128 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of the gas was discontinued, a relapse oc- 

 curred. Soon, however, the improvement 

 became permanent, and the patients were 

 discharged well. 



A writer in a French scientific periodi- 

 cal states that by feeding silk-worms on vine- 

 leaves he has obtained cocoons of a mag- 

 nificent red, and, by feeding them on lettuce, 

 others of a very deep emerald green. An- 

 other silk-grower has obtained cocoons of a 

 beautiful yellow, others of a fine green, and 

 others again of violet, by feeding the silk- 

 worms on lettuce, or on white nettle. He 

 says that the silk-worms must be fed on 

 mulberry-leaves when young, and supplied 

 with the vine, lettuce, or nettle leaves, dur- 

 ing the last twenty days of the larva stage 

 of their life. 



A London Times correspondent bestows 

 merited praise upon the ventilation of the 

 opera-house at Vienna. On the occasion of 

 the shah's visit, though the house was filled 

 in every part, and though the temperature 

 outside was no less than 85° after sunset, 

 still in the overcrowded house the tempera- 

 ture was just agreeable. The thermom- 

 eters in the house were under continual 

 inspection, and the temperature regulated 

 according to their indications. What facil- 

 itates this regulation is that the gas-lights 

 are under glass globes, which are so ar- 

 ranged that the smoke and-heat are carried 

 out by the flue which is above every flame. 

 This arrangement has, besides, the advan- 

 tage that, even when the house is fully 

 illuminated, the light is never glaring. 



Carbolic-acid paper is now much used 

 for packing fresh meats for the purpose 

 of preserving them against spoiling. The 

 paper is prepared by melting five parts of 

 stearine at a gentle heat, and then stirring 

 in thoroughly two parts of carbolic acid, 

 after which five parts of melted paraffine 

 are added. The whole is to be well stirred 

 together till it cools, after which it is melted 

 and applied with a brush to the paper, in 

 quires, in the same way as in preparing the 

 waxed paper so much used in Europe for 

 wrapping various articles. 



From the official report of Captain G. A. 

 Stover, British political agent at Mandalay, 

 it would appear that Upper Burmah is richer 

 in metals and minerals than any other coun- 

 try in the known world. Gold exists in 

 profusion in the rivers and streams, and in 

 many districts the gold quartz is found in 

 abundance ; but the localities are generally 

 malarious, and the mines are not developed. 

 Silver, too, is found in considerable quanti- 

 ties. Rich deposits of copper exist, but 

 are unutilized. Iron abounds in the Shan 

 states and the districts south of Mandalay. 

 Lead is plentiful, and, though tin exists in 

 the Shan states, the mines have never been 



worked. Coal equal to the best English 

 coal has been discovered in many parts 

 of the interior. 



A Berlin correspondent of the London 

 Times gives an account of the extraordinary 

 performance of the new Prussian infantry 

 arm, the Mauser gun. The writer says : 

 " On a distance of 1,500 metres (1,640 

 yards), out of 480 shots, 399 hits were 

 effected in five targets placed behind each 

 other ; and on 1,400 metres (1,564 yards), 

 out of 480 shots, 460 hits are reported. 

 To attack a line in a good position, de- 

 fended by disciplined soldiers armed with 

 the Mauser, would be the greatest blunder." 



O. Feistmantel, of the Austrian Geolo- 

 gical Institute, lately read before that body 

 an essay on " The Fossil Plants of Ger- 

 many and Austria," which will attract the 

 earnest attention of the students of paleon- 

 tological botany. The author first visited 

 and thoroughly studied all the chief collec- 

 tions of botanical fossils existing in the two 

 countries, and then set about a revision of 

 the species described. He shows that at 

 present the science of phytopaleontology 

 is in a state of confusion, the same species 

 being often described under different names. 

 Different portions of one plant too often 

 figure under sundry names, being some- 

 times referred to widely diverse genera. 

 Thus we find in some cases the fruit of a 

 plant attributed to one species, while its 

 leaf, trunk, etc., are attributed to others. 



The performance of the " Woolwich in- 

 fants," or 35-ton English guns, will proba- 

 bly bring about a revolution in the art of 

 naval construction. Experiment has shown 

 that, with the service-charge of powder and 

 the 700-pound shot, these enormous engines 

 can send the projectile through 15 inches 

 of iron at 200 yards, through 14 inches at 

 300 yards, through 12 inches at 1,700 

 yards, through 11 inches at 2,600 yards, 

 through 9 inches at 4,000 yards, through 8 

 inches at 4,500 yards. In each case the 

 usual backing of hard wood has to be added 

 to the thickness of the iron target. Thus, 

 at a range of nearly three miles, a shell 

 one-third of a ton in weight can be made to 

 pierce the sides of some of the heaviest 

 iron-clads, which, a few years ago, were 

 thought to be well protected by 8 or 9 

 inches of iron. 



His excellency Cherif Pasha, Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, has made an order, in be- 

 half of his government, on R. Habersham, 

 Son & Co., Savannah, Georgia, through R. 

 Beardsley, Esq., consul-general of the Uni- 

 ted States at Alexandria, Egypt, for fifteen 

 tons of Sea-Island cotton-seed for culture in 

 Egypt, under the express direction of the 

 ruler of that country, Ismail Pasha. 



