The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-03-06
MANKATo FREE PRESS
FRIDAY. MARCH Q. 1895.
Scientific miscellany.

DIR. Dio Lewis says that tomatoes
are q medicine and not food, and
should only be eaten when prescribed
by physician.
A new metal has been discovered by
Professor Websky as one OF the COM
ponents of native vanadate Of lead.
He proposes calling 1t cadmium.
A French investigator has found that
the sugar-beet gradually loses Its sugar
when grown second year, the guam
tity being very small when the seeds
are fully ripened.
The operation Of removing o tumor
from the brain-which was few days
ago performed at London hospital
for the first time In the history Of med
icine-has been followed by the pa
tents convalescence.
A French investigator has found that
chloroform Is decomposed In from two
to live days by the combined action o.
sunlight and the air. In the dark the
air does not affect 1t, and light pro-
duces no alteration when all oxygen Is
excluded.
The juice of the curious ink-plant OF
New Granada requires no preparation
before being used for writing. The
color Is reddish when first applied to
paper, but soon becomes O deep black,
which is very durable. This ink Is
now used for public records and docu-
ments.
Before the Linnean society, Of Lon.
don, Mr.. A. lyle has sought to prove
that plants have dim sort of intelli-
gence, and are able, at least to exert as
much voluntary power as certain lowly.
organized animals. One proof of this Is
the plants avoidance of obstacles.
placed artificially in their way-by
bending aside before touching.
A factory is said to have been estab-
lished in Sweden for making into pa.
per the half decomposed moss which
has accumulated In many places In
Norway and Sweden to q thickness Of
foot or more. The substance may be
pressed into boards, which have the de-
sirable qualities Of wood without such
defects as warping and splitting.
Prof. Z. Wollny concludes that the
deep planting of seeds and tubers ID
usually unfavorable for their develop
ment. The most suitable depth de-
ponds on the kind Of plant, on the ma.
ture of the soil and on the weather.
The smaller the seeds or tubers, the
less favorable the weather, and the
more compact the soil, the more essen.
tial Is shallow sowing.
BY experiment Prof. Storer has found
that scantily fed mice will sometimes
eat daily one-third of their weight oil
ordinary putty. When carbonate Of
lead. baryta, zinc or oxide of zinc was
mixed with the putty the mice were
able still to eat small quantities with
impunity, those pigments seeming to
lose their usual poisonous quality.
Putty containing no whiting was un'
touched, or eaten very reluctantly.
While our country Is supposed to be
nearly free from earthquakes, no lesG
than 364 shocks were recorded in the
United States and Canada--not includ.
ing Alaska-during the twelve years
ending with 1883. This is an average
of about one in every twelve days fol
some part Of the territory. Many
small tremors must have escaped no
tice, and it is probable that II observa
tions had been made In various local.
ties with suitable instruments the re-
ported shocks would have been several
times as great in number.
A new ceramic product, according Il
Mons. Hignette, Is now made from the
abundant waste sands of French glass.
factories. The sand Is nodded into
blocks by immense hydraulic pressure
and Is then baked in furnaces at a high
temperature. The product has re.
markable solidity and tenacity; it is moi
affected by frost, rain or sun; it resisti
very high temperatures; it is very
light; and it has fine white color. II
is predicted that the material will bt
used for many architectural effects In
combination with brick or stones OF
other colors.