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It is stated by M. Léon Vaillant that the late M. A. d’Abbadie had and used an effective remedy against the bites of insects and the infections they bring by fumigating the entire body with sulphur. For this purpose he covered the unclothed body with a suitable envelope, under which the sulphur was burned. The remedy was communicated to M. d’Abbadie by a hippopotamus hunter who had, by using it, escaped all the diseases incident to the swamps to which he had to resort.
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The Gregorian Calendar is to be adopted by the Russian Government on January 1, 1901, or at the beginning of the new century.
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The following figures, from the Engineering and Mining Journal, are of interest as showing the enormous quantity of iron and steel which was manufactured in 1898, and the leading position which the United States has already assumed in the industry:
Iron and Steel Production, in Metric Tons.[C]
| Countries. | PIG IRON. | STEEL. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897. | 1898. | 1897. | 1898. | |
| United States | 9,807,123 | 11,962,817 | 7,289,300 | 9,045,815 |
| United Kingdom | 8,980,088 | 8,769,249 | 4,559,736 | 4,639,042 |
| Germany | 6,889,087 | 7,402,717 | 5,091,294 | 5,784,807 |
| Total | 25,626,296 | 28,134,383 | 16,940,330 | 19,418,664 |
| Austria- Hungary | 1,205,000 | 1,250,000 | 553,000 | 605,500 |
| Belgium | 1,024,666 | 982,748 | 616,604 | 658,130 |
| Canada | 41,500 | 46,880 | — | — |
| France | 2,472,143 | 2,584,427 | 1,281,595 | 1,441,638 |
| Italy | 12,500 | 12,850 | 57,250 | 58,750 |
| Russia | 1,857,000 | 2,228,850 | 831,000 | 1,095,000 |
| Spain | 282,171 | 261,799 | 121,800 | 112,605 |
| Sweden | 533,800 | 570,550 | 268,300 | 289,750 |
| All other | 450,000 | 545,000 | 310,000 | 355,000 |
| Grand total | 33,506,076 | 36,507,487 | 20,979,179 | 24,030,032 |
[C] A metric ton is about 2,200 pounds.
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