The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-09-02
POPULAR SCIENCE.

4 waterproof paper has lately been in.
vented that will even stand boiling.
A simple remedy for hiccoughs is a
lump of sugar saturated with vinegar.
1t is said that the ear is the most use-
full organ for the Identification of GRIM
inals.
A tailor says that few men have
evenly balanced shoulders, the right al
most invariably being lower than the
left.
Modified opium smoking is suggested
by prominent medical periodical as a
valuable palliative in pulmonary tuber-
culosis.
Natural gas experts from Pittsburg,
Penn, are on their way to Brazil to
prospect for natural gas and petroleum
for the Government of that country.
Stoneham, Me-, is a rich field for
mineraIogists. Garnets are found in
abundance, and tourmalines are not
scarce. One stone recently found there
sold for s7OO.
The tomato has been traced back to
the sixteenth century, and although it
is mentioned since then by several
writers, it did not become a marketable
edible till 1929.
At Freiberg, saxony, lightning struck
three times one of the mines, and the
third time it knocked senseless several
miners working $50 metres deep under
the surface of the earth.
A Leipsic scientist has demonstrated
by facts and figures, which most people
have always believed, that colds are
oftener caught by those who wrap them
selves up and avoid the severity of the
weather than by those who dare to brave
the elements.
Recent experience in cold storage
shows that different articles of food re-
quire different degrees of temperature for
their preservation, varying from thirty
three degrees Fahrenheit for eggs to from
fifteen degrees to twenty-six degrees for
poultry and various kinds of game.
Ornithologists tell us that when feed
ing the stride of the ostrich is from
twenty to twenty-five inches; when
walking butt feeding, twenty-six in
ches; and when terrified, from eleven
and a half to fourteen feet, or at the
rate of about twenty-five miles an
hour.
Chalk, manganese and graphite have
been found in Coffee County, Tenn. The
chalk is equal to white crayon for writ
ing on blackboard, and the black
graphite writes on paper equal to q
soft black lead pencil. The other min
elal is hard black substance, much re-
sembIng in weight, color and pores,
black manganese
Artesian well-boring is a new indus.
try in the Republic of Nicaragua. The
usefulness of these wells cannot be calcu-
lated. Every year thousands of cattle
die for want of water. Agriculturists in
general, and coffee-planters especially,
suffer much for this necessary. Only
very few coffee planters have water
sufficient to wash their berries, and
washed coffee brings always from three to
four cents more in the market than un-
washed.
The great mechanical possibilities in
the way of electrical development are
being prosecuted with zeal all over the
world, since it is realized that this
power is the most easily transferred OF
all. A crucial test is now being made
at Frankfort on-the- Main, where arrange
ments are made for transferring 800
horse power from the Neckar. The sys'
TEN is also being operated on smaller
scale in many places in Switzerland. The
French have planned works at Havre for
utilizing the ebb and flow of the tide to
work turbine wheels to generate power
for dynamos to supply Paris with light.