Scientific and Useful

Western Star, Issue 1385, 31 August 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific and Useful

C p BIOUS HATCHING. A curious feature in ornithology is reported from Eekington, Yorkshi-e, where a hen has hatched two chickens from one egg, both chickens being in a perfect state, except that they are joined together on one side of tbe membranes of the wing. ANCIENT MAN IN AMEKICA. An interesti-'g P*per on man in America, by Mr. W. J. M'Gee of the United States Geological Survey, has been reprinted from the Popular Science Monthly Mr M'Gee holds that there is definite and cumulative evidence of man's existence in America during the last ice epoo\ with a strong presumption aguinet an earlier or.gm than the first Quaternary ice-invasion ; and that tlie primitive American " haunted the ice front rather than the fertile plain, and must have been hunter or fisherman." BOG BOEMATION. The province of St. Petersburg is very rich in marshes cov.red with a thick cirpet of vegetation, which conceals water to the depth of several feet-sometimes 25 feet and more. Small lakes and branches of rivers are continually being transformed into such marshes. The pioneers of the transformation of a lake into a marsh invariably are flowering plants, ouch a* Menyanthes, Comarum. Cicuta, Mqmstum, Carices, and the like. Their roots and underground stems make a thickly-woven floating carpet, which soon totally conceas the water. The Sphagnum invades this floating cai pet, while the water beneath becomes filled with debris of decaying plants transformed later on into peat-bog. EBESH BOILED WATBB NECESSAB* 808 A GOOD CUP OP TEA. All tea and coffee drinkers can tell by their taste if tbe water from which the beverage made has not boiled or has boiled too much. Either of these conditions will spoil the flavour ofthecostlistteaor the best coffee berry. But not every one knows the reason or how to avoid the result. The secret is in putting good fresh water into a clean kettle already warm and setting it to boil quickly, then taking it right off to use in tea, coffee, and other drinks before it is spoiled. If the water is allowed to steam and simmer and evaporate till all the good of the water is in the air, and the lime and iron and dregs left :'n the kettle, you must not expect a well flavoured cup of tea or coffee.

THE EXTINCTION OF THE KANGAEOO. Everyone who takes the slightest interest in natural history will be sorry to learn that the kangaroo is in danger of being exi inguished. Its skin is so valuable that large numbers ot T oun 2 kangaroos are killed, and high authorities are of opinion that, unless the process is stopped, Australians will soon have seen the last specimen of this interesting ammil. Mr. R G. Salomon, one of the largest tanners in the United States, whither kangaroo-skm is chiefly sent, urges that a fine should be imposed for the killing of any kangaroo whose akin weighs less than ten-twelfths of a pound. A serious attempt is being made to secure the enforcement of this restriction throughout Australia and Tasmania, and the proclamation of a close Reason between January 1 and May 1. MALLEABLE GLASS. Wendell Phillips, in his lecture on the "Lost Arts," in speaking of malleable glass, tells ot a Soman who, in the age of Tiberius, had been banished, and returned to Rome, bringing a wonderful cup. This cup he dashed upon the marble pavement, and it was crushed but not broken by the fall. Although somewhat dented, with a hammer he easily bent it into shape again. It was brilliant, transparent, but not brittle. He further states that Romans obtained their chemistry from the Arabians, and that they brought it into Spam eight centuries ago. In the books of that age there is a kind of glass spoken of that, if supported by one end, by its own weight in a day's time would dwindle down to a fine line so that it could be curved around ones wrist like a bracelet.

A FAB-SIGHT MACHINE. Mr Edison is reported' in a conversation with a reporter who solicited his ideas on the subject of the projected world's fair in New York City, as saying that he would take an acre of space in such a fair and completely cover it with his inventions, of which he has no leas than 70 now under way. "One of the most peculiar, and now promising good results," said Mr Edison, "is what I may call a far-aight machine. By means of this extraordinary invention, he hopes to be able to increase the range of vision by hundreds of mileß, so that, for instance, a man in New York could see the features of his friend in Boston with as much ease as he could see a performance on a stage. That," he added, " would be an invention worthy|of a prominent place in the world's fair, and I hope to have it perfeoted long before 1892." QEBMS OF LIFE IN HAILSTONES.

The hailstones which fell at Liverpool near the beginning of the month seem to ha-ve exhibited some remarkable peculiarities. Mr I. C. Thompson says the hailstones were of remarkable forms and structure, some being round and thiek with flat surfaces, and composed of a number of concentrio layers, both transparent and opaque. Others were large, jagged and angular, while some resembled broken pieces of ioe. As they dissolved in the conical-shaped watch glasses a deposit fell to the centre, whicharougb mioroscopialexamination showed to be mainly composed of a dark coloured amorphous inorganic substance, and minute stone particles. Interspersed with them he noticed small pieces of vege table tissue, having the appearance of parts of cryptogamic spore cases, and amongst them were numbers of very minute oblong beadlike bodies about l-55th of an inch in length, each having a dark patch at the apices. Under a tin. objective these bodies were found to have a rough knobby surface, the dark ends being curled up extensions, and were similar in character to the forms koown as belonging to the spores of one of the lower cryptogamia, especially the lichens, to which they evidently belong, although, after careful search, Mr Thompson is unable to refer them to any known. British Bpecies. This would seem to be proof that microscopic bodies float at a great height in our atmosphere.—Nature BECENT CHANGES AT NIAGARA FALLS. There have been recently two very heavy falls of rock at Niagara Falls. At first a macs of rock fell from the Horseshoe Falls, and 24 hours later another mass was precipitated into the abyss below, with a noise so closely resembling that of an earthquake as to alarm the residents of the neighbourhood. The result of the displacement is a change in the shape of the fall. Formerly the Canadian portion of the Fall could be described as a i horseshoe; but the breaking away of rocks in the centra some years ago made it V-shaped, now that a further displacement has occurred, the fall has returned to its old condition. II ia, of course, generally known that the Falst of Niagara are gradually moving to the south. The deep cut through the solid rock marks the course they have taken in their backward movement. It is a wonderful excavation, a chasm dug out by the sheer force of water.