Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-11
e SCIENCE *

The fascinating subject of the action
of electricity on plants attracted De
Candolle as long ago as 1906, and recent
electricians and b%otanists have given it
much attention. Results have been var
liable, In experiments since 1886 DR.. e.
Fl. Cook reports that constant and inter-
mittent currents of high and low tension
nave had the general effect of i Increasing
the development of seeds from 10 to 20
per cent, but that plant growth after ger
mlnation> has seemed to be little affected
by low tension currents. With an electro
motive force Of % to 10000 volts, the in
crease in growth has been considerable.
and rapid. On a large scale, various eX-
perimenters a tried sinking in their
! gardens plates of copper and zinc, and
| plates connected with a battery, but the
most remarkable results seem to have
been achieved with the 'geomagnetifere.'
| from atmospheric electricity. This ap-
| paratus is simply a lightning conductor
set up in the middle of a field and con-
nected below with a series of cross. wires
running under the soil near the roots of
! the plants. In France such q conductor
! % feet high was found to exert an, intlu-
! ence over a radius of more than 20 yards,
ana a DlDl Oh STOuII NllulH lHC AREA
yielded G3 Kilograms of potatoes against
80 kilograms from an exactly similar plot
outside.
The resident at the equator, says Grant
Allan, has a year of two winters and two
m The sun passes south to the
Tropic of Capricorn on Dec. q, when it
is winter; comes overhead in March,
when it is summer: travels north to the
Tropic of Cancer in june, which gives
winter again; and is overhead once more
in September, the second summer. The
temperature change is small, however. 1t
is always hot, yet the plants and trees
have definite seasons to flower and fruit
a fact explained by the wet and dry per-
iods.
A wax resembling that of bees has been
extracted by M. Ranvier from the human
epidermis, this result causing him to re-
mark that the body is protected by a
coat of varnish against corrosive agents.
Having observed hat in certain forms
Of cancer the lymph glands arenot affect
cd at all. DR.. Herbert Shaw, an English
career specialist, has been led to the in
teresting and important conclusion that
it is the function of these glands to resist
and actually destroy the cancerous
growth. This takes place up to a certain
point. The gland is eventually an obsti-
mate one, and the number of infective par
| ticles killed must be very considerable.
Surprising a natural secretion to be the
active agent, DR.. Snow had made an ex-
tract of fresh lymph glands. This he adj
ministered to certain patients, with ap-
parent henefit and never any bay symp-
tom; and in the case of a gentleman with
advanced lancer of the stomach, whose
death was expected not later than No
vember or December, 1897, life was pro-
longed until last April. Competent med
lea men are asked to continue the inves-
tigation.
Electric power has been transmitted
los miles, with 20 per cent of efficiency.
Much more is possible, and Prof. George
Forbes, speaking in London the other
day, expressed theopinion that the power
of the Victoria Falls IN the Zambesi
might be economically carried 500 miles
for the development of mining in Rhode
STA. He had considered plans in New
Zealand and India for transmitting
power $50 miles, miners in some cases be-
ing prepared to pay $500 and even $500
per annum for each horsepower. Many
other industrieh might be benefited by
tapping distant sources of power, such as
irrigation in Egypt, and he has found
that the electric lighting of Cairo could
be done cheaper by power generated 400
miles away, at the First Cataract, than
by steam engines in that city. In all
cases the serious outlay is for copper.
Not less than 900 species of fish have
been reported up to this time at Woods
Holl, Mass, a humble greater han at
any other United States locality except
Key West. Many of the species are visi-
tors from tropical waters.
A most original recent engine is the
/ Daucon rotary pa Solina motor Tn thla