The Colfax chronicle., 1890-12-13
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

transmitted to the latter.
There are about GO, 900, 900 parts in
a single feather Of an eagle. 1t is stated
1000 rami, ., 800, 600 radii and 54, 600, 900
chilla and booklets.
1t is stated on good authority that
the factories OF England, France, Ger
many and Holland produce about IT,
100000 pins daily. But where do they
all go to?
-Seven varieties of fishes examined
by naturalists of the Challenger expedi-
tion are found totally blind in tho deep
sea, but have eyes when inhabiting
shallow water.
The State geologist of New Jersey
says the coast of that State is sinking at
the rate of at least two feet in a century.
Other observers hold that the rate is
much more rapid.
More women in proportion 10 pobu-
lation are employed in industrial occu-
patiohs in England than in any other
European country. Twelve percent. of
the Industrial classes are females.
"A large veins of pure white sand,
Suitable for making glass, has been
found near Pittsburgh, Pa. The dis
scovery will save the glass manufact-
'lrers of that city thousands OF dollars
annually. as they have hitherto been
Obliged to send across the Allegheny
Mountains for their sand.
An engineer of Manchester, En-
gland, is introducing novelty in paper,
viz, paper file-hafts and tool-handles,
which are said to be practically inde-
svuctible and much cheaper than wood
or malleable iron hafts. Placed under
a steam-hammer, although they can be-
1fattened, they can not be split or
cracked.
"A sample of oranges plucked from
trees grown on the place of Thomas E.
Halle, at Kanapha, Fla, are of the early
variety, just commenced to ripen, and
will weigh about one pound each. Mr..
the trees are so loaded with fruit that it
has become necessary to prop them up.
The crop is simply wonderful.
-"Sometimes," writes correspond
ent of trade paper, 81 have had To
make holes in steel that was too bard tn
cut or file easily. Then 1 maks n mix-
ture that will cut hole, / mix one
ounce of sulphate Of cop pe,. quarter of
an ounce of alum, half +easnoonful ~
powdered salt gill of vinegar and
twenty drops of nit fsc acid. This will
make a hole"
VICTOR NE Jer, an eminent German
chemist oe loves "we may reasonably
hope tnae chemistry will yet teach us to
make sne fiber of wood a source of
num- IN food" This fiber. as we'll as
u at OF grass and straw. is chemically
closely allied to starch, but is not al
tered like starch, in boiling water. yet
both the wood fiber and the starch can
be transformed into glucose. In short,
we may some day be breakfasting on
sawdust porridge.
For some time past efforts have been
made to consolidate, and virtually place
under one management, the American
glass factories manufacturing tableware.
1t is announced that arrangements are
in progress by which at least thirty-one
of the factories engaged in this line will
be united The accredited agents Of
the movement, while they give but lit
tie information, state that the capital
does not come from distinctively foreign
sources. Manufacturer.
Aluminium and alloys are now pro-
duced in considerable quantities by
three distinct methods from certain
clays, corundum, etc. In one case the
metallic sodium retorting process is en-
employed, in another the electrical
smelling furnace process, and in third
the direct smelling substitution process
Is resorted to. The last-named method,
which has proved very successful, con-
sists in producing chemical alloy
within a water-jacketed furnace and a
metal fume condenser = without any
metallic sodium or electricity the
product being equaled by only one
other, which. may be classed as the
solidified solution of one metal into
another.
"A Belgian che mist is said to have
devised method of rendering fabrics
proof against the ravages of decay for
an indefinite period. Noting the fact
that resin played an important part in
the wonderful preservation of Egyptian
mummies, he made numerous expert
ments with substances extracted from
birch bark, to which the peculiar aroma
of Russian leather is due. He found
that the green tar which is left over
after the oil used in tanning has been
extracted from the white bark of the
birch tree yields neither acid nor alka-
loid, and thafin solution with alcohol it
forms q liquid Of remarkable auidity,
which has the power OF resisting when
dry the action of even alcohol. 1t is
claimed that this preservation possesses
the property of uniting with the most
delicate and brilliant colors and render
ing them apparently imperishable. j.
s--r
Heiresses In Mexico.
1t is considered q disgrace for Mex
ican lady to earn her own living. The
men do the cooking and male servants