The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1881-03-31
SCIENTFIO.

! At the height of half mile the at
mosphere becomes too thin to sustain
human life.
| Corn cobs yield twice as much potash
as the best specimens of woods; 114,-
| 600, 600 pounds of potash might be made
| from our annual corn crop.
DIR, A. Schmitz believes that the nom
fermentable part of grape sugar intro
| duced into wines contains a poison like
| that in potato oil.
Nordenskiold intends starting out on
a new arctic expedition this year in a
new vessel which is now in course of
construction for him at the estuary of
the Lena.
An inventor thinks he has solved the
problem of propelling boats on canals
and rivers by means of ejecting water
from the boat. Unlike his predecessors,
he makes use not of a large pipe, but
of great number of tubes with very
small outlets.
Although he had examined over one
hundred hearts of children and grown
up people, DR.. Langier discovered blood
vessels in the heart valves in only. one
case, that of a woman of sixty, in whom
they were evidently the result of path
illogical process.
~ HCW IhCtAOd VI II dIA III
photo-engraving has been introduced by
Maj. Waterhouse. He presses sand or
glass paper into gelatine reliefs. and as
the shadows contain n thicker layer of
the gelatine, and as, therefore, the sand
or glass is more strongly forced in, a
very perceptible grain is produced.
The Siemens-Martin steel is greatly
used in building and boiler-mak-
ing. Mr.. Sergius Kern, of st. Peters,
burg, states that in the manufacture of
plates he has noticed that the Siemens-
Martin ingots stand better heat and
roll more softly than Bessemer ingots,
containing the same Quantity of car
bon. Moreover, Siemens-Martin ingots
contain, as rule, less manganese than
Bessemer ingots. and as plates contain
ing much maganese are more liable to
oxidize, the Siemens-Martin plates are
preferable for the aforementioned pur-
poses.
A new theory of earthquake has been
adduced by DR.. Novak. He considers
that besides the rotation of the earth
on its axis and its revolution round the
sun, a multiplicity of motions of the
earth appear in space, in virtue of which
the earth's axis and the equator shift
their position. This causes a variation
of the forces influencing the earth's
form, and the earth has the tendency to
adapt itself to this change. He also
considers a change of form of the earth
to occur through the shifting of the
poles and the equator, and this may
have effect some time afterward where
the crust of the earth is weak.
M A. Colson thus describes the
manufacture of phosphoric acid in the
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Par
is: Natural phosphates, unground, are
dissolved in dilute hydrocholoric acid.
When the acid has ceased to act, the
clear solution is run off from the insol
uble matters and mixed with sulphuric
acid enough to saturate all the dissolved
lime, leaving mixture of hydrOcholic
acid, diluted phosphoric acid, and cal
cium sulphate. This mixture is sub
mitted to pressure to separate the sui
phate from the free acids, which are
then concentrated, and the hydrochlor-
ic acid is condensed and collected for
use by means of ordinary columns
A correspondent of the Scientific
american at York, Pennsylvania, ''sug-
gests the burning of petroleum for re-
pelling hostile fleets from harbors like
those of Baltimore. Philadelphia, and
new OK. ~
rels of oil poured upon an outfiowing
tide would cover a large area of water,
and when set on fire would sweep a
feet with torrent of destruction that
nothing could resist" Another plan is
virtually Il modification of the fire ship.
He proposes ito link together long lines
of RATS of oil barrels, and send them
against the fleet by small, swift, steam
launches that could be steered by elec-
tricity from the shore. The barrels
could be exploded and the oil fired by
the same agency at the proper mo-
ment.n