Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-07-22
Reported for the Grant County HlRALD.
Popular Science Notes.

Popular Science Notes.
Ga the 18th of June last, the
schooner eddie Pierce" en- route
from Boston to Cuba, met with
strange circumstance. When some
500 miles from Nantucket, a frkin Of
butter was seen TO rise IN the water.
Others followed until three hundred
and twenty.seyen came to the SUR
face, which were closely followed by
twenty.four boxes of cheese. Both
butter and cheese were in healthy
state of preservation but bore eyi.
dence Of having been in the water
long time, the marks on the boxes
being illegible. It is supposed that
the packages had just been released
by the breaking up Of some vessel
that had been lost there some time
previous.
A ship canal across the peninsula
of Florida has been proposed. The
survey has already been made under
the direction of General @, A. Gil
more, who reports in favor of the
work. By its construction, some
five hundred miles will be saved in
the passage from our Atlantic ports
to Cult ports, while the danger GUS
passage through Florida Straits win
be avoided. The canal will he one
hundred and sixty.nine miles in
length.
Plans are being arranged for the
holding Of one OF the largest Horti-
cultural Exhibitions at Bremen, Ger
many, in 1882, ever held in Europe.
The occasion viii be the twenty. fifth
anniversary of the foundation Of tte
Horticultural Society Of that place.
The twelfth meeting of the Sean.
dinavian Naturaiists and Physicians,
took place this week al Stockholm.
The attendance was particularly
large from Denmark and Norway
while goodly number were present
even from the United States.
From a late Paris journal we learn
that the French Forestry Depart
ment have arrived at the conclusion
that forests greatly increase the
water supply wherever found. From
close observations made it is found
that rain falls much oftener and
more abundantly in wooded tracts,
and that, while the leaves and
branches give back the water quick.
ly to the air, they prevent rapid
evaporation from the ground, and
are thus favorable to the formation
of springs.
The ana'yzation of specimens oi
the volcanic ashes which rained
down recently upon Dominica, show
them TO be rich in chloride of potas.
stun. The predominant constituents
of the solid parts were silicates and
pyrites in perfectly defined cubic
crystals.
Prot, Graham Bell, Of telephone
fame, has been awarded the Volta
prize of $4,000 francs, by the French
Government, for his electrical inyen.
ton.
The largest sheet Of plate glass in
the world was recently manufactured
in France. 1t weighed 1913 pounds
and measured 22xl4 feet across It's
face.
The twenty.ninth meeting of the
American Association for the ad.
vancement of science will be held in
the Massachusetts Institution Of
Technology, at Boston, beginning on
august 25th, 1880.
One million and half of small
American oysters were recently
"sown out" on the Schleswig coast,
near the Danish frontier.
Workmen who are engaged in
handling lead and mercury com.
pounds should take daily doses of
iodide of potassium, as it is said this
salt dlssolves the lead or mercurial
compounds and effects their removal
from the system
The discovery of very rich gold
field has been made on the Soften
river, by a prospecting party dis
patched by the Queensland Govern.
ment, in the north Of the colony.
The manufacture of Coal Tar DYES
has become an important branch of
industry in Germany, one establish
ment employing eleven hundred
workmen in its manufacture.
A recent attempt to stock Lake
Ontario with land-locked shad proved
failure, all the fish having died
soon after being placed in the water.
If you wish to test the purity Of
sugar, place piece of what you
know to be pure sugar in the mouth
and when it is thoroughly dissolved,
pinch of suspected sugar. If this
contains authorizations a distinctly
bitter taste will be present.
The monument of the late NJ.
Quetelet was recently unvailed in
the gardens of the Brussels AGA.
deny buildings and is said to be an
extraordinarily fine piece of work