The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1893-06-29
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

The establishment of la Dor eX-
change by the labor organizations of
Kansas CITY is an attempt to carry into
practical effect the cooperative idea of
Edward Bellamy.
The area devoted to the cultivation
of tobacco in Ceylon shows a steady
and considerable increase from year to
year, the average product now being
in the neighborhood of 1O, 900, 900 pounds
yearly, of which 25O,OOO pounds are ex-
| ported.
Corn huslzs boiled in caustic soda
are being utilized for the manufac-
| ture of paper. The cooking process re-
suits in the formation of spongy, glu-
tinous paste, which is subjected to
heavy pressure so as to eliminate the
gluten, the fiber remaining being made
into paper in the ordinary way.-Sci-
entifc American.
Recent catalogues show that ento-
mologists have found 363 species of
spiders in the upper Cayuga lake basin,
| 37O in the District of Columbia and $40
in New England. DIR. George Marx has
complied list of 292 species which
|
of the globe.
Of the 15, $40 tons of pig iron which
was exported from the United States
in the last fiscal year, 4,796 tons went
to Canada. In that market the fur
naces of the United States were SO
successful in competing with those of
England that English iron was almost
entirely driven from the Canadian mar
ket.-Baltimore Journal of Commerce.
A physician who has devoted spe-
cial study to the grip says that it is
easier to determine by the after effects
whether patient is suffering from
the endemic or the common, non-con-
tagious form of influenza, than it is by
the primitive symptoms. Influenza of
the ordinary sort leaves no after effect
of any consequence, but grip leaves the
patient with a profound nervous de-
preston that is as bad as the disease.
The water spider, which spends most
of its time under water, carries bub-
BILE of air for breathing on the under
side of its body; and, when this air is
exhausted. it comes to the surface for
more. 1t is enabled to carry the air
bubble because the under side of it's
body is covered with tiny hairs set so
close together that the surface film of
the water does not pass them, although
the air does, and thus the air is iclpris-
oned among the hairs.
The area devoted to potatoes in
New Zealand shows substantial in
crease, amounting to 60 per cent, in
nine years, while the product has adj
vanced from 4, 900, 600 bushels in 1888 to
5000, 900 bushels in 1891, with an export
trade now amounting to nearly 1,500,-
900 bushels. In Tasmania the area
planted to potatoesis also steadily in
, creasing and now covers more than
{ 10000 acres, which yielded 2,731, 600
bushels in 1891, of which 1, $50, 900 bush
, els were exported to other colonies.
Since Darw1n's investigations on so
; called "carnivorous plants" a great
2 deal has been written on the habits
f and powers of these remarkable organ.
isms, but the question how flies, etc,
r were dissolved and digested seems tC
: have remained unsolved. 1t is now
maintained that digestion in the case
e of carnivorous plants is due to the
e activity of certain micro-organisms
f which are always present in the sap Of
: the mature plant, and that their secre
!, tions are favorable to the development
: of such minute organisms.-Knowledg
/ The licorice plant is chiefly grown
y on the banks of the Tigris and Euphra
tes, in localities where for three
; months during the prevalence of hot
S winds, the temperature reaches TO-
+ degrees, and for three months otter
e registers 80 degrees below at night
e The remaining six months are moder
S ate and healthy. This plant is a small
IS shrub. about three feet high with ligh
:, foliage, growing where its roots cal
: reach the water, and needing no cult
A walton. When the root is dug up it il
e full of water, and takes nearly yea
n to dry. The rotten pieces are used TO
:. firewood, while the good wood i
e shipped to London and America, wher
e it is used largely in the manufacture
II of tobacco.
: 1t is believed, according to ?. L
Simmonds, F. L. S., that there are fiv
times as many insects as there ar
species of all other living things pu
'r together. The oak alone supports As
= species of insects, and 200 kinds max
is their home in the pine. Forty year
1t ago Humboldt estimated that the nun
4 Der of species preserved in collection
le was between 100000 and 100000, bu
Il scientific men now say that there mus
r be more than 100000, without takin
lie into account the parasite creatures. c
10 the $4,000 species in Europe, however
Of not more than $500 are noxious or dt
lie structive. There are more than 10000
a kinds of beetles
=: For more than century the breed
- ing of canaries has been a thriving il
- - dustry in parts of Germany. In 1e;
- the German dealers began to ship I'll
Va birds to New York, and then to Sout
- America and Australia. The prof
" are small, but the industry is a go
- send to the poor, who make the slna
~ wooden cages. 1t is estimated thi
- - about 25O,OO0 canary birds are raise
every wear in Germany. The most il