Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-03
Scientific (aossip.

Own JuoBfnebt.
Scientific Gossip.
DR.. NJ. Fleischer has conducted ex-
periments on the action of sea-mud on
moorlands and sands. In the first year
there was no appreciable result, but in
the second and third years there was
beneficial influence manifested, which,
however, declined again in the fourth
year.
In experiments on the influence OF
outward agencies on the development
Of oya, Rauber and Sachsse have de-
termined that the development OF hens
eggs ceases below Is degrees cent?
grade, and that these eggs can bear
temperatures of from 40 to AZ degrees
for only very short time.
Professor A. Landmark, chief d.
rector of the Norwegian fisheries, as
serts that under favorable conditions q
salmon may sometimes jump sixteen
feet perpendicularly, and that when the
fsh's leap is g foot or two short Of the
height of q waterfall it often succeeds
in completing the ascent bya dexterous
use of the tail.
Since 1913 pieces Of native iron have
been brought from Greenland by many
explorers, and have in nearly every
case been ascribed to meteoric origin.
Steenstrup, in his third voyage to
Greenland, 1S7G-'80, found the native
iron. however, in a basaltic rock in
grains varying from fraction Of milli-
metre to 1S millimetres. It also occurs
on the western and northern sides of
Disco island and in other places. This
settles beyond doubt the question Of
the origin of the Greenland native iron.
This ore may become Of great COM
mercial Importance.
At the meeting Of the Academy OF
Sciences, Paris, NJ. Albert Gaudry sub
mitted note on the dinoceratid@ dis
covered by Mr.. Marsh in the eocene
formations of Wyoming. These huge
pachy dcrms, which seem most to re-
semble the European coryphodon de-
scIibed by NJ. Hebert, are especially
remarkable for the characteristic horny
protuberances on the frontal regions
whence their name. The skull is also
distinguished by its small size, in this
respect resembling that Of reptile as
we'll as that Of several other mammals
Of the lower tertiary epoch.
Engineering, as defined irathe charter
Of the Institution of Civil Engineers,
London, is 1.-THE art of directing the
great sources Of power in nature for
the use and convenience of man. and
therefore an engineer may be described
as one whose business is to modify and
adapt the forces and materials of ma
ture to the end specified. 1t is the
versatility of the engineer, says Pro-
lessor Ryan, Of Bristol, that distin-
guisbes him professionally. and though
he may be engaged in routine work it is
by virtue of his capacity and readiness
to solve new difficulties that he is an
engineer.
DR.. Gerhard Rolhfs maintains that
it is unhealthy to wear woollen clothing
in the tropics. This is his argument :
Nearly all animals in Europe have a
thicker coat in winter than in summer !;
but in Tuat, kufra, and other hot re-
gions Of Central Africa sheep imported
from colder climates lose their wool in
the course Of year, and their skins
are then thinly covered with hair. The
lion, which at the Cape and Northern
Africa has long and thick name, loses
the name entirely in Central Africa.
Residents in all portions of the tropics
will hardly concur with the learned
Doctors inference that woollen cloth
ing is unhealthy at all seasons in the
tropics, or even at certain times Of the
day.
\ curious calculation, says Nature,
has been recently made by Signor Bar
toll regarding the mean density of a
body which should contain all the
known elements in a solid state, either
combined, or, if partly combined, each
retaining the density belonging to it in
the solid state. The author makes
three suppositions-,'nl The masses of
all the substances equal; ~ masses
such that the corresponding volumes
are equal, and (3) masses in the ratio
Of their atomic weights. The corre-
spending mean densities he arrives at
| are ZOOS 1927, and $40, and it is
pointed out that the last value comes
very near that:got by Cavendish for,the
mean density Of the earth-yiz., 500 (;
possibly an accidental agreement, yet
interesting.
A portable sanitary stove is called
for by the Lancet. 1t says: There
is great need for portable stove which
might be used in a sick-roon without
either poisoning the atmosphere with
the fumes Of paraifine or the products
Of combustion or consuming a large
proportion Of the available oxygen.
The apparatus should be Of moderate
size, should give out fair amount Of
heat, should be capable Of boiling a
small kettle of water, and should be
provided with a flexible tube, which
might be conducted into the chimney.
There ought to be no great difficulty in
devising heating appliance of the ma
ture required. 1t would be invaluable
for use in cases in which, no nurse
being in attendance to keep up an ordi-
nary fire, a moderate temperature might
be maintained
The Shah's Fools Paradise.