The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1892-01-13
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

are twelve-inch, forty-hve-ton breech-
leaders.
For such a small country, Belgium has
made great progress in the adoption
of electric lights.
Illuminated walking sticks are among
the latest applications of electricy. A
small incandescent lamp is concealed in
the head.
Rigel, the magnificent star Of the first
magnitude in the constellation of Orion,
has recently been discovered by astrono-
mers to be one of the most distant stars
In the celestial vault.
A new invention is an elastic rubber
cushion for the soles of the shoes,
the special object being to give
relief to those who are compelled to
stand all day on wooden or marble floors.
The new Italian rifle is repeater and
will penetrate planks five inches thick
at distance of 1000 feet. A smokeless
powder is used with it, thus allowing
the soldier to carry greater weight of
cartridges.
Miss Annie l. Oppenheim has been
awarded the diploma of the British
chronological Association. honoris causa,
in recognition of her studies of the anat-
omy of the brain and her interest in
phrenology.
A Russian electrician has invented
process of etching on metal by means
of electricity, thereby dispensing with
use Of acids for this purpose. The image
is first transferred to the plate by photo
graphic methods.
The method of determining specific
heats by the use of Joules law has only
been successful in liquids which were
good conductors. A new method has
been adopted for such measurement by
means of a-glass spiral filled with mer-
| curry.
An automatic cut-out that replaces q
new fuse when one is burnt out is being
introduced by a firm OF electricians. A
rotating drum with the sever-wires on
its surface is so arranged as to turn
around and insert new fuse when a
turnout occurs.
A maritime laboratory of biology and
zoology will be opened next year at Ber-
gen, Norway. Situated in region
where the marine fauna is particularly
rich and interesting, it is destined to
rendered great service to science. 1t
has been decided to allow the free use of
the establishment to foreign savants.
A new life-belt has been patente in
in Germany. 1t is in the ordinary form,
but Is made from reindeer hair covered
with canvas, and is much lighter than
the belt of cork. Its weight is only two
pounds, while it will support twenty-five
pounds of iron in the water. Its buoyancy
is not affected by prolonged immersion.
A new idea to give an ordinrry room
the appearance;of parquetry border is to
cover the floor with wallpaper, forming
design representing od'parquetry.
This is afterward vanished and the floor
| will then so closely resemble inlaid wood
that only a connoisseur will detect the
difference. An oriental rug throw in
the center of the floor will complete the
floor decoration.
The magnificent glacial scratches and
groovings in the limestone at Kelley's
Island, near Sandusky, Ohio, have beea
preserved from destruction and perpetu-
ally dedicated to the public by the cor
poration owning the quarry. These
markings are unique of their kind, and
the finest in the world, and their de-
struction would have been an irreparable
loss to geological science.
In the neighborhood of SchafInausen,
close by the three rocks know as the
"Schwezersbld," DR.. Ruesch has dis
covered an extensive human settlement
belonging to the Stone Age. 1t is in q
rocky niche about thirteen metres high
and thirty seven metres long, and is the
first of that period which has been dis
covered in Switzerland and which is not
in connection with cavern.
One Of the greatest objections to the
wooden fumes commonly used in the
mining districts of this country, and
more lately for irrigation purposes, i:
the alternate shrinking and swelling oi
the wood, which causes warping and
distortion. To avoid this galvanized
iron, the upper edge of which is stiifed,
is being used for fumes. These mental
fumes are nearly circular in section and
are usually supported in cast-iron
brackets placed in timber supports.
DR.. Mitcherlich has invented a stuff
made from the fibers of wood. Thin
boards, with the knots taken out, arr
treated with a solution of sulphuric acid
| in a hollow boiler. Not only the hard
matter, which is the cause Of the brittle.
ness of wood tibers, is eliminated by this
treatment, but the fiber itself is chemi-
cally transformed. 1t is bleached, and
becomes silky as well as strong and elastic.
1t is then treated in the same manner as
any other goods, that is, combined, spun
and finally woven into stuffs Of exceeding
| iiueness and different varieties.
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