Hillsboro recorder., 1888-02-23
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Extended observations at Paris and at
Munich indicate that tho sanitaryc con.
dition of o. locality depends on the
amount of water contained in the
ground. The years in which there has
been large quantity Of ground-water
present have invariably been the health
lest periods.
The lowest barometric pressure on
record Is 27.I3 inches, which was OBJ
served In 1885 during storm over the
Bay Of Bengal. This storm was also re.
markable for its smallness-its diameter
being only from one hundred to two
hundred miles--for Its fierceness, and foil
its indraught toward the center.
Recent experiments with the Nordens
feldt submerged torpedo boat were highly
successful. At night she approached
boat that was expecting her 10 within
four hundred yards, the agreed distance,
without being noticed. Then shediYed
and rose within hundred yards Of the
ship with d snort like awhale and then
disappeared. She was regarded as
great success.
A chemical explanation of Irelands
distress is that it is due to too exclusive
subsistence upon potatoes. Though a
healthful luxury, this food used alone
supplies too little nutrition to support
people other thnn In d halflstarved and
dissatisfied condition. IL is probable,
therefore, that Ireland's woes would be
greatly reduced If the productive soil
and climate were applied to the growth
Of nutritiye cereals instead Of the
tubers. aia ~ 4al
Whether one position in sleep is bette,
than another may be an important ques
tion, but it does not seem to have been
authoritatively settled that any particn.
lar positiora Is the best toaadopt. Sleep.
ing on the right side Is more common
than on the left, and sleeping on the
back Is comparatively rare. Evidence
has been found to show that sleeping on
the left side favors bronchitis, and
sleeping on the right side appears to in
crease tendency to constipation. II
has been strongly urged that health and
longevity are best secured by lowering
the head and raising the feet In sleep,
though some nervous affections require
partially erect posture.
In paper on color blindness, Prof.
W. Ramsey suggests that the particular
defec. which causes color blindness may
lie in the brain, not in the eye. Certain
persons, he points out, are incapable Of
jndg ing which of two musical tones is
the highest, even when they are more
than IN octave apart. Yet such persons
hear each tone perfectly; the defect is
not one Of deafness. 1T must be con-
cluded,p says Prof. Ramsey, THAT in
such o case the brain Is the defaulter,
And it may equally well be the case that
the inability to perceive certain colors is
not due to a defect In the instrument of
sight-the eye-but 10 the power OF in
terpreting the impressions c Jnvcyed to
the brain by the optic nerve. lfthis is
the case, the problem is no longer q
physical one; il falls among. those with
which ihe mental physiologist has to
deal.n
A new principle for keeping plants
through the winter without artificial heat
was recently shown at Regents Park,
London, with the plants grown, in, them
last winter. The essence of the inven-
tion Is that all light and Leat shah pre-.
yiously pass through shallow layer OF
water. The water is found to exercise
great control over temperature, protect
ing plants entirely from frost in winter
and from excessive direct heat in sum
mer. The application involves no diff
Guilty. In the case Of garden frame, a
sliding "water-light, y about three inches
deep, is made TO fit over the frame con.
tanning the plants; the only difference
from glass light being that it holds
water and is always placed in fat posi-
tion. The depth Of water generally kept
in the tank is about two inches, in win.
ter and summer, and half the depth in
spring and autumn.