Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1886-02-06

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 hays
been so richly developed in place SO 70
mote from the light Is problem.
i ~
A French writer has described cur
ioqs phenomenon observed in very in
telligent parrot, the birds eye invariably
becoming red by the contraction of The
iris on the appearance of little boy fol
whom an extraordinary affection has beer
acquired. Flashes of red appear in mo-
ments of anger, but the noticeably last
ing effect is only produced by the joy o.
this particular child's presence.
~
An English physician, DR.. Evans, has
reported what is probably the greatest
fall ever survived by human being-the
case being that of girl who on May
jumped from bridge $50 feet high, and
was convalescent and free from pain with
in twenty days thereafter.
~
By the use OF gold-coated seleniun
plates, Mr.. G. E. Fritts expects to accom-
plish the important object of converting
the greater part of the energy of light in
to electrical energy, which may be agair
transformed into light as required.
~
An electrical furnace for reducing re-
fractory ores has been devised by Prof
r. Sterry Hunt, the eminent Canadian
physicist.
~
FISH OUT OF WATER.-Mr. Grant AL.
len remarks that the helplessness and
awkwardness of fish out of water have
been much exaggerated by the thought
less generalization of unscientifc human
ity. While most fish may prefer the wa
ter, many of them cut better figure on
dry land than most of their critics them
selves would cut in mid-ocean. There
are fish that wriggle across-country in
trepidly with the dexterity and agility of
the most accomplished snakes; fish that
walk about on open sand-bars, semi-erect
on two legs, as easily as lizards; fish that
hop and and skip on tail and fins in a
manner that the celebrating jumping-frog
himself might envy; and fish that fly
through the air with grace and swift
ness that would put to shame hosts of
their feathered competitors. There are
even fish, like some kinds of cells and the
African mud-fsh, that scarcely live in the
water at all, but merely frequent wet and
marshy places, where they lie snugly in
the soft ooze and damp earth that line
the bottom.
~
ELECTRIC INSECTS. Certain insects
seem to possess the remarkable and little
understood electric power of the cleo
trio eel. Gen. Davis, of theI British army,
received shock from weel-bug that
pdldl LCu LID GILL lOI Il
time, red marks being left on his hand as
impressions of the insects feet. This
popularity is also mentioned by Kirby
and Spence, and other naturalists have
received shocks from some of the lumi-
nous beetles. Such shock was given
by an unknown caterpillar picked up by
Capt. Blackeney that his entire right side
became paralyzed, and he was dangerous
ly i'll for long time.
~
From studies in Sicily, Drs. Buchner
and Emmerich find evidence that the oc-
currence of cholera has some connection
with the character of the soil, and that it
makes its way into the system through
the lungs rather than through the alimen-
tary canal.
~
A Belgian treats textile fabrics with an
alcoholic solution of the green tar of the
birch, which he expects to render them
almost indestructible.
~
Our COLD WAvEs.-The first appear
ance of cold waves within the ter
ritory of the q. S. signal service is nearly
always at Helena, Montana, according to
Lieut.. T. A. Woodruff, their place of Or
igin probably being the vast region of ice
and snow near the Arctic circle. From
Helena they usually. reach Omaha in
eight to sixteen hours, the distance being
$50 miles; st. Louis, in "a to 80 hours,
distance 1.03O miles; Galveston, "a to 40
hours, distance, 1000 miles; Nashville,
he same; Buffalo, "a to As hours, dis
;ance 1850 miles; Washington, 80 to Sc
hours, distance 1853 miles. The waves
Ire found to follow areas of low pressure
md to precede areas of high pressure.
They move in different ways: first, di-
'ectly eastward, over the great lakes and
across New England, not being felt south
If the Ohio valley; second, southeasterly.
covering the entire country in their
progress; third, southerly, from Montana
md Dakota to Texas, thence through the
iulf states, and finally northeastward
,ver the Atlantic states, such waves being
sometimes felt at st. Louis and Shreve-
bort before reaching st. Paul and Chica-
20. The number OF waves belonging to
he three classes during the three years
1881 to 1884 was %, AZ and 10.
~
ELECTRIC AaRICULTURE.-An interest
ng experiment, showing the influence of