The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1894-12-14
SHELTON FRIDAY DEoEMBER 14 lm4
Scientific Miscellany.

TORIC SURGERY-CRYOSTASE AND IT'S
UNIQUE PROPERTY-A New SAFETY
BOILER.
Though Emerson suggested that
every weed is a plant whose use is not
yet understood, the number of plants
that have been brought into service
by man is very small. Edison S. Bas-
TIN finds authority for the statement
that 1872 species have been at some
time cultivated as food, and that the
total known to have been used as food
1890. But many of these are of little
value, and "Smith's Dictionary of
Economic Plants" gives only 515 speei-
es as those important for any purposes.
For medicine some 5000 plants have
been employed, of which the United
States Dispensatory enumerates 300,
while only pa are given in the Phar-
macopoeia. The plants not yet inves-
tigated offer great possibilities, which
however, can only be developed by
long and extensive government exper-
iment. The named species may be
taken as about 175,OOO, and possibly
as many more remain to be discovered,
while many species are capable of great
variation through cultivation. The
apple had had yielded about ], 500 diff
ferent varieties up to few years ago,
yet some other species of the genus
may be quite as capable of useful
development. The different varieties
of wheat are believed by some to have
had their origin in an unimportant
forage grass, and wild plant still
growing on English and French coasts
has given us the white and red cab
bages, caulifiower and perhaps even
the common turnip. From the little
explored fields of bacteria and fungi
may be expected many useful pro-
ducts
By its tonic influence upon the heat,
blood-vessels and general circulation,
electricity tends to maintain the nor
NAL nutrition in the skin as we'll as in
other tissues. It is therefore largely
employed to improve the complexion,
states Prof. ]. V Shoemaker, in a var
iety OF cases that are not actually dis
ease, but are on the border-line and
probably due to faulty nutrition,
Among the defects so treated are mud
diness of complexion, yellowness due
to disordered liver, oiliness from re-
laxed rebaceous ducts, redness of nose
due to sluggish circulation, dryness
and roughness of the skin, and pig
mented spots and patches, including
freckles.
That gold should exist in the ocean
is an induction that DR.. Henry Wurtz
claims to have presented in 1866, and
in 1872 the discovery was made by E.
Sonstadt. Assuming 0.9 grain for
each ton of sea-water, it is computed
that the entire ocean contains over
$50, ,OOO, ,OOO, 600, ,OOO, 900 of gold. One
Of the problems of the future, Dr.
Wurtz now predicts, will be the the
getting of some of this gold by electro
lysis.
That insects do not see well, especi-
ally to a distance, is a conclusion
reached by A. Mallack from observa
ton and calculation. Their composite
eve, however, has an advantage over
the simple eye in the fact that there
is hardly any practical limit to its
nearness of vision. The best insect
eye examined would give picture
about as good as if executed in coarse
woodwork, and viewed from foot's
distance.
The United States Geological Sur
vey, established about Ia years ago, is
doing work not suggested by its title
about half its energies and annual ap-
preparations, according to Marcus
Baker, being devoted to making top
ographical map of the country More
or less work of this kind has been done
IN all but 4 or 5of the 40 states and
territories. The total area mapped to
date is nearly 6OO,O 600 square miles or
about one-fifth of the United States.
and during the last few years the area
surveyed have been from 10000 to so
square miles per year. Massachusetts,.
Rhode Island. Connecticut and New
Jersey are already completely mapped
on the largest scale, their legislatures
having co-operated to hasten the work.
The various scales are l:25O,O00 (but
miles to an ineh), :125, 900 and L.
81 5000, the contour intervals ranging
from $50 or 200 feet to 10 or even
feet in fat regions. The sheets on the
smallest scale, WHICH is no longer used
cover one degree of latitude by one de-
gree of longitude. The entire work is
designed to be accurate to scale. which
means. If it is assumed that humid
resIth of an inch is the limit of visible
error on the published map. that each
point on the largest scale must be lo-
Gated within So feet of its true position
Tho total cost TINS far has