West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1890-02-06
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

The longest time thus far reported for
an ~incandescent lamp to burn is 10, COS
hours.
Professor Newbury declares that he has
discovered signs that a man lived so, 900
years ago.
Silk thread is soaked i'm acetate of lead
to increase its weight, and persons who
pass 1t through the mouth in threading
needles, and then bite it off with the
teeth, have suffered from lead poisoning.
Strangers travelling through or soiourn-
ing in districts known to be abouuding in
malarial fevers and ague, should dress i'm
flannel clothing, avoid raw fruits, open
air bathing and night air, and drink tea
and coffee, or only water that has been
previously boiled.
The relative values rs foods Of the
grains named below are given by Profess
sor Wiley as, first, wheat; second. sor-
ghum; third, maize; fourth, unhulled
oats. Sorghum-seed furnishes flour like
buckwheat, that makes passable bread,
and is coming into considerable use.
Nermilion wood has recently been used
to some extent in decorative art work,
being of n finer grain and darker color
than mahogany, and taking a polish
equally beautiful. A native of Sumatra,
1t does not grow to a large size, and, as
the supply is limited, its commercial value
is consequently enhanced.
A compound Of one part Greek pitch
ana two parts of burnt plaster is ap-
proved by French electricians as an insu-
lating substance, having the advantage of
being unchanged in its insulating prop
orty by great heat and moisture. When
hot 1t can be applied with a brush, or it
can be cast, turned and polished.
Crushed Stag is said to be greatly SUI
iperior 20 dry earth as an absorbing and
deodorizing material for earth closets,
both on account of its extreme porosity.
which makes the use of a smaller auan-
tlty possible, and from its value as n fer
%tilizer, which is vastly increased by using
1T for the purpose suggested. II is also
cheap and plentiful.
1t appears that temperiug drills need
no longer be a painstaking and pro-
tracted process. According TO the dis
covery made by a workman in the Car
son (Nev.) Mint, drill points may be so
tempered, electrically. that they will
penetrate the hardest steel or plate glass
by being heated TO a cherry red and then
driven into a piece OF lead.
Experiments by DIR. Pinel show that
hypnotic patients will obey the direc-
tions conveyed TO them mechanically by
the monograph as readily rs they will
obey living words. Hence, he argues.
the theory of animal magnetism--that is,
OF a magnetic current passing from op-
orator to subjects baseless, and the
real cause of the phenomena of hypno-
tlsm is a disordered mental state.
Bosworth Smith, in ID report on the
iKolar gold field, in Southern India, re-
cords some finds of old mining imple.
ments, old hmbering, fragments OF bones,
an old oil lamp, and broken pieces of
earthenware, including a cruciblc, the
remains Of ancient mining operations. He
expresses establishment at the fact that
the old miners were able to reach depths
OF two hundred or three hundred feet
through hard rock, with the simple APP
planes at their command.
The brilliant and beautiful white satin
enamel applied to some of the French
papers and cards is n composition cor
sisting of twenty-four parts by weight of
paraftine and one hundred parts of pure
kaolin, very dry, and reduced to a fine
powder. Before mixing with the kaolin
the parafine is heated to the fusinp
point, and, on cooling the mixture forms
a homogeneous mass, which, when re-
duced to powder, is worked into a paste
IN a paint mill with warm water; this is
the enamel ready for application, aud
can be tinted as desired.