Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-26

| putuOLlSud lOI luis "ebh 'lSlDIo W llS
naked eve. On Tuesday evening the
2Sth, Venus reaches her greatest bril-
! liancy for the season, after which she
will 20 into gradual decline. Jupiter IS
also declining in brilliancy. though he
still appears as very conspicuous and
brilliant planet.
| -.
Chemists have lately learned to pre-
! pare from the refuse of gas works new
| substance which they call saccharihe,
and which is said to be by far the sweet
est substance known. 1t is reputed, to
| be more than hundred times sweeter
| than pure cane sugar. As an article of
! diet it is not considered wholesome,
never the less common sugars are being
more or less adultuated with it, they
say, it is employed to cover up less sweet
aduIturants. Germany appears to enjoy
a monopoly in the manufacture of
saccharine. There is a movement on
| foot to Lag so heavy an import tax upon
the article as shall prevent ANY very
| extensive introduction of it into the
| United States. 1t seems to be seriously
| injuring the regular sugar trade IN
| Germany. a recent letter received from
| that country by Senator Gibson says on
| account of sacchasine adulteration in the
| German empire there is already a falling
| off in the regular or pure sugar trade to
the extent of 100 900 cwt. (5OO0 tons)
| by which the country loses l LOO, 900
| marks in taxes.
The old story of finding live toads in
solid rocks is being revived. 1t is now
| going the rounds of the press to the
credit of the Salt Lake Herald, that
workmen engaged in Marley s. Everill' 8
| limestone quarry, moth of Salt Lake
| City, 'lately broke open large piece of
rock which had been blasted out, and
frog hoped out of a pocket in the center
of the stone. OF course, the occurrence
created a tremendous sensation among
the workmen, and operations ut the
quarry were for the time suspended and
the movements of the frog were watched
with great interest. The animal was
somewhat smaller than the ordinary
frog and was perfectly white. Its eyes
were unusually large aud very brilliant,
but the frog was apparently blind.
Where the mouth should have been there
was only line, and on the feet was
dark, horny substance. Mr.. Everill at
once took charge of the curiosity and put
it in a tin can, but the frog died the next
morning. He brought it down town,
and 1t was examined with great interest
by large number of people, and it was
-afterward presented to the museum,
where it will be preserved in alcohol, -
etc.
Now, auv one with so much as the
merest smattering of scientific knowledge
could not do otherwise than know that
all this is simply false. Limestone is
formed only at the bottom of deep seas,
and the frog, if in stone, as claimed,
could have got there only while the lime
stone was forming and in plastic state.
Is there any one so foolish as to suppose
that frog could live in salt water at the
bottom Of deep sea?
Science has made more wonderful pro-
gress within the past thirty years. In
his address to the sixtieth annual meet
ing of the British association for the ad-
vancement of science, the president, Sir
F. A. Abel, reviewed the progress OF
science since the last meeting of the as
sociation at the same place (Leeds) in
1853. The subject to which reference
was made included the transmission OF
electric energy, the application of voltaic
energy to the fusion and welding of
metals, the discovery of the use of alum
inium in the production of iron and steel
castings, the measurement and control of
the explosive force of gunpowder, the
composition and value of the smokeless
powders, recent inventions of explosives
for mining purposes, and the develop
ment of the petroleum and natural gas
fields of the United States.
-.
Fort Worth people are now thinking
great deal about the ruins of Pompeii,
yet many are doubtless unlnformed as to