Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-28
BITS OF SCIENCE.

An observer of wasps finds that they
are most active from about $3.50 to IL a. m.
and to p. m.
The total yield of the potato crop of the
United States the past season is about
0,000,0 600 bushels.
Some French scientists now regard the
zodaical light as simply a reflection of
light from the Illuminated part of the
earth upon an open stratum OF the atmos-
phere.
While oiling a dynamo machine at the
Health Exhibition in London one of the
workmen inadvertently touched it with
the oil can he held in his hand and was
instantly killed.
An oil for betting is recommended which
consists of nine parts linseed oil and four
parts litharge, ground in water. These,
boiled to plastic consistency, and then
liquefied by an addition of turpentine,
furnish an oil which possesses, it is said,
many admirable qualities.
An English electrical journal has dis
covered the following popular fallacies
concerning lightning, viz: That chewing
the splinters from tree struck by light
ming will cure the toothache; that such
splinters will not burn; that the bodies
of those killed by lightning shock do not
become corrupt, and that no one is killed
by lightning while asleep.
HOnigmann's locomotive is to be intro
duced in the st. Gothard Tunnel. 1t can
be charged from a stationary boiler with
steam and hot water sufficient to make
the 20 minutes journey through the tunnel
without requiring any fire. 1t, therefore,
does not vitiate the atmosphere with
smoke. The exhaust steam is taken up
by ali alkaline solution in special cham
Der.
81 Joseph Fayrer considers it most re-
markable that a poisonous snake cannot
poison one of its species and only slightly
any VenOmOus snake, although it quickly
kills harmless snakes. A vigorous CO.
bra can kill several dogs or from dozen
to twenty fowls before its bite becomes
impotent, and then the rapid resecretiOn
Of virus soon makes it as dangerous as
ever.
In Holsters and crabs the mouth is sit
uated underneath the head and consists
of a soft upper lip, then a pair of upper
jaws provided with short feeler, below
which is thin lower lip. Then follow
twoDpairs of membraneOus under-jaws
which are lobed and hairy, and next three
pairs of foot-jaws. The horseshoe crab
9as no special jaws, the thighs answering
the purpose.
An excellent tincture to remove spots
from wooden cloth is made of alcohol 80
per cent, sulphate of napthaline, French
oil of turpentine, spirits of sal-ammoniac
and soapwOrt. The latter must be boiled,
sieved, mixed with the other four ingre-
dents and bottled. To remove spots of
tar, resin or wax, sOapwort can be dis
pensed with. the other chemicals being
sufficiently effective.
We extract from a foreign journal the
following formula for a cement, which is
very nearly cOlorless: Seventy parts fine
cut, pure India rubber, which has not
been vulcanized, dissolved in 100 parts of
chlOrOform; when the rubber is thor
oughly dissolved add fifteen parts gum
mastic. 1t will require several days to
dissolve, and it must be kept in stoppered
bottles, out of the reach of heat.
A simple but infallible test for alum in
flour: If a portion of adulterated flour is
placed in a small quantity of chloroform
the flour floats, while the alum or other
mineral matter sinks to the bottom. In a
similar way alum in bread may be in
stantly detected by placing a small piece
of the suspected loaf in a solution OF log
wood and carbonate of ammonia; if alum
be present the bread will turn blue,
There are 81 pounds of cotton seed to
every pound OF fibre. More than 1000. 600
tons are produced annually, but only 1C
per cent. Of the seed is crushed, the rest
being thrown away. A ton of seed Yields
35 gallons of oil, % pounds of cotton and
$50 pounds of cake used for fattening cat
tie. The oil is largely used for making
fine soaps, and when refined properly can
hardly be distinguished from olive oil.