Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1903-09-25

A Bavarian chemist is making an IL
Illuminating fluid by process OF rectl-
flying the methane and hydrogen from
the other constituents Of oil gas, col
lecting them in steel receivers subject
to a pressure of forty atmospheres,
whereby he converts them into liquid
form. The cost is Is cents per 100
heat units. against 6.45 for electricity.
The Rev. G. w. Rawlings, Of Osaka,
Japan, contributes to Nature an inter
esting example Of the pertinacity ana
strength of japanese sparrOws. A pair
of sparrows he found flying about his
bedroom one morning had begun to
build nest in q corner Of the room,
and though the beginnings of the nest
were cleared away each morning the
sparrows repeated their attempt three
or four successive days. A clothes
brush placed in the corner to keep the
birds away was found to have been
moved by the sparrOws, though 1t was
six inches long and two inches wide.
A collection Of molluses from the
Vicksburg marls has enabled L. l.. "a
sey to describe q considerable number
Of new species and genera in recent
issue of the Proceedings of the Phlla'
delphia Academy. In the same journal
A. E. Brown attempts to bring into
something like order the various forms
of garter-snakes (Eutaenia) from the
Pacific coast of North America, WHICH
have received distinct specific ana SUD-
specific names. Much interest attaches
to a note by Miss S. P. Monks i'll the
serial under consideration, in regard
to regeneration in star fishes. 1t has
been stated that fragment OF ray,
without any portion of the centfal
disc. cannot give rise to a new animal
This is disproved by the new expert
ments. in which the amputated Tree
RAYS developed new bodies, while the
mutilated star fishes produced new
rays.
It is reported that Professor Kossel
of the Imperial Department of Health,
Berlin, supports Professor Koch's view
of the non transmissibility of bovine tu
berculosis to man. He stated at re-
cent meeting of the Berlin Medical So
.ciety that out of all the experiments
conducted by the Imperial Board OF
Health. in two cases only had human
tubercle bacilli affected the experiment
tai animals. Professor Orith, the sue
cessor to Virchow in the University OF
Berlin. on the other hand, states that I'D
his own experiments ten per cent. OF
the animals were infected with the tu-
bercle bacillus Of human origin. Al
the recent congress Of the Royal lnstl'
tuition of Public Health Professor
Young. who has collaborated with Pro-
fessor Hamilton. of Aberdeen, SAID
that their experiments upon twenty
calves left no doubt Of the commune
cability of human tuberculosis to DO
vines. and Drs. Dean and Todd nave
proved the same point as regards pigs.
Professor Molich, of Prague, recently
read a paper before the Vienna Acad.
envy of Sciences describing his recent
experiments with light-giving bacteria.
BY inoculating large glass TASKS OF
one or two quarts capacity (filled with
culture fuid), with photo bacteria, he
obtained a 'microbe lamp" of consider
able power The lamp could be photo
graphed by means Of its own light
And a watch face could be read at o
distance of seven feet from the light
"On a dark night it was visible at q
distance of more than sixty PAGES
Under suitable conditions the lamp
maintains its brilliancy for three
weeks. Two suggestions for its special
use are: For attracting fish, as the
flask could readily be sealed up AND
lowered into the water and for illumln'
ating powder magazines. During re-
cent years considerable experimental
work on these bacterial lamps has been
done by Professor Dubois, and by Pro-
fessor MacFadyen and J. E. Barnard
of the Jenner Institute in London.