The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1908-12-24
BITS OF SCIENCE.

The worlds production of coal last
year is estimated at 1,209, 1S4, 100 short
tons, of which the United States mined
nearly 40 per cent, GO per cent. more
than Great Britain, and over 1OD per
cent. more than Germany.
The department of agriculture has
demonstrated that paper can be made
from cornstalks, in much the same man
ner as from wood pulp, and at a cost OF
less than half, it is claimed, when the
machinery has been perfected.
Three European scientists, German,
a Frenchman and an Italian, who speak
ten languages among them, are touring
the United States on foot, studying eth
biological questions. From here they will
visit the far east and Australia.
An endless roll Of linoleum, charged
with electricity, is used in the Paris
postOffice to pick up letters from drop
boxes and convey them to the sorting
office. The electricity successfully at
tracts the letters to the linoleum.
If a tungsten filament breaks while
the lamp is burning the metal will be
drawn down to a taper, but if the frac-
ture results from jar, when the lamp is
cold. the cleavage will show almost
square ends.
The driving wheels on a locomotive
recently built for French railroad that
is full of sharp curves are fangeless, the
engine being kept on the track by wheels
that revolve horizontally between the
rails.
There are 100000 acres of swamp
land in the United States, enough to
make a strip 100 miles wide, reaching
from the gulf to the Great Lakes, and
fertile enough. if reclaimed, to feed the
entire nation.
About one out of every twenty-five
residents of Uruguay just now is en-
ployed in taking the census of that coun-
try. This large proportion is necessary
on account of the scattered character Oh
the population of the interior.
Europe's birth rate is the highest in
the countries in the eastern and SOUTH
ern portions of the continent and lowest
in those of the western and northern,
that of Russia being more than twice
as large as that of France.
The city administration of Chicago Will
ask the Illinois Legislature to authorize
municipalities to enforce the electrlhca-
| ton of railroads, so that 1T can abate
the smoke nuisance caused by the many
roads entering the city.
| Scientific endorsement has been given
! the old belief that burning sugar IN
sick room will purify the air, by
French physician, who has demonstrated
that when sugar is burned it forms
formic acetylene-hyd one of the
most powerful antiseptic gases.
! A gold color may be applied to brass
articles by dipping them in solution of
! four ounces each of acetate of lead and
hyposulphite of soda in gallon OF wa
| ter. The solution should be brought to
temperature slightly below boiling
when used.
| Excavations in the old catacombs at
Guanaiuato, Mexico, have revealed hun
dreds of mummies OF persons who must
have lived many years before the hrst
Spanish invasion.
| A caterpillar each month eats food
weighing 5000 times its own weight;
| Despite its great size, an elephant has
but eight teeth.
The steam power in use in the world
today is estimated at 120,000,OOO horse
power.
Oats are said to be the best flesh
building food for domestic animals.
! Ireland devoted nearly one-fourth less
land to fax raising this year than IN
1907.
The largest wooden building in the
world is the Parliament building at
| Wellington, New Zealand.
Some of Norway's glaciers are so rapid
| in their movement that they advance
| twelve meters a year.
Russian woman has invented a rud-
derless dirigible airship which experts
declare is practicable.
Except for small area in Missouri
and Kansas there are no hardwood trees
| west of the Mississippi.
| Columbia university, New York, here
after will give degrees for students who
complete course in aeronautics.
| A French army officer has invented
| eyeglasses which enable the wearer to
see on all sides and the rear.
| Pencil drawings may be rendered per-
manent by brushing them with a mix
ture of equal parts of skinned milk and
water.
j German steel works are beginning to
use electric furnaces on an extensive
scale for handling large quantities of
metal.
Close observations by scientists for
number of years have proven that some
of the Alpine glaciers are receding in
stead of advancing.