Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-12-20
Honolulu, December 10, 1884.
BORROWED BR5TSS


Science and IndastrB.
Bricks composed Of cork, sand and
lime, are now being tried in Germany
for partition walls. The advantages
are lightness, non,conduction and the
exclusion of sounds to a greater degree
than by ordinary brickwork.
Microscopists, who can hardly keep
track Of the improvements in their
methods and instruments, now rejoice
in microtomes, working automatically
by mechanical power, which will cut an
entire object into sections as thin as
two or three thousand to an inch, and
keep every section in its proper place
in the series.
The most unexpected result of last
seasons dredging by the steamer Of the
United States Fish Commission, is the
finding, at some Of the greatest depths
reached off the northeastern coast, Of
large masses Of exceedingly compact
clay, instead Of the ooze which covers
nearly the whole area of sea-bottom
heretofore examined in all oceans.
The latest claw" evolved in meteo.
rology, based upon Dr. Engleman's
observations Of fifty years in Missouri,
is that rains are long or short in proper
ton (regularly) as they are heavy-in
other words hard showers are short
ones in an exact ratio to their violence.
A rain ofan inch per hour may last five
hours rain of five inches (about the
maximum) cannot last more than one
hour.
There seems to Be hardly any limi.
to the variety Of uses to which paper
may be put, from clothing to the
manufacture of great guns. Paper bot
ties are now made in Germany and
an ingenious and thrifty hotelkeeper on
the Continent uses none but paper
plates Careless walters cannot break
them, and as they are thrown away after
being used once, there is an important
saving in the matter of cleaning alone
! The photographic Office of the
United States Navy has just completed
most valuable work in the shape OF a
set Of monthly meteorological charts OF
the North Atlantic ocean. The amount
of labor may be imagined when it is
considered that each chart contains the
mean pressure, temperature (both air
and water), wind direction and force
for every square of five degrees on the
! ocean, deducted from hourly observa-
; tons made during the past forty years.
AS guide to navigators it is invalu-
able.
Scientific observers report that in the
dry regions Of the West, especially when
several dry seasons follow moister ones,
during which the lands are over
stocked, the nutritious grasses are eaten
to death by cattle. The result is tha,
harmful weeds spring up in their place,
and thus large areas Of native pasture
. have been ruined. In some regions
additional harm occurs from the fact
that the seeds of much Of the bad
second-growth are so sharp as to pierce
the skins OF the animals feeding there
thus sores are produced.
t Flies enough remain bad cess to
'em Ito enable some Of our microsco-
, pists to verify the studies lately made by
a French naturalist, as to how insects
: can walk on glass and other polished
surfaces. Conininga fly in box with
+ glass bottom, he inverted it under a
! microscope, and found the cushions oI
each feet covered with about thou
sand club-shapcd hairs, from which a
: fatty liquid exuded, leaving traces on
the glass. The capillary force (by at
traction) Of each Of these little drops
y Of liquid upon the hairs is sufficient to
! sustain the weight tf the Ay; and the
I conclusion is that the tor.acr view, that j,
is due tc pressure Of air. must be aban
doned.
/ 1t really seems as il Nature at time.
E took cynical delight in turning he,
;. apparent benefits into sources Of perl
i, and injury to mankind. Some year.
J. ago the discovery OF the anti,malaria
l. properties Of the eucalyptus tree wa
0 heralded as boon to humanity. Anc
{ certainly its action in the Roman Cam
2 pagna, and other marshy regions wher'
E il has been planted, was such as to jus
h ,ify the warihest praises Of its admirers
, but now il is found that in Brazil it har
bors and nourishes poisonous dragon
J. fly, whose bite is fatal to man and bcas,
!, and It's wholesale destruction has beer
ordered throughout the empire. How
. ever, this particular drawback may bs
0 peculiar to the influence Of the Brazil
' ian climate.
y One Of the industries Of the Mediter
0 ranean is coral-hshing. Il is special t.
Algeria, and centres at La Gale. Thu
! coral is obtained by means Of wooder
. apparatus in the shape Of a cross, having
y in its center lcaden slug, or a stone
q for ballast. Nets, the meshes Of which
= are loose, are hung on the bars OF TN
cross. When this contrivance Is dragged
y ON the bottom Of the sea the nets wint
q about the branches OF the cosoline
y which break of and adhere to III,
e meshes. There Is also kind Of ne
IS provided with large iron spikes. bu, a
{. this usually destroys the coral Il Is pro
. hibiled. From forty to fifty thousans
: pounds is the ANIMAL product Of TN
y vork Of I.soo men, and Il is wossl
3 3 about 100000.
III The entries IN the catalogue Of IN
y oEnithological collscsions owned By III
II United States and deposited 10 the Ns
\ tional Auasum = WashinGton. nov sz
y ceed HUNDRED thousana IN ~
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