The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-01-14

THE best altering agent, according
10 the recent experiments OF DR. Percy
FARMLAND, is spongy iron. Powdered
coke ranks next. and is very good; but
animal charcoal soon becomes worse
than useless, although excellent ut first. ,
AN account of the "Anemogene, an
apparatus for initiating the great move
ments of the earth's atmosphere. has
been given to the French Academy Of
Sciences. BY means of this instrument,
which takes the form of miniature re-
volving globe, the trade winds, ascend
ing and descending currents, and other
normal atmospheric phenomena are re-
produced.
LATE measurements give the height
OF the great Mexican volcano, Popoca-
tepetl, as IL, 800 feet above the sea. The
crater, which is completely obscured
within by sulphurous vapor, is about
two and one-half miles in circuit and
] 900 feet deep. The entire center Of
the top of the mountain seems to be
solid sulphur, which is deposited at the
rate OF about ton day.
In response to some thousands of
circulars. DIR. Sophus Tromholt has re-
ceived the testimony of l44 persons in
Norway concerning the emission Of
sound by the northern lights. OF
these persons ninety-two believe in the
aurora sound, and fifty three assert
that they have heard it themselves.
The sound is variou ly described as
sizzling, Kissing, whining, cracking,
rushing. ripping, rolling, Tapping,
creaking, roaring, etc.
In paper on the size of the brain
in extinct animals, Prof. Marsh, of
Yale College, has brought forward the
remarkable fact that in the race for
life during past ages, the survival OF
any partl ular group of animals de-
pended upon the size of their brain as
compared with that of their con-
temporaries of the same class. Brains
won then, as now, and the brain Of
animals crushed out of existence was
always found to be relatively smaller
than that of those OUTLYING them.
The diameter of trees is said 20 vary
not only from summer to winter but
from day to day. They are larger
from noon to twilight the next morn
ing than from twilight until noon they
are smaller in winter than In summer.
Water and the sap of the trees expand
not only in proportion as they go below
the freezing point. Low temperature
as well as high promotes evaporation,
and the trees eyaporate from their
branches in winter, and so the colder
the weather the more they shrink.
WHEN Mr.. w. w. Graham, the Eng
1,.l, -, 81, l.,
region, he noticed peaks no tn of
Mount Everest, now regarded as tho
highest mountain of the globe,
which appea ed to him to be still
loftier than that summit. More re-
Gently, two members OF the Survey De-
partment of the Government of India
observed four or fiye peaks in the same
district which they think may possibly
be as high or higher than Mount Ever
est. Lord Aberdare however, the re-
firing President of the Royal Geographic
cal Society of London, is of the opinion
that the supremacy of Mount Everest.
29, 002 feet, will not be effectually dis
putcd until the frontier ranges of Ne
paul and Tibet are thrown open to
scientific examination by competent
surveyors.
DIR. G. KELLER, of Zurich, claims
that spide-s perform an important part
In the prese walton of forests by de-
Tending the trees against the depreda-
tions of aphdes and insects. He has
examined a great many spide s, both
in Their viscefa and by feeding them in
captivity, and has found them to be
voracious destroyers of these pests and
he believes that the spiders in a par
ticular forest do more effective work
OF this kind than all the insect-eating
birds that inhabit it. He has verified
his views by observations on confer Gus
trees, few Dad leaved trees, and APP
pie ees. An important feature of the
spiders operations is that they prefer
dark spots, and the efore work most in
the places which vermin most infest,
but which q Q likely to be passed by
other destroying agents.