The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1873-07-25

Washington Territory has got a big
ger load OF cinnabar thai ii can cOnyen-
iently carry by itself, and wants Eastern
capitalists TO give III lift.
The valuation Of property in Boston
Is S5s2. I2i ,3OO, against sell, 663, $50 q year
ago. The real estate foots up SAB. 000,-
OOO. and personal property $685. 600 900.
Satisfactory experiments have been
made In Berlin. showing conclusively
that the escape of the smallest amount Of
coal gas will XIII the roots Of all the shrubs
and trees with which IL comes in contact.
Spencer, Mass, Is one Of the most
thriving manufacturing towns in the
country. The inhabitants number 1000,
the Of whom find employment in
the boot, wooden, wire and other mills
there.
In view Of the numerous railroad ac-
cidents caused by the displacement of
switches, the american Manufacturer calls
upon inventors 10 produce an automatic
sw~itch-tender. which, IL asserts, will do
the work better, as. a rule, than most
men.
According to a method patented in
France. non-exp losive, non-hygroscopic
matches may be made by im~pregnating
the wood with a hot solution of a fatty
material The infiammable compound
consists of phosphorus Z, gum Z. nitrate
of lead 40. glass powder 5, water 10 parts.
The French Government has lately
struck a medal in commemoration of the
discovery, in 1s6s. by DR.. Jansen and
Mr.. j.. w. Lockyer, Of the method of OBJ
serving the suns ehromosphere without
an eclipse. The medal bears on the OBJ
I verse side the portraits of DIR. Jansen and
Mr.. Lockyer. and on the reverse the cha
riot Of the sun. with Ph9bus indicating
the prominences round an uDeclipsed sun.
That quartz Is deposited In Nature
from aqueous solutions Is evident from
all the facts known with regard 10 its oc-
currence In veins or cavities. filling fossil
shells. lining the walls Of assures. and
making up the gangue Of various ores.
which can only be generated by aqueous
processes. The precise conditions under
which crystalline quartz is thus generated
are, however, not well understood.
One by one the organic products are
being copied in the laboratory. The last
triumph in this direction, which has come
TO our notice IL the production of glycer-
inc by Friedel and Silva If the vapOr Of
fusel-oil be passed through a red-hot
tube. propylen il formed, which readily
combines with chlorine. and from this
chloride of propylen glycerine is produced
by a process in which no glycerine is en-
ployed. As glycerine is the base Of all
true fats, this il an important step in the
direction of o~il-making.
Metallic manganese has somewhat the
appearance Of asst iron. IL Is hard enough
10 scratch steel. and cuts glass like a dia-
mond. Ii has the effect of rendering steel
itself harder and better. In the Bessemer
process, manganese is introduced into the
converter In the form Of spiegeleisen.
This property Of its hardness will, no
doubt, render il very valuable in the pre-
paration of alloys. In its pure state. we
cannot expect TO e IL extensively, owing
to its oxidizing so readily that specimens
Of il require TO be Kept in closely stopped
bottles or under naptha. Ii decompOses
water like sodium, but less rapidly, and
does not reduce metallic salts like the last
named metal.
The question has been discussed for
some time past as 10 whether the skin.
when brought in contact with solutions
of various substances, a absorb them To
such an extent as to produce a marked
effect upon the system. The general ten
dency of experiments has been against
such a ~supposition. Bernard. however,
has lately made 3 series of investigations
on this subject, H. which he shows con-
clusively that certain substances are
readily absorbed when brought in contact
with the skin by means of vapor-baths.
This, however. only takes place when
the temperature of the bath is at least
one degree above that of the body, the
sebaceous matter in the cells of the cpl
dermis at a less temperature completely
excluding Its passage. A successful re-
suit can even be obtained with the water
bath. If this be brought up to a degree
sufficient to dissolve the sabaceous matter
of the skin.
Professor james Law has addressed
10 the Lens a communication OIL fungi
found in drinking-wate-. accompanying
which are illustrations of fungi found in
the blood and milk of lows who drink
water Astounding in diatoms and spores.
The health of the cattle was manifestly
ia. paired, though only a part of the cows
drinking the water were susceptible 10 it,
effects, and these recovered aftera change
of water and the use OF bisulphite of soda.
A late writer, referring to certain pecu-
l~iarities of custom and climate which ex-
listed in the early history of Indiana, no
tices a disease which might have been
directly traced 10 the aus mentioned by
Professor Law. He states ..Cognate
with the sager' was the milk sick that
strange. unaccountable affection which
seized upon milch-kine, and through their
milk, butter, and flesh. upon man. That,
too, seems TO be nearly extinct. Indeed,
i never hear II mentioned now; but il wa
the cause of many painful. lingering
deaths. and still more shattered constitu
tions, twenty-five years ago. A thousand
times I have heard groups of farmers dis
cuss the. various theories, as to whether IL
was In the water, or the air, or the vege-
tation, or all three. and. for aught | know,
the question is unsettled yet"
Gchonl and fnu~.