The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1900-10-05
EkjDeSSClenCe
Es@hveMntion'

The insect vedalia cardinals, intro
duced to California to feed on scale in
sects, has succeeded so well in Its work
that there is nothing left for food-and
they are now in danger of disappearing
through starvation.
The earth within the Arctic circle
supports a considerable population. but
the Antarctic circle is without trace of
human life. Upon eight million square
miles surrounding the south pole, the
foot of man has never trodden.
In the islands near Singapore a new
industry has been developed, that of
producing pure gutta-percha from the
leaves of the gutta-percha tree. The |
leaves are ground up and pounded in
boiling water. Dry leaves contain as
much as II per cent of sap.
Two of the largest Ruhmkorff coils
ever made have been ordered in this
country for foreign government, and
will give an electric spark forty-five
inches in length, expanding energy
amounting to three or four-horse pow
/ er, and having a potential of half a
million volts.
1t is said that the nut trees OF the
world alone could, If necessity arose,
provide food all the year round for a
total population three times greater
than the present. 1t has been pointed
out to the Washington Department of
Agriculture that Brazil nuts around
Para grow in such profusion that thou
sands Of tons of them are wasted every
year; with cocoanuts it is the same in
many centers.
Every sufferer from nerves knows
that gloomy day affects him unfavor-
ably, while the first ray of sunshine
makes him gay again. 1t has been
suggested that the green of vegetation,
/, the blue of the sky and the blue-green
, of the ocean may thus have power
| full influence In calming the spirits
Parville, however, cautions his readers
against too sweeping conclusions. All
that we can say is that colors certain
ly appear to affect the organism, and
that the subject will bear further in
! vestigation.
r In winter months tornadoes occur
b only in the Gulf States, but in sum-
/ mer they occur in the North, in Ne
braska, South Dakota, Iowa and Min
nesota. The average Is twenty-five a
n year. They are simple examples of
Il vortex motion. A mass of air rotating
e at low level runs into vortex, and
u a tube Is projected downward. The
4 velocity of the lower end of the tube
: may reach two hundred miles an hour
l. and it Is the partial vacuum caused by
5, the whirl and the sudden thrush of thu
t outside air that causes the disastrous
$ explosive effects.
y The black sands containing golC
&c which are spread along the shores o
Y Norton Sound, near Cape Nome, Alas
/ ka, are said to differ from simila
y sands found on the coast of Californi,
j. and elsewhere, because they show m
e indication of having been transporte,
y by streams of water. The flakes an,
Is nuggets of gold that have been foun,
at Cape Nome are not water-worn, bu
y sharp and angular in outline. A wide
10 ly accepted theory is that they hav
le been transplanted from great dis
u lance by glaciers, their original sourc
liz being yet undiscovered.
, The report of United States Commi:
!. sioner of Labor Carroll ID. Wright fo
~ 1899 on bland and Machine Labor
ie sets forth some very interesting fact
i. Aided by machinery, 100000 me
AZ turn out product which would T,
ns quire the labor of nearly 100000
~ men If produced by hand. In Americ
'i ss the advantage derived from machiner
% is about twice as great as in Europ
NC so that the actual population of tn
II United States is equal in productiy
TO- power to 150,000,000 Europeans. Wit
lie labor-saving machinery, one genera tic
ne of men can do the work of four or fly
10 generations of hand workers.