The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-01-30
Compiled for rHR ARKAxsAw TsAvmxa.
 SCIENTIFIC 1xSCEx..S

10 transmit messages between sufferers f,or.
 infectious diseases and their friends.
 The extensive collection of me,eo,;,..
 at Vienna now contains specimens represen,
 ing 35s meteoric falls. Other valuable col
 lections are at London, Paris and Calcu,,,
 Zinc dust has been found by an Erp.
 lish investigator to absorb hydrogen from
 moist atmosphere at moderate temperaturs
 It has, in fact, the power of occludinR the g,.
 after the manner of platinum.
 All the cables of the Brooklyn bri6o.
 are found to be magnetized in the direc,ion
 oi their diameter, the upper surface of he
 cables throughout their length being ofsouih
 polarity and the lower surface north.
 long series Of determinations of ,h.
 amount of carbonic acid contained Ay the .;,
 has been made at Liege, Be gium the aver.
 age result being 5 l2ss by weight and aso6 by volume in every 10000 parts of the ar.
 Prof. Langley's recent researches hav. led him to conclusions which imply that o the absence of the absorbing atmo pbera the earth would receive sufficient heat iron, the sun to melt an ice shell about 1so f.e, deep over the globes entire surface.
 Observations on the incandescept ele,. tric light, which decreases in lumir osi,v as,sr certain strength Of current is reached leoa French investigator to conclude that he., radiations, which are at first dark and then luminous, passing from red to white ul,i. mateiy go beyond the violet rays, and at very great intensity cease to be visible.
 Paper Rail oads.-The paper rail seems about to become a practical reality, large establishment for the manufacture of rails Of compressed paper being prt jected at St. Petersburg. Among the advantages clsimed d for this material are extreme dura- oility, cost about or e-,hird as great as steel. Nghtness, greater adhesion to the driving wheels Of the engine, and a reduction in the wear and tear of both the road and the roll ing stock.
 Misnamed Animals weight of scientific opinion now favors the view th.,
 nying-hsh " do not fly. The muscles of flight in birds average in weight one sixth of the whole body those of bats one thirteenth. while those which have been supposed to enable the fl hes to fly are only one hirty second. The impulse to the propulsion of living fish is probably delivered while they are still in the water by the exceptionally powerful muscles which cover both sides of their body.
 Sinking in Great Pressure may seem little surprising to a careless ob- server, but is nevertheless true that a piece of iron or any heavy substance will ratidlv sink te the bottom of the sea even in the deepest places. However great may be the pressure produced at great depths by the mass, the specific gravity of he water is but little greater than at the sur. ace. Hence such substances as stone, sand. mud, clay, shells, etc., exist at great depths with little variation, except from the fleets of light.
 Astronomical Phenomena-The prin- ,ipal astronomical event of 1886 will be the otal eclipse of the sun on the aoth of ugust The line of to,ality in this eclipse will cross he Atlantic Ocean, traveIsing land in the Vest lndies just alter sunrise and in South 'Tn Africa tosa ards sunset. On the coast of 3enguela the total phase lasts nearly five minutes, and at Grenada, in the West Indies, he duration will be nearly four minutes. Three comets of known period are expected O return during the year. Olbers' comet, with period of seventy-e ene and half years, sill probably reach Perihelion near the close 'i the year. A small comet discovered by 'ons in 1879, and Iediscovered by Winnecke a 1858 is due in 1886 as is also is one first cen by Temple in 1869 and again observed y Swift in 1880. he period of each ot these wo comets is about five and half years.
 Life tn Other Soheres.- Proctor argues hat every celestial body must at some time 'ass through life supporting period which must be very short compared with the dura- ion of the worlds own existence. Concern ng the date of the life era in other worlds han ours he remarks " In the presence of ime-intervals seen to be at once infinitely .reat and infinitely little-nfnitely great com- ,ared with the duration of our earth, infinitely title by comparison with the eternities amid which they are lost-what reason can we have, shen viewing any orb Tn space from our little arih for saying now is the time when that ,rb is, like our earth the abode of life Why hould life on that orb synchronize with life 'n tue earthi Are not, on the contrary, the hances infinitely great against such a coinci- iencei If, as Helmholtz has we'll said, the iuration of life on our earth is but the mnu- est ripple in the infinite ocean of time, and he duration of life on any other planet of ike uiinu;eness, what reason can we have for that those remote, minute, and no Eay associated waves of life must needs be abreast of each other on the infinite oce an whose surface they scarcely ripplel t Is more probable that life is wanting than hat life exists at this present time. Never heless, it is at least as probable that every member of every order-planet, sun, galaxy, md so onward to higher and higher orders been, is now, or will hereafter