The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-05-23
SCIENCE AND INVENTION.

SSlENGE q ND In 6NIION
The MEDICATED IOwEL.-A California
lady has lately got patent on medi-
Gated towel This towel is used for
drying the person after bathing, and it
is claimed, is medicated with such sub
stances and by such a process that it
Will arrest contagious diseases, paralysis
and local affections, while it imparts at
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 patent viii, it is said, retain
its medicinal virtues effectively during
two months use, when the process of
medication has to be repeated.
RAILWAY AIR-CUsHION.-Pe Persons un-
used to travel often suffer much fatigue
in the lower limbs from a long Journey
/ by rail. which is attributed to the trem-
uIous motion communicated from the
/ floor of the car. Those who have ex-
/ perienced the difficulty there is in
walking over a bridge, or a loose plank
road, while q vehicle is passing by, and
/ legs in trim, will appreciate the case.
AS a preventive, it is recommended to
rest the feet on an air-cushiOn. Foot
stools of this kind are made for the
purpose. All invalids and persons I'M
used to hardships would do well to sup
I ply themselves with this simple contri-
vance before entering on a journey by
rail.
PRESERVATION OF FooD BY CoLD.-A
hint at what may possibly become an
important method of preserving animal
and vegetable substances for an indefi-
mite length of time, without subiecting
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 bOuillon in
Theoretically sealed vessels to the action
of a freezing mixture at a 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
Iy as before being submitted to the
cold. The juice of sugar cane, exposed
in q closed vessel to 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
the Lena river in Siberia Of an elephant
buried in ice which was so well 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 iuhabit-
ed, and in a few hours it viii have alb
sorbed nearly all the perspired gases of
/ the room, the air of which viii have be
come purer, but the water utterly
filthy This depends on the fact that
water has the faculty Of condcnsing 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 viii contain pint Of carbonic
acid gas, and several pints of ammonia.
/ This capacity is nearly doubled by re-
ducing the temperature to that of ice.
I 10 10
always unfit for use, and should be Of
I ten removed, whether it has become
warm or not. And for the same reason
wat r in a pump should all be pumped
/ out in the morning before any is used.
/ That which has stood In a pitcher over
night is not fit for coffee water in the
morning. Impure water IS more inju-
rious to health than impure air, and
every person should provide the mean
of obtaining fresh, and pure water for
all domestic uses.
WRoUGHT-IROS RATLs.-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
France gave results which are worthy
Of notice A wrought-iron axle, two
and-a-haIf inches diameter, was twisted
. 1O,SOO times, and subjected to 80, 400
shocks without changing the texture Of
the iron. Another, after 129, 600 twists,
showed no alteration to the naked eye,
but when examined by a microscope,
was found TO be a mass Of fbers re-
sembling a bundle OF fine wires. And
so it went on, the change in the struc-
ture Of the iron becoming more and
more marked the more the iron was
twisted. In the concluding experiment,
the axle went through ten months Of
twisting, and moro than 100, 900 turns,
and was converted into a mass of crys-
tails. and had completely lost the ap-
pearance of wrougllt-iron. This con-
firms, what has been often demonstra-
ted, that, after long use, iron becomes
unsafe.
Iron TELEGRAPH PosTs.-In Man
chester, England, telegraph posts are
manufactured of spirals of iron-rib-
hons, in fact, supported on a cast-iron
base, and surmounted with a capital OF
the same material. A slender rod forms