>5S 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



cultivation of coffee in Ceylon is steadily decreasing, 

 and that in several districts it bids fair to be wholly 

 superseded by tea before long. 



The Distribution of Power is the subject of an 

 article in " The Machinery Market " for October, from 

 which it appears that the system of conveying power 

 from a central station by means of hydraulic pressure 

 is already carried on to some extent in London, while 

 preparations are being made in Birmingham for its 

 conveyance by means of compressed air. By these 

 means the necessity for separate engines, boilers, &c, 

 will be lessened, with the attendant advantage of a 

 diminution of smoke. It is thought that while large 

 factories cannot be expected to come successfully 

 within the sphere of these plans, yet that for driving 

 warehouse cranes, lifts, electric lights, working dock- 

 gates, coffee-mills, and many small machines, par- 

 ticularly where the power is required intermittently, 

 they may, if the charges are reasonable, offer great 

 advantages. 



" Engineering " says that a proposal is on foot to 

 join the rivers Volga and Don by a canal. The two 

 rivers come within 50 miles of one another, and the 

 idea of a canal to unite them was thought of by Peter 

 the Great. The river Volga is, by encroaching on its 

 western bank, gradually approaching the Don. 



A new kind of life-saving dress has been tried with 

 success in the Thames, where several persons wearing 

 the material, jumped into the water and were 

 supported by it. The distinctive feature of the 

 substance consists in the use of fine threads of cork 

 interwoven with the other fibres. The new idea has 

 been brought out by Mr. W. Jackson, of Pimlico. 



It has been decided to hold a pocket-box exhibi- 

 tion of entomological specimens in connection with 

 the Haggerston Entomological Society, at 10 Brown- 

 low Street, Dalston, London, E., on November 12th. 

 The kind co-operation of Entomologists on the 

 occasion is solicited. The Secretary is Mr. Ernest 

 Anderson. 



The Sydenham and Forest Hill Microscopical and 

 Natural History Club opened their session, with an 

 exhibition of microscopes and natural history objects 

 at the Foresters' Hall, Forest Hill, on Thursday, 

 October 1st. There was a good show of microscopes 

 and curiosities, and a large number availed themselves 

 of the invitation of the Club. During the evening 

 ten applications for membership were received by the 

 Secretary. Further new members are much wanted, 

 and any lady or gentleman desirous of joining may 

 obtain information about the club from the honorary 

 secretary, Mr. A. C. Perrins, 12 Sunderland Villas, 

 Forest Hill, S.E. 



In a recent number of the "Engineer" is an 

 article, illustrated with map and other figures, 

 describing the preparations for the explosion of the 



Hell Gate Rock in New York Harbour. The rock 

 was a ledge of gneiss, in the form of a very irregular 

 obtuse cone, only a small portion appearing above the 

 Mater. The work of removing it was begun in 1875, 

 and since then galleries had been bored into it to an 

 a gS rc g ate length of over 21,000 feet, and about 

 45,000 cartridges placed in position. The explosives 

 used consisted of about eight volumes of rackarock to 

 one of dynamite No. I. The former substance is a 

 mixture of chlorate of potash with dinitro-benzole, 

 having the appearance of a moist, light-brown sugar. 

 The explosion was effected by electricity, and took 

 place successfully on the 10th of last month. The 

 intention was to give a channel of the clear depth of 

 26 feet. 



Erythroxylon Coca is now said to have been 

 successfully employed as a remedy against, and a cure 

 for, sea-sickness. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Starch in Leaves. — An easy method of shewing 

 starch granules in situ is given, in the " American 

 Monthly Microscopical Journal," as having been 

 recently described by Sachs. The fresh leaf should 

 be placed in boiling water for ten minutes, after 

 which the chlorophyll should be extracted by placing 

 it in alcohol. The cells of the leaf are thus rendered 

 colourless, and are not broken. The starch inside 

 them can then be shewn by means of iodine. Com- 

 parative experiments can be made by exposing part 

 of the leaf to the sun, while the rest is protected ; 

 and it is said that a leaf gathered in the evening 

 shows more starch than one gathered in the morning. 



Journal of the Quekett Microscopical. 

 Cluk. — The October number contains a Presidential 

 Address delivered by Dr. Carpenter last July. Speak- 

 ing of the question of the specific differences of bacilli 

 and the diseases they are supposed to cause, Dr. Car- 

 penter said that he had always held the view of the 

 very wide range of species, especially among the lower 

 types of animal and vegetable life. He believed that 

 the manifestation of disease germs may be extra- 

 ordinarily affected by the condition of the body in 

 which they fructify, and that a large range of forms 

 of disease may be produced by the same infection ; the 

 bacteria, when cultivated, as it were, in the human 

 body, giving rise to one or another form of disease 

 according to circumstances. Dr. Carpenter also 

 spoke of a paper recently published by Mr. Wadding- 

 ton on the subject of nitrification in the soil. Although 

 Mr. Waddington had not been able to discover the 

 organism microscopically, his conclusion was that the 

 action was due to some protophyte, a conclusion on 

 which Dr. Carpenter thought very little doubt was 

 entertained by some good chemical authorities to 

 whom he had spoken on the subject. 



