Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1901 — SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL [ARTICLE]

SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL

In 1899 nineteen factories wws started in the United States for the manufacture of silk by steam, and thirteen others for producing ribbons and other silk goods. One Yarmouth mussel of deteriorated character contained no fewer than 3,000,000 of harmful bacteria, while the water in the shell was certified to contain 803,200 bacteria of thq colon bacilli type, the forerunner of typhoid. Aluminnm has the peculiarity of softening while considerably below thfi temperature at which it fuses. The big aluminum concern at Hanau, Ger* many, takes advantage of this property in a process for welding the metal. The parts to be joined instead of being hammered together are kneaded together in such a way that the material is made homogeneous, so the joint la as strong as the rest of the metal. A factory will soon be erected at Niagara Falls for the manufacture of nitric acid by a new process, which it is said will be quite startling from a scientific point of view. It is understood that the plant will manufacture the acid from air. This assures the factory of plentiful supply of raw material. The company has a capital of SIOO,OOO. If the process is a success, undoubtedly the factory will be an immense one. .. r _ The sizes of anthracite coal and the screens through which they are madei are as follows: Coal which runs through a screen having a mesh of three-sixteenths of an inch is called barley; three-eighth, rice; nine-six-teenth, buckwheat; seven-eighth, pea; one and a half, chestnut; two, stove; two and three-quarter, egg; four and a half, grate; seven, steam. Coal be* yond this size is known as lump coal. Bituminous lump coal passes over barf one and a half inches apart; bituminous nut coal passes through bars one and a half Inches apart; slack coal passes through bars three-quarters of an inch apart An extremely unfortunate occurrence is reported from Milan which is certain to seriously interfere witu the growth of the serum treatment of disease. Eight persons suffering from diphtheria died from tetanus (lockjaw) after being treated with what was supposed to be anti-diphtheritl* serum. The institute where the sei rum was made was immediately closed by the authorities, and the use of the serum prohibited throughout all Italy, pending an investigation. All of the serum that could be found was called in and destroyed. No one seems to know yet just what caused the trouble, But it seems probable that the serum was either accidentally contaminated with tetanus microbes or else tha, through some unaccountable mistake an experimental tetanus serum wa* used instead * of an antl-dlphtheritlo serum.

Vaucluse, in South France, Is a cen tre vs the ocher Industry. Sometime* the ocher is excavated direct wlthoul mining, but often shafts are sunk. Th* material when brought to the surface is transported to the valley below on carts and is then washed. Mining U only done in the winter season, as th* water-courses are dry in summer. Bj| means of successive settling basins va( rlous degrees of fineness are secured in washing the ore. At the end of the winter these basins are filled with ocher in the form of mud, which dries hard during the heated term, and is then cut Into blocks of regular size and dried in the sun. It Is then either cut into blocks or crushed into powder for shipment and is sorted for color; the yellow shades command the high* est price. The total production of these mines last year was about 180,OuO tons, and of this amount 3000 tons were shipped to the United States. Although the mines have been worked for many years they are not exhausted.