The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1886-09-29
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL

A 5otanist has attempted 10 estimate
the number Of seeds found upon single
specimens of some Of the most obnoxious
weeds of this country. For shepherds
purse he makes the number 81, 500 per
plant; dandelion, II, los; wild pepper
grass, 1S, 400; wheat thief, 1000; com
mon thistle, 60, 1856; camomile, 10, 920;
butter weed, s,5s7; rag weed, 1896;
common purslane, 3SS, 500; common
plantain, AZ, 200; burdock, 3s,06S.
The latest advance in astronomical pho
tography is a series Of surprising photo
graphs of the planet Saturn, made by the
Henry brothers of Paris. They show the
twu principal rings with the division be-
tween them, and their marked contrast
in brightness. The "crapen ring is also
perceptible, and on the ball of the planet
itself the belts and dark polar cap. The
planet is now in almost the best possible
position for observation, with the rings
open to the widest, so that all the features
Of the splendid system are fully dis
played.
On the eastern coast Of the Caspian
Sea a curious phenomenon is in progress.
The Kara Boghaz is an estuary nearly
separated from the main body of the sea
by bank through which there is an
inlet The evaporation from this gulf is
so great that a current continually sets in
f.om the Caspian; and as there is no re-
turn current the water Of the gulf becomes
more and more saliferous, and deposit
Of salt is in course of formation. In time
this gulf will be cut off from the Cas-
plan, and will then be dried up and be-
come an extensive salt-bed.
Recent experiments have been made
with view of recovering the tin from
waste and scrap tin plates by means of an
electric process, which is also said to be
applicable to the treatment Of tailings,
Stag and many kinds of refuse. Dyna-
mos are used to generate the electric cur
rent, which is passed through the solu-
tion in which the tin cuttings or mining
stuffs are deposited. These are con-
nected with the positive pole and tho tin
withdrawn from the tin cuttings, or the
gold withdrawn from other substances
which may be under treatment.
In Guatemala the alligator pear is the
most highly priced of all their fruits, and
tastes somewhat like an exquisite pear
and cantelope combined. Plums grow
in endless quantities upon trees without
leaves, the red fruit sticking on the bare
wood as if pinned on. Oranges, lemons
and lines bear all the year. The guava,
from which a rich Jelly is made in the
West Indies, grows wild. There is a
tree which bears a vegetable egg in great
profusion, the substitute for hen labor
being about the size of genuine article
and answering the same purpose in many
forms of cookery.
The sea is the tomb of moulds and of
all aerial germs. Near continents the
| land winds always drive before them an
atmosphere laden with microscopic life,
but at fifty or seventy-fve miles from the
coasts this impurity has disappeared, ac-
cording to NJ. NJ. Moreau and MIGUEL.
Pestilential atmospheres are rapidly puri-
fed by the sea, every expanse of water
of certain breadth thus forming an inn
passable obstacle to the spread of epi-
denies Sea winds sensibly cleanse the
air of the land over which they pass, this
publication being recognized in France
as far as Paris.
It is well understood that Great Britain
and other parts of northern Europe owe
much to the warming influence of the
Gulf Stream. The extent of the effect
has been given in the calculations Of Dr.
James Croll, who has found that the
amount of heat conveyed northward in
the Atlantic by this stream is equiva-
lent to II, 40, $50, 600, goo, 900, 900 foot
pounds of energy per day, which is equal
to all the heat received by 1860, 035
square miles at the equator, and more
heat than is conveyed by all the air cur
rents The heat of the Arctic seas and
North Atlantic would be diminished that
much by the stoppage or diversion of the
great ocean river.