SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A nmstodon-like animal from the
Eocene of the Libyan Desert is regarded
by Dr. Andrews as the probable ancestor
of the mammoth aud elephant.
Ether , converted into vapor much
more readily than water , is stated to
have failed Jn engines from the lack of
a suitable generator. M. Malapert
claims a successful generator , aud that
one , weighing 265 pounds , can supply a
100 horse-power engine.
About one-fifth of the earth's land
surface was known in 1800 , states G. H.
Grosvenor , and in 1900 only one-
eleventh was xiuexplored. The "Dark
Continent" of the twentieth century is
the land buried under the oceans , an
area thrice as great as the exposed land
surface.
The advantage of a photographic
flash-light that can bo timed is claimed
for a now cartridge made at Offenbach ,
German } * , which consists of a celluloid
capsule filled with combustible powder
and provided with a fuse. The flash
varies with the size of the cartridge.
Analysis shows that the powder , which
burns quietly and with little sinoko ,
contains 12 per cent of aluminum , 18.6
of magnesium , 1 % of red phosphorus ,
and 78 of strontium nitrate.
The areca-uut , or betel-nut , is the
fruit of an East Indian palm. It is
chewed in great quantities by the Asi
atics , who regard it as an aid to diges
tion , and in pharmacy it is tised as a
vermicide. The present scarcity of the
nuts seems to bo due to a mysterious
plngne that has swept the plantations of
Lower Bengal. Dense groves of thou
sands of trees have become vegetable
cemeteries in a few mouths , and no
parasites or other adequate cause can be
discovered. The only explanation of
fered by Dr. George Watt , after investi
gation , is "degeneration of tissue , " to
bo remedied by care in cultivation.
Nickel aud aluminum have been diffi
cult to alloy on account-of the difference
between their melting points , which are
1450 ° and 600 ° respectively. A Berlin
manufacturer has overcome the diffi
culty by a special furnace , aud in one
case by adding copper , with an inter
mediate melting point. ' "Nickel-alumi
num" contains nickel and copper ,
with aluminum in greatest proportion ,
the specific gravity being 2.86. It can
be rolled into sheets , aud has a tensile
strength of 16 % tons per square inch.
"Minokin" seems to contain more nickel
than the 26 per cent of "new silver , "
and is gaining favor for its resistance to
corrosion by weak acids , etc.
The idea that drowning persons take
much water into the longs has seemed
to bo unquestioned. But it has boon long
opposed by Prof. W. K. Whitford , who
in forty years has successfully treated
many patients apparently dead from
drowning , and who now asserts , as the
result of many examinations , that prac
tically no water enters the lungs. The
mistaken view has caused the waste of
much valuable time. He has found
heat energetically and persistently ap
plied to be the most important agent
in resuscitation , and with this , aided by
artificial respiration and stimulation , ho
has restored patients that have been
submerged an hour.
Tea-seed , a by-product of an import
ant industry , is awaiting profitable use.
It was placed upon the market in Lon
don in 188o , under the name of "tanne , "
but nobody knew what to do with it ,
and there was no sale. An agent of the
Indian Tea Association has now made
a report upon the oil and cake. Tea-
seed oil is clear , light and yellow , with
a more or less acrid taste , aud is unsafe
as an edible oil on account of its
aapouin. Tea-seed oil-cake is by the
same constituent made dangerous food
for cattle , while as a manure it is much
inferior to other oil-seed oakes. It is
suggested that the oil might prove use-
fnljas.lamp-oil , and that the cake might
serve as an insecticide.
The nebula that seems to be spreading
out from the new star in Perseus not
only changes at a perceptible rate , but
has bright spots on its outer edge that
appear to have passed over a minute of
arc in six weeks.implying the tremend
ous velocity of 2,000 miles per secondif
the nebula is assumed to be at the dist
ance of the nearest known star. It is
suggested as more probable that the
now star and its nebula are nearer , or
that a flash of light may have been sent
through the comparatively dark gas
without actual motion of the gas itself.
The greatest apparent motion of a star
in space is 8 % seconds of arc in a year ,
which is that of a small star in the
southern hemisphere. The famous
Groombridge 1880 , with a proper mo
tion of 7 seconds a year , taking it across
a space equal to the diameter of the
moon in 250 years , has a parallax of
about .14 of a secondhand is calculated
to travel at a speed of 200 miles a second.
The projectile of a modern cannon hns
a maximum velocity of a little more
than one-half mile per second.
The species of carnivorous plants now
known , meaning those that entrap and
absorb small animal forms , reach the
surprising total of about 400 , belonging
to 16 or 18 genera. These make up the
natural orders , Sarraceniaceae , Nepen-
thaceae , Droseraceae , Cephalotaceae ,
and Lentibulariaceae , aud there are two
species in other orders that are suspect
ed of being insectivorous. Mr. A. H.
te
Ware , an English biologist , divides
these plants into three groups. Plants
of the first group have neither motile nor
digestive organs , but have traps , with
open orifices for the entrance of small
animals , that close on any attempt at
exit , and there are some pitcher plants
with bright colors or honey to attract
insects. The second group 1ms digestive
organs , but no motile entrapping appa
ratus. It includes the true pitcher
plants of the genus Nepenthes , and
what are sometimes called the "lime-
twig" plants , which have sticky tenta :
cles to which the insects adhere. The
third group has both motile aud diges
tive organs. . The motile organ has
slight irritability in some species , but in
others it closes on the prey like a spring
trap , forming a chamber in which di
gestion is carried on. Venus' fly-trap
( Dionaea muscipula ) is an example of
the highest development. When its
"trigger-hairs" are touched the two
halves of the leaf close almost instantly ,
and it is a onrious fact that a single
touch of a passing insect has no effect ,
a repeated touch or momentary contact
acting quickly.
A FIGURE OF SPEECH.
The Shonaudoah Sentinel inquires
politely why Nebraska City girls
should bo likeiied to greyhounds ;
whether because they are long and
lean , or because they are fast ?
It sticks in our mind that the ex
pression in question was a biblical
quotation , though it would not bo in
place for Nebraska Oity to tell Shen-
audoah what is or is not in the Bible.
But the comparison of a young girl ,
a school girl , such as we were speak
ing of , to a greyhound , is not an un
happy simile , it seems to us. A
humorist could easily point out that
greyhounds are not only fast , but that
their backbones stick out , their noses
are long and their eyes mean , and
that they have no sense. These are
side issues. But greyhounds are cer
tainly tall , and the writer likes very
much to see children , girls especially ,
growing tall ; taller than their par
ents. It promises well for the Nebras.-
kans of the future. And there is a
lithe and muscular leanness about
these dogs which is the perfection of
physical condition ; a human being
built on those lines is capable of great
efforts and endurance. Of course this
lean and long-legged ago in girls is
transitory and brief ; but it is very
nice while it lasts. A girl is never a
pleasanter companion , for an older
person , in her life , than when she is
convinced she is too homely and awk
ward to live. This is just before she
makes up her mind that she is the
beauty of the world. That is often a
permanent delusion , and we get used
to it ; but in the year or two that pre
cede it , a girl is very pleasant to have
around. Her soul is pretty just then
if her body isn't.