Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-02-04
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.
AN AGATIZED PEARL.

An agatlZed pearl, Weighing 461 grams,
has been found in the Miami river, Ohio.
It is the only pearl of the kind in pearl
history, history which dates back at
least 1900 years. It is named the Koh-
i-noor, and, being the first of its kind, its
value cannot be estimated.
NITRoLN.
A new explosive compound, known as
nitrolin. is compounded as follows: From
5 TO 20 parts of sugar or syrup are mixed
with from 20 to 80 parts OF nitric acid IN
wooden or gutta percha vessel. Of this
compound from 25 to SO parts are mixed
with ID to 35 parts of nitrate of potassa
and from Is to Is parts of cellulose.-
Chem. CeaatrGlbtdH.
ARSENIC IN GRAPE SUGAR.
Clouet and Ritter, working separately,
have each discovered that all commercial
grape sugar contains arsenic in small
quantities. Ritter finds that the amount
varies from 00025 to O. 1904 grammes per
kilogramme. It is probable that the
source of the arsenic is thesulphuric acid
employed in the manufacture.
REMEDY FOR HOUSE FUNGUS.
Two remedies have been proposed for
house fungus. Falsky recommends an
alcoholic of grammes salicylic acid per
Iitre. A wash of this solution will
destroy existing fungus and prevent its
recurrence. Zerener's preventive IS an
application of water glass or infusorial
earth to which 6 per cent. of salt and 3
per cent. of boric acid have been added.
EXPERIMENTS ON GLUCOSE.
Pehglot has been making some expert
ments with glucose, the result Of which
he communicated to the French Academy
of Sciences When glucose is subjected
to the action of alkaies a crystalline sub
stance is produced, to which the name of
sssaccharose" is given. This product
has the same composition as cane sugar,
but is readily distinguished from it.
Saccharose when tasted leaves percep-
tibly bitter taste In the mouth, and it
does not fernentin the presence of yeast.
He has found, also, that true saponifica-
ton occurs when glucose is acted upon
by lime.
NEW TELEGRAPH WIRE.
German telegraphic engineers have
lately been experimenting with aluminium
as material for telegraph wires. This
metal can easily be drawn cut to a much
finer guage than is possible with wire,
and its conductability is twice as great as
that of iron wire Its excessive cost has
hitherto prevented its use for the pur-
pose indicated, but it is found that an
alloy of aluminium and iron can easily be
made which will produce wire both
finer and stronger, and less susceptible to
atmospheric changes than iron wire,
while it is much superior as a conduct
ing medium.
BLAST-FURNACE STAG.
Blast-furnace Stag, that most hopeless
of all waste substances, is now utilized
to a great extent It is converted into
sand, mixed with certain proportion of
selenetic lime, and manufactured into
bricks which possess many advantages
over the ordinary bricks of commerce.
BY reducing the Stag to fbrous condi-
ton a material is produced which is use
fully employed as non-conductor of
heat In clothing steam pipes and boilers.
1t is used In the manufacture of glass
bottles and glass railway sleepers. But
the most recent invention In Stag utiliza-
ton is In the product of pure, white
cement of greater strength than the best
Portland cement.
NEW ALLOY.
The proprietors of the Isabellenhutte
near Dillenberg, In Rhenish Prussia,
have introduced, says the Athen9ua1a, a
remarkable alloy of manganese and cop
per, which promises to be of considera-
BILE importance. "Mangankupfer" -
manganese bronze-which consists of 70
per cent of copper and 80 of manganese,
is employed in small quantities to i'm
prove common brass, bronze, bell metal,
and the like, rendering them more COM
pact, hard and ductile. A similar alloy
was patented in England some years ago,
but appears TO have attracted little at
tention, and to have been failure.
THE RoTEERs.
1t was Leeuwhokeen who, In 1875,
first beheld the bell-animalcules, and in
1902 he first saw the wheel-animalcules
In some colored water which had collect
ed In the gutter of house-roof At the
present day we know good deal about
the rotifers; the list of species yearly in
creases, and the fascination of their study
does not diminish on closer acquaintance
with their life and habits. Within their
family circle are tube-builders and
house-constructors; the lady rotifers ex-
hibit the superiority to their partners
alwas alluded to, and, last of all, they
seem to possess a vitality past compre-
hension as to it's limits, and beyond
explanation as to it's details. In nature
the rotifers are dried up from
their pools by the heat of the
summer sun, and as mere mum
mifed dust-specks they are blown about
by the summer winds. You may dry
them as they lie ON your microscope
slide. till not trace of motion remains
and you may keep p them a hus dried snd
years; yet, after such desiccation and
drying, if you but add a drop of water
or place them amid moisture, the func
tions of life are renewed and resumed
with yigor, as if no epoch of Rip Var