The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-10-06
SCIENCE ANU INDUSTRY
INFORMATION ABOUT SCIENTIFIC
AND OTHER MATTERS.


INFORMATION ABOUT SCIENTIFIC
AND OTHER MATTERS.
Physique OF the English Middle
Clnsses-Electricity ON the Pyra-
mids-S,O Shots Minute-Car
Lighting From Axle.
Francis Cation has collected some in
teresting facts in regard to the effect
of athletics and improved physical con-
ditions during the last forty years on
the physique Of the middle classes, that
great and important part of the English
population which in the arbitrary So
cial scale Of the country lies between
the artisan class ON one side and the
upper ten thousand on the other. Mr..
Gallon gives instructive evidence Of the
ameliOratiOn of the upper middle class.
When he was an undergraduate at
Cambridge from 1910 to 1874, although
but 5 feet 9 3-4 inches in height, he was
taller than the majority of his fellows.
In addressing them he habitaully low
cred his eyes, and il in a crowd he
would readily see over the heads Of the
people. Writing in 1898, he states that
he no longer possesses these advant-
ages. Altered social conditions, in his
opinion, have helped to improve the
bodily powers and address of this class;
such conditions, for instance, as more
wholesome and abundant food, better
cooking, warmer clothing, moderation
In the use of alcohol, better ventilated
sleeping rooms, more change through
vacations, and lastly, the healthy lives
LED Dy women in their girlhOod. One of
the most striking sights in the city Of
London is the number of tall women
that are to be found in the fashionable
parks during the season. 1t is more
particularly among the women of the
upper classes that the improved condi-
tlons OF the last two generations have
left their mark. Women Of feet 6
inches and feet S inches are common,
and 1t is not very unusual occurrence
to meet a woman Of 5 feet 10 inches,
and even 6 feet. A gentleman well
known In London society states that
when he became of age, twenty-five
years ago, his sister, tall and hand
some girl, was the tallest girl among
the visiting acquaintance of the family,
and now she is OvertOpped by nearly
every one of her younger lady acquaint-
ance. With this physical progress there
has been a corresponding moral one.
The youth of what is called in England
1.-THE leisure class is not now so addict
ed to the idle habits, the bad language.
MI md no Nv
ments of his forefathers. Exercise has
taught him to be choicer in his dress
and more lavish in the use of water
The purer mental tone has inSenSibly
permeated more or less other grades of
society, and the streets of large English
towns are not so thronged as they were
with drunken and dirty toughs. The
prominence given to all bodily exploits
by the sporting and general press has
likewise directed public attention to the
question of physical education, and has
had an eminently salutary influence.
Electricity on the Pyramids.
In his autobiography the late Sir
W. Siemens relates the following anec-
dote. An Arab called his attention to
the fact that when at the top of the
Pyramid of Cheops, when he raised his
hand with fingers outspread, an acute
singing note was heard, the sound ceas-
ing as soon as he let his hand fall II
found his assertion" he writes, ito be
true. AS. soon as I raised one of my
own fingers above my head felt a
prickling in the fingers. That this could
only be caused by an electrical phe-
nomenon was proved by the slight cleo
trio shock felt on trying to drink out OF
a wine bottle. So wrapped fuI DOT
tie of wine that / had with me IN
damp paper, and thus converted 1t INTO
Leydon-bottle, which was soon strong
| w charged with electricity by the simple
device of holding it high above my
head. The Arabs had already become
distrustful on seeing small lightnings,
as it we're. issue from the wine bottles
held up by myself and companions, and
now held a brief consultation. Sud
denly. at a given signal, each OF my
comnanions was seized by the guide
who led him up, who now tried to force
him to go down again. l myself was
standing at the very top of the pyramid,
when the sheik of the Arabs came to
me and told, through my interpreter,
that the Arabs were determined that we
were at once to leave the pyramid, be-
cause we were practicing magic, and it
might damage their chance of their
earning a living. On my refusing to
obey orders. the sheik caught hold of
NV left hand. / had awaited this mo-
ment. and held up my right hand with
the bottle, in the attitude of magi-
clan. afterwards lowering it slowly to-
ward the point of the sheik'S nose.
When quite close to that feature I felt
a violent shoch run through the bottle
to my own arm, and was certain that
the sheik must have received the equiv
alent. At any rate he fell senseless on
the stones and few anxious moments
passed before he rose suddenly with a
loud cry and sprang down the gigantic
steps Of the pyramid with long strides.
The Arabs, seeing this, and excited by
the sheik's constant cries of Magic!
magic! released my companion and fol-
lowed their leader, leaving us complete
masters of the pyramid"
Nasal Mucus and Microbes.
Wurtz and LermOyez Of Paris have
unearthed certain fragments of bac-
tericidal lore which are eminently COM
forting to ordinary individuals who are
being terrorized by scientific statistics