The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1890-05-24
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS

Through errors in the triangulatio,
of Hungary the maps of Austria hsu
heretofore made it out to be a mucl
smaller country than it is in reality.
Natural gas is now used in 1O4 stsd
works in this country, but the suppl,
shows signs of failing and companiu
are thinking of returning to the old
fuel.
1t has been discovered that a Lara,
portion of Utah is underlaid with ,
body of water, which can be reached b,
boring wells from one to two hundred
feet in depth. SIS
Professor Langley. as result of OF.
perimcnts as to moon temperature tax.
en- during an eclipse, concludes that thu
mean temperature of sunlit lunar soil il
not greatly above zero centigrade.
The new Danish submarine boat hx
proved great success. The crew Of
Two men has sustained life for several
hours without Inconvenience, an add.
!ional supply of oxygen being carried.
The berries of the maqui plant Z
small evergreen native of Chilli, where
it grows along the banks of mountain
streams, are being used to a consider.
able extent for coloring wines on the
continent of Europe.
Italian Psychologists have shown that
change of tissue in the animal organism
is promoted by light. 1t is further
found that the change Is so slow in
darkness that the ordinary reserve Of
uutriment stored in the body is sufi.
cient to preserve from starvation for
very long time.
An experiment in photographing the
bottom of we'll 100 feet deep wa
recently made and perfect picture OBJ
.ained. The instrument was let down,
and the moment it touched the bottom
bright flash lighted up the cavity,
revealing, as the effect of the explosive
shock, a very large hole.
DR.. Lucien Howe says that blindness
has increased in the State of New York
during the past five years thirteen times
as fast as the population. In 800 cases
observed by Professor Forster of Bres.
lau, the eyesight has been affected by
the disturbance of the circulation caused
BY wearing tight collars.
The observations of the total eclipse
of the sun were fairly successful. al.
though the parties on the West Coast
Of Africa and in French Guiana, South
America we're somewhat troubled by
bad weather at the critical moment.
The observations were made almost en-.
:irely by means of photography, and q
the negatives have no: been developed
yet, the results cannot be described.
Burial reform in England cortem.
plates the prohibition of leaden and
other solidly constructed collins, the eff.
feet of which is thought to retarj com.
plete decomposition, and so proloug
the period during which the dead are
not only asthetically Objectionable, but
are an indisputable source of danger to
the living. 1t is proposed to use
wickerwork or papier mache recepta-
cles.
Experiments have demonstrated that
the relation between the velocity of
projectile and the resistance offered By
the air to its motion differs materially
from Newtons theory that the resist.
ance is proportional to the square of
the velocity. For velocitics which are
nearly equal to that of sound in air the
prop ort:onate increase of the resistance
is much greater than that of the We
locity.
1t is difficult to find an industry for
which, where power is used under q
system of distribution, the electric mo.
ter. is not eminently qualified. A.
instance of its versatility has
just been recorded in Minneapolis, where