The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-06

species usually inhabits outhouses. but in
America the nests are almost invariably
built in hollow trees.
The sterilization of grape juice-a process
having been devised by M. Rosensteil, a
French CHEMISTS urged in Algeria as a
means of creating home market for the
product Of the vineyards The religion OF
the Mohammedan does not forbid the use
OF unfermented grape juice, as 1t does that
of ordinary wine. and temperance societies
outside of Algeria would welcome pleas
ing drink free from alcohol.
The production of what is known silk
worm gut for fishing lines is a curious
industry that has followed the decline of
silk culture in the vicinity of Murcia,
Spain. The grub is fed on the usual null
berry leaves, but before it begins to spin
it is drowned in vinegar and the substance
that would have formed the cocoon is
drawn from the body as a thick silken
thread. The threads are treated with chem
icais dried, put up in bundles Of 100 and
sold along the Mediterranean.
An effort has been made to determine the
pulling strength of elephants, horses and
men. Attached to dynamometer, Barnum
& Bailey's largest elephant registered pull
of two and one-half tons the second
trial, but smaller and more active ele-
plant gave a record of five and one-half
tons-whether the result of a steady pull
or sudden jerk appears to be uncertain
A pair of powerful horses registered ton
and fifth, while it required the strength OF
eighty-three men to equal the pull of the
smaller elephant.
A surgical operation upon a woman Of
thirtyeight has resulted in fistula
through which DR.. Franz Pfaff has been
enabled to study the effects of drugs on the
secretion of bile. The Investigations cor
rect a general delusion by showing that
drugs have no influence. Calomel and cor
rosive sublimate did not affect the flow OF
a q o.
the only substance that produced any
marked effect was the womans own bile
administered in pills; These pills increased
the secretion more than third in twenty
four hours, the quantity becoming less than
before on ceasing to give The pills.
So small creature as the beaver, accord
ing to Mr.. H. B. Woodward, of the British
Museum, has changed the character of
considerable portion of the British isles to
remarkable degree. The borders of the fens
were once covered with forest and the
beaver was one of the most plentiful ami
mails of the region. It's dams turned the
streams from their natural course. The
water-as in the valleys of the Lea, the
made to flow over the country at random.
the valleys gradually becoming stagnant
areas filled with bog moss, and forming
what are known as the fen lands.
The primary object of insect-grafting ex-
periments begun year or more ago by Mr..
of insect coloration, concerning which the
results have not yet been satisfactory.
Chrysalide of moths have been Joined in
many ways. Twin unions-head to head,
tail to tail. back to back and wing to wing
have been most successful, fourteen out
in normal proportions only one attempt in
thirty-two was successful where the species
were different. Tandem unions of more
than half of each pupa gave better results.
and gave monstrosities with two sets of
wings.
The earthworm, glorified by Darwin, is
now accused OF playing a considerable part
in the spread of disease. Pasteur found
germs of Charlton near the surface of soil
in which sheep that had died from the dis
ease had been buried several years prev
viouSly, and DR.. Halstead Boylan, of Paris,
finds reason for believing that not only
charbon but typhoid and yellow fevers and
tetanus may be spread by germs brought
worms. An epidemic of yellow fever in the
Amazon valley in 1850 seems to have
suited from microbes rising from the soil
over the grave of Jamaica man who had
died from the fever and had been landed
at-Para for burial.
A recent interesting discovery is that
many lizards, in running rapidly, take an
erect posture and use the hind legs only.
This curious fact was first noticed by Mr..
w. Saville- Kent, an Australian observer,
in the Australian frilled lizard, and has
been since seen oy him in other australian
species The structure of American lizards
leads him to infer that many of them may
run on two legs. Mr.. Henry PreStol who
has lived twenty years in the West Indies,
confirms these conclusions, stating that
every lizard he has seen running-from the
large iguana, which is five feet long and
lives chiefly in trees, down to the smallest
mite one sees occasionally about the stones,
moves on two legs when hurried. The
diamond lizard, common in Trinidad, often
leaves on a muddy surface footprints ex-
actly like those of a fowl or bird.
Considering three varying characteristics
of races (cephalic index, or ratio of extreme
width to extreme length of skull measure
ment of stature and color of skin and hair,
a French anthropologist finds that while
under three headings these give twenty
seven possible combinations, in reality only
six occur in considerable numbers among
the inhabitants OF Europe, with four more
in smaller numbers. He concludes that only
the following six primary races-excluding
race, blonde, dolichocephalic dong headed)
very tail; eastern race blonde. Subdolicho-
cephalic, short; hero insular race, brown,
very dolichocephalic, very short; western
race, brown, very brachycephalic (broad-
headed), short; anto-Mediterranean race
brown, subdolichocephalic. tall; Adriatic
race, brown, brachycephaIic, tall. These
four secondary races are probably due to
mixtures of the primary: A race Of east
ern Prussia, blonde, unacceptable medium
cephalic, very short; of Ireland and Bel
gium medium. subdolichocephalic tall: of
Holland to Bavaria, auburn, subbrachy-
cephalic, medium.