Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1880 — THE WORD OF SCIENCE. [ARTICLE]

THE WORD OF SCIENCE.

Scteßtteto have distieguiahed about 82,000 different species of planft, of which number neorly 5,000 are different foms of grass. J. Landerer has stated to the French Academy reasons for believing that the materials of the moon’s surface arc analogous to those of the silicate rocks so abundant on orr globe. After aa alalyau of the black mud existing beneath, toe pavement of Parte, M. Henri Deville concludes tint the condition of the 00U io not such as to canoe diiea-e, but io, instead, conducive to the health of cccupantoof the city. Hess rteyer, aa inveotigator, bee proven that the drowsiness of fatigue te caused by too introduction into the blood of lactic acid, which to-produed by the die integration of bodily tissue of nerve aad muscle. Many of the sensations we daily experience seem to be the direct result of similar chemical change. The pachymeter, lately patented la Vienna, which mecrere*the thtaknesoef paper to the I,oßoth part of an inch, te outdone by the microaseter caliper, now coming into use la thio country, which determinaa the thicknsoo of paper or aay thing else to the 10,000 th of aa inch. * A recently patented German process for making rancid butter sweet te to knead it with perfectly clear lime water, in the proportion of five parts of butter to one Ett of lime water. After a few minutee eadlng the lime water te poured ott, and the butter thoroughly vywhed with pure water. The rancidity is caused by the presence ot certain tree acids, which are neutralized by the lime. lAke animals, plants differ greatly in their habits, aad the food upon which they subsist. The broad-leaved clovers, turnips and mangels abstract from the air a large portion of their growth, while the narrow leaved grains and graves partake more largely of mineral food, which they draw Irom the soil. In this fact lies the great advantage to fanners of rotation ot crepe. The discovery of phosphorescent bodies has been traced back to the year 1608, when a cobbler of Bologna, pursuing the philosopher’s stone, found a very heavy mineral, which, after being hea*.ed with charcoal, became luminous in ths dark. The mineral with which the Bologna cobbler attained so remarkable a result was barium sulphate, which, by the operation in the crucible, was changed to barium sulphide, one oi the moat phosphorescent substances known. According to Dr. Kedsle, of Detroit, the adulteration of sugar with glocoee te rapidly increasing, and the adulteration te being effected more and more skillfully. Pure glocose is not in itself poisonous, or even injurious, but it makes sugar less sweet, so that a greater quantity te required to produce a given sweetening es feet Manufactured giocose, however, Dr. Kedzie states, te injurious to health, because poisonous substances are always associated with it. Glocoee te also said to be a constituent of nearly all candies and syrups. The needle gun is toe invention of John Nicholas Dreyse, a Prussian locksmith. He was 19 years old when toe battle ot Jena was fought, and picked up a musket upon the field, an examination of which convinced him that his countrymen were wqdK armed soldiers in Europe. Dreyse made his way to Parte and entered the employ of a Swiss gunmaker, whom Napoleon commissioned to make a breech loading musket The young apprentice took up toe idea and worked at it tor many yean, until, in 1835, he succeeded in making a breech loading needle gun. The Prussian government tried and adopted the weapon, and supplied the inventor with means for carrying on the manufacture of the gun now used in Kaiser Wilhelm’s army.

The coloring principle of the indigo plant te contained in the stems and leaves, which yield a colorless liquid, changed by fermentation into the familiar dye. About two months after the plants areaown they produce a pale red flower. They are then cut, thrown into large stone veto, covered with water and held down by heavy weights. Fermentation begins in about twelve or fourteen hours; the whole mass appears to be boiling, and bubbles of purple air arise. When the process 1s finished the liquid te drawn off into another vat, and violently stirred to precipitate the coloring matter, which te left to settle. Again (he water Is drawn oft, leaving the indigo, which te dried aad prepared for export. Major Majendt, in speaking of the ignltien of gunpowder by simple percussion, says: ‘’There te ample testimony that gunpowder can be exploded by a blow with comparative ease, the fact being that the temperature at which gunpowder explodes (about 040 degrees to 660 degrees) te readily reached vy percusaioa or friction, it the powder be so placed that there is no absorption of the energy by the cushioning of the blow, and this temperature te a long way within that at which heat becomes visible. Copper took may be made to give out sparks. I have had 4buch experience of this in some experiments which I made., The great thing for young men to avoid, whatever tools they use even wooden tools, te the exercise of force beyond whet te obßolutely necessary, or dteaater may result” An apparatus for causing a boll to ring at any desired hour of the day to described by L’Electricite, its arrangement being astollowe: It comprises a lens by means of which the solar rays are concentrated and directed on a metalic slip or strip, with to raKeptlbto of freal aad very rapiJ dilation. The' malt of the dilation to electric bodtact, giving passage to a battcryourrent which rings too boU. Although the Mm may be covered by clouds, its calorific power to never diminUhM so much as not to dilate the strip. An interesting question has been rawed, namely. ao «> what the cotton of the moon would be, through ate— of high magnify ing power, on a very aeneitive strip. The apparatus wodd also, porimpa, be oeftsitiveof graduation with a view of studying fee radiating powers of too sun.