Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-12-13
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Microscopic examination tCuuS 10 con-
rm the opinion that cmmensite, the new
explosive, is u chemical compound, aud
not mere mixture.
In experiments on the solubility oil
glass i'll water, plumbiferous flint glass
was found to be the least soluble, and the
relative resistance of glasses was different
toward hot and cold water.
Professor Frcsenius. of Wicsbadcn,
Germany, declares that m egg contains
as much nourishmunt rs pound and an
ounce of cherries, pound and quarter
of grapes, pound and half of russell
apples, two pounds of goosebcrrics, and
four pounds of pears.
Some additional facts of scientific ill.,
tcrest are given i'll u recent report con
corning the artesian well-thc deepest in
the world-at Pesth, Austria, and which,
from its depth of $40 feet, supplies 17G,-
900 gallons OF water daily, having IL tenn.
pcraturc of 15S degrees Fall
The protection of men-of-war from the
effects OF lightning has reduced casualties
from that cause in remarkable degree
In fifty years before the introduction Of
lightning rods over two hundred Eng
lish men-of-war were struck, while from
1910 to 1915 only forty eight vessels were
more or less damaged.
A Corsican doctor, NJ dc Susini, has
| made sulphuric ether engine of twenty
horse power, which is expected to realize
Il saving Of sixty-ivc per cent. in fuel.
Scientific men in Paris who have wit
messed its workings arc said to have re-
served their opinion us to its merits until
further tests have been made.
A Dutch physician declares that close
connection exists between the exercise of
mental faculties aud disorders of the
nose. He says that if it were generally
known how many eases Of chronic head
ache, of inability TO learn or to perform
mental work, were due to chronic dis
case of the nose, many OF them would be
easily cured.
n great amount of motive power has,
for years past, been derived from the
discharge of water from artcsian wells
in France; more SO, i'll fact, than in any
other part Of the world. In the city of
Tours there is an artcsian well which
drives hydraulic wheel seven metres in
diameter, and works the machinery Of II
silk factory.
The very latest improvement in the
manufacture OF iilaments for incandesccnt
lamps is process whereby the llamcnts
are heated to II high temperature by burn
ing fluid fuel in suitable (urnanrc and
nj the conclusion OF the operation raising
the Temperature toa still higher degree
for II short period by the introduction of
blast of oxygen.
II is stated that, near Brady's Bend,
Penn. an oil we'll is located which every
day pumps barrel of iirst-class refined
petroleum, the residents in the vicinity
purchasing and burning it without its
having passed through any process; it
answers the purpose equally us well rs
the finest illuminating kerosene, does not
smoke, and has no unpleasant odor.
M. Pasteur delivered an address the
other day in Paris to the members of the
Society of Practical Medicine, and in it
declared with much emphasis that rabies
is never spontaneous. The microbc pro-
ducng it, he said, was invariably trans
mitted. This means, of course, that no
dog ever goes mad unless he has been
bitten by another mad dog, fact at
once important and rcassuring.
The ingenious adulterator is quite "a.
home in Austria. At the laboratory in
Vienna, where food is analysed for moth
ing, loaf of bread WAS found to consist
largely of the pulvcrizcd bark Of trees,
sawdnst and chaff; ground pepper was
found to be mixed with wood ashes Gin
namon was colorcd with ochrc; and II So
called nutritious coffee" consisted en-
/ tirely Of roast acorns and chicory.
Progress has its penalties. The use of
steam us Il motive power aud heater has
cost many thousands of lives. So has
the use of gas MS an illumination. Flee
tricity is now at the front for employ
nent rs power and light. 1t is doing
some killing, but its victims are few as
compared with those of steam. Doubt.
less it will be rendered less dangerous,
but it must always retain capacity for evil
rs well rs good. We do not get unmixed
good on this side of eternity
A French scientist has discovered n new
insulating substance. y by-product re-
sulting from the treatment of asphalt with
sulphuric acid, which has hitherto been
considered of no value, has been found
to furnish what, according to In
L"miere Eiectrique, is nm excellent
insulating material. This substance,
which resembles ordinary asphalt, be-
comes, after exposure to great heat, us
hard ms ebonitc or vulcanitc, and pos
scsscs high insulating properties.
Play Grounds On the Tons of lIOuses.