The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-02-24
MISCELLANY.

IL mas Deen pointed out by M. A.
Veeder that when the aurOras recorded
T arranged in periods of 81 DAYS 6
hours 40 minutes, the numbers show
ing the greatest prevalence are grouped
together. This indicates periOdicicity
of this internal, corresponding with
the time of the suns rotOtion.
The proprietors of some 1 5000 acres
of farms in the Western Pyrenees have
waterfall to the generation of cleo
tricity for lighting the property, for
working a wine press, and for irrigat-
ing b vines. To connect the appa-
ratus requires some 81 miles of wire.
P~yrogranite is a new brick, of Rus
sian origin, that is being tried by Eng
lish builders. 1t is made from a com
binatiOn of fusible and inhusible CLAW.
and is strong and hard, resisting a
crushing force of 81 tons per square
inch. 1t takes a high polish, and the
clays may be mixed to give a great
variety of colors.
The transfer of the weavers and the
shOemakers from the home to the great
factories has produced lamentable So
cial changes, but electricity gives us
reason to hope that the days of small
workers have not wholly passed away.
1t is pleasing to note, therefore, that
the director of a German weaving
school has made a very successful trial
of electric motors for driving looms in
in the homes of the weavers.
INFLUENZA's CRADLE.-Prof. Tessier.
of the Medical Faculty of Lyons, finds
influenza to be a growth of Russian
soil, and a s~mOuldering malady when
not a raging one The winter life of
the people in close heated houses, the
bad drainage of the level soil, the uni
~versally sOdden condition during the
April thaw, and the filthiness of the
farm-yards, streets and rivers, all tend
to make this the home of influenza.
The microbe of the disease, in fact,
exists in the putrid mud left by the
river floods.
HUNGER AND INTECTION.-The impOr-
tant fact that hunger increases liability
to contract certain diseases has been
| demonstrated eXperimentally by two
Turin doctors. Pigeons usually resist
anthrax, but after a fast of six days
they proved amenable to the virus if
food was still withheld, but resisted it
if food was given at the same time as
the virus. When the fasting was con-
tinued for two days after the ~inOcula-
ton, and food then given, the disease
was not prevented, but ran a slower
course. Even birds well feed up to the
time of the incubation proved suscep-
tible to the virus if kept without food
after incubation.
A LIGHT FOR WATCHEs.-A novel
electric watch lighter, the tempOlux, is
being manufactured by a firm of cleo
tricians in Leicester, England. 1t re
sembles an enlarged open-faced watch
case, and has in it's rim a minute in
candescent lamp and reflector. On
placing the watch in the case and
pressing a small stud, the face of the
watch will be brilliantly lighted. A
dry battery supplies the current, and
may be placed in a closet, with a fex-
ible conducting cord leading from it to
the head of the bed or stand on which
the watch is placed. The battery will
last for this purpose for years, and no
chemicals are required,
BRAZILIAN SURGERY.-The grip of an
ants jaw is retained even after the body
has been severed from the head. Ac-
cOrding to the Medical Record, this
knowledge is possessed by a certain
tribe of Indians in Brazil, who put the
ants to a very peculiar use. When an
Indian gets a cash cut in his hand, in
stead of having his hand sewed to-
gether, as physicians do in this cOun-
try, he prOcures five or six black ants,
and, holding their heads near the cash,
they bring their jaws together in biting
the flesh, and thus pull the two sides
of the cash together. Then the Indian
pinches off the bodies of the ants, and
leaves their heads clinging to the cash,
which is held together until perfectly
healed.
EVIDENCE OF A GREAT METEORIO
SHOWER.-In an account of Mexican
meteOrites, Mr.. L. Fletcher, an Eng
lish mineraIOgist, describes fourteen
huge masses of iron which have been
found within a small section of country
The largest has the form of a bee-hiV
rises four feet above the ground,
is five feet in diameter at the SUI
of the soil, beneath which It eXtenuSG
unknown depth. The second mass,
estimated to weigh 1000 pounds, is
now in the National Museum at Wash
ingtOn. The Butcher masses number
eight pieces, weighing from 300 pounds
to $50 pounds, and having a total
weight of 1000 pounds. The Sanchez
estate mass weighs 252 pounds, and the
Fort Duncan mass Oh pounds. The
greatest dispersion is sc miles.
A CITY's ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.-Some
interesting figures concerning the use
of light IN a great city have been OBJ
tanned by Profs. Colombo and Ferrini
from the central electric station of
Milan. 1t appears that in that city
the general annual use of the electric
light is $50 hours. The largest con-
sumers are the restaurants and the
theatres, averaging 1900 hours a year.
The clubs light up 1900 hours; the ho-
tells, $50 hours; the stores, a very va
riable time averaging about $50 hours;
cOunting-rOOms, banks, officers, etc.,