The Opelousas courier., 1888-02-25
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.

man and English rails resulted in a
British victory.
1t takes IA, 800. 900 gallons of oil a
year to keep the railways of Great
Britain going, and the cost is nearly
So, 900, 900.
A Texas paper says that camels, both
wild and tame, are to be found in that
state. They are the offspring of a num-
Der imported from Arabia in 1852.
The art of paper-making has reached
a point where a growing tee may be
cut down, made into paper, and turned
out as a newspaper all within thirty-six
hours.
Professor Mees has shown by means
Of an air gun that to drive straws
through pine boards, as is oftea done
by toruadoes, a velocity of 100 to 175
miles an hour is required.
A barmer recently drove into Atchi-
son, Kan, on a loaded hay rick made
partly of iron. One of the wheels
rubbed against the ironwork, setting fire
to the hay and burning it up.
In English collleries, roburite has
proven equal or superior to gunpowdel
IN blasting effects, while absolutely free
from the flame that renders gunpowde1
so dangerous r the presence of explosive
gases. GO
Recentexperiments have demonstrated
that an incandescent electric light of
100-candle power, sunk twenty feet in
the ocean, will illuminate the surface
sufficiently to distinguish objects within
a radius of $50 feet.
Coal7tar put up in tiny tablets or in
fluid form is slowly coming into use in
England for sweetening tea and coffee.
It is less bulky than sugar and is said to
be entirely harmless to diabetic and
other 1nralids to whom sugar is strictly
! forbidden.
Electric-light people are indignant at
the remark of Professor Wiesner of
Vienna that that light damages books
by discoloring the paper, and is not fit
to use in libraries. They say that sun
light does the same thing, and that it is
only the arc light that discolors paper,
any way. The iucandescen light, they
claim, is perfectly harmless to books.
Many a~rtesian wells spout water under
a heavy pressure, just as many gas
wells find the gas under a pressure of
several hundred pounds to the square
inch. This water-power is used in
many places in France by means of tur-
bine wheels, and it is probable that even
the gas pressure might in some cases
also be utilized. In very deep artesian
wells the heat of the water is also
utilized. g 81
An English writer urges the import
ance of thoroughly airing Fooms and
flushing all waste pipes on the return Of
q family after a considerable absence
from home. The shut-up house is often
filed with noisome gas, through the
evaporation of the water which keeps
the sewer traps operative, and this is not
necessarily revealed by an odor. Many
,scases OF. sore throat have been traced to
o neglect of the precautions mentioned.
The government experiments this
year in making sugar from sorghum are
said to have been very Successful. On
fair soil the yield of cane was IN aver
age of twelve tons. The average yield
of sugar per acre was about 1900 pounds,
and of syrup 1870 gallons. It is claimed
that at this rate, ever at the present
low price of sugar, the business of max
ing sugar from sorghum would be very
profitable.
At the time of the death of Herr
Krupp he had in hand for some Time q
gun for the Italian Government which
has just been finished. The qua, which
weighs 11S teas, is 45 feet long, and its
calibre nearly 16 inches. 1t is rifed,
and throws a steel projectile, weighing
nearly a ton, with a charge of 6 cwt. of
powder. The shot can penetrate a steel
armor plate So inches thick at the mouth
Of the gun, or 30 inches at q distance oil
a mile. It is not believed that any ar
morcd ship in the world can endure the
fire from such q gun.
A novelty of the Upper Thames is
launch which owes its motive power to
the explosive vapor of some hydrogen
bon such as petroleum. The vessel il
of American origin, and is the first tt
use a petroleum engine in Great Britain,
The boat is started by the act of light.
ing a lamp, and the lamp must be, ex.
tinguished to stop the engiae. Tit
fuel costs much less than would tn
coal necessary for the same amount O.
work. The omission Of a boiler save
much space, while neither firemen no
working engineer is required.