Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-01-25
SCRAPS OF SCIENCE.

THE three hundredth anniversary of the invention of the microscope is to be celebrated at Antwerp this year.
 A SCIENTIST tells Us that in analysing tho stomach of an oyster nothing but vegetable matter has ever been found.
 TIE hydrocarhon process of treating iron so that it will not corrodo is said to cost less than Cnc-half of that of gal vanizing, whiio the durability, under similar conditions, is considerably ex- tended.
 SOAP bubbles blown with ncwly-gcn- crated hydrogen gas have been found to act as electrical condcnsCrs, tho liquid of which when broken exhibited n negative charge. It is suggested that t!ii, fact explains tho so-callrd tircballs sometimes seen during thundcr-storms.
 A NUMBER of London medical men havo united to form hypnotic society, tho purpose of which will be to prevent by law public exhibitions of mcsmcrism and hypnotisn. Another object will be to study privately and in d scientific manner tho phCnomun;s of those morbid states.
 IT takes prodigious amount of vegc- tablc matter to form layer of coal, it being estimated that tho present growth of the world would mako q layer less than onc-righth of an inch in thickness and that it would take a million years of vegetable growths to l form a coal bed cen feet ill thickness. TIE poisonous grain known as kesari l dal which has long b;.l used as an arti- | clc of food among the poorest classes of | India, has, under tho experimentation | of a continental doctor, been found to give up it's poisonous qualities if sub jcctcd to a sufficiently high temperature. It promises to Do extensively grown, as 1t is very productive.
 4 FRENCH savant has calculated the | tino required for a journey round the | earth, and has obtained tho following results: A man, walking day and night, without resting, would tal,o .i3S days; an express train, 70 days; sound, at Q | medium temperature, g.? il hours; q can | non ball 21%l hours; light, a little over | onc-tcnth Of q second, and electricity, | passing over g copper wire, little under | one-tcnth of q second.
 RECENT German patent for new l insulating material for electric con- | ductors specifics tho uso of paper which
 has been thoroughly soaked in an | amMoniacal copper solution. Tho pasty
 mass is then pressed against the con | ducting wires to be covered by means
 of rollers, and the whole is finally submitted to strong pressure. When dry, the covered wire is passed through
 q bath of boiling linsoed oil, being left
 in 1t until the covering is saturated. l This makes it elastic and imperoLra
 to moisture. Tho covering is said to be durable and efficient as a non-conductor.
 TIE Lancet, in discussing tho OK cessivc uso of opium by the late Wilkie Collins, says: 'Ovcrwork produces cx- haustion in all cases. Physiological laws can not be set at defiance. So far as opium is concerned, it undoubtedly diminishes the susceptibility tn OK ternal stimuli and hence may enable a l man whose aty"ntion is diverted by pain to obtain roliof, and perhaps to conccn-
 trate his thoughts more fully upon some 1 particular poiut; but, as mental stimu- .ant, it's employment is to be deprecated as unsound and dangerous. Tho con stant need cngcndercd by its use does not strengthen the position of a stimu- | lant, so often enormously claimed for this drug"