The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-11-30

SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
The best diamond cutters make
sixty dollars per week.
The annual production Of chemi-
Gals in France Is said to have reached
the great value Of $500. 900, 900.
The employment Of citrate Of am
monia. dissolved in water, has recently
been successfully employed as an cleo
trolytic exciting agent for galvanic
batteries.
1T is claimed that the methods re-
Gently employed for determining the
electric couductivity Of salts In solu-
ton can not be directly applied beyond
the melting point Of glass.
From experiments made in Rich
mond. Va. with electric heaters. it
seems probable that a passenger coach
can be kept warm at an expense of two
cents an hour. the current being sup
piled by dynamo on the locomotive
or tender.
AT the Society Of Engineers. En-
gland. it was demonstrated that the
action of sea water on cement blocks.
made with a proper proportion Of Port
land cement, caused no deterioration,
but they were actually improved by 1t.
The result was surprise to all.
From recent study of the bones
Of anthropoid apes it appears that the
gorilla and chimpanzee approach near
est to man, but in different degrees.
the orang-outang holding third place.
But great differences exist between
the proportions of the human frame
and those Of all the apes.
The salt industry in southern Kan
sas is assuming majestic proportions.
It Is said that the salt taken up at
Wellington. in that State, is the purest
in the world. A dozen great salt
plants are already in operation, and
others will soon be established. In q
few years all the salt used for ordinary
purposes west of the Mississippi river
will probably be supplied by Kansas
Although mollusks possess no eyes
they display extreme sensibility to
light. the least change Of its intensity
suflcing to excite more or less sud-
den contraction OF the siphon. The
existence of two distinct functions has
been verified-one receptive and the
other emissive-thus showing that the
mechanism Of eight belongs to the
category Of tactile phenomena, in the
higher animals gradually differentiated
and localized in q special organ.
Artificial silk is not yet manufac-
tured on an Industrial scale. but it ap'
pears that this will very shortly b
done, and while it is impossible to fore
tell with certainty what will be the
commercial results of this curious in
vention, It is impossible to resist The
conclusion that it is highly practicable
and that it even contains the element
of great future success. Engineering
Electricity will be used in q prac
teal way in taking of the census. Tht
census blanks will be the same as usual
but the information they contain vii
be recorded ON large sheet Of pape1
by the punching OF holes in it at Ger
tain intervals. An electrical circuit 4
formed through these holes. and coun
ters are added electrically, recording
on their dials all items Of the same
kind.
| III saccharine is not q wholesome
article of diet, it seems to have othe
uses of great value. Thus, = Frencl
writer afiirms that it is a valuable anti
septic. A strength of one to 500. as al
addition to mucilaginous and other 80
lutions. prevents the formation OF Low
organisms. An inexpensive dentifrice
for example, may be prepared by simpl
dissolving saccharine in water. in tn
proportion ofsix per cent Ateaspoon
full of this in halt pint Of water form
an admirable antiseptic mouth wash.