Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-11-13
SCIENTIFIC FACTS.



from rust.
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 a~damscobite,
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 othcY earthquake on record.
According 90 the French HOrticuI-
tHral Rericr. the biggest rose known is
the variety named Paul Neyron, which
was originally grown in 1869, by Mons.
Leyet.
The appropriations for scientific pur-
poses, made by the British Association
at the Birmingham meeting, amount
in all TO seven thousand five hundred
dollars.
A Mexican company is to work up
the cactus plant. the oil of which is
suitable for mbricating purposes, the
fibre for corda%e, the leaf for paper,
and the fruit for eating.
A chemical means for manufacture
ing quininc, without the use of Gin
chon1 bark. has blen discovered in Eng
land by Mr.. CrtsSwell ~lIewett, giving
rise TO the hope OF a great reduction in
the price OF the drug.
Japan, according to Mr.. John Milne,
contains l29 volcanic peaks, of which
litty-onc are still active. The loftiest
is FUjiyama, near Yokahoma, a little
over .2,iD feet high, which does not
appear to he extinct, as is generally
supposed.
The floating islands Of pumice,
thrown up by the late stup"ndous vol
canic eruption AT Krikatoa, in the
Javan seas. are found to have drifted
in the Indian Ocean G16 miles in a direc-
ton west by south from the spot where
they were a year ago.
= luminous cement, which is covered
with plra!lilr or other interpreting
,,,t.....,,, ~, .,,y &c - hno lo.,,
moulded and dried. has been patented
in Elcland. 1t is intended for elging
for gurIen-Walhs, or for baluStrades,
beams and corners of country lanes,
bridges. etc.
The deepest artcSian well in the world
is being bored at peStll. a depth of
$40 feet has already been reached.
furnishing l7f, ~ gallons daily, at a
temperature OF us degrees Fair. The
boring is 20 be continued. in order to
gain n larger quantity of water and Of
Il higher temperature.
1t has been found that the glaciers Of
tie APPS grow ,Arougl a period Of !if-
teen to thirty years. AID then diminish
through a corresponding period. The
increase seems to coincide with cold
and wet years. ana the decrease with
the reverse. The glaciers have been
growing since 1873.
\ curious sort Of vegetable tallow or
fat from North Borueo was exhibited
AT the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
in London. Ii is putupin hollow stems
OF bamboo. two feet or SO in length,
and is employed in oiling machinery
and for culinary purposes. Its origin
is doubtful.
Balata is a new vegetable product Of
British Guiana. which is described as
intermediate in character between
Cutta-percha and india-rubber. 1t is
particularly valuable for machine
bands, as it does not stretch under ten
sion: so, nj least, says the Government
botanist Of the colony.
A detailed description Of the mud
volcanoes in the BaSu region of the
Caspian Sea has been furnished to the
Geological Society of stockholm by a
Norwegian geoiogist who has long
lived in that volcanic district. 1t seems
there is me mud Onc Il thousand feet
high, with a crater CT -lty-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 a gilt to science as well
as to California By placing the great
telescope at the disposal Of the distin-
Cuished 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. Il.
Roosen, of Hamburg, food Is kept
fresh for a considerable time in barrels
filed with a weak solution Of boracic
acid. tartaric acid and salt. which is
subjected to a pressure OF about five at
mospheres. In recent tests fish was
found to have kept perfectly fresh in
warm weather for seventeen days and
beef was good five months after being