The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1895-05-25
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

The shipping Of all nations is of the
approximate value of 81, 100, DOC, 900,
while the 10, 900 locomotives at work
represent value Of 81 600, 900, 900. The
railways give employment to 1894, 00O
people, while shipping employs only
7O5,O 900. ~
Gravity on the surface of Mercury
is such that pound weight of ours
would weigh rather less than seven
ounces on Mercury. Hence the crea-
lures on earth which seem to us most
clumsy, such as the elephant or the
rhinoceros, would be as light and grace
full as the antelope or greyhound on
Mercury. efy .ax
The production of distilled spirits
in the United States in the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1901, was III, 1s6. LA
gallons, of which 29,931, AIS gallons
were in bourbon whisky, IA, 345,3S9 gal
Ions in rye whisky, l2,260,s2l gallons in
alcohol, l.7s4,312 gallons in rum, 1928.
725 gallons in fruit brandy and 1885,
1876 gallons in pure neutral or cologne
spirits.
DIR. vogel, who recently examined
the water of the Blue Grotto of Capri
with the spectroscope, found that the
red and orange of the solar spectrum
were extinguished and that new dark
band was visible, which does not occur
In ordinary water. The same phenom-
enon was observed in the water outside
the cave. 1t is not noticeable, however,
in the waters of the so-called green and
red grottos.
Statistics give the mileage of all
the railroads on the globe at the end OF
1892 at 406,41 miles, or one mile to
every 3,516 inhabitants. Puerto Rico is
the state containing the shortest length
of railway. numbering IL miles, and
tie United States has by far the great
est-174, 7S4 miles. Next, but long
way behind, comes Germany, with 81
ASS miles, then France, with 24,01s
miles. The United Kingdom is fourth,
with 20, 325 miles, and Russia fifth, with
1865 miles. -
Most insects, says a scientific OBJ
server, seem to be deaf to the Sounds
which are heard by human beings AT
the same time there is no question that
they produce sounds and hear sounds
that are entirely beyond our own
range of auditory perception. Sir John
Lubbock has said that we can no
more form an idea of these sounds than
we should have been able to conceive a
notion of red or green if the human race
had been blind. The air is doubtless
often vocal with the sounds made by
insects of SO high pitch as to be en-
tirely out of range of mans power to
hear.
M. Raoul Pictet has been expert
menting with cotton wool and other
bad conductors at very low tempera-
lures to test their power to prevent
radiation. Copper cylinders were
cooled down to no degrees below
centigrade and packed in layers of
cotton wool of various thicknesses.
The cylinders rose to so degrees be-
low zero very quickly, whether naked
or packed in cotton wool 20 inches
thick, the. cotton wool acting like a
perfect conductor of heat. Above so
degrees, however, the influence of the
packing made itself felt, the rate of
warming varying with the thickness
of the layer.
"a recent report on the new gold
fields of South Africa shows that the
gold belts have an east and west direc-
ton, and are from five to twenty miles
wide. At various places within these
mining belts ancient workings have
been discovered. These workings are
generally several hundred yards in ex-
tent and vary in depth from twenty
five to fifty feet. GAS regards the Geo.
nomic conditions, labor, wood and
water are abundant and cheap. The
cost of living is low. The cost of trans
port at present is much against cheap
ness of handling, but this obstacle
will be removed by the railroads now
in course of construction"
BY way of experiment the Raphael
cartoon gallery at the South Kensing-
ton museum has been so lighted as to
shut out the most important actinic
rays; thus, it is stated, while the rays
which cause paintings to fade are ex-
cluded the effect of white light is OBJ
tanned. The method adopted is the
glazing of a skylight with alternate
layers of green, blue and yellow glass.
The gallery has been visited by artists,
who are of opinion that the pictures
therein exhibited are seen in their
true colors, while the public have not
the least idea that there is any differ
ance betxvaan tho Epht;np of th,c apd