The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1889-03-23
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.

in Scotland to prove that the earth lay
in liquid state for $50, 600 years.
When in popular language, a thun-
derstorm ''clears tho air." it is because
ozone is generated by the electric dis
charge.
An English electrician has invented
amaterIal which he calls alterion, for
the prevention of corrosion in steam
boilers.
Il has been discovered that current
Of electricity passed through impure
water restores it to purity by destroy
inc any living germs with which it may
be impregnated.
A single pair of herrings, if allowed
to reproduce undisturbed for 20 years,
would not only supply the whole world
with abundance Of food, but would bo-
come inconvenicntly numerous.
4 French surgeon has known of five
cases where men with squeaky voices
cut their threats in attempting suicide,
had them scwed up again, and ever
after their tones were like tho bell ow-
ing Of bull
Iron and steel arc now usually dis
tinguishcd by tho use of aqua forts,
which, when applied to surface of
steel, produces black spot. Ga iron
it has TO effect, leaving tho metal per-
fectly clean. BY this test the slightest
vein of iron in steel can readily DO de-
tected.
Sound is the sensation produced on
Us when the vibrations of the air strike
on the drum of our ear. When they
are few the sound is deop; as they in
crease in number, it becomes shriller
and shriller; but when they reach 49,
900 in a second they cease to be
audible.
Houzeau learned that some ami
mails are capable Of measuring time that
particularly interest them II, says
that female crocodilcs abandon their
eggs ia the sand for ten or fifteen days
according to the species, and return to
the spot at the exact time when they
are to Lc Matched.
Coughing and sneczi1g can be
stopped by pressing on tho nerves of
the lips il tho neighborhood OF the
nose. Pressing in the neiyhborhood of
the cor. or pressing very hard on tho
top of the mouth, Inside, IS also a
means Of stopping cou ,iag. Tho will
has immense power also.
In Norway it has been discovered
that snow Offer, considerable rcsis-
lance to projec:ilei. A colonel had
Stow trench built . metres so cent?
metres thick and three shot, were fired
at it from distance o. 33 metres. The
balls only pcaetrat Il 20 tho distance Of
! metre 30 ccntlmctrcs a2d were found
entirely shapelcss.
Here is a remedy for cramp. sug-
gested By Dr.. r. W. st. C.air, of Lon
don. Let the patient provide hinse IF
with good. strong cord and keep it
always by him. When the spasm comes
On let him wind this cori around the
affected part, take an end in each hand
and give them good sharp pull. 1t
vii! hurt little--it is useless if it docs
rot--but the cramp will vanish at once.
At the f li:on laboratory in New Jer-
sey experiments upon domestic animals
have demonstrated that the alternating
current of electricity is the most deadly
force known to science, and that By the
alternating system half the pressure
ordinarily used for electric lights would
cause instant death. A horse having a
resistance of II, 00) ohms succumbcd to
an a,tern atilg current of 700 volts.
Light is the effect produced on us
wncn waves OF light strike on the eye.
When four hundred millions of millions
oil vibrations of ether strike the rctina
GIN second, they produce red, and as
The mum Der Increases the color passes
Into orange, then yellow. thea greer,
tlue and violet. But between 40. 600
vibrations in n second and four hundred
millions Of millions we hav, 10 organ of
sense capable OF receiving tn, impress
sion.