SCIENTIFIC NE\VS. 



[July 1st, 1887. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Electric Lights for Pearl Fishing. — Electric lamps 

 are now used by the pearl fishers. The light is projected 

 into the water, and aid thus given to the diver. 



Electric Lighting for Government Buildings. — We 

 learn that the Treasury Department at Washington is 

 gradually adopting the electric light for the buildings under 

 its control. 



Natural Gas. — The largest gas well in the world has 

 been discovered at Fairmount, near Muncie, Indiana. The 

 test of Professor Orton, State geologist of Ohio, shows that 

 gas is flowing at the rate of nearly twelve million cubic feet 

 per day. 



A New Adulteration of Butter. — A new and certainly 

 ingenious adulteration of butter has been invented. By 

 adding gelatine, which absorbs ten times its weight of water, 

 the consistency of the butter is retained, and the water 

 adulteration is not noticeable. 



Competition for a Prize Essay. — ^The Paris Society of 

 Civil Engineers offers a prize ol 3,000 francs for the best 

 eloge of Henry Gififard, the well-known aeronaut, and inven- 

 tor of the injector. This competition is open to foreigners, 

 but the papers must be written in French. 



Carbonic Acid as an Anesthetic. — Carbonic acid, pro- 

 duced by the action of vinegar on marble, is supposed to 

 have been used as an anaesthetic by the ancient Egyptians 

 and Greeks. M. Ch. Ozanani reports to the Paris Biological 

 Society, that anaesthesia induced by carbonic acid is very 

 complete, may last a long time, and is without danger. 



A Ventilating Window. — A German engineer named 

 Henkels has invented a ventilating window pane, which 

 admits fresh air while preventing a draught. Each square 

 metre of glass contains 5,000 holes, which are of conical 

 shape, widening toward the inside. The new device has 

 already been adopted by some of the German hospitals. 



Why Sun-light deadens a Fire. — The reason why " the 

 sun puts out a fire " is thus explained : At the time of day 

 when the sun shines into a room the fire is often allowed to 

 get dull, and the sun's rays warm and rarefy the air in the 

 room as much as the fire warms the air passing over it up 

 the chimney. Hence the draught ceases and the fire goes 

 out. To remedy the inconvenience open the door or the 

 window, to let the warm air out and the cold in. 



A New Telegraphists' Ailment. — A correspondent of 

 the Engineer mentions that two telegraph operators, a male 

 and a female, both otherwise healthy subjects, are being 

 treated in Berlin for a newly-developed ailment, namely, 

 the dropping off, one after another, of the finger nails. 

 Prof. Mendel attributes this curious affection to the constant 

 jar caused by the hammering and pushing with the finger 

 ends, in working the Morse system of telegraphy. 



Condensing Smoke by Electricity. — Last year Herr 

 Pichler and Major von Obermeyer gave to the Vienna 

 Academy an account of their experiments in condensing the 

 smoke of furnaces by the electric method devised in this 

 country by Professor Ohver J. Lodge and Mr. Walker. The 

 electrical machine used proved to be of insufficient power ; 

 but Messrs. Siemens and Halske are now preparing a very 

 large induction machine, with which the experiments will 

 be continued. 



The Wearing of Niagara Falls. — According to Pro- 

 fessor Woodward, of Washington, the rock over which the 

 falls flow, at Niagara, will be all worn away in about 2,200 

 years. The area of the rock worn away at the Horseshoe 



Falls, between the years 1842 and 1875, was 18,500 square 

 feet, and between 1S75 and 1886, 60,000 square feet. The 

 length of the contour of the falls is 2,300 ft., and the 

 time required to recede one mile, if the rate is 2 '4 ft. per year, 

 is 2,200 years. 



Vulcabeston. — A new article, composed mainly of asbes- 

 tos and India rubber, termed vulcabeston, forms a substance 

 of the toughness of horn, although it can be made of any 

 degree of flexibility. It is said to be a non-conductor of 

 electricity, and to stand the severest test of acids, steam, 

 gases, etc. It is also a bad conductor of heat, which has 

 been so long known as the characteristic feature of 

 asbestos, and it has been adopted by the United States 

 Government for covering steam boilers. 



Testing the Quality of Leather. — With machine-belts 

 in particular it is desirable to have a proof of the good con- 

 dition of the leather, and for this purpose, the following 

 simple test is recommended in the Revue Industrielle. A 

 small piece of the leather is placed in vinegar, and should 

 the leather be perfectly tanned, the colour merely becomes 

 somewhat darker ; but when the leather is not thoroughly 

 impregnated with tannine, the fibres are in a short time 

 much swollen, and gradually the leather is changed into a 

 gelatinous mass. 



Luminous Paint in Theatres. — The Government In- 

 spector of the Royal Bavarian Court Theatre (Herr Stehle) 

 thinks the use of luminous paint is a great safeguard against 

 panic in theatres, and he has had notices in luminous paint 

 put up in the passages of that theatre to indicate the " way 

 out." We understand that experiments are to be made at 

 some of the principal London theatres with large-sized 

 tablets, to ascertain if the rather poor light of the corridors is 

 sufficient to excite the paint. It is believed to be sufficient, 

 but, if necessary, the notices can be excited in a few minutes 

 by a powerful lamp. 



Overhead-Wires in New Orleans. — A new system of 

 overhead-wires, introduced by Colonel Flad, is about to be 

 adopted in New Orleans. The wires will be erected under 

 the supervision of the Commissioner of Public Works, and 

 the ordinary method of carrying them on poles will be 

 abolished. In the new system tall towers will be erected at 

 the corners of streets, and they will carry the wires over the 

 roofs of the houses. There will be different classes of 

 towers for the telegraph, telephone, and electric-light wires ; 

 and the wires will be run not less than 10 ft. above the 

 roofs. An order has already been given for 224 towers. 



To Prevent Mildew on Vines. — Professor Scribner, of 

 the Department of Agriculture, Washington, in a paper on 

 fungi, says that while the sulphates of copper and lime, 

 applied separately, had very little if any effect in preventing 

 mildew on vines, the combination of the two entirely pre- 

 vented it. A good receipt is to dissolve one pound ot 

 sulphate of copper in two gallons of water; slake two pounds 

 of good hme in the same quantity of water ; and then mix 

 the solutions, when the mixture will be ready for use. 

 Another method is to dry the mixture of sulphates, and to 

 blow the powder over the foliage. 



Milk-Poisoning at Long Branch. — From Health we 

 learn that the cause of the wholesale milk-poisoning at Long 

 Branch has been discovered. It is said that it has been con- 

 clusively shown, for the first time, that milk warm from the 

 cow, when placed in tight cans, undergoes a change, and 

 that in the course of five hours it develops a poison called 

 tyrotoxicon. Fortunately, it is customary among milkmen 

 to cool the milk before sending it away, and it now appears 

 that it is dangerous to deviate from this wise custom. A 

 good precaution is to boil the milk before using it, as this 



