The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1879-09-10


cal Society, it was stated that in 1871
the area in which Irish was spoken had
decreased from 10000 square miles in
1851 to 5000, while the number of peo-
pie speaking it had decreased during the
same twenty years from ], 500, 900 to $780,
600, of whom less than 400, 900 spoke
Irish only. 1t is also said that through
out ireland there are now probably not
5000 pers ons who can read an Irish book,
and not single Irish paper is being
published in the country. "a
Bank of England notes are very sim
pie looking pieces of paper, compared
with the deliberately engraved bills of
the United States. It would seem that
the Bank of England notes could be
easily counterfeited: yet this is rarely
done. No two of them are exactly
alike. The printing is done by a
method known only to the inventor,
and the paper is manufactured by pro-
cess which has been in charge of the
Portal family for two hundred years.
No notes are. ever reissued after being
paid back into the bank, but are
collection of these notes on one Occa-
sion aggregated Sl5,000,000, 1000.
Professor Grote thinks that the Indian
corn plant originally grew wild on the
slopes of the Rocky mountain region,
and on the sides of the valley of the Col
orado. 1t was cultivated by the early
men of that region, who were Asiatic
emigrants in pre-glacial times. The
cliff jewellers and mound builders cul-
tivated maize. The plant was proba-
bly, at first single-eared, and the grain
smaller. Professor Grote believes that
its present yield might be still increased
by planting corn from plants producing
the largest number of ears, so that final
ly a more numerously-eared variety
may be introduced.
NJ. Lacerdo has given much attention
to the character and effect of the venom
of the rattlesnake. The poison seems to
be of the nature of ferment. The red
corpuscles of the blood of animals bitten
by a snake begin to display small bril-
liant points on the surface. which in
crease rapidly in number. and then the
glObules unite with each other, forming
a paste which cannot circulate through
the veins. Affected blood. if introduced
into the circulation of other animals, will
produce the same symptoms and fatal
termination as original virus. The
author believes that the best antidote
for snake poisoning is alcohol, which
may be given to the patient to drink or
may be administered simultaneously.
a French doctor has experimental on
the influence of alcoholic drinks on
fowls. He administered to them brandy
and absinthe, and found one and all to
take so kindly to their unwonted stimu
lants that he was forced to limit each
bird to a daily allowance. There was
extraordinary development of cocks
crests, and rapid and general loss of
flesh. The experiments were continued
until it appeared that two months alb
sinthe drinking sufficed to kill the
strongest cock or hen, while the brandy
drinkers lived four months and half,
and the wine-bibbers he'd on for ten
months before they died a drunkard's
death.
The new fertilizer law of Pennsylvania
provides that every package of any COM
mercial fertilizer sold in the State shall
contain on its outside statement of the
amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid
Soluble and revertedO and potash W hich
it contains; fixes the amount of license
to be paid for privilege of sale (S10 for
100 tons, 800 for more than 100 and less
than 500 tons, and $50 for more than 500
tons), the money obtained from these IL
censes to be placed as fund from which
to defray the expenses of analysing COM
mercial fertilizers, under the direction of
the Board Of Agriculture. The penalty
for selling commercial fertilizers which
have not been analysed as provided by
law is from S25 to 5000, according to
the nature of the offence.
Experiments in the incubation of
horse-pox have been made by some
French savant. In the early part of this
year there was an epidemic of horse-pox
in some parts OF France A white horse
having been selected for the experiment,
its virus was carefully collected, and
seven young soldiers who had never been
vaccinated were inoculated with t. Up
on six of these subjects it proved sue
cessful. Four of these were made use
of for the incubation of sixty-four other
men, eight of whom had never been
vaccinated The result was that in
forty cases characteristic pustules were
obtained. Then a number of calves
were inoculated, and their virus was
used for vaccination; but in this case
there were only forty-eight per cent. of
successful cases, and in the former ex-
periments there were sixty-four per
cent. This seems to show that the horse
pox virus is weakened by passing through
the calf system.
A man employed on the farm of Will
liam Potter, in Sassafras Neck, Cecil
county, Md, was dislodged from his po-
sition on the platform of steam thresher
by wagon being driven close alongside.
Another workman was standing near
him holding a three pronged fork with
the prongs upward. Workman No. l
was forced either to fall upon the belt
of the thresher, in which case he would
have been thrown into the machine, or
upon the fork in the hands of his fellow
workman. He chose the latter course.
One prong of the fork struck him under
meath the chin, and glancing from the
bone, ran through the lower and uppe,
lips and out about the cheek bone With
some effort upon the part of both men the
fork was drawn out, when the wounded
man sank to the ground. He discon-
tinued work for the remainder of the
day, but was at his post the next morn
ing.
"F. w. Schroeder. inventor and en-
lantic, as he tells the New York SIN in
the following letter; Somebody in
Pattersonville, Louisiana, wishes to
know whether crossed the ocean with
my flying machine or not. Will you
please let me inform this person that
am not a big enough fool to do such a
thing and allow others to pocket half OF
the money would earn by it. / intend
to cross the ocean in my flying machine,
and this flying machine is now nothing
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