The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-22
FACTS OF GENERAL INTEREST

arsenic nor prussic acid having any effect upon
it, 1t eats adders, regardless of their venomous
fangs.
One of the latest inroads upon the remnants
of medi@va civilization, caused by the advanced
state of science in the present day, is seen in the
preparations that are being made at Westmins-
ter Abbey for lighting that edifice by electricity.
From an official statement it appears that the
French government has determined to lay 1880
miles of underground telegraph wires. at a cost
of $40, 800, 900. This is in addition to the extensive
system of wires recently laid beneath the sur
face of the earth and beyond the destructive and
dangerous reach of hurricanes and snow-storms.
The Glasgow Medical Journal describes an
electromagnetic having a power to raise upon its
point a weight equal to six ounces. 1t has been
used successfully in cases where workmen in
iron and steel have been severely wounded by
flying chips, and the writer says that such in
struments must henceforth become an essential
part OF the apparatus of ophthalmic surgeons.
The height and velocity of clouds may be de-
termlned by means of photography. Two cam
eras are placed six hundred feet apart and pro
vlded with instantaneous shutters, which are
released by electricity at the same moment. The
angle of inclination Of the cameras and the pO-
sitIon OF the cloud as photographed are thus OBJ
tanned, and simple trigonometrical operations
give the height &nd distance from those data.
The population in Ireland is now very nearly
the same as it was in the year of the Union,
100000 the great increase up to 1S41, when it
ItdClSu o. IJJ,uUU, having DHen eDUlr6lN lOSU. DuG
whereas in 1882, on the passing of the reform
bill, Ireland had 81. 30 per cent. of the popula-
ton OF the United Kingdom, it has now but IA. 81
per cent, and its electors, who were 11.32 per
cent. of the whole in 1882, are now but 7.45.
A recent writer on the emotions of infants
says curiosity shows itself the minute a child
begins to take interest in other things besides
its food; and when, though it still carries every
thing to its mouth. it does SO merely because
the tongue is the finest as well as the most ex-
n.f-n n.rn- &C n,,.l Ill -4n-. IL III
handles things, looks at them closely, pulls
them to pieces and so in playing instructs him
self.
There is nothing at present known that can
displace the carbon in electric lights. The car
bons forthe voltaic arc system are mostly made at
Cleveland. and cost $50 a thousand. For the in
candescent light, carbonized bamboo, linen
thread and cardboard are used. The base of
the Cleveland carbons is petroleum coke. 1t is
ground fine, then mixed and pressed under
heavy hydraulic pressure to give it adhesive
ness. The process is partly a secret one.
The appointment of a chaplain to the Speaker
of the House of Commons ''tO read prayers with
the House daily, commenced with the Long
Parliament. Previous to that the rule was that
the litany to be read every day and a prayer be
said by Mr.. Speaker, as he should think fttest
for the time, to be begUn every morning at half
past eight, and every member making default to
forfeit i'd. to the poor mans box" The pres
ent chaplain is the Hon. F.. Byng, son of Earl
Spoffard.
The excavation of the st. Gotthard tunnel cost
many lives. On coming out of the tunnel the
men described the sensation as being like a sud
den plunge into icy cold water. The hot, humid
air affected the digestive organs very much, and
produced intestinal worms, which caused the
death of a great number of workmen. Horses
were similarly affected, and died rapidly. Sew
eral eminent doctors who studied these peculiari-
ties pronounced them as being due to the want
of aeration and the poisonous gases evolved from
Tho hlacfinn OpapoffOac. onI fIay rn4Ar4a1 4hn4
during the working hours the men were always
in a high state of fever, which was succeeded,
when the work was done for the day, by cold
shivers and collapse. With these experiences to
guide them, the engineers of the Sifnplon have
necessarily made the question OF ventilation one
of serious and anxious study.
1t is reported from the colony of Tasmania
that earthquake tremors have been frequent for
months prior to the Goth of October of 1883 with
a periodicity which is at least remarkable. Or
binary seismic tremors have ceased to call forth
much attention, but a quivering of unusual in
tensity startles those who happen to notice it,
and reminds them that there are forces in oper-
alton in nature which are both mysterious and
appalling. One of these occurred on Oct. Is,
about 2;54 o'clock in the afternoon, which was
felt in every part of Launcheston and set WIN
dows and furniture rafting. Some persons fan
cied they could detect a distinct undulatory mo-
ton, and this shock lasted for from about twelve
to fifteen seconds. The whole day was very
stormy, heavy showers of rain with thunder and
hail being frequent, with a low barometer. To
ward the close Of the day the barometer began to
rise.
A movement is on foot to build. at Mitchell, D.
T., a monument in memory of the homestead
law and its author. A National Homestead Mon
ument Association has been formed, and its gem
eral agent is in Washington. asking from Con-
gress a grant of one townshlp-23, 040 acres-of
the public domain to aid the enterprise. 1t is
| proposed to build a monument 100 feet high
one foot for each acre in a homestead entry-di-
vided above the pedestal into five equal parts,
each representing one year Of the five years res
idence required to perfect the settlers title I'M
der the homestead act. The monument is to be
surmounted by a figure of Columbia delivering
the patent earned by five years of actual resi-
dence and cultivation. The pedestal is to be
forty feet square-representing the four legal
subdivisions of a homestead. Grouped about
the column which springs from this are to be
statues of Galusha A. Grow and other public
men who were especially active in securing the
passage of the homestead law.
The temples at Kroto, Japan, says a CORE
spondent of the Philadelphia Press, are mainly
of interest on account of their great bell, which
swings in a monster wooden belfry, halfway up
the hillside, back of the building proper. The
bell is a huge brown cup, with nearly perpendic-
ular sides and a fiat crown, and, like all other
Japanese bells, is sounded by means of a huge
beam, kept in place by ropes. but, when occasion
requires, brought against the rim of the bell
with great force. 1t requires twelve coolies to
manipulate this beam. Formerly it was only
rung once a year, but now it may be heard two
or three times every month. 1t is one of the
greatest wonders i'll Japan. 1t is eighteen feet
high, nine and one-half inches thick, nine feet in
diameter, and weighs nearly seventy-four tons.
1t was cast in a monster mold, in the year 1888.
AS the bell was cast with the rim up, the gold
entering into its compoSition-computed to be
about 800 poundS-sunk to the crown. 1t has
a magnificent tone, and when struck by the open
palm the vibration may be heard at a distance of