Vol. XXV. No. 1.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
9 
©}^e popular ^cienee I^ew§. 
BOSTOV, JANUARY 1, 1891. 
AUSTIN P. NICHOLS, S. B Editor 
WILLIAM . J. ROLFETLlTT.D. . . A SSOCIATE Editok 
The typogi-aphical change in the present num- 
licr of the Science Xews is. we think, one that 
will be appreciated V)y all its readers. We have 
]irocured an entirely new "dress" of type, of 
iiiiiform size, and of such a style that it will be 
loiiiid as clear and easily read as the larger type 
used in former volumes. The use of this smaller 
type practically adds nearly two pages of extra 
reading matter to the paper, thus making it in a 
^rrcater degree than ever the cheapest scientitic 
lioriodieal in the world. We have also made such 
arrangements as will ensure its prompt publica- 
I ion about the 2.5th of each month, and avoid the 
annoying delays that have occurred during the 
past year. We must ask our readers to kindly 
overlook any errors or delay in the present issue, 
due to the reorganization of our printing depart- 
ment, and the further delay at the moment of 
i;oing to press, arising from a fire in the estab- 
lishment where the paper is printed; but we 
hope to have everything in good working order 
iiy the time the February nuinber is publislied. 
We would also mention in this connection that 
all articles not otherwise credited are from the 
pens of the regular editors. 
ing the care of children in regard to the develop- 
ment of the faculty of speech. Any observations 
on this point, even if apparently trivial, may be of 
importance by comparison with those of other 
oliservers: and the systematic arrangement of 
such facts will, undoubtedly, be of great scientific 
and practical value. 
<♦< ; 
A Russian physician claims to'have discovered 
that the ordinary incandescent electric light is a 
very eft'ectual analgesic, or paiu-curer, and says 
that he has used it with remarkable success in the 
treatment of neuralgia, rheumatism, lumbago, etc., 
the pain being quickly and "permanently relieved 
when the lamp is applied to the parts affected. It 
is evident that the enthusiasm of this Muscovite 
medical man is greater than his judgment, for it is 
impossible that any electric current could enter 
the body of the patient under such circumstances, 
and, even if it did, it could hardly produce any 
cui-ative efJects. The only eftect of the applica- 
tion of an electric lamp would be from the w armth 
of the bulb enclosing the highly-heated carbon fil- 
ament, and the same result could be obtained in a 
much easier way by the old-fashioned bottle of 
hot water. We do not believe that the physician 
of the future will be under any necessity of carry- 
ing an incandescent lamp and a storage battery as 
part of his regular equipment. 
be easily obtained, the new process will, doubt- 
less, come into extensive use, and give us a cheap 
and easy method of obtaining an unlimited supply 
of oxygen gas by separating it from its atmos- 
pheric companion— the nitrogen. 
A CORRESPONDENT scnds US an interesting note 
of a hen's egg, which, when broken, was found to 
contain another perfect egg, about the size of that 
of a sparrow. Similar abnormally formed eggs 
have been observed before, and, in fact, been 
described in the columns of this paper, but they 
are very rare, and the one described by our cor- 
respondent appears to have been one oi the most 
perfect of its kind. 
LiTTi.E additional information has been gained 
lately concerning the nature and action of Koch's 
lluid : but so tar the results of its use have borne 
out the comparatively modest claims made for it 
by its discovtjrer. The available supply is ex- 
tremely small, and, for some reason, only a very 
few physicians have been able to obtain enough 
lor a single experiment. A few specimens liave 
reached this country, and the first inoculation 
made in America was performed at Xew Haven, 
Conn., by Dr. Francis Bacon. While the general 
I'ffects of the operation were identical with those 
observed in European hospitals, a sufHcient time 
has not yet elapsed to enable physicians to judge 
of the real value Of the remedy. All that can be 
said is that the prospects are encouraging, although 
the discovery seems almost " too good to be true." 
At a recent trial in France of a man and woman 
liarged with murder, a scientific interest was 
roused by the claim of the woman that she was 
to assist in the deed against her will, being 
nder the hypnotic influence of her partner in 
tte. This ingenious plea, while varying the 
onotony of the worn-out "insanity" dodge, is 
Ten less worthy of consideration. The wliole 
fubjeet of hypnotism is still in an exceedingly 
dementary state, and so mixed up with deceit 
ad trickery — both intentional and unintentional 
-that the basis of facts on which the present 
teories rest is a very unstable one, and much 
rther study will be necessary before any really 
eliable knowledge of the subject can be obtained, 
^uch a claim as was oft'ered by the French raur- 
eress was preposterous on the face of it, and, in 
efreshing contrast to many murder trials in this 
Buntry, the judge refused to admit any such 
rorthless evidence; and both of the criminals 
vere found guilty, and sentence<4 — one to death 
ad the other to imprisonment. 
