The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-09-22
SCIENCE AID INDUSTRY.

Toledo has ske1er factory which
Il tde and sold $4,000, ,Oo0 skewers last
u ear.
! Tobacco smoke contains about eight
{ smilliiitres Of carbonic oxide per 100
grains burnt.
z The net C 3st Of 1000 cubic feet of
gas Of sixteen candle power, the price of
scoal being &4.30 per 1000 pounds, is
! mot over 81 cents.
A Cincinnati paper says that there
sare over five hundred men in that city
sstudying and making experiments with
{ 4eiectricity, with 8 special view to utiliz-
fing it as d light.
An immense galvanic battery, con-
Sisting of II, 400 cells OF chloride of sill
sver and zinc elements, has been con-
Z s@tfucted for use in the lectures at the
Royal Institution, London. The charg-
hing of the battery occupied three per
sons a fortnight.
Gases of tetanus aud trismus are
4 said to have been successfully treated by
aDr. Sporer, who merely applied to the
snape of the neck and along the spine of
sthe patient large pieces of flannel dipped
i in hot water of a temperature just bear
I able to the hand.
8 DIR. William James, the Harvard
: Professor and brother of Henry James,
r., has been giving practical talks to
he students on physiology and hygiene.
As 10 the vexed question whether alco-
!. aOl is food or not, the Professor thinks
& lat it takes the place of food by tenn
) sporarily reducing the normal demand
q for it, but that ssthis effect is not de.
q sirable'' or consistent with perfect
J health.
4 "A special committee of the English
Institution of Mechanical Engineers have
4 set forth the following explanation OF the
) Hardening of steel: Referring to the
{ generally held opinion that ordinary
steel contains a certain proportion of oc'
cluded gases consisting of hydrogen, III
;. trogen, and carbonic oxide, they suggest
that the application of heat expels these
gases through minute assures, and that
sudden cooling shuts the door, SO tc
speak, to the re-entrance of these gases
and perhaps forces out what of them
may remain in the metal, thus render
ing it harder and denser than before
When the metal is reheated the case;
are reab-orbed, and the various changes
it undergoes in consequence are indicat
{ cd By variations in color.
The Agricultural Department ha:
received samples Of jute fibre prepared
by American machinery from greer
stems grown in Virginia 1t satisfacto
rily solves the problem that has engaged
The attention OF the Department for ovel
ten years. The fibre is largely used ir
she manufacture Of gunnybags, paper
rope, carpets, bagging, and oilcloths
it viii be impossible to glGt the marke
with it, as its use is so diversified anC
essential. The plant can be successfully
grown in any section south OF New York
For several years it has been raised il
s the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. II
& clean and prepare the fibre by hand fol
5 market is shiny and profitless business
= and the American laborer in this wor}
could not compete with the women, chill
dren, and other cheap labor of the Eas
Indies. A machine to do the work wa
essential to make the cultivation of juts
a success on American soil. The Com
missioner is satisfied that such machine
has been invented.