The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-09-05
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Clinton, Ia, claims to have the
largest saw-mill in the world.
Professor Putnam, in his report to
the Peabody Museum for the current
year, says man has existed for 10000
years in this country.
The art of making matches has been
so perfected that 100000 of the tiny
sticks can be cut into shape, all ready
for dipping, by one machine in single,
day.
The mineral called turfa, or brazoli--
ma, recently discovered in Bahia, fur
nishes an oil akin to petroleum, paraf--
fine suitable for the manufacture of cam,
dies, and good lubricating oil.
"A new substitute for sulphate of
quinine has been found by NJ. Valude
in the bark of the panbotana, legumin-
GUS tree of Mexico. Either the alcoholic
tincture or a preparation obtained by
maceration has remarkable effect in
fever cases.
"A report comes from the West of the
discovery of a process by which iron ore
can be so softened by the concentrated
rays of an arc light as to be worked with
a comparatively small amount of labor.
If this discovery is confirmed, it may
lead to considerable modification of the
present modes of treating ores.
The iron industry is rapidly getting
into more satisfactory condition, and,
Notwithstanding the fact that the pro-
duction of both crude and finished iron
is far in excess of any previous record,
yet consumption has so far kept pace,
with il that the market is nowhere bur-,
dened with any large accumulation.
Prices have eased off somewhat within
the past six months, but are gradually
becoming firmer, and as the supply is
absorbed without difficulty, the outlook
is deemed to be most favorable. Boston
Advertiser.
In five years of observation at Lin
coin, New Zealand, Mr.. George Gray
has found that the amount of impurity
washed down from the air by the rain
depends more on the number of showers
than on the total rainfall. An acre of
land at Lincoln receives annually lin
IS. @ inches of rain) about 179 pounds of
dissolved matter, including COS pounds
of chlorine, fifteen pounds of sulphuric
anhydride, and little more than two
pounds of nitrogen. Nearness to the
sea explains the high proportion of
chlorine. Traveller.
M. de la Bastie, French chemist,
has, during the past few years, con-
Quoted seriescof experiments which
are said to have resulted in method of
rendering glass sufficiently tough for
use in molding many articles hitherto
made of iron. On the strength of this
discovery, the hope is INDUCED that the
huge sub-Atlantic pneumatic tube for
the connection of the Old with the New
World, the suggestion of which was re-
ceived with Indifference and incredulity
some time ago, may eventually turn out
to be not so chimerical as at first glance
it was judged to be.
The death of DIR. Christian Henry
F. Peters, the celebrated astronomer of
Litchfield Observatory, Hamilton Col
lege, ends one of the most useful scien-
tiic careers of our day. DR.. Peters
astronomical work was varied and eX-
tensive, including observations on
asteroids, comets, solar spots, and the
mapping of the stellar heavens. He
discovered more asteroids than any
other astronomer, the total to his credit,
we believe, being forty-seven. He rec
corded IL, 900 sun spots and catalogued
75,UCO zodiacal stars. His star charts
were among the most elaborate ever
published, and contained all the known
stars down to the fourteenth magnitude
as far as thirty degrees on each side of
the equator, throughout the whole
twenty-four hours.-Rochester Herald.