The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-21
ITEMS OF INTEREST.


Weekly, but the life-supporting constitu-
ent of air-oxygen gas-which is soluble in
water to the extent of volumes In 100 at
ordinary temperatures and in 100 at
freeZlng point. The water containing the
dissolved oxygen Is made to pass over the
gils, where it is separated from the blood
only by very thin membrane, through
which the gas Is able TO pass. Fish in
ice-bound rivers have to depend entirely
upon this store of oxygen for their respir-
alton, and If It becomes exhausted they
are sufocated, just as we should be If de-
prived of oxygen. 1t rarely happens, how
ever, that any considerable area of wa
ter is entirely covered with ice, especially
in the case of rivers. Holes and cracks
are almost sure to occur here and there,
by which the oxygen of the air can reach
the water and become dissolved in 1t. Dur
ing long frost fish may always be found
congregated beneath air holes in large
numbers. They are there to breathe.
The largest locust swarm I ever wit
messed, says a writer in Longman's Mag
azine, 1 find recorded in my diary under
date Sept. 16 of the same year. Being on
that date at the Limb plantation, about
six miles from Blantyre, 1 saw them pass
ing, like a dense cloud, some distance to
the westward. Returning to the mission on
the following morning I saw. as / find
NOtSht inc trees DtyOilU the NdSO1O Drown
with locusts; the stream full of them and
not fit to drink In fact, 1t was black and
Goathly-the word may pass unchalienged
this time. l remember being struck some
distance off, by the strange appearance of
the trees; they looked all brown and
dead; whereas, though this was winter
they should in those parts, have shown a
fair proportion of green. 1 asked my ham
mock boys what they made of this unus-
ual phenomenon-were the trees burnt or
What?-and they replied, "Dzombe." AS we
drew nearer We saw them roosting in the
branches In clinging masses, almost like
swarms of bees. 1t was a damp, chilly
morning, with a driving Scotch mist, and,
doubtless, they felt no inclination to turn
out. Later in the day L find the follow
ing entry: went to Momba's saw She
Ndombo who says the locusts have eaten
the mbiemende." They were getting sharp
set this time.
of all the atmospheres of the great
cities of the world, says the St Louis Globe
Democrat, that Of London would seem to
possess the most marvellous qualities The
transaction of a London scientific body
shows that even in the suburbs the dust
particles found in the open air number 20, :
900 per cubic centimeter; and in a quiet
room H,GO0; while in the city the totals per
cubic centimeter were 500, 600 when taken
AGO. 900 in a room. In the central square
mile of the city the air proved to be. 800
per cent. thicker than in the suburbs, which
is in accord with the general experience
that fogs are both more dense and more
frequent over the centers of the town than
in the outskirts. One popularity of the
London air, however, is that it is not ia
vorable for the habitation of micro-organ-
isms. 1t is stated that, although dust is the
great carrier of these busy little atoms,
there Is only one of them per 3S OO0, 600
atoms of dust in the English metropolis.
Thus it is calculated that a man could live
there for seventy years and only absorb
25, 900, 900 microbes into his system from th~
air, or about the same number as he might
drink in half a pint of unboiled milk.
Science frequently has a trick of making
people supremely uncomfortable, but facts
like these make amends.
That there is really no medical cure
for appendicitis, says an exchange, even
though some cases recover without opera
ton, is the opinion of many eminent ply
sicians, and according TO experience, though
it is surgical disease, operation may not
be necessary in every case, from the fact
that the ailment Is a stoppage of the drain
age from the appendix to the colon, and
preliminary treatment is often worse than
useless Thus the opium treatment, though
renewing pam ana ulScOmIOrt, enIlreiy
masks the symptoms at a most important
time, for 1t is in the first twenty-four hours
from the beginning of the attack that ply
sicians can decide not only as TO the dag
nosis, but as to the probable course and
result of the case. 1t is found, for in
stance that If there is no increase in ur-
gency in five or six hours the patient is
not in immediate danger when kept at
perfect rest in bed, and if in twelve hours
there is still no increase in the severity of
the symptoms the patient should begin to
improve. On the other hand, if the urgen-
cy of the case has steadily increased in
twelve hours from the time when the dag
nosis was made an operation viii probably
be called for. After two attacks a patient
is sure to have a third.
Spiders must now be counted among
the necessary helpmates of balloon man.
ufacturers. Many experiments made with
spider web as a substitute for silk have
proved the far-reaching possibilities of the
new material. The thread of the spider was
found invaluable in the production of So
called reticies crosses or nets of fine
threads placed in the focal plane of tele-
scopes, to determine the exact position of
an observed object. Some ten years ago a
French missionary started the systematic
rearing of two kinds of spiders for their
web. Now the Industrie Textile announces
tnal splueE-Wep 1dctOTy Is III SUCCESSFUL
operation at Chalas-Meudon, near Paris,
where ropes are made of spider web in
tended for balloons for the French mill
tary aeronauuc section. The spiders are
| arranged in groups of twelve above a
| reel, upon which the threads are wound.
II is by no means easy work, for the spi-
ders, for they are not released until they
have furnished from thirty to forty yards
of thread each. The web is washed, and
| thus freed of The outer reddish and sticky
| cover. Eight Of the washed threads are
then taken together and of this rather
| strong yarn cords are woven, which are
stronger and much tighter than cords of
silk of the same thickness. These spider
web ropes are very much more expensive
than silk ones, but it is hoped to reduce
their cost somewhat In the future.
Formerly umbrellas were made of eth
er cotton or silk, says the New York Sun