The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-08-22
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

900 worth of children's toys every year.
About $500 species of wild bees are
known, of wasps, LOO, of which 10 and
16 respectively live in Britain.
The largest fruit farm in West Vir-
ginia is the Becker farm, near Harper's
Ferry. 1t contains 5000 apricot trees,
$1,000 peach trees, 5000 plum trees.
5000 miscellaneous fruit trees and 3d.
600 grape vines.
American inventive activity is on
the increas', as is shown by the fact
that during the past year ), 7S5 more pat
ents were taken out than in the pre-
ceding year. The number stood %, $50
for 1889.
Dallas, Oregon, claims to handle
more wool direct from the producer than
any other city in the United States.
Large wagonloads come to town every
day, and 5000, 900 pounds will be handled
this season.
On November 1, 1887, the aggregate
annual capacity of the completed iron
furnaces in the entire country was TO-
990,993 net tons, and by November l,
1889, these figures had grown to 13, 16S,-
233 net tons, an increase of 2,177,21O
tons in two years.
Quill toothpicks come from France.
The largest factory in the world is near
Paris, where there is an annual product
of 20,OO0,OO0 quills. The factory was
started to make quill pens, but when
these went out of general use, it was
converted into toothpick mill
Pulp manufacturers are deeply in
terested in an electrical method of re-
ducing the wood in the manufacture of
pulp. BY this process it is claimed that
the fiber is manufactured so cheaply
that the entire pulp business will be
revolutionized, and the digesters now in
use be driven out.-Electrical Review.
The influence of the electric arc on
vegetation is said to have been striking
ly shown in Berlin in the spring of this
year. On some large lime trees, the
branches under the electric light dis
played new leaves of considerable size
while the buds on the opposite branches
where the light does not strike were
only just beginning to develop.
saw Traveller.
Incorporation has not been successful
in Berlin. Thirty-five cooperative So
cieties have been organized there for
manufacturing purposes since 1868.
Thirty of them wound up their affairs
after an average existence of six years
each. Five still exist The various
reasons for disseminating business were
lack of funds, differences of opinion
among members, and dwindling away
of membership.
Mr.. Adametz has just made some
microscopic researches upon the micro
scopic organisms that inhabit cheese.
From an examination of Emmenthal, a
soft variety of Gruyere cheese, he has
obtained the following results: In each
gramme of the choose, when fresh, from
80, 900 to 100000 microbes are found.
This number increases with time. Thus,
acheese II days old contains 800, 900 bac-
terra per gramme. The population of
a soft cheese p days old and much
denser than the preceding is 10000
and that of cheese As days old is
100000 microbes per gramme. - La
Nature.
1t is we'll known that moths and
butterflies give off odors either from tho
wings or the hinder end of the body.
Certain moths, as the parent of the
common red and black "bear" cater
pillar, and of the salt marsh cater
pillar, have retractile organ which,
when thrust ont, throws out strong
odor, somewhat like laudanum. The
other evening we caught a white female
miller (SpiJosoma cirginica, which, after
rough handling, threw off very pecu-
liar strong odor, somewhat reminding US
of laudanum, and which remained on
the fingers for several hours. The moth
did not dart out the repugnatorial APP
pendages found in the other arctians.