Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-04-15
Scientific,

In London the milk bought by the
officials for analysis nearly always
contains an excess Of cream.
A correspondent of the Scientific Re
publican recommends common glue
as an etfectual remedy for cuts and
bruises.
1t is said that if one part of sugar is
dissolved in three parts of water, and
digested with One-fourth part of calcic
hydrate, the resulting liquid will read
lily dissolve glue warm, and the solu-
ton will remain fluid on cooling with
out having lost any of its adhesive
qualities.
M. Patera proposes to render woven
fabrics non-inflammable by using, in
stead of sodic tungstate, a mixture of
four parts of borax with three parts
magnesic sulphate. One hundred
grammes Of the mixture are to be dis
| solved in three hundred to four hun
dred cubic centimetres of water, and
in this solution the fabrics are soaked,
then wrung out, dried and ironed
Another mixture proposed for the pur-
pose is that of ammonia sulphate and
gypsum.
Hot alum water is said to be valua-
BILE as an insecticide. Two pounds of
alum dissolved in three or four quarts
OF boiling water and applied to all
cracks and crevices, will keep out and
destroy all red and black ants, cock
reaches, spiders, chinchbugs, fleas, etc.
Travellers in strange countries should
always carry small package of pow
dered alum or borax with them to
scatter round their pillows where they
suspect strange bedfellows.
The following mixture is said to
make very good barometer, it being
very sensitive to weather changes:
Mix % drachms of camphor, dis
solved in 10 drachms of alcohol, with
4Ograins of saltpetre and 40 grains of
sal ammOniac in drachms of water.
This mixture should be placed in q
four-ounce vial, with piece of cloth
tied over its mouth, and placed in a
good light, out of the sunshine, where
it can be observed without handling.
When the weather is fine the fluid is
clear, but on the least change the
chemicals rise from the bottom in
beautiful frend-like crystals.
A correspondent of Nature says that
during. the hurricane of October 9th,
1873, he was residing on the west shore
of Biscayne Bay, South Florida. In
the early part of the gale and while
it was approaching it's height, he no.
ticed overhead innumerable man-of-
war hawks" They seemed to be clay
ing to" Ito use nautical phrase), with
but little motion of their wings; their
heads were towards the wind, but in
stead of moving backwards, they
seemed to drift off in line calculated
to take them directly away from the
storm centre. This action he considers
to have been developed from experience
by the ancestors of the man-of-war
hawk and to have become so organ
| lied in the race as to cause them to
leave the track of the approaching cy-
clone instinctively.
The success of Professor G. w. Hough,
of the Dudley Observatory, in con-
structing self recording barometers
and thermometers, lends additional
interest to his announcement of the
successful construction of an auto
matte evapometer and rain-gauge. The
apparatus consists of a vessel two feet
square and one foot deep, suspended
on levers, and held in equilibrium by
small spring, the amount of change in
the weight of the mass, either from
rainfall or evaporation, being indicated
OH the scales of delicate balance. In
order to secure the mechanical record
of the hourly variations in the weight
of the vessel and of its contents, the
professor causes the lever to vibrate
between twoplatinum points SO placed
that whenever change in the weight
of the vessel by given amount (say
ten grains) takes place, magnetic
circuit will be established passing
through an electromagnetic. A mi
crometer screw will then be OPP
Grated by means of clock-work
thereby tracing a curve on revolving
drum, precisely as in the case of the
self-recOrding barometer and ther-
mometer. 80
"That beats awl.n cried cobbler. as