The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1901-08-15
TlyIlNsG%CienCe
NseezIiivenntion

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The great serpent mound in Ohio has
been transferred to the Ohio ArchaeO-
logical and Historical Society.
For some months Italian and French
engineers have been carrying tele-
phone line up their respective slopes Of
the Alps. and they expect soon to form
a junction, thus opening direct tele-
phOnic communication between Rome
and Paris. The most difficult part Of
the work has naturally been to cross the
Alps.
The deposit Of salt at Salton. Cal. is
one Of the sights Of that State. 1t lies
in Il depression almost 300 feet below
the sea level, and was at some time IN
the past the bed Of a sea or extension
of the Gulf of California. From the
train. which passes near by, the tract
looks like vast snow field, and In the
early morning it is frequently the scene
of beautiful mirage effects. The salt
deposit. which is essentially rock salt.
covers about 1000 acres.
During the nineteenth century 235
new comets were discovered, as against
81 in the eighteenth century. The nine
teenth century also beheld greater
number of large and brilliant comets
than did it's predecessor. The finest OF
these were the comets Of 1911. 1S43,
1853, 1881 and 1882. In the year 1900
only one periodical comet was known.
Halley's; now many are known. Of
seen at more than one return to perl
helion.
Bermuda Is remarkable for the scar
city of land vertebrate animals. 1t pos
sesses only one species of reptile, liz
ard, and until fifteen or twenty years
ago there were no amphibians. At that
time some of the huge Guiana tOads
were imported from Demarara by the
! owner of a Bermudan garden, who
thought these animals would clear his
plants Of insects. The toads thrived
on the insects and spread over the isl
ands, and now they are regarded with
disfavor because they get into the els
terms which hold the rain water that IL
universally used for drinking purposes
in Bermuda.
NJ. Maurice Levy, the President OF
the French Academy Of Sciences. re
marked in a recent address that the
cannon Is one Of the most instructive
laboratories that science possesses. L
was the modern cannon. he said, which
suggested the application Of explosiv,
gases in the driving Of engines. Tn,
experience OF the immense pressure
Obtainedin cannon also led to the use O
pressure in steam machines, which ,
few years ago would have been regard
ed as impracticable. Thus experiment.
intended primarily for the purposes o
war had resulted In the advance of tn
triumphs Of peace.
Among the great scientific advance
Of the century just passed there is on
which is seldom mentioned. although |
Is of remarka BILE interest 1t is the dem
onstrat ton Of the fact that stones an,
metallic masses fall from the sky. Dl
o. C. Harrington reminds us that up t
the beginning of the nineteenth centur
the altitude of scientific men toward tn
accounts Of stones reported to hav
fallen from the sky was In general ION
Of scorn and incredulity." He quotes
remark of President Jefferson whel
told that Prof. Silliman and Kigsle
had described a shower of stones q
Weston. Conn.,, in 1907: ut is easier t
believe that two Yankee professors vii
lie than to believe that stones will fal
from heaven" 1t was only after
great shower of meteoric stones at La
gle. in France. in 1903 had been care
fully Investigated by the French Acad
envy that men of science finally becam
convinced that such things really OF
Cured.