Jan. 20, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEV^^S. 



55 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Mineral Wax in Galicia. — An important and 

 'beautiful deposit of mineral wax has been discovered 

 .at Sloboda Rungorska, in Austrian Galicia. It is sup- 

 posed to overlie petroleum. 



Phenol in Perspiration. — Herr A. Kast {Zeitschrift 

 Jur Physiologische Chemie) has detected in human perspira- 

 tion minute quantities of phenol, the principal constituent 

 •of commercial carbolic acid. 



The Purification of Anthracene. — A chemical 

 ■company at Hamburg propose to purify anthracene by 

 •dissolving it in hot aniline. On cooling the anthracene 

 is deposited, but not the accompanying impurities, which 

 iremain in solution. 



A Mammoth's Head at Montmartre. — In digging the 

 'foundations for a viaduct over Montmartre Cemetery a 

 •mammoth's head was discovered. The tusks were 

 mearly two feet apart. A search will be made for the 

 rest of the body. 



Temperature of the Sun. — Messrs. Trowbridge and 

 iHutchins, in the American Journal of Science, conclude 

 'that in the region of the solar atmosphere, where carbon 

 ■■is volatilised, the temperature of the sun is equal to that 

 • of a voltaic arc. 



The Recently Discovered Elements. — Mr. J. H. 

 'Bailey, of the Owens College, writing in the Berichte of 

 (the German Chemical Society, points out certain con- 

 siderations which render the supposed new elements of 

 iH. H. Kruss and Nilson for the present doubtful. 



The Cancer Germ. — It has been announced in the 

 Krcuz-Zeitung that Dr. Scheucrlein, an assistant in the 

 Clinical Department of the Charite Hospital at Berlin, 

 discovered lately an ovoid microbe, which he considers 

 to be the cause of cancer. It is not, strictly speaking, 

 a bacillus, and the experiments performed in proof of 

 its supposed function have not led to any decisive results. 



Potassium Cyanide Vapour. — It is a mistake to sup- 

 ipose that the vapours given off by potassium cyanide 

 ;are deadly to all animals. We have seen several species 

 of beetles which after prolonged imprisonment along 

 »with abundance of this chemical came out quite safe and 

 sound. 



Sanitary Neglect. — According to a medical contem- 

 (porary, at a large boarding-school near Lyon, 119 out 

 of the total 235 inmates fell victims to typhoid fever. 

 A badly-constructed sewer had been allowed to pass 

 •^vithin five yards of the -well which supplied the estab- 

 «2ishment with water. 



Copper Poisoning. — Cases of poisoning with copper 

 are decidedly uncommon. A wedding-party at Great 

 Houghton, in Northamptonshire, suffered rather severely 

 tfrom drinking tea made in an old copper urn. No 

 deaths have occurred, but some of the twenty-two 

 isulferers are still seriously ill. 



The Late " Challenger " Expedition.- -According to a 

 current report, the total cost of compiling and publish- 

 ing the reports of this Expedition, the last three volumes 

 of which are about to appear, has already exceeded 

 _;^20o,ooo. We fear that much ot this money has been 

 spent in what can only by an extreme stretch of courtesj' 

 ibe counted as scientific work. 



Use of the Magnet in Paper Manufacture. — Accord- 

 ing to the Papier Zeitung, the minute specks of iron abraded 

 from the machines used in making paper pulp, may be 

 removed by placing steel magnets made in the shape of 

 a comb in the stream of pulp and water which issues 

 from the machine. In this way the annoyance caused by 

 the minute particles subsequentl3" producing, on exposure 

 to the air, spots in the finished paper may be prevented. 



The Compound Nature of Magnesium and Carbon. 

 — At the December meeting of the Vienna Academy of 

 Sciences, Professor Gruenwald, of Prague, sent in 

 a communication on the " Mathematico-spectroscopic 

 Analysis of Magnesium and Carbon." It treats of the 

 discovery of the compound nature of these bodies, which 

 have hitherto been supposed elementarj' or simple, 

 and gives the accurate characteristics of their primary 

 components. 



A Newly-Discovered Isl.\nd. — The Government of 

 Batavia has given notice to the Admiralty that the Com- 

 mander of His Netherlands Majesty's ship Samarang 

 reports the existence of a low, wooded island, hitherto 

 uncharted, lying westward of Selaru, Timor Laut 

 Islands. The island is reported to be about two miles 

 long, in a north-north-easterly and south-south-westerly 

 direction, and about two-thirds of a mile broad. Position 

 as given, centre of island (approximate), lat. S" 15' S., 

 long. 130'' 39' E. 



Silver in Volcanic Ashes. — Professor J. W. Mallet, 

 of the University of Virginia, has discovered silver in the 

 ashes thrown out by the well-known Mexican volcano, 

 Cotopaxi. The sample analj'sed had been collected at a 

 spot near the Pacific Coast, and at the distance of 120 

 miles from the mountain, yet even there it lay several 

 inches deep. The silver was onlj' o'ooi2 parts in 100 

 parts of the ashes, but if their enormous quantity is 

 considered, even this fraction represents a great value. 

 Silver has not previously been detected among volcanic 

 products. 



The Gold Deposits of Peru. — The numerous veins 

 of gold in Peru traverse not merely the crj"stalline 

 granite and syenitic rocks of the coast, but also the sedi- 

 mentary formations, including the metamorphic rocks as 

 well as the quartzites. As usual the gold veins are 

 essentially quartzous. In those of the first deposit the 

 gold is accompanied with compact or micaceous oligiste, 

 limonite, and a talc-like substance. In the other strata it 

 is associated with pyrites and other metallic sulphurets, 

 containing more or less silver, such as chalkopyrite, 

 panabase, bournonite, jamesonite, and galena. 



Electric Co^D"CTIVITY of Woods. — Certain experi- 

 ments, instituted bj^ the " United Telephone Ccmpan}'," 



