The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-01-03
POPULAR SCIENCE.

&
Scales so deics.te that they register
the weight of an eyelash or mans sig
nature have been perfected.
A bicycle which can be made into {
quadricycle and can be used by either
man or woman, has been invented by an
English genius.
The International Chemical Congress
passed aresofuticn to the effect that not
more than 3 per cent. of lead should be
permitted in the alloy used for "tin-
ming, not more than per cent. in the
alloy for tin vessels.
From experiments made in Richmond,
Va, with electric heaters, it seems prob
able that passenger coach can be kept
warm at an expense of two cents an
hour, the current being supplied by dy-
nGmo on the locomotive or tender.
SCOT falls down chimney before a
stozm because the air at that time con-
tains more moisture. Sont;s hygro-
scopie-that is, absorbs the moisture
from the air, and, becoming heavier, de-
tacbcs itself from the sides of the chin
ney-
| While stroll1ng through the Paris Ex-
hibition the other morning, Mr.. Edison
accidently hit upon tool that he calcu-
lanes will save him something like $4,000
a year. 1t IS 4 chisel worked by hydrau-
lie pressure. and will enable him to re-
duce his labor by eighteen hands.
A simple pattern of an ineandescent
lamp has lately been introduced in
France, consisting of two horizontal rods
of copper, placed about four milimeters
apart 4 thin, pointed rod of carbon,
| placed vertically, rests on the copper
rods and forms bridge between them
Thatisa wonderful machine which Mr..
Francis Gallon has invented for measur-
! inc the time which elapses between the
seeing or hearing anything and the max
ing of 4 certain specified movement.
According to experiments made this
time averages about one-ffth of a second
Numerous observations made in France
show that on meeting an insulated me-
talic or carbon conductor the solar rays
communicate to it a positive charge,
that the amplitude of this charge IN
creases with the intensity of the rays,
aad decreases with the hygrometric state
Of the air.
''Pita, the supposed remedy for ny
drophobia discovered IN Spain, seems to
be name given to the iower-stalk of
the aloe, plant common in some parts
of Spain. The story goes that its virtues
were discovered accidentally by man in
a fit of hydrophobia falling upon an aloe
plant and unconsciously biting the stem.
Where gas IS used, the safety Of health
siruply depends on securing full, free and
perfect ventilation. The necessity for
this precaution is highly apparent, when
we think of the impurities which gas
sendsfOTth into the atmosphere, and when
we reflect on the evil which is wrought
to health when these impurities are in
hailed
Some ingenious man has just patented
a new kind of umbrella, the material of
which Is as waterproof as silk or alpaca,
and at the same time quite transparent
With this umbrella one viii be easily able
to avoid in future those collisions with
lamp posts and other umbrells-carriers
which are at present so frequent and so
announcement.
It has been recommended that refuse
cocoanut fibre, which Is very plentiful
where the fruit is grown, be used as a
backing for the armor of war vessels
compressed plates may be made of it,
on being penetrated so as to adj
5s3,5- would quickly swell and close
Vo~Wea-genting the sinking of the
II and her HETEROGENEOUS, bullet
who must do without > diameter n,,, were
Who from the confectio let of water
wine always provided foblow in less
it to at was just horri
d to wayp
1oto- Three hours late
when the tea-table ssian lana an ii luf es
,med had leaked orr years ago by
sea,no l,,5aiy known as Marietta
De- .frtment Is devoted to an
oned knowlBilection of specimens of
oonv disapps have been found in the
.a,la, hments of that country.
even 9kable that, though the
o re- waltedection is large, and contains
,,or noorfes, every plant is still to be
POI owing in the valley of the Nile.
llent THE closest examination fails to
apv IN slightest difference between
lant / IS that fiourished fifty centuries
ie" those which the traveller sees to-
e, II Ehe banks of the river. The very
e to Il which the boy Moses or the chill
H. of Joseph picked still bloom I'M
ged, even in color. There are to be
tlona here blue sprays of larkspur, which
timing hands laid upon the bodies of
whose who died a thousands years before
abraham and Sarah went down into
Z Egypt. In the tombs of later date have
been found, together with apparently
simply ornamental flowers, as hollyhocks
and chrysanthemums, the various fruits,
vegetables and grain for which the land
has ever been renowned, as figs. dates,
olives, grapes, pomegranates, onions,
beans, barley and wheat. Around the
necks and upon the breasts of those who
died at the time Solomon reigned in
Jerusalem, about 1000 B. c., were found
garlands of celery, which does not ap-
pear to have been used at that time as
vegetable by the Egyptians.
All these plants, when they were pre-
pared for the funeral ceremonies, were
subjected to great heat by which their
form and color were preserved, but their
terminating power was destroyed. Hence
all the stories which have been told of
wheat having been raised from grains
which have lain in the wrappings of
munmies for fifty centuries are untrue.
INSCRIPTIONS natives have sold to credu-
lous travellers wheat in which modern
grains have been mixed with the ancient,
but only the modern grains can germi-
late.- Youths Companion.
Treatment of Pneumonia by Ice.