The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-11-30
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Electricity was first transported from
place to place in portable form in 1881.
About twice as much power is re-
quiIed to stop an express train as to start
one.
A mountain of carbonate OF zinc il the
latest discovery near Hillsboro, New
Mexico.
Powdered stone is being used very ex-
tensively by the Pennsylvania Railroad
instead ofsand on the road bed.
John Aitken has invented an instru.
ment by which the degree of impurity
which may exist in the air of any room
or place can be determined easily and
accurately.
Tho glow-worm lays eggs which are
themselves luminous however, the
young Matched from them are not pos
sessed of those peculiar properties until
after the first transformation.
N. Marcy, the we'll known investiga-
tor of animal movements by means of
instantaneous photography and the zoe
trope, has now succeeded in rendering
the beating of living heart visible to
the eye.
A Photographic developer made with
water which has been freshly boiled will
keep. much longer than that made of
distilled water, and Photographic prints
soaked in such water before toning are
free from blisters.
Some flies thrust their eggs into the
bodies of caterpillars, but always in such
parts of the bcdy that when the Larvae
are feeding on the flesh of the foster
parent they will not eat into the vital
part. Can the fly reason9
A new use for aluminium is mentioned
by the Journal des Inventeurs, which
consists of intercollating very thin
plate of this metal between the two soles
of boot, with the object of preventing
the penetration Of damp while retaining
the warmth cf the foot.
A Scotch journal, in recent issue, re.
ports that not long since gentleman,
who was on visit to the coast, while
bathing, was seized with cramp and
sank, being two minutes below water.
When rescued he was thought to be
dead. but after two applications Of the
electric current animation was restored.
The current was passed between the nape
of the neck and the heart.
The little RATS Of eggs that guats set
aaoat on the water are kept from sinking
and from being upset from the fact that
the tiny eggs have their points all up.
ward, and they are glued together so
closely, that while there is open space
all around the point of each egg, yet the
width of these spaces is so slight that
water cannot readily pass through. You
may again and again upset such. an egg
raft, but it will right itself every time,
aud the upper surface will remain dry.
The common daphne grown in flower
gardens is one Of the most deadly pois-
ons known to the botanist. Three or
four of the berries will kill man as
soon as strychnlne, and one has been
known to kill child in half an hour.
There are numerous Towering plants
which arc perfectly harmless both in
leaf. flower and seed, and as long as
these can be readily obtained there is no
excuse for florist allowing sucha plant
az the daphne to grow on his premises.
Photography is now being used to
record the movements of the growing
parts of plants. Especially curious are
the results with certaiE climbers, such
as the hop convolvuls, :. isomoes. etc.
The young stems move in succession
of irregular, circular or elliptical curves,
which vary every moment, even in dirsc-
tion, and are due to irregular growth in
different parts of the stem. During the
sleep OF plants movements do not cease,
but consist of alternate upward and
downward vibrations.