The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-20
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

blew of the other day, and as he started
In pursuit HACK hen dashed out of the
ga eway. The schcoi-ma ster saw the hen
and thought il was his hat, and all Eton
was electrified by TIE spec acle Of hat
less and GREATNESS tutor hunting a BACK
hen from one end of the street 10 the
other.
"A curious fruit has been discovered
growing wild in Batavia. It is a bean re-
sembliug a cigar in form and color. though
It is only an inch long. What makes 1t in
teresting is the way in which il scatters
seeds, II one Of the little fruits be thrown
into water IL will rest quietly on the sur
face from two to five minutes, then 1t will
explode, hurting its contents into the air
like a small torpedo. Usually Il splits
open lengthwise If it is left to ripen on
the plant the opening Is sudden, and ac-
companied with slight noise though
much less than when 1t has been placed
in water. This curious property OF explo-
sion helps the little plant in the dissemna-
ton of its seeds, which otherwise would
have only a poor chance on account of
unfavorable conditions of its habitat
There is in the Far West little insect
called the "tule gnat' which Is remarl1a-
bic for its almost total lack of weight, OBJ
served a naturalist, according to the
Washington Star. This tiny insect has a
large spread of wing, which give it the
apparent size of a mosquito In some parts
of California have seen the tule gnats
swarm so densely about the burning lamps
that several times during the evening the
dead had to be cleared away 10 give the
lamp a chance to burn. In brightly illu-
minated stores the gnats are veritabla
pests, and it was in Lace county tCai)
drug store that / recently saw a curious
experiment made with the insects. AS
many gnats were collected as could be
heaped on the delicate apothecary scales.
the smallest weight used then put upon
the opposite pan, and il was found 20
overbalance the mountain of gnats
Many physicists, says the American
Chemical Journal, have regarded the blue
coror of the sea and of lakes as not be
longing to the water itself, but as being
produced by the reflection of the sunlight
from invisible particles which the water
always conta MS in suspension. This idea
was suggested by the theory then held re-
gardug the cause of the blue color of the
sky Very exhaustive experiments, how
| ever, have recently been made by Euro
pean scientists which show hat the par
! ticles to which clear water, distilled OF
natural owes its illuminat on, have the
power to reflect the red, the yell;w and the
green waves and that they Cannot, there
| fore be the cause of the blue color of wa
| ter Hefecting with equaf facility waves
of all lengths, they return the sunlight to
US without chromatic change. The author
concludes that wa ter is blue OF itself and
that the particles which it holds in sus
pension are the principle cause of its Il
| elimination According 10 their nature,
| they determine also tie modification Of
the color Of he water and produce green
ish tones when they do not destroy all the
| natural color
The rate of fnger-nail growth is thus
| touched upon by Edward Blake in his
Study of the Hand" The fact is. the
| pace of growth varies very much, no only
at different ages, but in different individ-
uais Of the same age. Influenced by many
external and irteInal conditions, the pace
also varies in the same person from time
| TO time. A few otservat icns win be sub
mitted to the notice of the readsr as to the
| growth of fnger-nails N men at different
| ages AT q years the nail was replaced
in 126 days, at 81 years in i59 days, at 30
years in IS days at SO years in 10 days,
at 81 years in 144 days. 1t is curious that
| in this growth the swift est grower was a
| tuberculous subject who had a sharp at
| tack of blood splitting during the obser-
walton. Sea air is said to quicken the
| growth of the nails, profound grief has
| been credi ed with the power of destroy
| ing the m. a valuable 20 MT of diagnoS s is
| afforded by the growth of the fnger-nail.
| In distinguishing between true paralysis
of centric origin and The various pseudo
| paralysis OF hysteria which sometimes so
| closely simulate organic diseases, 1t is
we'll to remember that the growth of the
| nail is modified by most of the centric le-
| sions, while its development is not affect
| ed by hy1teria. 1t is asserted that intra-
| cranial hemorrhages arrest the nail
growth.
"A few business men, who are old-fash-
Toned, as well as elderly. says the New
York Times, still view the typewriting
machine as an offensive innovation. but
in the vast majority of commercial trans
| actions the pen is now used only for the
| production Of signatures, and enormous
| has been the consequent economy of time,
| temper and eyes In private correspond
| ence however the pen still pretends to
scorn the competition of the machine, and
anybody who ventures TO break the general
| rule must be prepared for cold disdain
| or angry expostulaton. The reason for
| this, probably, is the fact that once 1t
| could fairly be assumed that every type
written letter was a dictated letter, and of
| course everybody wants the transmission
of his or her friends thoughts to be as
! direct as possible. But nowadays q large
4 number of people besides professional sec
| retaries have learned the mystery of type
| writing and for them it would be a huge
! convenience IL the last important prejudice
| against typewriter letters, as such could
be dissipated Would ii not be possible to
| effect the desired change by inventing a
word to be used as "Dictated' is by the
! business Worlda "Autotyped' would do il il
| had not already been burdened with sew
! eral other Specifications. "Self-written" IL
| clumsy and inaccurate, and "Unassisted''
| would be too vague. Some one of our in
! geniouS correspondents can doubtless solve
the problem and win the gratitude of folks
who have come to find the pen nuisance.
| but who desire to retain their reputation
for ordinary courtesy.
The present year has given to the world
liquid air on commercial basis, although
years ago Dewar demonstrated its posi-
biltty as laboratory experiment. Now
comes liquid ozone-an infinitely greater
| discovery, and one thar is certain to revo-
| lutionize more than one important indus
try. What liquid air has promised for
| mechanics, liquid ozone holds out for sur
nd MAJ