The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-07-05
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

From two observations made July
IS. 1893, of the aurora borealis at the
University of Toronto it was found that
its height above the earth was 16C
miles
The white rhinoceros has become
nearly if not quite extinct. There are
two stuffed specimens in England and
one in the Cape Town museum. 1t is
the largest specimen of the genus.
For protection wool and furs rank
first, then silk. cotton and linen. Any
layer of confined air is a slow conductor
of heat, and a loose-ftting garment is
warmer in winter than a tight-titting
one in other respects the same.
-Droughts in Algeria are reported to
have caused much damage to the geran-
ium crop. which is raised for the pur-
pose of distilling geranium oil from the
leaves. The fragrant oil is used by
perfumers, part being sold under its
own name, but a still greater amount
is used for adulterating the altar of
roses.
Specimens of the American lung
fish Qepidosiren paradoxa) have been
othI W l@OllttOI OAiC uBlJII INV
Paraguay. This and the Prolopterus
of African rivers have been thought by
DIR. Ayers to be congeneric, and even
varieties of our species, but their gen
eric distinction has been lately reaf-
firrned by German and English authori-
ties.
Water is compressible theoretically,
but not practically. That is, when an
amount of water is subjected to an adj
ditional pressure of one atmosphere it
is compressed one-twenty-thou
part of its bulk Thus, for all practical
purposes. it is correct to say that you
cannot get more than four quarts of
water into a gallon vessel under any
circumstances.
More than three hundred species of
fish hitherto unknown to naturalists
are described by NJ. Leon Valiant as
inhabiting the lakes of Borneo. Many
other fish are identical with species liv-
ing in the waters of the Sunda islands
and of Indo-China. AS these species
never reach the sea, they furnish an
other argument in favor of the theory
of a former connection of these coun-
tries.
The Capricornian. an Australian
journal. says that the introduction of
the little fruit baskets as used in Cali
fornia. into which the fruit is picked
direct, has given flip to fruit eating,
and growers find it so profitable that
neither producer nor consumer will
now rest content until the whole of the
California system of handling fruit has
been introduced to South Australia.
An English scientist. after careful
experiments, finds that when potatoes
are cooked without removing the skins
they lose only 3 per cent. of nutritive
quality through extraction of the juice
When the skins were removed before
boiling the loss was 4 per cent, which
makes the process of cooking the pota-
toes without their jackets an exceed
ingly wasteful one.
A singular instance of connection
between superstition and agricultural
pests is reported from CeylOn. The
high-class Buddhist Cingalese refuse to
destroy the predatory insects which in
fest the tea plantations. as they regard
it sin to take life. Consequently the
tea plantations owned by them become
the breeding ground for moths and
| other insects. and source of infection
to neighboring plantations.
The following instance of tenacity
of life in land snails is given by Mr..
| Stearns. of the United States National
| museum: Certain snails were collected
| on Cerros or Cedros island, off the coast
! OF Lower California in 1859. Six years
later one of them, on being placed in a
| box of moist earth, began to move
| about. Another shell. also from Lower
| California. woke up from its lethargy
after a long nap of two years, two
| months and sixteen days"
The Baluban tribe of Central Africa
| are famous for their skill in casting
and forging iron. They construct tall
cylindro-conical furnaces of clay with
tuyeres of clay and ingeniously devised
wooden bellows. They make arms for
| hunting and for war, and collars and
bracelets of iron. The neighboring ma
| tives resort to them in great numbers
to exchange their own products for the
anufactures of the Balubans.-Popu-
| .r Science Monthly.
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