Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-01-01
BITS OF SCIENCE.

BIS UF SC1ENCE.
A foot of newly fallen snow changes
into an inch of water when melted.
In the Andes there is said to be a
wax tree, the product of which is very
similar to beeswax.
The Red Sea is so called because its
surface is frequently covered with mi
mute crimson animalculae.
An error of thousandth part of a
second is an astronomical calculation
would mean difference OF two hun
dred billion miles in the distance of
star.
A French servant says that many
perfumes aid health by destroying dis
ease microbes. Thyme, lemon, mint,
lavender, eucalyptus and other scents
prove very useful.
DIR. George B. Haggarts. thinks that
birds eat poke berries in preference to
other kindsj when they wish to cut
down their weight SO as to fly well.
Some of the anti-fat remedies contain
poke berry juice.
In Germany new process of color
ing leather is being exploited. Elec-
tricity is utilized as an active agent.
The leather is placed upon q zinc
table, which forms the positive pole.
The dyeing material is poured over
this, and the negative pole connected
to the leather. Under the action of
the current the coloring matter pene-
trates the leather, and patterns may
be designed upon the surface by cover
ing it with pattern plate connected
to the negative pole.
A farmer is accredited with the dis
covery of this maple sugar substitute.
In his endeavor to render corn cobs
utilizable for fodder he found that
continued boiling developed sweetish
taste, reminding him of maple sugar,
and he now produces a fictitious arti-
Gle, according to the newspapers, in
the following manner: Twelve clean
cobs were put in gallon of water and
boiled until soft. Then the juice was
strained off and a gallon of dark
brown sugar solution added. This was
boiled little while, resulting in a
fine quality of syrup hardly dis
tinguishable from the maple product.
Granting that The origin of the
manufacture of gunpowder is lost in
the remote past, it is known that
about 1865 an English monk, Roger
Bacon, was the first to suggest its use
in engines of death. Soon after his
suggestion was taken up and guns
constructed-the first by binding
irons together with hoops to form a
tube, then by casting q tube out of
brass with one end closed. Stones of
suitable size were used for shot, and
the powder was shoveled in at the
muzzle. In spite of these drawbacks
very large guns were built. Mahomet
II, against the Greeks in the siege of
Constantinople in 1853 used a gun
throwing a 600 pound stone mile.
In the South American forests the
butterflies and the birds are equally
brilliant in'their colOrs, but the but
tertlies, being weaker, fall a prey to
the birds. One very bright-hued
species of butterfly, however, is not
disturbed by the birds, on account of
the disagreeable odor which it emits.
Singularly enough, some ether groups
of butterflies, which resemble the
species just described in color, also
escape persecution by the birds, al
though they emit no odor. 1t is evil
dent that the similarity of color de-
ceives the birds, and thus serves as
shield for the butterflies. This sort o
mimicry of color and form, which
naturalists call protective resem-
blance," is not very uncommon
among insects.
An Italian invention for the pur-
pose of exploring the sea-bottom con-
sists of spherical box containing
compressed air and large enough to
hold three or four persons. Recently
NJ. Gorzetto. the inventor, accompan-
led by two Of his friends, entered his
sphere, which was lowered to the bot
tom of the Bay of Spezia. The ap-
paratus for causing the sphere to rise
to the surface failed to work and, un-
able to help themselves or to COM
municate with the upper world, the
three men remained at the sea bottom.
In the mean time the long submer-
gence of the sphere had been noticed
and q diver was sent down to find out