The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1897-05-20
Scientific and Curious Facts.

The wine-bearing palm of west
ern Africa yields sap which is
sweet when first drawn, ferments
in a few hours, and is a quick in
toxicant.
A bee is never caught in the
rain, and you will notice that ants.
wasps and spiders will prepare
their nests against the coming OF
"a storm many hours in advance.
It is indisputable that there are
black Jews in India, red Jews in
Malabar, brown Jews in Africa
and white Jews in Europe and
America, says the Jewish Messen-
ger.
A recipe for preserving wire
ropes that are to be carried under
water or under the earth's surface
consists of mixture of thirty five
parts of slaked lime and from fifty
to sixty parts of tar. The COM
pound is boiled and applied hot.
Before the introduction of fire
arms, the wood of the yew was in
so great a demand for bows that
law was enacted in Venice that
every ship trading in the port
should bring ten bow slaves with
every butt Of Malmsey wine.
The thickest known coal seam
in the world is the Wyoming,
near Twin Greek, in the Green
river coal basin, Wyoming. It is
eighty feet thick, with only one
thin parting of shale near the roof,
and upwards of three hundred
feet of solid coal underlie the
property of four thousand acres.
Residents of the state Of Wash
ington recently discovered, grow
ing on the slope of the Cascade
mountains, the most magnificent
fir tree ever beheld by human
eyes. 1t lowered 465 feet in the
air, was "a feet in diameter at the
base, and not a branch sprang
from the noble column until the
height of 22O feet was reached.
The tree was perfectly sound in
every part.
The citizens of Dion, France,
recently voted tax for putting a
railing around tree which stands
within the city limits. The tree
bears label which informs the
sightseer that it is the oldest pop
lar in France. The town council
has a record tracing the history of
the tree since the year 722 A. D.
1t is 122 feet in height and forty
five feet in circumference at the
base.
The Paris meteorologist, Prof.
Metericht, estimates the quantity
of water turned into vapor by the
sun in the Mediterranean Sea
alone on a clear, hot summer day
at not less than 5,2SO,OOO,OOO tons.
At that rate, the quantity of water
taken from the entire globe on a
hot day within the limits of the
temperate and tropical zones would
amount to not less than 245,OOO,-
100000 tons.
THE longest unsupported tele-
graph wire" says Cosmos, sis in
Switzerland. It crosses in one
span the Lake Of Wallenstadt in
the canton Of st. Gall, and was
put up by the Swiss telephone bu-
reau. Its extremities are fastened
to two iron towers 24OO metres
(7S72 feet apart. In the lowest
part this conductor is forty metres
Obi feet above the water level
of the lake. The line is Of excel
lent steel and only one and one
half inches in diameter
Science News says that in sew
eral places in the Cape Colony
and Orange Free State of South
Africa caves have been explored
which yielded hundreds Of num-
mifed remains of a queer species
of six-fngered monkeys. All Of
the full-grown specimens of this
remarkable race have the tail sit
uated high up on the back from
three to five inches farther up
than on the modern monkey-and
other distinguishing marks, such
as two sets Of canine teeth, boards
on the males, etc.
There is wonderful model at
Windsor Castle which shows The