The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1890-05-14
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

There are. Il is said, over 1000, 900
miles of telegraph wire in the United
States, or enough to encircle the globe
forty times.
II is reported that Japanese drug
gist has succeeded in converting wild
hemp into substance possessing all of
the essential qualities Of silk.
II is believed that the varieties of the
domestic dog owe their origin to wolves
and iackals, the habit of barking hav-
iLg been acquired under the influence Of
domestication.
Some odors, though mingled together,
can still be dissociateo and recognized
by the olfactory nerve-cuds, whereas
others, on the contrary, overwhelm one
another, so that one only may be per-
ceiyed, the others being completely sup
pressed.
DR.. Arapad Bokai, professor Of the
University Of Klausenburg, Germany,
claims to have compounded solution
which completely neutralizes the poison
introduced into the system by the bite of
a mad dog. This solution consists of
chlorine water salt brine, sulphurous
acid, permanganate of potassium, and
eucalyptus oil.
There is a growing tendency among
chemists TO regard the elements as vary
ing arrangements--produ at success
sivc stages in the process of cooling-of
one original form of atom. Evidence in
favor of the hypothesis is claimed in the
fact that some elements seemed not to
have formed in the sun, while yet more
are absent from still hotter stars.
The question of the wholesale destruc-
ton of swallows by electricity has at last
been taken up in France. In the south
of that country long wires are systemati-
,, cally erected along the seashore, and
when the tired swallows alight on them
they are stunned or killed by an electric
shock. The birds are then sent to Paris,
where they are used for decorative pur-
poses.
Recent observations Of the waters oI
Great Salt Lake prove conclusively that
the statements made that no form of ami
NAL or plant life exists in the lake are
! erroneous. No fish or other large form
of animal life has been discovered, bu
the presence cf vegetable organisms il
the lake may be considered a fact from
the abundance of minute animal exist
enceS.
English manufacturers have lately pro
duced a new waterproof fabric which i
claimed to possess some special advan
tages over ordinary materials of the kind
being free from the objections pertainin:
to those that are impervlous to air, tn
result of the coatings of India rubber an,
other non-porous substances which ar
applied as film over the textile base G
the cloth.
The opening of the first submarin
telephone cable has recently taken place
The cable runs between Montevideo an
Buenos Ayres, South America, and
thirty-two miles long, the total lengt
with the overhead line being $50 mile
On this line there are five intermediat
stations, all Of which can telephone an
telegraph simultaneously with all II
other stations.
Those who have spent a half hour I
so trying to ring up man at the oth'
end of a telephone line, and have foun
out after much effort that there was /
one there, would feel better if there WI
on the market something which wou
at once, when box was rung up, give
signal stating that there was no one
receive a message, and how convenie
if some attachment could be devised f
communicating the time the person wou
return to receive the message.
One of the most remarkable produc
of French ingenuity at the present til
is tibrous substance called celluiose, al
which, by some secret mechanical pr
cess, is obtained from the ordinrry coco
nut husk. When compressed, its speci
gravity is far less than that of cork-it
claimed, indeed, that it is the lightt
solid known, and, therefore, of pecult
value for life belts and life mattress,
: while in large quantities its buoyan
g would render a large vessel absolute
, non-sinkable.