INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE.
Compressed cork in the form of tiles, which is now on the market, is said to make an admirable flooring because of its noiselessness and its waterproof qualities. It is also inimical to germs. A cavity in the form of a "natural well," whose depth exceeds that of any other known, has been discovered by Mr. E. A. Martel, in the Department of Hautes Alpes. The well has been sounded to the depth of about 1,017 feet, but it is believed that the actual bottom has not yet been reached. A French inventor, M. Mercadier, states that he has solved the problem of sending a number of despatches simultaneously on a single wire. Messages have been transmitted between Paris and Pau. Twelve independent message currents were sent on the circuit at once in either direction, making a total of twenty-four telegrams. During the volcanic eruption in the Hawaiian Islands last summer the smoke rose to a height of between five and six miles, and then drifted away to the northeast. At a distance of 600 miles from Hawaii it settled upon the surface of the sea, and was then carried back by the northeast wind to its place of origin, where it arrived a fortnight after its original departure, and covered the entire group of islands with its heavy pall. The specimens of fossil dinosaurs belonging to the collection of the late Prof. O. C. Marsh, which were turned over to the National Museum in Washington, have been appraised by experts, who estimate the skulls of the monster triceratops, or "three-horned beast," as worth at least $5,000 apiece, while the other skulls vary in value from $50 to $250. The head and neck of the triceratops were covered by an enormous bony helmet, seven or eight feet long. The Christmas-tree business has assumed large proportions, and the result is that considerable injury is done to forests by the cutting of young firs, which serve for Christmas trees and other decorative purposes. Some hold that this thinning out improves the forests, but the Hon. J. Sterling Morton, ex-Secretary of Agriculture, states that this is not the case, and forests which have not been thinned out for Christmas decorations, produce unequaled specimens of the long and straight coniferæ. By comparing the price of diamonds at the mines in South Africa with their prices in the jewelry shops, one can obtain an idea of the cost involved in mounting and polishing, and the profit of traders. A diamond weighing one carat, mounted in a ring, may cost the buyer $100 or more, but at Kimberley the average value of diamonds is only $6.33 per carat. The value, of course, varies with the size and purity of the stones, but the total value of the 22,843 carats of diamonds found in the Transvaal in 1898 was only $212,812, an average of $9.32 per carat. A German novelty consists of India rubber nails for use in places where ordinary nails are liable to corrosion. It is said that they may be driven into soft woods in sizes up to one inch long, without boring a hole for their reception. In larger sizes it is necessary to bore holes to start them, and for the largest sizes, holes for their entire length. They are said to be very useful in chemical factories, dye houses, breweries, etc., and they are also used in building accumulator cells and other electrical apparatus. It is said that they clinch fairly well. They may be used about explosives where a spark from a nail head when struck by a hammer might prove fatal.