The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-01-03
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

"A factory for extracting the juice of
palmetto berries has been established
at New Smyrna Fla
Several attempts have been made
to establish the tack industry in the
South, but they have failed from diff
culties in handling the material. This
branch Of the iron trade is in the hands
Of Now England manufacturers and is
practically confined to Massachusetts,.
1t has been understood that the
curculio beetle, which is so destructive
to the plum, produces two broods year.
Prof @. p. Gillette has now demon
strated that, in Iowa at least, it pro-
duces but single brood. The young
found late in the season are from be-
lated females. A parasite insect, Sig
dlphus curcuttonts follows the insect, and
preys on them in considerable numbers;
but with no appreciable aid to the plum
cultivator.
Masters of vessels can not be re-
minded too often OF the use OF oil in
stormy weather. Its Importance is we'll
illustrated by facts now referred to at
length in standard books on seamanship
and the International Marine Confer
ence at Washington recommended that
"the several governments require all
their sea going vessels to carry suffi-
cient quantity OF animal or vegetable
oil, for the purpose of calming the sea
in rough weather, together with suita-
BILE means for applying it. Pilot Chart
The different theat-conducting powers
of metals may be easily realized by
holding rod of silver in one hand and
one end of a rod of iron in another, and
on placing the opposite ends in a fire,
the fact is soon perceived that there is
great difference in the heat conductivity
of the two metals. The following table
shows the relative conducting power of
the principal metals: Silver, 1OO copper,
"a; gold, So; brass, "a; tin, Is; iron, 10;
lead, 0; platinum, 8; German silver, 6;
bismuth, 2.
-Evolutionists have got so far in
their studies as often to indicate with
confidence the origin of certain genera
as we'll as species. The celebrated
French botanist, Baillon, has recently
pointed out that Hottonia, well-known
aquatic genus of Primulaceous plants, is
certainly derived from the true prim-
rose OF Prfmutd, and that the generic
changes were brought about purely by
some one species of Primula learning to
1.-Two in marshy places, and thus assum-
ing aquatic habits.
In the course of archaeological ex-
plorations lately carried on in the
Crimea, Prof. Vasselovski found painted
human bones in two graves-six skele
tons in one grave and one in another.
Prof. Grempler, of Breslau, is of opinion
that these graves belonged to the origi-
nal inhabitants of the Crimea, the Cim-
merians of Herodotus. They laid their
dead on elevated spots, so that the birds
might consume the flesh. When quite
bleachcd, the skeletons were painted
with some mineral pigment. Several
graves containing such painted skele-
tons have been found in Central Asia.
Only three had been previously found
in the Crimea.
The twenty-eighth annual report of
the government cinchona plantation and
factory in British Sikkim has been
issued. At the end of the financial year
1SS9-9O the plantation consisted of
4,6S2, 4O1 trees of various ages, and of a
nursery stock amounting to 264, 900
seedlings. The crop collected during
the year amounted to 304, 7O5 pounds.
The products of the factory were /, $685.
pounds of sulphate of quinine, and 6,57S
pounds of febrifuge. The whole of the
quinine and the greater part of the feb
rifuge were manufactured by the new
fusel-oil process, and as the arrange
ments for working this process were
quite completed during the year. the
old acid-and-all1ali method of manufac.
ture has now been definitely abandoned.