The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-03-28

grees, and other varieties OF COAL III po"-
dered form, at intermediate temperatures
One by one the instruments and processes
of orr fathers are being RELOCATED to the
domain of the antiquated. Now the churn
must 90. According to French pateh''
the passage of suitable electric current
through milk causes the rapid separation
of the butter, and renders churnhs I'LL
necessary. The manufacture of cheese
and the removal Of rancidity from butter
by electrical aid are also claimed.
Almost every sort of plant furnishes
living to its own peculiar species Of Aphls,
or plant louise by which great destruction
is occasionally wrought. DIR. >. Slbiey
Hicks, an English entonologist, states that
the Hop Aphis caused a loss In 1852 amount
ing to nearly 100000. This enormous
damage is explained by the fabulous rate
of increase of the Aphis, it being possible
for a single female to see in her lifetime
progeny of over $500 million individuals.
Another destructive species, known as
American blight, occurs on apple Trees
and was first observed in 1875 IN an orchard
near London. The Vine Aphis (fhJ1o1-
era has done immense damage III the VINE
yards of France, where it was first found
in 1865. Fortunately, the Aphides have
numerous enemies, especially active ones
being the caterpillars Of the lady-blrd'
the lacewing fly and its grub, and the lch-
neumon fly. A lady-bird caterpillar Will
| devour forty or fifty daily.
On the northeast shores OF ASIA corn
! cannot he cultivated at 80 degrees north
latitude although in the interior it natures
as far north as 62 degrees. On the eastern
shores of Africa the northern limit of its
J growth is 50 degrees and on the western
shores it reaches about 81 degrees while in
the intermediate country it is known to go
| as far as G5 degrees. The fact that it thrives
farther north in the interior of continents
than on the shores is thought by Mr.. NJ.
Buysman to be due not alone to the cooling
influence Of accommodations on the
coasts but to depend largely on the greater
| amount of sunlight received in the dry
regions far from the oceans. In Norway
corn grows in latitude 20 degrees the
climate being not only warmed by prox-
unity to the Gulf Stream but the skies
being very clear rs we'll. Even in the most
northern regions, where the shade temper
allure is very low, vegetation may grow IN
sheltered spots exposed to the sun, ana
luxuriant scurvy grass has been found on
Walden Island beyond 50 degrees north
latitude.
The simultaneous occurrence OF earth
ouakes and hurricanes in Spain and its
ueighborhood has led Mr.. r. A. Proctor to
make some interesting calculations.
change Of half an inch in the barometer
over an area of 100000 square miles--about
equal to that of the British Isles with the
contained seas-would mean variation OF
| some A., GOO million tons in the weight OF the
| air resting on that surface; one foot OF e1-
| ira tide extending outward ten miles would
give an extra weight of $50 million tons on
a coast 100 miles long. Greater variations
of barometfic pressure occur, over much
larger areas; and tides sometimes reach
several feet beyond their usual limits, on
much greater lengths of coast. 81 take it,
them" Mr.. Proctor Concludes, that we may
fairly consider that the external action ex-
erted on the earth's crust, as the tidal wave
sweeps upon shore-Gne, as winds heap III
the seas there, and as atmospheric pres
. sure increases and diminishes- especially
during the progress Of great storms-mus
, play a most important part in producing
, subterranean disturbances. At every mo
ment of time millions of millions of ton:
I of matter, in the form of water and air
l are being flung hither and thither over thu
surface of the earth. Can we wonder If
, apart from interior causes of disturbance
the crust shows signs of occasional huctua
) tion2"
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