Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-12-24
SCIENTIFIC FACTS.
w hat the Searchers Into Science Find
For the People.


The iron-front buildings in Charles
ton resisted the earthquake shocks
much better than those with stone
fronts.
1t is estimated that 100000 tons
of matter in solution is annually
poured by the Mississippi into the Gulf
of Mexico.
A new mineral, called adamscobite,
has been discovered in Missouri. 1t
cuts steel with great rapidity, and yet
retains its sharpness.
According to Nature the Charleston
earthquake is believed to have dis
turbed a greater extent Of territory
than any other earthquake on record.
According to the French Horticul-
tural RecieD, the biggest rose known is
the variety named Paul Neyron, which
was originally grown in 1869, by Mons.
Levet
The appropriations for scientific pur-
poses made by the British Association
at the Birmingham meeting, amount
in all to seven thousand five hundred
dollars
y Mexican company is to work up
the cactus plant, the oil of which is
suitable for lubricating purposes, the
fibre for cordage, the leaf for paper,
and the fruit for eating.
\ chemical means for manufacture
ing quinine, without the use of Gin
chona bark, has been discovered in Eng
land by Mr. Cresswell IIewett, giving
rise to the hope of great reduction in
the price of the drug.
Japan, according to Mr.. John Milne,
contains l29 volcanic peaks, of which
fifty-one are still active The loftiest
is Fujiyama, near Yokahoma, little
over Il, 400 feet high, which does not
appear to be extinct, as is generally
supposed.
The floating islands of pumice,
thrown up by the late stupendous vol
canic eruption at Krakatoa, in the
Javan seas, are found to have drifted
in the Indian Ocean 676 miles in direc-
ton west by south from the spot where
they were year ago.
A luminous cement, which is covered
with paranne or other interpreting
substance as soon as it has been
moulded and dried, has been patented
in England 1t is intended for edging
for garden-walks, or for balustrades,
beams and corners Of country lanes,
bridges, etc.
The deepest artesian we'll in the world
is being bored at Pesth. 4 depth of
1920 feet has already been reached,
furnishing 176o0) gallons daily, at a
temperature Of los degrees Fair The
boring is to be continued, in order to
gain a larger quantity of water and of
a higher temperature.
1t has been found that the glaciers of
the Alps grow through period of fif-
teen to thirty years, and then diminish
through corresponding period. The
increase seems To coincide with cold
and wet years, and the decrease with
the reverse. The glaciers have been
growing since 1915.
a curious sort Of vegetable talow or
fat from North Borneo was exhibited
at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
in London. 1t is put up III hollow stems
of bamboo, two feet or so in length.
and is employed in oiling machinery
and for culinary purposes. It's origin
is doubtful.
Balata is a new vegetable product of
British Guiana, which is described as
intermediate in character between
gutta-percha and india-rubber. 1t is
particularly valuable for machine
bands, as it does not stretch under ten
sion; so, at least, says the Government
botanist of the colony.
y detailed description of the mud
volcanoes in the Baku region of the
Caspian Sea has been furnished to the
Geological Society of Stockholm by
Norwegian geologlSt who has long
lived in that volcanic district. 1t seems
there is one mud-cone a thousand feet
high, with a crater twenty-one hundred
feet across. The line of volcanoes is
one hundred and twenty miles long
1t is proposed to make the Lick OBJ
servatory truly gift to science as well
as to California by placing the great
telescope at the disposal of the distin-
guished astronomers of the world dur
ing certain hours of each twenty-four,
thus giving visiting specialists an OPP
portunity of attacking the unsolved
problem of astronomy with the most
powerful optical aid TO be obtained.
In the preserving process Of a. r.
Roosen, of Hamburg, food is kept
fresh for considerable time in barrels
filed with weak solution OF boracic
acid, tartaric acid and salt. which is
subjected to a pre- ;sure OF about five at