The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-04-25
so1ENoE AND INvENrIoN.


of forty minutes. The apparatus is
sunk to the required depth, and at the
expiration of the period stated is drawn
up and developed in the ordinary way.
It is said that evidence has thus been
obtained of the operation of the actinic
rays at much greater depths than hither-
to supposed possible.
-Botanists are engaged in planting in
Europe a new plant imported from New
Granada, which, if grown successfully,
will be formidable rival to our manu-
featured ink. 1t is known as {" Coriaria
Shymifolia," or ink plant. The juice
which escapes from 1t has been given
the name of Changi," and is little
red in color, but in the space of few
hours after exposure to the air turns
to an intense black. This liquid does
not corrode steel pens as the ink in ordi-
nary use, resists chemical substances,
and preserves its intensity for many
years.
1t is said that if the same letters of
the same size precisely arr painted on
two boards, the one white on a black
ground, and the other black on a white
ground, the white letters will appear
larger and be read at greater distance
than the black. This is owing to what
is called the irradiation of light. 1t
depends on this: That the impression
made on the bottom of the eye by bright
objects extends little wider than the
actual portion of the organ struck by
the light, and, invading the space occu-
pied by the darker objects, make the
brighter appear larger than they really
are.
There are two important things
that money cannot buy-a sound mind
and sound body-without which, and
compared to which, all riches and all
luxury are worse than useless. There
fore, not only Christian morality, but
common sense says Give us freedom
for body and mind-air, space, life fol-
both perish wealth, manufactures,
commercial greatness, the instant they
interfere with these. Give us wealth,
but let it be wealth in the old full
sense of the werd-wealth meaning sub
stance of veal not wealth in its misera-
BILE, narrowed, perverted sense Of mate
rial possession-lucre, which may be
the means of mere gluttony and ever
lasting luxury-degradation, woe-not
veal at all.-MdytiaeaU.
According to Prof. Faraday, the
crime of suicide is very common in this
age of the world, for he intimates that
all who die under 100 years of age may
be charged with self-murder; that Provi.
dence, having originally intended mar
to live century, would allow him to
arrive at that advanced period if he did
not kill himself by eating unwholesome
food, allowing himself to be annoyed by
trihes, giving license to passions, and
exposing himself to accident. FlouTiI
advanced the theory that the duration
of life is measured blythe time of growth
When once the bones and epiphyses are
united the body grows no more, and il
is at 20 wears this union is effected il
man. The natural termination of life
is five removes from the several points
Man, being 90 years in growing, lives
or should-5 times 20 years the came
IL 8 years in growing, and lives times
8 years the horse is years in growing
and lives Is years; and so on with Other
animals.
"A new process Of cleaning pictures
has recently been dissolved. The great
difficulty has always been to get off the
old varnish, which by length of time,
| has become almost incorporated with
the color underneath, so that any meth
cd employed to remove the upper sur
face is pretty certain to carry of with it
| the delicate lines below. Some picture
| dealers use corrosive substances, which
make the matter worse. An ingenious
system has been discovered at Amster-
/ dam, which consists in simple spreading
a coating of copaiba balsam on the old
painting, and then keeping it face down
ward over dish of the same size filled
with cold alcohol at an altitude of about
three feet. The vapors of the hquied
impart to the copaiba degree of semi
| huidity, in which state it easily amalga-
mates with the varnish it covers. Thus
the original brilliancy and transparency
are regained without injuring the oil
painting; and when the picture is hung
up in its place again, two or three days
after, it looks as it had been vanished
afresh. The inventors have given the
public the benefit of their discovery.
The process has the merit of being a
short one as compared with the old
methods.
Some curious experiments were
made a few years ago, by Prof Tyndall, on
sensitive flames" He observed that
in drawiDg-room the lights kept time
with the music by their flames becom-
ing longer or shorter, according to the
various notes produced on the piano.
This he Justly attributed to the vibra-
tions caused in the air. and he soon, by
direct experiment, confirmed this view.
This experiment was applied to the
measure of explosive substances in the
following way At a distance of five
meters from fame he placed an anvil,
on which he alternately laid illuminate
of mercury and iodide of nitrogen, and
and then caused their explosion by the
stroke of a hammer. In this way he
ascertained that the latter substance
produced no effect on the flame, while
the illuminate caused it to vibrate &C
cording to the notes la, do, mi, fa, sol.
Hence he concluded, not only that
the vibrations affected by the lodide
we're different from those of the fulmi-
nate, but also that those of the latter
only affected certain notes, excluding
the intermediate ones. These expert
ments he repeated with different ex-
plosive substances and with similar re-
suits confirming his theory.
An English engineer has brought
forward system of portable rails, which
it's own tramway, and which may be
used with equal facility upon any ordi-
nary road, whether macadamized, paved
or asphalted. A vehicle constructed
for this purpose by the inventor, with
the portable rails attached, appears, on
experimental trials made, to have ex-
hibited satisfactory results. The carri-
age wheels employed for this purpose,
which are only about 81 inches in di,
ameter, and fixed to the axle beneath
the springs in the ordinary way. run
upon what may be termed the inside of
the tires of a second pair of wheels of
sufficient size to permit the small wheels
to rotate between the tires and the naves
of the large ones. This large tire,
which forms the portable railway, is
made up of series of long ard short
segments, each carefully shod with in
dia-rubber, or which may be construct
ed of steel, formed into band-chain,
one or another portion of which is, of
course, always in position ready to re-
ceive the running wheel; the portion
which has served the purpose of tram
way as const ntly passing round the
periphery of the large wheel, to regain
it's position in front of the running wheel.
One peculiar advantage characterizing