The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-04-25
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.


obtained permission from the Greek
ministry to excavate the Temple of
Demeter, situated in the territory 81
Gortys, in the Peloponnesus, and thE
ancient theater Of Eretria in Eubua
--England's boast that the south
African gold mines would out-produce
all the gold mines of the United States
has not been verified. The yield fof
1890 was Ss,655, 900, less by over milS
lion than California's product for that
year.-N. Y. Saturday Globe.
The greatest railway mileage in
any state of the Union will be found in
Illinois, namely, 10,197 miles The in,
debtedness against this mileage is 81, ,o55S
sos, ,274, or one-ffth the total railway in>
debtedness of the United States. The
net earnings show but So, 237 per mile Of
road, or about per cent. upon the total
investment The total income for the
! year ending June 80, 1890, was S65, 500,-
oOO.-Railway Age.
There are now under vine culture
| in America 400, 900 acres, of which
about 5000 acres are bearing. The
estimated value of the vineyards and
wine cellars is S155, 900, 900. In Califor.,
mia there are 150, 900 acres under vino
culture, and a large proportion of the
grapes produced are made into wine.
Most of the grapes grown in New York
state are sold for food The total pro-
ductions of wine in the United States
during the past year is about 10000, 900
| gallons.
-"While digging in the side of a
steep bluff, >" reports Nebraska contem1
porary, civilian Isaac, of Scitoria un-
earthed portion of skeleton which
| is reminder of the wondrous forms of
animal life represented in ancient
times. The bones and teeth were found
! imbedded in solid clay at distance of
fifty feet from the top of the bluff. The
teeth measure across the end fifteen
| inches, and weigh twenty-five pounds
| apiece. The bones found are proper
! tionately long and heavy
The silver imported in Mexican lead
| ores in 1890 is given by the director of
! the mint as 1859, 442 ounces, or about
| 952, 900 ounces more than in 1899 The
smelters and refners' returns of produc-
ton of silver exceed those made by
them for 1889 by 7.s4t, ,526 ounces. II
would appear from the mint reports
that the production of gold is nearly
stationary, while our silver output is
| increasing rapidly, 4, 500, 900 ounces from
| our domestic ores as by the mint figures,
and total of about 7,S41, 900 ounces, in,
| Guiding all sources, as returned by the
smelters and refiners.-Engineeri and
! Mining Journal.
The first sign of the Matching of
/ snake, according to DR.. Walter Sibley, is
| the appearance of slit at part of the
| eggshell which happens to be uppermost.
| The young reptiles snout appears at
| the crack and after time the head
| protrudes and may remain thus several
| hours before the body and tail are
Matched. If disturbed, the head is with
! drawn into the shell, while fully
hatched snakes often seek their shells
as safe retreat. These infants are
smooth anF velvety to the touch, with
eyes open from the first, and begin to
hiss at the age of few days.
In Switzerland a Sunday law has
been enacted applying to all railroad,
steamboat and tramway companies and
| post offices. Working time must not be
more than twelve hours a day, even on
occasions of increased traffic. Engine
and train men must have at least ten
hours unbroken rest, and other en-
ployes nine hours. They must also
have ffty-two days off yearly, and
seventeen of these must be Sundays.
No reduction in wages is to be made for
such rest days. All freight traffic on
Sunday is prohibited, except live stock.
The curious experiment of making
lens of ice to light pipes and cigars
has been tried with success by skaters
in London. The experiment was first
brought to notice by DR. Scaresby, when
in the polar regions, to the great aston
ishment of his companions. who did not
understand why the ice did not freeze
the solar rays Prof. Tyndall when a
tutor in the Royal Institution, on sew
eral occasions set fire to little heaps of
gunpowder with the rays from an cleo
trio are concentrated upon the powder
by lens of ice. His explanation was
that, although ice absorbs rays of GER
tain waves of light, and is gradually
melted thereby, other waves are not
absorbed, and these latter produce the
heating effect at the focus of the lens.
1t is wholly a question of the relative
motions of the molecules of frozen
water and the motions of the waves of
light.