Vol. XXV. No. 2.J 
POPtTLAU SClEi^Cfi KEWS. 
21 
off readily. It is suipvising how soon the hag 
becomes clogged sometimes. The bag is tlien 
emptied as described in mode II. If one has my 
clinical microscope the forms of life can be .studied 
on the boat or place where collected. 
IV. 
W'lien tlie fauna or flora are collected under a 
liydrant pressure, many of the delicate ones are 
more or less torn or destroyed. To obviate this, 
I said to myself, "Why not collect as in mode 
ni., and thus avoid this destruction?" I then 
took hydrant water after it had left the faucet, 
and, of course, had lost the hydraulic pressure, 
and followed mode itl. It was a success. Of 
course the principle of having only a pressure 
equal to the length of the collecting tube, can be 
applied in other ways. 
[Bemarks. — The writer hopes that those who are 
'amiliar with the study of life in water may try 
the modes named, as he is quite sure that the 
pleasure derived from this music of the eye will 
quite equal that from the music of the ear, and 
exalt the ideas about the Creator. Lately, in 
crossing the Atlantic Ocean, 1 made collections, 
but found a scarcity of forms ; while at Haarlem, 
Amsterdam, Allimaar, The Hague, etc., I got a 
rich variety with the same apparatus. In place 
of the india-rubber tube a glass lamp-chimney was 
utilized, which worked very well. Holland is a 
delightful place to study the fauna and flora of 
water. Here t found the Asthmatos ciliaris in its 
natural habitat, for tlie first time, I tliink. (The 
Asthrnntos is found on those who hiive the 
"grippe.") Also some new Pnlyphems, which 
were viviparous. The forms of life varied at each 
lit the places named. 
-Vew York, Oct. 21, 1890. 
SCIENTIFIC BREVITIKS. 
TuK Most Expensive Theumometer In this 
country is in use at tlie Johns Hopkins University. 
It is known as Prof. Rowland's thermometer, and 
is valued at S10,000. It is an absolutely perfect 
instrument, and the graduations on the glass are 
so fine that it is necessary to use a microscope to 
read them. 
The Dollar Sign (9) is not a monogram of 
" U. S.," but dates from the days when tlie trans- 
fer was made from Spanish to American dollars 
and accounts were kept equally in dollars and 
reals. Thus : one dollar || eight reals (American 
and Spanisli parallel accounts). Later the 8 was 
placed between the cancellation mark, |8| ; tlien 
the perpendicular lines crossed the 8, and finally 
the 8 shaded into an S, and, combined witli the 
cancellation line, evolved the present Sign (§). 
X Mountain of Iron Ore.— About five miles 
north of the railway station of Xittoor, on the 
Hariliar line. Bangalore, is a mountain of iron ore. 
The ore has been worked by the natives for ages, 
and is still so worked. On the southeast face of 
the hill two galleries pierce the mountain, and 
from these openings the ore mined in the heart of 
the hill is carried outside. Xumerous bullocks 
buffaloes, and asses loaded with panniers carry 
the ore to the furnaces in the neighboring villages, 
where it is smelted and wrought into plough-share 
tips and bill-hooks. 
The Fluor-spar of Quincie.— Certain varie- 
ties of fluor-spar, if pounded, emit a peculiar 
odor. The spar from Quincie gives off gas of a 
penetrating scent, which recalls that of ozone and 
also that of fluorine. It decomposes water, form- 
ing hydrofluoric acid and ozonised oxygen. It is 
concluded from these experiments that the fluor- 
spar of Quincie contains an occluded gas, wliich is 
observed escaping when the mineral is broken up 
under the lens. All the reactions of this fluor- 
spar may be simply explained by the presence of 
a small quantity of free fluorine among the oc- 
cluded gases. 
.\ntiqu1ty of Man in America. — Prof. F. W. 
Putnam, tlie well-known permanent secretary of 
the American Association, recently made an inter- 
esting discovery which furnishes fresh evidence 
in support of the theory that man in America was 
contemporaneous with the mammoth. In a com- 
munication to the Boston Society of Natural His- 
tory, Professor Putnam describes a shell found by 
him in the State of Delaware. Upon a portion of 
this shell is scratched the rude outline of what 
without doubt represents a mammoth. The shell 
was found under peat, and near by were human 
bones, charcoal, bones of animals, and stone im- 
plements. 
On the Name Bronze. — Berthelot in Ids In- 
trofluction o la Chimie des Anciens, expressed the 
opinion that the name "bronze" took its name 
from the town of Brundusium, the seat of certain 
manufacturers in this alloy : aes Brundisinum. 
But in a manuscript three centuries older, dis- 
covered in the library of the canons of liUcca, and 
reprinted by Muratori in his Antiqmtates Italicce we 
read: "De composite brandisii: eramen partes 
II., plumiji parte I., stagni parte I." .\notlier for- 
mula in the same work prescribes : "eramen par- 
tes II., plumbi partem I. ; vitri dimidinm et siagni 
dimidium. Commisces at couflas ; f undis ; secun- 
dum mensurain vasaruin facit et agluten erameuti 
cum afrinitru." It is remarkable that the word 
vitridum in the exact meaning of vitriol is repeat- 
edly found in this MS., which shows that the 
word is much more ancient than the epoch of 
Albertits Magnus. 
