Science.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2038, 4 March 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Science.

One of the most in t (resting facts observed l.y Professor Xnriicn'kjiild in the Arctic regions was the absence of any geological evidence that glaciers covered lirecnland or Spitziicrtr -n in former ages. “ We have never seen.’ - lie writes." in SpitsbergenorinUrcenian.l any boulders even as large as a child's In ad. There is not the smallest probability that strata of any considerable extent, containing boulders, are to be found previous to the middle of the Tertiary period.” Commenting on these statements. Mr. James Croll. tie' author of the well-known work on the relations between climate and time, remarks :

•• That Professor Nordenskjold may not have seen in strata boulders larger than a child's head may be perfectly true, but that there actually are none is a thing utterly incredible.” Mr. ('roll insists that a glacial state of things is the normal condition of the p"lar regions, and there could not have been any long geological age during which they were free from "now and ice.

A Boy with Cat s Eyes — A ease with this heading, says the Lunrrt. is reported as mol- exciting the attention of the occulists of Chicago. Mis. yffiinn, of 171 Wells Street, recently visited the State Kyo and Kar Infirmary in company with herson, who possesses ihe peculiarpower of seeing in the dark. One of the surgeons, hr. Charles K. Sinclair, called in several other oeculist to examine the anomaly. The hoy was taken into a dark room, and various tests were applied. The eyeballs glistened like bails of fire. The larger portion of the iris is missing, only a small p,.n ion being visible on the outer side of each eve. When taken into a dark room an imni'diate expansion takes place which enables the hoy to sec perfectly. A strong light blinds him. and from this same peculiarity the boy is able to see objects at a distance with much more clearness than those close at hand. It seems to be a case of coloboma of t!i • iris and choroid, with defective devei.ipment of the pigment, and perhaps with a hyper-sensi live retina.

A Great Charge-—An extraordinary pro* jeetile lias been prepared at the Koval Labor.at' uy for the trial of the new submarine gun. and has been sent from Woolwich in the Un i/ and Iti/ion steamer, for Pcni-hr.-kc. whete the trial is to take place. The shot, if smrli it can be called, is nearly as long as the gun, and bears a strong resent* hlanee to the Whitehead *• lish " torpedo. It was fully charged with several thousand pounds of gun-cotton before leaving the ar--rial. and the doubts which have to he solved by the experiment are not only whether the projectile can be sent an effective distance under water and in the desired direction, but whether a compound so sensitive as guncotton will stand the shock of discharge without a premature explosion.

A Strange Clock- —A clock has recently been patented, which in appearance consists of a tambourine, on the parchment bead of which is painted a circle of flowers corresponding to the hour signs of ordinary dials. On examination two bees, one large and the other small, are discovered crawling among the flowers. The small bee runs rapidly from one to the other, completing the circle in an hour, while the larger one takes twelve hours to finish the circuit. The parchment membrc.me is unbroken, and the bees are simply laid upon it: but two magnets are connected with the clockwork inside the tambourine, moving just under the membrane, and the insects, which arc of iron, follow them.

The Roman Commission on the influence of woods in malarial disease has reported that there is absolutely no foundation for the accepted notion that the partial or complete clearing of marshy wooded tracts is productive of malaria. On the contrary, the sanitary condition of such districts is usually improved by removing the woods. Nothing but drying the soil," says the Commission, dHj||| diminish the malaria.” to that its Plata, where (Kk "tunning along the beaten ffths to their nests, each ant carrying the yellow petals of some plant similar to the batter-cup." The spoils are tskmi to their under ground nests.

A remarkable stalactite cavern at Fabriana. some thirty miles southwest of Ancona, which was known to the inhabitants of that part of Italy as long ago as the beginning of the seventeenth century, has recently been r. •■discovered, after having been forgotten, by the -cicntitic world at least, fora long period of time. 1 1 is over seven hundred and fifty feet long, and contains many stalactites of great beamy in form and colour.

A Test pf Death.— At a recent meeting of tin; S-icictc Medicale d’Ameins. JI. Les-

- tine mentioned the following as a sign of death. After pricking the skin with aneedle tit ■ punctur-' remains open, just as when a picc'of leather is pricked. On the living holy, 'ven if the person were hysterical, the pin-prick closes at once, and docs not leave the slightest trace'.

Mr. R- H- Scott, President of the lloyal Meteorological Society of England, finds that t'n ■■ - tat i-.ii on Mount Washington, in N'ew Hampshire, is the only mountain post at •.viiieh the observations arc of any particular valu' iiifore. astingthe weather. Othermountain serious arc maintained elsewhere, but, a- yet. they have furnished very little information of piaetical use.

The height Of Kilimandjaro, the great snowy mountain of East Africa, is usually e-tinmt' -l at Ksu» feet. The highest point attained by Mr. H. H. .lobnston, on bis rcc -nt expedition, was Iti.ffl.l feel. There is very little vegetation above tiie height of Ll.uoo feet, but he saw three elephants above that altitude.

A well-known tree in some parts of Knti'ii In lia.commonlyknownastheMohwa, and b aanii-allv as Ha*>in latifolin, secretes sugar in the petals of its (lowers, and thcsug-ge-tion is made that possibly the trunk would yield a sweet sap like that obtained from the sugai maple in this country.

An island on the west coast of Norway, at the mouth of the Hardanger Fjord, is the site of a gold-mine which is now being industriously worked by an English company. The gold occurs in quartz. One nugget was found in Isiti. but no more until twenty vears later.

A grant Of an amount equal to one hundred pounds has been made by the P.ritiah government for the purpose of carrying on observations on I!en Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, as to the occurrence of earth tremors, or minute shocks of earthquake there. ANew Boat.—lt is stated t hat M . i bmbet. a French engineer has invented a new type of boat which is destined to revolutionize naval tactics. This hifin. as it is e.i! 1- I, is dcsigne I to place torpedoes under the v.-ry kc ls of ships. An example of ancient dentistry, consistin' of.l, 111, M,l .dge-w ■u I, luudeler the Etnis. ■■mi nil-,- hub . . ii 11 ii y b. f.u- I'hii-i, bus eii di—n-iv.l in - uic- b.mlis near t'iviia W.-e lii:, I ,v lb. ,I.H. Van \Jari-r, of Ihuuc.