Passaic City record., 1891-09-19
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Doctors say that the LETT leg is usu~
ally stronger than the right
Scientific men insist upon it that
Niagara Falls are receding every year.
1t was so intensely hot at San Migual,
CAL, the other day that some chemicals
in the principal drug store expldied
from the high temperature and set fire
to the building.
A Philadelphia firm is making great
success in timing articles made of cast
iron. The articles so treated are far
more durable than galvanized or japanned
ware, and are equally cheap.
An elevated electric railway between
Chicago and Milwaukee, distance of
eighty-fve miles, on which trains are to
make the run in ian hour at most" is
an enterprise recently incorporated.
Red stockings are generally c,lored
from matters of aniline, which contain
large quantities of antlmoniac products.
When perspirinr, this matter becomes
soluble, enters the pores of the skin, aud
produces violent rash.
The Mexican Government has been
experimenting with a new machine for
manufacturing ramie. The machine
made one and quarter tons per day and
the expense of cleaning the fiber was
only 7-10 cents per pound.
The Smithsonian Institution at Wash
ington has received from China pair OF
stockings manufactured from human
hair. They are worn by fishermen over
cotton stockings (belng too rough for
the naked skim, and under straw shoes,
as protection against moisture.
The recent Improvements in miners
lamps and the ventilation of mines in
England, coupled with extra watchful-
ness on the part of the Superintendents
and others, reduced the number of those
killed from explosions of fire damp in
the first six mouths OF this year to eigh-
teen, against 276 in the same period OF
1890.
1t is stated that the harbor OF Salonica
is threatened with the fate which befell
that of Smyrna. The alluvial deposits
of the Vardar have advanced as far as
Cape Kara -Burun, and the entrance
through the sand banks is now very
difficult. The prospective value of the
port to Austria Hungary is doubtful, un-
less extensive dredging operations are
carried out.
w. F. Stanley, the well known op-
tician, has devised "phonometer," or
chronograph, for enabling person to
measure distances by observing the time
between the report. and flash of gun.
It can also be used for estimating the
distance of lightning by turning the
flash with the clap of thunder and allow
ing quarter of mile 1888 metres, or
over 1000 feeD for every second OF the
interval.
According to dispatches received at
Cape Town, South Africa, Mr.. Theodore
Bent, who is exploring the ruins and
historical remains in Mashonaland, has
discovered some images and pottery at
the Zimbabye ruins which are supposed
to be of Phenician workmanship. This
news has excited great interest, and fur
ther particulars are eagerly awaited in
the hope that the relics will enable ar
chaologists to decide when and by whom
the Zimbabve structures were built.
The st. Paul road is building two
engines at the Merrill Park shops in Mil
waukee, Wis. (which promise q revolution
in locomotive building. The new en-
gines consume their own smoke and have
no smokestack. They are fitted up with
an electrical headlight, which is placed
on stand Immediately in front of the
boiler, thus giving the engineer an un-
obstructed view of the line ahead. The
drive-wheels are larger than on the ordi-
nary locomotive and intended for greater
speed. The new engines are particularly
designed to furnish power for lighting
passenger trains with electricity and t9r
f1rnic hin cfna IN heat