The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-11-14
Compiled for TIE AHKAxsAw TRAvxLxR.
 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

any person blows strongly upon them il, l vertical direction.
 The flora of Ceylon includes ,ooo Howe ring plants and 5so ferns, leo geper. ot the Towering plants not being found in ,h. peninsula of India.
 An observatory for puplic use has h..n opened in Christiania. It is provided w;,b great refractor- said to be the fifth in s;,. ;- the world-together with numerous cha,.. and diagrams of the heavens. ! A gigantic stone spear-head has been unearthed in northern Italy. It is too Iar,a to have been used in war, and archmoloo;s,, conjecture that the primitive people cf ina stone age employed ii as a religious en blem
 Since 1855, it is stated, 4 6oo persons have been struck dead by lightning in Frame 900 have received fatal injuries, 4 ooo have been seized with momentary and temporary paralysis, and 20 GOO have been struck with. out receiving any injury.
 The favorite cosmetic of the Japanese according to report by F. Sakaye, consists | chiefly of carbonate of lead and rice-powder- starch, which compound has been used bv women-appart ntly without poisonous effects since early in the eighth century
 In communication to the London Royal Society, Shelford Bidweil has showr thatiron bars are elongated by m magne tizatiop that steel bars are elongated, but not to tse same extent soft steel btirg elongated more than hard steel; and that nickel is shortened
 A French scienthc authority states that hens, ducks and geese having dark blu. mage lay earlier and more frequently than those of light color this difference only holding good. however, when the birds live Tn the open air and are freely exposed to the sun.
 An English geoloaist, T. A. Jamiesop. hnds evidence that the Mediterranean was al one time shut off from the Atlantic; that i, was divided into two distin ct basins by a strin of land extending from Italy 10 Africa; and that most of its islands, notably Sicily and Malta, were connected ith the mainland.
 Helmhol'z declared that should he re. ceive an optical instrument of mans making with so many defects as the eye, he would be
 
 and it may be further said that the artificial eye of science-the photographic csmera-is able to see farther, and to see quicker, than the human organ of vision.
 A remarkable illustration of windfe tilization of g ound is found by Mons. Aluard in the fertile French valley of Limagne From the chain of the Domes the wind brings vast quantities of volcanic dust-rich in phos- phoric acid potash and lime-the annual de- Posit in the valley being estimated a, about three four,hs of a pound per square yard.
 Correcting existing misanprehensions, MT. Fryer, the traveller who recently visited the bird caves of North Borneo, states that the edible birds nests so highly prized by the Chinese are made from alge worked up Tn the birds mouth with saliva. They can not be formed from saliva alone. The nests are of two colers, the black nests being sim ply white ones grown old and frequently re- paired.
 Dry Rot.-A Russian experimenter has found that thorough dryness main tained for twenty four hours will destroy the parasite producing dry rot in wood. concentrated solution of common salt is very etficacious, and still better is a strong solution of blue vitriol; but te considers the best, cheapest and most convenient material 10 be the tar obtained when birch wood is distilled for acetic acid.
 Electricity in Metallurgy.-The remark. able effect of electric discharges in causing dust and smoke in the air to settle was some time ago pointed out by Prof. Lodge lhis led to investigations by an ED glish lead smell ter, Hired o. Walker, which have resulted In the important discovery that constant dis charge ef electricity in the fues of lead works causes the lead fume to condense and settle very rapidly. Much time is thus saved. while the loss of lead fune is greatly reduced. he discovery applies to other volatilizable metals besides lead.
 Self Fed Electric Lam ,s.-In recent electric lighting experiments it has been at tempted 10 give each lamp its own battery. Perfect success is reported, and portability has been gained by the use of battery of great power and small size. The clements are small packet of chloride of silver and Two plates of zinc, which placed in the cell with weak solution of caustc potash, forming what is known as the Skrvanoff pri- mary battery. f,er time the chloride of silver is reduced to metallic silver, when II is sasily restored by washing in mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. With each renewal, a small battery will feed a glow amp twelve hours.
 Safety of Fire Proof Pillars.-Prussian authorities regard cast-iron pillars as very dangerous in case of fire, and have forbidden their use in inhabited buildings while allow ng wroug tiron to be employed. This has ed Prof. Bauschinger, of Munich, 10 make ong series of actual trials, which have shown nim that castiron is really the much more re- la ble of the two. He loaded pillars of these