The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-05-04
EknNSCienCe
81 SlllveTntion|
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The projected Danish laboratory at
Disko Island, North Greenland, is ex-
pected to include an Arctic botanical
garden-the nrst of its kind-for
studying plant growth in cold.
CurdIed milk of a special kind, pre-
pared only ON Bulgarian recipe, is
now supposed to be a remedy against
growing old. The substance is called
'yaghurt," and it is said to be death
to all the inimical bacteria in the in
testines, while not harming the friend
~ microbes. The substance looks like
ordinary cream cheese turned bad and
tastes much like it. The solid portion
is mixed with white, thin liquid
which is exceedingly sour.
In the year 1890, when influenza was
epidemic throughout Europe, many
workmen contracted the disease in
Germany, and number died. At one
factory at Madretsch, however, the dis
ease did not appear. Investigations
showed that oil of turpentine was used
in the turning Of the metals used for
warehouses;. The oil became warm and
evaporated and the workmen inhaled
the air laden with it. This seemed to
protect them against the disease. Since
then oil Of turpentine has been always
evaporated in that factory upon stove
and not a case of influenza has ever
occurred there.
Prof. Edward B. Rosa, in recent
address on scientific standards OF
measurement, collected interesting
facts about the foot, the most widely
used measure of length in both ancient
and modern times. 1t is derived from
the length of the human foot, but ap-
parently has varied more than that
portion of the skeleton can possibly
have done in historic times. The an
cient Welsh foot, for instance, was
nine inches long, whereas the Pied
mont was twenty inches. In modern
times it has varied from the Spanish
foot, of less than eleven inches, to the
Venice foot, of more than thirteen
inches. Almost every country has use1
a foot measure of a different length.
1t was this confusion which led the
French to devise the metric system.
According to a scientist, the immedi-
ate cause of death, in all but very eX-
ceptional cases, such as accident, is
the poisoning of the nervous centers
by carbonic acid, which accumulates In
the blood, owing to the failure of the
arrangements for its removal. This
gas is an anaesthetic.' he explains,
land has, indeed, been employed as
such, both locally and otherwise. This
property of carbonic acid may be
termed merciful provision of nature.
Normal death is a painless occurrence,
usually preceded by gradual loss Of
consciousness entailing no more suffer
ing than going to sleep. The accumu-
lation of this mercifuI gas often in
duces muscular contraction or spasms
which are preceded by loss of con-
sciousness, but which may have sug-
gested to uncritical observers that their
moribund subject was in agony.
To place agriculture. among the
exact sciences is the hope of certain
French enthusiasts, and as first step
it is proposed to establish a system OF
exact measurements of the Fertility OF
the soil. A pioneer of this art OF
''euphOrimetry, as it is called, has
been NJ. Varembey. He has made
many experiments, and has recon-
mended a euphorimetric scale ranging
from one to ten degrees, each degree
to represent the fertility produced by
one thousand Kilograms Of farm-yarl
manure on one hectare of land. He
has shown that every degree of fertility
in the soil yields thirty-five liters OF
wheat per hectare, or thirty-five liters
of rye, or forty-two liters of barley, or
fifty-eight liters of oats. The effects OF
other manures can be determined ac-
cording to this standard. the present
fertility of any soil can be estimated
from the last crop and the exhaustion
experience has shown to be caused BY
such crop, and the probable yield OF
any one of the cereals can be calcu.
lated from the present fertility While
irregularities of temperature and
moisture must affect crops, it is be-
lieved that theoretical results for nor
NAL conditions can be worked out with
much accuracy