Notes arid News. ig 



A large quantity of chloride of sodium is held in solution in the 

 waters of the ocean. Possibly under the common name of salt, 

 this would be considered rather as a note than news! 



Dr. Siemens estimates the temperature of the photosphere of 

 the sun to be at least 3,000°. 



Four (German expeditions are now prosecuting their researches 

 in Africa, two from the east and two from the west side of that 

 continent. 



Experimentally it has been shown that for every 600-litre wine 

 cask the burning of twenty grains of sulphur, or even less, is 

 enough to destroy the action oi micoderma vini. 



France, says M. Herve Mangon, produces milk, which, if col- 

 lected, would make a stream 3 feet 4 inches wide and i foot i inch 

 deep, flowing night and day all the year around. 



In New Zealand, A. T. Urquhart states, earth-worms not only 

 leave their burrows, but climb up trees in search of food in the 

 night, or at a late hour if the morning is damp and warm. 



Some English chemists and sanitary reformers have started a 

 movement to make bread fiom the entire grain of wheat, and not 

 from the inner portion only. The movement has the support of 

 the first physiologists of the day. 



Nickel is proposed to be a substitute for bronze in coinage in 

 France. It is also suggested that the new coins shall be octagonal 

 instead of round, so that the people may not mistake them for 

 silver in the hurry of business. 



With even a length of 600 yards of cable divers have been able 

 to communicate with persons above water, to receive instructions, 

 to ask for tools, to report investigations, and the course of sub- 

 marine investigations all by telephone. 



Dogs, under favorable conditions, live to an age much beyond 

 that which is usually assigned to them. R. Cordiner of Oxford, 

 England, knows a black retriever aged thirty-one years, and there 

 is no doubt that others are acquainted with like aged individuals 

 of the canine species. 



Here is a hint by Dr.G. Boeck which may be of industrial value: 

 If potatoes are peeled and treated with 8 parts sulphuric acid and 

 100 parts of water, and then dried and pressed, a mass is obtained 

 very like celluloid, and which can be used instead of meerschaum 

 or ivory. It is not stated whether the invention is protected by a 

 patent or not. 



The startling discovery has been made by M. Pasteur that the 

 saliva of a person fasting is venomous, as it contains parasites 

 which will inoculate. Breaking the fast deprives the saliva of its 

 poisonous qualities. 



