MISCELLANEOUS.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1664, 20 June 1879, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

In addition to the great tunnel thirteen miles long, there are on the St. Gothard Railway twelve other tunnels, the shortest of which, Wareu, is 1100 yards Hong, while the longest, the Oldbsrg, reaches 2027 yards. The total length of these twelve tunnels is very nearly ten miles —15,578metres. Then there are five tunnels between 220 and 050, and twenty-five between 110 and 220 yards, making in all fifty-two subsidiary tunnels, of an aggregate length of 10 miles. Between Immensee and Goschenen there will be thirty-three tunnels; between Airolo and Giubiasco, seventeen. The highest part of the line above sea level is the big tunnel, 3307 feet; the lowest a point between Cadenazzo and Magadino, 075 feet. The line will bo carried over sixty-four bridges and viaducts, the longest of which, that of Oadenazzo, in Tessin, will consist of five arches, each having a span of 55 yards. The total length of the Gothard line will be 151 miles, 17 per cent, of it being tunnels and 1 per cent, bridges and viaducts. In the first instance the line for the greater part of its length will be single, but the tunnels and permanent way are to be so arranged that additional rails can be laid down so soon as the financial success of the enterprise seems to be assured. If all goes well, the entire length of road will be in running order in from four to five years. The science of olectio lidogy, which some years ago, through the hostile apathy of those who should have investigated it, fell into the hands of mountebanks, is likely to take its proper rank at last. The name of “ electro-biology ” is, however, a misnomer. The discs of zinc and copper at which the victims were wont to gaze had no electrical effect whatever. They merely formed part of the stock-in-trade of the so-called_ professors, who made money by the practice of the art. Anything else which tended to paralyse the optic nerve had the same influence in throwing the patient into a cataleptic state. Professor Charcot, of Paris, has shown, among other things, that gazing at the electric light has a very powerful paralysing influence, and he has succeeded in producing in the same patient a state of catalepsy on one side of the body, while the other side was in a state of lethargy. This is accomplished by simply gazing at the electric light with one eye shut, or with a screen between it and the light. Of course the electricity of the light has nothing to do with the effect. The state of the lethargic side is supposed to be similar to that in which somnambulism takes place. Important scientific work is now likely to be accomplished in this neglected line of research. In a recent monograph on human hair by M. Jeannot, the author proceeds first to point out the difference which exists between hair in a healthy or diseased state of the body, and on the corpse; and then gives cor*

tain peculiarities by which we may be en* abled to dist ; nguish between human and animal hair; and, finally, shows what varieties are found in hair itself, in reference to its place of growth, and the age and sex of the individual. He then goes on to prove how very important a knowledge of all these facts may be in any case of supposed murder; for in this way hair found either on the instrument with which the crime has been committed, or on the clothes of the victim, may help to identify the murderer. The author afterwards shows by what mean 3 it is possible to prove whether hair has been pulled out by violence, cut off, or whether it fell out spontaneously. One very interesting point advanced is the assertion maintained by Hoppe-Seyler and Sonnerschein, that arsenic may exist and may be traced in the hair of persons who have died from the effects of this poison. The truth of this theory, however, remains to be proved; all the experiments made by Stadel on patients under treatment with arsenic have always given negative results. The American Museum of Natural History has just been enriched by a contribution of three slabs of sandstone taken from the Connecticut Valley. The donor of the slabs desires that his name shall not be mentioned in priht, but the specimens are said to have come from Turner's Falls, Mass. On two of the slabs are impressed large foot prints of some amphibious animal. Professor Hitchcock names the animal the " Brontozoum giganteum.', The beast is, or was in ancient times, _a reptile of enormous size, as the prints of his feet on the slabs presented to the museum show. The theory of the geologists is that this monster was formed something like a frog ; that he walked mostly on his hind legs, only using his fore legs when it was necessary for him to drop down to rest. It is estimated that ho lived about 12,500,000 years before the appearance of man on this earth. The third slab is covered with the marks of the feet of some insect which is unknown to the present generation. From the foot prints the geologists have determined that the insect was of the ephemana genus. Insects of this class can live in the water several days, but on the land they survive for but from one to twenty-four hours. The theory regarding these foot-prints is that the insect found himself on dry land, with the tide receding, and in attempting to gain the water he left these marks upon the sand, which are presumed to teach the nineteenth century something of the history of the past. A man may now obtain a mechanical motor, exerting the power of a horse for the price of a horse. If he be able to employ 100 horses, he can obtain 100 horse power in steam engines at a much lower price than he would pay for 100 horses. And the animals will only last a few years, eight or ten at the outside. Tbey must be regularly fed, work or no work; they must rest for at least sixteen hours out of the twenty-four^

