The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-26
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Representative Samuel Maxwell of Ne
braska. have developed strong friend
ship during the present session.
DIR. Fraser of London and others have
shown that the bile of snakes contains a
vaccine against their venom, and M Phis-
ak of Paris has recently made expert
ments which prove the virtue of the bile
to belong to cholesterine and other hillary
salts. When cholesterine is injected into
guinea pigs the venom loses its power over
them.
After long experience of typhoid pa
tents, DR.. Ussery of ST. Louis regards
the banana as the best food for them.
The intestines are inhamed and some
times liberated in this fever, and ordinary
solid food is dangerous in his opinion. The
banana, though a solid food, is nearly
all nutriment, and of a soft nature. 1t is
almost wholly absorbed by the stomach,
easily digested, and very Strengthening.
The familiar rule that leap year is
every calendar year with number divisa-
BILE by four will be broken in 1900, which
fact need not be regarded as an indication
that even then it will be time for change.
This rule of the almanac may account for
the proverbial activity of the new woman
at the close of every century. Then there
$780, will have but twenty Eight days the
extra day not appearing from 1896 to 1864
Centenary years are not leap years. That
rule will be broken in the year 2000, when
the interruption may be regarded as an in
dicaton that it is time for a change. Cen
tenary years divisable by 400 are leap
years, consequently there were tNgenty-nine
days in February, 1860, and the same
number of days viii be given to February,
md q in TO Tha ,hi Of
rule is 10 make the calendar year coincide
with the solar year, says an exchange.
The attempts made from time to time
to produce substitutes for coal, wood, ETC.,
in the form of solid petroleum for fuel,
have now assumed a more practicable
character in an article produced by G. ii.
Fullerton Of Los Angeles, Cal, which is
claimed to be free from the drawbacks
heretofore characterizing material of this
sort. BY the use of certain chemicals and
a peculiar treatment of petroleum in it's
crude state he makes a black solid mass
which in some forms breaks almost with a
fracture. 1t burns in the same manner as
coal burns, but without so much smoke
as is the case with ordinary coal costs at
the present price of oil less than S. a ton
and may be depended on to give out be-
tween two and three times the heat units
that the same weight of coal will produce
The material may be made into any form
of brick is much cleaner than coal in
handling, can be stored in the sun without
fus!ng or melting and has little of the
characteristic petroleum odor.
"A recently invented bicycle tire con-
sists of a continuous air tube so construct
ed as TO form separate sections or COM
partments. These communicate with each
other by means of short necks, or passages
between them. Around the exterior of each
of these necks iA a ring of aluminium or
other suitable material covered with rub
Der. These rings keep the necks from en-
larging under air pressure. Extending en-
tirely around the tire, through these pass
ages between the compartments, is a
small air tube, having a valve of its own,
| and which, when inflated, viii act as a
valve at each Of the passa ges between the
| compartments. closing them and making
! each of the said compartments air-tight in
| itself. When puncture occurs it is OBJ
| v.ous that it will disable only one section
of the tire, and will not affect the eficen-
| cy of the tire in any appreciate degree.
| The device may be used either as an inner
| tube or as a single tube tire.
Dukes seem to be regarded in Scot
land as little less than sacred, says a cor
| respondent. The other day the presby-
| terry of Dunkeld wished to have access to
| charter said to be in the possession of
| the Duke of Atholl, in virture of which he
| holds the cathedral church of Dunkeld in
| trust for the inhabitants of the parish
| The presbytery, according to the local
! newspapers, discussed at vast length the
question of how they should approach
his grace the solicitude expressed for
| the feelings of his grace, and the extreme
| anxiety displayed to eliminate from the
| approaching" deputation members
| whose names might be offensive to him.
! was downright marvellous. One member.
| indeed, according to the published record
| of the deliberations of the presbyter-y.
| recommended that the deputation ap-
| proach lin a quiet, easy, gentlemanly
way, which he was quite sure would be
| appreciated by his grace, the duke
! From this it might be imagined that had
it not been for this obviously necessary
recommendation the members of the pres
bytery might have been tempted to an
proach the duke crawling along on their
| Stomachs.
/ Prof. j. B. Hatcher of Princeton Uni
versity has newly returned from remark
able trip of exploration in a hitherto I'M
| known region of South America-namely
| the wild interior of Patagonia, says the
/ Boston Transcript. He visited washington
this week for the purpose of depositing
| with the bureau of ethnology a rich col
| lection of objects illustra ting the mode OF
! life of the various tribes of aborigines in
that part of the world. These natives are
among the strangest and most picturesque
! saVages in existence some of them being
| described as representing almost the low
est stage in the scale of human develop
ment. Their country, too, is more than
ordinarily interesting, being associated
since the earliest times with rumors Of gi-
gantic human inhabitants and an astonish-
ing fauna. Quite recently some skeletons
of birds that had heads as big as those of
| horses have actually been dug up. They
| stood at least nine feet high, and had
| short wings, claws like an eagles and a
beak like a condor's. Tt is likely that they
| attacked with success the largest mann
| mails contemporary with them, being the
| biggest fowls of prey that ever lived; but
they became extinct long ago. and so there
was no opportunity for Prof. Hatcher to
| secure q living specimen.
Civilization is Transforming nature in
surprising ways says an exchange. The
| dehorning of cattle is an example, as this
| practice is gaining favor so rapidly that
| hornless cattle may be expected soon to
] ha Y1Ia fbot. b,,