Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-01-03
SCIENTIFIC NOIES.

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free from flies.
BEST way to remove wood lice is K
3 sprinkle with chloride of lime.
= A PIECE of dip candle rolled in 8
paper will keep moths out of goods.
AN enormous puff-ball was recently
found In a field bordering the Dene
LIS Dimensions were: circumference
8 feet 3 inches; height, u inches.
IHE attention Of agriculturists is di
rected to the sulphocarbonate of potas.
SUM as an insecticide. 1t has been
; used with great SUCCESS among the
vineyards of France. but requires some
persistence.
ROME is SLIGHTLY uneasy about the
Italian explorers who have ventured
into the heart of Africa, owing to a lack
of their news. A man will have to he
sent to spot them, it is thought; but the
trouble is, the Roman Geographical
Society has no one to send.
The parties who are sinking an arte-
sian well at Riverton, in Sangamon
county, ILL.,, have reached depth of
1000 feet and have struck salt water
apparently an exhaustless supply. The
grade of salt is very fine, and is being
tested and experiments made to as
certain whether it will pay to establish
salt works.
FROM Gibraltar we have q report ola
very interesting match between eighteen
men of the marine artillery with
Gatllng gun and g. similar number of
men from the rifle brigade with rifles.
They formed at 800 yards from the tar
gets, representing section of men,
and then, advancing 300 yards, opened
tire. The result was greatly in favor
of the rihemen, who fired 1928 rounds,
making 184 hits, while the Gatling gun,
which damned the wise, fred 3T
rounds for only 50 hits.
The proper food of the silkworm is
mulberry leaves, but experiment has
demonstrated that they will thrive on
lettuce, black currant, and cherry
leaves. They are kept for amusement
by persons in England in plain paper
trays with the edges turned up, the
corners pinned together. They will
not wander from their homes, and if
perfect cleanliness is observed, appear
to do as well there as in warmer coun-
tries.
EXPLOSIVE substances have recently
been put to a novel use in Austria.
Cartridges of dynamite are planted at
a depth of nearly ten feet at proper
distance from the vines, about the
roots of which the earth was to be loos-
ened, and upon explosion separated the
earth for a distance of nearly six feet
SO that it could be perm Gated by the
air and moisture. Here is sugges-
ton for enterprising farmers.
The workmen at Monmouthshire,
Eng, drink beer made after the fol-
lowing plan, which they deem superior
to malt liquors: Boil for half an hour
IN two gallons of water few handfuls
of nettles, ditto Of dandelion, handful
of sage, two ounces of bruised ginger,
four handfuls of hairough (gallium
aparinm). Strain. Ferment by add
ing a piece of toasted b, ad spread with
yeast. Now add one ounce of cream
tartar, cork tightly, lay on one side for
four days, and it is ready.
The Ma]ays resort to q very curious
method of killing the rhinoceros. The
animal, being fond of wallowing in the
mud, will find a spot in marsh where
the soil is about the consistency of
dough. Here he will rem ain for long
time, and when observed by the Malays
they will, approaching cautiously from
behind, pile combustible material over
him and set it afre. The intense heat
bakes the mud so that the rhi 1ocerous
cannot escape, and then, the fire being
continued, cooks the animal. A curl
Gus coincidence is here found, for the
remains of a mastodon were recently
discovered which gave evidence of hay
ing been disposed of in the same man
her by savages who existed centuries
ago.
AMONG the blocks of stone at depth
OF twelve to sixteen mitres Professor
Schliemann found two toads; and at q
depth of thirty-nine feet small but
very poisonous snake with scutiform
head. The snake may have found its
way down from above, but this is an
impossibility in the case of the large
toads; they must have spent 5000
years IN these depths. 1t is very inter-
esting to find in the ruins Of Troy liv-
ing creatures from the time of Hector
and Andromache, even though these
creatures are but toads.
ONE of the best methods now known
for raising sunken ships is that in
which air bags are employed. The
mode of procedure is as follows:
Chains are passed under the ship at va
rious point and connected, SO that in
case of a sudden lurch they will not
fall off. To these chains are now at
tached empty bags of some raw mate
rial, which are filed with air by means
of force pumps In the ship above. As
they displace quantity of water great
er than the weight of the ship, the
whole affair rises to the surface.
MISTAKEN ideas as to the power of
poisons are very prevalent, some per-
sons suppOsing that the commOner
ones, such as arsenic and strychnia
can be administered without danger of
detection, while others better educated,
but possessing little information on this
subject, believe that there are no
poisons capable of producing death
and leaving no trace of their presence.