Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1892-11-04
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL

Great heat seems to cause melancholia
Flatirons are now heated by electri.
city.
About one fourth of tie cases of in.
sanity are hereditary.
A German scientist holds that all
diamonds come from meteors.
A meteorite weighing 500 pounds re
Gently fell near North Bend, Wis.
The temperature of the planet Neptune
is estimated to be 900 degrees below
zero.
At the poles, where all meridiaus
converge, there can be no natural stand
ard time, for it is every hour of the day
at once.
'Masrium" is the name of the new
chemical element which has been dis
covered in the bed of an ancient Egyp.
tian river.
Reviving an old project, French
company proposes that lightsh;ps con-
nected by telegraph be stationed at in
tervals of 200 miles across the Atlantic.
Brick made of plaster of paris and
cork are now used in the construction OF
powder mills. In case of explosion they
offer slight resistance and are broken to
atoms.
DR.. Styles, of the Bureau of Auima.
Industry, describes a new cattle parasite
which lives IN the follicles of the root of
the hair, and produces disease in the
skin of the animal affected.
Corrosive sublimate, in the strength
of sixty-four grains to the gallon OF
water, is found by the Health Depart
ment of New York City to be the most
effective of the germ destroying agents.
A Russian physician declares that the
electric light is a very effective apes-
thetic, relieving pain in many cases al.
most instantaneously. Neuralgia and 9th
er local pains succumb usually to a beam
reflected from bright arc light.
The African is better protected against
the evil effects of the excessive heat
than his white brother in two ways.
The texture of his cuticle is exception
ally we'll adapted to encourage free per-
spiration and his natural temperament
does not incline him to borrow trou de
largely.
Insects generally breath through spe-
cial pores in various parts of their body,
and if these pores are closed by oil, they
are suffocated. Any one may test this
by dropping sweet oil on the thorax or
back of wasp; it very soon dies. For
fh;o oil hoe fo,.nI oft tl,,
best things to use for the destruction of
insects.
The stratiied masses of the earth's
crust, where most fully developed, at
tain united thickness of not less thaa
100, 900 feet. If they were all laid down
at the most rapid recorded rate of denu-
dation they would require period of
$4,000. 900 years for their completion.
If they were laid down at the slowcst
rate they would demand period of not
less than $50, ,OG0, 900.
A few years ago five foot drivers were
considered large on locomotives, but in
this age of advanced railroading they
have increased to seven feet In diameter.
Probably the largest diameter wheels in
use in this country is that on engine 903
of the New York Central's passenger
series that is one of the machines hauling
the Empire State Express. They meas
ure seven feet three inches, while the
next sest is SIX feet six inches on an
other engine in the same service.
French chemists have demonstrated
that it is possible TO produce heat with
out fire, and the discovery is to be util-
lied on the railways and street cars Of
the country. The device consists simply
of block of acetate of soda, which is
plunged into hot water. As it solidities
after the immersion it gives forth as
much heat as coal fire for the space of
five or six hours. There IS no danger
of fire from the use of the substance,
and as the same fuel can be used score
of times its cheapness will be of great
rec ommendation with many managers of
corporations.