New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-04-14
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

Tea-driplSers will sigh over the statements
Of The lancet Russia monopol;zes the cup that cheers
go far MS all tho best teas concerned Inc hheS'
bohea or special rekoe Is not now atthnane ntson u"
known souohong Is scarcely to be procVueu ae any
,1ee Even the of brewing good tea Is III aangei oi
ee,ng lest Few OF present generation may he aware
thai should be made a. ne nG TsS1f b bSs
tae opportunity for success has passed by
An Indignant doctor writes to The Lancet.
lie is moved beyond all patience because the university
OF London has resolved permit women to take S oe
,rccs He imagines that the value Of his own degree
viii oe impaired by this action he enargeS on the ehort
mud expense that hts degree has cost hm ana thoh oe
oares that il extremely dshoDoraOo thus 10 ocpec
ate HE property. The admission OF women WILL hc
thinks cause "the utmost CONSERVATION 10 the graau
atcs Of the university and he calls upon them 10 2oih
with him in concerted acton TO feslst tho @ 1ac
,noe foniabe than Tenaysou's girlgraduates in
their golden hair TO have frightened tho coctor so Ter
ribly.
The Royal Academy of Sciences of Turin an
nounoes ilat the Bressa prize will lie given In 1879 ~
s. biennial prize OF about g, 400 the sum earned every
two years 10y interest the investment OF Legacy 'I
by DR. Cesare Alcssandro BFcssa This prize VIII he
awarded for the most important discovery or Tor the
most valuable work natural or experimental 'hioso-
ply natural history, mathematics, chemistry physe
os, pathology geology, history, geography OF statistics
published in the two years precedinR-a C., ISFfT'e.
The competition prize will be to persons OF
all naiionaes every four years-in 1879 1888 So
and 60 on AZ the lnieilpealte % 90 I, aIioDs
only These conditions weIo imposed by tue VIII Oh d.
Brcssa
There is another claimant in the field for the
honor of nventing the telephone Dr. James Davis OF
Salisbury n c. writes to The Ro!eigh Odserre sianDe
that his phonetic telegraph" invented ten years ago.
anticipated discoveries of Mcssrs. Bell Gray ana
others Dr. DAVIS saws that he made pcnand-lnk draw
ings al that time, fully illustrating bis invention ana
that he described his apparatus to persons whom nc
names He declares that his device covered the changing
Of air vibrations into those OF electricity ana restoring
the air after trausmission that hs apparatus
was more perfect than that which the present inventors
exhibit and could write register the sounds IN
a distinct language DR. Davis is evidently under the
shed tie last Iaenlidned feat bnt Mr. Gray described
addition for this purpose TO ms app&TaS9s IA 1Ge
Understood TO have contryed something CT the sort in
connection with his sounding diaphragm at the receiving
station.
A peculiar industry has recently come 10
grief In Paris An establishment was organized for the
purpose Of breeding maggOts. The meaDs by which tho
god kissing carbon" encouraged IN TIC process
were very simple over the soil there spread large
quantities Of stale fish, dead Holsters odorous poultry
and refuse of the markets. much as half ton OF
large fish being taken tho premises in single DAY
This stuff was soon attacked by meSgots, wich Ia Cuf
were carefully picked out aud packed IN casks OF goVal
lied iron and nay were sold for fish bait aud chicken
feed. The remaining refuse was converted INTO manure
1t may well be supposed that the neigbos objected 10
tile smells from the establishment Moreover the pro
ducton OF maggots not confined to the premises
the flies roamed around and deposited the iarv@ upon
any exposed food in the vicinity There was h.,ls
doubt whether the flies came wthin tue scope oi
the sanitary laws but last the authorities ordered III
the police and stopped the manufacture.
Two neat and simple lecture experiments
arc described i'll foreign journals f. c. g. Miller, to
show mir has weight proceeds as follows: smaii
quantity of water is boiled in n flask till the varor
wholly eXpcs the air. stopper, containing small
tus drawn to point is then ftted closely into the hsk
The whole continuance is then placed ON scale and eX-
aetly counerbaianced by weights The lecturer then
breaks of the point of the tube aud puts the broken
pieces back the scale BY this time the flask ia cooled
and as rshes ill., the scale dcscends Victor Meyer
illustrates the OF weight that occurs IN cobus-
ton by means OF shOr candle balanced on scale pan
aoug with the following accessories small lamp cyin
der surrounds the candle, close that it will nearly
touch Ks fame In the cylinder there is piece of wire
fe scale evenly balanced when thu candle is lighted
but after burning while the Oxygen abSo pea ia the
formation Of sodium carbonate causes the scale 10 de-
bcCnd
A new departure in matchmaking is an
oonnced at Auburndalc Mass With the ordinary watch
a chief item OF expense is in adjustment. This is now
performed by hanging the watch in various positions
Gscertaning whether the balance wheel is heavier
ut one point than at another, and tightening the wheel
needed 10 compensate for differences OF tenperatureJ
The new watch contains fewer works than the ordinary
one and thrse set around the center and driven by
1nalnSpruc beneath theIn. BY means of tOothed rim
around The watch, inside all the works made 10 per
fe. complete rotation around the center of the watch
-esiae from their own proper motiOns-cOmpeting the
performance once every two hours. Any irregulary
fran difference Of weight Of parts Of the machinery is
ta.s wholly compensated, no matter what may be the
position in which the watch is carried since ~ any ana
~ positions the center OF gravity for tae machinery Tor
aIJ two hours a whole, will be uniform factory
Eaa been started to make the new watches aud Is ek
prctud they VIII be cheaper than the old ones Al
~ events the invention be properly designated as
revolution IN matchmaking.
In the long contest for supremacy between heavy
artillery and armored vessels the attack has in general
kept the lead OF the defense But there may be greater
dangers the navies of the future than even the pro-
iectes of elton guns. The British Admiralty has re-
Gently been considering with favor rocket float This
Is spa vessel which is propelled by rocket along the
surface of the water speed of 275 miles per hour
and distance Of four miles. In the bow OF this YES
sci there is quantity of gun-cOttOn arranged with
percussion cap, so as to explode upon striking OBJ
staele. of these rocket floats were started and
accurately directed toward ship at distance
there is a clear certainty that 1t would al
rive before the ship cOnld be moved out OF
range. The charge Of guneOton could easily be made
sufficient sink explosion, any ship that can be
built The Admiralty also taxing an interest in n
new torpedo which travels under water at twenty miles
Per hour The torpedo experiments of our own navy
have been IN many particulars quite successful Re
Gently the French naval authorities tested torpedo yes
eel of CherbOurg This navigatcd by an officer and
three men. II Travelled the Of nearly nineteen
miles per hour in pursuit Of hulk which flowed at
fourteen miles er hour and had long start The chase
was continued for hour. When the torpedo struck