Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-02-11
Scientific.

| The artificial water tank of MasOor,
in southern India, has surface area OF
| forty square miles. t#
The engineers of the "Points ct
Chaussees - estimate the length of the
bridges in France at 166 kilometers, or
about 100 miles.
IT has been found possible to impart
any desired perfume to honey, by allow
ing the bees free access to the box to
be perfumed only while the flower,
the odor of which is desired, is in full
bloom. a..s fs
/ Mr.. DENNIsoN proposes adding a
barometer to the pendulum of the
astron omical clock, in order that the
rise and fall of the mercury may coun-
terbalance the variations in weight of
the pendulum arising from changes of
atmospheric pressure.
The director of the Botanical Gar
dens of St. Petersburg has come to the
conclusion that the cultivated vine of
Europe is not distinct and separate
botanical species, but a hybrid of
two species found in North America,
Japan, Mantchuria and the Himalayas.
To one of the species belong the Isa-
bella and Catawba.
THERE is a company in England
formed for the purpose of making
brick from iron Stag. The bricks are
put on the market at from 93 to "a per
thousand, though they can be made at
profit for SOS. The Stag brick weighs
about two pounds more than the ordi-
nary red brick. is much harder, and, it
is claimed, Will bear a much greater
strain.
A THIRD Alpine tunnel is now pro-
posed. It is to pass under the st.
Bernard, and will be nearly 20, 900 feet
long. Under the summit it is pro-
posed to widen the tunnel so as to
make a station, and to connect by
means of an elevator with the open
air. At the mouth of the elevator
shaft hotel Will be built, so that the
Alpine scenery and sunrises may be
enjoyed without any personal exertion.
A NEW electric whistle for locomo-
tives is now coming into use in France.
1t is intended to take the place of
switch signals; opening the switch
causes a copper plate short distance
off in the roadway to become electri-
fed. A metallic brush on the engine
transfers the current to the whistle,
which is opened, and remains open I'M
til steam is shut off by the engineer
If the engineer is neglecting his duty,
the fact is at once made known by the
continuous sound of the whistle.
The finest kitchen garden in France
is that of Versailles. 1t belongs to the
state, and brings in yearly revenue,
taking good and bad years together, of
about 100000 francs The Assem-
bly, has determined to apply this
valuable property to the formation
of model market garden and school
of horticulture The details of the
institution are not yet arranged, but it
is presumed that it will be self sup
porting, and that it will render valua-
BILE assistance in The development of
horticultural science in France.
The French railway companies are
endeavoring to find some method OF
warming their cars which will be both
cheap and practical. There has been
much complaint against their old meth
Cd Of 6ouiIlcttes or hot water foot
stools, on the ground that if the hot
water is not renewed every hour they
become colder than TIE floor itself,
One of the companies has undertaken
to pass steam through the water every
half hour, finding 1t cheaper to coli
meet and disconnect each car every
time the steam is turned On than to al
low the current of steam to pass con-
tinuously.
Mr.. MIvART, in his book entitled
"Man and Apes" investigates the
question of the relation of apes to man
from an astrological and anatomical
point of view. He denies the at pres
ent generally accepted notion that the
gorilla is mans nearest ally, and shows
that the orang, the gibbon and the
chimpanzee can all claim a nearer re
lationship, each on different ground.
The recapltulatlon of the many differ
ent points in which man, IN some one
point, resembles the various higher and
lower apes, leads the author to think
that the laws of affinity form a met
work. or "tangled web y rather than
ladder, % from which it is only pos
sible to infer that in the course of de-
velopment there has been blood rela-
tionship established between the diff
ferent species of apes, after their differ
entiation into distinct species, which
is hardly compatible with our notions