The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-01-30
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Possibly the rarest fern in the
United States is ASpIeniuna ebcnO1dss. 1t
was the first found as "A solitary plant
along the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia,
forty years ago.
"A European engineer has invented
and brought to perfection an instrument
by which he can readily locate water
underneath the carth's surface. Al a
late trial in this country, he surprised
our engineers by correctly tracing sew
eral aqueducts of whose location he
could nave had no previous knowledge.
Compressed carhonic acid gas is now
used on ship-board for freezing meat,
brine being cooled by the expanding
gas and circulated in pipes. On
steamer which carried $4,000 carcaSSea
Of mutton to Liverpool from South
America, the mat was kept in excel
lent condition. with Il saving of four
fifths of the former coal consumption
for working the refrigcrating machln-
cry.
Nearly 1000 miles of railways are
under construction in France, of which
about 500 miles are expected to be
opened in 1891. This is good showing
for France, but y looks insignificant
compared with the construction record
of the United States, and falls below
that of any one of a good many indi-
vidual States. -Railway Age.
The mines of the world, says the
Economists Franchise, in the year 1SSS
produced of metals of all kinds of coal,
salt and petroleum, grand total Of
sos. 939. 900 tons, with n value of S1,T76,-
900. 900. To this vast sum Goals con-
tributed almost 500, 900, 900, or about 10
per cent, while the entire value of the
gold and silver products was but $780,
0OO,O
After awhile, perhaps, says the
Southern Lumberman, timber land
owners will cease selling valuable tim
Der forests by the acre and adopt the
system of sale by tree, or so much per
thousand feet estimated. The time is
coming when the bills will be made ont
for so many trees, SO many inches in
diameter, at so much per tree.
The Home Journal says: at is no
ticeable of the statues in our museums
of art, supposed to represent the perfect
figures of ancient men and women, that
their feet are disproportionately large.
Even the masculine foot of to-day is
smaller than that of the ancients. but
the feet of women show a greater re-
striction in size as result of cramped
shoeing. To the artistic eye, the sym
metry and proportion of the foot OF
olden times is to be preferred.
Clay which is pure white, and that
also which is discolored, and has been
washed to bring it to uniform shade
of color, is used by the manufacturers
of paper hangings to give the smooth
satin surface to the finished paper. II
is used by mixing it up with thin size
applying it to the surface of the pieces
of paper, and then polishing it by means
of brushes driven bv machinery.
The ARCHAEOLOGICAL Institute Of
Vienna has been conducting expert
ments on dirt taken from finger nails
and seventy-eight examinations have
been made. The process was to put the
dirt in ''cultivating mixtures" such AZ
are used for supplying germs with fooc
on which to develop. The crop that
grew from the germs in the dirt was a
varied one, and included thirty-six kinds
of micrococci, eighteen of bacilli ant
many others.
Professor Henderson, who accom-
panied the late exploring expedition tt
the Olympic Mountains, and who is q
recognized authority on the flowers o.
the Pacific coast, gives some interesting
data of the trip to the Portland Oregon
ian In speaking of the traces of the
glacial period in the heterogeneous dis
tribution of plants. he says; I'VE founo
flowers in the Olympics at an altitude o
10000 feet that would be found il
Alaska on the ocean level. was very
much impressed with the grand mix-ul
not only of the mountains but of the
fora as well. Flowers that we fine
here around Portland we found buried
among the timber of the Olympics neaI
the snow line. Among these were vic
lets.