Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-08-26
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
Compiled for the SPECTATOR.

compiled for the SPECTATOR.
In some cases, cocaine, the new local an.
aesthetic, has proven an effective remedy
for hay fever.
Two French investigators have found
that the electric resistance of most pure
metals decreases with a lowering tempera-
ture.
The sound of thunder, Palmiere finds,
cannot be heard more than thirteen miles,
while lightning may be perceived at a far
greater distance. So-called "harvest light
ming" must come from distant storm, as
there can be no lightning without rain and
thunder.
According to Mr.. W. FL. Harris, unwhole-
some food, defective ventilation, and diffu
sion of poisonous germs, produce among
bees about the same results as among the
human family. A common and very fatal
disease of the bees is dysentery, due to i'm
perfect ventilation and poor Winter food.
Capt Traut,- British navigator was
surprised to find that an iceberg encoun-
tered in the Atlantic ON July 10Th, exerted
no appreciable influence on the tempera-
ture of the surrounding water, the thcr-
mometer standing at about 81 degrees for
several miles on either side of the immense
ice mass and within few hundred feet of
it.
The first specimen of Archseopteryx, the
fossil link between birds and reptiles, was
dicovered in Germany in 186O and was sold
to the British Museum for $500. A Sec
ond specimen, more perfect, was secured
few pears ago, and was finally sold to the
Berlin Museum for about 5000. These
fossils have afforded strong argument to
supporters of the Darwinian theory of de-
velopment.
From time to time interesting archaolog-
ical discoveries, illustrating the commerce
and the luxury of ancient Rome, have been
made near Monte Sestaccio. Colossal re-
mains of great emporium built about 200
B. G. still exist In 1868 a considerable
portion of the quays was found, with many
blocks of fine marble, and now two ware
houses have been unearthed, one filled with
elephants tusks and the other with lentils.
TERRESTRIAL TEMPERATURE In inves-
LEGATIONS now being carried on by the Ger
man Government, a shaft sunk into the
earth is found to be heated to l20 degrees
at depth of 4500 feet. If the temperature
increases regularly downward at this rate.
the boiling point of water should be reached
at depth of about two miles, and the
melting point of platinum at forty Five
miles. From this calculation it is thought
that the earth's crust cannot be more than
about one ninetieth of it's radius.
JUPIPER's GREAT SPoT.-The famous
red spot which appeared ON the planet Ju-
piter in 1878, and after attracting universal
ont ION md itu for fivo fo IaI
Almost entirely away. is reported by Mr..
Denning, an English astronomer to be
again becoming darker and more conspicu-
Gus. A search of astronomical records has
shown that this spot is probably identical
with one seen by two observers in 1913. If
such is the case, it must represent some
permanent Jovian feature of immense size.
LUNAR GEoGRAPHY.-The mountains
and hollows on the moon which have thus
far been given names on the maps of as
t1onomers are as follOws:-Mountains-
the Apprentices, the Caucasus, the Alps,
Taurus, Baemus, the Attai Mountains, the
Cordilleras, the Riphae Mountains, the
Carpathians, the Hercynian Mountains.
Hollows or valley-the Christian Sea, the
Sea of Fertility, the Sea of Nectar, the
Tranquil Sea, the Serene Sea, the Sea of
Dreams, the Sea of Death, the Dreamy
Marsh, the Cold Sea, the Sea of Vapors,
the Middle Bay, che Sea of Clouds, the
Sea of Mist, the Bay of Eoidemics, the
Stormy Ocean, the Showery Sea. the Sea
of Rain-bows, the Sea Of Dews, Hum
boldt's Sea.
PAsTEUR's SUcCEss.-Vast possibilities
have been suggested by the success of Pas
teur's method of protecting cattle and
sheep from anthrax by incubation with the
attenuated virus, as there seems to be no
reason for believing that we may not SINH
larly ward off the attacks of other deadly
conta gious diseases of man and beast. The
efficacy Of this system is shown by the re-
port just made by a Belgian government
commission. Since the spring of 1888
many vaccinations have been performed at
Herve on farms where anthrax is constant
ly present, and the investigators have fully
satisfied thems elvss that Pasteur's method
preserves both sheep and cattle from the
disease. Among a thousand fully grown cat
tie which have been vaccinated no case of an
thrax has been observed, while the nom
vaccinatej have died as usual. The pro-
tective influence has lasted one year in
ninety per cent. of the young animals, while
among all mature animals the duration for
each incubation is at least two years.
doors OF THE BoDY.-In a recent prize
essay, DR.. Monin has given an interesting
collection of facts and assertions concern
ing the varying odors impaired to the hu-
man body by the perspiration and the Sc
cretions of the skin. A keen faculty of
recognizing differences in the body odor
has been known in some individuals, al
though it is less common in civilized than
in savage people. Cadet de Gassicourt in
stances young lady who could distinguish
men from women simply by their odors,
and Hungarian monk claimed to be able
to decide in similar manner on the chas-
tity of females. Alexander the Great, ac-
cording to Plutarch, exhaled an odor of vio-
lets, and one of musk is said to have been
emitted by Malherbe, Cujas, and Haller.-
The ordinary skin odor is mentioned as
sulphurous and somewhat repulsive, al
though brunettes are said to smell slightly
of prussic acid and blondes of musk. Fat
people often have an oily smell. Age, race,
and nervous affections influence the odor,
and Burrows has even declared that he
would regard certain odor as positive
evidence of insanity. The smell of the
breath is influenced by food and decompos-
ing substances in the body, and frequently
by gases which have been inhaled for con-
siderable time