| Show scientific M miscellany pi C E L fa NY A rumor of the existence of a race of pygmies pigmies inies in africa to the tile southeast of f kaffa a lias has readied reached ur dr schweinfurth col t a russian trav traveler eler estimates that a third of asia as well as a thirtieth part of europe still remains mai ns to be explored A wealthy wealth paris banker M bisch off has mider undertaken taken the expense of an expedition to africa lo 10 observe the total solar eclipse of may 17 the increase of interest in electrical matters is remarkable A london publisher is selling 1000 copies per month of a new work on oil electricity an acro aeronaut ascending from paris on oil a cold and cloudy day in february recorded a temperature of ofas GS degrees at a height of feet this result occasioned no little astonishment the latest publications of australian statistics show that the death rato rate of tile continent is remarkably low being only 11 14 in 1000 in 1880 the Engli english sli rate for the same year was over 20 per 1000 E mit prizes of each have been offered by tho the royal society of new south wales for the best communications giving the results of Og original rial eludy stud or observations on as many specified subjects alio subjects have special reference to australian progress gress considering the merits of glasses glass as a roofing materiale mater iala german authority finds aliat bailis liall is not so destructive to glass as is usually believed as it seldom dam damages ages panes an cl eighth bali of an inch thick and a thickness of a quarter of an in inch ia is almost absolutely safe recent attention it has bas been drawn to the value of the quillia tree treo of chili on oil account of the powerful cleansing properties of its bark itis it is said to bo be more effective under certain conditions than the best soap it is already used to pome some extent in washing silk and wool observations upon meteoric dust the minute particles which reach the c irth earth from the regions of space are attended by much difficulty and uncertainty as there are few localities accessible to man mail to which torres terrestrial triai dust does not penetrate to secure freedom from the interference of these terrestrial atcas it Is suggested that captive balloons be employed and sent to the gref greatest test attainable altitudes tit udes it isa ia a familiar fact fit abata eliat a black object on a white ground around will appear ar much larger than it is in reality Y api for r example a whito white stripe on a black surface is apparently broader than a black stripe e of equal width on a white while surface veter peter fler has sought an explanation of the phenomenon and thus accounts for it when one of our senses r ceide ce ive a double bensa tion one being strong and tho the other weak the latter is not felt aspeci especially ally is this the case when both impressions aro are of the samo kind or wh en a strong effect upon on af the senses if followed c d by a weaker one of the same kind A sin singular ular occurrence strikingly showing the powerful effect of ico ice in rending rocks was lately related by bergh an extensive promontory in western norway was in 1717 deluged with water during a thaw filling every credico in the rock A severe cold quickly followed suddenly freezing t the I e water and bursting tho the mass of rock which was projected from a height of 1500 feet into the neighboring fjord which engulfed the entire promontory with its cultivated fields and farmstead the fall caused a huge wave in the fjord which not oral only swept away all the fishing boats within a distance of two miles and ani a half but also carried away a church which had stood fifty feet above tho the water a mile away from the promontory of tho the latter latte only ionly a low ledge now remains unthinking individuals doubtless often cavil at the dissolute lavishness with which labor and expense are bestowed by scientific atif ic men upon apparently parent ly puerile studies they forget that human knowledge inbuilt is built up from tho the tiniest fragments and that these fragments have been laboriously brought forth one by one by one from the most diverse sources to the physicist or oralio tile inquirer after truth trifles are unknown for he lie sees an importance in everything to him hini a it principle is as much i a principle if discovered in the monad as if revealed reveal cd by the hones of tho the arad lie feels the possibility that the speck covered by his is microscope may bo be tho the key which ultimately ti unlock one of tl alie e great and helpful secrets of the un universe IV i erac |
