The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-14
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY
MIXED sENsEs-GRAvITAT AND
 ELECTRICITY.
A Beetle Dragon--A Tooth Destroyer Sounds of Fishes-Flower Beds of Ice-A Foof-Played Mu- sicaI Instrument-A New
 Type of Heater.

That the crossing of the nerves of | sight and hearing would cause thunder l to give light and lightning to be heard l as sound was declared by Du Bois- | Raymond, and has been confirmed oy a recent strange experience. Wilhelm | Braun describes a Berlin operation 'n which many nerves were cut in re- moving a large brain tumor, mistake being made when the auditory and visual nerves were then joined toSeth- er After some months the medical men have been able to communicate with the patient, and they now under stand that the man sees all sights IS sounds and hears all sounds as colors. The shining of the sun yields deafen-- ing noise. A blue sky produces a loud, high and clear note, and a gray sky is heard as a gentle hunlming. A :oom IS
 recognized by its sound. Equally
 strange are the effects of sound, q
 shrill locomotive whistle being violet,
 while the clang of a gong IS orange,
 and the dropping of rain Is green.
 Many persons can be recognized by the
 colors of their voices. Music IS espe-
 cfally pleasing, and gives colors more
 beautiful than were the corresponding
 sounds under normal conditions.
 The novel theory that gravitation is
 closely allied to natural electrical phe-
 nomena, 1T not actually associated
 herewith, is deduced by Captain Hugh
 Stewart of New Zealand, from certain
 meteorological observations. The con-
 tinuous electrical discharges between
 sun and earth, visible as aurora, may
 act as bonds to keep movable objects
 from being whirled tangentically into
 space, and storms are ascribed to rup-
 lures or collisions of these streams of
 electrified ether, such as may be pro-
 duced by the passage of planets.
 The tar coating under test on the
 streets of suburban Vienna Is claimed to fix any dust falling on 1t while it.
 self yielding scarcely any debris from
 the wear of travel
 A miniature dragon. projecting fire from both extremities. has been brought to notice by M. Le Cointe, a French entomologist. It exists in the coleoptera of the genus Cincindela, with thorax and legs of light brown ish yellow, black forewings marked with yellow, and a total length of about two- thirds of an inch. It hunts most ly at night. A dark lantern shows the individuals running about the gar- den in all directions, and on attempt ing to catch one slight noise like es- caping steam is heard, while a jet of SHOke IS IOTCiDly SJSGtSu- -uSuoiiJ AANAA the abdomen, but sometimes from the mouth. This smoke has a strong odor of nitrous gas. It gives strong feel ing of heat to the hand, any insect that may be caught feels hot, and the hot smoke stains the skin an tndelible brown. It would seem to be very caustic substance projected with violence in an impalpable dust. Other animals project liquids or odors in 4l,o f1tI har nnfa n this smoke shows special chemical talent and a special resistance of the intestines that are quite remarkable. The decay of teeth is not yet well understood. and recent evidence tends to show that bacteria play a less inn portant part than has been supposed. A newly discovered substance in the saliva. belonging to the group or en- zymes or unorganized ferments. proves to have the power of setting free acids from certain compounds. The saliva of persons troubled with rapid erosion of the teeth is found to have unusual acid-freeing power, and 1t Is assumed that the new ferment Is a leading agent in the destruction of teeth. The acids freed by this substance have a marked solvent effect on cement fill l ings.
 Disease from sea-spray is a rather surprising possibility. M. Busquet, an l Algerian physician, has found that the spray may be carried in storms hlgh l in the air and to a distance inland or | fifty yards or more, and near the place of discharge of the sewers of Algiers l the spray laden air showed three times l the usual number of germs. including viruIent kinds. The necessity of pro- | Shn nOlnfinn hY sewage | is thus made evident.
 The life of fishes in the sea Is no | one of absolute silence. as Is proven b0 | the telephone of a Norwegian inventor A microphone in dramatically sealed steel box is lowered into the water and the sourftis transmitted are heard | in an ordinary receiver in a boat ol
 other place above the surface. Wher
 in large numbers, herrings or othei small fishes make a piping, whistline | sound, cod being indicated by roar | ing noise. When individual fishes ar' | near the apparatus, their movement | may be heard. the pouring of water | through the gills sounding like the Ia
 bored breathing of a huge beast, anC 1 the action of the fins giving a rumble like the beating of surf on beach
 Even the crunching of teeth and rust | ling of scales may be distinguished. | The lice flowers" of many of tho lakes constitute a curious feature oi Alpine scenery. In @ little lake al
 Davos Platz. for instance, beds arc
 formed every year of these strange | flowers, which are not flowers at all but radiating patches of soft ice from | an inch to eight inches or more across | In shape and design these masses oi | ice crystals are strikingly like some rare blossoms. They glisten with rain bow colors, and at distance give the perfect illusion of beautiful aquatic plants
 The armonipede of Sig. Dell Orc. a European musician, is a wind instru- ment played by the feet. and the pres sure of the foot on each of the twenty seven keys serves also to depress the whole keyboard and so fill the bellows The tone is described as round and pleasant, though the range Is limited to loud and soft. The inventor not only pedals it with both feet. but at the