Oct. 12, IS 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



383 



General 0om. 



Sedimentary Lands and Coal. — According to Cosmos, 

 the theory of Fayol that coal-beds are deposits formed by 

 streams at their entry into lakes or into the sea is gain- 

 ing ground daily. 



A Belgian Superstition. — Among the Walloons a 

 meteoric stone is held to be the surest method of dis- 

 covering a thief. It must be ground 1o powder, mixed 

 with flour and made into bread, which no thief will be 

 able to swallow. 



The Part Claimed by France in the Development 

 of Science. — La Liberte, in enlarging on the death of 

 Professor Debray, asks what the Germans and the Eng- 

 lish would have made of science had it not been for 

 French Rationalism. 



The Godwin-Austen Peak. — This mountain, 28,250 

 feet above the sea-level, and at present reputed the 

 second highest summit of the world, has only just re- 

 ceived a name in honour of its discoverer, the first ex- 

 plorer of the Mustakh ranges. 



A New Use of Artesian Wells. — In two instances at 

 least, one in San Augustine, in Florida, and the other at 

 Yankton, the ascending column of water from Artesian 

 wells serves to drive various machines, and especially to 

 work dynamos for an electric light installation. 



Manchester Scientific Students' Association. — On 

 September 22 nd this Association made an excursion to 

 Hayfield, under the leadership of Mr. John S. Pollitt, it 

 being the last excursion of the season. In the course of 

 the walk a number of autumn flowers were gathered. 



The Hong Kong Colonial Surgeon on Opium 

 Smoking. — The surgeon, after careful examination, con- 

 cludes that opium smoking is not to be compared in its 

 evil effects with the European vice of spirit-drinking, a 

 habit to which the Chinese, as a nation, are not given. 



A Colossal Raft on the Rhine. — According to 

 Cosmos, an immense raft has lately set out from Mainz, 

 on its way to Breeswyk, near Utrecht. It was 220 yards 

 in length, 51 in widfh, and consisted of 4,000 logs of 

 timber of the value of 500,000 francs. It carried a 

 small village of a dozen huts, destined to accommodate 

 the crew of 120 men. 



The Principles contained in Cod-liver Oil. — 

 According to MM. Gautier and Mourgues, cod-liver oil 

 contains six alkaloids, not all of which are salutary. One 

 of them, butylamine, provokes fatigue, stupor, and 

 vomiting. Another, amylamine, is a violent and active 

 poison. Hexylamine is less poisonous, and dihydroluti- 

 dine is injurious, occasioning paralysis ! 



Compressibility of Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, 

 and Air. — M. Amagat, in a communication to the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, shows that under very strong 

 pressures oxygen, nitrogen, and air have almost the same 

 compressibility. At 3,000 atmospheres it is approxi- 

 mately equal to that of alcohol under the normal pressure. 

 The compressibility of hydrogen is almost double. 



A Sweeping Sanitary Measure. — The town of Plant- 

 city having been entirely forsaken by its inhabitants on 

 account of the epidemic of yellow fever which had been 

 raging in its neighbourhood, the Hygienic Council of 

 Southern Florida has given orders to burn the city and 

 all its contents. This heroic remedy will, we fear, be of 

 little use unless the mosquitoes could be burnt also. 



Hyacinths in the iSth Century. — According to 

 Le Jardin, in the last century hyacinths commanded 

 prices similar to those now paid for orchids. A bulb of 

 the variety Regina vera, was worth 300 francs. There 

 were four varities which sold at 200 francs each, 

 It must also be remembered in judging of these prices 

 that the value of money was then about four times what 

 it is at the present day. 



The Reform of the Calendar. — M. G. Armelin, 

 writing in del el Terre, points out not a few irregu- 

 larities in the established Gregorian calendar. He pro- 

 poses that the quarters of the year should always begin 

 on the same day, and that in each quarter we should 

 always have a month of thirty-one days, followed by two 

 of thirty, whilst the week should fit in exact with the 

 quarter and with the year. 



The New Definition of Steel. — Compounds are now 

 known perfectly free from carbon, but possessing all the 

 mechanical properties of steel. Hence the Revue 

 Universelle des Mines proposes to define steel, not as a 

 carbide of iron, but as " a peculiar condition of iron, pro- 

 duced by the union of this metal with bodies the nature 

 of which may vary," and among which rank carbon, 

 manganese, chromium, silicon, and tungsten. 



Action of Water upon Pipes of Galvanised Iron. 

 — Messrs. W. R. Nichols and J. K. Russell, of Boston, 

 have undertaken experiments on this question. Zinc 

 was found both in suspension and solution, if the water 

 was allowed to remain in the pipe from 7 to 70 hours. 

 The portion in solution does not increase proportionately 

 to the time, like that in suspension. The layer of zinc 

 deposited on the sides of pipes and cisterns dissolves 

 slowly but continuously. 



The South London Entomological Natural History 

 Society. — At the meeting of this Society on September 

 27th, mention was made of the unusual abundance of the 

 rare and beautiful hawk-moth {Deilepliila galii) in Britain. 

 Specimens have been taken not merely on the South 

 coast but inland, as well as in Ireland and Scotland. A 

 gentleman present had obtained near Deal 196 of the 

 larva?. They were feeding chiefly on Galium verum 

 (the yellow flowering species). The larvte varied con- 

 siderably ; some of them, in place of their normal brown 

 or black hue, being of an ochrey colour, or what artists 

 call brown pink. The yellow side-spots were some- 

 times white and sometimes altogether wanting. 



The Sanitary Institute. — The first meeting of the 

 Council of this Society, which has recently been incor- 

 porated, was held at the Parkes Museum on Friday last. 

 Sir Douglas Galton, K.C.B., F.R.S., was unanimously ap- 

 pointed Chairman of the Council, and Mr. G. J. Symons, 

 F.R.S., the Registrar. The Institute is founded to carry 

 on the objects of the Amalgamated Sanitary Institute of 

 Great Britain and the Parkes Museum, and it was de- 



