The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-02-10
POPULAR SCIENCE.

SULPHURoUs acid acts, in certain case,
as powerful oxidizing agent.
AN electric light is indefinitely divisi
bic without sacrifice of economy.
OYSTER eggs, when just spawned, ar
about one five-hundreth of an inch i
diameter.
RIFLES are now sighted mp to mucl
longer ranges than formerly, some up t,
400 yards.
LIaHT bodies of some bulk, held neal
the vibrating prongs of tuning-fork
are attracted.
In Bischof's spongy-iron filter the iron
Is said to be as perfect filter as animal
charcoal.
THE form of hailstone is that of an
inverted umbrella, being cone shaped and
having ribbed sides aud rsssa.ss1-.>s i--.-.-
CorToS fibre, when quite ripe. consists
of almost perfectly pure cellulore, COM
pound of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
WHEN well impregnated with creosote
or dead oil, wood is safe against the at
tacks of insects, under ordinary circum-
stances.
For the consumption OF bitumlnous
coal, $50 cubic feet of air per ponnd are
required for anthracite, 196 feet for
wood, % feet.
TRUE diamond, bort and carbon, differ
respectively in more or less perfect
capitalization, and pass into each other
by insensible degrees.
THE milky Juice of the fig tree pos
sesses a digestive power, and when
mixed with animal tissue preserves It
from decay long time.
THE acids contained in fruits all act
upon tin, so that fruit preserved in tin
cans often contains tin in solution, and Is
consequently poisonous.
GRAY bodies properly selected as to
height of tone, when contiguous to col
ored bodies, exhibit the phenomena OF
contrast of color more strikingly than.
either black OF white substances.
ALUM water is recommended for pre-
venting bugs and worms from infesting
flour mills Dissolve two pounds of
alum in three quarts of warm water and
apply with brush to crevices where in
sects NAV be concealed.
STEEL tools should never be heated,
either for forging or tempering, In q
fresh fire unless it be charcoal II coke
is not at hand the fire should be allowed
to burn until all the gas is burned ont
of the coal before the steel is intro
duced
Two Leipsic chemists have devised a
process for obtaining sugar in perna-
nently liquid form. This result is said
to be effected by adding to a purified
sugar solution small quantity of citric
acid, which combines with the sugar and
deprives it Of its tendency to crystaize.
An EXHIBITION of the arts and indus
tries of Bavaria viii be held at Number
next year, and vigorous preparations are
being made in the way of building. Al
ready contributors to the number of
1,702 have promised to assist, and the
whole affair is to be on the grandest
scale.
ANHYDRoUs phosphoric acid is be
lieved to be the most powerful drying
agent known When air from which
the moisture has been removed by ordi-
nary means and then dried by sulphuric
acid is subjected to its influence it is
found that the two-millionth part of the
weight of the air in the form of moisture
disappears.
A RECENT telegraphic experiment,
of a singular description, consists of the
reading of large sllvered letters, square
yard in size, and fixed to blackened
board, by refracting telescopes This
method succeeded well at distance of
three miles, and the inventor. an officer
In the French service, thinks he Will
succeed In reading messages at a dis
tance ofsixty miles.