Feb. lo, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



127 



©General 0ott$. 



The Abyssinian Campaign. — In a recent number, we 

 referred to the balloons the Itahan army is provided 

 with. We now learn that in addition incandescent lamps 

 for signalling at night from them are also being taken 

 out, as well as telephones for communication between 

 the cars and the ground. 



Antarctic Exploration. —We regret that the Treasury 

 has not been able to return a favourable reply to the 

 letter addressed by the Colonial Office on behalf of the 

 Australian Colonies for a subsidy towards the expenses 

 of a preliminary cruise in .the Antarctic regions for the 

 purposes of scientific and commercial investigations. 



Trunk Telephone Lines from London. — We learn 

 that the United and National Telephone Companies in- 

 tend to lay a heavy copper line to Coventry, whence 

 branches will run to Birmingham, Liverpool and Man- 

 chester, and to Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds. Ulti- 

 mately it is intended to carry these lines on to the North 

 of England. 



Condition of the Thames. — From the half-yearly 

 report of the Medical Officer for the port of London, we 

 iearn that at the end of June it was impossible to find 

 words adequate to describe the terribly filthy and disgust- 

 ing state of the water between Greenwich and Erith. A 

 medical contemporary thinks that the deodorisation of 

 the sewage without precipitation is of little use. 



Benzine. — According to the American Exchange and 

 Review, hard friction can develop sufficient heat to in- 

 flame benzine vapour, especially if the surface rubbed be 

 varnished with shellac. A case is on record of the 

 vapour being ignited by the electricity generated in rub- 

 bing a flannel garment which was being cleaned with this 

 fluid. 



Electric Traction. — The Electric Traction Company 

 is about to perform experiments on a section of the 

 Metropolitan line with a locomotive of the same power 

 as the present steam locomotives. Should the results 

 prove successful in efficiency and economy, the Electric 

 Traction Company will have the option of working the 

 Metropolitan line electrically for five years ; the rate not 

 to be in excess of the present cost of working by steam. 



Domestic Steam Explosions. — The Chief Engineer of 

 the Manchester Steam Users Association writes to the 

 Times to point out the dangers due to kitchen boilers 

 not being fitted with safety-valves. In one year forty 

 such explosions occurred within twelve days' time, 

 killing nine persons and injuring twenty-seven others. 

 He recommends a small dead-weight safety-valve on 

 which there is no patent-right, and which may be had for 

 half-a-guinea. 



5 Submarine Earthquake. — On October 2 ist last a pecu- 

 liar phenomenon was observed at Port Sandwich, in 

 Mallicolo Island. In the harbour a column of water was 

 projected up into the air, followed by an emission of 

 flames which lighted up the sea and the shore for some 

 distance round. The flames are said to have proceeded 

 from a spot where ships are usually moored. Soundings 



were made afterwards but no change in the depth of the 



sea was discovered. 



The End of the World. — It may, perhaps, be 

 scarcely believed that Wednesday, the 13th ult., was 

 passed in a state of abject terror by many of the inha- 

 bitants of Birmingham. A local astrologer had pre- 

 dicted a series of catastrophes in consequence of the 

 conjunction of Mars and Uranus in the i8th degree of 

 Libra, together with an evil aspect of Mercury, and had 

 kindly advertised his conclusions in the papers. The 

 question is raised whether his object was a practical joke 

 or to test the notion of " liberty enlightening the world." 



The Weather in France. — The week from January 

 i2thto i8th was frosty but sunny. On the 12th and 

 13th the thermometer did not fall to 32° Fahr. Since 

 the 14th it has frozen daily with morning temperature 

 of 28|° to 17° F. On the 9th of January the tempera- 

 ture at Harparanda marked 22° F., whilst at Perpignan 

 it rose on the 9th and loth to 64° F. On the 6th a slight 

 shock of an earthquake was felt at Boufarik, and in the 

 neighbourhood of Algiers. 



Use of Raphides. — From experiments made by Herr 

 Stahl, it appears that the crystalline needles or raphides 

 met with in the cells of some plants in large quantity 

 are secreted as a protection against being eaten by 

 animals. Many animals avoid plants with raphides, or 

 eat them only under compulsion. The burning taste ot 

 many plants — e.g., Arum macidatimi — is due to the 

 raphides, as, if the juice be freed from them by filtration, 

 it has quite a mild taste. 



Warming Railway Carriages. — Owing to the recent 

 law passed in consequence of the number of fatalities 

 caused in the United States by the use of stoves in rail- 

 way carriages, experiments are being made with the 

 view of adopting steam as the source of heat. On the 

 New York Central line a two-inch pipe is fixed under 

 each carriage, communicating with two pipes running the 

 length of the car, with branches under each seat, the 

 main pipes being connected together by flexible tubing. 



Communications with Lightships. — We have twice 

 referred to the petitions presented from various towns 

 along our coasts, asking for communication between 

 lightships and the shore. We are now glad to inform 

 our readers that the Board of Trade have stated that ex- 

 periments are to be made over a period of eighteen 

 months with an electric cable between one of the Good- 

 win Sands lightships and the shore. If then the experi- 

 ments are found to be successful, cables will belaid between 

 the shore and lightships in dangerous positions. 



Further Discovery of Gold in Wales. — It has been 

 announced that another valuable discovery of gold has 

 been made a few miles distant from the scene of the 

 recent discovery by Mr. Prichard Morgan at Dolgelly. 

 A large number of miners are engaged excavating the 

 mountain, and a quantity of gold-bearing quartz has 

 been sent to London for the purpose of analysis. Pro- 

 spectors are also making careful search of other moun- 

 tain ranges in North Wales. 



An Extraordinary Whirlwind. — About twelve 

 o'clock on the night of the 27th ult., a whirlwind in 



