Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-08-27
SCIENTIFIC.

French chemist named Frerrelu has at last.
according TO lie Caa lois, il-co7crei the philosl-
piers stone. ana succeeIeI by the comb,ta,:o.
u nitric acid and electricity, in converting sii
veg INTO gold. Uutortunately, however. the cost
u tle process is many times greater than the
value Of the metal produced IL may be remem-
nerei that the elder Disreli, in lis Curiosi,ies
Literature, says that SIR Humphrey Dlvy told
him be did not regard the trausmutati0u Of me-
tails As imposs ble, but that If the process wer
ever discovered, it would certainly be useless.
1t may be a new fact to our readers that oil
rhinoceroses shed their horns, wh,ch are not re-
uewet Ike those Of a deer. The operation T.
strictly ike that by which human kind becom,
bald, the horn Of the rh.uoceros consisting
simply Of hairs firmly united together into @ s0il
mass, which fall Oh with age.
A meteor recently exploded near Elsh1rn.
Wis and deposited ou the ground mass re-
semh!ing cellular Stag from an iron furnace a
circular space Of d0 feet IN diameter was cover
ed with this substance. which presented the ap-
pearauce Of having fallen In hot fluid mass
spltterIng around the scori.e after il bad struck
NJ Mark has obtained a patent in Frame,
for the employment Of huos.i.cic acid IN purify
Ing bee. root and other sacch-riue juices The
Juices are diluted with water. 10 remove vicility
and sufficient fuo.iiicic acid is then added O.,
precipitate all the salts Of potassum; powdered
chalk is then usei 20 saturlte any exctss Of th,
acid. 4 clear liquid Is next obtained by filter
ing, which is treated afterwa-i in the usual
manner.
At recent meeting Of the French Academy
Of Sciences, VI Slce clied attention 90 the f.c
that u-siate of taTyti forms an excellent whit.
paint which has as good tone ami depth a>
white lead, and has disadvantage OF not b-cam-
ug bacsened by exposure to the atmosphere
Sllphate o. baryta or heavy spar las Of Dan,
been used TO aiulterate white lead Tuncstei
or wolfram Is a metal often found wth tin and
It's production is cheaper now than formerly.
Mr. Glaisher has made two ascents in his b1i-
loon, and the meteorological results Of his exper-
'ence are, he says, very important They con-
arm the opinion which previous experiments bad
LED Mr. GlIisher 20 form, that At about or "a lit
tie after sunset, when the sky is clear, the tenn
perature of the air is Of the same value up 10 a
very considerable elevation, ami iI is certain,
ir III the two days, experiments, thst the amount
Of decrease Of temperature with elevation varies
every hour in the day. which Is in accordance
with all previous results.
Il is possible 10 burn gun cotton in the palm
Of the hand without the least danger; delicate
ba.ance in the pan Of which GUN cotton is ex-
pioded, does not swing from its rcise The same
quantity Of gun cotton, if it be pressed into a
cavity, e1plodes with a force equal 70 that Of
nitro-glycerine, AMI ten times greater than that
Of gunpow Ter, provided It be guitej by percus
sion in the same way as nitro-glycerine Tnis
discovery may enable Us to oy qua cotton as
a substitute for nitro-g ycerine, aud as the dan
ger Of freezing or Of premature explosion i
4
over many explosive agents.
Archimedes, Of Syracuse, declared that, if
they would give him a fuicrum and a sufficiently
long lever, he would move the world, but not
knowing its weight he could not have formed a
clear idea Of the magnitude Of tie task. Sup /
posing that be got his lever planted, nl Of sui-
hcent length to move by exerting upon it a /
pulling force Of thirty pounds; had be moved it |
through 10, 900 feet per hour. Tor ten hours 4
day, the remote end Of the lever would have to /
pass through an area which il would take 8 .77i,-
80 ,574,7 centuries to accomplish, in order 10
raise the earth a single inch
A mechanic Of Paris who has made use Of the
new alloy, ten per cent Of aluminium and nine
ty per cent. Of copper, finds that journal for a
polishing disk making twenty-five hundred rev.
buttons per minute, las;ed for eighteen months,
DR. six times longer than the best journal he bad
EVER before used Il il further stated that the
new alloy, serving journal for sewing-ma-
shine making two hundred and forty revolutions
per minute, after years use, shows no dsposi-
ion to give out, whereas ordinary journals
standing the same friction are useless after five
months service.
There is a striking analogy between the senses
# hearing and sight. Both are excited by un-
lulatons or waves Sounds Of different pitch
are produced by different rates Of air-pulsss. and
lights Of different eolors by different rates Of
ethereal pulses. But the ranges Of the two senses
IRE very different in relation to their respective
media In its width Of perception the ear COM
orehends no less than eleven octaves, while the
luminous scale embraces but single octave
The quickest vibrations which strike the eye as
light are the blue rays at one end Of the spec
run. and they have only about twice the ra-
pidity Of the red rays at the other end of the
spectrum. But the quickest. vibrations which