River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1874-02-27
Scientific.

cumulative analysis OF coin alloys.
The Philadelphia Medical Times
calls the attention of its readers to the
fact that glycerine may be used as {
means of Disgusting medicines such as
castor oil, turpentine, cod liver oil,
&C., more especially when one or two
drops of oil of cinnamon or some othel
volatile oil has been added.
AN Anglo Saxon company has beer
formed to drain the Ferrara marshes
lying near the mouth of the River Pc
The marshes cover an area of about
two hundred thousand square miles. II
is proposed to use eight pumps, each
of which will discharge fifty.seven
thousand gallons of water per hour.
PROFESSOR DoNDERs has been rede.
termining the time Necessary for the
transmission of sensation to the brain,
the formation of Judgment, and the
transmission of volition to the hand.
When the eye receives the sensation il
requires 18th of a second, but when
the ear is employed only .69th of a
second is needed.
SOME careful experiments have been
made recently on the comparative yield
of fields on which covered or uncov.
ed manure mas been used. 1t was
found that the field fertilized with the
covered manure produced forty pei
cent. more potatoes, and nearly twenty.
five per cent. more wheat than the
other.
AN interesting question in plant
geography is that as to the transport
of seeds by ocean currents, and in
other ways independent of human
agency. NJ. Thuret has been expert
menting on this in Antilles. Having
tried 251 different species, he knows OF
only two kinds of bare seed which are
capable of floating, Maurandia and
Phormium. A long immersion in sea-
water does not destroy the vitality OF
seeds. Out of "a species immersed
more than a year, at least 3 terminated
afterwards as vigorously as seeds kept
quite dry.
Mr.. GALLOWAY has called attention
to the fact that if a Davy lamp be
burning TRANQUILITY in an explosive at.
mosphere, the transmission of a sound
wave, produced by slight explosion
of gunpowder, is sufficient to cause
the communication of flame from the
lamp to the surrounding atmosphere.
Hitherto it has generally been assumed
that the occurrence of a colliery explo-
sion, after firing a shot, is due to ac-
tual communication of flame from the
gunpowder to the fire damp, but Mr..
Galloway's experiments show that it is
much more likely that the explosion is
brought about by the noise of the shot
being propagated through the galleries
of the mine to the safety lamp.
A CORRESPONDENT of the English Me-
chanic says that he has used tine
following recipe with the greatest
success for the cementing of iron rail
ing tops, iron gratings or stoves, etc.,
and with such effect as to resist the
blows of the sledge-hammer: Take
equal parts of sulphur and white lead,
with about sixth of borax incor-
porate the three so as to form one
homogeneous mass. When going to
apply 1t, wet it with strong sulphuric
acid and place thin layer of il between
the two pieces of iron, which should
then be pressed together In five days
it will be perfectly dry. all traces of
the cement having vanished, and the
iron will have the appearance of hav-
ing been welded together.
The Photographic News" says that
q curious and Important discovery has
been made by DIR. Vogel during the
last few weeks. 1t consists in making
the non-actinic rays under certain cir
cumstances actinic. /" have found, "
he says, "that bodies which absorb the
yellow rays of the spectrum make
bromide of silversensitive TO the yellow
rays. In like manner L find bodies
which absorb the red ray or the SPECTRUM
make bromide of silver sensitive to the
red rays. For example, by the addition
of corallln-which absorbs the yellow
ray-to bromide of silver film, it be
comes as sensitive to the yellow rays as
10 the blue ray" This is one of the
most important and interesting obser.
vations in connection with actino
chemistry which has been made for
several years.
CARBoLIc ACID turns out TO be n
deadly poison TO snakes, few drops
being sufficient to cause the almost in.
slant death of the much dreaded cobra.
II has been proposed to supply the in-
habitants of India with large amounts
Of carbolic soap; the idea being that
as soon as the soap gets into general
use the cobra will find it almost certain
death 10 bite any one, and will soon
come to regard that amusement in the
light Of suicide, and consequently will
seek some other little game with which
10 while away his leisure hours.
MEssRs. DEwAR AND DrrTMAR have
undertaken TO determine the yapor
density of potassium experimentally.
So far they have not been completely
successful, their method needing per.
feeting, and several corrections reduir.
ing 10 be added. They have decided,
however, that the vapor density cannot
be more than forty.five times that Of
hydrogen. AS the question previously
lay between th!riy-nlue and seventy
eight, their experiment NAV be said e
have settled it in favor Of .hirty-nine