Alaska sentinel., 1906-11-01
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Japan Is a hollow tree trunk sixty-fve
 feet in circumference containing a llv- ing tree nine feet in circumference. The older tree was destroyed about 130 years ago, leaving thirty feet of trunk, and the inner tree is about 110 years old.
 Snake venom, says a British physi- elan, has been shown by recent research to be highly composite substance, con- taining various poisonous prOteld bodies, which are yariously affected by heat and fGorescent solutions in sunlight. That 1t has so little toxic effect when taken by the mouth is due to its slight absorption by the stomach and atera- ton by the bile and pancreatic juice.
 The oldest stone ax known is claimed by M. B. Cotesworth, Yorkshire man. The semi-circular blade Is about eight inches across, an inch and a half thick, and ground down to fine edge, with stiff, stout haft, possibly cut to fit into a wooden cleft handle. Striated scratches prove its pre-glacal origin and establish the existence of man in the North of England in pre-glacial times.
 Corticite, the new Portuguese heat in- sulating material, has granulated cork for its principal component, and it is claimed to be perfect insulatOr, re- slsting the greatest extremes Of climate and the attacks of insects, even of white ants. It can be sawed and bored like wood. It is not infammable, and Is of value for many purposes. A covering of 1t for steam pipes and boilers Is claimed to effect great saving of heat, correspondingly reducing the tempera- ture of the boiler room.
 The new fish car of Dr. Eugene Erl- vein, German, carries 10 heavy tank of water, but keeps the fish alive dur ing long journeys in supply of liquid just sufficient to keep the gills moist. Small pumps keep the water in constant circulation, passing 1t through an ap- paratus that charges 1t with oxygen and extracts the carbonic acid In the laboratory the fish are placed on shelves in large glass case, and here, entirely out of water, pike, trout, bass and other filmed creatures live contentedly for an indefinite time, having been shown to be as much alive as ever at the end of thirty hours. The oxygen supplied is kept moist by passing through water and hv a alntb ha of ha case.
 Durinng the celebration of the fete | of the summer solstice on the summit of the Eifel tower an extraordinary meg apnone, capable Of carrying the human voice to distance of nearly two miles, | was employed to amaze the Parisians. The apparatus is the invention of MeSsrs. Laudet and Gaumont. The i'm | mense magnifcation of sound is pro- duced by the aid of a series of ex- plosions of detonating gas. The de. tonations are governed in period and intensity by the movements of the stylus over the photographic record bearing the original impressions of the SOuOTOuS NlUratlOuS. AS ereatef or lesser quantity of gas Is admitted the intensity of the sound is varied. With this machine words uttered in an or dlnary tone are clearly heard more than 3O0 feet away.
 According to Dr. P. Remiinger, of the Pasteur Institute of Constantinople, all recent experience Is united in proving that hydrophobia, although sometimes spontaneously curable in dogs, Is in- variably fatal in human beings unless its development Is prevented by anti rabic inoculation. Dr. Remlinger re- views, in the Revue Scientifque, the various recent efforts to discover a posi- tive cure for hydrophobia. The first experiments with radum appeared to give promise of success in this direc- ton, but later investigation has shown that the apparent efficacy of radio-ac- tivity in destroying the virus was de- captive. All other alleged cures have also been found ineffective, but, for tunately, the preventive power of the Pasteur treatment continues to be dem- onstrated whenever that treatment Is applied in time.