Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-06-13
MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.
A canary-bird in Port Jervis, Can
ada, has Matched four birds from three
eggs. The twins are smaller than the
others of the brood. but are equally
lively and healthy.
Iron ties, said to he more durable
| than wooden ties, and to afford bet
| ter support to the rails, have been tried
with satisfaction on the Pacific Rail-
road. They are rather expensive, how
ever, and their general adoption is not
very probable until the tests have been
made more thorough. The old objection
to the use of iron ties has been overcome
| in this case by the introduction of an
elastic substance beneath the rails and
| In the Joint of a cross-bar which unites
the bed-plates.
According to a Brussels journal,
the thread used in making the costliest
descriptions of lace produced in that
| city, is of such exquisite fneness as to
necessitate its being spun in dark UNI
foreground rooms, where the atmos-
phere is sufficiently moist to prevent
the thread from spreading or separat-
Ing. 1t is so delicate aS scarcely to be
visible. and the room IS so arranged
that all the light admitted shall fall
upop the work. The finest specim en-
is so complicated as to require the
labor of seven persons on one piece,
and each operative is employed at dis
| tinct features of the work.
DR.. J. V. Mott has published a
! paper in which he shows the beneficial
results of medicated ice where the pa
tient has difficulty in swallowing,
either on account Of nervous irritable
! ity or of inflammation of the larynx.
! He has found that the solution can be
frozen without either separating the
! ingredients or affecting their tonic or
astrlngent properties, while the ice it
self is almost tasteleSs. The ice is
/ prepared in this way: The solution of
| the desired strength is placed in thin
| glass tube, the bottom of which is
! smaller than the top. The air is eX-
/ cluded by tightly-titting rubber cork
! reaching the surface of the liquid.
! The tube is then placed III a vessel
containing mixture of chopped ice
and salt, and revolved there for twenty
minutes, when the medicated solution
will be turned into a solid mass. which
can be easily removed from the glass
tube by the application of warm
| cloth TO the outside of the glass. Ice
| thus made has been found of great
value by DR.. Mott in cases Of diph-
iberia, quinsy, laryngitis and Group.
An instance of apparent success
in the treatment of three children
bitten by rabid dog is reported from
Marietta, Pa. The dog also bit a
heifer, a COW and two dogs. These
four animals all died of hydrophobia.
/ The physician in attendance upon the
children, DR.. John Cameron, of Will
mington, Del, had been impressed by
the success of DI. BuissOn'S method,
rs described III the dbeil5e Nedinle.
OF treating hydrophobia by means ct
vapOr baths. AS the nearest practical
bic approach to such treatment. DR..
Cameron took the children to Phila-
delphia. and there subjected them to
Turkish baths daily for Two weeks.
Although the wounds were very Sc
we're, they healed without difficulty,
and no symptoms of the dreaded mall
ady have been manifested. Hydro
phOhia does not break out before the
seventh day from the bite. The in
teryal is quite sufficient to give the
chance in most instances for the pa
tient to be taken to some Turkish bath
establishment; and hence. if that
method OF treatment is etfectual, by
drophobia may be clasSed among pre-
yentable diseases.
An English explorer, Prof. Smvth.
who has devoted many months of
work with the best Instruments in or
der to fix the dimensions and angles of
all accessible parts of the great pyra-
mid OF Egypt-carefully deciding these
particulars by comparison of his
own and al previous measures con
cludes that the pyramid in question
Is truly square, the sides being equal
and the ranges wight angles: that the
four sockets on which the four tr-t
stones of the corners rest are truly on
the same level; that the directions OF
the sides are accurately To the cardinal
points: and that the vertical height Of
the pyramid bears the same proper
ton To it, circumference at the base
as the radius of circle does TO its cir
cumfprenrp \nN all these meaS