Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-08

larvae fail to the ground, quickly bur-
rowing out of. sight and forming subter-
ranean chambers, where-each one alone
they remain for IS or II years. At last,
attaining maturity, the entire generation
of millions of individuals energies at al
most the same moment, spending a few
weeks only of life in air and light. Pro-
fessor Riley distinguished % broods of
cicadas in the United States, seven hav-
ing the period of Is years-the quicker
by some to be due to the fact that they
live in the warmer ATTITUDES.
A. singular plant of Siamese jungles,
called by the natives "~kalang-ton
chang" has been described to the Royal
Geographical society by Mr.. Fl. Warning
ton Smith. 1t has a large. broad leaf,
which inflicts a severe sting. for winch,
the Siamese assert, the only remedy is
the heat of a fire. To follow the natural
impulse to battle in a stream is declared
to be fatal, and a spot on the Z
pawn trail is shown where a party of
Burmese is said to have died in great
agony from plunging into water to allay
the pain of the stings they had received.
Several new alloys nave been produced
in France by using zinc or its alloys to
retain a certain proportion of iron, nickel
or chromium in the form of oxide and to
reduce and incorporate it in the presence
of furnace gases. "Copper-steel' is de-
scribed as having a high resistance and
being adapted to forging like iron, and is
ore of these alloys.
The old theory that the apparent en-
largement of sun and moon near the
horizon is due to comparison with ter
~restrial objects has long been unsatis-
factory. 1t is now explained as a result
of some popularity of the eye, which &C
counts for the late determination that
the shape of the sky is a horizontally
wider,ad convexity with a singular de-
preston in the zenith.
Though the value of the incubator in
saving the ives Of delicate infants is we'll
understood, the use of the ordinary ap-
paratus base been refused by many sem
sitive mothers on account of its somber
and coffin-like appearance. This has led
DR.. Diffre, a French physician, to con-
struct a cradle incubator. This consists
of a neat tinned-cOpper cradle, beneath
which is a boiler or water-bath and a
kerosene lamp, the cradle or incubation
chamber being closed by a movable glass
plate, and containing a wire gauze bed,
a moistening sponge and a thermometer.
Two apertures are provided for ventilla-
ton. The boiler is soldered to the bottom
of the cradle, and. while communicating
with the air by siphon tube, is entirely
closed, avoiding the annoyance OF rapid
Evaporation and making a single charge
of water serve for two months. The heat
is regulated according to readings of the
thermometer by simply raising or lower
ing the lampwick. =
A recent summary shows that twelve
systems of mechanical traction have
been adopted on the street railways of
Paris. These operate thirty-one lines or
routes, of which six use accumulators,
two a combination Of accumulators n
overhead lines, two overhead lines, one
an overhead conductor and a conduit, one
surface contacts, and others compressed
air, steam, etc. On a new railway line
the overhead trolley will be used beyond
the city limits and the underground con-
duit in the city.
Rain is found to bring microbes to
rivers in enormous numbers from both
land and air. From an official statement,
it appears that in the first three days of
February without rain, the average num-
Der of microbes in the Thames at Hamp-
ton was 6.51O per cubic c%entimeter: from
the 4th to the 18th, with rain every day,
it. rose to IS. 354: and at the end of the
month it had fallen to 14,914.
Pneumatic tires have obvious disad-
vantages as springs for heavy vehicles,
like motor cars. In an elastic wheel de-
vised by Mr.. E. N. Henwood of London,
the box running on the axle is surrounded
by a solid block of rubber, which forms
most of the hub, and Is held in place by
flanges at the ends of the box and bolts
running through the flanges. The rubber
bears the weight of the vehicle.
Lions are probably less fastidious in
selecting prey than Is generally believed.
In a note to Nature, Mr.. Richard Craw-
shay, of British East Africa, mentions an
old assertion by Archdeacon Naples that
lions sometimes kill %porcupines. and he
himself now has proof of this in three
%porcupine quilts taken from the fore-paw
of a lion just killed in a land of game.
The magnetic needle has been used in
Sweden for seeking iron ore for nearly
two centuries. The modern instruments
show much improvement over the earlier
ones. and Prof. Nordenstroem. Of Stock
holm. expresses surprise that their use is
so little known in other countries. Thalse
SO little NOW in other countries.
Thalen's magnetOmeter and Tiberg's in
%clinator are the most important of the
instruments. In surveying with the mag
netometer, which is said to consist of a
compass on a tripod, with a radial arm
carrying a movable magnet, the field is
divided into squares of about 30 feet to
the side, the angle of deviation of the
needle noted for each corner Of every
square. and the measures are then plot
ted, the points of equal deviation being
Joined by a curve whose shape indicates
the position of the disturbing iron. The
~inclinator measures the dip of the needle
as we'll as it's horizontal deviation.
Continued study Of old vases-includ-
ing the Grecian ones of the museums of
Florence and SYracuSe-haS confirmed