The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-05-15
Compiled for The ArhdRsdw Trdrelr. SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

made that the cinchona trees growing in the hot-houses of Europe develop no quinine in their bark
 By means of an extremely sensitive thermo-electric calorimeter," French physiologist is enabled to measure the heat liberated by cold-blooded animals such as frogs and fishes, and even by in. sects and larv@.
 \ gigantic sea.weed, more than l500 feet long has been found near the equa. tor by the ship Clever" Captain John Stone, portions being taken to Monteyi- deo. The plant has been botanically identified as Macrocystis pyr!ttra.
 The oil of an African bamboo is re. ported by Catholic missionaries to be an excellent lubricator, and, when refined, to form fair substitute for olive oil in the cuisine Its preparation bids fair to become an important industry in the French Kongo region.
 4 considerable time after the recent burial of number of men in a French mine, an attempt was made to investi- gate the condition of the wrecked gal. leries by means of an electric photo graphic apparatus lowered through small hole. A successful picture was finally secured. It showed man who had not been crushed, but had died of hunger
 Lights Speed.-From two determine. tions by Nicholson and one by himself, Prof Simon Newcomb concludes that the velocity of light is lS5,7l2 miles per second, with probable error of about 20 miles Neither Nicholson nor New comb have found any evidence in SUD- port of the hypothesis of Forbes and Young that difference exists in the rate travelled by rays of different colors
 \ New Food.-In certain Berlin hos pitals food known as acorn-cocoan has proven very valuable iii variety of childrens diseases. It is composed of cocoa, baked acorns, sugar and baked flour, and seems to be very agreeable to the taste of the little patients, whose only other food is milk or soup. It is thought to have given beneficial results in the cases of consumptive adults who have eaten it.
 The New Star-The new star which was discovered last August in the great Andromeda febula is reported by Prof. Asaph Hall to have diminished from seventh magnitude brightness to speck barely visible in the largest telescopes. Some twenty or thirty such stars have been recorded, but no really plausible theory has yet been advanced to ac- count for the sudden flaming out and fading away of these mysterious bodies. clock contains novel application of the magnet. The clock appears like tam borine with a circle of flowers painted on it's parchment head. Around the circle crawl two bees the larger requir- ing twelve hours to complete the cir cult, while the smaller makes it every hour. The flowers represent four divis- ions and the bees, which are of iron, are moved by two magnets, carried just un- der the membrane, by the clock-work inside the tamborine
 Artifcially Nodded Heads.-In a pa- per read before the Anthropologica So- ciety of Havana, Signor Juan de Armes has denied that races of tropical Amer ca have artifcially changed the shape of their heads by long-continued com precision, and has demonstrated to his satisfaction that the affirmation has neither historic, scientific nor rational foundation Nature has been quite equal to the task of producing the forms of heads supposed to have resulted from notifications effected by man.
 Impurities in Metals.-In a recent lecture MT. W. c. Roberts-Austen, chem ist of the British mint, remarked upon the wonderful effects often produced upon metals by minute quantities of inn purities. Slight impurities in metallic copper would render ocean telegraphy impossible. When purified, tin loses it's well-known "cry," or noise made when bent. A trace of arsenic increases the huidity of lead so that it will roll itself into small shot in sliding down an in- clined plane. Standard gold melts at about l6600, but if fifth of one per cent. of silica be added it will soften in a candle-Aame. A trace of lead added to gold forms an alley much dreaded at