Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1852-11-09
Discoveries Of the Last na,rC..,

Discoveries Of the Last HaIfCe,..
There has been no period since the
mencement Of the world in which SO MAN., IN
porant discoveries tending to the benef,
mankind, were made in the last half Co.. u
ry. Some of the most wonderful results of
man intellect have been witnessed in IN.
fifty years. Some of the grandest conce,,;,.
Of genius have been perfected. 1t is REM
able how the mind ofthe world has rpo -"
scientific investigation, and what achieyn,a,,'
it has effected in that short period. Before ,l'o
year 1900 there was not single steamboa, :
existence, and the application of steam mseb;a
cry was unknown. Fulton launched the f,.,
steamboat in 1907. Now there are three H..
sand steamboats, travcrsing the waters of Ann.
lea, and the time saved in travel is equal IN ,
per cent. The rivers of every country IN i,
world nearly, are traversed by steamboat.
In 1900 there was not a single railroad in ,Ia
world. In the United States alone, there !;
now 9,797 miles of railroad. costing 1926 Don.
900 TO build, and about %, 600 miles of mil.
road In England and America. The locomo.
tive will now travel in as many hours, dis
lance which in 1900 it took weeks to convey in.
teligence between Philadelphia and New Or.
leans now it can be accomplished in minute.
through the electric telegraph, which only had
its beginning in IS43. Voltaism was discovar
ed in March, 1900; the electromagnetic in 1871
Electroyping was discovered only few year,
ago.
Hoes printing press capable of printing TO-
900 copies an hour is very recent discovery
Gas light was unknown in 1900; now nearly
every city and town ofany preience are light.
ed whit and we have the announcement of
still greater discovery, by which light, heat
and motive power may be produced from wa.
ter, with scarce any cost. Daguerre com.
municated to the world his beautiful invention
in 1889. Gun cotton and chloroform are dis,
coveries but Of few Years old. Astronomy
has added a numbero of new planets in the So.
lar system. Agricultural chemistry has en-.
arged the domain Of knowledge in that I'm.
portant branch of scientific research, and the
means of accomplishing amount of labor
which far rranscends the ability Of united effort
to accomplish. What will the next half centu-
ny accomplish We may look for still greater
discoveries; for the intellect Of man is awake.
exploring every mine ofknowledge and search.
ing for useful information in every department
OF art and dustry.--PhHaddphia Ledger
CASTOR OIL EPIDEMIc-On late trim Of
one oil our n. Orleans steamers,she was crowded
with German emlgrants. As night be expec-
ted, their appetite for fruit and vegetables, at.
ter long sea voyage, vas most voracious At
Selma a short distance below the city, the boat
received some 20 or % sacks of castor beans
consigned to Mr.. Blow. The appearance OF the
bean, good to the eye excited the cravings Of
The emlgrants. Finally, curiosity and appetite
tnumphed; bag was surreptitiouslv opened,
large pan foil extracted, and huge luncheon
OF soup prepared. In a short time the passen
sengers In the cabin and the officers of the boat
were startled by the report that the cholera, in
Its worst form, had broken out on deck. On 90
ing below, they found that the castor oil was
dong ITS wor k The bag lay exposed and
large pot full ofths rare delicacy steaming hot
on the table. The thing was soon solved, and
the captain had to 60 into quarantine, because,
as he said the Dutch didn't know beans.-.St.
Louis Repu6.