SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[April 20, 1888. 



fine good keeping dairy products. From a sanitary 

 standpoint the lives and health of the consumers are, to 

 a certain extent, dependent upon the character of butter 

 and milk. Cleanliness can alone be tolerated in the 

 dairy and its surroundings. — Farmer's Gazette. 



Nature-Smelted Iron. — Curious samples of naturally 

 reduced iron have been found on the North Saskatche- 

 wan River, in the north-west territory of Canada, about 

 eighty miles from the town of Edmonton, Alberta. Along 

 the river bank a lignite formation crops out for several 

 miles, overlaid by clay shale and soft argillaceous sand- 

 stone containing nodules of clay ironstone. These nodules 

 are similar to others found at Edmonton, and proved on 

 analysis to be carbonates of iron containing 34'98 per 

 cent, of metallic iron. The Saskatchewan seam of 

 lignite has, at some time or other, been burnt, leaving 

 a bed of ashes, clinkers, and burnt clay, in places 

 twenty feet thick, and now covered by a dense growth 

 ot grass and underwood. From this mass of burnt clay 

 pieces of metallic iron can be picked out, weighing in 

 some cases 15 lb. or 20 lb. They have evidently been 

 reduced from the nodules above mentioned by the heat 

 of the burning lignite. Most of the pieces of iron are 

 much rusted, but when scratched with a file they show 

 a bright surface. The observation is interesting, and to 

 some may help to explain how primitive man originally 

 discovered the reduction of iron ore. — Iron. 



RousDON Observatory. — Mr. Cuthbert E. Peek has 

 issued the fourth annual report of the well-equipped 

 meteorological observatory which he has established at 

 Rousdon, on the border of Dorset and Devon, near Lyme 

 Regis. The observatory is a second order station of the 

 Royal Meteorological Society, and the observations by 

 means of the various instruments have been most effici- 

 ently carried out during the past year. The rainfall at 

 Rousdon was much below that of seven selected stations 

 within 25 miles; the total rainfall at Rousdon was 

 25'33 inches, as compared with the mean rainfall at the 

 stations of 33-03 inches. Mr. Peek continues his daily 

 comparison of the weather experienced at his observa- 

 tory with that predicted for the district in the forecasts 

 of the Meteorological Office. The results, so far, show 

 increasing success during the four years for which the 

 comparisons have been in progress. Of the total fore- 

 casts issued in 1887, 75 percent, were reliable for wind 

 and weather ; 83 per cent, wind reliable ; 9 per cent, 

 wind doubtful ; 8 per cent, wind unreliable ; 82 per cent, 

 weather reliable ; 1 1 per cent, weather doubtful ; and 7 

 per cent, weather unreliable. This is, on the whole, 

 very satisfactory. Mr. Peek has been carrying out 

 evaporation experiments during the year, with very care- 

 fully adjusted apparatus. 



Alleged Action of Drugs at a Distance. — A 

 Commission of the Paris Academy of Medicine has 

 recently been investigating the supposed action of medi- 

 cines at a distance, as asserted by M. Luys. This 

 gentleman was first allowed to repeat his experiments 

 before the Committee. A series of check-experiments 

 was then undertaken. Various medicines were prepared 

 and inserted in phials marked with a number. Each 

 number corresponded to a sealed paper in which was 

 inclosed the formula of the medicine. When the phials 



of M. Luys (which were capable of being recognised} 

 were used certain symptoms were caused which seemed 

 to be in harmony with their contents. This was no 

 longer the case with the tubes prepared by the 

 Committee. It was found that one and the same phial 

 placed on the left side of the patient induced very 

 frequently sentiments of terror, sadness, or aversion,, 

 whilst if transferred to the right side it occasioned 

 laughter, joy, satisfaction. Furthermore, empty phials 

 often produce more marked and more energetic effects 

 than most of the medicines tried. It need, therefore, 

 scarcely be said that the phenomena observed belong 

 to the sphere of hysteria. In presence of these 

 facts the Committee, whilst recognising the entire 

 good faith of M. Luys, decide that the effects 

 produced upon hypnotizable subjects of medicines 

 placed at a distance depend more on the caprice, 

 the imagination, and the recollections of the subject than 

 on the nature of the substances inclosed in the phials. 

 Neither therapeutics nor medical jurisprudence has 

 any need to take account of the phenomena said to have 

 been produced. 



The Ramie Plant. — The British Consul at Barcelona,. 

 in a report on this plant, gives the industries to which it 

 is applicable. The qualities of ramie are almost similar 

 to those of flax, hemp, jute, and other textiles of the 

 same family, and it may be substituted with advantage 

 where resistance is necessary in stretching, as in some 

 threads, cords, tickings, hoses, etc. Manufactures from 

 ramie possess greater resistance and durability than 

 those made from jute, which Mr. Wooldridge appears to 

 think it will entirely supplant. Its price is the same as 

 flax and hemp, while the separation of the fibres and 

 the combing and threading is done with the machinery 

 employed in the linen industry without increasing the 

 price. Moreover, double the quantity of cloth can be 

 manufactured from ramie as from the same weight of 

 flax and hemp, and the texture thus made, besides being 

 half the price, is " lighter, more solid, and less liable to 

 rot when in contact with moisture." It can never be 

 substituted altogether for cotton, but may be mixed with 

 the latter with advantage. But the Consul thinks it is 

 destined to act an important part in conjunction with 

 wool and silks. The mixture with the latter would pro- . 

 duce tissues more durable and with a more lasting gloss 

 than the present combination of silk and cotton. Thread 

 and string made from it will be stronger and more 

 lasting than cotton, and have a flexibility difficult to 

 obtain from either flax or hemp. It is said that even 

 now much- of the thread that is sold in England as silk is 

 made from ramie. There is no difficulty in colouring it; 

 indigo is be^^t for blue, saffron for rose, the castor-oil 

 plant for orange brown, and turmeric for yellow. It also 

 preserves the colour better than other fibres. Senor 

 Obiols, Professor of Agriculture at Barcelona, declares 

 that ramie is a most valuable industrial fibre ; thread 

 can be made from it to imitate cotton, with the advan- 

 tage of greater strength and durability ; all kinds of 

 linen, stuffs for trousers, shirts, sails, sackcloths, cord- 

 age, etc., can be made of it, as well as lawns and fine 

 lace. He thinks its cultivation will throw that of wine 

 into the shade in parts of Spain ; it produces three 

 harvests a year, and it will become popular, as it 

 requires a minimum of labour. Moreover, machines are 

 already in use which are able to decorticate it on a pro- 

 fitable scale. 



