Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-02-21
CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.
SIX HUMAN SENSES,

Iltre nauo OF Deecn or pine IN a very
simple manner. Dissolve three ounces
of permanganate of potash and three
ounces OF sulphate of magnesia in two
quarts OF hot water. Apply this to the
surface OF the wood with a brush, and
repeat If necessary. The manganese
salt Is decomposed in contact with the
fiber OF the wood, and fine, permanent
stain is produced. If the objects are
small, a more dilute bath can be pre-
pared, and the wood immersed in it for
one or five minutes, until it is thorough
~ stained
THE NEED OF SALT.
Professor James E. Johnston, of Scot
land, says: upward of half the saline
matter OF blood (57 per cent. consists of
common salt, and this is partly dis
charged every day through the skin and
kidneys. The necessity of continued
supplies of it to the healthy body be-
comes sufficiently obvious. The bile
also contains soda Zone of the ingredients
of salt) as special and indispensable
constituent, and so do all the cartileges
of the body. Stint the supply of salt,
therefore, and neither will the bile be
able properly to assist digestion, nor the
cartridges to be built up again as fast as
they naturally waste. ("
MINIATURE LOCOMOTIVE.
A wonderful piece of machinery has
just been invented by an ingenious me-
chanic of jamestown, N. Y. It is q
miniature locomotive, and is said to be
perfect in every respect, besides being
the smallest in the world. The engine
IS 81 inches long, with tender of IL
inches. The little pumps throw drop
and half OF water at each stroke. AS
many as $50 screws were required to put
the parts together. The engine itself
weighs pound and half and the ten
der two pounds, two ounces and q half.
| The mechanic was at work upon the To-
connective at intervals for eight years.
Every part of the engine works like a
charm. The trimmings are brightly
polished and the woodwork artistically
painted.
| AIR SPACE IN GUNS.
William Nick. Heath is making ex-
periments to test the endurance of gun
barrels when the guns are fired with an
air space between the powder and the
ball, and asserts that he has satisfied
himself on the subject, although he is
anxious to proceed with his trials in
order that he may be able to convince
other people. He asserts that no sound
rifle or ball-gun and no well-made can
non will burst If the bullet or solid shot
be left many inches from the powder;
that the further away from the powder
the ball lies when the gun is discharged
provided the ball is of the right size
and moves easily in the barrel-the less
is the strain on the barrel, and, in short,
that an air-space between the powder
and ball is not dangerous. Phdla.
Record.
PAPER RAILS.
1t is now claimed that paper can be
utilized for the manufacture of rails, in
place of steel, which has almost dis
placed iron. It is said in favor of the
new material that the cost per mile will
be less by one-third than that of steel,
and it will last much longer, being al
most indestructible. There is no ex-
pansion or contraction from heat and
cold, consequently no loose or open
JOINTS, and, being so much lighter than
steel or iron, the rails can be made
longer and connections perfectly solid,
making the road as smooth as one con-
t1nuous rail. The adhesion of the driv-
erS of the engine to this material will be
greater than that of steel. consequently
the same weight engine will haul larg-
er load. There will be a great saving of
fuel and the smoothness of the rail will
lessen the wear and tear of rolling stock.
The rails are made wholly and entirely
of paper. and 50 solid that the sharpest
spike cannot be driven into them. The
action of the atmosphere has no effect on
it, will neither rust nor rot, and, with
paper wheels and rails of the same ma
terial, our palatial trains will glide over
the prairies at the rate of sixty miles an
hour with as little jolt and jar as on an
ocean steamer.
sODID MILK
To make condensed milk the milk is
subjected to heat of some 200 degrees,
which, it is said, scalds it. By a new
process the heat is only 100 degrees, and
the product is called evaporated milk.
When the time of exposure to that mod
crate heat is sufficiently prolonged all
the watery part of the milk is driven off,
and the remnant is tough, solid mass,
creamy white in color and much resem-
bling dried chunk of wheat-hour
fetal means; little fine white sugar is
added to make it keep, and then it looks
like corn meal, and is called granulated
milk. The evaporated milk is only
about half as near solid as the condensed
milk, but is very rich, and SO little af-
fected by the process through which it
has passed that when water is added the
most delicate taste can not detect diff
ference between it and pure natural
milk; cream rises on it, and butter can
be made of it. The same desirable pc
culiarities belong to the granulated milk.
The evaporated milk is used in the
Nursery and Child's Hospital, and on
most of the steamship lines. The gran
ulated is made to keep in all climates,
for any desired length of time.-New
York San.
SOLDERING WITHOUT AN IRON.
The following method for soldering
without the use of soldering iron is
given in the Techniker: The parts to
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