The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-04-25
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

oSlGNSG AMI KY.
London Industries, in its annual re.
view for 1889, says: cit is to Americans
that we owe almost all the most recent
developments in the steam engine.
Novel boilers, valve gears and Trainings
are all of American origin"
Northern manufacturers are inter.
ested in the statement that the finest
brick made in the South are from the
refuse of slate quarries. They have a
double resisting power and absorb only
One-third as much water as ordinary
brick
"A use has been found for sour
canned corn. Hitherto it has been con-
sidered worthless. But demand for it
has sprung up in the great German
American centers of Cincinnati and New
York, where it is used to mix with saur
kraut, the quality of which, it is said. is
improved by it.
In the new process for spinning and
weaving glass into cloth the warp is
composed of silk forming the body and
groundwork on which the pattern in
glass appears. Not less than fifty to
sixty of the original glass strands are
required to form one thread of the weft.
and not more than yard of the cloth
can be produced in twelve hours.
The resident surgeon of st. Barna-
bas Hospital, Minneapolis, Mimi, re-
ports an operation of a very painful kind
performed on boy of seventeen years
xxyith ho Of Of or I, l.
the power of hypnotism. The patient
was led to and from the operating table,
and even assisted the operator by as
suming any position ordered, yet suf-
fered no pain, lay perfectly quiet two
hours and then called for food, as the
operator had suggested he should do at
q certain time.
"A famous Viennese occulist saws,
for the benefit of the people who have
to earn livelihood with the pen:
"Never write on white paper if you can
get yellow paper. A sheet or card of
the same shade placed on the wall over
the desk will assist in giving the eyes
rest, and this will facilitate the work. :"
He has made the suggestion to many
and in each case has received the
thanks of those who have been benefited
by it. 1t is simple and does not require
any philosophy to prove it.
Terra alba. or white earth, is used
exclusively for adulterating candies,
yet no less than 5000 tons of this sub
stance were recently imported through
New York. LOzenges made entirely of
this earth are dipped in sirups favored
with peppermint and other essences and
then sold as genuine sugar lozenges
When it is known that terra alba is a
mineral insoluble by the gastric juices.
the extent of the evil of this adultera-
ton may be understood. 1t means grave
danger of incurable disease to thousands
of young children. - San Francisco
Chronicle.
Surgeons ar, DOW endorsing meth
cd of treatment in cases where foreign
bodies have been accidentally swallowed
which originated not in the medical
profession, but through the smartnexA
of deft members of another profession
the London pickpockets. When sur
reptitiously acquiring small articles of
jewelry, these are often quickly swal-
lowed, and in order that they may pass
through without harm to the individual
or the jewelry, the gent lives on an ex-
elusive and abundant potato diet, until
the coveted article is again recovered
Prof. Bilroth. of Vienna, says that this
plan has proved so successful that opera
tions of opening into the stomach for
nails, teeth, ETC., are no longer necessary.
An electrical shoal water indicator
has been devised by two Mexican inven-
tors. 1t consists of a strong cylinder
filled with shot, so that when hung by
cable from ship it will remain per-
fectly upright in the water. Embedded
in it's center is glass or vulcanite tube
half full of mercury, the two ends being
closed by metallic plates, which are in
communication, by insulated wires car
ried by the cable, with an electric bat
terry and bell on the deck of the ship.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:
When the vessel approaches shallow
water the cylinder drags on the ground
below, and is consequently no longer
upright, but is thrown on it's side. This
causes the mercury in the tube to touch
both the metallic plates attached to that
tube, as above explained; the electrical
circuit thus becomes complete, and the
warning bell on the ship instantly rings.