The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-10-18
POPULAR SCIENCE.

An implement TO be added TO the
soldiers kit. which can be used MS
spade, pickaxe or saw, and also as
n shield for protection from bullets.
hns been invented by the Earl Of
Wemyss 1t is said that the contriv-
ance is to be adopted by the British
army. ,..
French mcteorologsts engaged in the
exploration OF the upper air by means
of captive balloons have found that
owing to the effect of the suns heat
on the balloons. the best results are
attained Mt night, and their most sue
cessful experiments have been per-
formed by moonlight. The balloons
carry self-registering thermometers
and barometers and attain enormous
heights. varying between 10000 aud
10000 feet The highest flight record
ed by the instrument is nearly nine
and one-third miles.
One scientist counted the hairs on q
fly's feet and found an average of be-
tween ten thousand and twelve thou
sand, from each OF which flowed the
minute specks Of oil. The oil is abso.
lutely necessary to the fly when walk.
ing on vertical surface. If n pane
of glass should become wet or very
dusty It would be impossible for the
fly to walk over 1t. in the one case be-
cause of the flowing of the oil be-
tween the hairs Of the feet and de-
stroylng the strength of the capillary
action; in the other, because of the
clogging of the hairs with the dust.
The Cambridge exploring expedition
TO the Malay peninsula. whose mem.
berS have recently returned to Eng.
land, found some strange articles of
diet among the natives who were Wis
tied. Among these articles. of which
two members of the expedition par.
took, were red ants toads, bee grubs
and species of cicada. The latter
are caught in n peculiar manner. a
bright fire being made at night, the
natives assemble around IT, one of
their number holding lighted torch,
while the others clap their hands at
regular intervals. The insects, attract
ed by the lights and the noise. settle
upon the persons standing about the
fire and are then captured.
DIR. Thorvald Thoroddscn in recent
papers gives n curious picture of life
and scenes in Iceland. Settlements
are limited to the lOwlands yet even
these are not safe places of abode,
for they are exposed to lava floods.
river floods and showers of vocanic
ashes. When the glaciers of the dome
shaped mountains are suddenly melted
by volcanic heat, overwhelming tor
rents, bearing immense masses of ice
and fragments of rock, sweep down
the river beds. Yet with all their
disadvantages the inhabitants of the
narrow lowlnnds of Iceland enjoy uni
versal education, and among them
more books and newspapers are pub
lished per head of the population than
in any other country.
Professor II. III. Thurston, of Cor
nell University. calls attention to the
fact that since the Spanish war the
manufacture of chilled-iron turrets for
coast defense has been established in
this country. He regards the Chill
ing" of the surface of cast iron so
as to give it hardness exceeding that
of tool steel as zone of the most re-
markable scientific achievements of the
time" The chilling of cast iron for
car wheels has long been practiced
almost exclusively in this country, but,
although 1t is at bottom an American
invention, the use of the process for
making turrets for coast defence has
hitherto been developed only in Eu.
rope. Professor Thurston remarks
that American iron is the finest In the
world for this purpose.