Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-08-30
SCENT IFIC MISCELLANY

The sense organs Of fishes have been
| difficult to understand clearly. The eye,
| a German writer points out, is most
| like that of other vertebrates, and has
an iris Of brilliant metallic luster, a
| large and round pupil, and very large
| lens. and Is so sensitive that some fish,
es find food at depths as great as 200
! feet. Proper eyelds are wanting. The
nose consists of two holes lined with
| corrugated mucous membrane in which
the nerves of smell terminate. and its
| function must be very different from
that Of land animals, which deals with
! gaseous odors. The scent OF fishes,
once much believed In, proves to be very
feeble, or absent Taste Is very keen,
but its seat must be In the softer parts
of the mouth. the tongue being very
hard, The organ OF hearing Is simpler
e4san in other yertebrates, though ex-
tremely sensitive The external ear Is
wanting and the inner ear consists
merely Of cavities filed with fluid and
with little porcelaln-ike particles OF
the sense OF touch little Is known ex-
cspt that II belongs TO the whole skin
and Is very acute In the brlstles around
the mouth. Fishes are suspected OF
having a sixth sense, whose organs are
the pores OF the head and in a row
extending over large nerve.
The remarkable zebra hybrid from
South Africa lately acquired by the
British Geological society is pony bred
from a cross between a zebra and a
pony, II resembles a small pony Its
body Is brown, and the stripping is pecu-
liar, the marks on the body being near
" vertical, while those on the limbs are
horizontal 10 the hooks, below which the
color is black.
Sleep is produced by NJ. Stephane
Leduc through the action Of electric
currents on tbs nerve centers, respIra-
ton and circulation being unaffected.
A complete general anaesthesla can be
thus obtained without any unpleasant
after effects.
A curious growth on trees IN TERRA
del Fuego is known to the natives as
wooden flowers" II is produced BY
parasitic plant allied to the mistle-
toe. which develops from sticky seeds
deposited by birds and penetrates the
bark and wood Of the host The flower
like eXcrescences, from an inch to two
feet in diameter, are wood OF the tree
itself as forced through the bark. The
parasitic plant, unlike the mistletoe
weakens and often destroys the branch
on which II lives and It makes so init.
mate union with tree that in a
transverse section II Is almost impossi-
BILE to tell where one plant ends and
the other begins. The parasite lives
not more than three or four years, lis
traces remaining much longer.
In new synthesls, Prof Zinno pro.
duces tartaric acid by passing over
potassium glycerate. a current OF car.
bonic acid gas under pressure Of
about three atmospheres. The potas-
stun glycerate Is easily obtained by
oxidizing gycerlne by means Of lead
dioxlde. OF minium and nitric acid. ana
then adding potassium carbonate 10
the boiling solution Of the lead salt II
Is thought that the new process should
prove important on large scale for the
manufacture Of cream Of tartar.
A self-lighting cigar Is tlpped with
a cap Of ground glass. saltpeter, potas.
stun ohlorate and gum arabic. ana a
frictional igniter Is placed on the sur.
face Of the cap. on scratching the ig
inter the cap biiSns freely and canno,
he extinguished by an ordinary wind
The cap IL rendered incandescent and
the ground glass fused, so covering thl
end OF the cigar that no unpleasant
taste results.
The natural history student finds stlu
many mysteries TO solve. The whole
question Of the consciousness and intel
ligence Of animals. saws Lord Aveburv
requires careful study. and there Is
hardly a single animal whose NE his
tory Is fully known 20 us. The many
problems OF the flowers scarcely OK.
coed IN interest those OF leaves and
seeds. In fact the problems which ey-
cry field and wood. every common ana
hedge-row. every pond and stream. on
fer us are endless and most fascinat-
ing. There II no single substance in
nature whose properties are fully
known. and we seem TO be on the
threshold OF great discoveries.
OF the 730o0 900 acres IN the phrin-
nine Islands. Il II estimated that moro
than 100000 are under cultivation. The
native trees thus far enumera led am
brace e65 species. and 100 different ma.
year.