Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-04-23
POPULAR SCIENCE.


pnd.
The average annual rainfall in the
United States is 1916 inches, the varia-
tions ranging from 0 TO about 125
inches.
Recent investigation show that the
average speed Of the transmission Of
earthquake shocks is nearly 16, 900 feet
per second.
The smallest known insect, the
pteratomas putnsmii, parasite of the
ichneumon, is about one ninetieth OF an
inch in length.
A company has just been formed in
Chicago, H., 10 run buses on the boule
wards, propelled by accumulators or
other electrical appliances.
The St. Louis River. near Fond du
lac, Wis, has fall Of 12l feet in which
ten dams are to be erected, having
horse power Of seventy. three thousand
horses.
Betting having Joints cemented only
is as good as If the belt were formed Of
solid leather from end to end. 1t lasts
mach longer, and drives better than
when cut up with sewing.
Paper is now being made freproof,
and is extensively used in the construc
tion of dwellings. 1t eau be made Of any
color desired, and can be polished and
worked like most woods.
The telephone has beoa successfully
nsed in surgery to locate the position OF
metallic substances in the body, thus
enabling an operation to be performed ia
the right direction at once.
The lightest metal known is lithium.
Its specific gravity Is only about one-half
that of water, a1d Of course it doats.
1t has little use in the mechanic arts, ITS
chief employment being as mcdi
cine.
Risso relates that on one occasion .
huge female ray was captured at sea, aud
her mate followed the boat for three
days, and then died These "devil fishes"
are said by some to defend their young
with great courage.
Poisoning by mussels is a we'll known
fact. Such poisoning appears in chronic
form in Terra del Fuego, mussels being
abundant on the shores and other kinds
CT food rare, so that the natives cat large
quantities of the former daily, bJta OF
bad and of good quality.
The temperature used in incubators for
the Matching of chickens varies from
ninety-eight 10 1913 degrees. Heat Is
not the only essential, however, az
moisture, ventilation and other things
have to be carefully looked after to
secure successful artificial incubation.
Ivory is sensitive to weather. Ex-
posure to cold soon cracks it and
renders billiard balls untrue. They are
easily Knocked out OF shape, too, if not
well seasoned or well made. The centre
of the tusk should go through tne centre
of the ball to preserve best a true
spherical form.
DR.. Stirlings's Motorcycles typhlops, the
marsupial mole of Australia, Is thought
by Mr.. O5lby to be connecting link
between the monotremes Che duck bill
and spiny antelteD and the marsupials.
Several English naturalists think that its
aftinities are closer 10 tie monotremes
than to the latter mammals.
Manganu, which is an alloy of copper,
nickel and manganese, has remarkable
electrical properties Its resistance hardly
varies at all even through a range of
temperature varying from fifteen degrees
TO ninety-seven degrees centigrade. 1t
thus becomes a superior metal for the
construction of artificial resistances.
A new method of testing the hard
ness of steel has been invented by
Swedish metailurgist. 1t is based upon
the intensity Of current necessary to fuse
wire of standard size. Experiments
show the current required for wires of
various sizes, and upon this base the
quality Of any sample can be deter
mined
An improvement in the preparation OF
lubricants is a soap, formed by treating
wool grease with alkaline I've. This is
dissolved in water ard filtered, and to
this solution another of alum is added.
forming brown preciptate From
this, when dry, lu5uclting OILS OF any
visccsity may be produced by simply dis
solving it IN fluid mineral oil.
The latest application Of electricity IS
to the curling OF forehead fringcs. The
idea is American, of course, and iti
realization is auxiously looked forward
to by young women Of fashion, who hope
to find in electricity a means of pro-
ducing at mo-ent's notice those iu-
fautinc rings aud hyacinthine locks
which nov take twenty minutes at least
to bring to perfection.