Scientific.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2170, 5 June 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

Scientific.

Toads as Bice Eaters.— Toads may be useful in kitchen gardens m a slug and insect destroyer ; the freer you can keep your apiary from his presence the better. Toads will wait at the foot of a hive to seize any honey-ladened bee that may happen to fall to the ground on its return from foraging, and one bee master, says a correspondent of the Graphic, saw over a dozen little workers captured in the space of half an hour by an old fat fellow, who darted out his tongue with wonderful celerity immediately he saw a bee on the ground. The bees had been collecting pollen, and many of them being heavily laden, were unable to reach the floor board of the hive. Electric Railway Brakes. — The Bulletin International d'Electricitd calls attention to the recent experiments of M. Regray, on the Eastern Railway of France, which proved the great power of electric brakes. In fact, the fault to be found with these, notably with Achard's brake, is that they act too suddenly. Our contemporary thinks that the late accident at Mont*, Carlo might have been, if not entirely avoided, at any rate greatly mitigated, if the trains had been fitted with electric brakes. A Fire Banked for Sixteen Month*. — One of the blast furnaces of the Kemble Iron and Coal Company at Riddlesburg, Pa., was banked up in November, 1884. After being out of blast nearly sixteen months, it was recently opened for the first time, and the fire found still burning The coke glowed brightly, and on the admission ot the blast soon became hot enough to melt cinder. The furnace was started with as little difficulty as if it had only be«n standing a week. A New Planet.— Another minor planet was discovered by Herr Palis*, of Vienna, on the evening of March 31, thus bringing up the number ef these small bodies to 254. It was in Right Ascension 14h. Omin. 34sec, and North Polar Distance lOldeg. 17min. 17sec. at 12 31 a.m., on April 1. The daily motion in Right Ascension is 48sec. decreasing, and in Polar Distance lmin. decreasing. It is of about the thirteenth magnitude. A Good Leathkr. — Porpoise leather has a long, tenacious fibre, and, as it will not crack nor tear, it makes an excellent leather. When made up into a shoo it resembles French kid. It wears lik* iron, and would be suitable for boys' shoes. It is entirely water-proof. Watch Screws. — The finest screws used in watches, it is said, have 250 threads to the/inch, but screws with 500 threads to the inch can be cut. It takes 144,000 watch screws to weigh a pound.