The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-09-27
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MIS- CELLANY.

A Unique Plant-Persistence in Life-Sav-
ing-Science in Art-Color-Making Mi
crobes-Etching by Glue--Wnat are
Comets 9-Insect Repelling Clothing
Long Tails-A Mysterious Historical
Mammal Found.
A horticulturist mentions plant of the prim-
rose family, PriDsula o6c0ntcd, as the only one
that can be had in flower all the year round.
large pot of this plant has lowered continu-
ously for five years. The flowers are abundant,
and were originally of pale lilac, but have re-
Gently improved not only in size but in variety
of color, white and many shades of lilac and
pink to deep rose being now obtainable. The
cut flowers are pleasing for house decoration.
while keeping fresh long time in water. The
plant thrives out OF doors in summer, but re-
quires hot-house protection in winter. The one
Objectionable quality is that both flowers and
leaves poison the skin Of some individuals.
s's
The conviction is deepening that seaside and
other water resorts should have better means
for resuscitating drowned persons. In the ex-
periments Of DR.. Laborde, of Paris, vigorous
dog was chloroformed until respiration ceased,
when traction of the tongue for fifteen minutes
revived the animal; but on another trial until
complete asphyxiation occurred, the tongue
LrhcLlOus QuTpOocly uelhJtu i've AuAnuDCos hdO
no perceptible effect at the end of two hours.
Yet another half hour brought signs of life.
complete recovery following. To ensure per-
sistence in life-saving efforts, DR.. Laborde has
improved his automatic apparatus, an electric
motor serving to give continuous traction Of
the tongue three hours.
-.
A trouble of the artist Is the tendency of
paints to mix or run together. This is es-
pecially annoying in portrait painting, on ac-
count of the delay for cleaning oil from palette
and brushes. and has led to the limited use of
the pastel Work with the latter, however, lacks
durability. BY his plan of forming oil colors
into crayon-like sticks. NJ. ]. j. Rafael, the
French genre painter claims to have secured
both durability and freedom from inconven-
fence, and to have effected a genuine revolu-
ton.
Colors are an interesting feature of bacteria
to which M. Henri Coupin has been giving spec
lal attention. Many of the bacteria produce
coloring matter. and most of these are them
selves colored, the pigment being within the
organism. but there are colorless microbes-like
the green-staining Bacillus fuorescens-that
spread color into the surrounding medium. The
coIors are produced in light or darkness, oxygen
known of the color-forming bacilli is Bacillus
prodigiosus. whose beautiful red colonies often
appear on food stuffs. like bread, and form the
spots Of blood" once supposed to be OF miracu-
lous origin. Also familiar is the Bacillus syn
cyanus, giving the peculiar appearance to 'blue
milk" The Bacillus polychromogenes of wells
and conduits is noteworthy for its production
under usual conditions of blue, violet, red green
yellow and various spectral shades. and, on solid
media, of beautiful indigo blue. The purple
bacteria differ from others in causing the phe-
nomena of assimilation. and they are all sensi-
tive to light.
The fact that certain substances adhere so
tenaciously to glass that on being detached they
tear away scales was observed long ago Ay Prof.
Cailetet. For etching the glass he APPLIES two
coats of thin glue, and after twenty-four hours
places the article on kitchen range for few
hours at temperature not greater than 1867 F.
The glue will detach itself with numerous fakes
of glass. The designs may be varied by adding
various salts to the glue. and he gets his best re-
suits from glue with little alum.
80
Replying to the more or less popular theory
that comets are simply swarms of meteoric
stones. Fellow of the Royal Astronomical So
ciety recalls the brilliancy-almost increased
of Arcturus as it was seen in 1858 through thous-
ands of miles of the very nucleus of Donati's
Comet The mist from frog-pond would have
blotted out the star altogether.
-
A nickel steel that is rustless and practically
without expansion on heating is claimed by DIR.
Gillaume, of Sevres, as a result of five years of
experiment
The color of the clothing taken for the sum-
mer vacation is likely to become of Importance
in securing protection against insects. Colors
prove to have q decided influence on mosqui-
Yves. au any rate, ana in the experiments maze
person dressed in white flannel was unmoles-
ted, while another in dark-grey was quickly at
tackled. Dark blue was most attractive. The
number of mosquitoes entering boxes lined
with other colors diminished in this ORDER
Dark red, brown, scarlet, black, slate-grey
olive-green, violet, leaf-green, blue. pearl-grey
pale green, light blue, ochre, white and orange
None entered yellow-lined boxes. 1t is proba-
BILE that other winged insects are similarly af-
fected, and it is suggested that an attractive
color may be made to lure flies, etc., to destruc-
tion, and that nets and screens to keep them
of should be yellow.
The long-tailed fowls of Japan are confined to
region about Kochi. The breed is said to have
been developed about century ago through
competition for wealthy princes yearly prize
for the longest feather and the secret of breed
ing is now known only to few old fanciers.
Selection is the sole agent, no means of increas-
ing feather growth artihcially being known,
The long tail feathers usually number about Is
or is, and those of fowl lately acquired by the
American Museum of Natural History measure
nearly u feet.
"a
The Okapi, the strange animal short time
ago discovered in Central Africa by Sir Harry
Johnston, is now thought to have been known
to the ancient Egyptians. The old monuments
show so-called "animal of Set," desert
quadruped variously supposed to have been a
fox musk rat, a dog. a camel, and even fab
ulousranimal. A study of the pictures con-
vinces Prof. Wiedemann that this creature was
the okapi, which early hunters exterminated in
Egypt.
Radon, the new metal of Prof. Marckwald of
Berlin, forms the thousandth part of radioactive
bismuth from uranium ore. 1t is separated by
electrolytic process. Its rays differ from those
of radium in being absorbed by paper as well as
by glass.
Low Rate Excursion to Niagara Falls.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company will run
its remaining popular ten day excursions to Nj
agara Falls from Washington and Baltimore on
September 18TH and October I'd and 18th