Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1892 — SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. [ARTICLE]

SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.

Bomb insects are in a state of maturity thirty minutes after birth. There are said to be 20,000 kinds of butterflies, of which two-thirds are named. Naturalists have enumerated 657 different species of reptiles. Of this number 400 ar« as harmless as rabbits. A hole one one-thousandth of an inch in diameter can now be bored through a diamond, sapphire, or a ruby. The Swiss Government proposes to buy" up all the match-works in the country, and make matches a government monopoly, similar to that ot salt and tobacco in most countries of Europe. The first ingot of nickel steel to be used for the manufacture of armor for the United States navy was oast in a mold weighing fifty-six tons. The ingot weighed 90,000 pounds. Thearmor plate will be used on the Maine. In future each soldier of the Belgian army wUI carry on his person a small bone disk, which will contain his name, birthplace, and regimental number, so that the holder can be readily identified in case of accident or death.