The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-07-26


nually in India by snake bites, the dis
covery Of an antidote is a matter of
much Importance to that country.
Prof Frazer, of Edin burgh, is reported
To have discovered such an antidote,
which he calls "aItivenine," after hav-
ing Experimental for several years
with all the snake poison he could ob.
tain from different parts of the world.
He first determined the minimum IA
tai quantity of venom for small ami
mails. Starting then with a harmless
dose and gradually increasing the
amount after intervals of about ten
days, he was finally able to admins
ter more than 80 times the ordinarily
fatal quantity without i'll effects, and
in one case an animal safely received
poison sufficient to kill so fresh ami
mails of equal size. In the next eXper-
iments fresh animals were inoculated,
Wlthou, effect, with the blood serum of
these immunized animals. The blood
serum was then injected and followed
10y venom, when the former prevented
any action Of the poison; and even
when the venom was injected first and
symptoms of poisoning had appeared,
all harmful action was arrested by this
antidote. Having thus demonstrated
the efficacy of antivenine, Prof. Frazer
hopes to fluid it, active principle, and
to prepare this chemically,
Hard steel, states Dr.. r. II. Thurs
ton, weighs 400 pounds per cubic foot,
aud a rod one inch square sustains 49,
GOO pounds; cast iron weighs AL
pounds, and supports 1880 pounds
per square inch; aud aluminium
weighs l6S pounds aud has a tenacity
% 900 pounds. Ordinary woods are
tcnor twelve times as bulky as steel.
Weight for weight, some woods are
stronger than steel, a bar of pine just
as heavy as bar Of steel one inch
square holding up 10, 900 pounds, the
best ash 10000, and some hemlock
200 pounds.
1t has been pointed out that the
hairs Of some calerpillars, prevalent at
this season Of the year, may cause ser
ious inflammation of the eye, and inn
pairmeut of the vision. They should
be rem we'd from the eye at once if m
troduced there.
The sun is our great source of power,
and when the coal mines-our stock OF
stored suubeams for past ages-shall be
exhausted, the direct solar rays should
ue made to furnish an abundance Of en-
ergy for ages to come. John Ercs-
son. comments The Electrical Igc
''invented a machine with which he
believed we would he independent of
the coal supply and make direct use of
the heat rays of the sun. 1t might
have been called sun steam engine
a steam engine heated by sunlight.
The vast tracts of the Sahara or the
deserts of Asia, can supply heat that
would generate millions of horse
power III Encsson'S solar engines. The
torrent of Niagara Is not comparable to
the incalculabe waste # power on The
screening surface Of these plains. The
engineering schemes of today will fade
into insignificauce in comparison with
those that the fierce cry of future he.
ccssity will force men to execute. 1t
would be curious sight to see IA fully
equipped power-station situated in the
centre of dreary waste sending It's
thread like lines across the desert to
heat and light some distant town, thus
guiding the warm sunlight that it may
n ntE ~ frlit
minarets of the far East"
The Colorado basin is one of the larg-
est i'm the United States draining not
less than 225,000 square miles, yet, ac-
cordlng toa paper prepared for the y.
;. Fish Commission by Messrs. Ever
mann and Rutter, it contains but 81
species of fishes, of Is genera. These
belong to the following five families:
CdtOStomidde, or suckers, species;
tHpriRidde, or minnows, 10; .NUimon-
iddc, or trout, and whitefish, q Poe
cdtidde, or top minnows, ,, and Cot
dddc, or blobs, |. All but of the spe-
cles are thus far known only from this
basin. In comparison, it Is stated that
50 different species are known from the
basln OF the Rio Grande, l40 from that
OF the Missouri and 1870 from the
Wabash basin.
The trained dogs of the German
army seem to be valuable acquisition.
At a recent exhibition in Dresden, the
animals carried dispatches from one
part OF the field to another, a mile dis
tant, III one or two minutes, transport
ed cartridges in pack-saddles to points
OF need, and assisted men who feigned
being wounded, some dogs signaling
the spots of the fallen by bird-barks
and Others dragging the bodies to The
rear,
Leathes tires are being made for ar
my cycles in France, and are claimed
to he more easily repaired and lighter
than rubber tires
In an interesting investigation by NJ.
de Montessus, a study has been made
of 34S regions, in which 800 earth
quakes and 5000 volcanic eruptions
are known to have occurred. From
this the conclusion is reached that vol.
canic activity and earthquake frequen-
cy are independent. and that earth
quales are probably due to the same
forces that have given the earth's crust
its present relief The unstable regions
follow the great lines of folding Of the
earths crust; and mountainous coun-
tries are more unstable than flat ones.
the most unstable parts of any single
mountain chain being where the slopes
are shortest and steepest. Coasts with
rapidly deepening sea are unstable, es-
DpciallV II at tha fnot nf a oroot mann,