The Penn's Grove record., 1891-03-06
THE WORLD OF SCIENCE.

The Geological Gardens of London
have an insect house in which are
shown living specimens of tropical in
| sects. Much interest has been shown
by visitors, and the exhibition is a
marked SUGGEST. At the present time
1. shown a living specimen of the leaf
insect, which is such a wonderful imi-
tation of a leaf that visitors, in spite
of the old saying that seeing is believ-
ing, insist that there is no insect in
the case, but only a leaf, and it has to
be stirred up to convince them of the
truth.
It is well known that the planet
Venus exhibits phases of the same
character as our moon, but it has al
ways been considered necessary to use
a telescope for the purpose of seeing
them. Our attention has been directed
to a letter once addressed to Sir John
Herschel, in which a Mr.. Stoddard
stated that he saw Venus in the form
of a beautifully defined crescent when
seen with the naked eye through a
dark glass only. What others have
seen can be seen again, so try the Z
pertinent.
Thomas A. Edison, the greatinventor
who was here last week has been much
written about, but the whole story of
the man may never be told. Not that
he is beyond reach, for he is a man
most easily approached. His manners
are extremely democratic, just as they
were when he was a roaming telegraph
operator searching for truths Of more
real value than gold. 1t is probable he
has no definite idea of his own wealth.
He is rich. He may be safely estimated
well up in the millions, but it is not
likely he could guess within a million
of his own fortune. He is not given
to charity in any systematic manner,
but is open-handed to any unfortunate
who happens to come to his attention.
When pursuing an invention he spends
money lavishly for appliances, mate
rails OF anything that promises to assist
a conclusion. If necessary, he would
probably spend every dollar Of his for
tune if not interferred with; but his
wealth has grown to such proportions
that no investigation can now drain his
resources as his early efforts did.
To prevent sheet iron from rusting.
If, before raising a chimney, each Sec
ton is coated with coal tar, then filed
with light shavings and fired, the iron
will resist rust for an indefinite period,
rendering any ~preservative coating un-
necessary. The coal tar is evidently
burned into the iron, closing the pores
and rendering it rustproof.
A Ride Across Europe.
A correspondent in Paris sends an
interesting account of Lieut.. Asseyef's
ride from Lubni, in Poltava, to the
Paris Exhibition. He is only twenty
five years old. When he determined
to go to Paris he followed the Gear
Nicholas's method of laying out a
route, with a difference. He did not
use a ruler, he took a thread, and
stretching it across the map from Lub-
nj to Paris, marked off his route in a
straight line. Then he started on
horseback alone. Lieut.. Asseyef rode
on one horse and led another, on the
Turcoman system, riding each horse
on alternate days. One steed was half
English and half Don Cossack, the
other was of pure Russian breed. He
rode on an average a little over fifty
miles a day, and covered the whole
distance in thirty days. The cost OF
riding across Europe with a couple Of
saddle-horses was only ESQ, or about
twenty shillings a day. If it can bt
done as cheap as this, equestrian tours
will become common. 4