An Antarctic polar expedition is soon to start 
from an Australian port, with the intention of 
making a thorough siirveV of that little-known 
region, and penetrating as near to the south pole 
of the earth as possible. Xearly all the previous 
polar expeditions have confined their eflforts to the 
exploration of the far northern regions, but it is 
certain that the opposite end of the earth pos- 
sesses features of equal interest. Apparently the 
southern pole is completely covered by an ice cap, 
similar to that which is supposed to have covered 
tlie northern part of this country during the 
glacial period, and a complete investigation, of this 
formation might throw much light upon the 
geological phenomena and formations of that 
most important epoch in the earth's history. The 
electric, magnetic, and tidal conditions of the 
Antarctic regions deserve a close study, as well as 
the climate, which, from the probable aUsence of 
large areas of land, must be very diflferent from 
that of the Arctic regions. We shall await the 
result of the expedition with interest, and trust 
that the members may be spared the suft'erings 
and misfortunes of most of the northern explorers. 
Mk. E. a. Kirkpatrick, of Worcester, Mass., 
lesires infonnation fi'om parents or persons hav- 
M. Kastner has discovered' a new process for 
preparing oxygen gas, which may prove to be of 
commercial importance. It is based upon the 
singular properties of a salt known as plnmbate 
of lime, which is supposed to have the compo- 
sition Oa2 Pb 06.' When this compound is heated 
with an alkaline carbonate it is decomposed, the 
first products of this decomposition l)eing carbon- 
ate of lime and peroxide of lead. At a higher 
temperature this peroxide of lead is decomposed, 
.in its turn, into protoxide of lead and oxygen gas. 
The latter is evolved in the free state, whilst in 
the retort remains a mixt\ire of protoxide of lead 
and carbonate of linii". Xow, the interesting part 
of the process is this, namely, that the mixture of 
carbonate of lime and protoxide of lead, when 
submitted to an appropriate temperature (not too 
high) in a current of air, is again transformed into 
plumbate of lime, so that the operation is continu- 
ous. If these reactions can be alternated indefi- 
nitely, without the salt losing its properties, and 
if it is found that the proper degi-ees of heat can 
The radical known as ammonium is composed 
of the elements nitrogen and hydrogen, and is 
particularly remarkable in that it acts in almost 
every respect like a strongly basic element, very 
similar to potassium and sodium. Like these 
metallic elements it also, apparently, forms an 
amalgam with mercury, the constitution of which 
has been a subject of much discussion among 
chemists, some claiming that it was only a me- 
chanical mixture, or "froth," of metallic mercury 
and ammonia and hydrogen gases, while others 
claimed that it was a true chemical combination 
l)etween the mercury and the ammonium radical. 
'l"he latest investigations seem to prove that the 
latter view is correct, and that in this respect, as 
well as many others, this compound of two ele- 
mentary gases is most closely allied to the metallic 
bodies sodium and potassium, which are supposed 
to be true elements, as no chemist has ever been 
able to decompose them into any other forms 
of matter. 
*^y 
'I'HE existence of such substances as ammo- 
nium, cyanogen, and other compound radicals, as 
they are called, is a strong argument in favor of 
the compound nature of the bodies commonly 
known as elements. If a body known by us to be 
a chemical compound of other forms of matter 
acts in every way like the .simple bodies which 
have never been decomposed, and are considered 
as elementary and fundamental forms of matter, 
then the supposition is a fair one that these 
so-called elements may also be composed of two or 
more forms of matter, and that only the discov- 
ery of some sutflciently powerful means to decom- 
pose them is needed to demonstrate their com- 
pound nature. As to this, nothing can, as yet, be 
definitely said ; but the results of numerous inves- 
tigations tend to show that some, at least, of the 
bodies heretofore considered as elements are really 
compounds, and it is by no means impossible 
that — as is already held by some chemists — aU 
forms of matter are but modifications of one 
primitive substance, which is either hydrogen 
itself or possesses properties closely resembling 
that substance. 
THE FULMINATES. 
Everyone has noticed the greyish substance in 
the interior of a percussion cap, which only needs 
the blow of the hammer to cause it to explode 
with great violence. A similar substance is found 
in the torpedoes so popular among children on the 
Fourth of July. This body is known to chemists 
as fulminate of mercury, and is not only interest- 
ing from its chemical composition and relations, 
but is of great commercial importance, although 
a comparatively small quantity is needed to supply 
the demand for it. 
'J'his exceedingly unstable and explosive sub- 
stance is the meiX'uric salt of an acid known as 
