The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-03-16
cOHpfied fer Tie Arkansuw Trapstsr.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


Hills of Upper Burmah
Italy has each year nearly 100000 cases Of
typhoid fever, with $4,000 deaths according to
Irof. Ruata. A third of the population reaching
the age forty five have the fever, and rlore than
three per cent die from 1t In some localities.
A much better preservative of food than the
borax acid, etc, now used for keeping fish should
be had in sterized infusoral EARTH In the opinion
of Prof z. Waage, the Norwegian chemist Enor-
nous deposits of the earth were discovered I'm
Norway last year.
Feejeean doctors are said to have great faith In
massage which they have practiced from time
immemorial, and have taught TO the Samoans and
the Tongans. The rubbing and kneading of the
affected part is sometimes continued for hours,
stimulating the circulation and relieving the
pain.
THE SAFEST EXrLosIvE-Wet compressed gun
cotton is the safest high explosive yet produced,
says Mr.. Karl Rohrer L. :. y. Ii can be readily
and safely transported by any conveyance, and Is
eminently convenient TO handle or store. 1t can be
sawed, turned, cut and bored easily and safely :;
and the turnings, cuttings and borings may be
worked over. Dry compressed gun-cotton, which
need form only small percentage of any charge,
Is safer than gunpowder.
NEW SODIUM PROCEss.-A Russian chemist
Mr. \. y. Beketoy has sought to produce sodium
/ by electrolysis from common salt, believing that
such method might prove better than either of
| the two now in use-the Leblanc and the
fused salt, having a temperature of 900 degrees
Fahrenheit, caused rapid and complete decomposi-
ton, and indicated that this method would be
practicable and economical on a commercial scale.
| CHEMISTRY OF To-DAY.-The subject of the con-
sttuton structure of chemical compounds, states
Prof Ira Remsen, at present receives attention
from working chemists than any other, and this
has been the case since chemistry came to be
science. Hopeful attempts are being made to go 30
deeply into the structure of matter as to determine
the shape of its minutest PARTICLES and to solve the
problem of the arrangement and connection of the
atoms in the moecule. The chemical act itself Is
being studied in Investigations into such matters
as the speed of chemical action the influence of
mass upon chemical reactions and the relations
between the phenomena of heat and electricity and
chemical action.
BURMAH's HAIRY PEoPLE-A remarkable hairy
family has long existed at the court of Burmah,
where Lord Crawford saw Shwe Maong, the first
described of the family, in 1924. hairy daughter
now sixty four years old-and hairy grandson
of the hairy Shwe Maong and his beautiful wife
still survive, a hairy great granddaughter having
died last year Several other children of the family
have shown tendency to develop the popularity,
but died when quite young, and others have
exhibited only normal hairiness. The surviving
man is thickly covered with coarse gost-like hair
on the entire face, neck, shoulders. breast and
spine, and with kind of down two inches long on
the limbs. The hair hiding the woman's face is
much finer, resembling that of the spaniel.
Neither has hair on the hands and feet They have
molar teeth, and in the upper jaw have only the
two first incsors and two CANNES
THE MOONS ZopIACAL LIGHT.-Several observers,
according to Prof &. NJ. Smith, have recorded OBJ
servstions which appeared to show that the moon
produced an appearance very similar to that of
the zodiacal light. Piazzi Smyth, however, saw
this appearance fromc the Peak of Teneriffe, and
showed by actual measurement that the glow seen
before moonrise does not lie the elliptic, but
is nearly vertical and is due simply to refaction in
the earths atmosphere. This xplanston will hardly
account for interesting observation made by
Mr.. L. Trouvelot, which if repeated would require
to be very carefully investigated. On q night
when the zodiacal light was very bright and there
were magnetic disturbances followed by an auroral
display, but when no aurora was actually visible,