The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-04-09

capacities of the country. The result
y of these observations will be embodied
! in fun official reports, 7and it is expected
that they viii be of great service il
opening up the country and ADVANCING
:. its civilization. 4e'mAsEs
l. N sM-ECH-4NICS IND ENGINEERING.
STRENGTHENING GLASS.
I Considerable attention has been Iatel,
directed IN France to process invented
by De IN Bastie for strengthening elas.
SO as to, render it both hail and fire
proof. A sheet of unprepared glass. {
quarter of an inch thick, held in &
wooden frame, was placed on the floor OF
a ROOM and brass bell weighing about
three ounces was let fall on it from q
j height which was gradually increased
until the glass was broken by the shock.
/ It WAS found that the unprepared glass
was broken when the ball fell from a
height of ten inches. A sheet of glass
only half the thickness, but which had
been prepared by the new process, was
then placed in the frame, the same
weight allowed to fall upon it from a
gradually increasing height, but without
any effect when dropped from the cell
] ing Of the room. An experiment. to test
| the resistance of the glass to fire was
also made with perfect success the
glass, heated in the flame of lamp, and
/ suddenly immersed in cold water. not
showing the slightest signs of disturb
| ance,
NEW PORTABLE ENGINE
A portable engine on new plan has
recently been constructed in Paris 1t is
mounted on two wheels only, with
springs, and can be readily drawn by
horses, shafts being attached to the
springs. When at the place where its
services are required, the wheels are
readily :, taken off, and, the machine al
lowed to rest on it's two bed plates, in
which are holes for securing it to a fo1ln
datlon, if necessary. The. boiler is
cylindrical In, form and tubular. The
I IRE box, whicn is wholly within the shell
OF the boiler, can be removed !; the shafts
are then attached to move the engine
from place to place. An efficient super
heater ve1 is fixed at the upper part of, the
boiler, the cylinder of. the engine is
steam 5jacketed, and the cutoff, is con-
trolled BY the governor The feed water
Is conveniently heated by an appliance
with the shell of the boiler. ..zs.
*s 4i:is sENTOM0IoGT. T sai1
a'f5sA NOISY INSECTS.
A curious fact in the natural historrv
OF the tropics is mentioned by Mr.. J.
thomson, in his recently published mar
rat1ve of ten years travel in Farther
India and China. In describing his
visit to Penang, on the Straits of Malac-
ca, he says: "It viii hardly be cred
tied by those who have never visited a
null country in the tropics, that soon
after sunrise the noise of awakening |
beetles and tree GLOWING insects is SO great I
as to drown the believing of a bull or |
the roar of a tiger few PAGES off. The
sound resembles most nearly the metallic /
wlilrr of a hundred Bedford looms. One /
beetle in particular, known to the ma
flves IS sthei trrmpeter, busies himself I
all day long IN producing a booming
no1se with his wings.
- INGENUITY or SPIDER.
correspondent writes to Nature /
that spider constructed its web in an
angie of his garden, the sides of which
were attached by long threads to shrubs
10 the height of nearly three feet from
me gravel path beneath Being much
exposed to the wind, the equinoctial
gales of this autumn destroyed the web
several times. The ingenious spider
how adopted a new contrivance. It Sc
'rred conical fragment of gravel, with viii
e larger end upward, by two cords one
attached to each Of its opposite sides, to
me apex OF its wedge-shaped web, and
eftit'suspe as movable weight to
'e opposed to the effect of such gusts of
Y asih had destroyed the webs previously
'cenpylpg the fsame situation. The1
pfder nqust have descended to the
yayeI path for this special object, and.
av1ng attached threads ton stone suited
Its purpose, must have afterwards
alaed 2 this BY fixing itself upon the web,
nd pulling the weight mp to height of
1ore than two feet from the ground.
here. e hung suspended By elastic cords. .
~ go sIas MEDICINE s'fss {
Il snEPoRTA1sr MEDICAL prscoyrRY
The. Fad Mail Gazette saws. uThe
slblic, NO less than the scientific world.
Ill read with interest very. important i
'atenaent recently made by DR.. Rich &
rds0n m the course of lecture l,a f1a- ]
Texed before the Societyof Arts. Speak j
g Of the nitrite of .amyl, which has b
itllirI these last few years obtained 3
I1axkahle Importance owing 70 its ex- Iii
anrdinarY action on the human BODY. 6
i. Richardson, said that . distinguished q
lenpis Prof. Guthrie. some years AGO. i
aile elistilIing over nitrite of anyl from 5
aylie alcohol, observed that the vaoor. I,
hen inhaled, quiekened his circulation. !. b
a made him feel as If he had been 1 /
ming, There WAS flushing Of his 4
CO. ray,if7 = arkif,r ,flf his heart and i :,