St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-04-22
POPULAR SCIENCE NOTES.

ELECTRICITY IN AGRICULTURE Flee
tricity has been successfully applied in
agricultural operations at the Polytechnic
Institute of Alabama, at which place a
motor has been at work since last spring
threshing oats, wheat, rye and barley,
cutting ensilage, grinding corn and gin.
ming and pressing cotton. And this,
writes Franklin l.. Ponc, in the current
number of the Engineering 4Mtgazine,
is going on in State where less than
fifty years AGO hundreds Of miles Of
telegraph lines were destroyed Ivy mob
of farmers, because the wires were sup
poSed to have supcrinduccd distressing
drought which occurred shortly after
their erection. Verify, the world moves.
SILK FROM WooD PULP.-A revival
of interest is noted in the attempts started
some wears AGO, particularly in France,
to manufacture silk from wood pulp, and
by methods, as proposed by NJ. Chardon,
ncr, similar in principle to that employed
for converting wood into paper. 1t Is
we'll known that, few years ago, large
works were built at Besadcon, and pre-
paratons for manufacturing silk IN this
way were projected and carried out on
somewhat extensive scale: the result was
that, though remarkably satisfactory
specimens of silk made by the process in
question were shown. it was found that
the fabric SO manufactured could not he
woven successfully in large pieces, and
that it was of sohighly inhammable ma
ture as to be a source of great danger.
To overcome these difficulties very thor
ough experiments have for some time
mast been under way, and with such re
suits that the company having the indus
try in charge claim to be able to furnish
q substitute for silk possessing all the
essential qualities characterizing that ar
ticle and which is expected to be put
unon the ma ket at about one-half the
cost Of the genuine article, dress pieces,
ribbons, etc. being included in the pros
pective goods.
Sorxps WE May Nor HEAR.-Anl-
mails may hear sounds that are lnaudlole
"a us, Certainly the sounds that give
the kccnest pleasure to many animals
cats, for example arc seldom capable
of giving pleasure to US. We know, OF
course, that sounds may he too low or
too hirh-that is. the vibrations may be
too slow or too rapid-to be audible TO
the human ear: but it does not toilo"
that they are equally inaudiblc to differ
cntly.tuncd cars The limits of audible
sound are not invariable even in the hui
man car: women can usually hear higher
sounds than men, and the two cars are
not, as rule. equally keen. A sound
NAV be quite inaudiblc to one person
and p]ainlv heard by another Prof.
LLOYD Morgan mentions as an IN
starcc Of this case in which the piping
of some frogs in Africa was 50 loud to
him as almost to drown his trlend s
voice but of which his friend heard al,
solutelv nothing The same thlDg may
be observed by any one possessing 'ne
little instrument known as Cations
whistle. The sound made by this WINS
tie can be made more and more shrll,;
until as last it ceases to be heard at all
bv most persons. Some can stlll near
it; but by raising the sound still hlghel
even they cease to hear. The souna IS
still being madc-that is, the whistle IS
causing the air still to vibrate, but so
rapidly that our ears no longer recos-
nize it, though the existence OF these
inaudble vibrations is detected ny 1t
sensitive flame" as was first shown ny
Prof, Barrett in 1871 Chambers Jour