Mar. 30, 1888,] 



SCIENTIFIC NEV\^S. 



295 



©General 0oU0. 



Great Collection of Coleoptera. — The great collec- 

 tion formed by Dr. Victor Plason and his brother, at 

 Vienna, comprising 60,000 species in about 500,000 

 specimens, has been purchased by Dr. Richter, of Berlin. 



A Parasite of the Vaccine Matter. — According to 

 M.P. Pourquier (Coiitpk's -Retidiis)vaccine matter, amongst 

 other causes of degeneration, is liable to the attacks of a 

 parasitical micro-organism. This invader is perfectly 

 distinct in its microscopical characters from the micro- 

 cocci of septicemia and pyaemia. 



The Winter in America. — It is recorded that in 

 America the winter has been more exceptionally severe 

 than in Europe, not merely in Canada and the northern 

 States, but as far to the south as Texas. In Nebraska 

 and Kansas the temperature is said to have fallen within 

 twenty-four hours from 73" Fahr. (?) to 27'^ below zero, 

 or 59" of frost. 



The Extirpation of Rabbits. — M. M6gnin (Cosmos) 

 suggests that instead of combatting these vermin by 

 means of " chicken cholera," the possible evil results of 

 which he exaggerates, means should be taken to intro- 

 duce among them hepatic phthisis, a malady peculiar to 

 rabbits, or at least to rodents. This disease is as surely 

 though less rapidly fatal. 



in execution, and less far-reaching in its effects than 

 that of M. Pasteur. 



The Deposit of Iceland Spar. — According to M. La- 

 bonne, the mine of Iceland spar is by no means exhausted. 

 It is situate on the north side of the Esquifjord, at the 

 elevation of 95 metres above the sea-level. Limpid 

 crystals, fit for optical use, are disseminated throughout a 

 mass of modified basalt. The deposit has been leased to 

 Carl Tulinius, an Iceland merchant, who sells from time 

 to time the detached spar, without undertaking any 

 systematic working. 



The Utilisation of Moors. — In some of the provinces 

 in Holland exist large tracts of heath and moorland which 

 at present are of little value, although once covered 

 with dense forests. An effort is now being made to 

 form a company, whose object it will be to attempt a 

 gradual fertilisation of the soil by re-planting trees. How 

 much good such an enterprise can work under careful 

 management is shown by a similar undertaking in Den- 

 mark, which has started some four hundred plantations 

 in different parts of Denmark. 



Collection of Lefidoftera. — According to Humboldt, 

 the collection of Lepidoptera belonging to the late portrait- 

 painter, Max Mutzell, of Berlin, has been sold to a 

 private purchaser for ;i^95o. This collection is especially 

 rich in series, showing the local and seasonal variations 

 of different species. Kence its having passed into private 

 hands is no small loss to science. 



Superstitions Concerning Vaccination. — The country 

 people in France think that this operation should be per- 

 formed only in May, but never on a Friday, and that 

 the subject should never be less than five months old. 

 La Science en Famille mentions also the belief that if a 

 girl is vaccinated from a boy, she will acquire un- 

 feminine ideas and tastes. 



New Armour-plating for Ships. — According to La 

 France a new vessel, the Dupuy-de-Lume, about to be 

 constructed at Brest, will be plated not with steel or 

 aluminium bronze, but with an elastic material known 

 as amorpho-cellulose, and which seems to be a compound 

 of caoutchouc. It is asserted that if this substance is 

 pierced by a projectile the hole either closes up or con- 

 tracts to such a degree that the inrush of water is 

 trifling. 



Destruction of Rabbits. — At the session of the 

 Paris Academy of Sciences, February 27th, M. Bobierre 

 demanded the opening of a "sealed paper" which con- 

 tains a proposal to destroy rabbits by introducing into 

 their burrows deleterious gases, such as carbonic oxide, 

 the vapour of carbon disulphide, and especially carbonic 

 acid. This method is evidently much more cumbrous 



Sewage Disposal. — M. Defosse, of Brussels, has 

 invented a new system of purifying sewage and the 

 waste water of factories. The process consists of three 

 stages. In the first, the solid matter is precipitated in 

 settling tanks. The second stage consists of filtration 

 through a bed of turf, specially prepared, and capable of 

 being cleaned and used over again for an indefinite 

 number of times, finally the product is passed over a bed 

 of spongy iron. The purified water passes away to the 

 river through a channel containing broken limestone. 



A Chinese Anesthetic. — A curious anaesthetic used by 

 the Chinese has recently been made known by Lambuth 

 in his third annual report of the Soochow Hospital. It 

 is obtained by placing a frog in a jar of flour and irrita- 

 ting it by prodding it. Under these circumstances it 

 exudes a liquid which forms a paste with a portion of the 

 flour. This paste, dissolved in water, was found to 

 possess well-marked anaesthetic properties. After the 

 finger had been immersed in the liquid for a few 

 minutes it could be pricked with a needle without any 

 pain being felt, and numbness of the lips and tongue was 

 produced by applying the liquid to them. 



Aluminium Bronze. — At a series of comparative tests 

 of common and aluminium bronze at the Watertown 

 Arsenal, New York, the results were as follows : Ordinary 

 bronze showed a tensile strength of 24,500 lb. per square 

 inch, with an elongation of 8-2 per cent. Aluminium 

 bronze, known commercially as " A 3," cast in sand, 

 showed a tensile strength of 53,000 lb., and an elongation 

 of 6'2 per cent., while the same metal cast in chilled 

 moulds resisted a strain of 67,600 lb. to the square inch, 

 with an elongation of 13 per cent. In the opinion of 

 naval experts it is thought that steel and wrought iron 

 will be displaced to a considerable extent by this metal. 

 — Industries. ^^^_^ 



Dangers of Rain-V/ater. — The rain-water collected 

 from the roofs has been recommended after filtration for 

 a domestic water-supply. Now, if we leave out of ac- 

 count the possible atmospheric pollution, the roofs of 



