The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1886-02-05
sCIESPIFIc MISCELLANY.
Ptems Whdeh VIII Prove sf Interest to
eur Readers.

an 2lCOnOilc SOiuIlOu VI IuC BACOh Oai
of the birch, which he expects to render
them almost indestructible.
Muller, a German chemist, has fed
animals ten weeks with dry and with
stepped un-ground Indian CORD. The
former showed an average increase in
weight of ten pounds more than the
latter.
By the use of gold coated selenium
plates, Mr.. G. f. Fritts expects to &C
compIish the important object of con-
verting the greater part of the energy of
light into electrical energy, which may
again be transformed into light as re-
quired.
An English physician, Dr. Evans,
has recorded what is probably the great
est fall ever survived by human being
the case being that of girl who, on
May g, 1885, jumped from bridge $50
feet high. and was convalescent and
free from pain twenty days thereafter.
From studies in Sicily Drs. Buchner
and Emmerich find evidence that the
occurrence OF cholera has some connec-
tion with :he soil, and that it makes its
way iDto the system through the lungs
rather than through the slimentsry ca
na!.
The Interesting discovery has been
made in Switzerland of a bright green
moss growing on calcareous rocks two
hundred feet below the surface of Lake
Leman. No other moss has been known
so far under water, and how chlOrophyl
the green coloring matter-could have
been so richly developed in a place so
remote from the light is problem.
A French writer has described a Gu
rious phenomenon observad IN a very
intelligent parrot, the birds eyes invs-
riably becoming red by the contraction
of the iris on the appearance of a little
boy for whom an extraordinary affec-
t1oD bad been acquired. Flashes of red
appear IN moments of anger, but the
noticeably lasting effect is only produced
1 by the joy of this particular child's pfes-
+ ence.
/ The the theory that abnormally bril-
( liant skies, like those of recent years,
are due TO volcanic dust or vapors, ap-
pears to he not new one. Attention
= has now been called to Danish records
I which mention remarkable sky glows in
/ 1886 and again in 1888, in each case the
effects being at the time attributed 10
emissions from the great volcanic erup-
tiOns which bad taken place in Iceland.
An interesting experiment, showing
the influence of electricity OF the
growth of roots, has been made in Ger
many by Prof. Holdefiess. Plates of
copper were turust upright into the
earth and connected with wire TO slmi-
laTly placed zinc plates 100 feet distant
an electric battery being thus formed
with the earth between the copper and
zinc in the circuit. Both potatoes and
bt cts planted within this circuit gave
an increase-beets Is per cent. and DO.
tatoes 25 per cent.-as compared with
other parts of the same field.
Certain insects seem to possess the
remarkable and little understood ''elec.
tric'' power of the electric eel. Gener-
al DAVIS, of the British army, received
shock from wheel-bug that par
alyZPd his arm fer a considerable time.
red marks being left on his hand as toe
imprihts of the insects feet. This Dc.
culiarity is also mentioned by Kirby and
Spence, and other naturalists have re.
ceived shocks from some of these Iumin-
beetles. Such shock was given By an
unknown caterpillar picked up by Capt.
Biakeney that his entire right side was
paralyzed, and he was dangerously i'll
for long time.
Mr.. Grant Allen remarks that the
helplessDess and swkwardness of fish
out of water have been much exageer.
sted by the thoughtless generalizations
of unscientiic humanity. While mos,
fish may prefer the water, many OF them
cut better figure on dry land than their
critics themselves would in mid ocean.
There are fish that wriggIe across coun.
try intrepidly with all the dexterity OF
the most accomplished snakes fish that
walk about on open sand banks. semi
erect on two legs, as easily as lizards
hsh that hop and skip on tail and fins il
manner that the celebrated jumping
frog himself might envy and fish that
ny through the air with a grace and
sWlftnes that would put to shame host:
OF their feathered competitors. There
are even fish, like some kinds Of eels and
the African mud fish, that scarcely live
IN the water at all, but merely frequent
vet, marshy places, where they LID
snugly ia the soft ooze and damp eartf
that line the bottom.
The first appearance of cold wave.
within the territory of the u. s. sigma
Service is nearly always at Helena
Montana, according to Lieut.. 7. Wood
run, their place of origin probably be
ing the vast regions of snow and ict
near the Arctic Circle. From Helen,
they generally reach Omaha in from
to I6 hours, distance being $50 miles
st. Louis "a to 30 hours, distance, 1O3C
miles; Galveston, "a to 40 hours, dis
tance, II 900 miles Nashville the same
Buffalo "a to 4s hours, distance, I75C
miles; Washington, 80 to 56 hours, dis
tance 1853 miles. The waves are found
to follow areas of low pressure and Il
precede areas of high pressure. They
move in different ways: first, directI,
eastward over the great lakes and acros,