The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-01-16
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 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

\
 A garnet crystal weighing nine and !,
 half pounds was lately found eight fee, h..
 low the surfacs of New vnrk street
 In a new process introduc +1,
 fort artificial litbseraphic stones are mad. h.
 eomprsssing hnsly powdered cement or e..
 bonate of lime.
 The singular report is made by ,vo
 French expenmeHters that silicon, tbou.A
 unaffected by a tenpera,urs of szo des,...
 Fahrenheit, v0lAtxes at sa4 degrses. | The New Zealand government is seek.
 jag so promote scientific mining by seudinv.
 competent lecturer to the various m,n;n.
 districts. The lectures are we'll attended
 Microscopic Work and the Eyes-An
 eminent German oeulist, Dr. H. Cohu. b.,
 made extensive researches into the eHec,s ot
 study and microscopic labor on the eyes and
 he concludes that reading and writing ar.
 much more likely to produce short sighted.
 ness and otherwise impair the .isht tb.,
 watch making and other minute industries.
 A new illuminating agent, which an emisest Russian chemist predicts will sue. ceed kerosene, has beea tried In St. Peters.
 burg. II is called p, ron phtha, and is nr.. pared from the waste products of the Bak. ois'iliation of petroleum. It burns ~;;h orght light, without smoke or vapor, and ia not liable to take fire accidentally or to CT. plode.
 Morning WoFk.-A German physician has expsrimentsd to ascertain the heur of the cay al which man is at his best and able ,o do the most work with the least fatigue. and has concluded that he is strongest at the tim. oi rising. He has shown, also, that break. fast has an important effect on the muscular powers, and urges early eating for those who rise early.
 The November Meteors.- Reports con. cerAng the neieoric shower of November 37th place 1t in the first rank amOng such phenomena. Att places favorable for obser- vation about cne meteor per second or Goo per hour were observed. The appearance of the shower according to predicuen confirms the theory that dense stream of meteoric matter Is travelling in the orbh of the lost Biea's comet.
 A Meteorological Pieuomenou.-A noticeable feature in the climate of south- eastern India, according to Col. B. R. Braa- hll of the London Geographi Society, is the frequent lightning storms, which occur o%iiy for weeks together, before the setting in of the southwest monsoon, uaaccompanied bv rain or by any sound of thunder. This curious phenomsnon is most frt queot in dis tTicts where land and sea breezes alternate with much regularity.
 Physician Heal Thyself Eug- iish mortality statistics extending over a con- siderable period, pr. William Ogie finds that the death rate among clergymen is low CT than that in any other occupation. If the mortal iiy for the three years 1880 sa among minis ters be represented by ss6 that among farm CTS will be denoted by 63t, among lawyers by 84t, and ph, sicians by I.aa. The high nor taity rate among the doctors is source of alarm ts sn eminent medical authority, and IS regarded as demanding the most thorough investigation.
 Cool-Air Drying.-A new American process for rapidly drying timber, hides, wool, grain, and other substances surcharsed with moisture, IS been attracting c, nsider- ~S'S cool dry air process, and consists in p .ssing through the chamber containing tho moisture laden material a continuous current of fur nace-dried air having temperature bstxeen 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The moisture is ab O, bed by the air in SO remarkable q manner that oak logs are reported to have been finished in nine days. although natural drying would have required three or foAr years. The temperature is SO moderate that delicate flores, fabucs and chemic Als are not injured.
 Deterioration of Boilers.-ln late pa- per read before the Scotch tnstitution Of Ea- sineers. Mir. Peter Carmichael stated that all qualities of iron become hard and brittle after seiv ce in boilers for more thaA a dozen years, where exposed directly to the fire. In the furnaces even the best iron becomes as brittle as common iroA in that time, and great care has to be taken in making repairs to prevent the plates frem cracking. For this reason sixteen or seveenteen years Is pressure of forty to forty five pounds. If used longer the pressure ought to be lowered. In two boilers which had bcea used nineteen } ears even the rivets were so brittle that their heads flew eG on being struck.
 Life in the Dep Sea.-Perhaps no more additions to human knowledge h ave been made during the last twenty years than those pertaiping to the oceans, whose dark abysses have BOW become compar atively familiar regions. The physical features have been quite clearly determined, while msst surpri,ing, and until recently unexpected, iacts concerning the life forms of the depths have been revealed. The most extensive ex- piorations were made by the British expedi- fian m hA mh,rh