The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-03-11
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Nearly all the petroleum deposits
Of Southern California are situated in
Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and
they occupy an area of $50, 600 acres.
This important product is rapidly be-
coming one of the most valuable in
Southern California, the yield for 1850
aggregating in value over 81, 900, 900.
The first consignment of fresh sal
mon from British Columbia to Europe,
which consisted of 80, 900 pounds from
Frazer river, left New York the other
day for Hamburg in a cold storage COM
partment of German steamer. Frozen
salmon from Canada have often been
sent to England. but this is the first
cargo from the Pacific Coast, and if the
experiment proves successful very
large trade will result The rivers of
British Columbia yielded nearly IL, ooo,-
900 pounds of salmon during 1891, al
though it was reported as bad year
N. Y. Tribune.
"A few years ago 1t was suspected
that the latitude of places on the earths
surface changes A number of astron-
omers agreed to make observations for
two years, and the result has just been
made public. Latitudes do change.
Berlin, for example, was fifty feet
nearer the north pole in September
than it was in March. This change is
not, Of course shifting of any one
point on the earth's surface II is q
fitting of the axis of the earth.
= 1t would require the intellect of a
Babbage to wrestle with the statistics
OF matches. That so, 000 900 are burned
every day in Europe seems below the
mark. Such firms as Messrs Dixon, at
Manchester, turn out Q, 900, 900 day, and
many in London 1000, 900 or 5000, 900.
The consumption of phosphorus for the
purpose in England ard France shows
that about ESQ, 900, 600, 600 year are
turned out in these two countries alone.
1t is well known that horses can
hear deep sounds which we cannot. For
days previous to the earthquake in the
Riviera, the horses there showed every
symptom of abject fear, which continued
without any change of character till the
fury of the convulsion broke forth. But
not till a few seconds before the earth be-
gan toquake did human beings hear any
sounds, while it is extremely probable
that the horses heard the subterranean
noises for two or three days previously.
DIR. M. Segers, of the Argentine
feet says that mussels are rarely in
furious at their maximum time of
growth, which corresponds with the
full of the moon; but when the moon
wanes, they become poor and often
poisonous. The poisonous quality APP
parently results from the death of large
numbers of them at this time and the
putrefaction of their bodies vie ding
ptomaines, which are absorbed by the
surviving mollusks.
The Railway Review tells Of
novel method of laying foundations in
swampy soil recently employed by an
American engineer. The building to
be supported was low wooden one
which it was proposed to use for tho
storage of machinery. Casks were set
in holes in the ground along the line of
posts and were filed to the depth OF
about one foot with iron turnings The
posts were placed in the casks, which
were then filed with iron turnings
compactly rammed in place. A solution
OF salt and water was slowly poured
over the turnings, under the action OF
which they solidified into hard mass
The heat of the oxidation of the iron
was so great that the posts were
charred This also served to act as a
preservative, and to that extent the
iron turnings are probably superior to
concrete under similar conditions.