200 



SCIENTIFIC NKWS. 



[Mar. 2, 1 8 



ment of Communications consider necessarj'' for the 

 preservation of the sources of rivers and their affluents 

 as well as to the plots occupied by peasants of the 

 domains." 



Epidemic among Swine at Marseilles. — According 

 to MM. Reitsch, Jobert, and Martinand (Coinptcs Rendtis), 

 the swine of Marseilles have been decimated by a 

 disease hitherto unknown to the veterinarians of the 

 district. It was introduced last summer by swine 

 brought from Oran. The duration of the disease varies 

 from three or four days to some weeks, and it generally 

 proves fatal. Swine of the African breed seem less 

 susceptible than others. The most characteristic feature 

 found on post-mortem examination is extensive ulceration 

 of the intestinal canal. It is not yet decided whether 

 this disease is identical with the American hog-cholera, 

 or with the schweineseuche of Loffler and Schutz. 



Beauties of the Spruce. — Mr. John Wilson, ofLeazes 

 Park, Northumberland, remarks that the spruce is dis- 

 tinguished from the true pines by having its needles 

 scattered irregularly along the sprays. When young, the 

 branches are horizontal or slightly turned upwards, but 

 as they increase in size they become partially pendent, 

 but still turn up at the tips. It flourishes in moist soils 

 in the north of Europe. In the southern parts of Nor- 

 way it flourishes on the mountains up to 3,000 feet 

 above the sea-level, and in Lapland up to 1,000 feet. In 

 stature it ranges from 120 to 180 feet. One of these 

 trees, at Studley Royal, said to have been planted by 

 Eugene Aram, is 133 feet in height, and \2h feet in cir- 

 cumference. Its timber is light, elastic, and durable, 

 taking a high polish. The resin of the tree is the source 

 of Burgundy pitch, and the bark is used in tanning. 



Earth Tremors near Sunderland. — A variety of 

 phenomena have occasioned some excitement in the Sun- 

 derland district. Tremors have been experienced, not 

 amounting to earthquakes, but enough to bring into ques- 

 tion the common faith in the stability of the earth. An 

 interesting fact is the gradual subsidence observed by 

 Mr. T. W. Backhouse, of West Hendon House. For a 

 number of years he has made a daily observation from 

 a certain point in a back window of his house, of the 

 summits of two prominent buildings which, seen from 

 that exact point, were in a line. He had observed 

 changes which show that either these two buildings — 

 the Brick Works chimney and the cross on the Hendon 

 Gas Works — had been elevated, or his house had sub- 

 sided. The total alteration of level, since 1883, has been 

 sixteen inches, five inches of which have occurred 

 between July and November last. A recent careful 

 survey of the district, executed by Mr. Frank Cass, 

 a local architect, who was ignorant of the nature and 

 details of Mr. Backhouse's observations, has fully con- 

 firmed this conclusion. 



Description of Tabaschir.— H. Cohn {Natiirforscher) 

 states that this substance, much employed as a medicine 

 in antiquity, and even yet in vogue in the Far East, con- 

 sists of hydrated silica which is here and there deposited 

 within the joints of the bamboo, though the history of its 

 development is not known. Tabaschir is met with in two 

 kinds, the one in its original condition as found in the 



bamboo, and the other after it has been submitted to cal- 

 cination. The crude kind consists of generally cylin- 

 drical pieces of a grey, yellowish, or brownish colour, 

 looking not unlike gum arable. It contains a variable 

 proportion of water, one per cent, of organic matter, and, 

 in the dry state, 99-6 per cent, of silica, along with traces 

 of iron oxide, alkalies, and lime. The organic matter 

 consists of fragments of cells and of the ramified myce- 

 lium of a fungus. Tabaschir absorbs water and other 

 liquids very greedily, and condenses gases energetically. 

 It approximates to the opals, and especially to the hydro- 

 phanes, and in some points it resembles organic mem- 

 branes. Tabaschir is probably the saccharum of Pliny 

 and Dioscorides, a term which certainly was not applied 

 to sugar. 



Solidification of Petroleum. — We learn from the- 

 Revue Scientifiqne that the problem of solidifying petro- 

 leum has been taken up in Russia by Dr. Kauffmann, 

 who is said to have obtained the best results by heating 

 the oil for about half-an-hour with from i to 3 per cent, 

 by weight of common soap. At the end of this time the 

 soap is entirely dissolved, and the mixture is converted 

 into a solid substance of the consistency of tallow. Cut 

 into pieces in the shape of bricks, the petroleum thus 

 solidified is ignited with difficulty ; but once alight it 

 burns slowly and without smoke, leaving about 2 per 

 cent, of black, odourless residue. Compared with coal, 

 its rate of combustion is about one-third as rapid, while- 

 the quantity of heat produced is far superior, when 

 the draught is well regulated. In this solid state 

 petroleum can be used in ordinary grates with little or 

 no alteration. This method, which succeeds with the- 

 petroleum of the Caucasus, is not equally successful in' 

 the United States, and this is probably due to the differ- 

 ence in the composition of the petroleum in the two- 

 countries. However this may be, the question is an 

 important one, and, when practicable, it is certainly 

 better to modify this valuable fuel rather than to attack 

 the problem by devising special apparatus for its use. 



Heights of Waterfall. — The highest waterfalls in- 

 the world are the three Krimps Falls, in the upper 

 Prinzgau, which have a total height of 1,148 feet. The 

 three falls next in height are found in Scandinavia — the 

 Verme Foss, in Romsdal {984 ft.) ; the Vettis Foss, on 

 the Sogne Fjord (853 ft.) ; the Rjukan Foss, in Thele- 

 marken (804 ft.). With a decrease in height of 213 ft., the 

 three Velino Falls (591 ft.), near Terni, the birthplace of 

 the historian Tacitus, follow next, and are succeeded by 

 the three Toso Falls, in the Val Formazza (641 ft.). The- 

 Gastein Falls, in the Gastein Valley (469 ft.), are midway 

 between the Skjaggedal Foss, in the Hardanger Fjord 

 (524 ft.), and the Boring Foss, in the same fjord. The 

 great Anio Cascade, near Tivoli (315 ft.), appears small 

 by the side of the foregoing, but is still larger than the 

 Falls of the Elbe in the Riesengebirge which are only 

 148 ft. high. If the width of the falls is taken into con- 

 sideration, the most imposing are those of the Victoria 

 Falls of the Zambesi, which are 394 ft high, by a width 

 of 8,200 ft. A long way behind come the Niagara Falls,, 

 177 ft. high and 1,968 ft. wide. The third largest fall is 

 that of Rhine at Schaffhausen, 140 ft. wide, by only 

 T^'^ ft. high. The highest waterfalls mentioned cannot 

 compare with those gigantic falls as regards cubic 

 contents. 



