SCIENTIFIC GOSSIP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6113, 29 September 1880, Page 6

SCIENTIFIC GOSSIP.

" [FROM OUR PARIS CORRESPONDENT.]

M. P(srooho continues his curious studies on tho oscillation of tho polos, and their influence on temperature at tho surface of tho globo. Tho French Admiralty is investigating the subject, for, if tho polos are not invariable, changes of latitude must ensue and consequently of temperature. Mr Peroobo maintains that the movements in tho crust of the earth produce a displacing of tho polos. Tho kernel of tho earth being fluid, the slidings of the envelope are obvious j but tho crust of the earth does not follow tho forces which react on it with tho same docility as do tides. The impulsions and resistances are not uniform, but they mpy take place suddenly from an accumulation of pressure. It is quite possible these internal tides of <he earth may hare exercised an influence during geologic ages, on that crust which to-day forms terrestrial geography. It is the moon, according to M. Porocho, which, despite tho variety of its movements, contributes most of those slidings of tho envelope of our planet. The point to know is, can the moon’s attraction so act. It is quite possible that these subterranean tides having no liberty of movement can produce only formidable pressures, and that these following the relative position of tho earth, of the sun, and of the moon, cannot bo without connection with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and fractures of.the earth’s crust, in modifying the beds of oceans and the forms of continents.

M. Carl Yogt has exhibited a photo of the archeopteryx in its complete state. This fossil animal belongs to the jurassian period, and recalls the whimsical monsters or which the Cosmogonic traditions of high antiquity peopled the earth at its origin. It resembles a bird by its pelvis, hind legs and feathers, and a reptile by the head, jawbones full of teeth, its prominent vertebra) on the neck, and round throat; thus it could both fly and stand up, recalling, however, more the bird that flies than the reptile which crawls. Chamber Horticulturists will feel interested in the experiments of tho celebrated botanist, M. Masure, on tho evaporation of water, the influence of soil, and the transpiration of plants ; be took three vases, each having an area of 100 square inches ; one contained water, another earth, and the third earth in which an immortelle flourished. He weighed the vases daily, and found the soil ac*:«d moot emcaclousTy on vegetation when in a damped state, ond attracted and condensed the watery vapour of the air, in tho form of dew, when the atmosphere was sufficiently humid. Plants consume from three to four times more water than disappears directly in the form of evaporation ; but at the flowering period, the plants transpiration is ten times superior to the soils; vegetation is ten times more intense during the day than the night, and more so in the morning than the evening. Dr Bouchut has prepared from the juice of a South American plant papayer, an agent called papaine or vegetable pepsine; it possesses the remarkable property of acting upon or digesting animal or vegetable tissues. It was found most efficacious in croup affections by dissolving the false membrane; mixed with meat or albuminous matters, it reduced them speedily, digested them into a pulp fit for assimilation ; applied to cancers or “ proud flesh,” the papaine “ digested ” even these surfaces.

A druggist’s journal in Alsace-Lorraine draws attention to the “ explosive ” medicaments employed in that country ; a tonic is composed of hypophosphite of lime, chlorate of potash, and lactate of iron. The chlorate has tho property to provoke appetite, but the rapidity which the chlorate parts with its oxygen, arc! the readiness with which the hypophosphite becomes a phosphate, produce much heat, and acting on the lactate, generate a gas as explosive as that from gunpowder. A topic consisting of the same chlorate, glycerine, and perchlorido of iron, exploded in the pocket of a patient; the chlorate and oashoo formed a tooth powder, which exploded in the mouth, by the rubbing of the brush; oxyde of silver pills, often prescribed in England for chronic affections of the stomach, took fire in the pocket of another patient. This is not the healing, but the pyrotechnic art. M. Nordenekiold has been received with all honours by the President of the Academy of Sciences. M. Daubree, the brilliant navigator, seemed to place the scientific results of his mission very low, as compared with those that he secures for the commercial world. Opening up Siberia means assisting the exportation of metals, fossils, ivory and skins, to say nothing of valuable articles of food and precious stones. The Meteorological Office of France has published a table of the storms for the years 1867-77. Storms are the most obscure phenomena in all meteorology ; electricity plays a preponderating role therein. But what are the sources of electricity which accumulate in the air; by what law is it disseminated, what is its role in the formation of hail, and the march of storms ? No definite answer be given. Generally two types of storms are admitted, winter and summer; the latter is formed by heated currents of ascending into the higher regions, where, by abandoning their watery vapour, they form clouds, and thus acting as a screen for the lower layers of air, produce cold, condensation and electricity. Winter storms are due to the collision of two opposite ' winds, producing on a small scale the phenomena of a cyclone, when atmospheric depression is very great, while in summer it is just tho contrary. Forests have an effect on tho passage of storms, as in tho Department of the Orne, they constitute an insurmountable barrier. Is the cause due to the trees attracting tho eleotrioised clouds ? Electric explosions transform the nitrogen of the air into ammoniacal and nitric products, good for vegetation, and enrich oxygen with ozone, which is excellent for respiration.