The Parma herald. (Parma, Idaho) 1903-1917, 1904-03-05
FkMgSCience
5 sszsslnVentiOn


The migration Of birds Is being
studied In a new manner by German
ornithologists. Hundreds or thousands
OF crows are being captured at Rossit-
ten, In East Prussia, and, after being
tagged with a number and date, are
again liberated. 1t Is requested that
when one Of these birds is killed, the
tag and date and place Of killing shall
be forwarded for record.
Some mysterious deaths Of cattle in
Attorney have been traced to a curl
Gus source. Mercury was found in the
dead animals, and also in many mead
ows and gardens, and the presence Of
the poison is attributed to a recent ex-
plosion of factory for illuminate Of
mercury. The fumes from the explo-
sion were carried to a distance by a
strong gale AS result Of the inquiry,
the manufacture Of explosives in the
island has been prohibited.
A still unexplained effect of the cleo
trio light somewhat resembles mild
sunburn and sunstroke. The heat Of
the electric arc employed in the re-
ducing furnace Is so concentrated that
It melts steel like tallow, but the Their
mometer dozen yards away Is scarce
ly affected. Even at this distance from
the heat, however, persons experience
burning Of the face and other ex-
posed skin much like that produced by
intensely hot sunshine The skin be-
comes deeply bronzed. and there is
temporary blindness in natural light,
with pain in the eyes, followed by
headache and insomnia.
There is now in operation, on a com.
mercial scale, at Port Chester, n. Y,
an artificial camphor factory, the prod
uct Of which Is intended to compete in
the market with the natural substance.
1t is maintained that 1t does not differ,
except in the manner Of its origin,
from that extracted from the camphor
trees Of Formosa. Artificial camphor
is made from essential oils derived
from turpentine. Chemically the only
difference between turpentine and
camphor is the possession by each
molecule Of the latter Of one atom Of
oxygen which is lacking in the former
By chemical process the needed oxy-
gen is supplied. Three-fourths of the
whole supply of camphor is used in the
arts. and one-fourth in medicine.
The people called the Todas, living
in the Nilgiri Hills, India. have a curl
Gus religious ritual evolved out OF the
ordinary operations of the dairy. The
priest, says DR.. W. H. Rivers, is the
dairyman. and the temple is the dairy.
Only the milk Of the sacred buffalo is
churned in the dairy temple The milk
of buffaloes that are not sacred is
churned in the front part Of the huts
in which the people live. The dairy
temples are of different degrees OF
sanctity corresponding to the differ
ent degrees of sanctity Of the
buffaloes tended In each. Even
the vessels used in a dairy tenn
pie vary in sanctity, those that con-
tain the milk being more sacred than
those that only receive the products OF
the churning.
Inc Mays OF H. DlOuuleL SHOULD III
terest US especially because they are
so common about us. They were dis
covered while the light from a Wells
bach burner was being concentrated
by quartz lens on a sulphide of cal
cium screen, the lens causing the lu.
minosity Of the screen to persist after
the light was removed. They are now
known to exist not only in the mean
descent gas, but also in the ordinary
gas fame burning without a chimney
and in the radiation from a red-hoi
plate of silver or tale, and they excite
radio-activity in various substances
such as a plate Of lead. The invisible
rays can be detected by the slight in
crease of luminosity OF a phosphores
cent. screen or of a very small ga
flame. These rays seem to be given of
by the human body. and D'Arsonya
has shown that a screen Of platino
cyanide Of barium. made slightly lu
minous by radium, lights up on ap
proach to a muscle. and is so SENSITIVE
that it can show the course OF a nerv'
under the skin.