The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-01-21
CURIOUS. USEFUL AND sOIEKsIFio.

Thoroughly cooked meat when reduced to
fine particles, NJ. WON says, is as readily at
tached by the gastric secfetions as raw meat.
Paper wheel-spokes are coming into use.
The paper pulp is forced into the iron
moulds under q heavy pressure, where it
dries and hsrdsns.
The invention of glass is commonly sttr5i.
uted to the Pneaicians. Very slcient dis
coyeTies of glass in Egypt have SOM ewhat
shaken this attributiOn, and ii will remain
uncertain until further discoveries settle
the question.
By means Of the new electric brake, in
vented by an American named Walcker it
is said that train running at a speed OF
about twenty-five miles per hour was stopped
| in the short space Of six seconds and within
distance OF twenty yards.
A box or safe has been made of asbestos
| and silicate, formed into solid, stone like
material. 1t is said 10 be proof against
sound ard vermin, as we'll as FIRE, and will
| be useful ia preserving valuable papers 1t
| is light, though massive in appearance.
The more frequent use of lettuce is now
advocated, its leaves being boiled. 1t is said
| to re as pslatable as spinish, aud has sooth-
| ing qualities for oxaluric patients, to whom
| spinjsh is forbidden. Lettuce was at one
time thought to be a good soporIfc, bat it is
losing this part OF its reputation.
full-groTn man, according to Huxley
| weighs 1914 pounds divided es follows: Mus
| cles and sppurtensnces, 6S pounds; skeleton,
/ "a pounds; skin 1013 pounds; fat, % pounds;
/ brain, 3 poun DIS; abdomsl EisCera. II pounds;
| thorscic visceTa, * pounds; blood which
would drain from the body, pounds.
An interesting experiment to ascerta in
! the effect of artificial heat on vegetation has
! been made by Bsrthelemy. He arranged
| number of hyaclnths in glasses in circle
aroup the pipe OF stove, and after some
time ne found that the roots assumed q
! nearly horizontal position, or direction al.
most at right angles with the pipe.
The latest surgical luxury is an inst1u-
ment by which missions may be made with
| out giving pain. 1t consists OF a knife which
is regulated by watch attachment, so that
| it advances at the rate of only an inch in six
hours. A slight sensation of uneasiness is
produced, which does not, however, pre-
vent the patient from going to sleep,
novel experiment of carrying railroad
through forest has been tried in Sonoma
County, Cal. The trees are sawed off and
leveled and the ties are fastened on the
standing side by side and reaching seventy
FIVE feet from the ground. So firm is this
support that heavily loaded cars pass over
with perfect security.
The natives OF America were acquainted
with the use of colors at very remote pc
Rod. Their first coloring materials were I'M
doubleday supplied by the ochres, root-black
and lime, while experiment gradually taught
them to extract vegetable colors from leaves,
fruits, roots, stems and seeds. An animal
coloring matter, like the Tyrian purple, was
yielded by sea-mollusks. The Peruvians
aud the Mexicans were able to dye their
cloths, and Peruvian mummy-wrapplnga
which have been found after having been
buried for centuries still retaid their primi-
tive color.
The camel mas twice the carrying power
of an OK. With an ordinary load of 400
pounds he can travel twelve to fourteen
days without water, going fourteen miles a
day. They are fit to work at five years old,
but their strength begins to decline at twen-
ty-five, although they live usually until
forty. They are often fattened at thirty for
the butcher, the flesh tasting like beef. The
TaItars have herds of these animals, often
1000 belonging to one family. They were
job had 5000. The Timbuctoo breed is re-
markable for speed, and used only for couri-
ers, going 500 miles in eight days with q
meal of dates or grain at nightfall.
Filial Devotion of Bird.
lst. Nicholas.
We have q saying that charity begins ai
home, and ii has been added that q great
deal Of the charity that begins at home stays
there. Of this narrow sort of benevole nee
| TOO, we ma examples among the anluhtS
There is the barbet, for instance. 1t is q
solitary bird, and sits most of the time in
Dorose silence on twig, waiting for its food
lin the shape Of an insect) to fly by. Some
times il is said to rouse itself and make 9
descent upon the nest of some smaller bird
and eat all the little ones.
Certainly one would not look for any sort
of bensvolencs from such a bird; and yet
it offers very striking and very beautiful
example of the begin-at-home. and stay-there
kind.
The celebrated naturalist, Levaillsnt, who
has told us so many interesting things about
the birds of Africa and South America, says
that he discovered barbets nest in which
there were five birds. Four of them were
young and vigorous, but the fourth was SO
old and weak that when ii was put into q
cage with its comr AIDES ID could not move,
but lay dying in the corner where it had
been placed.
When food was put in the cage the poor
old bird could only look at it longingly,
without having the strength to drag itself
within reach OF it. Then it was that the
! younger birds manifested singular
spirit of kindness. Quickly, and even with
Cd air of tenderness, as 1t seems they car
ried foon to the decrepit old bird, and fed il
as if il had been only fedgling. Struck
by this spectacle, the naturalist examined
the nest from which the birds had been