. As a rule, poisons have very disSgreeable taste. and accidental poisoning is consequently very rare.
 Although variety of microscopic forms of plants have been found on bank. notes and coins in circulation, none known 10 be dangerous 10 human life have yet been discovered.
 A committee of the British Medical 1 Association IS collecting information con l cerning the experience and habits of persons who have attAined the age of eighty or over. lnteTesuEg results are expected
 4 record of observations on six.eeu trees and shrubs has sho~n Dr. IL. Briuoo that the spring Of this year was about t4n | cays later in tne vicinity of Ne~ York than that Of 1884, and nearly a month later thac that Of 1878
 The possibility of obtaining echoes from iceberg or vessels at sea, even a, con siderable clst&nce, has been demonstrated by ffof. Seii, oi telephone :&sze. He suggests that shots fred periodically from the bows of befogse3 vessels may reveal he presence of obstacles ahead in season 10 avert coli. sions.
 Al late meeting of mi1oscopical society in London was shown a section of Shefield saw-grinder's lung. the irritation from the steel aust inhaled having gradually oblnerated the lung structure and rendered il perfectly useless for breathing. Sections of lungs showing carbon deposit from Lon- con smoke were also exhibited. The celeora,ed Kars, region in Austria is remarkable for it's underground myers, which communicate with the surface here and there by vertical shafts. These rivers are subject to persodical oveEaoxs, couver,- ing large areas into temporary lakes, and an attempt is now 10 be made to prevent such IaundAtions sy enIargiug the underground channels.
 Using an artificial gastric juice of hy- drochloac acid and Pepsin, Chiueaden and CumminS have determined the relative di- gestbiliiy oi various foods 10 be as follows: Beef, Ioo: veal, Ss; mutton, a calcken High, meat S7 ditto dark meat. salmon o7 mackerel, S; haddock, g., trout, $; lobster (youoge s; ditto ilArge femAlel p. ditto tiafge male}. S. fresh cod. 7z
 A forcible illustration of the weight of the atmosphere was given by Prof. 5. P. Langley, Inc American astronomer, iu a re- cent lecture in London. He remarked tha, the ar, so linpid tha, il scarcely appears to be matter at all, IS so enormous in mass that II really presses with nearly ion 10 each square foot; so that the weigh, of all the buildings ia the worlds metropolis, tor ia stance. is less than that of the air above them.
 A Connecting Lick.-Several live spec imens of queer little Australian animal upon which the formidable name -ornitho- rynchres" has been ndic,ed-have been brought 10 thls country by pr. H. 4. Ward. l; IS claimed that this creature forms a per feet connecting hnk between birds and man. mals, Itlooks like the beaver, but instead of having hair on its back il has scales, and in place of scales on i,s ;ail ithas hair while long investigation has shown thA, it lays an egg like bird. su, suckies its young like a mammal. It's habits are like the beavers, but ii IS declared 10 be an utterly heterodox creature, and entirely the most unnatural known.
 The Airs Electriciy.-Prof Palmieri, of the Vesaviaa Observatory, finds that the atmospheric electricity IS usually positive in clear weather; if negative, a fall oi rain may be inferred 10 be in progress al some lit,Ie distance. Two maxima and two minima daily are noticed in the electric indications. this peroidiciiy being disturbed by atmo s,heric movements With dew, rain or an overcast sky the indications increase in intensity, and are stronger in spring and autumn than m summer and winter. A rain Ione is positive. but IS surrounded by negative rone, which in turn is surrounded by a zone of positive electricity. Thunder and lightning, accord ing to this observer, do not occur xitAout rain.
 Oyster Life.-A spawning oyster, it is estimated, may deposit million egRs in A season, of which only from ten to one hun Gred win reach maturity ali others being de voured by enemies. Marketable oysters vary in age from three to seven years. The age which oysters may reach under favorable circumstances IS yet unknown, but speci- mems have been found which were believed 10 be from twerty-hve to thirty years old. With care the bivalves may be kept alive for a considerable time after removal from their habitat. II IS stated that they have lived oa the floor of cold cellar for three months. and one observer concludes tha; they may exist even longer if packed so as to keep their shells closed in ventilated barrels and kep, at a temperature between ihirty-fve and forty five degrees Fahrenheit
 German Complexion&-By exhaustive investigation the German Anthropologieai Society has found Ihat rather more than one 1f ,hA eeho1J