Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1887 — NOTES ON SCIENCE. [ARTICLE]

NOTES ON SCIENCE.

Steel-framed cabs are now being manufactured in England, with a view to lightness and greater durability than if wood were used for the purpose. Fluted handles for sauce-pans, so that they will not slip in the greasy hands of the cook, are a new idea. An improved lid that allows the steam to escape is also provided. The recent experiments of an Italian physicist have shown that gases cannot be forced through glass by any available mechanical, chemical or electrical means. Even a pressure of 1,890 pounds on the square inch had no effect. A system of standard time, similar to that now prevailing for railway purposes in this country, will probably be adopted by the Norwegian Parliament. The time for the whole of Norway will be one hour in advance of the Greenwich Observatory in England. Coke is the result of the distillation of the coal; it contains from four to fifteen per cent, of ashes, or more, according as it is made from large or fine pieces, and according to the amount which is contained in the coal from which it is produced. It contains also from 2 to 10 per cent, of water. A new process for making steel pipes or tubues is thus described as in use in Germany. Steel is cast into a round mould, a core is thrust into it, so that a short tube is formed between it and the wall of the mould. The short tube or cup thus obtained is then rolled or drawn in an ordinary train.

Mr. J. W. Walker has discovered on the south side of Pine Mountain, Georgia, nearly 200 feet above the famous corundum mine, a site where the ancient inhabitants of that region manufactured their talc vessels for cooking. Evidence of the use of stone implements in the work are indubitable. The vessels were blocked out and hollowed before being broken from the ledge.

Professor Hughes has shown that a stranded iron wire cable has less self-induction than one of the same mass of metal formed into a solid wire. The explanation of this is that the circular field of magnetic force around the axis, which exists Inside the wires as well as outside, is not as strong in the interior of the stranded iron cable as in the interior of the solid iron rod. The stranding reduces the magnetic permeability along lines which are circles described around the axis, and hence reduces the self-conduction.

The statement has been made to one of the scientific societies of Paris that the effect of gravitation in heaping up sea waters upon the land is one of the most interesting, though least considered, geological facts. Thus the continents are all situated at the tops of hills of water, and in crossing the Atlantic, the ship has first to go down hill, then to cross a valley, and finally to climb another hill. In this connection, the interesting calculation has been made that, in mid-ocean, the surface may be more than half a mile below the level it would have been had continents exerted no attraction. In an address before the Association of Swiss Geographical Societies, Prof. Forel stated that there are two parts in the Lake of Geneva, and small and shallow, the other large, deep and Alpine in its character. The two are separated by the Yvoise bank or bar, which is really a glacial moraine, as shown by the flints dredged up. Knowledge of the central portion of the lake is still very incomplete. The fragments of rock, sometimes brought up from a depth of sixty-one metres, are covered with moss of a beautiful green, a fact that seems to show that light penetrates to that depth. It has been discovered that the river Rhone flows in a sub-lacustrine ravine.

No improvement was attempted in the mechanical construction of cannon until it was found necessary to supply the infantry with better arms. In his book on guns, Sir J. E. Tennant states that up to that time they used the '‘Brown Bess,” which was not effective beyond 200 yards; and even then it was said that before a soldier could bring down his man he must fire the full weight of his body in the lead. The want of aeeuraey in shooting is well illustrated by the fact that in 1812 at the battle of Salamancia 3,500,000 cartridges and 6,000 cannon balls were fired, with the result of only 8,000 men being put horse de combat. And as late as 1857, during the Kaffir war, 80,000 cartridges were fired in a single engagement in which only twenty-live of the enemy were killed. A" a certain lead factory in the east of London five cases of more or less sudden death, at different dates, luive been attributed to the effects of lead. In two of the cases an examination was made by Mr. A. Wynter Blyth, who b-aa communicated his results to the Chemical Society. In one ease 24.25 m. grams of lead sulphate were separated from the Liver, and 5.4 grams from one kidney. Lead was also found in the brain. In the other case, which occurred about a year after the first, the brain was thoroughly exa.tained,.and fremthe analysis made Mr. Wynter calculates that the whole cerebrum would contain 99.7 m. grain or a possible total for the whole bra-in of 117.1 m. grams of Pb So 4. There has been no reasonable hypothesis, according to Mr. Wynter, to explain the profound nervous effects of the assimilation of minute quantities of lead, but it is allowed that lead forms definite compounds with essential portions of the nervous system, resulting it may be in destruction of in-.portant nerve centres.— Engineering.