The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-23
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.

CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.
The form of q monster serpent,
three hundred feet in length, has been
disinterred in Scotland, near the
shores of Lock Fell. 1t is supposed
by some antiquaries to have been
used in the rites Of serpent worship.
The original drawing of the engine
of the celebrated steamboat 1.-The
Cleremont," neatly executed by Full
toms own hand in 1908, is nc, in the
possession of Professor r. II Thurs
ton, of the Stevens Institute1 Tech
nology.
The California Silk Manufacturing
Company have used all the sill they
could procure, and have found it SUI
perior to the best Chinese and Japan
csc. The climate of the State is we'll
adapted to sericulture, but great
trouble is found in Keeling silk from
the cOcOons, and Keeling machine
is q great desideratum.
Mr.. M. Worthen, the State Geo
lOgist of Illinois, accounts for the pre-
sence of toads in rocks in the follow
ing manner: The toad seeks shelter
in q crevice for the winter, where he
remains in q dormant condition until
the constant dripping of water hold
ing carbonate of lime in solution seals
him in completely. Here he remains
until released by the hammer of the
workman.
Prof. Cope believes that the subter-
ranean faunas of the Mammoth Cave
and other caves in this country do not
date back of the quaternary period. A
similar conclusion has been formed
respecting the Adelsberg Grotto and
other foreign caves. This compare
lively recent creation of the cave
animals is deemed strong argument
for the theory of Cope and Hyatt of
creation by acceleratiOn and retarda-
ton.
Bangor sends US word of new ro-
tary steam engine, working as silent-
ly as fate, and doing the work of an
Old-fashiOned 2O-hOrse power engine
that carried IS pounds of steam and
consumed 81 worth of fuel a day,
while the new engine does its work
under Is pounds Of steam, at half the
cost for fuel. The large cylinder and
motions of the old-fashiOned engine
gives way in this to a wheel within a
wheel, and all of it makes less noise
than q sewing machine or a spinning
jenny.
Inimitable paper money is claimed
to have been discovered, after years of
study, by Berlin photographer. The
color of the paper is the only secret
~, ~hiob the ip~onf;op .oet. nh
inventor says the colors cannot be
chemically analysed on applying the
magnifying glass they can be distin-
guished from all other oolors, and in
their quality a. colors they cannot be
initiated by photography nor in any
way. The inventor says that he will
enable each individual state to have
its own composition, and that this
process ID not q moro expensive one
than the present paper preparations
for securities or treasury notes.
Artificial ebony is now prepared
on large scale by grinding to pow
der sixty parts of charcoal obtained
from sea-weeds, and previously treat
ed with dilute sulphuric acid. This
is to be dried, and mixed with ten
parts of liquid glue, five of gutta-
percha, and two and q half of rubber,
the two last having been previously
mixed with coal-tar oil, to render
them gelatinous. Ten parts of coal
tar, five of pulverized sulphur, two of
pulverized alum, and five of powdered
resin are mixed and added, and the
mixture heated to three hundred de-
grees Fahrenheit. When cooled, a
substance capable of taking a fine
polish is obtained, equal to genuine
ebony wood, and much less expen-
sive.
Messrs. George A. Drummond and
Thomas Sterry Hunt, of Montreal,
Canada, have just obtained patent,
through the Scientific American Pa
tent Agency, for process Of remov-
ing iron or other injurious metal from
sugar. For this purpose they employ
a mOnO-sulphide of one of the alkaline
earths, such as calcium, strOntium, or
barium, in conjunction with sulphate
of magnesia.
Rev. James Freeman Clarke of Bos-
ton has turned his wits in a novel
direction in inventing au astronomi-
cal lantern. 1t is a small dark Ian
tern, one side of which is fitted for
paper cards, on which are punched,
by little pin holes, the various con-
stellations in the heavens, so that a
boy, or girl for that matter, who is
studying the stars has only to 60 out
o'nights with his or her lantern and
supply of cards, put the constella-
tons in succession in front of his
light, and then follow out the origin
ais in the sky. It saves him the
trouble of running into the house
every few moments to study up his
charts.