The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-03-15

the Pic du Midi Observatory. at an altitude
OF about 5000 feet The phenomenon is usu.
ally best seen in the evenings OF spring OF
IS visible at ali seasons II the moon and
Clouds do not interfere. By plotting on a
chart the limits of luminosity. II has beer
degrees in width. and tina its central plane
probably comedies with the plane of the
suns equator The observations confirm the
tneory that the attenuated coSmical matter
Of which the zodiacal light is probably com
posed extends all round the sun In the
form OF a very fiattened spheroid to a dis
lance well beyond the earth's orbit.
Soaring by LilIenthars method has been
practiced by Percy s. Pitcher in a squally
district on the Clyde. Instead OF the double
set OF wings now adopted by Lilienthal. Mr..
Pitcher has experimental with a pair of
wings pointed upward in the form of a V,
and has found that lowering the tips has
diminished the tendency OF this to overturn
IN q side wind This form of wing has the
advantage of a large surface TO act as a
parachute in case of sudden stoppage In the
air. Feeling fairly sure of his balance in
the air and of his ability to land safely,
Mr.. pilcner proposes this year to add a
either a ingle propeller in front or one
under each wing, and in this way to at
tempt horizontal flight by a Maxim ma
chine of the smallest size possible for car
yin one man.
While a disease may owe its origin to enc
particular form or microbe, it is beginning
to be understood that other microbes may
greatly influence the course of the disease.
Maschevsky, a Russian biologist, has been
making extensive researches upon the ef-
fects Of other heterogeneous upon he
cholera bacillus. Various kinds of bact sria
and animais as sI1 We'll in as ih from ann Es m ana
cucumbers, and a considerable number Ct
these. though harmless in themselves.
proved to be capable of increasing the virn-
bacild which had lost their power OF doing
harm again became virulent when associa-
ted with perfectly harmless bacteria from
apples and cucumbers. This gives scientihc
basis for the popular prejudice against un-
cooked fruit and vegetables during cholera
epidemics. while the effect of the intestinal
bacteria may explain some of the wa
carries" OF such epidemics.
Honey. says p. L. Simmonds. contains
mamma. mucilage, grape sugar. pollen. acid
and other vegetable odoriferous substances
and juices. The mamma is both food and
medicine. and the pungent vegetable ex-
tracts have rare virtues. From some flow
ers-such as those of the rosemary. laven-
der and orange-bees collect an exquisitely
perfumed honey, while other plants yield a
product having less agreeable, and even
harmful properties. Flowers OF the elm,
broom, euphorbium, arbutus and box yield
traced to honey from aconite flowers, and
honey from the hemlock of the Levant is
dangerous, as is also that from numerous
rank and poisonous plants of the tropics.
Honey from certain districts of Turkey pro-
duces headache and vomiting: that from
Brazil is used chiefly in medicine. The bee
is not the only honey-producing insect. An
ant of Mexico, Myronecocystus Mexicanus.
produces honey in its distended abdomen,
and this is held by the natives to be a cure
for cataract and other eye diseases, is mixed
with water for a pleasant drink, and is
used IN fevers. In ETHIOPIA a great mosquito
like insect, called 'tazma," by the natives,
dep sits honey without wax in subterranean
cavities.