The Louisiana cotton-boll. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], Attakapas, La.) 1872-1883, 1873-06-04
SCIENCE AND INVENTT0N.


Gated towel. This towel is used TO
y drying the person after bathing, and /
x claimed, is medicated with such sub
stances and by snch process that i
will arrest contagious diseases, paralysis
and local affections. while it imparts q
the same time healthy action and glow
to the skin and frees it from bad humor
A towel prepared in the manner speci.
fed in this ratent will, it is said, asetair
its medicinal virtues effectively during
two months use, when the process Of
medication has to be repeated.
RAILWAY AIR-CUsHIoN.-Persons TN.
used to travel often suffer much fatiguc
in the lower limbs from d long journey
by rail, which is attributed to the trem,
ulous motion communicated from the
floor of the car Those who have ex-
perienced the difficulty there is in
walking over a bridge, or loose plank
road, while a vehicle is passing by, and
the painful efforts required to keep the
legs in trim, will appreciate the case.
AS q preventive, it is recommended to
rest the feet on an air-cnshion. Foot
stools of this kind are made for the
purpose. All invalid8 and persons un.
used to hardshipa would do we'll to sup
ply themselves with this simple contri-
vance befd.@ @entering on a Journey by
rail.
PRESENTATION OF FoOD BY C0LD.-A
hint at what may possibly become an
important method Of preserrlng animal
and vegetable substances for an indef-
mite length of time, without subjecting
them, as at present, to the action of the
heat, and thereby materially affecting
their texture and taste, is furnished by
Boussingault to the academy Of Sciences
of Paris. In a recent communication
to that body, he states that as long ago.
as 1865, he exposed beef bouilIon in
Theoretically sealed vessels to the action
of freezing mixture at temperature
of four degrees F., keeping the same
immersed in the mixture for several
hours. On opening these vessels, quite
lately, he found that the contents had'
undergone no change, and were precise
ly as before being submitted to the
cold. The juice of sugar cane, exposed
in a closed vessel to a similar degree of
cold, was also preserved from any alter
alton. Boussingault refers in his arti-
Gle to the fact, well known to geOlOgists,
that low temperature, continued for
ages, prevents the decomposition of
muscular fiber, instancing the fact of
the discovery in 1904, at the mouth of
he Lena river in Siberia of an elephant
buried in ice which was so we'll pre-
served as to serve as food for the dogs
of the native tribes.
IMPURE DRINKING WATER.-Set
pitcher of iced water in a room inhabit-
ed, and in q few hours it will have alb
sorbed nearly all the perspired gases of
the room, the air of which will have be-
come purer. but the water utterly
filthy This depends on the fact that
water has the faculty of condensing and
thereby absorbing nearly all the gases,
which it does without increasing its
own bulk. The colder the water is, the
greater its capacity to contain these
gases. At ordinary temperature, pint
of water will contain a pint of carbonic
acid gas, and several pints Of ammonia.
This capacity is nearly doubled by re-
ducing the temperature to that of ice.
Hence water kept in the room awhile is
always unfit for use, and should be Of
ten removed, whether it has become
warm or not. And for the same reason
wat + in pump should all be pumped
out in the morning before any is used.
That which has stood in pitcher over
night is not fit for coffee water in the
Impure water is more inju-
rious to health than impure air, and
every person should provide tho mean
Of obtaining fresh, and pure water for
all domestic uses.
WRoUGHT-IBoN 3AILs.-The question
as to the strength of wrought-iron, and
The effect produced on the structure of
the metal by wear and tear, is one that
has been much discussed, since railways
came into operation, and is not yet Set
tied. Experiments made recently in
gave results which are worthy
Of notice. A wrought-iroh axle, two
inches diameter, was twisted
10, 800 times, and subjected to 80, 400
shocks without changing the ta#ture Of
he iron. Another, after 129, 900 twists,
showed no alteration to the naked eye,
but when examined by q microscope,
was found to be mass Of fbers re-
,embling bundle OF fine wires And
70 it went on, the change in the strue-
5ure of the iron becoming more and
more marked the more the iron was
twisted. In the concluding experiment,
she axle went through ten months Of
twisting, and more than 10000 Turns,
and was converted INTO mass of crys- ]
5als. and had completely lost the ap-
Of wrought-iron. This con-
firms, what has been often demonstra-
ed, that, after long use, iron becomes !
unsafe Ii
IRoN TRLAGRAPH Posrs.-In Man
chester, England, telegraph posts are
Of apiraIs Of ifon--rib-
oons, in fact, supported on a east-iron
Jase and surm0unted with q capital Of 81