The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1909-01-08
~~~Oo~~~oN~

lea is gerl0lciQe according 10 Dos
ton physician, who claims it is an es-
pecially rank enemy of the typhoid
bacillus.
Missouri led in the production Of
lead In the United States in 1907, push
ing Idaho, the leader In 1906, back to
second place.
Although the house fly lays eggs, the
flesh fly, better known as the "blue
bottle" produces living larvae, about
fifty at time.
A $4,000 plant for the production Of
ozone by electrolysis, the largest In the
world, has been completed at Pitts
burg hospital.
A Norwegian factory receives power
for six turbines from water that falls
3,2S7 feet through tunnel from lake
seven miles away.
Peru has officially adopted as its
standard time that of the seventy-ffth
meridian. the same as eastern time
in the United States.
The electrical equipment Of the Gu
nard liner Mauretania includes over
$50 miles of cables, and more than
5000 16-candle-power lamps.
Three parts by weight of boracic acid
to one of powdered borax makes a good
compound for brazing steel. 1t should
be applied as a paste with water.
On the west coast of India Is found
a species of oyster, Placuna placenta,
whose shell consists of pair Of rough
ly circular plates about six inches in
diameter thin and white. At present
these oysters are collected for the pearls
which they often contain, although few
are fit for the use of the jeweler But
In the early days Of English rule In
India the shells were employed for
window-panes. Cut into little squares
they produced a very pretty effect, adj
mitting light like frosted glass. When
the Bombay cathedral was built, at the
beginning of the eighteenth century, Its
windows were paned with thece oyster
shells. In Goa they are still thus EN-.
ployed.
Prof. Arthur 0. Lovejoy, as the re
suit of an inquiry into the origin and
meaning of fire cults" so common
among ancient nations and among mod
ern savage and barbarous tribes sug-
gests that many races conceived the
sacred fire." not as practical con-
venience or an ancient custom or q
means of frightening demons, but as
a vehicle of life, or magical energy
the prosperity of the household or tribe
depending in part on the perpetuity
vitality and purity of the fire 1t was
thought of as subject to a tendency tc
grow old and weak, like all natural
forces-hence the custom Of periodical
ly renewing 1t. This conclusion is based
partly upon the statements made by the
Iroquois Indians and the Maoris
DIR. Robert e. Coker, writing to Sci
ence from Lima. advocates the protec
ton of the guano-producing birds--tht
kuhHHe, IL bptCISS VI Noilhoi "ht' ohN
the "alcatraz," species Of pelican
in order that the Peruvian deposits o.
this valuable manure may be In part
renewed The great ancient deposits
he says, are now almost nOn-eXlstent
Only the lower grades of guano are left
But the birds annually make fresh de
poslts on their nesting grounds. and II
they were properly protected. he be
lleves that the annual supply Of fresh
deposits would be largely increased
The birds, he says, should no longer
be treated as wild animals They should
be regarded as valuable domestic AMI.
mails At present they are decreasing
In number, but this decrease could he
checked. They are also driven from
their haunts during the season when
they should be allowed to remain there
When driven away by the presence OF
man during the nesting season, they
pend a large part of their time upor
water, or on small islets and cliffs
mere the deposits are either lost en-
irely or are rendered less available.