The Osceola times., 1880-01-10
POPULAR SCIENCE.

NJ. BouDAIBE, the engineer in charge
of the preliminary SURVEYS for flooding
the dried-up lake beds of Algeria, esti-
mates the cost Of the proposed work at
not exceeding 20,000,0O00f
THE Nature says the French Minister
of War has published regulation for or
ganizing optical telegraphy in time of
peace. The several places on the French
I frontier are to be connected by post, and
/ the apparatus is to be maneuvered by
persons trained TO keep records of COM
munications sent and received This
new service is to be placed under the
supervision of the Director of Aerial
Communications. who has already COM
mand of the balloonsts and the colom-
bophiles for carrier pigeons.
/ THE Italian government has decided
| TO construct the proposed observatory on
| Mount Etna, which will be fitted for
/ scismological as well as for meteorolog-
/ zeal and astronomical observations. The
I building will he the property Of the uni
yersity of Catania. This will be the
/ second lofne9t observatory in the world,
the United States signal station AT Pixies
Peak, in Colorado, at an elevation of
I 1886 feet, being the lofticst station, and
indeed the loftiest inhabited building Of
any king in the world. I'D q.
/ NoTwITIIsTA ANDIsG all that has been
written on the subject, the -se of ar
senic in dyes and coloring matters con-
tinucs to be the cause Of widespread
mischief We see by foreign Journals
that in France the project of the Depart
ment du Neid has just issued notice to
, bookbinders and others concerning the
danger incurred by using the colors
which have for their basis arsenic or
copper. These are often employed in
the coloring OF paper, or the edges of
books bound in green. In case of any
accident arising from them, the binders
are not only liable for civil damages, but
for criminal offence.
Ira small bit of camphor Is laid upon
water, IT begins turning and moving
with great rapidily. If a few grains of
lycopodium or other light powder have
been previously scattered on the water,
they are drawn toward the camphor by
eddies in an inverse direction. These
phenomena were observed in 174S by
Romion. Cassamar has, says Les Mondes,
resumed the study of the question and
adopted the views of Romien. He in
stances the following critical experiment.
At the same time that the bits of cam
phor are thrown upon the water, insert
glass rod which has been rubbed with
/ flannel; the motion Immediately stops.
/ If the electricity is removed from the
/ rod by rubbing it with tin-foil it loses
/ the power of checking the eddies.
REyNIER, the electrician, has come to
the following conclusions regarding hy-
dro-electric batteries The most power
ful battery is the Bunsen, Ruhmkorfi
model, but 1t is inconvenient, deleteri-
ous and expensive. The most economi-
cal and constant is the Thomson, but it is
costly and cumbrous. The most conven.
lent would be a well arranged rotary,
but the price would be high and the
cost enormous. A battery as powerful
as the Bunson, as economical as the
Thomson, and rs convenient as we'll
arranged rotary one, would still be far
from suitable for relectric lighting. Hence
il is not at present among hydro-electric
batteries that we have to look for the So
luton of domestic motor applicable to
the present electric lamps.
A PERSON in England having purchas-
]
| diamond, and having later discovered
! that the same stone was cape diamond,
| entered suit at law to recover the money
paid for the ring. Judgment was given
/ for the plaintiff on the evidence of sew
eral diamond dealers, who testified that
| Cape diamonds are not to be regarded
as ordinary diamonds, and that they
/ lack the essential qualities of the Bra
lillian stones, viz, lustre, hardness and
color. A writer in Nature calls attention
/ TO this singular verdict, and expresses a
hope that, when the case comes up for
re-trial, the Judge will require some SCI
entific evidence, such as specific gravity
or chemical composition, about Cape
diamonds.
A useful method for the compression
of fluid steel, invented by II. X. Jones,
of Pittsburg, was described by Mr. Davis
at the late meeting OF the Iron and
Steel Institute, held at Liverpool, En-
gland. The process simply consists in
admitting steam at u high pressure to
the top of the ingot mold Immediately
after the steel has been / CURED. A steam
receiver, for the sake of convenience,
is fixed to the side of the ingot crane.
This receiver has number of cocks cor
responding with the number of molds.
lndia.rubbor pipes are provided to con-
duct the steam, one end being perma-
nently fixed TO the receiver, and the
other by means of a coupling attached to
the lid Of the mold. In practice high.
er pressure than from so to l50 pounds
has not appeared to be necessary, and
higher pressure is use in the case of mild
stoels. Under this process the ingots
are turned out free from porosity, and
with perfectly level top. The steam,
besides consolidating the ingot, acts on
end, cools the top of the ingot and allows
it to be conveyed to the reheating fur
mace sooner than when the old process
was used.