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NA TORE 



IDcc. 9, 1880 



lighted by the Maxim light. The laboratory was lighted by 

 eight Maxim electric lamps, which were screwed into the chande 

 Hers in place of the ordinary gas burners. The large labora- 

 tory, it is stated, was as light as the open fields at noonday, and 

 there was no fliclvering or unsteadiness in the light. In shape 

 the lamps are precisely similar to those used by Edison, but 

 H. S. Maxim, who liolds the patent on them, claims to have 

 improved on Edison's plan, by making his lamps more per- 

 manent. Like Edison, he uses a carbonised fibre, in the form 

 of a horseshoe, but unlilvC him, does not inclose this fibre in a 

 vacuum, and considers that his lamp is complete. An atmo- 

 sphere of gasoline vapour is introduced into the glass globe 

 which holds the .carbonised fibre, and in this atmosphere the 

 fibre is gradually heated by the electric current. As soon as tlie 

 heat reaches a sufficient intensity it begins to decompose tlie 

 hydrocarbon of which gasoline vapour is composed, and if there 

 are any weak spots in the filament the freed carbon is deposited 

 there and strengthens tlie fibre. A current of increasing intensity 

 is thus carried through the carbonised fibre, which constantly 

 grows at the expense of the gasoline vapour, and finally becomes 

 of a uniform power of resistance tlu-oughout its whole length. 

 The 'gasoline vapour is then pumped out of the globe aud the 

 lamp is ready for use. The Maxim lamps are said to give a 

 larger amount of light than any incandescent lamp hitherto con- 

 structed. According to experiments made by Prof. Morton, of 

 the Stevens Institute, it appears that the lamps have produced 

 light at the rate of 600 candles per Iiorse-power of current. 

 Each of the eiglit lights in Prof. Draper's laboratory had an 

 illuminating power of about fifty candles. The electric current 

 for the lamps was furnished by a Maxim dynamo machine, 

 which ^vas driven by a gas-engine of four-horse power, located 

 in the laboratory. The Maxim machine has an armature some- 

 thing like that of the Gramme machine, while' its field magnets 

 resemble those of the ijiemens machine. 



The recent importations into this country of cinchona bark 

 from Jamaica and the high prices realised have been tlie means 

 of causmg a considerable amount of attention to be drawn to this 

 new source of supply. From a^document recently drawn up by 

 Mr. Morris, Director of Public Gardens and Plantations in 

 Jamaica, it seems that the results of the cinchona sales for the 

 year 1S79-S0 have been as follows : — Quantity of bark shipped 

 27J399 lb., gross amount realised ^5380 gy. 6d., net sum realised 

 jf5l46 Sj. 71/. Without going into details it will suffice to show 

 the superiority of Jamaica bark over tliat from Ceylon by saying 

 that for red " root bark " the highest price for Jamaica produce 

 was 4^. 8(/. per pound for "good root" as against 2J. 6d. for 

 "good root " from Ceylon, thus showing an advantage in favour 

 of Jamaica r jot bark to the extent of 2s. 2d. per pound. Thus 

 again for " tv\ ig and small ordinary " bark of C. succirubra 

 Ceylon produce obtained from l\d. to \s. per pound as against 

 \o\d. to IS. 6d. per pound for similar bark from Jamaica. From 

 this, together with the fact that an enormous number of plants 

 are now in stock in Jamaica, the future of cinchona cultivation 

 in that island seems to be ensured. 



It is stated in an American contemporary devoted to electrical 

 topics that a call has lately been made on the shareholders of llie 

 Edison Electric Light Company to the amount of sixty dollars 

 per share. The object of the call was " to meet the expense of 

 recent experiments." 



Important trials have been made lately on the Rhine, in 

 order that navigation may be carried on at night by means of tlie 

 electric light. It is hoped that soon satisfactory results will 

 follow, which^will probably develop an entirely new phase in 

 river navigation. 



In the neighbourhood of Agram, at the mountainous places 

 St. Simon and Remete, some shocks (of slight importance) were 



felt up till December i. At Dortmund, on November 27, a 

 considerable shock occurred at 5.50 a.m. It lasted several 

 seconds, and the direction was south-south-east, barometer 756, 

 temperature 7° R. A rather smart shock of earthquake, ac- 

 companied by a loud subterranean noise, was felt at Schaffhausen 

 on Wednesday night last week. The Rev. Dr. Dixon of Beragh, 

 near Omagh, writes that a slight earthquake shock was distinctly 

 felt there on the afternoon of Sunday, November 28, at about 

 h.alf-past five. The peculiar character of the shock was most 

 marked. It appeared to travel from south-west to north-east. 



In the course of his experiences as a medical missionary among 

 the Mongols the Rev. James Gilmour has gathered some inte- 

 resting information regarding their inner life, but perhaps the 

 most curious item is that Mongol doctors are not entirely unac- 

 quainted with the properties of galvanism. It is said that they 

 are in the habit of prescribing the loadstone ore, reduced to 

 powder, as efficacious when applied to sores, and Mr. Gilmour 

 states that one man hard of hearing had been recommended by 

 a lama to put a piece of loadstone into each ear and chew a piece 

 of iron in his mouth I 



The French Great Western Company instituted last year a 

 competition in the large hall of St. Lazare Station, between the 

 Jablochkofif and Lontin light and the gas company. The conclu- 

 sions were in favour of the electric light, but the gas company 

 liaving declared that they would abolish entirely the special price 

 charged on the Great Western Company if they declared in 

 favour of gas, the gas lamps have been restored. 



Les Mondes gives the following old recipe for testing the age 

 of eggs, which, it thinks, seems to have been forgotten. Dissolve 

 120 grammes of common salt in a litre of water. An egg put in 

 this solution on the day it is laid will sink to the bottom ; one a 

 day old will not reach quite to the bottom of the vessel ; an egg 

 three days old will swim in the liquid ; while one more than 

 three days old will swim on the surface. 



The Launccston Exatnincr (Tasmania) of October 6 contains 

 some account of a shaft that had been sunk for a well at a 

 brewery at Launceston, near the river. Little water was met 

 with, but some interesting observations w^ere made. The shaft 

 had been sunk to a depth of ninety-eight feet. The strata passed 

 through are of a very interesting character. For a little over thirty 

 feet strong clay was met with, tlien deep beds of compact sand 

 separated by bands a few inches thick of fine quartz con- 

 glomerate. About forty feet from the surface considerable 

 quantities of partially carbonised wood were found, extending 

 thence to the bottom of the shaft. The wood is evidently pine, 

 and appears to be identical with that found in the shaft of the 

 Working Miners Company at Brandy Creek, at a similar depth 

 below the river. The grain of the wood is perfectly distinguish- 

 able, but the transverse fracture is black and lustrous like jet. 

 The trees must have been of a large size and very abundant, and 

 tlie great mass of earth that has accumulated above their re- 

 mains enables one to form some idea of the vast period that has 

 elap'cd since they flourished. Tlie great depth of tlie stratum 

 in \vhich this fossil wood occurs proves that its deposition must 

 have proceeded without material interruption thi'ough vast 

 periods of time. It is a little curious that though vegetable 

 remains occur so profusely in the freshwater deposits of the 

 Windmill Hill, and at considerable depths both here and at 

 Beaconsfield, no trace lias yet been found of contemporaneous 

 animal life. 



The Cape Argus for November 6 contains a full report of a 

 paper read at the Cape Philosophical Society by Mr. J. G. 

 Gamble, containing many useful suggestions as to important 

 problems, especially in meteorology and geology, that await 

 solution in South Africa. Residents and travellers in South 

 Africa would no doubt find the paper suggestive. 



