The Opelousas courier., 1890-05-10
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

A very considerable industry is now
carried on in Sweden, namely, the ex-
traction of oil from wood.
Including the Pasteur Institute of Paris,
there are now twenty laboratories for the
prevention of hydrophobia.
The Hessian fly is said to have been
introduced into England from the United
States IN the straw put in packing cases.
Men of science who have investigated
the subject declare that the coast of New
Jersey is sinking at the extraordinary rate
Of two feet in a century.
George Bucket, a Louisville inventor,
is to the fore with a mysterious vacuum
bed, which will cure all pain, and a
triple motor to travel with equal celebrity,
ease and economy on land or water or
in the air.
Emperor William has subsidized to the
amount of 80, 900 marks the expedition
under DR.. Henson to explore the sub
marine fauna and flora of the ocean. The
east coast of Greenland is the first cruis-
ing ground.
In the newly-made tea plantations of
Assam, in India, a red spider has sud-
denly shown inself, and threatens serious
injury to the plants unless some wash
can be found that will kill the spiders
and leave no taste on the leaf.
Thirty shots were fred at Annapolis
with the Maxim gun, working semi-auto-
nlaticalIy, in one minute and thirty Sec
onds, and another lot of twenty shots in
nineteen seconds. The charge of powder
weighed about two pounds, and the pro-
j~ectile six pounds.
Sir Edward Watkin has been told by
one of the architects who helped Mr..
Eiffel to build his tower that it is ex-
tremely doubtful if a tower 1000 feet
high can be constructed. All depends
upon the exact ratio at which the force
of the wind increases above a certain
height.
The c~leanest md most perfectly
polished hardware floors have no water
used on them. They are simply rubbed
every morning with a large flannel cloth
which is occasionally dipped in p~araffin
oil. The floor is rubbed with the grain
of the wood, not across it. This is better
than waxing.
Marcus Boyle, Of Marion, Ohio, has a
process by which with a blow lamp and
a certain chemical he can blow names
into glass in less time than it would take
to paint them. He obtained some beau.
tiful effects in Prisr""tic colors, and as ii
costs about one-half what painting does
he expects to supersede all other kinds
o. lettering on glass.
The B~abylonian expedition CT the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, Whfeh-w was sent
out a year ago, has already mads
successful explorations, and has secured
about three thousand tablets bearing in
scriptions more or less important. The
party of explorers will continue another
n {ear at their work, and will bring back
all their trophies to the University OF
Pennsylvania.
One of the most curious inventions is
a method for producing food for fishes,
which is the joint production of two men
from Switzerland. It provides two ponds
and passes the fish from the first pond to
the second, allowing the excrement to re.
main and develope animalcula, and re.
turning the fish to the first pond to feed
upon the animalcula, while it is develop.
ing in the second pond.
A pneumatic tube company is building
an experimental tube, thirty inches il
diameter, and 1000 feet long, in Marion,
N. j. The cars will weigh ESQ pounds
the speed viii be ffty-three miles pei
hour. Tt is only a question of work and
money to make them eight feet instead
of thirty inches, and to put in cars fol
passengers and run them LOG miles pei
hour, instead of ifty-three.