v.
NO. U
KDITOU'S TABLE.
504
-mrnwninniin milium t
Josoph Cook litis been cngagcil to de
liver u course of lectures on Modern Mil
tcrialism, before the Theological students
of Obcrlin, to begin iibout tlic first of
May.
In Germany students who transgress the
bounds of the civil law are not tried by
the ordinary means, but are immediately
handoJ over to the Faculty for kind treat
incut. Prof. Watson, the woll-famed Ann Arbor
astronomer, has been ofi'ored charge of
lilts observatory of the State University,
at Madison, Wis. The,' latest accounts
state Hint he has accepted.
Oxford counts 2,000 students. The stu
dents' rooms arc snored. Not even the
muster or proctor can force an entrance,
no matter what his suspicions may be re
lative to inside proceedings.
The students of Ann Arbor and Beloil
are growing unruly. Al Hie former place
they have openly defied tho civil authori
ties, and at the latter they have instituted
brawls between town and gown.
Prof. Ives, of Washington University,
St. Louis, has'brought. from Europe, for
the benefit of the art. students 1,(500 care
fully selected J.'copicsj)f tho Old World's
mastcr-pieccb, and many plaster models of
ancient statuary.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.
Asphaltum is said tojie tho best com.
position lor resisting moisture.
Germany makes one-half of the phos
phorus consumed in tho world, or over
250 tons annually.
The Statistical Bureau, of Berlin, esti
mates the total steam motive power of the
world at 25,000,000 horses.
Tho botanist Fournier, finds in Mexico
038 varieties of grasses, of which 370 oc
cur in no other land. Of the remainder
82 are found in the United States, 80 in
Europe, and tho rest in the West Indies,
South and Central America.
For one part of flcsh-formcrs in Scotch
oatmeal, there arc over five parts of heat
givers, reckoned as starch ; but tho actual
quantities of both Ilcsh-formcrs and heat
givers arc unusually large.
Plaster of Paris, mixed to a thin paste
with gum limbic water, is excellent for
mending broken glass, china or parian
ware, but must be used immediately as it
soon hardens. It is best to mix only
about cr.ough at a time to mend one piece.
Sponge paper, made by adding finely
divided sponge to paper pulp, has been
used in France for dressing wounds. It.
absorbs water readily, and retains mois
lure for a long time; it is therefore appli
cable to many purposes in the arts and
manufactures.
Tho British military authorities in ex.
pcrimcuting with balloons have discover
ed a method by which they can prevent
leakage of gas. It is proposed to com
press the gass to about one-third of its
volume, and to convey a supply of it in
cylinders, which can be used in emergen
cics as pontoons.
The clcclrio light seems in Europe to
be greatly favored for railroad purposes.
First it was heard of as used at tho great
Paris passenger and freight stations, then
in some great workshops, and now comes
the news of its employment on trains.
On the Crown Prince Rudolph Bailroad,
in Austria, it has been applied as a head
light, "so that the engiucman is enabled, .
even in the darkest, night, to see tho track
ahead to such a distance that he can dis
cover any obstruction in time to stop the
train before reaching it." An exchange
describes the apparatus as follows: It is
known as Shukert'sdynamio-eleetric ma
chine, a small three-cylinder steam engine
and an electric lamp. It takes so little
room on the locomotive that one not
knowing of it would not be likely to no
tice it, and it is said that those who have
had any thing to do with its operation are
extremely pleased and do not hesitate to
say that it answers the purpose perfectly.
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