The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1893-08-26
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

The greatest depth unocr Wat@
ever reached by diver is believed to
have been attained by Capt John
Christensen, who went down 1915 feet
below the surface at Elliot Bay, Wash,
recently. He remained at that depth
in his armor for twenty minutes, with
out nience.-Engineering and
Mining journal.
The prevalence of crimson colors
in certain fishes on our New England
coast on portions of which scarlet and
crimson seaweeds abound, is explained
by Prof. j. Brown Goode by the red
pigment derived by the crustaceans
from the seaweeds they devour, and
which in turn form the food of the fishes.
Among the products which science
has put to valuable service is the net
tie, a weed which is now being culti-
waited in some parts of Europe, its fiber
proving useful for a variety of textile
fabrics. In Dresden thread is pro-
duced from it so fine that length OF
sixty miles weighs only two and half
pounds.
The intensity of confined sound is
illustrated at Causbrook castle, Isle Of
Wight, where there is well 200 feet
deep and twelve feet in diameter, lined
with smooth masonry. When pin is
dropped into it the sound of it striking
the surface of the water, 1872 feet be-
low, can be distinctly heard.
I'm 1892 the number of mines of all
kinds at work in the United Kingdom
was 1857, the number of persons en-
ployed was 721, sos, and the total amount
of mineral of every description raised
was 195, $3.50, $50 tons. The total number
of fatal accidents during the year was
S62, and the number of deaths resulting
therefrom 1,034.
Work on the mighty telescope for
the French exposition of 1900, which
was to enable us to see the man in the
moon, has been suspended, after con-
siderable progress had been made in
the construction of it, especially in the
optic portion. The great lenses are
already cast, but the whole affair is
now abandoned for want of money.
"A company with capital of 2,000,-
600, obtained mostly from Scotland, is
engaged in Argentina in canning
meats for the European market, ship
ments last year amounting to close
upon 1O, 1000 tons. worth 81, 000, 900. The
frozen meat business is also prospecting,
there having been shipments of about
%, 900 tons to England and France last
year.
Sales of wool in Australian colonies
are increasing very largely, the aggre-
gate quantity disposed of for the 1892
93 clip being ~, 900 bales, as against
$4,000 for the previous season. The
bulk of the sales, ago, 900 bales, were
made to buyers from Continental Eu-
rope, and SO, $50 bales were disposed of
to American buyers, who took stocks
less firmly than usual.
Intellectual work, according to M.
Jules Simon (who is, by the way, a
striking example of the correctness of
his own theory, is the secret of a
green old age. Nothing, he declares,
helps so materially to conserve physi-
cal strength as mental employment.
His own experience is in point. So
also is the membership of the French
institute, a congregation Of hale and
hearty octogenarians."
The annual manufacture of looking
glass in Europe at the present time,
according to the latest statistics, is
something like 1,s50,O0O square yards.
In the mirrors of to-day the light is
reflected by layer of silver or an
amalgam of tin, but proportion of
light is lost in the process of reflection,
and the image is less luminous than the
original The value of a looking glass
is estimated by the thickness of the
glass, because the thicker they are the
stronger they must be; but, speaking
scientifically, thick glasses are de-
fective, because the outlines of the
image reflected are less clearly defined.
"A well-known practi toner of medi-
cine says: Probably you have noticed
the tendency of epidemic diseases to
run themselves out, even in districts
where no precautionary measures are
taken. 1t has been shown in the his
tory of every great plague-the black
death, cholera and the rest, and now
it is illustrated in the grip. We have
the grip with us again, as you know,
and there have been a few fatal cases
of it; but it is nothing to what it was
in its first and second season. Then,
you remember, there where instances
where it was fatal within twenty-four
hours, and its effects were more severe
and more lasting they they have been
since.