Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1875 — MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC. [ARTICLE]

MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

Ij —The discovery of forest just below the surface »f the bed of the Thames River is attracting a good deal of attention in England. The oak, the alder and the willow are the principal trees found. These retain their vegetable character, but other signs show that the forest belongs to the period of the elk and the' red deer in the south of England. —Mr. Lcverrier has thrown a damper upon the Costly astronomical expeditions to observe the transit of Venus by asserting in a recent discussion at the French Academy that such observations are utterly valueless for the determination of the sun’s parallax, optical disturbances occasioned by the atmosphere of Venus making it impossible to fix the exact time of contact. —House-flies often die late in the summer from the attacks of a fungus (Empuscs Musca). “ The flies may often be seen,” says a writer in Nature, “ settled, in a natural position on. window-panes but with the abdomen much distended and surrounded by a collection of whitish powder, extending for a few lines in all directions on the surface of the glass. The whole of the inferior organs of the.abdomen are consumed by the plant, nothing remaining but the chitinous envelope, on which the mycelia of the fungus form a felt-like layer; the fructification showing itself externally as filaments protruding from between the rings of the body.” Our house-fly is the same species as the European, and without much doubt the fungus ■(Empusa Musca) is of the same species, while the above account of the appearance of the dead fly applies to those observed in this country. —For several years past an Italian geologist has made a study of the tremblings or quakings of the earth, and more especially those which are so extremely slight as not to be perceptible save by pendulums placed in the fields of microscopes. In one year he recognized between 5,000 and 0,000 of these movements; and graphically representing the same over many years by a curve, he finds that the line corresponds neither with the thermometric curve nor with the tidal phenomena, nor can it be brought into any relation with the distances of positions of the sun or moon. With the barometric curve, however, it is otherwise, and it appears that, in the large majority of cases, the intensity of the movements augmented with the lowering of the barometric column, as if—as the investigator states —the gaseous masses imprisoned in the superficial layers -of tire earth

escaped more easily when the weight of the atmosphere diminished, which certainly is an interesting fact.—A. Y. Sun. —A method of making varnish from vulcanized rubber is described in the Moniteur Industrial Beige, a thing which has heretofore been considered inpracticable. The process in question seemingly includes burning out the sulphur, etc., and then dissolving tlid-residue. The fragments of vulcanized rubber are for this purpose deposited in a deep earthenware pot, which is closed by a tightlyfitting cover and deposited on burning coals for about five minutes, care being taken during this period that the vessel be not opened, as the vapor is highly inflammable. On removal the mass is examinedby pushing a wire into it to see that it is uniformly melted; and if this be the case it is at once poured out into a large, well-greased, shallow tin pan and left to cool. When hard it is broken into small pieces, placed in a bottle with benzole or rectified essence of turpentine, and there,thoroughly shaken and stirred. The dissolution is effected by this means, and, after a brief rest, the clear liquor, which constitutes the varnish, is decanted from the impurities which settle at the bottom. The latest dodge, and one of the sharpest sort, has been attempted upon several sporting men of Cincinnati recently, and successfully- in one instance. Here is how it was done: Eph? Holland and a friend were rolling ten-pins at the Empire, on Fifth street, when a note came to Eph., asking him to call at the Grand Hotel to see a particular friend. It was written on a Grand Hotel “ letter-head.” He walked down to the hotel, but found nobody there that he particularly cared to see. While he was gone a note came to “Doc.” Martin, at the Empire, written on a Grand Hotel letter sheet, signed “ Eph., and asking the doctor to send him SIOO by the bearer, a young man of respectable appearance. The doctor, knowing that Eph bad gone to the hotel, and supposing he had met some friend and wanted to use that much money, promptly inclosed SIOO in an envelope and sent it “ by bearer.” When Eph. returned the doctor merely asked him if he had received that money all right. Then the little game was discovered. —A Vicksburg merchant, having been annoyed for many evenings by negroes loafing around his store, poured a quantity of nitric acid on their accustomed “roost” the other evening, and wstood back to await results. The loafer who first arrived sat calmly down, but soon moved about uneasily, and rose up and went away in a hurry. The second one didn’t sit so long, and the third one passed down the street saying: “ I kin stan’ mose anything; but when it comes to carpettacks, I has to riz on’em!” — Vicksburg Herald.