The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-08-19
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Oxygen is the most abundant of all
| the elements.
The number of eggs in six-pound eel
in November is fully 5000, 900.
Princeton College will send out an ex-
pedition to Western Montana in search
Of fossils.
The City Council of Elizabeth, N. ~
has voted to have alarms of fire sounded
in future by an electrical whistle.
Recent calculations show that the elec-
tromotive force of bolt of lightning
produces an energy of upward of 5000, Y
600 horse power.
The phonograph has been employed to-
register the conversation coming over tbs
telephone wires so as to keep record
of the days business.
Recent observations with the Lick tele- 4
scope of the shadow of one of Jupiter's
satellites are said to show that the tiny
moon itself is double. ..,.s Ia ~.
The electrostatic resistance of the At
lantic cable reduces the speed of the cleo
trio current more than one.third, reauir-
ing three seconds tor it TO travel to
Europe. 81
The suffering due to felon on ones
finger has been successfully relieved aud
rapid cure made by means of electricity.
Salt and turpentine or a fly blister will
check afelon at the start. 5..s
NJ. Pictet, a Swiss scientist who Is;
trying to make pure chloroform, says
that the fatal effects following the use
Of this drug are not due to the chloro-
form but the impurities it contains.
Recent experiments show that an cleo!
tric current will travel over q good con-
ductor at the rate of 100000 miles o.
minute, or around the earth in three sec
onds. Light travels at the rate of 1, 000,
900 miles minute. sg
Experiments upon the phosphorescencs
of gems shows that it varies according to
the origin of the stone. Cape diamonds
show blue, Brazilian stones red, orange;
blue, or yellow, and those from Australia
yellow, blue, or green.
Experiment has shown that when coal
is burnt in an open CRATE from one to
three per cent. of the coal escapes In the,
form of unburnt solid particles, or
'ssoot," and about ten per cent. is lost
I in the form of volatile compounds of car
bon. s.,s IS
During the past winter the earth of the
village of Kirnujarwi, near Psja, lap.
land, became suddenly very hot, the;ice
and snow melting Immediately, and the
application OF ones hand to the earth
was liable to result in an uncomfortably
warm sensation. tl& Y.
In England leaflets are being dis
tributed on the subject of the destruc-
tion of crops in the rural districts,
Posters showing magni6ed illustrations
OF the Hessian fly and the winter moth
are being displayed in the postofice TO
enable farmers to recognize them.
In the Argentine Republic the loco
motives on the Argentine Great Western
Railroad have been fitted to burn the
heavy petroleum oil found at Mendozs,
on the line of the road. This costs, as
an equivalent for coal, about 80 in gold,
while coal costs from SIS to $25 per
ton.
The source of all the worlds energy
comes from sunshine. The energy Of the
zinc plate of On electric battery comes
from the coal with which 1t was burned
when taken from the mines, and the
energy of that same coal comes from the
sunlight that originally nourished It
when it was formerly in the form of
growing plants. ':sss33 asss
Many years ago an ocean steamship
made only ten or twelve revolutions OF I
the engine, using only five pounds Of
steam pressure. With this she averaged
about eight knots. High-powered ships
of the present day use thirty-six, times
this pressure and make seven times the
revolutions. Their speed is only two and
half times as great. l.o
The following metals will conduct elcc-
tricity in the following proportions, viz.
Silver, 100; copper, ninety-six; gold,
seventy-two; aluminium, fifty-two; zinc,
twenty y-six; platinum, sixteen; iron,
fifteen; nickel, twelve; tin, eleven; lead,
seven. Of the above, copper and iron
have the greatest commercial value a
electrical conductors.
The fora of Europe embraces about
10000 species. India has about ID, ,0O0.
The British possessions in North America,
though with an area nearly as large q
! Europe, have only about 5000. One Of
the riches foras is that of Cape of Good
Hope and Natal, which figures up about
10000 species. Australia also is rich ir
species, about 10, 900 heing now known.
A recent departure in obtaining extrs
draught for furnaces on steamships with.
out the use of blowers or other devices
has been successfully tried on the Scot
of the Cape Mail Line. This vessel hai
been furnished with smokestacks 120 feet
high above the CRATES. The increased
draught is equivalent to water pressure
of three-fourths of an inch. The vesse,
speed is nineteen knots. #..