Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1891-07-16
POPULAR SCIENCE.

A bedtime luncheon of lettuce induces
sleep.
The last eclipse of the sun was success
fully observed at Lick Observatory,
California.
To erase the white stains that occur ia
some Of the bricks in newly constructed
buildings, wash with diluted muriatic
acid.
The electric spark has been photo
graphed by a special camera, in which
the sensitive plate rotated $500 times
minute.
s. w. WilIiston, Professor of Geology
in the university at Lawrence, Kan,
found skeleton of pterodactyl, the
most complete in existence. in Monument
Rocks, in the Smoky River valley.
Experiment on the action Of Differed.
oils on metals shows among Others that
bronze is much corroded by linseed oil,
slightly by olive oil, and not at all by
COLA oil, and that for lead the safest
lubricant is olive oil, and the worst
whale oil
Two marked improvements have re-.
Gently been made in the use OF gas for
lighthouse illumination. One is pro-
cess of enriching gas made from ordinary
coking coal by the addition Of hydrocar-
bons and heated air, the other is the new
dioptric lens.
skin of very rare and remarkable
bear-like animal has been brought from
the Chinese province of Kansu to ST..
Petersburg by two Russian explorefs.
The only other specimen is in the Paris
museum. 1t lives in Western China at
an elevation of from 10000 to 12,O0f1
feet, where it inhabits the Bamboo
thickets, and is known by the natives as
the white or spotted bear.
"Silver Thaw" is the name applied toa
winter phenomenon of frequent occurs
renee at Ben Nevis (Scotland) Observes
tory. 1t consists of rain falling when tho
air is below freezing point and congeal.
ing whenever it reaches the ground. or
course, this points to an inversion Of the
temperature, which is lower on the
mountain top than at greater heighfs,
and, being largely associated with cy~.
clonic distribution of pressure, IL u of
considerable s'forecasting" value.
Professor Elihu Thomson finds i'd lid u
experiments on the physiological e6acsa
OF alternate currents that the danger
the current diminishes as the numbef
alterations per second Is increased
Thus it took twenty times at strong
current to kill dog when the alternaz
tons were 45O0 per second than Mhen
they were 100 per second. When M
alterations were 800 per second, ~
current was only half as dangerous 70 III y
as when the alterations were 120. -
The rate of travel Of thunder storms
has been studied by Herr Schonrock 1F6m
the record of 1877 such storms in Russia
in 1888. The velocity is found to
varied from thirteen to fiftR&
hour, with mean of 1885, nj
in the hot season, and
thirty-two miles an hour
season. 1t was least in tho
ing, increasing to a maximi VI
and 10 P. NJ. The storms "a
quickly from southwest, we1
west
It is announced that the "a
of a perfect pendulum has BEEN hi.
lished at last. 1t was done by Il
ing lead shot by single fiber Of a.
silk in vacuum produced by 6pren
pump. The shot, one-sixteenth of
inch in diameter, weighing ones ll
grain, is suspended BY two-fcS( #
and placed ina tube three fourt
inch in internal diameter.
vibrating range, each side Of
position, the vacuum being equivall
one-tenth of millionth of an atn
phere.