Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-10-06

During late balloon ascent speed
OF not less than 100 miles an hour was at
tanned.
THE DREADFUL ASP.
An embalmed Egyptian asp, probably
three thousand years old. is in the DOS
session of a Boston gentleman.
@ THE soRRowFUL TREE.
This tree, so-called, because it flour
ishes only In the night, is found on the
island OF Goa, near Bombay The
flowers, which appear soon after sunset,
close up or fall off as the sun rises. The
tree has fragrant odor, and blossoms at
night the year round. ~
LONDON FOG.
The worst fog in the world is the cele-
DRAFTED London fog. The minute parti-
cles OF water that form the fog have been
found to be covered with a thin film of
OIL that comes from bituminous coal.
| Inns film hinders evaporation, and gives
the fog Its staying qualities. It also irri-
tates the vocal organs.
NEW USE FOR PLASTER OF PARIS.
| A writer In one of the technical Jour
nails states that plaster of Paris casts,
soaked IN melted paraffine, may be read
lily cut or turned in lathe; they may
also be rendered very hard and tough by
soaking them IN warm glue size, until
thoroughly saturated, and allowing them
to dry. This kind Of plaster, mixed
! with equal parts of pumice stone, forms
a fine mold for casting fusible metals,
the same mixture being also useful for
encasing articles to be soldered or
brazed. Casts of the plaster of Paris
may also be made to initiate fine bronzes
by applying to them two or three coats
OF coverings Of shellac varnish, and dust
ing on, carefully and uniformly, fine
bronze powder, when the mastic varnish
becomes sticky.
USEFUL FILE.
A Scotch mechanic has brought for
ward a useful little Inventions file for
soft metals and wood It is formed of
some 200 pieces of steel, connected by
an iron bar, which is passed through and
binds them together by means of q screw
the advantage of such an arrangement
being, as claimed, that filings of soft
metal or wood can be got rid of by sim
ply loosening the screw, and thereby
separating the plates, this being done
with very little delay or inconvenience !
This filc IS said to be not only capable
OF performing quicker and better work
than the cut files that are ordinarily en-
ployed, but each file will, it is asserted, |
last some three years, thus outwearing
as many as thirty dozen of the common
files.
A BISMUTH MINE.
1t is not generally known, perhaps,
that bismuth mine has for some time
past been successfully worked in Mey-
mac, France-occurring in a vein of
quartz, traversing very coarse granite
section, and containing, In addition to
| bismuth, the minerals of tungsten, iron
pyrites, and some ores of lead. The
bismuth occurs native in the sulphide
and is subcarbonate, the latter ore pre-
dominating. In this respect, the mine
is remarked as differing from all other
mines hitherto operated, the difference
having led to the adoption of a new
method for extracting the metal This
new method has proved quite advanta-
geous, the loss Of metal being, by this
means, much less than by the older pro-
cesses, loss by rehabilitation being spec
| tally avoided. The metal contains traces
of lead, arsenic, and of anthony, and
can be purified in the way ordinarily
practiced.
NATURAL DOUBLE FLOWERS.
Among the florists such double flowers
as geraniums, petunias, and the like,
are the product of art; but nature pur-
sues the same art, and double flowers
are often found in a wild condition,
though, of course, being generally una
BILE to perpetuate themselves, they die
/.
discoveries is a double trailing arbutus,
or Mayfower, (El0igoe repeaas,) by Mrs.
Laurie, of Oakfeld, Nova Scotia, in a
wood near that place. A similar case is
on record from Pennsylvania, and,
though the Nova Scotians are rejoicing
in the novelty, it has probably been
found at other times, and at other
places. It is reported in scientific pa
pers that can interesting botanical fact
has been discovered by NJ. Lemoine, of
Nancy, who finds that the stig1nas
of double flowers are capable Of
fertilization by the pollen of single flow
ers, with the result of yielding seeds
which, in the majority of cases, produce
double flowers. But the French are late
in the discovery of this curious physio-
logical fact. The Hon. Marshall P. |
Wilder, OF Boston, many years ago re- |
corded the production of double azaleas
in this way, and the process is in every
day use among American florists in the |
production of double petunias and double
geranlums.
METEORS IN INDIA.
An unusually large meteor was lately
seen in India. A correspondent writes
that on the evening of July 20, about
haf-past s o'clock, luminous comet,
which he estimates at some 20 yards in
length, traversed the sky from south to
north. The time occupied from the ap-
body is stated to have been about three
quarters of minute, during which time
"the whole of the village as well as the
surrounding locality was set ablaze to an