720 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



which at first sight seems to have arisen 

 through purely natural causes, but which, 

 upon closer inspection, is clearly traceable to 

 man's interference with the " balance of Na- 

 ture." 



NOTES. 



Some recent experiments, says Industries 

 and Iron, seem to indicate that iron is much 

 weakened after being pickled and galvan- 

 ized. A dozen eyebolts, all precisely alike, 

 so far as could be perceived by external in- 

 spection, were carefully selected ; six of these 

 were laid to one side and the others sent 

 away to be galvanized. When the galvan- 

 ized bolts were returned the whole twelve 

 were put together and tested, when it was 

 found that the galvanized bolts were the ones 

 to break ; not in any instance did the ungal- 

 vanized ones give way. 



Although Spitzbergen has been frequent- 

 ly visited, its coasts have been well surveyed, 

 and it has even been a place of industrial 

 and commercial importance, no attempt has 

 been made to explore the interior of the 

 main island. Mr. W. M. Conway purposes to 

 supply the omission, and to lead a scientific 

 party during the summer, who will make a 

 thorough study of the land. The west island 

 is penetrated by many fiords, and no part of 

 it is more than twenty-five miles from the 

 sea. The party will cross from fiord to fiord, 

 and will be supplied from a steamer which 

 will meet them at appointed places. 



As, in the rush of waves, the billows 

 travel onward, the energy, Mr. Vaughan 

 Cornish observes in Knowledge, is passed 

 from point to point, silently and smoothly, 

 till the leeward shore is reached. Here all is 

 changed. On the one side is the swinging 

 water, ever handing on the energy of its 

 motion. On the other side is the dead 

 resistance of the beach, to which each 

 breaker as it falls yields up its store of 

 energy. There is no finer display of natural 

 forces than the rush of the waves on a rock- 

 bound coast, when each billow as it nears 

 the shore raises a steeper crest, and, dashing 

 down in thunder on the rocks, throws up- 

 ward and abroad a cloud of glittering spray, 

 which falls in salt showers. 



After the bicycle comes the celerette, a 

 modified revival of the old draisienne. It is 

 a machine without pedals, and can be made 

 very cheaply, with a wooden frame and even 

 with wooden wheels, to which India-rubber 

 tires may be added if desired. It is propelled 

 by kicking with the feet upon the ground, 

 and the activity and vigor required to keep 

 it agoing depend on the character of the 

 road. On a smooth, level road the work is 

 light, and down hill the machine goes of 

 itself. The advantage it offers is that of 

 getting over the ground more rapidly and 

 with less fatigue than by walking ; but it is 



not likely to compete seriously with the bi 

 cycle. 



The smoke of a common wood fire has 

 been found by M. G. Palozzi to be a very 

 efficacious disinfectant, capable of destroy- 

 ing pathogenic germs suspended in the air 

 or attached to walls and furniture, or hidden 

 in drapery or clothing. The author recom- 

 mends it as a convenient and very econom- 

 ical means of disinfecting sick-rooms or any 

 other contaminated places. 



The Portuguese Government has decided 

 to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary 

 of the discovery of the route to the East 

 Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 which was made by Vasco da Gama, July 8, 

 149*7. It is understood that exhibitions and 

 scientific congresses at Lisbon will form part 

 of the proceedings. 



At last Darwin's suggestion that the bor- 

 ing of a coral reef is the wise way to settle 

 its mode of formation is to be carried out. 

 Prof. Soil as is in charge of an expedition 

 which started last May from Sydney, fully 

 equipped for boring one thousand feet if 

 necessary, for the island of Funafuti, one of 

 the Fiji group. This island is a typical 

 atoll ; it is about fifteen miles in circumfer- 

 ence. The lagoon has a good entrance, and 

 provides firm anchorage. The results of the 

 expedition should be of great importance. 



The committee on public baths appointed 

 by Mayor Strong recently submitted plans 

 which provide for a bath house in Tompkins 

 Square, and two smaller and subterranean 

 lavatories one under Main Street, and the 

 other under Greeley Square, at the junction 

 of Broadway and Sixth Avenue. These 

 baths will be important agents in promoting 

 public health, and have been sorely needed 

 in New York city for years. 



Tue preparations for the British Associa- 

 tion meeting in Liverpool next September 

 are now going on rapidly. The meeting 

 promises to be a very interesting one. A 

 number of the owners of works of manufac- 

 turing and engineering interest have offered 

 to open their buildings for inspection during 

 the week, and numerous enjoyable social 

 events are promised. 



Cavaliere Cristoforo Negri, whose 

 death was recently announced, was a distin- 

 guished Italian scientist, and for many years 

 a most enthusiastic promoter of geographical 

 research. Born at Padua in 1809, he first 

 devoted himself to the study of law ; he held 

 the post of Professor of Constitutional Law 

 at Padua, but was after 1848 compelled to 

 leave the city for political reasons. He was 

 the founder, in 1866, and the first President 

 of the Italian Geographical Society. He 

 was for many years an honorary correspond- 

 ing member of the English Royal Geograph- 

 ical Society. 



