The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-09-27
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

Scientists say that four million
webs spun by young spiders would not
form a strand as great in diameter as a
hair from the human head.
In 1880, there were 4.1OO, 9O7 farms
IN The United States; in 1890 there were
t.564,64l. In 1880. the improved acres
were 2s4. III ,O4?; in 1890 they amounted
TO 35T. Gl6. 755.
Tho direatt of the mint estimates
the valuc of the worlds output of gold
in 1898 n Sl55. -. 900. He believes the
output of 1894 and 1895 will amount,
respectively, to Sl6S.299, 900 and Sls3.-
S4!,O)O.
IN Australia women are generally
employed as railway station agents.
In many Of the small stations a woman
is in sole control. being ticket seller,
telegraph operator and baggage mis-
tress. They receive about fifty cents a
day
Goal ia" yields sixteen shades of
blue, the same number of yellow tints
twelve of orange. nine of violet and
numerous other colors and shades
in 1898. there were brought to this
country diamonds of the value of SILL
630,660. The diamond-cuttars of the
United States are ranked among the
best in the world. The first cutting
machine was invented here, in 1872.
The great pitch lake of Trinidad
covers ninety-nine acres and contains
millions of tons of So-called pitch.
This is in reality mixture of asphalt
and oil. which is continually oozing I'd
through cracks and crevice;. beneath
the pressure of the strata of rock above.
Water ut high temperature cannot
De raised any considerable distance by
suction. as the vapor discharged from
the water 50 heated follows the re-
ceding pistonS of the pump and resists
the entrance ofthe wate"; consequently,
to pump hot water always place the
supply above the pump, so that it will
be supplied from head.
NJ. Louis Boutan has succeeded in
taking some beautiful photographs of
the bottom of the sea by the aid of {.
newly-inventcd lamp for burning mag
nesium powder under the water. He
first lescends TO the bottom and selects
his views. next has his apparatus low
cred 20 him, then arranges the same
for several flashes, enabling him to
take as many successive pictures.
Tho toad is a higher animal than
the frog, because it gives birth to lit
tie air-breathing toads, whereas the
frog lays eggs that produce fi,h-lille
tadpoles. But the frog is in certain
respects the most wonderful creature
in the world. Think of the vegeta be
eating fish with gills that turns into
an breathing land animal, develop
ing teeth and becoming a carnivorous
quadrupcd. That is the life history of
the frog.
Snakes have their usefulness in
the world. They are scavengers Of
swamp, and morasseS where other ami
mails of Size are unable to penetrate or
exist. 1t is in the tropics, of course,
that serpents chiefly abound All
snakes are of tropical origin, but some
species have spread into cooler lati-
tudee. In very cool countries there are
no snakes. Contrary to the popular
belief, there are some snakes in Ire
land, but they are very rare.
"A mechanical fluid is the recent in
vention of an American engineer. II
is Il mass OF hard steel balls of two
sizes, one-eighth and one-fourth of an
inch in diameter, respectively. Under
pressure this mass flows and transmits
pressure in all directions like fluid.
The device is calculated for use wher-
eyer fluid pressure is desired without
leakage, and it has already been EN-
ployel for Tightening the brasses Of
connecting rods, Il pocket at the side
being filled with the balls and pressure
applied with set screw.