Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-04-16
Scientific Miscellany.
The common potato lSolanum TN

The common potato (Solanum tubero
amy is a native Of dry mountain land,
and by cultivation by the moist climates
of Europe and America it has become
liable to what is known as potato dis
case or rot The suggestion was short
time ago made that it might be rein
vigorated by mixture with some one of
the many other known species of Soda
mum, and an English horticulturist, Mr..
A w Sutton, is now striving to accom-
plish this result. During last season
he succeeded, as he believes, in crossing
S. Maglis-a species discovered by Oar
yin growing in marshy soil on islands
west of Patagonia-with the cultivated
potato, obtaining three we'll file / seed
balls The seed will be planted next
year, and it is thought probable that
they may produce potatoes better
adapted to moist climates and soils
than any of the varieties now grown.
Some remarkable illustrations of the
power of plants to adapt themselves to
diverse conditions have been furnished
by the observations of Senior Ladislao
Netto, of Rio Janeiro. One plant
strychnos triplinevia-wa found grow
ing in an open space as bush about
six feet high, while another specimen
of the same species was seen in the
shade of some woods only a few yards
away as a vine sixty feet in length.
Other plants were allowed to become
vines of considerable length in the dense
Brazilian forests, and at once began to
change their appearance to that Of
shrubs on being given free exposure to
the sunlight
It appears that the direct action of
the wind during long ages has had
some effect in the shaping of the land.
In the plateaus of Central Asia, General
Prievalski has found evidence that vio-
lent winds have moved the small stones
about, gradually pulverizing the frag-
ments by friction, and that the finer
particles thus produced have been
blown to the valleys, where they have
formed a constantly thickening deposit.
On the Puy de Dome, in France, extern
sive wind-deposits have been noticed,
an ancie Mt temple of Mercury on the
top of that mountain having been
covered up in sand for nearly twenty
centuries.
Attempts to determine the speed OF
thought have been made by Prof. Don
ders, of Utrecht, with two instruments,
which he call the acknowledgement and
| the acknowledgements. He has found
| that the brain must act for .069 of q
second to produce single idea, but
this time will probably be shown to
vary with different brains. For the eye
to receive an impression requires .077
of a second, and the ear needs .149 of a
| second to appreciate a sound, the action
of the eye being nearly twice as rapid
as that of the ear.
While some naturalists have seen
reasons for believing that light of some
kind must exist several thousand IA
| thOmS below the surface of the sea, it is
very improbable that sunlight can pene-
trate to such great depths. At depth
of $50 feet in the lake of Geneva,
Messrs. Fol and Sarasin have just found
| that the strength of the light in the day
| is about equal to that which we per-
| ceive in a clear moonless night At 400
| feet below the surface the light is still
| quite strong.
A new lantern microscope, for dis
playing upon a screen greatly magnified
| images of very minute objects has been
exhibited before the microscopical soci-
cites, of London, and has given results
said to be greatly in advance of any
previous achievements. At one meet
ing blow-fy's tongue was shown from
six to fourteen feet long according to
| the power used; and the section of a
| drone-fly's eye was magnified 2, 500 dia-
meters, or more than six million times.
A subterranean observatory is being
established in very deep coal mine
near Nagasaki, Japan, the object being
to determine what connection exists be-
tween earthquake phenomena and those
meteorological phenomena belonging
to the earth's surface, such as storms,
tides, etc. The protector is Prof. Milne,
of the University of Toxic, the indefatig-
able student of earthquakes in the land
in which they are most frequent.
| Can You Do 1t?