Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1892-06-10
POPULAR SCIENCE.

vi the oof existing klnuS OF reptiles,
400 species are harmless.
Two rabbits within Eve years will DO
responsible for progeny of 20, 1000, 900.
To protect itself from the rain. the
oraug-oatang crooks its arms over its
head
Edison is said to DO perfectinga tele-
phonic device by which the roaring and
clustering of the sun spots can be heard
by people on the earth.
FOR insomnia, try exercising fifteen
minutes with some light weight in the
hands. Do not use anything heavy or
you do yourself more harm than good.
BY studying the spectrum of lightning
us it passes through the air, it has been
found that sodium, the element from
which common salt is formed, exists in
the atmosphere.
The Kentish plover, like the stone
curlew or thickknee, is being rapidly
exterminated in the English county from
which it derives its name by collectors
aud so-called "naturalists."
No horned tortoise now exists, but n
fossil specimen was found awhile ago
OH Lord Howc's Island, in the Southern
Pacific, which had four horns OH its
crest and resembled cross between q
horned toad and swapping turtle.
Brown eyes, according to De Candolle,
the famous scientist, are much more
common among women than among men.
The same gentleman declares that in re-
spect of health, persons of the brown
type are probably superior to those of
the blonde type.
One of the large winter hotels in the
Eugadine is to be heated electrically by
power derived from the Mera River. 1t
seems that it i, probable that where nat
ural power is abundant this department
of electrical engineering is apt to become
exceedingly important.
While making an excavation n few
days since Harry Smith, of Hudson,
Mich, found at the depth of twenty
nine feet two stone feet supposed to be
the petriiied eXtremities of some aborig-
inal or extinct race. They are perfect
specimens and arc exciting much curl.
osity.
If n we'll could be dug to the depth
of forty-six miles, tho donity of the air
ut the bottom would DC rs great rs that
of quicksilver. BY the same law a cubic
inch of air taken 1000 miles above the
carth's surface would expand sufficiently
to fill sphere 1000, 900, 600 miles in
diameter.
Professor Holman, Of tho bIassachu-
sets Institute OF Technology, has in.
vented an Improvement in the mnnufac-
ture of insulated wire. He braids the
wire with regular braiding so as to have
M air space, mir being ono of the best
insulators. His method is being thor.
oughly tested.
Wax is n substance secreted by the
bee, and is analogous to the Fat OF the
higher animals. The wax of species OF
bee common in Patagonia, Terra del
Fuego and other parts of Southern South
America and the adjacent islands, IS n
dark blue in color aud is said to be more
poisonous than arsenic,
A process has been patented in Eng.
land for decolorizing animal, mineral
and vegetable oils, also fatty, oily, tarry,
resinous and waxy substances, through
the agency of chemically pure silicic acid,
obtained by precipitation from soluble
silicates. The material to be bleached
is mixed with silicic acid aud the com.
pound is filtered, or it is passed through
filter containing the acid. The latter
is again purified by roasting, or the col.
orinS matters are removed by means oil
benzole or bisulphide OF carbon.