The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1900-10-18
EkMxSCience
H{Msh No
|sA4i1veantiOn.


The greatest height ever reached in
a balloon was %, 100 feet. Two of the
three aeronauts who made this ascent
we're suffocated.
The giraffe has such powers of
mimicity that although its size might
! be supposed to make it a conspicuous
object to its enemies, the most prac-
i ticed eye has been deceived by the anil
mails resemblance to one of the dead
and blasted tree trunks which abound
in its haunts.
In Florence the ninth volume of lie
Opere di Calico CALLER was recently
published, and shows that he had an
excellent appreciation for Italian liter
allure. The six volumes include an ad-
dress which he made on the topography
aud contiguration of Inferno" This
delivered before the Florentinc
1demy of Sciences.
Du Bounier, French physician, r.
Gently described before the Paris Acad
envy of Medicine a new method of test
Ing for deafness. namely, by applying
tuning fork to the knee or some other
| part Of the bony structure. He said
that sound ear could not hear the note
of the fork, but an ear in which disease
had already made inroads could per
ceive II distinctly.
A corporation has applied to Congress
for permission to lay underground pipes
In the streets of Washington, d. c., for
the purpose of distributing cool air
through the business buildings and resi-
dences of the city. The scheme pro
vides for the erection of refrigeratlng
plant at some central point, from which
cold air will be pumped for distribu-
tion through the system OF pipes. The
flow Of cold air will be regulated In a
manner somewhat similar to the meas
urement Of gas and can be turned on
the same as hot air Is turned on from a
furnace.
An interesting discovery, showing an
other link between the living forms of
the Old and the New Worlds In former
ages, was announced at a recent meet
ing of the Cordllleran Section of the
Geological Society of America. Some
bones discovered at Glen Eyrie at the
foot of Pixies Peak proved to be the re
mains Of goat-antelope, unlike any
animal Of the kind now inhabiting
America, but closely resembling the
antelope Of the Himalayan region In
Asia. Other bones found In the same
place belonged to a slender-limbed spe-
cies of horse now extinct.
A popular color for canary birds In
England at present Is a reddish yellow,
or deep orange. This color, 1t is said,
can be produced artifcially by dieting
the birds on a number of different sub
stances, the chief of which Is cayenne
pepper mixed with molasses. Dealers
are able to produce particularly desir-
able shades by varying the quantity OF
pepper and by adding occasionally a
little turmerlc or nader Each dealer
has his own formula, which he keeps
secret The plumage Of the birds thus
treated Is apt to fade, and they are kept
as much as possible out of the light.
Near Ayuthia, formerly the capital Of
Slam, is curious labyrinth in which
elephants are captured alive. The laby-
rinth Is formed by double row of I'm
mense tree-trunks set firmly In the
ground, the space between them gradu-
ally narrowing. Where 1t begins, at the
edge Of the forest, the opening Of the
labyrinth is more than a mile broad,
but as II approaches Ayuthia It becomes
SO narrow that the elephants cannot
turn around. Tame elephants are EN-
ployed to lure wild ones into the trap.
Having reached the inner end Of the
labyrinth, the tame elephants are al
lowed to pass through a gate, while
men lying In wait slip shackles over the
feet Of the captives. The sport is a
dangerous one, as the enraged ele-
plants sometimes crush their would-be
captors under their feet.