The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1894-11-03
sclENcE ANp iNpusIRY.

"A wound made by the tooth of the
cobra species of serpent is mere pune
ture and causes little swelling. The
person bitten is killed by paralysis of
the nerve centers. The danger of the
rattlesnake bite, on the other hand, is
from modification of the injured part,
which may proceed SO far that the
flesh actually putrefies.
| I'm regard to the mammoth remains
of Canada and Alaska, DR.. G. M. Daw-
son notes that in the northwestern
part of the continent they are abund-
ant in, if not confined to, the limits of
a great unglaciated area there, COM
| prising nearly all Alaska and part of
the adjacent Yukon district of Canada.
! No mastodon bones have been reported
from this region.
The Egyptians had four separate
| and distinct styles or forms of writing
the hieroglyphic. the hieratic, the
enchorial and the coptic. The hero
glyphic was probably in use as early as
the year 1000 b. c., and at first was
made up entirely of pictures. About
the year 1000 b. C. the hieratic form or
style was introduced. In this the pict-
ure hieroglyphics were greatly simpli-
fed, finally developing into forms
purely linear.
The Indian Planters Gazette urges
the pushing of Indian teas in America,
as matter of great Importance to the
tea planters of India. 1t says: "As the
introduction of Indian tea into the
United States on a firm increasing basis
should be cooperative enterprise, tea
gardens of India should tax themselves,
as we proposed some time back, SO
much per acre for a guarantee fund
for shipping Indian teas to America,
covering any loss of sale, and pushing
it by the best approved methods"
Algeria is sending large quantities
of barley to France for the purpose of
horse feeding. In the south of France
it is given whole, like oats, but in the
middle region it is crushed, while in
the north o. France, where farming is
more extensive, the barley is cooked.
1t is given mainly to heavy draft horses,
being wholly withheld from omnibus
and carriage horses. 1t enters largely
into the commercial feeding stuffs, but
on the large farms, where the farmer
has his own mill and engine, he grinds
it himself
Men are doing some great things
nowadays in the way of bridges, water
works. etc.; but we doubt if any city
can show a greater triumph of engi-
neering as to its water supply than
ancient Rome. Eight immense aque-
duets supplied the city with pure spring
water from the hills, delivering forty
millions of cubic feet daily. The
Claudia aqueduct was forty-seven miles
long and one hundred feet high. The
Martha was forty-one miles, thirty
seven miles of which were carried on
seven thousand arches seventy feet
high.
The cultivated area of Egypt is
slowly increasing by means of various
enterprises for leading the waters of
the Nile into regions which have re-
lapsed into deserts A depression, which
is claimed to be the bed'of the ancient
lake Moeris, has been surveyed, and
the question of making it once more
storage reservoir is financial one.
Another scheme is the drainage of
Aboulxir lake, and the reclamation of
the once fertile lands it covers The
area embraces $4,000 acres. which has
been acquired by an English company,
with the view of founding there an
agricultural colony.
The early astronomers We're all
astrologers, and claimed to be able to
predict the future career of various
individuals by casting horoscopes
showing the position of the planets at
the time of their birth. The position
and movements of the various celestial
bodies were not only supposed to con-
troll the destinies of men, but were also
thought to bring veal or woe, tempest
or sunshine, upon the earth itself. A
man born when the sun was in the con-
stellation of Scorpio was believed to be
naturally bent toward excessive indul-
gence of the animal passions. One born
when the sun was in Pisces was pre-
destined togrovel or be servant, while
one whose earthly career was opened
when the great luminary was in Aries
would be great scholar and man
known to the world despite all oppo-
sing influences.