The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-12-05
SCIENCE AND IlspUsTRY.

Tho drst notice of coal va in B. @.
III. It was first used 81 London IN
1910. Coal gas was first made use Of
practically In 179s
Mushrooms are familiar article Of
bod, but they are only one 81 the many
,dible fungi in this country. The ia
niliar giant white puff-ball, lyooperdon
yganteum, is, for instance, as good eat
ing as any.
-The result Of the recent expert
nents in the Mediterranean showing
how far daylight penetrates the waters
we're obtained by the nse Of gelatino-
bromide plates. The greatest depth at
which daylight could be found, 51S
teet-is S27 feet short Of the limit as
signed some years ago.
Prof. Elihu Thompson has perfected
IN invention by which the rails of street
'r steam railways may be welded to-
yether by electricity after being placed
in position. A dynamo propels over the
track On electric welding machine,
which Yields the rails into one continu-
Jus line after it passes over them.
Prof. Lintner estimates thatf all the
species Of insects inhabiting the world
we're known their number would reach
l,O00, 200. he states that he has himself
'een at ono glance, within . small ex-
tent of roadway, more snow-heas Of
single species than there are human
beings on the entire surface of the globe.
The grading of fresh fruit before it
is packed or sent to the cannery from
orchards and vineyards in the far West
is done cheaply and successfully by
several rival machines. Raisins are
stemmed and graded by machinery. AL.
monds are hulled by very useful and
cheap continuance in use in most Of the
orchards. The parers, corers and vari-
GUS kinds Of knives used are nearly all
Of the Pacific coast styles.
Prof. Scribner, of the Tennessee
Agricultural Experiment Station, has
discovered new disorder Of the potato
tuber, which promises to prove serious.
The tubers are marked with many small
pimples, and they finally wither and be-
come worthless. The disease is caused
by nematode, or true worm, allied to
the pork trichina and vinegar ell.''
"A French paper gives a description
Of a pen made of glass, which, 1t says,
steel pen makers will not look upon with
a favorable eye, as its merits are such
as to insure it's adoption in lieu Of the
steel pens which have so long held the
field. With tho new pen, says the
writer, one can write as freely as with a
pencil, and on the smoothest paper,
while its durability is 50 great that,
unless the pen itself is broken, it is in
destructible.
The African elephant, according to
Herr J. Mengis, is quite as docile as the
Indian elephant, and much stronger.
No modern attempt to tame the animal
has been made, though it seems to have
been put to work in ancient times, and
would, If properly trained, be of i'm
mense service in the opening up of
Africa. 1t must be protected, no Sever,
or it will soon be quite extinct.
-Bosworth-Smith, in report on the
Kolar gold field, in Southern India, is
sued by the Madras government, records
some ''flnds' of mining implements,
fragments of bones, an oil lamp, and
broken pieces of earthenware, including
, crucible, the remains of ancient min
ing operations. He expresses astonish.
ment at the fact that the old miners
were able to reach depths of two hum
bred or three hundred feet through hard
rock with the simple appliances at their