Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-09-15
CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.


Celluloid is proposed as material for
stereotype printing by E Jeannin of Par
is. The plates produced are said to be
very light, flexible and durable, and very
suitable for high-speed cylinder ma
chimes.
Narcolepsy, a rare form of neurosis, is
described by M. Gellineau. The patient
has sunden and strong desire to sleep
for short time; and this occurs at more
or less prolonged intervals. One person
fell asleep four or five times during his
dinner, letting his fork fall, breaking off
when in the middle of a sentence. The
disease has some of the characteristics of
somnolence and ofcatalepsy. DIR. Casse
first described it In 1862, and ascribed it
to a serious and passive congestion of the
menlnges of the brain. No treatment
has yet been discovered which gives ben
efcial results.
TO CUT BRASS.
moderately thick plate of brass may
be cut chemically by drawing line or
mark on its surface with solution of
mercury in nitric acid. The acid attacks
the copper and the mercury amalgamates
with the zinc, but, as the Iron remarks,
whether this is the true explanation of
what occurs or not, the brass becomes as
brittle as glass at the place where the
line was drawn, and may be broken off.
MILK AND LIME WATER.
A large number of medical authorities
are agreed that for dyspepsia and weak
ness of the stomach hardly anything is so
beneficial as milk and lime water. The
proportions are about four teaspoonfuls
of lime water to goblet of milk. The
former, the Journal of Mdteg5d Medica
informs the patient, may be obtained by
putting a few Jumps of unslaked lime
into stone jar, and adding water until
the lime is slaked out of about the con-
sistence of thin milk.
MIRROR IMAGES.
A German scientist has succeeded in
obtaining a chemical composition by
means of which a mirror image NAV be
fixed and sold as a photograph. With
this composition the mirror surface is
painted, and the back part of the mirror
receives also a coating of oil. The mir
ror thus prepared is held before the per-
son to be photographed. The oil coat
ing evaporates, and the likeness of the
person remains in natural colors on the
light surface. The image so fixed is
brought into bath, and is exposed for
half hour In the sunlight before it is
ready for delivery.
DRINKING WATER.
No water that has stood in open vessels
during the night should be used for
dring or cooking, By exposure to the
air 1t has lost its feration," and has alb
sorbed many of the dust germs floating
IN the air. Ii convenience requires wa
ter to be kept III vessels several hours
before use, it should be covered. Filter
ing always adds to the purity of the wa
ter. Drinking water should not be
taken from the rivers and lates on a low
level. Surface water, or water in lakes.
pools or rivers which receive the surface
wash, should be avoided as much as
possible. Do not drink much water at
a time. More than two tumblerful
should not be taken at meal. Do not
drink much between meals, as excess of
water weakens the gastric juice and over
works the kidneys.
TIMBER PRESERVATION.
The artificial preservation of timber is
perhaps nowhere else carried on so ex-
tensively as in France, and, according to
Paris journal, this object is most eff
fectlvely attained by injecting into the
woody the hydrostatic pressure of a
heavy liquid column, or some similar
plaza solution of the acid tannate of
iron. The principle upon which the
merit OF this plan is based is, as stated,
that the action OF tannin upon the vege-
table tissues is analogous to that which
1t exercises upon the animal tissues. eff
fectlng upon the former a kind of tan
ming, having for its result the formation
of hard and imputrescible tannates.
quite corresponding to the gelatinous
tennates produced in the tanning of
skins. The application, therefore. fixes
the putrescible matter in the wood-to
the presence of which it's rotting is at
tributable-in unalterable combinations.
thus preventing their decomposition.
THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
One of the difficulties experienced in
bringing the electric light into use is the
finding of suitable shade or globe.
which, while diffusing the light, viii not
absorb more than a slight percentage of
the illuminating power. The opal and
ground glass globes, with which we have
become familiar, absorb from 80 to SO
per cent. of the light produced by the
electric area serious loss, which has
been tolerated In order to obtain the
necessary diffusiveness. NJ Clemandot
has hit upon method which supplies
the dlffllsive power with a minimum of
loss. He makes his lantern of number
of tubes of clear glass united at the sides.
These are filled with glass wool, which is
glass in the state of extremely fine
threads The surface of these threads
reflect the light in all directions, and the
tubes being clear, the absorption of light
is reduced to Is per cent. The opacity
can, however, be increased by putting a
larger quantity of the glass wool into the
tubes, and what is perhaps more import