The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1893-11-18
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

st. Louis to New Orleans a tow OF TO-
600 tons of grain, a quantity that would
require fifty railroad trains of ten cars
each.
Eastern Switzerland manufactures
annually nearly sec, 200, 900 worth of ma
chine.made embroideries- The United
States alone have Imported as high as
81, 700, 600 worth of these articles IN =
single year, and the business seems to
be increasing.-Inventive Age.
The snake laboratory now being
built under government supervision at
Calcutta will be the first institution OF
its kind in the world. 1t is intended
for the purpose of thoroughly investi-
eating the properties of snake venom,
and testing cures for snake bites.
According to the official report for
the past twelve months the American
people drank only $685., 7aO barrels Of
beer id 1875, while last year we drank
81, 474. 519, and this year Ss, $40, 400, an
increase of 2, ASS, $40 barrels The con.
sumption of beer is now half barrel
per capita, and is doubling about every
eight years. At the beginning of the
neAb century IN YFetaisSS W oC o OoAAcA
ahead Bradstreet's
-Rainmakers have rival in j. M.
Matthews, of San Antonio, Tex, who
is working on a new rainmaking pro-
cess. He is building a huge revolving
wheel with which to produce cyclonic
pressure of hot air upon the cold
stratum Of air above the earth, and
thus condense the moisture In the hot
air into raindrops
"A short time before Dr.: Charc0t
died he said in lecture that semi-
scientists had for more than fifty years
ridiculed the idea that the full of the
moon was dangerous time for mad
people. Better informed men are COM
ing back to that old-time notion, said
Dr. Charcot, as the result of increased
learning on the subject of earth tides,
similar to the oscillation Of sea tides
"A scientific writer says that night
is the time which nature utilities for
the growth of plants and animals;
children grow more rapidly during the
night In the daytime the system il
kept busy disposing of the wastes con-
sequent on activity, but while asleep
the system is free to extend It's opera
lions beyond the mere replacing Of
WORKOUT particles, hence the rapid
growth. This is why invalids need so
much rest and sleep.
The Society for the Encouragement
of French Industries offers the follow
ing prizes, which are open to the world:
For a published work of use to the
chemical or metal trade, $500, to be
awarded in 1894; prize of $500 for an
experimental study Of the physical and
mechanical qualities of one or several
metals or alloys, chosen from those in
] ordinary use, which will be awarded
in 1894; a prize of $500 for a scientific
examination of any industrial process
of which the theory remains imper-
fectly known.
| Those versed in plant and flower
lore say that the celebrated plant Of
Calvary was unknown in the fora Of
the world prior to the date of the
crucifxion of Jesus. According to
the tradition. the original plant
sprung up in the track made by
PLATE when he went to the cross
for the purpose of placing that famous
'title" over the dead of Him of whom
the Jews said: Say that He called
Himself King of the Jews" The
plant, as it is now known, is common
trcfoil, resembling the common clover
in many particulars, especially in the
peculiarities of growth.
lin the case of the sun we can see,
with the aid of the spectroscope, in
about what order some of the constitu-
ents of its she'll are placed, but we can
only scratch the surface of the earth,
and we know by direct observation far
less of the order in which the deeper
parts of its crust are laid down. Here,
however, the study of the sun comes in
to help us in the study of the earth.
On the sun metallic elements abound
underneath the lighter substances,
forming the upper or outer portions Of
its incandescent she'll There isreason
to think that similar order prevails
in the crust of the earth, and that deep
down beneath the surface, if we could
| penetrate there, we should find much
larger proportion of the heavier metals
than we find near the surface.
Flies, though obtrusive in the dog
days, are in general indispensable be-
cause, in their maggot state, they act
as scavengers. There is, however, .
dark side to a mature and rotant fy's
nature in that it may quite uncon-
sciously become the bearer of some
i grave, contagious diseases, such as car
buncle, etc. The English Mechanic is
responsible for the statement that
Prof. Simmands, of Hamburg, has
shown by experiments that flies can
infect eatables-especially sauces
with cholera germs. Hence it is nec-
essary to keep flies away from articles
of food when cholera or other infec-
tious disease is about. The editor adds
that II the German professor has DEM
onstrated the fact, it proves conclu-
sively the truth of the late Cornelius
Varley's statements made more than