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SCIENTIFIC AND CURIOUS

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 14, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 40.

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SCIENTIFIC AND CURIOUS.

The speed of the falcon often exceeds one hundred and fifty miles an hour.
At a depth of more than four miles the ocean is without life, without vegetation, and without light.
It is estimated that from 40,000 to 50,000 slaves are yearly carried away captive from Zanzibar and neighboring ports.
No bird can fly backward without turning. The dragon fly, however, can do this, and can outstrip the swallow in speed.
Small Holes.—The smallest holes pierced by modern machinery are 1-1000th of an inch in diameter. They are bored through sapphires, rubies, and diamonds by a machine which makes 22,000 revolutions a minute.
Iron Visiting Cards.—In Berlin, instead of pasteboard, iron visiting cards are used. They are dead black in color, of the usual size, and the name is engraved in silver. The pieces are so thin that more of them can be packed into a cardcase than of the paper ones.
Dew Respects Colors.—Dew is the greatest respecter of colors. To prove this take pieces of glass or boards and paint them red, yellow, green, and black. Expose them at night and you will find that the yellow will be covered with moisture, that the green will be damp, but that the red and black will be left perfectly dry.
The Plume of a Prince.—The plume of the Prince of Wales, worn on state occasions, is said to be worth $50,000. The feathers are pulled from the tail of the feriwah, one of the rarest and most beautiful birds of India. Great expense and trouble are necessary to capture the bird, which is found only in the wildest jungles.
The Deepest Boring.—The Prussian Government is carrying on boring operations in the Rybnik district (Upper Silesia). They have now reached a depth of 6,565 feet, which is about equivalent to twenty times the height of St. Elizabeth's Church steeple at Breslau. The operations are being chiefly carried on in the interests of science.—Schlesische Zeitung.
Wholesale Plating.—One of the most remarkable illustrations of progress in electrical appliances is electrolytic painting. Hitherto if copper or other metal had to be deposited electrically, a bath of solution was needed. Now all this is changed, and a ship's hull can be plated as easily as a spoon or a teapot. Instead of a bath, insoluble salts, ground to a fine powder and mixed with water, are used. This mixture is painted on the metal to be plated by a fine wire brush, to which one pole of a dynamo conductor is attached, the other pole being connected to a plate. Not only pure metal but all sorts of alloys can be used.—New York World.