The Opelousas courier., 1894-01-27
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.

0 Granite is the lowest rock in tn.
earth's crust; it is the bed rock of the
world.
The biggest fresh water fish, thu
~"Arapaclna' Of the Amazon, in South
America, grows to six feet in length,
Nausea is said to be promptly re-
lieved by a mixture of four drops OF
creosote in two ounces of lime-water.
Dose: A teaspoonful every fifteen min
utes. Q
M. de L'Isle discovered an animal
cula that could run six inches in q sec.
ond, and calculated that it must move
it's legs no less than 1900 times in that
brief period.
When lrritated the sea cucumber, d
species of holothuria, can eject all .its
teeth, it's stomach and digestive ap.
paratus, and reduce itself to a simple
membraneous sac.
1t has been ~ascertained by Professor
Kernot, of the Melbourne University,
Australia, that the usually assumed
weight Of eighty to 100 pounds per
square foot, produced by a dense crowd
Of persons, may be largely exceeded.
The most curious thing about the
butterfly is the size of the case from
which the insect proceeds compared
with the size Of the insects body. The
cast is rarely nor than one inch in
thickness; the butterfly covers a sur
face nearly four inches square.
In support of the modern theory
that sound does not consist of q given
number Of countable wavebeats, . we'll
known writer adduces the fact that a
plate of iron, even an inch thick, when
used az the diaphragm Of a telephone,
will respond to and transmit perfectly
the sound vibrations of the human
voice, a result which it is almost in
conceivable to suppose could be effected
by mere mass vibration.
Another most valuable series Of in.
vestigations in regard to the metal best
adapted for the construction Of bridges
has been made by the Austrian Society
of Engineers. Some 216 mechanical
tests were made by the committee hav-
ing the matter in hand, to determine
the quality of wrought iron, Of basic,
Bessemer and basic open-earth steel,
the conclusion being that the latter ex-
cells all the others in resistance to me-
chanical attack and distortion.
A remarkable illustration of the pro-
gress Of electrical appliances lie cleo
trolytic painting. Hitherto, if copper
OF other metal were to be deposited
electrically, a bath Of solution was
needed. Now this is changed, and .
technical journal says a ships hull can
be plated as easily as q spoon or tea
pot. Instead of q bath, insoluble
salts, ground to a fine powder and
mixed with water, are used. This
mixture is painted on the metal to be
plated by a fine wire brush, to which
one pole Of a dynamo conductor is at
taohed, the other pole being connected
with a plate. Not only pure metal but
all sorts of alloys a be used.
During a residence in Tunisia, NJ.
Vercoutre made q study of the tattoo
marks which the natives cover their
limbs and face. He discovered that
the most complete designs represent q
human fgtre-a kind of doll, seen in
front, with extended arms. I'd this
figure, for which NO explanation had
been offered before, he perceives moth
ing else than q representation. rigidly
exact and preserved by tradition with
out perceptible alteration, Of the mani
hin on the monuments of Phnnicia
and Carthage, which archaologiste
have named the Symbol Of the Punic
Trinityv-which is found, for exam
pie, on the Phnnician and Punic stel@,
and on the neo-Punic lamps Of Car
thsge.a