Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1888-01-21
NOTES IN SCIENCE.

PAPER bed-clothe5 are novelty.
They consist of double sheets of
MANILA paper strengthened by Irvine.
A VESSEL in use in the upper
Thames owes its motive power to the
explosive force of petroleum. The
boat is started by lighting a lamp, and
the lamp must be eXtinguished to stop
the engine. The fuel costs less than
coal, while the omission Of the boiler
saves much space and the expense of
fireman and working engineer. The
craft is of American origin.
ACCORDING to Prof. Beekman, felt
was invented before weaving. The
middle and northern regions of Asia
are occupied by Tartars and other pop
ulous nations, whose manners and GUS
toms appear TO have continued un
changed from the most remote antiqui-
ty, and to whose simple and uniform
mode of existence this article seems
to be as necessary as food. Felt is the
principal substance both of their cloth
ing and of their habitations."
A French military engineer, NJ.
Bonnetond, has put dynamite to new
use in build ng foundations in wet
ground. In the construction of forti-
iications at Lyons Il hole is bored in the
wet ground ten or twelve feet deep and
an inch and half in diameter. The
explosion of string of dynamite car
tridgcs enlarges this hole to about a
yard in diameter, and forces the water
SO far ont beyond the sides of the
cavity that at least one-half hour is re-
quircd for it to find its way back. This
gives the Workmen time to introduce
quickly setting concrete. The process
is very rapid.
TIE chances of life are thus set
down: Out of every 1000 men p of
them die annually. Onc-half of those
who are born die before they attain the
age of years. The men able to bear
arms form fourth of the inhabitants
of country. More old men are found
in elevated situations than in valleys
and plains. The number of Inhabitants
of city or county is renew> | every
thirty years. The proportion between
the deaths of women and those of men
is 100 to los. The probable duration
OF female lives is 80 years, but after
that period the calculation is more
favorable to them than to men.
SOME of the animals of Japan are
quite different from the same Speci eS
that are seen in America. The cats,
for instance have the shortest kinds
of tails, or else none at all. Being
deprived of this usual plaything, they
are very solemn puSsies. An Ameri-
can once took one of these tailleSS cats
to San Francisco as a curiosity, and it
utterly refused companiOnShip with
the long-taled feline specimens there,
but finding a cat whose tail had been
cut off by accident the two became
friendly at once. japanese dogs are
almost destitute of noses, having the
noStrils set directly in the head. The
smaller the nose the more valuable the
breed.
a RAPID method of soldering telc-
graph wires has recently been intro
duced and is now to be generally
adopted in Russia. Its principal adj
vantage consists in the saving of time
required for the work and in the avoid
ance of any "scraping," which would
to some extent reduce the strength OF
the wire. The two ends of the wire
already embraced by binding wire
are dipped into a vessel holding con-
siderable quantity of melted solder
upon the top of which Their e is sufii
cient powdered sal ammoniac to leave &
thick layer of liquid salt. The ends of
the wire pressed into this vessel are
quickly joined, however dirty they
may be.