The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-22
Compiled for TAs Ark0Ns0~ TFopeIer. SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


 It is asserted that, under certain con- ditions, the bark of the quilla tree of Chilli possesses cleansing properties superior to those of the best soap.
 The tax-collectors' receipts of the ancient Egyptians were inscribed on pieces of broken crockery. Some of them, from the British museum col lection, have been translated, and show the tax in Egypt under the early Caesars.
 The French in Cayenne are said to hold in great dread the Luctlta hop,- sntUorar, or man-eating fly. This in- sect lays it's eggs in the mouth or nos- trils of sleeping, and especially of drunken, individuals, and the matched out torUoe usually produce horrible death.
 A curious method of silk manufac- ture is said to exist in the Chinese province of Kwangtung, where are found wild silk worms feeding on the camphor tree. The tull-grown cater pillar is cut open, and the silk is taken out in form resembling catgut, sub- jected to a hardening process, and made into fish, lines.
 After many years of labor, Jap anese inventor has perfected a lacquer for ships bottoms. It is somewhat expensive, but one application lasts three years, and the finely polished surface successfully resists the attach ment of barnacles and weeds, and, by diminishing friction, must materially add to the speed of the vessels.
 Considering the fact that many as- tronomers are inclined to regard Alcy- one the chief star of the Pleiades, as the center about which the universe revolves, it seem quite curious that many savage and semi-civilized tribes have given this group of stars an ex- traordinary importance. The peculiar beliefs which they hold concerning it appear to be of great antiquity.
 EARTHQUAKE MovEMENT. An earthquake always begins with small vibrations, according to Prof. J. A. Ewing, and of those which follow none stands out remarkably abruptly from the rest. The motion is scarcely a "shock" at all, but a "wobblipg' of the ground in every conceivable direc- tlon. A movement of the earth of an inch and three-quarters is the greatest yet recorded by the instruments in Japan, while the motions are usually to be measured only in hundredths of an inch.
 THE EARTH's CLOUD BELTs-The researches of M. Teisserenc de Bort show marked tendency of the earth's cloudiness throughout the year to ar- range itself in zones parallel to the equator. A belt of maximum cloudi- ness may be traced near the equator, two bands of light cloudiness extend ing from 15 to 35 degrees of latitude north and south, and two zones of greater cloudiness between 45 and 60 degrees, beyond which the sky seems to become clearer, toward the poles. These zones have noticeable tendency to follow the sun in its change of de- clination, moving northward in spring and southward in fall. The zones of clear sky correspond with regions of high pressure. The distribution of cloudiness is direct consequence of the course of the winds.
 ACCIDENTAL ALLoYs.-The aston lshlng changes that small proportions of foreign matter will produce in met als are not necessarily of small practi- cal importance, as very slight impuri- ties in metals for certain purposes might lead to serious conseo uences. Roberts Austin gives two striking illustrations of this possibility. A small fraction of bismuth in copper will reduce the electrical conductivity sufficiently to cause any submarine cable made with it to become & con- mercial failure; and the message-car 'rying power of copper cables is said to have doubled since the early days of telegraphy on account of the increased purity of the copper. Pure gold has breaking-strain of from sixteen to seventeen tons to the square inch: but when alloyed with but two-tenths of one per cent. of lead, it will break with slight blow, or under a trifling strain.
 VICTIMS OF MISTAKEN THEoRIEs.- "Infancy," Dr. F. l.. Oswald declares. "should be period of exceptional health; the young of other creatures are healthier, as well az prettier, purer and merrier, than the adults, yet the childhood years of the human animal are the years of sorest sickliness; sta tistics show that among the Caucasian races, men of thirty have more hope to reach good old age than a new born child has to reach the end of its second year. The reason is this: The health theories of the average Chris tian man and woman are egregiously wrong, so that only the opposition of