The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1888-08-23
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS

3 constant and disagreeable swss.
taste has been reported in one case as
q result of the substitution Of saccharia
for sugar.
/ Among curious vegetable products
are kind Of butter from tree Of West
Africa and milk from tree of Vcne-
zuela. Both arc nutritious food.
Two French physicists, Wolfe and
| Vautier, have established beyond doubt
that the velocity of sound diminishes
with its intensity, but is unaffected by
its pitch.
Dr.. G. NJ, Smith points out that great
cities are losing one of natures best
gifts in the wasted sunbeams which fall
upon unused roofs. He would convert
the roofs into pleasure and health parks,
where pure air and sunshine might be
enjoyed.
There are only four localities where
mercury or quicksilver is found in
abundance. These arc California, Aus
tria, Almaden, in Spain, and Peru. Gin
nabar the soft and reddish rock o.
which mercury forms part, when
ground very fine, serves as beau tiful
red paint.
In drilling glass stick piece of stiff
clay or putty on the part where you
wish to make the hole. Make a hole in
the putty the size you want the hole,
reaching to the glass, of course. Into
this hole pour a little molten lead,
! when, unless it is very thick glass, the
piece will Immediately drop out.
The red hematite ore of the Vermill,
ion range, Minnesota, is not only valued
for its great purity but for the high
'Gay'' of the vein, which makes it per-
fectly easy to work-as easy as to break
rock from the sides Of bluff The vein
near Tower has already been traced for
sixty continuous miles, and 1t is said to
be, on the whole, the most valuable de-
posit of iron ore yet uncovered in this
country.
In the month Of April last two Ger
man travellers, Lenk and Topf, under
! took the as cent of the volcano of Iztac-
cihuatl, the neighbor of Popocatepetl,
in Mexico, whose summit reaches an
elevation of about 1900 feet They
failed to reach tho very top, but the
| expedition fully rewarded their efforts,
as they report the existence Of a glacier.
1t has not been supposed hitherto that
there were any glaciers in this part OF
the American continent.
''Railway- BRAIN" is term applied
by DR.. Thomson to neurosis or gene
raj arrangement of the nerve produced
by a shock received by the head on a
railway car. In the particular case de.
scribed, no wound was received and
cons sciousness was preserved at the time
of the injury. Afterward the patient
became melancholic, and complained Of
insomnia headache, spinal pain, weari.
ness and failure of appetite. A hygien-
jc and palliative treatment was given.
DR.. William Noyes, contributes to
the Journal of Social Science a con-
venient summary of the modern view OF
the criminal type. Taking Lombrosc
as his guide, he shows in how very
many respects the criminal presents alb
normal differences, both physical and
psychic, from his fellow-men. These
differences are, to a large extent, indi-
cative Of reversal to a more primitive,
savage type. 1t is hopeful to add that
many of the peculiarities can be de-.
tected IN children, and that the evil
results which they forebode can be, tc
large extent, prevented by properly
directed education.
While it appears from the records Of
English health officers that somo dis
eases have special seasons in which they
are most likely to prevail, it is not
shown that occasional variations in tenn.
perature have much influence in the
matter. Scarlet fever is at its mini
mum from January to May, at it,
m1ximum in October and Novem Der.
Diphtheria is more evenly distributed
through the year, and is most danger.
Gus a little later than scarlet fever.
Measles and whooping- cough seemed to
be somewhat aggravated by cold
weather, but are most fatal in May and
June. Hot weather is adverse to small
pox, and favorable to disorders Of tha
bowels nartiCularly in children