National Republican., 1881-11-05
SCIENTIFIC SPARKS.
CURIOUS THINGS IN THE WORLD.
What the Brainy Investigators Have Brought to
Llght--Iuteresting Facts in Nature Worthy
OF Thought aud Rcficction-ENperl-
ments and Curiostics.

Eaid 70 be secured by dssolYing Inc glue III bUonB
hcctic acid to form paste
The best way TO kill insects for col
lection so that their legs will not contract is 10 dip
hem in turpentinc or chloroform.
The six unhealthiest cities in the
world are st. Petersburg, Charleston, Malaga, Alex
nndria, waisans and Buda. Pcsth.
In penetrating the earth Professor
Everit finds that the rise in temperature is more
rapid in the older and harder rocks.
The Fontainc locomotives in use on
The Canada Southern Railway are capable Of at
tanning speed Of ninety miles an hour.
"A writer in an English periodical re-
Gently urged the advantages of double glazing in
promoting the health of home in winter
According to French medical jour
nal, whooping cough has been successfully treated
by DR.. Barely, of Nice, by turpentine vopor
1t is stated that benzine may be freed
from all offensive odor by shaking 1t mp well with
luick.lim about three ounces to the gallon.
-Fuller's earth made into paste with
cold water and plastcrcd on TO soiled wallpaper
and allowed TO stay until dry will remove all the
grease spots.
"A piece ofzinc placed on the live Goals
in hot Stove will, II is said efcctunlly clean out
stove-p pipe, the vapors produced carrying OF SCOT
by chemical decomposition.
Sydney, Ms. w, is to have the largest
electric light in lighthouse in the world. The
merging beam is snid to have a luminous intensity
exceeding 100000 candles
The following recipe is given to re-
move ink stains: Take of muriate OF tin two parts;
water four parts, To he applied with soft brush,
after which the paper must be passed through cold
water
"A glass of hot milk is an immense
stimulnnt for person fntisucd either by mental
or physical excrtion. Milk heated to above 1909
Fahrenheit loses while hot much of its sweetness
aud density.
In Ireland the only fuel known is
peat the Esquimaux use oil for fuel, in Asia grass
is burned in Arabia camel chips, and people who
live along the shores OF Nova Scotia burn the ant
lers of the moose
DR.. Beddoe and Mr.. Tuckett have
stated that British heads are smaller than British
heads used to be-" and Mr. Horsful in the Man
chester GUARDIAN infers from this and other facts
that the British people physically deteriorating,
DIR. Hawkins, of Nashville, has been
making Il tour of inspection of the marble and
iron interests of East Tennessee. He reports eight
marble quarries in operation in Knox county.
They ship marble to Chicago, Cincinnati, New
York, and other points
1T is sometimes necessary to bore one
or more holes in porcelain, but the usual way of
doing this is not easy. If, however, an ordinary
drill be hardened and kept moist with oil of tur-
pentlne twill easily penetrate the porcelain. The
drill commonly employed in connection with
scroll.cutting machines answers very well.
The standard passenger-car upon
Western roads is 10 feet high and 10 feet inches
wide The widest car that can get through some
OF the bridges and tunnels between New England
and the West is 10 feet 1t is claimed that the
extra 3inches gives more commodious seats and
berths
The Mechanical Engineer recommends,
in answer to the question, "when n boiler is short
OF water and a heavy fire is on the CRATE, what
shall be done to prevent the boiler from being
burnedY that the fire be smothered with wet
ashes. To haul the fire would increase the heat
for a time
M. Gley, q French physiologist, has
been investigating the effects of brain work on the
circulation of the blood. In his experiments he
has found that when he applied himself to dinl-
cult subject, upon which he had TO concentrate all
his energies, the rhythm of the heart far more
accelerated than when considering some matter
with which he was familiar
In his address at the York meeting
ofthe British Association, Professor Huxley pre-.
dicted that fifty yeurs hence or in the centennial
year ofthe association, whoever undertakes to
record the progress of paleontology will note the
present time as the epoch in which the law ofsuc-
eesson of the forms of the higher animals was de-
termined by the observation Of archaeological
facts.
"A peculiar phenomenon occurred in
August on q mountain in Rhensh Prussia In
the side Of the Brennende Berg pit of about
hundred square yards in area suddenly opened
emitting great volume Of flame and engulfng a
house and its inmate 1t is believed that the
cause OF the catastrophe was the ignition of gas
rising from petroleum vein in the depths of the
mountain.
In Brazil some experiments have
been tried by NJ. dc Lacerda, showing that per-
manganate of potash is an almost certain antidote
for the bite of snakes. NJ de Lacerda has not as
yet tried Its efficiency on himself but in the case
OF thirty dogs on whom he experimental only
two died under exceptional circumstances, and
all whom he did not treat with the injection of
permanganate of potash died in the usual way.
The Iron Age says: "The cotton-seed
oil mills that rapidly being put in operation in
the South creating little stir and discussion
as to their effect upon the agricultural Interests
Of the the country. This is comparatively new
industry, and we already find that no less than
a<opVV VI Oii SthNi COltOl-hcSu illShl, ms
but recently been shipped abroad. not counting
the supply sold and consumed in non cotton pro-
ducing sections of our own country"
"A curiosity in the Gulfof Mexico has
been discovered. It is a harbor in the open gulf,
ffteen miles from land A kind of oil Is thrown
mp by the processes Of nature, and rests upon the
surface of the water In thick scum. The effects
Of the oil is SO great that even in the severest
storms the sea in this peculiar harbor Is compare
lively smooth. This Is so well known that hen q
storm approaches small vessels run for this "oil
pond as 1t il called, and ride out the gale in
bafety."
Mr.. c. J, Airport, of London, proposes
10 use asbestos for making the joints of moulds for
casting steele and other metals under pressure.
The method OF accomplishing 1t Is to either use
strips or rings of asbestos, millboNrd, or asbestos
lbre made into gNsRin between the bottom of the
ingot mould and the bottom upon which Il stands,
and the lid and the top Of the mould, and If the
mould is made into more than one piece, between
the joints of the different pieces
When we were young said Sir John
Lubbuck, recently, we knew that the leopard had
spots the tiger was striped and the lion tawny
but why this was so 1t did not occur to us to ask
and II we had asked no one would have answered
Now VIC at glance that the stripes OF the tiger
have reference TO its life among jungle grasses; tho
llull 10 hNHhN Atecllt NHlle lNe hNIklnBs OIL
the leopard resemble spots Of sunshine glanclng
through the leaves
"A short but excellent paper on inso.
mania and other troubles connected with sleep II
persons Of gouly disposition has appeared in The
current nunberof Brdri. The writer. pyce Duck
worth, deprecates the use Of so,Gslsd hypnotic
as means Of relief, and he sAyi tnR; 1stS: attention
to diet Il free iiluuoI Of the blood ~ith bGnt
fluids regulated exercise otb2th msatAi and bodil
faculties, together WITH occasional msrcuTial pur
gatives, will commonly avail TO overcome tn
miSdirectcd tendencies and 10 secure good night
for sufferers.