New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-06-08
APPLIED SCIENCE.

vves an account of investigation Of the fossil phos-
nhates of Bellegarde in the Department of Ain, IN
Franco near the Swiss boundary He found IN o |
pample All per cent of the basic phosphate OF lime
corresponding to 2l7 per cent of phosphorc acld ny
treatment with sulphuric acid, asuperph0sphate
was obtained. with 203 per cent OF soluble pnos-
phorio acid, which is large amount SsGa a
FOSSIL phosphate as this and occurring IN consider
able quantity, must prove very valuable
Af,z.p1Nr-Rrp ON CoTToN.-Although the new
~lizarne red had been used to considerable extent
in diving Turkey-red, and produces more beautiful
color than madden lis general introduction could not
he predcted suce it is expensive than madden.
The discovery of shorter and cheaper method OF
producing this pure and beautiful color Is claimed
by Geyer, by which the operation is conPieleu ~
about the time and at ~ per cent less cost
than the ordinary Turkey-red, and without any
sacrifice of purity or beauty.
ANEsTHEsIA IN OPERATIONS ON THE Efh.-in 10
ferrino to the great Importance of an9sthetlcs III
direct operations upon the eye, Dr. Sch"eigeoi VI
Berlin insists upon the necessity of selecting one that
will permit the patient to be kept sometimes Tor al
least an hour under its influence without involving
any danger to life or health since 1T Is not merely
sufficient to render the patient unconscious put Ine
cornea must be so nsensible as to allow the contact
of the finger or the introduction OF the instrument
without the excitement Of reflex action IN the eye
lids and muscles The use of chloroform III sucn
cases he considers very undesirable, ether peihg
much superior in safety. He states however that
whatever be the anesthetic employed, strict
watch should be kept over the patient ana
espeeally upon the state of the pupil A moderate
ilatation of this shoud the operator 10 pe very
careful, while suddenly occurring ana Nluo u rS
tation Is always a sign of impending asphyNla. me
moment this is observed or when the respiratory
movements are insufficient or arrested. the tongue
should be drawn out of the mouth by means OF
od The respiratory movements, WHICH
had been arrested by the falling back oil the ROOT OF
the tongue on the epiglottls then are resu,eu; nv
DR. Schweigger attributes his having been aple 10
restore several patients who were IN most dan
gerous CONDITION.
THE EARTHQUAKE OF MARCH G. 1SI2.-An i'm
portant contribution has been made to our knowl-
edge of earthquake phenomena by the publication
of a monograph by Won Seebach. on the earthquake
of Central Germany, on the 9th of March, 49,. Inc
author states that in this investigation he intended
70 carry out the principles first fully developed by
Malet in his classic work on the great Neapohtan
earthquake of 1857. On more carefully approaching
the problem however and sitting the material at his
command it soon appeared that the application OF
Mallet's methods was scarcely practicable IN tue
present case. AS is well known, Mallet has maze
special use of the direction in which the shock sue
cessively strikes each city region affected by It,
calculating both the angles of azimuth and emer-
sence so as eventually to demonstrate accurately
the precise position within the earth of the region OF
disturbance whence the earthquake shock radlates
all directions Won Seebach states that in the case of
the earthquake of 1872 only appeared orely
principally the exact determinations of the times
at which the shock was felt in the various regions
from which he has information. In order to obtain
these data with the greatest certainty he applied TO
the ROYAL Telegraph Bureau, through which he re-
ceived 81 reports of especially great value. The ex
IRENE limits between which definite information con-
corning the earthquake was received may be taken
rs being Berlin on the north Munich. on the south ;
Bresau, on the east and Frankfort on the west.
The severest shocks experienced IN the region
30 miles south of Leipsic A surface of nearly $1,000
square miles thus affected by this phenomenon,
aregiOn which appears not very different in size
from those corresponding to previous earthquakes,
such as that of 1916 and 1866 in the same portion OF
the world. The earthquake was generally stated to
have been felt a kind of wave movement, adVanc-
ing along in the earth Many of the observers speak
of two shocks. or at least, of one prolonged shock,
especially at its beginning and end lhe per-
manent effects of the earthquake upon the earth
and npon the water were but slight As regards
effects upon the atmosphere, opposing reports seem
TO have been received by Won Seebach IN numerous
instances in which gusts of wind were observed In
connection with the earthquake he states that II Is
very unlikely that they should have had any real
connection with that phenomenon. In only a very
small region the shock sufficiently severe TO IN
lure the mortar or stone OF buildings, Inc seNeIeSu
being at Nuremberg Numerous curious instances
are recorded of the effects OF the phenomenon upon
the actions of animals especially those III the Dres-
den Geological Gardens; and some things appeared
to show satisfactorily that animals could perceive
the approach of the earthquake short
time before it was noticed by men; the eX
PLANTATION of the fact being simply this that
such animals were conscious OF the vibrations
of the earth when they yet too feeble to be
ticed by men. In the more important element of the
direction from which the shock received, II ap-
pears, by entering these directions upon the map OF
the region in question, that there scarcely any rule
regularity.
4 he most important part of Seebach's work
consists in the development OF the method of inVeS
tgatlng earthquakes by simple observations of the
exact moment al which the shocks are felt, method
whose importance was first shown by Schmidt. the
director of the observatory at Athens who, it is
stated, deserves the credit of being the first of all
even before Hopkins and Mallet-tO reduce the phe-
DODena of earthquakes TO exact calculations. After
having determined the point on the earths surface
directly above the center of conclusion, Won Seebach
shows that the mean true velocity of the earth
quake shock was "A English miles per minute
aud the depth of the true origin of the
shock probably not less than z. miles,
and not more than III miles, and that by reason of
want OF better observations for the determine
ton Of these results, must assume the depth to
have been about 10 miles. Following the example
of Malet the author attempts also to determine the
form of the central cavity within which the
plOsiOn took place, and concludes that the cavity
lay not far from the village of Amgaren, 10 miles
under tue surface of the earth and very proba-
bly, issure which approximately stretched from
N N. W. to :. :. E., aud possessed only slight hori-
zOntal dimensions. The tissure was not vertical
but inclined towards the L. y. l.. within the earth's
interior.