The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-02-27
Compiled TOT TEE ARxAMaAw rRAvKsxR
 SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

~@AS AN AZ ~ 1@ @Ao(6ALANY
 In the latest list the beetles os n.
 American continent alone number n .o.
 species.
 Recene surveys show that Russian fer
 ests generally reach their northern lim;, .,
 IT degrees of latitude, but near the Lena ,hev
 extend nearly to 72 degrees.
 Extensive experiments are 10 be mad.
 by the government. of Tasmania in naturali,.
 ing European 6shes-such as Holsters, crab,
 turbot and brill-in the waters of tha, conn.
 try. Similar trials have been very successful
 in New Zealand and Australia.
 The weather service of Great Britain appears to be in somewhat unsatisfactorv condition. Statistics obtained by the house of lords show that during a period of fen years I2o unpredicted storms have visited the
 6ri'ish coast, or an average of one storm n month.
 It IS sugf ested that the Patasonians may have lost as much as two inches in stat. ure since the adoption of constant horseback riding little over two centuries ago. Ihev were formerly reputed giants, and th cir bod les are still huge, while their legs are dispro. portionately short and slender.
 Some remarkable and very successful experiments have been made at Portsmouth cng., on the use of creesote as a steam per. orator h ships of war. The creosote is con- 'ained In tank, and kept at a uniform fem. pera'ure and consistency by steam coils run nlng through it, and steam injectors force in. vapoF into the furnace.
 Living Muscles in Dead Bodies Dr. Brown Sequard, the French physioloeis, has demonstrated that for several weeks after death. or during the rigid condition which imme diately follows the cessation of life. the muscles of an animal undergo slow alternate centractions and elongations and he reaches the startling conclusion that the muscles in rigor mortis are not dead, but are still en. dowed with vital powers, being, however, in certain chemical condition which is antece- dent and preparatory to final death.
 Determining Tree Ages,-After care. full stud, of the subject, Prof. P. D. Penhal. low concludes that the formation of the so- called "annual rings of growth in trees is chiefly determined by whatever operates to produce alternating periods of physioloe icaI rest and activity. In cold climates the rings are an approximately correct but not always certain index of age. In warm climates, how ever, the rings are of no value in this respect, as the growth is more likely 10 mark period of rainfall than the yearly hot season of sum- mef.
 Water-Absorbers of Plants The adap- tations with which plants are provided for making the most of the water that comes to them in the form of rain or dew are thus c assihed by Lundstorm, who has made them a subject of special investigation. Depres- sions, in the form of leai-cups or of grooves in the epidermis; hair-formations, in tufts or borders; hydroscopic membranes, as spots Qr stripes on the epidermis; and anatomical adaptations, such as water absorbing textures and swelling glands. None of these features, are found in the submerged parts of plants.
 Soil Fltering.- Recent experiments confirm the opinion of sanitary authorities that, though natural soil is an excellent filter for impure air that may pass through it, 1t is q poor filter for infected water. MT. Rsphael Pumkelly, of the National Board of Health, finds that sand interposes absolutely no bar rier between wells and infection with germs from cesspools, cemeteries, etc., lying even at great distances in the lower wet stratum of sand; aad that it is probable that a dry gravel, or possibly dry, coarse sand is no obstacle to the free entrance into houses above of these organisms, which swarm in the ground air around leaky drains.
 A Safe Light for Miners.-An electric safety lamp was exhibited by Mir. I. w. Swan at late meeting of mining and mechanical at Newcastle, Eng. The lamp is portable, being fed by secondary battery, and the whole weighing about six pounds, and is said to be capable Of giving two or three times as much light as the ordinary safety lamp during ten or tw elve hours. The supply sf electric energy is readily renewed, and the batteries of several hundred lamps may be recharged in few hours, by connec- lion with suitable electric main. Mr. Swan hopes to give miners still further security by the addition of a foul-air-detector 10 the lamp.
 A Monstrous Progeny.-Perhaps no more striking illustration of the wonderful reproductive powers of certain insects could be given that that contained in q new work by Mir. Theodore Wood, an English ento- mologist. It is assumed first that 1000 ophides weigh no more collectively than e single grain; and, secondly, that only a very stout man can weigh as much as 100000 grains. Then 1t is found, that if muitiplica- tion were entirely unchecked, the tenth brood alone of the descendants of single ophis would be equivalent in point of actual mat ter to more than sso,ooo 600 of very stout men -or Aethird of the human population of the globe, supposing each person to weigh n