The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1897-01-21


parts the oceans waters are so
dense that a sunken iron-clad
would never reach bottom.
Travellers in the Arctic regions
have frequently found that the
moisture in their breath drops to
the earth in the form of snowhakes.
An image impressed upon the
retina of the eye remains there an
appreciable time. This is the rea-
son why torch swung rapidly
seems to be circular flame.
Contrary to general belief, the
Sahara is not a barren and worth
less waste. Some time ago there
We're nine million sheep in the AL
gerian Sahara alone beside two
million goats and 100000 camels.
On the GASES there are | 10000
date palms.
DIR. Nansen's expedition to the
North Pole returned after an alb
.sence of three years. the highest
latitude reached was Sc degrees
and fourteen minutes or 200 miles
further north than ever reached
before. No land was found north
of latitude 50 degrees.
The discovery in Java of the
fossil remains of Pithecanthro-
pos-a form intermediate between
man and the higher apes-was re-
garded as a matter of the first i'm
portance in the scientific world.
The remains belong to the PHO
Gene Age in geological history.
1t is said that the Chinese wash
fine silk IN very pure water, and,
as ordinary we'll water, is unsuita-
BILE, it is purified by putting a
quantity of mollusks &c. G. Palu-
dime, fresh water snails) in it for
a day These prey on the organic
matter it contains. and thereby
act as filters -
Light requires eight minutes
and eighteen seconds to pass from
the sun to the earth when at it's
mean distance; therefore when we
look at the sun we see him, not
where he actually is, but where he
was about eight minutes and eight
cen seconds ago: his true place is
then always in advance Of his APP
parent place.
The number Of asteroids discov-
cred up to present date is 423. A
number of these small planets have
not been observed since their dis
covery, and are practically lost.
Consequently it is now sometimes
a matter of doubt until the ele-
ments have been computed, wheth-
er the supposed new planet is
really new, or only an old one re-
discovered.
The average duration of human
life is about thirty-three years.
One quarter Of the people on the
earth die before age six, one-half
before age sixteen. and only about
nsne person Of each one hundred
born lives to age sixty-five. The
deaths are calculated at sixty-seven
per minute, 1890 per day and
1916" 49, per year: the births at
seventy per minute. 100, 800 per
per day. and 36,792.OO0 per year.
Mr.. Nikola Tesla, the electrical
expert and inventor has recently
suggested the possibility of en-
ploying electricity as fertilizing
agent for the soil. The currents
produced by electrical oscillators,
he says, are capable of causing the
chemical combination of the nitro
gen with the oxygen of the atmos-
phere. If this combination were
carried on upon an industrial scale,
which he thinks is possible. then
she product could be used as a
fertilizer, and in his opinion the
benefits to humanity would be in
calculable.
In New Zealand no less than
five hundred species Of plants have
been introduced and acclimated
since the colonization of the ISL
ands. The presence of these plants
there is ascribed, directly or indi-
rectly, to the presence of civilized
man. They have followed him
and curiously enough, have driven
before them some Of the plants
indigenous to the soil. Most of
the invaders are small species, yet
Il 1 I