The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-04-15
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

SCIENCE ANU iNOOS NJ
-Conch shells, when ground, enter
into the manufacture of porcelain. The
rosa colored pearls of the pink conch
are very valuable and have a beautiful
wavy sheen like that of watered silk
The record of the immense wheat
crop in the Dakotas last year is incom-
plete yet. Because the elevators were
full to the roofs. and not enough cars
could be had to carry the grain out of
the state, thousands of bushels of wheat
were piled up id the streets of several
North Dakota towns during the winter
The metallurgical works in France
in 1889 produced the following amounts
of the various metals: Pig iron, 1,734,-
900 tons; zinc, 1852 tons; lead, ), 372
tons; copper, ], 622 tons; nickel $50 tons;
anthony, 3l6 tons; gold, 400 kilos; sill
yer, So 942 kilos; aluminium, IA $40 kilos
In recent work on the bee, Mr.. T.
w. Cowan states that the insect can
draw twenty times its own weight, can
fly more than four miles an hour, and
will seek food at distance of four
miles By beautiful mechanical
adaptation its wings bear it forward or
backward, with upward, downward or
suddenly arrested course.
1t is said that a large milk company
is to be formed in Denmark for the pur-
pose of giving the consumer a purer
milk than hitherto, and they describe a
plan of running all their milk through
a series Of sponge before delivery. The
result. they tell us, out of 1900, 900 gal
Ions of milk run through, they obtain
five tons of filth, no doubt the result of
unclean milking.
1t is proposed to casSglass not nec-
essarily transparent into large blocks
for buildings. This material is practi-
cally indestructible, perfectly non-ab-
sorbent and therefore damp-proof in
manner which few bricks are, and in
this way coarse glass of this kind could
be made nearly as cheap as concrete,
stone or baked clay.
The construction of the worlds
longest railroad is progressing rapidly
along the river valleys and across the
steppes of Siberia. The western ex-
tremity of the road is the mining town
of MASK, on the eastern side of the
Ural range, and its eastern terminus is
Vladivostok, on the Sea of Japan, max
ing total length of 47S5 miles, which
is nearly twice the length of the Cana
dian Pacific. 1t will cost Sls3, $50, 000 -
n. Y. Press
Two little islands furnish four fifths
of ha al I,.4 Il,
The islands are Zanzibar and Pemba,
and little while ago Arabs found it
very profitable to bring slaves from the
African lake region to the coast and
smuggle them in the night over to
Pemba to work on the Glove planta-
tons. These farms were very remu-
nerative once, but the market has been
overstocked and the price has fallen so
low that the Glove ra:sers have decided
to diversity their crops.
Though Brazil now produces few
diamonds and little gold, it is declared
to have a measureless wealth in iron,
copper, marble. saltpeter, rock crystal
and graphite, with fair amounts of
coal, silver, bismuth and anthony.
The state of Minas Gereas is probably
the richest, for there are found gold,
silver, diamonds, the beautiful red and
green tourmalines, priced by collectors;
copper, lead, iron occurring partly as
magnetic, salt and graphite. Minerals.
The discovery of gold in meteor
lite, which has just been made by Fed
eral Government Geologist Turner in
California, is of unusual interest The
meteorite in question is about the size
of mans fist and around a good por-
ton of it is solid film of gold In one
part the metal is about an inch square.
Gold has never before been found in
connection with meteoric iron, and it
demonstrates, says Mr.. Turner, that
there is gold in the worlds of space -
N. y. Recorder.
Very excellent authority says: 1T
is fact that such fruit as the apple,
the pear and the plum, taken when
ripe without sugar, diminish the acidity
of the stomach rather than provoke it
The vegetable sauce and juices are con-
tend to correct acidity A good ripe
apple, raw, is one of the easiest of veg
etable substances for the stomach to
deal with, the whole process of diges-
ton being complete in eighty five min
utes." In the French hospitals an
apple poultice is applied to inflamed
eyes; it is probable that such fruits
taken as food also serve as allayers of
Inflammation in the stomach and other
alimentary organs. This is peculiarly
true of cranberries and grapes St
Louis Globe Democrat