The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1896-12-03
Popular Science.

does not receive single tributary
stream.
Circles around the moon are
sometimes large and sometimes
small, because they are formed at
different heights in the air.
In the human subject the brain
is the 18th part of the whole
body's entire weight In the horse
it is not more than 1-4OOth part.
There are 1900 different species
of snakes in the world. Out of all
that vast number England only
has four species, and only one OF
those is poisonous.
Piercing the flesh with even the
finest needle hurts, because the
nerves are so thickly matted just
under the skin that not even the
finest point can be introduced
without wounding one or more.
The largest flower in the world
grows in Sumatra. It is called the
Raffiesia Arnold, and some of the
specimens are thirty-nine inches
in diameter The central cup will
hold six quarts of water.
According to Cation the pat
terms on the finger tips are not
only Interchangeable through life,
but the chance of the finger prints
of two persons being alike is less
than one chance in 6l,O0O,O0O,OOO.
Electricity has been successfully
employed by DR.. M. G. Jenlson in
checking hemorrhage from the ex-
traction of teeth. The current
caused instant coagulation of the
blood. and gave relief where. the
usual remedies were without effect.
Dew isl great respecter of colors.
To prove this, take pieces of glass
or board and paint them red, yell
low, green and black. Expose
them at night, and you will find
that the yellow will be covered
with moisture, and the green will
be damp. but that the red and black
will be left perfectly dry.
Land irrigation as means Of
'disposing of sewage is said to be
growing in favor in Germany. The
farms of Berlin. whose population
is | .F66, 900. have an area of %, so
acres: Breslau, with 100000 inhah-
itants, has 1921 acres: and smaller
towns are rapidly adopting the
system. 1t does not appear that
health is affected, while the cost is
less than that of the chemical
treatment as practised elsewhere.
French peasants have belief
that if fire with much smoke is
made in the stove on the approach
of storm. safety from lightning
will be insured. Schuster says
that the custom is based Oh reason.
as the smoke serves as a very good
conductor for carrying away cleo
tricity slowly and safely. In one
thousand cases of damage by light
ming, SO churches and IS mills
have been struck. but the number
of factories was only three.
Dr. Nansen. who returned last
summer batfled in his attempt to
reach the North Pole, although he
got nearer to it than any one else
has ever been, reports a fact which
upsets some of the old ideas about
the Polar Sea. He found that the
sea north of Siberia is shallow in
it's southern portion. averaging
only 90 fathoms deep, but that
above latitude 70 degrees it sud
denly becomes profound, the bot
tom falling to a depth of from 1900
to 1900 fathoms. If this applies
to the entire polar basin, then the
North Pole does not lie in shallow
water, as many have supposed, but
is situated. in the midst of deep
sea a fact which has a bearing
upon the problem of how best tt
reach the pole.
Prof. FARMLAND told some very
interesting things about microbes
in water during a recent lecture al
the Royal Institution. He said
that these little organisms sent in.
to the Niagara river from the sew
ers of Buffalo take the tremendous
leap over the great falls, and pass
through the: fearful turmoil of the
rapids and whirlpools beneath with
little harm. But after they have
reached the placid waters of Lake
Ontario they rapidly perish and
almost entirely disappear. This
and many other similar facts were