Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-03-03
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

To make ice by artificial means re-
quires one ton of coal to produce from
from five to ten tons of ice.
A large sewing machine, weighing
three and one-fourth tons, is in use IN
Leeds, England. 1t sews cotton belt
irg.
The average weight of the Chinese
brain is said to be heavier than the
average weight of the brain in any Other
race.
Hard coal loses eight per cent. in
bulk per anuum when exposed to the
weather. Soft coal loses twelve per
cent.
Experiments have shown that pump
kin will lift two and ope-half tons, pro-
vided the weight is placed so as to
interfere with the growth and develop
ment of the vegetable.
The temperature of the Mediterra-
mean at 200 fathoms is about 6fty-six de-
grees, and no change is found in going
to the bottom, which in places reaches
depth of 1900 iathoms.
NJ. Chappuis's proposed electric rail-
way through the Simpion Pass is esti'
mated to cost S8, 900, 900, and it would
greatly reduce the distance between
Italy and Northern Europe.
The cost Of the observatory whic b is
now being built on the top of Mont
Blanc, Switzerland, is estimated at $780,
900. Part of the building is to be made
available for guides and tourists.
The central Sahara registers mean OF
ninety-seven degrees in July. Central
Australia boasts of ninety-four degrees in
January, mean which Is attained in
South Carolina and Inner Arabia in mid
summer.
A British scientist recently stated that
if man weighing lao pounds were
placed under a hydraulic press and
SQUEEZED fiat, the result would be 100
pounds of water and thirty y-6ve pounds
of dry residue.
A laboratory for thu study, under
strict scientific conditions, of snake poi
sons and cures for snake bites is to be
established in Calcutta. 1t is to be
founded by native, and will be the
only institution of its kind IN the
world.
An excellent method for waterproof
ing the surface of wall is to cover il
with solution of soap. After twenty
four hours a coat of lime solution is ap
piled. This process is repeated severa
times, and is claimed to make the wal
perfectly water tight.
The researches of many observers, as
reported upon by DR.. Buchan, show that
the ocean currents cause the temperature
of the west side of the Atlantic, al
depths from 100 to 500 fathoms to be
nearly ten degrees warmer than at the
same depths on the east side.
NJ. Marcy, the we'll tknown investiga
tor of animal movements by means OF in
stantaneous photography and the zoe
trope, has now succeeded ia rendering
the beating of a living heart visible tc
the eye. All the phases of the move
ment can be followed and properly ex
amined by this new method. The heart
employed in this experiment was that ol
turtle.
Official statistics of the colera epidem
ic in Germany last year, and up to it,
practical disappearance, show that tht
number of deaths from cholera wal
$50. Nine-tenths practically of this
number were in the city and State oi
Hamburg, where the total number o.
was 7611-1.22 per cent. of the whole
population. The statistics show tha
the cholera spread up the rivers from the
center around Hamburg With diminish
ing virulence.
Pitch pine beams will shrink in thick
ness from eighteen and three.quartel
inches to eighteen and quarter; spruce
from eight and half inches to eight
and thlee-eights; white pine from
twelve inches to eleven and seven
eighths; yellow pine tri6e less
Cedar beams will shrink from a width
of fourteen inches to thirteen and {
quarter; elm from eleven to ten anc
three-quarters, and oak from twelve Il
eleven and three.eights.