The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-07-07
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.

i SOetOAy auu CaottA Oil
are the materials out of which it is
said that an excellent substitute fol
natural ivory can be made by a new
chemical method described at a late
meeting of the Lyceum of National
History.
If q person in a house OH fire will
have presence Of mind toapply damp
cloth or handkerchief to his mouth
and nostrils, he can effect passage
| through the densest smoke, but the
surest way would be to envelop the
head and face completely in q damp
cloth. -
Coal dust furnaces are coming into
use in Wales and elsewhere. Their
Introduction has led to an increase in
the price of small coal in Great Bri-
tain. This small coal is also used in
the manufacture of patent fuel, which
consists of coal-dust agglomerated by
pitch.
A German has succeeded in produc-
ing metallic bronze of blue color,
the method of preparing which has
hitherto been altogether unknown.
He makes use of an alloy consisting
of one hundred parts of pure tin three
parts Of antimony, and one-sixth part
of copper. -
. The process of electro plating with
nickel is being applied to many pur-
poses for which silver-plating, on ac-
count of its expense and liability to
tarnish, is inadmissible. Among these
is the covering of the exposed portion
of steam engines with cheap, bright,
and non-corroding surface.
One of the latest achievements of
science is feeling a patients pulse by
telegraph. An invalid being in
Washington. desired to consult his
own physician in New York. The
beats Of the pulse were transmitted by
q doctor with one hand on the patients
wrists and the other one on the tele-
graph key.
The highest point ever attained by
any balloon traveller, namely, seven
Glaisher, the English feronaut, in an
ascent made from WOlverhamptom, ON
the I'd Of September, 1862. AT this
height Mr.. Glaisher became insensible
and Mr.. Coxwell, his companion, was
very nearly so.
The "Woolwich infant,p as the
English call the great thirty-five ton
gun lately made at Woolwich, con-
sists Of no less than six separate pieces
combined, it is thought, in such a
manner as to make the weapon one
Of the most formidable pieces of ord
nance in existence. lis, however, by
no means the largest or heaviest.
A curious movement of the mag
netic needle was noticed by an OBJ
server in Italy during an eclipse of the
sun i'm December last. The needle
followed its usual course until the
beginning of the eclipse. 1t then re-
traced its steps till theinstant of totali-
ty, and Immediately afterward began |
TO move westward until it had re- |
gained the exact position it occupied
when the eclipse commenced.
An English salt mine, at nearly the
same depth as neighboring colliery,
possesses comfortable working tenn
perature, while the heat in the coal
mine is far too great to be pleasant
This fact was stated at a recent meet
ing Of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Chemical Society, the conclusion
drawn from it being that the greater +
heat in the colliery is due to chemical
action going on within coal itself.
A novel weapon of warfare was ex-
hibited at late meeting of the French
of Sciences. In the first
place there is a large cannon on the
ground. Out of this small gun is
shot up into the air, where, on reach
ng a certain point on its path, it is
ired in its turn, and sends forward an
explosive bullet with a new impulse.
Though wanting in accuracy, the final
,ul)et can by this contrivance, be sent
q q great distance