The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-05-19
Scientific.

A FRENCH paper asserts that Z per
cent. of lunatics are made so by the EN-.
ployment of hair dyes.
A RECENT dental journal reports
twelve deaths by chloroform. A warn.
ing to those disposed to trihe with a
dangerous agent while performing so
simple an operation as extracting a
tooth.
COPPER and brass may be coated with
zinc by immersing the article to be
coated in boiling bath Of sal ammoni.
&C containing either sheet iron or pow.
dered zinc. The zinc thus deposited is
brilliant and firm.
In case of fire by kerosene, or burn
ing fluid, to throw water upon the flame
to extinguish it is much worse than to
throw upon it the same quantity of the
combustible material. The water scat
tiers the oil in all directions. thereby
adding 10 instead of relieving the diff
Guilty. The flame should be smothered
with blanket, shawl, quilt, or what.
ever can be most readily obtained that
will answer the purpose; but in no
case throw on water. instructions to
the above effect should be given to
every family.
IT is we'll known that in different
parts of the world there are people who
eat earth among them are some of the
natives of Java, that eat red kind of
earth as a luxury. This earth, which is
soft and smooth to the touch, has been
analysed by German chemist, who
oh IN, vyit
quantity of potash and soda Some
tribes eat earth to stay the pangs of
hunger by filling their stomachs, and
because at times they can get nothing
better but the people of Java eat their
earth, baked in thin cakes, as an agree
able variety in their general diet. The
cakes when slightly moistened, are rich
and unctuous, and the enjoyment in
eating is supposed to consist in the SEN
sation produced by fatty substance. II
is a curious fact in the history of human
habits.
THE manufacturers of artificial ebony
from sea-weed promises to become an
important industry in some of the
smaller sea-coast cities of California
The process consists in first treating the
plants for two hours with dilute sulphu.
ric acid, then drying and grinding them
up. To sixty parts of this product, five
parts Of liquid glue, five parts of gutta
percha, and two and half parts of In
dia-rubber are to be added, the latter
two being first dissolved in naptha. AT
terward, ten parts of coal tar, five parts
OF pulverized sulphur, and five parts OF
pulverized rosin are added, and the
whole heated to about three hundred
degrees Fahrenheit. When cool. g
mass is obtained which, in color, hard
ness and capacity for receiving polish
resembles ebony, and is much cheaper
This material is now actually made on a
large scale, and used for nearly all the
purposes to which genuine ebony can
be applied.
Mr.. c.. B. MOORE, of Washington, D.
c., during the first four and last three
months of 1870, made series of obser
vations on sound, which gave uneX.
pected results. The sources of sound
were the guns of Fortress Monroe (dis
tant about 40 miles from Prospect Hill
the point of observation,) and Sues
Whistle at Cherry Stone (13 miles dis
tant,) and at Hungars Wharf Is miles
distant,) all in a south-westerly drec-
ton from the point of observation
During the months when the interven-
ing woods were in full foliage the
sounds were almost entirely lost. a
table, giving for "A observations the in
tensity of sound and the force and di
rection of the wind, shows that sounds
of maximum intensity were heard when
the wind was blowing from the north
as well as from the northeast and
northwest. The cause of the progress
of sound against the wind is unex
planned; but it is probable that hao
barometrical and hygrometrical obser
vations been also made, some clue would
have been found to the cause of this GU
rious result.