SCIENTIFIC MEMS.

Southland Times, Volume VII, Issue 518, 13 July 1866, Page 3

SCIENTIFIC MEMS.

ANew Method of Making Barren.— A. vevy simple invention -was exhibited at the late Birmingham Cittlo Show for mating butter by atmospheric action, the air ,beiug forced by a plunger into the midst of the milk ol cream which is contained in a cylinder, the result being in a few minut s .butter is made, leaving the milk perfectly sweet for family use. Alleged Discovery op the Q-ebm of Cholera Moebtjs. — The Countess of Castelnau has forwarded a letter to the French Academy of Sciences, in which she maintains that she has discovered thr animalcule which constitutes the true germ of cholera morbus. It is described as a "winged leech," of exceedingly microscopic dimansions, produced in marshy ground, and the Countess offers to submit some specimens for the inspection of the learned. ' The Proepbties op Pjjpsike. — The Societe Medicale dv Pantheon, having examined the different forms of pepsine prepared by Dr Kofmanu, his m&de the following report : — l. Pepsine is a Bubstancc which has the power of coagulating milk, and of dissolving albuminous and fibrous materials, 2. The proportion of ! pepsine necessary to coagulate a given quantity of milk depends upon its purity, impure specimens having a feeble coagulating power, 25 milligrammes of pure pepsine can coagulate 190 grammes of milk heated to 4UO centigrade. 3. The preparations sold un 'er the names of pure and neutral pepsine are veryg'often ueither pure nor neutral. 4. Mixing it with starch does not appear to exert a very conservative influence upon pepsine. 5. Pepsine may be preserved in a pure condition by enclosing it in gelatine capsules (Kofmaun's plan) or by mixing it with an equal quantity of vegetable charcoal (Domerc's method). Powerful Gas Furnace. — A gas name of extraordinary power is obtained by unitiug a nnmber of flames produced by Buusen burners in such a way as that they do not completely penetrate one another, provided that the draught is made to augment its power and velocity. The maximum effect of such a flame is obtained when it is thrown into a furnace, which may be of any suitable form, but must be of such a kind as that the products of combustion circulate so -.m to heat the envelope which surrounds the miciuie on both sides ; also the draught, the amuu.u of gas, aod that of the atmospheric air, must iv so regulated that as little heat as possible miy be lost. A furnace constructed so as to burn two metres of gas per hour, under a pressure of about twenty inches of water, and without any other draughts than that obtained with a tube of sheet iron,°about two yards high, melted upwards of 10,000 gr. of silver in fifteen minutes, and nearly 80U0 gr. of very infusible cast iron in thirty minutes. — The Scientific Review. The Emperop and his Subjects.— The Paris jouhnals relate that on Easter Sunday the Emperor drove in an open carriage without escort from the Tuileries to the Place dv Trone, passing through the Rue St. Antoine and the Boulevard Mazas. La France says : — " Immense crowds had collected in that quarter attracted by the popular diversions which are practised there at the holiday season. The throng was so great that the carriage could only proceed at a walking pace along the Place dv Trone and the Boulevard Prince Eugene. The population of the district and the numerous passers-by respectfully uncovered, and gay« utterance to tiie most enthusiastic acclamations." The Telegraph in the Far West..— On the 12th of March occurred the first instance of s conference with Indians by telegraph. Sever hundred Indians met on that day at Fort Laramie including all the principal chiefs of the Upper Platte Sioux, and Colonel Maynadier and Indian agent Jarroi, through an interpreter, held a Ion" talk with them, communicating from time to time over the wires with General Wheaton and Superintendent Taylor, at Omaha, for further instructions. The Indians showed sufficient faith in this (to them) strange mode of communication tc arrange terms of peace. — American paper. A very stupid hoax was perpetrated on Jtastei Sunday "at the expense of several hundreds oi holiday-makers, who fairly earned the cognomen of " April fools." Some mischievous persons appear to have had printed tickets of admission tc the Zoological-gardens on the Ist of April, witli an announcement that " a procession of the animals would take place at three o'clock.' Those were sold at a penny each, and some hundreds of dupes presented themselves, tickel in hand, at the gates, and demanded admissioE with so much pertinacity and threats of violence that Sir Eichard Mayne was communicated with, and a bodj of police despatched for the protection of the bewildered officials at the gardens. A small bookseller in Houndsditch. one Mrs Marks, was brought up at the Mansion-house, charged with selling thirteen of the tickets, bu( having expressed her extreme regret at the foolish act commuted by her sons, who appear to have had the cards printed, the case was dismissed. , John Keble, the author of the Christian Yeaj has died at a good old age. The Speaker of the House of Commons, though somewhat improved in health, by the advice ol his medical attendants has not yet left his official residence at Westminster for the seaside. It it therefore thought that a further cessation from his official duties will be considered necessary, ai all events til after the Whitsuntide recess. At the Newmarket meeting the Queen's Plate was won by Archimedes, Strachino coming ii! second. Five horses ran. The Handicap Plate was won by Brick, Oberon and Wild Thyme being second and third respectively. The Paris correspondent sends the Standard the very important intelligence, obtained from a reliable ' source, that a Prussian envoy, Prince Napoleon and Q-eneual La Marmora have lately had several interviews, the result of which is that in the event af a war breaking out between .Austria and Prussia, an Italian army will be immediately set in motion either against Vcnetia oi the Tyrol. The correspondent further states that France is quietly forming an arxay of observation, and that the garriaons on the frontier ara being reinforced. The Patrie states that our Queen has written two autograph letters ta the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia, pointing out the inexpediency of going to war. It iB matter oi wonder and remark in Paris that the Moniteur is totally silent on the Austro Prussian difficulty. The Missouri Senate has passed a bill making I liabitu-i! intemperaniJi) for a year sufficient cau bs for a diTorce. Tne Uuio.tgo Herald of Jan. 1, 1866, begins a forcible apDeal to its delinquents by this touching sentence, " We mtist dun or we must be done." G-eneral Tobin, one of the largest planters in South Carolina, is making the free labor system progress very satisfactorily on his plantations. Miss Thompson, " Down East," says that every unmarried lady of fifty may consider that has passed the Cape of Grood Hope. There is a French Episcopal Church in New York, where the contributions are collected by young ladies, an«t wicked people call it " pretty waiter-girl church." It is not an unusual thing to hear sentimental young ladies siugiug in the parlor. " Who Will Oare for Mother Now ?" while the old lady ia dowa in th« kitchen polishing up the rusty old Thve, or splitting wool to cook breaklast. A Lawjeb's Horse. — A well-known lawyer had a h -rse that always stopped and refused to cross tue mill-dam bridge loading out of the city N"n whipping, no urging, would carry him ove. without stopping. So he advertised him, "To be sola, for no other reason than that the owner wants to get out of town."