The Colfax chronicle., 1892-01-02
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
The Academy Of Medicine has
awarded the Orflls prize to NJ. Kaufman,
professor at the veterinary college of
Abort, for the discovery of specific
for viper bites. II consists of one part
Of chronic acid diluted iu q hundred
parts of water and applied to the wound.
-One of the recent inventions for life
saving apparatus is the Irvine pneu-
matte gun for throwing line to ships
in distress or to persons in burning
house. The air Is admitted from a rescr-
voir to the chamber behind the projec-
tile at pressure of 2, 400 pounds to the
| square inch.
The rate of growth of coral is diff
suit to estimate At the meeting of the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila-
delphia, Prof. Heilprin, exhibited q
specimen of Porites astroeoides which
had been taken from an anchor cast in
the autumn of 1885. He estimated that
the annual amount of increase was
scarcely one-twentieth of an inch.
AN improved kind of soap for metal
work has lately been described, of some
special advantages, it Is said. as COM
pared with those usually employed in
this line-thst is, mixtures of vaseline.
oleic acid and fat combined with a
small quantity OF rouge and which.
when freshly prepared, leave nothing
to be desired, excepting, unfortunately
that such compositions soon turn rancid
and become unfit for use.
| Wheat was recently bought in San
Francisco for shipment to Australia.
Three colonies of the latter country pro
duce more wheat than they can consume,
while the other four produce less
Naturally the former would supply the
latter's deficiency. but the foreign do.
mand for particular brands Of Austria
lian wheat is 20 peremptory that the
colonies figure both as exporters ard
importers of wheat.
The Suez Canal is being widened in
some parts to the extent of fifty feet
The widening had been completed at
the close OF 1889 for q distance of about
10 miles from Port Said. In the course
of last year the widening was completed
for further distance Of miles. BY the
close of 1891 the widening works are ex-
pected to reach point 29A miles from
Port Said.-Engineering and Mining
Journal.
in silvering iron recent process in
troduced ia Austrian workshops consists
in plunging the iron article into hot di-
lutte hydrochloric acid. whence It is re-
moved to solution of mercury nitrate
and connected with the zinc pole of a
Bunaen element, gas carbon or platinum
serving as the other pole. 1t is rapidly
covered with layer of quicksilver.
when it is removed, washed and trans
ferred to silver bath and silvered.
The number of hogs marketed in
the United States has increased from
l4.474. 900. in 1882, to ss,9o6. 900, in
iS9O-91; and the amount shipped abroad
has shown . corresponding increase.
The shipments in 1888 included S67, 00O,-
300 pounds of bacon, and 81, 000. 600
pounds of ham; and in 1890 the ship
ments of bacon were $50. .000, 900 pounds,
snd of ham 81. .0o0, 900 pounds Mime
apolis Spectator.
Steam pipes have recently been
made of ramie fiber. hardened under
tremendous hydraulic pressure, and
possessing tensile strength equal ia
two and one half times that of steel.
The ramie fiber, or China grass, haa
the property of being unaffected by
moisture: It will not shrink nor swell,
Il is non-conductor of heat It can
not rust, and these features together
with its great strength, are all desir'
able in steam pipes, its utilization in
this line being regarded. therefore, as
one Of the possibilities of the future.
Recently published statistics show
the enormous wealth and power Of the
foreign steamship companies which dc
business out of the port OF New Yorl
and maintain Offices in that city. There
are about fifty foreign lines in all, with
IN aggregate tonnage of2, ,S55, ,249 They
include thirty British lines. with 1918,
o5l tons; five German lines, with s4s.
500 tons; five French companies. with
278. 52l tons; one italian company
with 162, 27S tons; three Dutch com
panies, with 1868 tons; one Danish
company, with 11,9ss tons, and ont
Belgian company, with 2,S79 tons
Boston Journal.
John w. Bookwalter, who owns
1000 acres of land in Nebraska, pro
poses to initiate great reform in farm
life, at an expense of $75, 600 or 500,
900, to be met out of his own purse
His idea is to bring the farmers homes
together into tastefully ARRANGED
village near each ones land. insteat
of having them on the individua
farms He has already started thu
experiment ON . small scale, and says
'I am going to build . town hal
and establish q free circulatin,
| library. This scheme is in vogue amonl
the farmers Of France, Spain, Italy, ant
Switzerland, and is . great success =