September 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



173 



It is proposed to utilize peat moss, and possibly other 

 vegetation, as a source of alcohol, by first converting its 

 cellulose into sugar. This change may be effected by 

 heating the vegetable substance to 115-120° C. with dilute 

 sulphuric acid. The expressed liquor is then fermented 

 with yeast. In this way from G2 to 63 litres of alcohol 

 may be obtained from 1000 kilos of dried turf. 



Sir -J. B. Lawes recently received, through the India 

 Office, a consignment of pliosphates from Madras, with a 

 view to their commercial value being ascertained. The 

 specimens are well-formed nodules, with a nearly smooth 

 huffish coat, and internally appear very pure. Un- 

 fortimately, they show no traces of fossils. They come 

 from a region where there are both cretaceous and eocene 

 beds. — ^'^ — 



The place having the lowest mean temperature in the 

 world is Werliojansk, in North-Eastern Siberia. A tem- 

 perature of —88^ Fahr. has been registered at that cold 

 spot, and the mean minimum is — 61° Fahr. The 

 Colorado Eiver Desert affords an example of a climate of 

 extremes, for the atmosphere has there shown a maximum 

 of 120° Fahr., and the annual range of temperature is 

 200° Fahr. When this is compared with the range of 

 temperature experienced in London it becomes evident 

 that we have much for which we should be thankful. 



A rival product to celluloid, but without its disadvantage 

 of excessive inflammability, has been described by Messrs. 

 Cross, Bevan, and Beadle. Alkaline thiocarbonates of 

 cellulose are obtained by treating that substance with a 

 strong solution of caustic alkali, and subsequently exposing 

 to the vapour of carbon disulphide. The result is a 

 swollen mass of bright yellow colour, the solution of which 

 has an enormous viscosity and from which the cellulose 

 may be regenerated by means of common salt or alcohol. 

 The cellulose is obtained in its new form as a gelatinous 

 hydrate, and the degrees in its gradual regeneration are 

 marked by an increasing tendency to form an insoluble 

 jelly. It is suggested that it will be available to tech- 

 nologists for such purposes as an adhesive substance, for 

 sizing and filling textiles, for producing casts and moulds, 

 as a paper indestructible by water, for photographic films, 



and for numerous other purposes. 

 — ,-♦-, — 

 In the Rerue Generale (les Sciences (No. 11) there is an 

 interesting summary of the general progress of bacteriology 

 by Dr. P. Achalme, after which the pathogenic activities of 

 sticptococcm, characteristic of erysipelas, are particularly 

 discussed. The varying character of the action of this 

 microbe in various media, and according to the nature of 

 the previous medium, and with variations in the method of 

 transporting and of the region of inoculation, are dealt 

 with at length. The virulence and even the nature of the 

 influence exerted are profoundly affected by the previous 

 pathological condition of the subject. Affections connected 

 with streptococcus are always particularly severe with 

 sufferers from diabetes and Bright's disease, and erysipelas 

 upon the face is a frequent appearance in the later stages 

 of hepatic disease. MM. Roux and Yersin have shown 

 a reciprocal exaltation of virulence between the bacillus of 

 diphtheria and streptococcus, and a large proportion of the 

 eruptive phenomena of scarlatina and other affections are 

 "streptococcic." Dr. Achalme uses the term microbic 

 " symbiosis" for such morbid conspiracies. He concludes 

 by insisting that the narrow doctrine of specific microbes 

 must be replaced by an admission that "a plurality of 

 morbid effects may be produced by one microbe, and that 

 a plurality of microbes may engender the same symptomatic 

 complex." 



Some important results have recently been obtained by 

 Heider, who has been experimenting with disinfectants at 

 higher temperatures and testing their effects on bacteria. 

 In the majority of cases the bactericidal action is markedly 

 increased by raising the temperature. Hot or even boiling 

 solutions should be used for killing spores ; a little of a hot 



solution goes a long way. 



— »-♦-. — 

 The poxt -mortem excitability of nerves and muscles has 

 been shown by M. A. d'Arsonval to continue much longer 

 than is commonly supposed, and during the rii/or martin 

 condition. This he has demonstrated by means of the 

 myophone, an arrangement of the microphone to detect 

 small muscular contractions. Muscular excitability was 

 shown to exist in a rabbit ten hours after death. 



The announcement of fossil relies of colossal corkscrews 

 from the miocene beds in Sioux County, Nebraska, is 

 suggestive of burlesque. The remains in question are 

 described by Mr. E. H Barbour in " University Studies," 

 published by the Nebraska University. The spire of the 

 corkscrew is from two to nine feet in length, and invariably 

 vertical, and there is always a horizontal transverse piece 

 below answering to the handle and about three feet in 

 length. The ranchmen have given these remarkable forms 

 the name of " Devil's Corkscrews, ' a title Mr. Barbour 

 would preserve in the decently-veiled form of Daimonelix. 

 He regards them as fossil sponges, but the occurrence of a 

 well-preserved rodent skeleton in the stem of one suggests 

 that they are after all simply iilled-up burrows. The 

 tunnels of some species of Thomomys, it may be noted, 

 are spiral. 



Hettcrs. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions or 

 statements of correspondents.] 



• 



THE EFFECT OF THE ATMOSPHERE OF M.VRS ON THE 



TEMPERATURE OF THE PLANET. 



To the Editor of Knowledge. 



Sir, — Since writing my letter "On the Formation of 

 Clouds in the Atmosphere of Mars," I have made a rough 

 calculation as to the effect of such an atmosphere on the 

 temperature at the surface. The result surprised me, and, 

 if correct, must considerably modify the opinion expressed 

 in the last paragraph of that letter as to the dampness of 

 the atmosphere. I have, however, considerable doubt as 

 to its correctness, and would like an independent opinion 

 on the subject. 



I assLime that the atmospheres of Mars and the earth 

 are about equally damp. Lst us take four miles as the 

 average height of clouds on the earth, and twenty miles 

 as the corresponding height for Mars. 



Let H be the amount of solar heat which falls in a 

 given time on, say, one thousand square miles of the 

 earth's surface. Were it not for the aqueous vapour in 

 our atmosphere, this heat would be all radiated away 

 again, and lost in space. Suppose that when this quantity 

 H of heat is traversing the aimosphere on its outward 

 journey, a quantity ((His absorbed by the aqueous vapour. 

 Then this quantity nB. of heat represents the amount 

 which goes to raising the surface temperature, or as we 

 may word it, the amount conserred. 



Let G be the quantity of solar heat which falls in the 

 same time on one thousand square miles of Mars' surface. 

 Then, when this heat is being radiated away (the atmos- 

 pheres being supposed equally damp), a quantity oG is 

 absorbed in the first four miles of atmosphere, and (1 — «) 



