The Washington herald., 1908-03-22
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

Yellow pearls are the most valued in
China.
London shops are rapidly becoming
Americanized.
The veddahs Of Ceylon have r
scruples against bathing.
Household economy Is taught 70
girls in the public schools Of Belgium
BY order OF the King the French Ian
gUage and wines are to be tsbooed IN
Italy.
, A japanese man. who claims 20 be 17r
years old. is said 10 be the oldest man
IN the world.
Animal life is 10 be found at all depths
under the water. but vegetation does not
7 flourish under great pressure
Government experts are eudeavOrinE
to ind some means OF lengthening the
I life OF lumber by chemical treatment
There is little change in the size OF the
ears from infancy 10 middle age. but
after that they sometimes grow larger.
louisiana has steel saw mil with
a capacity Of $1,000 feet Per DAY. which
IS said 20 be the largest IN this country
The number Of Chinese scattered
throughout the world outside Of the Chi
nese Empire is given officially al Gus, .
IS9
The water OF the Norwegian fjords Is
so clear that Il is possible 10 discern
small objects at a depth Of twenty faith
ons.
The use Of muslin windows instead Of
glass in dairy construction is said to help
materially in the fight against tubercu-
losis-
The Society for the Destruction Of YER
min is ain English organization. with the
object OF warning on the rats in that
country.
Vermont gets the credit Of being the
granite State, but Pennsylvania leads I'm
the production Of stone, with nearly u
per cent Of the total 20 her credit.
The total value Of the stone product
Of the country in 1895 was S6s.S7S. ~, an
increase Of s2.570.04s over that Of 1905.
and an increase Of 80, ,4135s5 over that OF
1896.
The timber output Of Maine last win
Ter was S00,0000 000 feet, and the indica-
tions are that these figures viii be about
eQualed this year. The scarcity Of labor
prevented operations 10 a large degree.
/ During the last thirty-nine years the
percentage Of the worlds total coal Pre-
duced by the United States has increase
from 1882 20 g. and this country no
stands Tar in the lead Of the worlds co
producers.
There is a strong organization al wo
IN this country developing the use
peat as fuel Il is now utilizing ma
acres OF swamp lands which are be
reclaimed for agricultural purposes. .
bi-products Of the industry are
promising
Missouri marketed I07I55.S5S dozens
eggs last year. for which Was recei
more than Sl6119000 Added 10 this
the items Of live and dressed pOu
and feathers. making the comfort
sum OF nearly 100000 for poultry
ducts for the last year
At the examinations recently hello
Pekin for official degrees. men who hsd
studied in American universities were
awarded the highest honors. out or a
large number examined. only seven were
given the highest degree obtainable. and
Of these i've were graduates OF the Uni-
versity Of California. while the other two
had studied in Japan.
In the seven years 1sc0-lsos the railroad
mileage Of the United States grew from
1s0.S55 10 %. SIS miles OF road. an increase
OF Sl,S2 miles or 1923 per cent The
ienStn OF second track. sidings, and adci-
tional tracks increased from 62.5N 10
$3.50 miles. a gain Of . eSS miles. ar over
40 per cent. Gross earnings rose from
g. loco in 1899 10 s224s 10000 in 1906.
and net earnings from S4Zs. $4,000 10 $780,
$4,000
Peat is being developed at fuel in this
country 70 an encouraging extent There
is peat bEsquetting plant at Lambert
willie Mich u-hfch has f.ag1arf@.r % cs,rer-
tons per day. The peat is obtained from
a 10-foot bog by a dipper dredge and
t=sassH-e 81 seows 20 the plant Here Il is
first passed through a cutter. in which il
is thoroughly disintegTated' and taen
through a kneadiHg machine. II is next
compressed and discharged through a die
as b. inch bars. which are cut by
knives into briquettes twelve inches long.
The latter are then dried Ike soft brick
in sheds.