New-York tribune., 1867-04-25
SCIENCE.

ErFEcr or CELIBACY.-Dr Stark of the Register
Office Scotland, has found, comparing the vital
statistics OF married and unmarried men, who have ved
beyond tho age Of 25, that the average life Of
married men little more than co years while that OF
bachelors is less than 49,
FIRING GUNS BY ELECRICTTY.-The wel-known
method of firing gunpOwder with platinum wire made
ted by galvanic has been applied guns in
'xrance. The only novelty being In carrying tive small
which emerge the breech and arranged as to
lie connected when current required to explode the
pOwder.
MOURNING CANDIKs-B6ttger states that the
mourning candles used in Germany made by heating
parafne with he shells Of tho Anacardsn nut which con-
IAN G Tiae ~ SS % s oi ds u bron Color but on becoming
solid jet black Whom the candles made Of such col
giving off any unpleasant Odor or vapor
TEST FOR STARCH OR GRAPE SUGARs.-Picric acid,
one OF the derivatives pheno formed by the action Of
,itrc acid on picnic acid, is Of a yellow color few
drops solution Of pcrie acid in $50 parts Of water is
added to solution OF this kind OF sugar (gucOSe contain
lug little caustio Soda aud heated to 9Oo The mixture
when boiled assumes boodred color result from the
formation OF picramic acid solution OF cane sugar
ducc this change Of color.
NEW GUNPowDER.-Dr. Borlnetto has invented
new explosive compound, consisting OF 10 parts OF
nitrate potash parts Of picrc acid and 81 parts OF
IchrOmate Of potash The ingredients are TO De sepr
atciy reduced TO a FINE powder, and then intimately
mixed Some time since he proposed TO use mixture OF
almost identical with this had been previously the sub
jcct Of experiment yet no praeeni apHS aSnr 81 Of the "a
explosion. Ordinary gunpowder is not likely to DC soon
the extensive facilities for making it.
/ EXTRACTION OF AROMA.-We lately gave the pro-
ccss for obtaining flowers their peculiar perfume by
means OF bsulphde Of carbon. The light product OF
crude petroleum has been found to be capital substitute
the bisuphde This purified naphtha readly takes
p the odor Of flowers which are aGGeG o H5 m
evaporation The perfume may be separated iron b tHo
Hxhi IN
arfQa Of several spices may be extracted IN tne sng
,rcpcftes of plant particularly when they reside in its
flowers. Care must be taken to eAcluue 'he "P
Iha frOuI the vicinity OF ffe
SthtyEYrSG IN SIBERIA.-The Typographical corps
pf tho Russian Government has been for some une en-
ploycd in surveying the Kighs steppes and the vast
tract of country lying between Siberia and CfS tSe car
VANS travel from the southern regions OF Centrs ASA 10
.s ns H be arbaeata chain Of mountains and valley
f the River BOrOkhandzr were included III tne OPERA
fhe surveys have mapped scale OF $50 sagenes
e ce to the neh plans Of forts nave OeeR 1o hse
carefully noted The area surveyed IN ionr years si H
And The surveyors can now show their maps an ex-
,anse territory stretching without break aong Ino
Se valley Of the Ussur the peninsula of Corea to the
list Urt. Turkestan, and Khorassan
Eozo5N.-At meeting of the Natural History So
cety OF Montreal in January last photograph was e1
hlbied of a remarkable specimen Of Eosoon Canadense
found in tho IAurentian limestone Of Tudor, Canada
West which was described by Dr. Dawson Under the H
ieced though less distinctly peceXea tnan IN soma he
iTs are small anonymous bodies containing pointed sill
spcules which seem TO be the remains OF spOhES
nmmal matter of EozO0n has disappeared This specimen
seems to establish nsped IN fhe
fmestOnes and TO overthrow objections raised rs 70 no
rscS t fore the GeOicgica Society Of London along
with other recent discoveries tending 10 the estapnsh
Inent Of second species OF EozoOn.
VI.
las recently made several experiments to determine how
far the genaon Of seeds and the growth OF plants are
influenced by the action Of very dilute solutions OF acd'
salts and neutral bodies In his first experiment he
tied over the top OF 70 glasses each holding 2h ounces
,f water pieces of very thin muslin which were allowed
odp into the liquid Twenty perfect era Grams & OF ass %es
respectively put one drop OF snlrh9Ee d afo' @ t%o
grains bcaTbonate of potash grains dry carbonate Of
soda five grains lpate Of Soda twelve grains cIioTaiG a
uf zinc and copper plates In PLAIN water ana cohne0T
above by WIRE, similar palr III water containing
only plain water for comparison AZ the end OF - &
shid fourth, fifth and sixth day, Vegetation was most
advanced the three glasses containing respectively
Ilan water bcarbonae potash and sulphite Of soda
On the sixth day the least advanced was seen IN d Id
xIsss class SeSs iSSlR 6eRind sIG a '''' ''' '-' y
In the bicSrbonate Of potash solution the number
az grains terminated as In plain water but IN the solution
Sf suplc OF soda the number OF terminating grains was
snefOurth less although the plants attained he same
aeg6 as IN IN the Da PaiR Wa Wees eet roIs of ali the sub
stances trcd next the sulphte Of soda; aud next
Ye carbonate OF soda The presence of electric pair
lid not check termination, but reduced vegetation one
third. his next experiments he included certain Or
Sanio substances, sugar 80 grains, gum 50 grains
t,lycerin0 fluid drachm, and Of vegetable ACID
1crcl grains; also. penanganate Of potash grains,
nitrate OF ammonia grains. A large proportion OF sui
phe Of soda used 20 grains and only Onefourth the
quantity suphurc acid At the end OF 10 rather cold
days from the 10th TO the 23d Of December it was found
That in the ctric acid and Of potash s1
NJ roots were formed, although the plants had
grown inch high AT the end month the roots in the
sugar solution only inch inlengh, while those
in the and gycerne solutions had reachedthe very
the vessels Vegetation active IN the last
named solutions in pure water and some of the
sauts solution fully one half higher than
u the other three liquids The plants In the solutions OF
rulpte Of soda and nitrate Of ammonia were very slight
~ iu advance Of those in plain water