The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-12-01
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

SSIEtNSC ANO IINOOS T.
Most of the needles used in this
country are imported from England,
and the number consumed annually is
about 100000.
Wool growing is the sixth in i'm
portance Of the agricultural industries
in the United States, and is surpassed
only by corn, hay, wheat cotton and
oats.
A series Of experiments lately
made by French machinist are said
to have proved that steel loses weight.
by rust twice as rapidly as cast iron
when exposed to moist air.
According to Prof. Potter asphalt,
the article of prominent commercial
importance Of the present day, was
used in the building of the tower Of
Babel and other ancient structures.
"A new system of lighting called
the "Lucizen" will be used at the.
Wyandotte shipyard. 1t is made by
crude petroleum and air pumped by a
small engine, the flame being three
feet high.
The discovery and utilization Of
natural gas have proved a powerful
stimulus to the manufacture Of iron
pipes and tubes in this country; there
are now 2,300 miles of mains in the
United States for conveying natural
gas.
AS case OF deafness a result of
gazing for a few seconds at a powerful
electric arc has been reported to the
French Academy of Sciences. The
symptoms disappeared after about an
hour and half. but returned on
repetition of the experiment.
DR. Charcot, the great French
physician, says that children under
sixteen can not have their brains over
worked. No forcing, he asserts, will
get out Of them more cerebral work
than the brain will accomplish with
out fatigue. II is not till after the
age Of sixteen or eighteen that forcing
becomes possible.
An international congress of nearly
five hundred physicians lately in ses-
sion in Paris was practically unani-
nous that consumption, or tuberculosis.
is contagious and transmissible be-
tween man and beast. There was una
nimity also as to the prime necessity
Of boiling milk and cooking meat we'll
as Il preventive Of much of the con-
sumption which now afiicts the human
race.
Investigation has shown that po-
rOus terra-cOtta bricks and blocks best
resist the action of fire, water and frost.
Next to these us ire-resisting materials
comes concretes and burnt clay work.
For buildings intended to be fre-proof,
the best materials are iron work, in
cascd in porous terra-cOtta, with tile or
brick work in roof and floor, and tile
construction. The hollow tiles are
faced with vitreous tile, slate, or any
good weather-proof coating, or with
single thickness of brick
1t is not generally known, says the
Mining Recicw, that important mining
operations are carried on in the Arctic
Circle. Cryolite is carried from Green
Iillu 10 IullduelDnlt ny inc SHlp-lOdu
to be used in making candles. EXten-
sive copper mines have been worked
for a long time in Finland. Most Of
the work of mining has to be done I'M
der ground, and the workmen in deep
mines suffer from heat, consequently it
is apparent that mines can be worked
as probably in these high ATTITUDES as
in our own country.
DR.. Dastre, a French psychologist,
who has been experimenting with ami
mails to determine the nature Of sea-
sickness. reports that after they had
| been subjected to various kinds of mo-
ton, corresponding to the rolling and
pitching OF vessels, he found their in
testines strangely displaced. He con-
cludes that similar disturbance pro-
duces seasickness on board ships. Co.
caine is said to be an excellent remedy
Another French physician who agrees.
! with DR.. Dastre as to the causes OF sea-
sickness, claims to have discovered two
infallible remedies, one d mixture of
atropine and strychnine, and the other
caffeine.