Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-08-26
POPULAR SCIENCE.

An exprets engine consumes Ten gar
ons of wattr per mile.
Scientific men now declare that eating
before sleeping is of great benefit.
A Connecticut scientist calculates that
here are 4S, $50, 900 mosquito Larvae in
An acre of swamp land.
A Roman scientist, DR.. Fornesari, has
demonstrated that tobacco smoke kills
nearly all kinds of germs.
A German geologist estimated that the
Dead Sea will be one mass of solid salt
within less than 500 years.
The smallest known insect, the ptera-
TONES punamil, parasite Of the ichneu-
mon. is about one ne.ninetieth of an inch in
length.
At the Paris observatory it is proposed
soon to begin continuous Photographic
record of the movements of the solar
system.
It would take forty years for all the
water iu the great lakes to pour over
Niagara at the rate of 1000, 900 cubic
feet a second.
If the sun gave forth sounds loud
enough to reach the earth, such sounds,
instead of reaching us in the space OF
about eight minutes, as light does, would
only arrive after period Of nearly four
teen years.
From Bavariau meteorological records,
DR.. Van der Stok extracts what he be-
lieves 10 be conclusive proof that the
moon has an appreciable influence on the
number of thunder storms and upon
cloudiness.
Oxygen, nitrogen, marsh gas, carbonic
oxide ani almost all gases, including air,
may be Iiquefed by being subjected to
intense cold under pressure. Liquehed
oxygen is found to have marked mag
netic properties.
Natural gas has been discovered on the
shore OF the Great Salt Lake, within ten
miles of Salt Lake City, Utah. Several
wells have already been put down to the
depth of $50 feet, and it is said that
5O,OU0, 900 cubic feet of gas are now
flowing daily.
Maudioca, a plant indigenous to Brazil,
grows abundantly, and the root is used
as substitute for wheat -four, though
less nutritiye. About twenty million
pounds of the -four are received yearly
at Rio Jauiero, and five million pounds
are exported.
An ingenious lock has been invented
by which doors, etc, may be locked from
q distance electrically. 1t is specially
applicable for doors in private and busi-
ness houses and offices, where absolute
privacy is needed or desired. The lock
is operated by simply turning switch.
Poisoned jam has been successfully
tried for killing rabbits in Australia, one
ounce of strychnine being required for
fifteen pounds Of jam. This should help
to get rid of any surplus fruit as we'll as
rabbits, the only trouble being that
horses and dogs will eat jam in any guam
tity.
A novel military candle has been de-
vised by young Italian artillerist It's
to be projected from cannon, and upon
striking an eneny's wo-ks, or any solid
substance, it breaks aud its contents take
fire. The light produced is estimated to
have an Intensity Of 100, 600 candles, IL
Illuminating the field for great distance.
Electricity is employed to heat springs
for tempering In a gun factory in St.
Etienue, France. A steel wire is wound
spirally aud a current passed through it
which causes rapid heating. When the
required temperature has been reached
the current is broken and the spring falls
into trough of water. 1t is stated that
one workman can temper 24OO springs
per day by this method.