The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-08-05
CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIEN-
TIFIC.

Il
been made but none of the rainbow.
A tomahawk of tempered copper was re-
Gently found by farmer near Sanborn, Da-
kota. This is a very rare relic. The method
of tempering copper tools is said to be lost
art
A snail brought from Egypt to England as
Genealogical specimen in 1916, and imme
diately gummed to bit of cardboard, was
found to be alive in 1850, after ling in the
British Museum for four years
The dryest -four, says the Scientific Press,
contains from 6 to per cent. of water, and
the average percentage would be from II to
Is, as from IL to II per cent. can be driven
out by heat OF about 5000 Fair.
Small hy-wheels, cast hollow and loaded
with lead is foreign notion that promises
to become popular in this country. They
afford the same centrifugal power as the large
wheel, cost less and take up less room.
-Recentlya new boot has been introduced
by Bristol manufacturer, in which q single
spring is placed at the back of the boot in
the space above the heel The elastic is said
to be safer there from friction, and therefore
less liable TO wear out and to give the ankles
more freedom to move.
Salt is one of the remedies most frequently
employed for keeping weeds out OF garden
walks, and the following is said to be the
best way of applying it: Boil the salt in
mixture boiling hot out of a watering-pot
with spreading rose. This will keep weeds
and worms away for two or three years.
Corks are now made impervious by simply
soaking them several hours in a solution of
one-half ounce glue or gelatine in mixture
OF three-fourths ounce of glycerine and one
pint of water. treated to a temperature of
about 500 Cent. Such cOrks may be made
nearly proof against acids if dipped when
very dry, for ten or fifteen minutes into a
melted mixture of four parts paratfiue and
one of yaseline.
A scientist states as a net result of a num-
Der of observations that there is an exhilera-
ton of the pulse rate and slight elevating
OF temperature from smoking. If the aver
age temperature of non-smokerS were repre-
scented by 1000. that of moderate smokers
would be ZOOS; while the heart in the form
er case was making 900 pulsations, in the
latter it would beat /. $50 times-hence the
harm of tobacco smoking.
Several household articles such as glass
fsh-glObes, paper weights made OF a pyramid
of glass balls and the lenses of the stereoS-
copes, have been found to act as a burning
glass in the sun, and to have set fire to light
materials, SUCH as cloth and paper, thereby
causing danger to life and property. Bright
ly-tinned or nickel-wash dishes have also
been known to focus the suns rays by refec-
ton, and tend to bring about similar con-
sequences.
According to the Building News, manu-
facturers of wood mosaic say that they have
found by experiments that hard maple on
end is from four to five times as durable as
marble, and euqally as durable as the hard
est baked tile 1t is reported that two end
wood floors were laid in the elevators of a
public building in Chicago about Fifteen
months ago. ana that the floors are in as good
condition as when first laid, although each
elevator carries from 1000 to 1000 persons
daily.
Light papers make dark, dingy room
much more cheerful; large figures make a
small room look much smaller and occasions
much waste in matching the figures. All
low rooms should be papered with striped
paper, having the stripes running up and
down, as it makes the room seem much
higher Subdued tints take off the glare of
too many windows. The best effect is pro-
duced by having paper with pattern and
colors of quiet tone. such as does not at
once strike the eye on coming into the room.
The paper should relieve and set out the fur
niture that stands in front of it, moi attract
attention from it.
In paper read before the Academy of
Medicine, Paris, NJ Luys states that the brain
is subject to certain changes in position, de-
pendent upon the attitude of the body.
Tins, if a man is in the dorsal decubitur, or
lies upon his side or stands upon his head,
the brain undergoes certain corresponding
changes in position, in obedience to the law
of gravity. The movements take place
slowly, and the brain is five or six minutes
in returning to its first position. From these
mathematical data NJ. Luys deduces some in
teresting and practical conclusions, and ex-
plains by them the symptoms of vertigo and
faintness, for example which feeble persons
experience when suddenly rising from hor
.zontal position.