Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1885-03-17
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

Compiled for the WooD RIVER TIMEs.1
A BRAIN model Of gigantic size has
been made for an American museum
by Buechi of Bcrne. 1t is about four
feet in height by two feet and half
in width, and shows the intricate me-
chanism of the brain in detail.
Evidence of the sanitary value Of
sunlight is afforded by the recent ex.
pcriments in France Of Mons. f. Du.
claux, who finds that the light Of tho
sun, in its action on germs, is fifty
times us destructive as its heat.
Distilled water saturated with oxy-
gen il now prepared in Paris, and is
rapidly gaining favor. Aside from its
haalthfu|ness for ordinary table use,
it is said to he valuable in the treat
anent Of diseases Of the digestive
orgaos.
An opportunity Of studying a case
of leprosy has been afforded DR.. P.
Guttman, who assures the Berlin Med.
ical Society that there can be no doubt
thar the living bacilli found in the sys
tenn Of leprous patients are really the
sause of the disease.
The Dutch Government has had
collected the reports of 1900 eye wit
nesses in order to prepare an accurate
history of the krakatoa volcanic erup.
ton, which many suppose was the
cause ofthe wonderful sky.glows seen
over large part of the world
1t is reported that Herr Palisa Of
Vienna. the we'll known discoverer of
asteroids, wishes to sell for $3.50 the
right Of naming small planet No. Pa,
the money to be applied by him to the
fitting oat of an expedition to observe
the total eclipse of August, 1885.
A material possessing the proper
ties of celluloil is now made from
potatoes, and is being used in France
Cor imitation mecrschaum pipes, and
for billiard balls The substance is
prepared by boiling the peeled pota.
toes in sulphuric acid,-eight parts of
acid to one hundred parts of water
for thirty-six hours, and then drying
between blotting paper by pressure.
The conclusion has been reached by
Mons. fayol that the absorption of
atmospheric oxygen by coal dust
usually produces the rise IN te,npera-
ture to which spontaneous combustion
As due. He finds that Ignite is ignitcd
ut the low temperature Of 800 deg.
anthracite at 5.5, and other varieties
OF coal, in powdered form, at inter.
mediate temperatures.
One by one the instruments and
processes of our fathers are being rel
.egated to the domain of the anti
,quated. Now the churn must 20
According to French patent, The
passage of suitable electric current
through milk causes the rapid separa
ton OF the batter, and renders churn
ang unnecessary. The manufacture O
cheese and the removal of yancdit,
from butter by electrical aid are ais,
claimed.
Almost every sort Of plant iarnishe
a living to, its own peculiar species o
ApAis, Or plant-louse, by which grea
''1astrHction is occasionally wrought
Or. J. Sihley Hicks, an English ento
biologist, states that the Hop Aphi
,,a,ssea a loss in 1882 amounting t,
'nearly s3,00o,000 This enormou
damage is explained by the fabulou
rate .'f'iacrease Of the Aphis, it.bein,
'iAossisssHor a single female to see il
her hfss.ms = progeny of over 45O'
million individuals. Another dcstruc
tive species, 'iaown as America
blight, occurs on apple trees, and wa
first observed in 1885 in an orchar
near London. The Vlae Aphis ha
done immense damage in the vine
cards Of France, w!l>re it was fir.