Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1861-04-03
Metbanie Arts.

INFERIOR OF THE EARTH.-It would appear,
from the theory of the earths constitution now
verygenerally received, that the planet on which
we I've contains within itself the elements of its
own destruction. According to the theory in
question, there exists within the outer crust-the
COO temperature of which supports animal and
ve@table life, and solidifes stone, coal and the
various metallic ores-a mass OF fluid igneous
mater Some of this matter occasionally escapes
Though the mouth of volcano, or makes its
presence felt by earthquake; but neither the
earthquake nor the volcano are considered as
necessary to prove that fire exists in the center of
thu earth. On descending beneath the surface,
tn, heat gradually and steadily increases. Atthe
dqth of two thousand four hundred and eighty
Yards water will boil and lead melts at the depth
OF eight thousand four hundred yards. There is
a red heat at the depth of seven miles, and by
adopting the temperature calculated from Nor
vau's corrected scale of Wedgeworth's pyrofn-
etc, it is found that the earth is fluid at the depth
ofone hundred miles. The discharge of melted
eaithy matter, called lava, from volcanoes, is
thought to prove that the mass of the interior of
the earth is in a state of fusion, while the hot
sphngs in different parts of the world show that
a high temperature prevails at very great
depth. At the surface this internal heat is not
pefceptble, because the outer crust of the earth
is bad conductor.
The London Enquirer says that, in consequence
of the late accidents on the London and North
weitern and other lines, attributable to the frgor
fceffects of intense and long continued frost,
and which has developed influences on ironwork
hitherto unexpected, the directors of the former
line have issued instructions for an increase in
the time of the fast trains, as to admit of their
frequent stoppage for the purpose of having all
hewheels, couplings, driving gear and general
-
qualified, and who, throughout the continuance
of the frost, will be stationed along the line for
thatpurpose. These steps have been taken with
the APPRECIATION of the Government Inspector, and
1t is probable that the recent accidents, which
constitute, er causd, new class of casualty, will
lead to scientific inquiry into the whole question
of the thermometrical contraction and expansion
of iIonwork and signals employed upon railways,
and which, it is surmsed, in many instances, may
have been the cause of some hitherto unaccount-
abeaccidents.
The UNIVERSAL TELEGRAPH.-The London
papers enumerate some of the most important re-
suits which have resulted from the perfection to
which Professor Wheatstone has brought his
universal telegraph This instrument is SO
simple in Its construction that any person who
can read and spell, can be taught in half an hour
to use it with certainty. With a few DAYS prac-
tice considerable rapidity be acquired in
sending messages. Without such instrument
as tbs, trained establishment of clerks would
be necessary to work the telegraph. By its aid,
the owner of the telegraph, or any person of or
binary education, can use it with scarcely any
training. Some idea of the speed with which this
automatic printing telegraph can forward messages
may be estimated from the fact that a column of
newspaper print, of the usual character, can be
transmitted two hundred miles in the brief period
of about twenty minutes.
ELECTRICITY CONVERTING SUGAR INTO ALco
HOLT is well known that the effect of fermen-
tatlOn is to change sugar into alcohol; these two
substances being composed of the same elements,
but in different propOrtions-sugar consisting of
seyeniytwo pounds of carbon TO nine pounds of
hydrogen and seventy two of oxygen, while aco-
hol is composed of twenty -four pounds of carbon
to six of hydrogen and sixteen of oxygen. At
the sitting of the Academy of Sciences, at Paris,
recently, Mr.. Niepce de Saint Victor read paper
giving an account of some experiments which
showed that, under certain circumstances, cleo
trcity produced the same effect on sugar as fer
mentetion does transforming il into alcohol He
foGudthat, by passing an electric current through
very sIgary white wine, the wine loses all its su
gar, and becomes much more alcoholic On the
other hand the effect of the action of light on alb
solute alcohol, under certain conditions, is to re
transform portion of the alcohol back into SUI
gar, tie alcohol becoming very sugary, and hav
ing its strength reduced several degrees.
HEATING RAILWAY CARs.-Experiments with a
new system of heating railway carriages, appli-
cable to second and third class vehicles, as well
as to those of the frst-which have heretofore
alone been warmed in cold weather-have re-
Gently been made on one of the French railroad
lines. According to this new plan, the steam
which escapes from the locomotive is carried by
caoutchouc pipe to the first car, and there made
to pass through conduits in copper, placed in the
roof and the floor, to the end of the vehicle
whore it is received into another flexible pipe, and
carried on to the next car, and so on from one car
to another, to the end of the train, where il es
capes. The fixing and removing of the caout-
chouc pipes is accomplished with the greatest IA
cility, and the passage of the steam through the
conduits presents no inconvenience to the passen-
gers. BY means of this simple arrangement.
temperature of fifteen degrees above zero, of cen
tigrade-ffty- degrees of Fahrenheit-was
obtained on excessively cold day, and that in
the second and third class cars such to
render supportable long journeys in winter.
The first patent submitted to the Southern
COnfederacy was by Mr. Thornton, of Macon, for
n light carriage, so constructed as to be changed
from one to six seats at pleasure.