The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-10-12
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Statistics gathered by the German
| imperial commissioner on labor show
that in many parts of the empire the
duration of work exceeds fifteen hours
daily. In northwest Germany the per-
centage of work people laboring thus
long is 36.S of the whole.
-Photogra phing the depths of the
sea has been accomplished bya French
scientist, NJ. Boutan. Being a prac-
ticed diver, NJ. Boutan managed to
take photographs of his surroundings
when standing on the very bed of the
Mediterranean at Banyulis-sur- Mer,
near the Spanish border.
Among the products which science
has put to valuable service is the net
tie. a weed which is now being Guilt
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 a length of
sixty miles weighs only two and half
pounds
The membrane lining the canal OF
| the ear contains great number of lit
tie glands which secrete waxy sub
stance having an intensely bitter taste.
The purpose of this is to prevent the
entrance Of insects and to keep the ear
clean, as the layer of wax dries in
scales. which fall rapidly away, thus
removing with them any particle of
dust or other foreign matter which
may have found entrance to the ear.
The whaling industry has fallen off
so much as to play but small part in
the worlds commerce. The latest
figures obtainable.show the production
to average between $1,000 and $1,000
tons of 252 gallons each per year. There
are two kinds of whale oil. the sperm,
taken from the head Of the cacholot or
sperm whale, and train oil which is
derived from the common whale, or as
it is more commonly known, the right
whale. Sperm oil is worth from $3.50 to
$500 per ton and the ordinary train oil
about 5000. Chicago Herald.
1T is reported that large industry
is being built up at Barrow, England, in
the production of steel barrels for the
conveyance of petroleum. The barrels
preston in a mold when hot. After
ward they are welded together by
means of electricity. The barrels are
intended for use by the large oil carry
ing companies engaged in the oil trade
in the east. where the temperature has
a great effect on wooden casks and re-
suits in so much leakage
Six thousand salmon were taken in
nets from the wharvcs at Port Angeles.
Wash. by amateur and casual fisher
men during one day recently. The run
of salmon up the smaller streams en-
tering the lower part of Puget Sound
has been greater than ever before
known. On some days the streams
were quite choked, and the barbarous
practice of fishing with giant powder
was resorted to, until the straits be-
came filed with dead salmon. and the
attention of the state fish commission
was called to the outrage, when it was
promptly stopped
Curious resemblances in nature
start with the cocoanut, in many re-
spects like the human skull and almost
a fac-simile of the monkeys. The
meat of the English walnut is almost a
copy of the human brain; plums and
black cherries like the human eve. al
| monGs like the human nose. and an
opened oyster and shell a perfect like
| ness of the human ear. The shape Of
mans body may be traced il the
mammoth squash, the open hand in
Al.
human heart in German turnips and
egg plant, and dozens of the mechan-
ical inventions of the present day to
patterns furnished by nature. Thus,
the hog suggested the pillow. the but
terfy the door hinge. the frog stool
the umbrella, the duck the ship, and
the fungus growth on trees the bracket
Among reptiles the eggs exhibit
great variety. The eggs of alligators
are elongated and almost cylindrical
evenly rounded at both ends, and bout
the size of an ordinary ducks egg.
The eggs of the sea turtle are as large
as small apple. rounded, and have d
flexible shell. Those of the swapping
turtle are much smaller, but aiso
rounded. Those of the terrapins and
other genera are oblong, as also are
! those of lizards. In the common black
and yellowdotted American fresh
water terrapins. and in the painted
terrapin, the eggs require four years
of growth before they are laid. Take
seven-yearoi turtle of this kind. 1t
will contain only very small eggs, all
of uniform size. An eight-year-old tor
toise of the same kind will have two
sets of eggs one larger and one smaller.
One of nine years will have three sets
the Oldest set being the size of small
pea. A tortoise of ten years will have
four sets of eggs, and in that year she
will lay for the first time, and give
birth to the most mat,Ee set.
| Antiquity of Butter.
| Butter, which is almost indispensab bic
to the meal nowadays, was formerly
used solely as an ointment. Herodotus
Greek historian. is the first writer
who mentions butter, b. c. 500. The
Spartans treated it very much the sam,
as we do cold cream or vaseline, anC
Plutarch tells how a hostess was sick
ened at the sight of one of her visitors
a Spartan, who was saturated in but
Ter The Scvth1anS introduced the n