The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-06-03
soINrILLArIoNs OF SCIENCE.

M. Dumas, the veteran French SCI
enlist, finds that, IN his researches re-
speeting the exclusion Of gases, while
silver imprisons oxygen, aluminium and
magnesium specially retain hydrogen.
P. Casamajor, noting the fact that the
taste of sugar has tendency to duh our
perceptions to the taste of other sub
stances mixed with sugar, bases upon il
a test whereby starch sugars, and other
substances used in the adulteration of
cane sugar, may be readily detected.
Before tasting a suspected sample a
pinch of pure sugar is pat in the mouth.
After this sugar is dissolved, and while
its sweet taste is perceived, pinch of
sugar containing starch glucose, or
chloride Of tin, will be found to yield a
distinctly bitter taste.
1t is reported in the Moniteur Scienti-
tique that DR.. G. Schmitz's hypodermicl
injections of pilocarpine in certain dis
eases of the eye had not only tile effect
of curing the diseases, but of restoring
the hair Oh the heads of the patients.
One man, aged sixty, was quite bald, and
was suffering from double cataract.
Three injections of the pilocarpine were
performed in fourteen days. The MEN,
brane over the pupil OF the eye disap-
peared, and the head first became Gov
cred with thick down and then with an
abundant crop Of partly white and partly
black hair. Another patient, aged
thirty-four, had detachment Of the re-
tina, and was bald on top of his head.
Two injections cured his eye and repro
duced his hair.
Mr.. J. P. Lesley, Of Philadelphia, has
shown that DR.. John L. LIE Conte, of
the same city, anticipated by several
years the suggestion attributed, to Pro-
fessor Metschinkoff that fungus which
would destroy insects should be deliber-
ately cultivated and applied in quantity
to places infested by noxious insects.
At the Portland meeting Of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of
Science in August, 1873, DR.. LIE Conte
delivered an address in which he recon-
mended, among ether things, careful
study of epidemic diseases Of insects,
especially those of fungoid nature, and
experiments on the most effective means
of introducing and communicating such
diseases at pleasure"
The Scientific American publishes q
general notice of Mr.. Edison's new
electrical railway, which seems to be the
same in principle as the Holskie and
Siemens railway, now in process of con-
struct:on in Berlin. The motor, says
the journal just named, is precisely like
one Of Mr.. Edison's electrical genera
tors, and the motive power is supplied
by his stationary engine, which operates
an electric generator, the current from
which is conveyed to the track by two
copper wires, one OF which is attached
to each rail. The armature of the
motor makes four revolutions for every
single turn of the driving-wheels. At
present Mr.. Edison is testing his cleo
trical railway, and devising improve
ments on it, SO as to make its introduc-
ton success.
When the arc employed for electric
lightning is nearly of the average
length, DR.. John Hopkinson, in
paper read before the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers, London,
reminded engineers Of the following
rule for comparing the efficiency of any
of the are-competing systems of illumin-
alton: Measure the difference Of poten-
tial of the arc, and also the current pass
ing through it, in volts and webers, re-
spectively; then the product of these
quantities divided by TAG is the horse
power developed in that arc. It is then
known, he says, that the difference be.
tween the horsepower developed in the
arc and the horsepower expended to
drive the machine must be absolutely
wasted, and has been expended in heat
ing either the iron of the machine or the
copper conducting wires.
Dr.. J. w. Draper publishes a. short
communication on Prof. Lankester's re.
cent paper on the question: "Does Chlo-
rophyl Decompose Carbonic Acid" DR..
Draper gave an ihcontrovertibiy mega
tive answer to thatquestion about eight
years ago in one Of his memoirs, which
then appeared in the Philosophical Mag
szine: "The decomposition Of carbenic
acid by plants is undoubtedly the NEST
important Of actino-chemical facts. The
existence Of the vegetable world, and,
indeed, it may be said the existence Of
all living things, depends upon it.
first effected this decomposition on the
solar spectrum, as may be found in a
memoir in the Philosophical Magazine
(September, 1S45.) The results ascer-
tanned by ME at that time from the direct
spectrum experiment, that the decoln-
position of carbonic acid is effected by
the less, not by the more, refrangibIe
rays, have been confirmed by all recent
experimenters, who differ only as regards
the exact position of the maximum. In
the discussions which have arisen, this
decomposition has been Incorrectly re-
ferred to the green parts Of plants.
Plants which have been caused to ger
nitrate and grow to certain stage in
darkness are etiolated, (long shanked and
colorless;) yet these, when brought into
the sunlight, decompose carbonic acid
and then turn green. The chlorophyl
thus produced is the effect of the decom-
position, not it's cause" And DR.. Draper