The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-02-25
Compiled for The ATk0HsGg TrGUeEer. SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

German foot soldiers are deriving benefit from discardiDg stockings and keeping the feet we'll oiled.
 The channel of the Congo can be traced for hundred miles out to sea as remarkable submarine valley hav- ing a depth of 1,432 feet just at the rivers mouth.
 A late plan for treating sewage with electricity has brought out the fact that such schemes have been quite numerous, one patent involving eight electrical methods dating back l to 1858.
 A French biologist, NJ. Levan, offers the theory that obesity is nervous disorder, to be treated by avoidance of mental and physical fatigue, with a diet of eggs, soup, milk, rice and potatoes.
 Two telegraph wires, each about six miles long, are to be laid in Spain expressly for studying earth currents and atmospheric electricity. The lines will cross each other at the astronom- ical observatory of San Fernando, one running due east and west, the other due north and south.
 Tigers have lately been reported from two extremes of Siberia-Wlad- livestock, upon the Japan sea. and & point to the north of the Caspian. They have long been known in the Chinese forests near Wladivistock. but their appearance in the region of the Caucasus is quite remarkable.
 A frightened Mexican hare has been observed by MT. R. W. Shufeldt to make three successive leaps of twelve, twelve and thirteen feet; and a me- dium-sized rabbit to jump seven feet. The ordinary progression of these an- lmals rarely exceeds four feet and two feet respectively at any single leap.
 ARTIFICIAL VARIETIES OF BEETLES. A Belgian entomologist has pro- duced the numerous color varieties of certain coleoptera by chemical means, though he does not claim that his process is that of nature. Alkalies and acids give colors varying from brown through red to yellow, and calcic chloride and heat yield all the t1nts from green to violet.
 AVIAN LoNGEvITY.-It has been ob- served that many birds, such as the eagle, the swan and the raven live more than century. The parrot, the heron, the goose and the pelican have been known to reach sixty years, the peacock twenty five, the pigeon twen- ty, the crane twenty, the goldfinch fifteen, the lark thirteen, the blackbird twelve, the canary twenty four, the pheasant fifteen, the thrush ten, the cock ten, the robin twelve, the wren only three.
 A NEW BIRD CATCHER.-The pub- ilc monuments of Vienna are being not only disfgured but actually destroyed by the guano deposited by pigeons. Wire trellises have proven unavailing for protection of the statues and build lngs, and as a last resort M. Trichy. the engineer having charge of the monuments, urges war of extermin- atlon upon the birds. He recommends the novel plan of intoxicating the pigeons by feeding them with alco- hol-soaked peas, which would render slaughter easy, while the volatile in toxicant would not impair the value of the flesh as food.
 THE ENDLESS RAILwAY.-A suc- cessful application of an old idea has lately been made by Mr. William Fen- der, of Buenos Ayres. By means of certain Improvements he claims to have overcome the difficulties experi- enced in using an endless railway to embrace the wheels of vehicles having to traverse soft soil. The wheel con- sists of chain of fiat slabs of hard wood, which are riveted between thin steel plates, and are linked together, the chain encircliDg the wheels, SO that, as they turn, the blocks form themselves into broad track in front. The system has proven very effective in carting heavy loads across roadless tracts in South America, and over swampy grounds near Berlin, and it is believed that the device would be val uable for steam engines for blowing.
 TIE AsTERoIDs.-An interesting problem to astronomer and philoso- pher is the remarkable ring of minor planets travelling in orbits between those of Mars and Jupiter interest ing still whether considered as an ex- ploded world or in the modern light of 8 nebulous ring from the sun broken up in condensing. Over 270 of these little objects have been dis covered, and Prof Daniel Kirkwood now gives the encouraging assurance that the number unknown is practi- cally unlimited. He shows that Jupi- ter is probably tending to reduce the number by increasing the eccentrici- ties of their orbits until their perihe- lion distances fall within the sun itself. He believes that several of our periodic comets may have been aster-