The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-12-19
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

--Gluc from whale refuse Is new
article of commerce made in Russia
-One-half of the lead and zinc ore
used in the United States is mined in
Jasper and Newton counties, Missouri
The largest cotton mill in the South
is now being erected in Florence, Ala,
by New England capitalists. 1t will
have IS, 500 spindles.
The receivable traditions of China
go back to 5000 years before Christ, and
one of their sacred books, the Sinking
Creating of history and of tho govern.
ment and laws of the ancient mon.
archs), begins with the Emperor Taa
2,357 years Il. c.
The difficulties under which an in.
ventor of limited means pursues his
calling will be appreciated when it is
stated that the model for piece of ap-
paratus which can be built for two dol
lars, sometimes costs nine hundred dol
lars. Electrical Review.
The officers of the revenue cutter
Rush, recently returned from Alaskan
waters, climbed over newly made vol
canic crater on the Island of Bogoslov.
They found that thousands of sea gulls
had utilized the steaming, hot, sui
phurous interior as an incubator for
their eggs.
Thermometers made of Jena glass
can be made serviceable for measuring
temperatures as high as $50 degrees c.,
according toZeitschrift fur Instrunenten-
kUnde if the tube above the mercury is
filled with nitrogen, SO that the quick
silver at increasing heat is under
steadily increasing pressure.
How the Ocean is Sounded.-It has
been found difficult to get the correct
soundings of the Atlantic. A midship-
man of the navy overcame the difficulty,
and shot weighing thirty pounds carries
down the line. A hole is bored through
the sinker, through which rod of iroR
is passed, moving easily back and forth.
In London specimens of Mexican
dry moss were shown before the botani-
cal society that were green and flourish
ing although they had been shut up for
three months in dry place. These
plants are said to have the power of roll
ing up in a ball when dry and becoming
apparently dead, only to bloom again.
however, when exposed to moisture.
Probably the oldest timber in the
world which has been subjected to the
use of man is found in the ancient
temple of Egypt, in connection With
stonework which is known to be at least
1000 years old This was the only wood
used in the construction of the temple,
ard is in the form of ties, holding the
end of one stone to another.
What is stated as an improved
method of etching glass has been pat
entod in England. 1t differs from the
older methods in the fact that etching
is accomplished by cold process With
the aid of rubber stamps, the etching OF
such articles as bottles, lamp glasses.
glass plates and similar objects being
considerably accelerated, and the cost
of treatment reduced.
in a recent letter to Prince Bis
marck from Troy, DIR. Henry Schliemanp
tells about his excavations there. He
is making comparatively slow progress.
he says, on account of the depth of the
deposit of earth on the ruins. Seventy
men and three locomotives are employed
by Dr. Schliemann. The doctor writes
| that the art treasures Wnlcn ne VIII
| give to the newly-founded museum OF
Trojan antiquities at Berlin are of great
value and beauty.
A curious phenomenon is reported
by the United States Consul at Mara
| Cable, in Venezuela. Near the Rio do
Orro, at the base of the Sierra of the
Colombian frontier, there is a horizon.
tai cavern. which from time to time
elects huge globules of bitumen, that
explode like bombshells with considera-
BILE noise; and the pitch, forming a black
glacier. runs into kind of pool or lake
near the river bank.
There are many thousands of arti-
sans in this city who get wages twice as
heavy as the salaries that are paid to
school teachers at m asst be assumed,
says ratiocinative pedagogue, that
the rates of payment in all vocations are
regulated by the law of supply and de-
mand, and by the pressure of competi-
ton in them. The supply of teachers is
twice as great as the demand for them.
and two sexes compete with each other
in the market, while the demand for
skilled workers in some vocations is
hardly equal to the supply of them, and
there is but one sex in their field Of
competition. IN. Y. Sun.