April 6, i8SS.] 



SCIENTIFIC NE\VS. 



319 



©General 0ott$. 



Hydrophobia. — From comparative experiments made 

 by M. Pasteur, with every care, it appears that the virus 

 of a rabid cat, like that of the wolf, is much stronger than 

 that of the dog. An unsolved question is whether wild 

 animals of the canine family, wolves, jackals, and pariah 

 dogs, do not recover spontaneously from rabies ? 



Alum Stone and Sulphur in New South Wales. 

 — According to Dr. R. W. Emerson Maciva (Chemical 

 News), Mr. S. H. Cox found in the county of Gloucester 

 a vast extent of alunite, which, when roasted and dis- 

 solved, yields crystals of alum absolutely free from iron. 

 Large deposits of native sulphur are found in the same 

 district. 



Alleged Danger in Tinned Meats. — MM. Ungar 

 and Bodlander have been studying the poisonous action 

 of the salts of tin. They contend that this metal may be, 

 to some extent, attacked either by the juices of fruits or 

 by the tartaric acid (?), saltpetre or common salt added 

 as antiseptics. They admit, however, that tin is less 

 readily attacked by acids and acid salts than are lead and 

 copper. 



Australian Rubies. — According to Invention, rubies 

 are now being received from the Una Company, in Ade- 

 laide, which are described as exceedingly fine. Stones 

 from the Hale River have been spoken of as very choice. 

 The Maude River, also, is likely to turn out extremely 

 rich in precious stones. The other day over 60,000 

 stones were received in Adelaide from Mr. Oliver, and 

 deposited in one of the banks there. 



To Preserve Wood from Decay. — A plan recently 

 introduced into Belgium for preserving wood from decay 

 produced by the atmosphere, water, etc., is to fill the 

 pores with liquid gutta-percha, which is said to perfectly 

 preserve it from moisture and the action of the sun. The 

 solid gutta-percha is liquefied by mixing it with paraffin 

 in proportion to about two-thirds of gutta-percha to one- 

 third of paraffin ; the mixture is then subjected to the 

 action of heat, and the gutta-percha becomes sufficiently 

 liquid to be easily introduced into the pores of the wood. 

 The gutta-percha liquefied by this process hardens in the 

 pores of wood as it becomes cold. 



Picrocarmin for the Microscope. — The following, 

 according to the Magazine of Pharmacy, is an improved 

 method of preparing picrocarmin for microscopical pur- 

 poses : — About half a gramme of carmine is dissolved in 

 100 cubic centimetres of water containing 5 cc. of a i per 

 cent, solution of soda. The liquid is then boiled, filtered, 

 and made up again to 100 cc. by addition of distilled 

 water. In order to neutralise the solution, it is mixed 

 with an equal volume of water, and a i per cent, solution 

 of picric acid is then added. This at first causes a 

 turbidity to appear, but it subsequently disappears. If 

 not, it indicates that the point of neutraHsation has been 

 overstepped. 



New Chemical Formul,e. — The vapour density of 

 ferric chloride has been determined by Dr. Grunewald 



and Dr. Victor Meyer, and their results have conclusively 

 shown that its formula is FeCl,, not Fe^Cl^. This agrees 

 with the formulae AlCl, and InCL, which have been 

 proved by Nilson and Pettersson, and V. and C. Meyer, 

 respectively, to be correct for the chlorides of aluminium 

 and indium, but it does not allow us any longer to regard 

 iron as tetrad. Professors Nilson and Pettersson are 

 said to be engaged in experiments by which they hope 

 to determine the vapour density of ferrous chloride, and 

 if they are successful we shall possess data for a re- 

 adjustment of our views on this important point. 



How A Blizzard Kills. — A curious observation has 

 been made from a study of the condition in which the 

 victims of the blizzard which recently swept over Indiana 

 and a wide tract of the North American continent were 

 found. It seems that death was due not to the cold, but 

 to suffocation ; the unparalleled suddenness and extent 01 

 the fall of temperature converted the snow into ice 

 crystals, which were ground by the gale to a fine, dry 

 ice dust, and the air was thus rendered quite unfit for 

 respiration. This would make the effect of the blizzard 

 exactly analogous to that of the dreaded sand storms of 

 the Sahara. It is stated that the number of deaths, so 

 far from being exaggerated, has been a good deal under- 

 stated by the local newspapers. — British Medical Journal. 



The Colour of Lakes. — A contemporary asks, 

 " Why among the Swiss lakes is Geneva blue with a 

 greenish tint ? Why is the water of Zurich green, that 

 of Morat brown, and that of Bret greenish-brown ? " To 

 this it is replied that the colour of a lake has been found 

 to depend not on solids held in suspension, but on the 

 matter existing in solution. This is said to have been 

 ascertained from the experiments of M. Forel on the 

 Swiss waters. But some years ago Mr. Crookes, in con- 

 junction with Drs. Odling and Tidy, found that the colour 

 of water free from organic impurities is a fine pale blue 

 and in proportion as such pollution increases the water 

 becomes first colourless and then yellowish. The 

 peculiar pale rose-tint observed in the Ganges has not 

 yet been explained. 



New Process kor Preserving Timber. — Works for 

 preserving wood by a new process known as the zinc- 

 gypsum process have been erected at St. Louis, and are 

 conducted by a compan3^ styled the American Wood Pre- 

 serving Company. The wood is prepared by impreg- 

 nating it with a solution of chloride of zinc and sulphate 

 of lime. It is placed in large metal cylinders, and steam 

 introduced until the wood is heated to the boiling point, 

 thereby destroying the fermentible elements and the sap, 

 after which the steam is blown off, and the solution 

 above named is let in and heated by means of steam 

 coils, being left to operate on the wood under a pressure 

 of 60 lb. to 100 lb. until impregnation is complete. One 

 cubic foot of white pine or Cypress will absorb from 6 lb. 

 to 7 lb. of the solution. 



The Co-efficient of Proportionality in Radiant 

 Heat. — M. L. Godard (Comptes Rendiis), by studying the 

 diffusion of heat by substances of a dead colour, has 

 been led to undertake the spectro-photometric analysis of 

 these substances. For each pigment he takes as a 

 characteristic the tone, that is the wave-length correspond- 

 I ing to the maximum of the curve constructed on taking 



