Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-24
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY

Plnrue Vaccination Oniciai Safety OF
Observation-Disclosures Rcprievc Era
of Pntents-Ant Architecture - Polar
Telcgraphy-Thc Power OF Magnets
Scientific Results OF n Isiundcr "A
Sandstone Marbic--A Towering Propel-
Ter.
Plague bacilli, 1t appears from the
elaborate report of the German gov
eminent commission to Bombay. in
most cases enter the system through
small wounds or scratches, and the
disease Is mostly confined TO dwellers
IN poor and unsanitary localities. The
baclili are very quickly killed by or
binary antiseptics and heating. Serum
NEGOTIATIONS gave little protection in
the Bombay epidemic, but Hafilsines
method proved very successful. This
consists in inoculatlon with the pro-
ducts of bacilli culture. To n virulen'
growth of plague baclili was added
carbolic acid solution or essence OF
mustard, destroying the microbes. but
leaving products having remarkable
protective power. An even better vac
cine resulted from heating the plague
cultures to 100 degrees f. for an hour
Acetylene gas has proven TO be vio-
lently explosive under u pressure of
somewhat less than two atmospheres,
but reasonably free from liability to
explode, unless mixed with air or oNy-
gen, at less than an atmosphere and n
half The British home office has de-
cided to consider 1t safe under pres
sure of twenty Inches OF water above
that Of the atmosphere-or nbout an
atmosphere and u twentieth-while
regarding IL as subject to the act regu-
lating explosives If greater pressure Is
used. The French authorities have
fixed the danger line at an atmosphere
and half and the German authorities
at an atmosphere and Il tenth, and re
strict the keeping or making of the gas
Mt higher pressure.
Nervous folk may be relieved to
learn that DIR. Falb's prediction of
collision OF the earth with Temples
comet on Nov. Is. 1890 resulted from an
error. DIR. l.. Bidsohof. of the Vienna
observatory. calculates that the near
est approach of the comet In 1899 will
be 1900, 900 miles.
The total foreign patents issued from
earliest times to 1870 are estimated by
the u. S. patent commissioner at 1885,
10S; since 1870 to the close of 1896 n.
SlQ.120. The United States patents for
the same periods numbered 120,573 and
i63,I52 respectively.
The termits mounds OF Australia are
quite as wonderful examples of insect
architecture as the more familiar nests
of the African white ants. Mr.. w. Saw
ille-Kent describes three distinct types
of the large mounds. The largest ant
nests known are doubtless the but
tressed columnar 'tcrmitaria" oc-
sVttt.t Inc ia he -
South Australia, some forty miles in
land from Port Darwin. these often eX-
ceedlng eighteen feet in height. and be-
ing also remarkable for an almost
equal diameter from top TO bottom.
Mounds nearly as large. towering above
the head of horseback rider, are to be
seen In York Peninsula, North Queens
landthis form tapering slightly to one
or sometimes several sharp points. In
the Kimberly district Of West Australia
lobulated mound Is very common, this
type often exceeding fourteen feet and
being usually conical or hemispherical
In general form, but always having
lobulated appearance. as OF being built
from hodloads of half-solidifed mortar
that in succession had partly over
flowed each underlying layer A verti-
cal half of one of these mounds, about
eight feet high, having been destroyed.
the ants commenced rebuilding at n
rate that would restore the structure
in three to four years. The most sin
gular-though not among the largest
OF all the Australian ant structures are
the meridian mounds, which are elong-
gated. resembling huge slabs OF sand
stone stood on edge, and always point
exactly north and south The most
striking examples, seldom more than
six or eight feet high. occur In the
Laura valley, North Queensland. Here
the mounds are built In several series
of pnnacles, one above another, giving
n highly ornate appearance, as of
some grand cathedral in miniature. The
reason for THE uniform orientation is
n mystery. one possible explanation be-
Ing that II offers the least exposure TO
the heat of the midday sun.
Improved methods of signalling will
be an important feature of polar eN-
plorations. The apparatus Of Mr.. II. s.
Bruce, as described at the London Inn
perial institute. includes n small cap
tive balloon, lighted inside by incan-
descent lamps, and this is to be fixed to
the ship or taken away by an explor-
ing party, in either case serving ms n
beacon that under favorable circum-
stances could be seen eighty miles or
more. Such balloons can be inflated
with compressed hydrogen carried in
steel cylinders.
The magnetization limit OF iron has
Detn lpunl DE MI henry Nllut, ". IL.
s., to be 422 pounds per square inch,
with no gain in the power of magnets
by the double pole or horseshoe form.
While valuable scientific facts have
been brought to light by untaught men.
such discoveries have seldom been a
direct result of ignorance. A patient
who had just left an Algerian hospital
however has been cured of sclatica of
many years standing through his
laundering idea that spirit OF salt"
(hydrochloric acid) was n saline prep
aration of greater strength than the
salt solution the doctors had been ad-
ministerinE hypodermlcally with little
relief Reasoning thut the strong prep
aratlon should have greater effect. he
painted his skin with It, with the most
astonishing success. ON learning Of
the experiment, the physicians az the
hospital adopted the femedy. and DIR.
C. Gennatas. of Montpelier has pre-
pared a thesis based on a dozen cases
of sciatica. all Of which have been COM
pletely relieved through this means
The application Is simple. Three or
four coats of strong hydrochloric acid
are brushed over the painful parts OF
the nerve, and tho limb Is covered with
n cottonwood dressing. The heat and
smartng are severe but quite bear
able. The application can be repeated
In "a or As hours, but not again for sew
eral days, lest sloughs should appear.
The twelve patients We're reported
cured in three to nye sittlnrs exteud-