The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-08-28
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A CHINESE MYTH.

The curious belief exists in China that white
hairs spread over the ground by earthquakes,
some affirming that these hairs are those OF the
huge subterraneous animal that shakes the world.
DR.. Mcgowan has suggested that fine crystals
have been deposited from gaseous emissions dur
ing Shocks but inclines to the opinion that the
hairs of the Chinese traditions had vegetable
origin This leads Prof. W. 7. Dyer to point out
that an English writer who had the curiosity to
investigate the alleged phenomenon after an earth
quake at Shanghai in 1852, found that the hairs
were those of horses, dogs, and we'll known plants,
and, of course, were no more numerous than at
other times.
There is growing disposition among scientific
men to discuss the "sea- serpent as creature
whose existence is not at all improbable. The
discovery within recent years OF the giant squlds
of the Atlantic-some of which may attain
length of fifty feet-is cited as demonstration
that large marine animals may have escaped the
attention of science even to the present day
Only an ignorant or thoughtless individual, in
deed, will dare assert that there may not be some
descendant of the monsters of cretaceous days
even now lurking in the ocean depths.
SHOWING SHIPS STRAINS.
An apparatus which must prove of great value
when fully developed was lately described to the
British Institution of Naval Architects by Mr.. G.
E. Stronger. 1t is designed to show the strains
of ships tossed by the of other structures
subject to great stress. Briefly described, the in
strument consists of thin wire placed between
two plates of metal, one being rigidy attached to
the structure of the ship other object to be
tested and the other held by a long wire and
coiled spring. The two plates are thus placed
with their surfaces parallel and only separated
by the thin wire, to which is attached light
pointer or needle. Upon any movement OF either
plate the thin wire rolls between the two surfaces,
and it will readily be seen that in this way the
bending of a beam or the elongation of test-pieces
subjected to stress can be defined and registered
FISH IN POLLUTED WATERS.
Some interesting researches on the injury to
the fisheries and fish culture by sewage and fac
tory yasts watsFss haze H hfRa%ge dsA oSg
results it was found that chloride of lime in the
water in proportions from 0.04 to 0.OO5 per cent,
~exerted an Immediately fatal action upon tencn,
while trout and salmon persisted in the presence
of 0.000S per cent. of chlorine. One per cent. OF
hydrochloric acid killed tench and trout Iron
acted as a specific poison on fishes, as did alum;
also Solution of caustic lime had very violent
effect Sodium sulphide, in the proportion OF u
per cent, was endured by tench for half an hour.
The injurious action of putrid sewage depends on
the poisonous gases and the deficiency OF oxygen.
BAD FOR EUROPEANS IN ASIA.
Attention has been called to the singular fat that
European residents of the ports of China and
Japan are peculiarly liable to death from aneurism
the broadening and bursting of an artery
which is probably not so prevalent in any other
communities in the world. During period OF
seven years this disease is said to have ranked
fourth among the causes of death in Yokohama
MISCELLANEOUS.
A series of festivals has been held at Montdl-
der, in the north of France, in honor OF Parmen-
tier, who-only 100 years ago-was the first to
bring the potato to French SOIL
The Bressa prize of 81, 400 is TO be presented
by the Royal Academy of Sciences at Turin for
the greatest work or discovery in the physical or
natural sciences in the years 1869.
The medical school of Japan, which last year
had 972 students, is 100 years old
1t appears that the crocodile, like the faItn
which formerly esteemed it sacred, is practically
extinct in Egypt The steamers plying the Nile
have had more effect in driving it from that river
than the guns of sportsmen, according to Prof A.
H. Sayce.
The tensile strength of ice at % degrees Fab
renheit has been found by Herr Fruhling of
Konigsberg to be between 143 and 233 pounds
per square inch; and the compressive' strength,
shown by cubes of more than two inches between
81 and 205 pounds per square inch.
In paper to the London chronological Socie-
ty, Mr.. J. W. Slater showed that all brightly
colored insects do not live upon flowers, as Mr..
Grant Allen has asserted, but that many species
are carnivorous.
Five attempts have now been made to replace
the diseased human eye by the healthy eye of an
animal, and in one case the experiment has re-
suited successfully.
The annual meeting of the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science will open at
Bufolo, N. Y, on Aug. 18th, and continue one
week. The meeting of the British Association,
with Sir VIM. Dawson of Montreal president,
will be held at Birmingham, Eng, beginning
Sept. 1st
Recent comparison shows that the silk of Ben
gal is fully equal to that of Italy, but the curious
Al IL
thread nearly five times as long as that of the
worm of India.
A new species of wild pig has been discovered
IN New Guinea. i =