The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-12-14
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

Mr.. Thomas Stevenson has Devised nm in
| strument. consisting of number OF prisms
| arranged In series, for use I'm ombination
| with his electric lamp SO thht dark cavities
| In surgical and dental work may be easily
examined.
| Tho following method OF testing petroleum
| In by Doctors Janke and Bnrth: Tho tenn
| peratura OF tn" oil is raised to 100 degrees
| Fahrenheit In the waterbnth IN ton minutes.
| When the temperature indicntea rs degrees
the oil Ia stirred, and when II RIGGS to 100 do
grees n ilamo In applied.
DIR. w. Goebel has described Il method of
purifying gins which diapenseB with tho limo
] or Iron process. Ammonia s introduced into
| the Impure gnR. Tho mixture, after being
| cooled. ~ sent Into u cpka srrubher, into
which ammonia. ut IL tanperhture OF % to 10
| degrees, In also introduced. In this RerIIbber
water Is ~ degrees. nnd. containing gypsum
falls constantly, rNnaving tho carbonlG acid
aulphnrcttod hydrogen, Gy4nogon and bisul-
phdn OF carbon.
Tho Nature says that In his recent report
on tho trade Of Newchwnng, in Southern
MRnchurIa, Mr.. Consul Adkins mentions that
he hna III his possession u specimen OF iend
ORC found In tho neighhorhood which con-
taiEs about 90 per cont of tho metal md also
ono of copper from the Bame locality which
taalmoSt equally rich. nAttompl is milking
to get up an hurity tn work these mines with
foreign appliances. There H. M abundnncs of
exceient conl close To tho veins Of meta and
ware tho mining industry onch fairly started
tho prosperity Of NeWehWHng ana the whole
province would, III Mr. AdIsnss opinion, be-
come remarkable.
Mr.. Ercsmann, the United States Consul
General ut Berlin, reports n German iuven-
ton for preserving the dead. In 5000 gramgpes
or boiling water there are dissolved 100
RrammeS OF alum, b grammeS OF cooking
saIt, IL 9rammGs OF sntpotre 90 ayrammes of
potash and 10 Krammes OF arsenic acid When
Tho mixture II cool 1t Ii fLtarad, and to every
ten lltres If IL four itres OF Glycerine and one
Of methyli2 alcohol are added. Bodies satu-
rated and imprcgnated with this liquid arc
sad to resist decomposition very we'll Be-
sides, for cRlbalming purposes this now pro-
cess will, II ia Thought, be found serv iceable
for preserving subjects that may be req ulred
for dissection.
staff Commandant Perier, member Of the
French Bureau dies l4ongitudes, has how cotn-
pletsd one OF the greatest scientific operations
of modern times. The meridian Of Paris, the
imaginary line from which all tho French
scientific calculations start passes through
the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Eaglacd, the
Channel and Is connected by calculation with
trgonometriCal points determined in Aige-
ria. The possibility of It's extension south
ward had already been suggested seventy
years ago by Arago and Blot but the dIIi-
culttes appear too great To DO overcome. A
curious circumstances, however, Ted Com
mandant Perier to resume the ideas Of his
tllustrlouS predecessors. In 1868 he WAS Oc
cHpied in Algeria in some Re0desiC operations
in the Atlas Mountains to the south of Ne
rnours. when one day he perceived with the
naked eye the profile OF the Sierra Nevada la
the province Of Grenada, Spain 50 plainly that
he could determine by calculation the position
Of the two SUBMITS TatiCa and Mulhocen
about three thousand metres high. He at
once drew up O scheme which was approved
by the Academy of Science In 1872, and the
preliminary operations were commenced In
1878. In 1879 the French commission, under
tile direction OF MIR. Perier, began Its work,
while Spanish commission on its side as
sisted III the Peninsula. The result OF these
combined labors and calculations Is that at
present the meridian OF Paris is extended
across the African continent as far as the
Sahara. The arc thus measured is 800 the
largest which has ever been actually
measured. The extreme accuracy required
In all the data neeesstated proofs by every
possible means-observation OF the visible |
terrestrial points, the position of the Gun,
and innumerable observations OF the stars,
neeessitating calculations absolutely bewiI- |
dering, but which have resulted In fixing be- |
yond doubt the line of the meridian OF Paris |
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