Take what pains we will, we cannot obtain a horse power from a horse at much less than 4d an hour, taking into account the cost for twenty-four hours, and the work done in eight hours, or fewer. For the mechanical horse power, on the contrary, which becomes cheaper, the larger the quantity in which it is employed, a cost of a penny per working hour is the outside for a small engine. For a large one a halfpenny or less per hour per horse power will cover all expense. And then the eteam horse never tire. Instead of one rider being able to tire out three horses or more in a day, one steam horse will work steadily on so as to employ the successive care of three drivers in the twenty-four hours, if each work for only tight hours. And the steam horse eata only in exact proportion to the work he does. He costs, as matter of interest of money and depreciation, less than half the cost of the animal, per annum per week. And as to provender, he consumes only the exact quantity which he converts into work. For all exertion of power in a continuous groove, then, the productive energy which is added to the resources of a nation by the discovery and application of the mechanical theory of heat is praatically illimitable. "Builder." Physicians and others, in discussing the qualities of wine, and the effect of different kinds and vintages on the human system, have arrived at the conclusion that red wine is less injurious to the health than white wine. The subject has been revived latterly in the " Spectator," and the following reason has been given for the difference in effect Bed wines are rich in tannin ; white wines are not : the natural inference being that the astringent principle present forms a counteraction to the stimulating influence of the alcohol contained. "Lo Cultivateur" remarks that rats, mica and insects will at once desert ground on which a little chloride of lime has been sprinkled. Plants may be protected from insect plagues by brushing their sterna with a solution of it. It has often been noticed that a patch of land which has been treated in this way remains religiously respected by grubs, while the unprotected beds round about are literally devastated. Fruit trees may be guarded from the attacks of grubs by attaching to their trunks pieces of tow smeared with with a mixture of chloride of lime and hog's lard, and ants and grubs already in possession will rapidly vacate their position. According to a return jutt issued, the railway passengers duty amounted during the past year to £710,111 in England, and £67,635 in Scotland. The London and North - Western Railway Company paid £138,436 ; the Great Western, £110,599 ; the Midland, £59 280 ; the London and Brighton, £60,819 ; the' South-E istern, £48,698 ; and the South-Western, £47,251. The failure is announced of Messrs Finlay, Scott and Co., an old and once powerful firm at Bombay. The fall of some 30 psr cent, in cotton which followed the outbreak of the Franco-German war dealt a blow to this among other strong houses from which it has not been able to recover. The Glasgow Chamber of Commerce has adopted its committee's report respecting the causes of the City of Glasgow Bank failure. The committee state that these causes do not affect the solid basis on which Scotch banking rests, or the confidence which the public should have in it. The failure was due to the bank having advanced five millions to a few houses, and to their funds being tied up in questionable securities abroad. A committee was appointed to consider further the questions alike of the protection of the public and bank shareholders, especially in view of legislative action. The increase of begging in Paris hag been very marked during the winter, and while originally excusable to some extent, through the exceptional rigor of the season, it has threatened to become a permanent nuisance. The Prefect of Police has, however, taken repressive measures, and a raid has been made on the offenders, some of whom, without legal domicile in Paris, will be sent back to their own localities.

The result of the first moiety of the call upon the shareholders of the West of England and South Wales District Bank has been more than satisfactory. A sum of £127,000 has been paid into the Bank, ard beyond this the credit balance of the creditors, who are aho shareholders, will swell the amount to about £IBO,OOO or £200,000 out of a possible £250,000. Payment of the dividend of 10s in the pound is proceeding, and 18,000 out of the 25,000 creditors have received their warrants. This paymeit will set free a million and a half of money hitherto locked up, A correspondent of the " Neu Ziiricher Zeitung," writing from Zigdidi, in the government of the Caucasus, on the 4th of April, describes a shocking massacre of Jews which occurred in the village of Satschcheri, in that neighborhood. At the beginning of the month it appears that the body of a child was found in a wood, and seven Jews of the place were accused by the Christian villagers of having killed and secreted it for their Easter sacrifice. They were arrested and taken before the district Judge, but immediately dismissed, as it was testified by a medical witness that the child had died from natural causes and that the wounds found on the body were the work of wild animals Rejoiced at the issue of their trial, the Israelites of the village assembled at the house of one of their number to celebrate the event by a dinner ; but in the midst of their feasting they were surprised by a party of Christian villagers, who burst into the house axe in hand, killed six of the inmates on the spot, and grievously wounded many more. The narrator of the incident alleges that the priest of the Greek Church of Satschcheri was the instigator of this act of forocious fanaticism. The opening of the Convale'cent Home by the Prince and Princess of Wales at Hunstanton, was celebrated by the inhabitants of. the district as well ns by those brought by special trains from far inland districts. Thoir Royal Highnesses arrived by road from Sandringham shortly after four, accompanied by the Princess Frederica of Hanover. The principal streets were gay with flags, suspended from windows and across tho streets, and throughout the route triumphal arches were erected. At the entrance to the building their Royal Highnesses were presorted with an address, which was responded to, and the House was declared open.