The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-09-11
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

American petroleum has been shut
out of the Peruvian market owing to
the discovery of oil fields in that coun-
try covering an extent of seven thousand
five hundred square miles.
There is place in San Francisco
where the skins of dogs are made into
gloves, their hair is used in plaster their
bones are ground for clarifying sugar
and their fat is manufactured into oil
Jupiter is larger than all the other
planets and satellites of the solar sys-
TEN. The sun is a little more than 1000
times larger than Jupiter But Arcturus
is 500 900 times larger than the sun.
The apparent fiattening of the vault
of the heavens has been found to have
an annual period, and to depend on
clouds 1t seems least fiat with a misty
horizon, and less by night than by day.
The erosion of big guns is thought
to be largely due to igniting slowburn
ing powder at the base of the charge,
whereby the bore receives attrition
from the hard, unburnt portions of the
powder
A recent order from an Australian
firm for twenty million feet of lumber
will require twenty-five large vessels to
carry it. Recent extensive develop
ments in mining interests in Central
and South America have led to large
shipments of timber from this country.
The census Office reports, concern
ing the tobacco statistics of Virginia,
that the total number of planters in the
State during the census year was "a
034: the total area devoted to tobacco,
l10579 acres: the total product, 4S, 522,-
655 pounds, and the value of the crop to
the producers, estimated on the basis
of actual sales, 81, 323.649.
The American red plum (prunas
Americana), instead of fruit, often bears
nothing but crop of bladders. This is
owing to the attack, in the earlier stage,
of a small fungus which is allied to the
fungus which causes the curl in the
peach leaf. The latter is called Ex-
oascus defor mans; the plum bladder
fungus is Exoascus pruni.
Acting (British) Consul Hosie, at
Wenchow remarks in recent report
that it is not generally known that the
duces oil as well as tallow. Chinese
tallow is Il white, hard fat, formed on
the surface of the seeds. 1t is separ-
ated by process of steaming and press
ing through sleeves 1t is from the hard
black kernels left behind that the
Chinese obtain what Mr.. Iosier de-
scribes as a good lighting oil, of a
brownish-y yellow color.
1t is well known that carbon exists
in three different forms-charcoal
graphite and diamond-and that hither-
to every effort to transform the one
into the other has been in vain. 1t is
said, however, that charcoal has recent
~ been transformed in graphite by
passing cyanogen through a red hot
porcelain tube containing charcoal or
coke, sprinkled with powdered cryolite.
The carbon separates into bulky mass
of very slender tIsments, which, after
being subjected to pressure, can not be
distinguished from graphite. Perhaps
some further experiments in the same
line may give the crystalline carbon or
diamond New Orleans Picayune.
The village of Ludlowville, in
IOIl phluS COUNT y, ~ L. Has Jdhcu du
unexpected boom. Three years ago the
citizens of Ithaca contributed several
thousand dollars to find out just what
was below the surface of Ithaca soil.
They hoped to find gas but did not
strike it in paying quantity, but they did
find that Ithaca was over great salt
bed. A short time ago some capitalists
began work there. At the depth of
1,45O feet they struck salt, and after
drilling in solid salt seventy-fve feet
they stopped work.
According to a recent estimate,
four-ffths of the engines now working
in the world have been constructed
during the last twenty-five years. The
steam engines of the world represent,
approximately, the working power of
1000, 000,0 900 men, or more than double
the working population of the world
the total population of which il usually
estimated at 1,455, 9?3, 900 inhabitants.
Steam has accordingly enabled man to
treble his working power, making it
possit lG for him to economic his physi-
cal strength while attending to intel
1ant,,a1 Iavalo