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Show SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY. A year or more ago, a gate-post which had been painted with so-called zinc white was noticed to appear black all day, gray in the twilight and white during the night, changing to black again very soon after sunrise. Mr. T. L. Phipson was led to investigate this singular chameleon property of the paint, and after touch? research has shown the cause to exist in a new metal which has been named actinium on account of its peculiar acting effects. It is found in zinc ore, and resembles zinc. In an experiment by M. Paul ?? on a live crocodile, the animal being made to forcibly close its mouth, exerted a pulling force of 8?8 pounds upon a rope attached to the end of its upper jaw. The extremity of the jaw being the end of a long lever, the real power exerted by the muscles was much greater and was computed to be 15?? pounds. This experiment was made upon a crocodile already weakened by cold and fatigue. A schoolmaster of Nice has formed among his pupils a society for the protection of vegetation. The members are to destroy injurious larvae and protect harmless birds. Their interest in the work is kept up by the election of laureates and the reward of prizes. In four months of 1881 the children destroyed 4,555 belts? of moth eggs, representing no fewer than 1,363,500 larvae; 191,328 cabbage larvae; 1,583 grasshoppers; 620 butterflies; 58,911 slugs and snails; 1,274 grubs; and 35,721 insects of various kinds. The work is both very valuable and very instructive. Attention has been called to some new facts in relation to color-blindness. Careful investigations have shown the Chinese and the Nubians to be practically free from the defect. Dr. Roberts has observed that color-blindness is most common among persons of reddish or red hair, and it is very prevalent among the Jews, who are the most decidedly red-haired of all known races. It is thought probable, therefore, that there may be some correlation of color-blindness with pigmentation, and indirectly with racial peculiarities. Sounds produce in certain individuals the impression of color. This curious phenomenon, which was first described by Nussbaumer in 1837, has recently been made the subject of systematic study by Harr??, Bleulen? and Telman, of Zurich. They find that the colors associated with different notes differ with the individuals, being as a rule, light for high notes and dark for low notes. Chords either cause the colors which correspond to their notes to appear to the mind side by side or give a mixture of these colors. The same note in different keys changes in color, and to many persons different colors appear when the same piece is played by different instruments. Noises, as well as musical notes, are accompanied by colors, varying with the intensity and pitch of the sound. Of 594 individuals examined, one eighth were "color-hearers." Four persons perceived sound as a result of sensations of light and color. A broad, quietly burning gas flame led to the perception of a sound formed of w and a light vowel like e; but when the flame flickered the sound became that of ??. These cases can generally be explained by an association of sounds with colors by the individual minds, and the phenomenon is largely hereditary. The newly completed observatory on Mount Etna is 9,000 feet above the sea level, and the clearness of the atmosphere at that height leads astronomers to expect some important observations. The French Minister of the Interior is said to be making provision for the widows and children of men who have died or been wounded while making scientific researches. The air of London during a fog is found to contain a large excess of carbonic acid over the normal proportion. In June 1783?, Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier sent up the first balloon. To commemorate the centenary of the event, it is proposed that an international exhibition of "aerial arts" be held at Paris next year. The "aerial arts" are to include every industry, science, or art, relating to gas or the atmosphere, which is supposed to have any connection directly or indirectly with aerostatic experiments. At Antilles, on the southern coast of France, a remarkable lowering of the sea-level to the extent of a foot or more was lately observed; the phenomenon lasting a fortnight. High atmospheric pressure is thought by M. Pavo? to have been the cause, although M. Noudian? suggested an elevation of the ground. Tides in the Mediterranean are barely perceptible. The Chinese in Hong Kong are reported to practice vaccination so thoroughly and effectually that small pox never spreads there, although no port in the world is more liable to a visitation of the disease. |