The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-12-19
SCIENCE ANo INDUSTRY

SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
NJ Deslaudro5 OF the Paris obseryai
tory has been experimenting during
tho past year with q new spotuoseoplc
method OF determining the rotation pc
t.ed Of Che planets. ~ che case q
Uranus 70 has boon shown that tho 90
tauon Is retrograde; that is. from east
Go west instead OF from west 70 east
The details OF his observations have
not yet been published.
Starless parts OF the sky aro not
dark At the Lowe observatory 10
California Mr. Edgar Larluu siatoa.
the stellar floor" the background Of
the visible universe. has been proven
TO be a vast sheet of minute stellar
points Of varying degrees of bright
ness, with here and there q riff seem
ing 20 reveal the blackness of outer
space. II Is thought that the universe
may be far larger than is commonly
believed
The butterfly is stated by an Eng
lish writer 20 sleep on tae very top
Of grass stems, invariably with is
head downward and It's eyes looking
toward the roots of the plant It's
wings are folded to the smallest posi-.
bic size. This is, doubtless, chiefly
for protection against ccld, but it re-
duces the dimensions to those OF a
narrow ridge making the creature re-
semble in shape as well as color the
ceed-heads on surrounding stems.
The terror Of cattle, dogs and wild
animals before the eruption Of Mont
Pelee adds to the evidence that the
senses Of the lower animals are unlike
cur own. The late Professor S. sekiya
of Toxic kept pheasants to study their
behavior before an earthquake, and
Prof. John Milne testides that their
screaming often gave notice Of pre-
lmiaary tremors of an earthquake
that were unfelt by human beings
This being the case. it seems not un-
likely that the creatures on Mont Pc
lee heard sounds and felt. vibrations
not perceDtible 70 man.
Poisoning by shell-hsh is not yet
fully understood. Professor Tbesen Of
Norway finds that it is net due to the
substance on which they grow-such
as the copper sheathing Of vessels
but that it depends on impure water
The poison, however, does not seem to
be produced by bacteria It is con
Guided that the impurities of the water
even such poisons as strychnine and
curare-are readily absorbed and
stored away by the mollusks, but that
the storing is only temporary for
mollusks in foul water are not at all
timss poisonous Whether the poi
sons are made harmless or are re-
turned to the water unchanged re-
mains to be proven.
One of the latest Of the many specu-
lative notions regarding the galaxy,
which has thus far proved an unsolv-
able enigma for astronomers, is that
it revolves, or at least that the indica-
p tons that it has a motion of revolu-
ton are so strong that astronomers
! would do well to make a special effort
to decide this question. The matter is
discussed at some length in Popular
Astronomy, by Mr.. w. H. S. Monck
who credits an American astronomical
writer, the late Professor Jacob En-
!, mis-, with having first suggested the
T. idea. Mr.. Monck thinks that from Z
! study Of table of the proper mo
T. tons" Of stars he has found some evi
T. dence of Such a movement, but ad
e mits the impossibility of deciding tht
e direction of the movement.