The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-02-12
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

"A new element, named ''damaria,H
is said to have been discovered in the
crater of an extinct volcano in Damar
land. 1t is reported to have an atomic
weight of only 6.5, or half that of ny.
drogen; and, therefore, it is the lightest
known substance.
Cattle raising in Colum bia, Contra;
America, is an almost universal in.
dustry, but it lacks the proper and per.
feet utilization of the products, the
hides and horns being exported. The
hungry people of Europe could consume
proftably the meat, if properly canned.
The wages of shop girls in London
begin at from S35 to $40 a year in the
poorest kinds of stores The girls be-
gin work at the average age of II years
In the high-priced shops on Bond and
Regent streets handsome girl with a
fine figure commands from $3.50 to $500
a year, while governess usually re-
ceives less than half that sum.
"A curious instance of one poison
killing another IS reported from
Yackandandah, Victoria, where strych-
nine cured a snake-bite A solu-
ton of nitrate of strychnine in
$40 parts of water, mixed with little
glycerine, was prepared and twenty
minims injected hypodermically at in
tervals of ten or twenty minutes with
good results.
-Shad are of different families,
which come from the ocean to the
rivers along the Atlantic coast to
spawn. The shad of Florida are not
the same as those of the Hudson or the
Connecticut or the Susquehanna- The
same fish come each year to the partic-
ular river where they were born, and
in their appearance are slightly differ
ent. Each river is the home Of sepa-
rate colony.
The asteroids that lie between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter have be-
come so difficult to keep track OF, since
they have been discovered at the rate
of about twenty a year, that astrono-
mers have recently decided to reject
them, excepting the nearest and the
most distant. The la..er are important
in observations of Jupiter, while the
nearest ones are useful in the more &C
curate calculations of the earth's dis
lance from the sun.
Even the hairs of your head are
numbered" says the good book. and
science is trying to prove it Photo
graphing human hair is the latest use
for the camera. 1t is claimed that hui
man hairs have marked individuality,
and that with microscope and camera
a photograph was gained which led to
the discovery of a murderer in Germany.
The individuality of the hairs alone
brought about his conviction
Forest vegetation is much richer in
North America than in Europe. and
comprises 412 species, of which 176 are
native to the Atlantic region, 1906 to the
Pacific 10 are common to both, 46 to the
Rocky Mountain region, and "A are trop-
ical species near the coasts of Florida,
as against 1853 species in Europe. Six
North American species of forest trees
the Judas tree, persimmon, hackbe
ry, plane tree, hop horn bean and chest
nut-are also Indigenous in Europe, all
now growing there naturally south of
the Alps.
committee appointed by the English
parliament to inquire whether railway
employees were required to work too
many hours. it appears that the in
stances of long hours of labor are nu-
merous On the London and North
western railway the condition has inn
proved slightly in two years. Some of
the unions ask for ten hours work, and
some block signal men on crowded lines
deem eight hours enough Some engine
drivers would rather work fifteen hours
and have their runs arranged SO that
they might be at home with their fami-
lies, than stop at twelve hours, although
furnished with lodgings. A few were
willing to work any number of hours if
paid for overtime.