The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-09-05
Compiled for THE ARKANsAw TRAvrLxR.
 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

MI oeieno watson claSSiheS the Nonh ' American roses into eighteen species. A recent earthquake in France affected
 only the chalk-formations at the earth's sur. , lace, and was neither heard nor fel, by me,
 at work in the coal mines beneath,
 A microscope having a bent body tub.
 IS recent scientific instTumen It is in.
 tehoeo 10 combine the advantages of keeping
 the stage horizontal and enabling the oh.
 server to keep his body in a convenient posi.
 tion.
 For the observation of all kinds of sub. terrAnean phenomena, J. J. Martinez sus. gests the boring into the earth of a hole ,.
 by I5o feet in diameter, the expense of tb. undertaking to he met by universal sub. scriptien.
 The value of vaccination is illustrated by the registers of an old hospital in Pragu. where the mortality from small. pox from l57o to IsI5-that is, in the prevaccination perod was p per cent. while from ISIS to Isss il has been only 453 per cent.
 According to MT. w. H. Harris m. wholesome food, defective ventilation and the diffusion of poisonous germs produce among bees about the same result as amono the human family. common and very fatal disease of the bees is dysentery, due to i'm. perfect ventilation and poor winter food.
 In countries having marked winter sea. sons, earthquakes are found to be more ire. quent in winter than in summer. pr. Knou. of the Seismological society of Japan, find, only two possible meteorological reasons for this-one being the stress of accumulated snow, and the other that of high barometrc pressure during the cold season.
 The New EIement.-The new metal gallium melts at 8I.r degrees Fahrenheit, be. coming liquid when held in the hand Iv specific gravity is little less than 6, or abou, half that of lead. It tarnshes but slightly in ,he air. It adheres readily to glass when fused, forming beautiful mirror. In chem ical characteristics the rare element eallium most resembles the abundant elemen, alu. ! minimum.
 Delicacy of the Senses.-Dr. E. L. Nichols has made investigations which indj. cate the incorrectness of the general belief that in woman the special senses are nor. hnely organized and delicate than in man, He found the eyes of men to be more sensi. tive than those of women to red, yellow and green colors, although not so to blue; and the perception of smell proved 10 be more acute in men than in women. A Phenomenon in Quartz. Some sill. cious pebbles which are quite numerous in the quarternary gravels of the Loing valley. France, have been described by. Meunler. hese stones-about an inch and a half in diameter-are remarkable for being hollow and enclosing liquid water, together fre- quently with loose stony nucleus. Meunier suPPoses that the water must have penetrated the pebbles through their minute pores. for not sign of a crack can be seen even bv the aid of strong glass.
 Chemical Action of Light.-Prof. A. Vogei observes that the hemlock plant which yields coniine in Bavaria contains none in Scotland, and he concludes that sunhgal plays part in the generation of alkaloids n plants. This view is confirmed by the cir. constance that the tropical Cinchonas, fl cultivated in feebly-lighted northern hot houses, yield no quiaine. The forms ton of tanniR seems to be influenced by exposure Of the growing bark to the light, the propor- ton of tannin in the bark of the beech or si the larch having been found to increase from the less illuminated to the more illuminated parts.
 The Plants of the Gutter. After a study of eleven months, Dr. Hugo Winaacker, of Gottingen, has found that the vegetation oi the stones of street gutters, consists of green algae and fungoids. The algae are harmles: and even beneficial, for they grow over ,h. fungoids and at their expense, and help 10 keep them down. Most of the fungoids ap. pear to be harmless, but some of them may be dangerous disease germs, to be freely distributed by the wiad when dry and, as is difficult to distinguish their qualities, the growth of this class of plants should be pre- vented as far as possible. The character of the gutter vegetation may be different in dii- ferent cities.
 Vegetable Sheep.-On Mount Torlesse in New Zealand, grows a singular plant specimens of which are known as "vegetabie sheep" The plant belongs to the Cudweed tribe, and is described by a recent botanicL explorer as growing on loose debris at an d. titude of +,5oo to 1000 feet, and forming round or kidney shaped patches, some of them as much as eight feet across and three fee, high. They resemble immense cushions, in one species snow-~hite and in the other silverr- gray, and in both are formed of dense nass of leafy branches so closely packed togethsf that chisel cannot be easily thrust into ,hs mass. The flowers are SO small that then parts can be seea distinctly only under the microscope. The peculiar shape and sp pearanee of these plants led to their being occasionally mistaken for sheep by early settlers. and hence the name.