Large Meteorites. — In an article about Mex- 
ican metorites and widespread meteoric showers, 
in The Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the 
Mineralogical Society, London, Mr. L. Fletcher de- 
scribes the bonanza masses as fourteen ponderous 
masses of native iron, the largest of which rises 
upward of four feet above the ground, having the 
fonn of a beehive, being five feet in diameter 
wliere it enters the soil, intojwhich it descends for 
an unknown depth. The Butcher masses consist 
of eight pieces, varying from 290 pounds, which 
is the smallest, to 6.54 pounds, which is the largest, 
making a total of nearly 4,000 pounds. Before 
the explosion the weight must have been much 
greater. The Sanchez estate mass weighed 2.'52 
pounds. The Fort Duncan mass weighed 97^ 
pounds. A mass estimated to weigh 4,000 pounds, 
and which was an uncut mass of meteoric iron, is 
preserved at Washington, in the United States 
National Museum. It was exhibited among Mex- 
ican minerals, and was said to have been brought 
from the State of Chihuahua. Mr. Fletcher con- 
cludes that if the masses really belong to a single 
fall the maximum dispersion is 66 miles. 
LABORATORY NOTES. 
Burette Float. — Wolff proposes small discs 
of paraffin of sliglitly less diameter than the bu- 
rette and about 2 m. m. in thickness. A layer of 
paraffin of the required thickness is made by 
melting in hot water. When the cake is nearly 
cold it is laid upon paste-board, and discs of the 
proper diameter are cut out with the cork-borers. 
Fluoroform. — A French chemist, M. Meslans, 
has succeeded in preparing fluoroform. It is the 
analogue of chloroform and iodoform, the chlo- 
rine and iodine of these substances being replaced 
fluorine In fluoroform. But whereas chloroform 
is a liquid, and iodoform is a solid at ordinary 
temperatures, fluoroform is a gas. It is colorless, 
and has a pleasant ethereal smell, recalling tliM 
of chlorofoi-m. 
WiRE-fiAU/.K AIr-Bath.— An arrangement is 
suggested for applying gentle heat to small quan- 
tities of liquid in large vessels, as on re-dissolving 
small precipitates in the vessels in which tliey 
were thrown down. It admits also of the appli- 
cation of a stronger heat. It consists of a rectaiw 
gular frame of iron resting on foui- feet, about 22 
c. 111. in height; a movable sheet-iron box (about 
60 by 20 c. m.) with a bottom of wire-gauze, about 
as fine as that used in safety-lamps ; four wire- 
gauze covers working on hinges, and four Bunsen 
burners. If a gentle heat is required the flames 
are reduced and the vessel is set upon the highest 
of the four covers. 
An Improvement in Organic Combustions. 
— The back end of the combustion tube, which is 
114 c. m. in length, projecting 10 c. m. out of the 
furnace behind, and 19 in front, is closed with a 
caoutchouc plug through which passes a glass 
tube 10 e. m. long. In this a glass rod, 40 c. m. 
long, carrying at its front a strong platinum wire, 
can slide air-tight backwards and forwards. An 
air-tight closing is aft'ected by means of a piece of 
caoutchouc tubing drawn tightly over the glass 
rod and tlie glass tube. By means of the rod the 
platinum boat, with the substance to be analyzed, 
is moved backwards and forwards. To eft'ect a 
firm connection between the wire and the boat 
tliere is a small appendage to the latter, having a 
narrow slit in its upright part. By thus render- 
ing tlie boat movable, the combustion can be 
more nicely and easily regulated than heretofore. 
PRACTICAL RECIPES. 
The f(dlowing varnish will maintain its trans- 
parency, and the metallic brilliancy of the articles 
will not be obscured : Dissolve ten parts of clear 
grains of mastic, five parts of camphor, five parts 
of sandarach, and five parts of elemi in a sufficient 
quantity of alcohol, and apply without heat. 
A Good Ce.ment for joining parts of appara- 
tuses, etc., permanently solid au<l waterproof, 
and which resists heat, oils, and acids, is made by 
mixing concentrated sirupous glycerine with 
finely powdered litharge to a thick, viscid paste, 
which is applied like gypsum. Glass, metal, and 
wood can be cemented together by it. 
Impermeable Glue. — To make an impermea- 
ble glue, soak ordinary glue in water until it 
softens, and remove it before it has lost its prim- 
itive form. After this, dissolve it in linseed oil 
over a slow fire until it is brought to the consis- 
tence of a jelly. This glue may be used for join- 
ing any kinds of material. In addition to strength 
and hardness, it has the advantage of resisting the 
action of water. 
Imitation of Marbles.— Good Portland ce- 
ment and colors that take on that material, are 
mixed dry and made into a paste with the least 
quantity of water added. One paste has to be 
made for each color. The different pastes are 
placed on top of one another in layers of different 
thicknesses ; the mass is pressed from all sides and 
beaten so that the colors of the different parts im- 
press themselves on each other without uniform- 
ity. The result is that more or less deep veins 
penetrate the mass ; this is then sawed into plates 
which are pressed into a mold fcfr twelve days, 
dm-ing which time it is necessary to keep them 
moist as long as they are not entirely hardened. 
The plates are polished In the same way as mar- 
ble. 
