The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-03-28
POPULAR SCIENCE.

In determining the distance Of stars,
angular measurements are made at inter-
vals of six months. y
Among the German exports to this
country is grease extracted from wool,
and shipped as substitute for gly-
cerine.
DR.. Sturtevant, of New York, says
tho in furious effects of distillery grains
are only seen when fed under unheslth-
full conditions. =
DR.. Hermes and his assistants in the
Berlin Aquarium have recently con-
cluded interesting experiments demon
strating the fact that fishes sleep.
A fossil egg in the Paris Academy Of
Sciences measures "a inches one way
and 20 inches another. The original is
supposed to have been the egg of bird
three times as big as an ostrich. i
Chloride of nitrogen is said to be an
explosive vastly more terrible than dyna-
mite or melinite, and DR.. Gotterman, OF
Gottingen, Germany, says that he has
got it into controIlable shape. ...-
During the past ten years no less than
six species of, North American birds
have become extinct, and it is claimed
that the English sparrow has been the
main cause Of their disappearance. e "a
Dynamite is amixture Of nitro -glycerins
with some more solid material to give
body. It can now be bought for twenty
four cents or less per pound for q thirty
five to forty per cent. mixture, which IS
the quality generally used. ..
The reason hair curls when wound on
a hot iron is that the moisture on the
side next the iron being evaporated BY
the heat, the cells in that part approach
each other more closely, and this shrink
ing of one side causes bend or curve. :
A French scientist advances the theory,
in paper read before the Societe de
Biologie, that obesity is nervous disor-
der, and should be treated by avoidance
of mental and physical fatigue, and diet
of eggs, soup, milk, rice and potatoes. -
Messrs. VIM. H. Cramp & Sons, Of
Pittsburg, Penn. who are now engaged
in building the dynamite cruiser, have
received contract from the Italian Gov
ernment for the construction of forty
foot pneumatic gun. 1t is to be in three
sections, and is to throw a 600 lb. shell.
The nettle is among the substances
which science has put to use during the
past few years. This weed is even being
cultivated in Germany, its fibre having
proven valuable for variety of textile
fabrics. In Dresden thread is produced
from it so fine thata length of sixty miles
weighs on 24 pounds. ...' r,' -
The meteorological phenomena accom-
panying the building of railroads in
Mexico are receiving the attention of
scientific men in that country. Recent
serious damage done by washouts on the
northern section of the Mexican Central
Road was due to waterspouts bursting on
the track, and it is a curious fact that
waterspouts seem to be attracted by the
iron track and telegraph wires. ...s
Two observers, a French and an Aus.
trian, have recently shown the curious
effect exerted upon the acuteness Of
any given sense by the simultaneous e1-
ercise of any other sense. They show,
for instance, that hearing is improved BY
light, especially red or yellow, and that
this action is reciprocal and is exerted on
every sense by all others. The results
are very curious and interesting. t.
N. P. Ledeboer said before the
Academy of Sciences in Paris that al
though it. had long been known that
a magnet raised to a red heat loses
it's magnetic properties, it had only lately
been determined by direct measurement
at what actual degree of temperature
iron ceases to be magnetic body. BY
his experiments he showed that iron re-
mains magnetic up to $50 degrees c.,
after which rapid variation is noticed
in ITS magnetic condition. At 75O de-
grees the magnetic properties are scarcely
perceptible, while at ITO degrees they
disappear altogether.