The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-03-24
SCIENTIFIC.

At the height of half q mile the at
mosphere becomes too thin to sustain
human life.
Corn cobs yield .pice as much potash
as the best specimens of woods; ll4,-
000.0 900 pounds of potash might be made
from our annual corr crop.
DR., A. Schmitz believes that the non.
~fermentable part Of grape sugar intro
duced into wines contains q poison like
that in potato oil.
Nordenskjold 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 a great number of tubes with very
small outlets.
Although he had examined over one
hundred hearts of children and grown
up people. DIR. 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 a path
illogical process.
A new method of obtaining grain in
photo-engraying has been introduced by
Maj. Waterhouse. He presses sand or
glass paper into gelatine ~reliefs. and as
the shadows contain a 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 ship-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 a better heat and
roll more softly than Bessemer ingots.
containing the same quantity of car
bon. Moreover, Sicmens-Martin ingots
contain. as a rule. less manganese than
Bessemer ingots, and as plates contain
ing much Manganese are more liable tn
oSidize. the Siemens-Martin plates are
preferable for the aforementioned pur-
poses.
A new theory Of earthquake has been
adduced bv DIR. Novak. He considers
hat besides tho rotation of the earth
gu its axis and its revolution round the
sun, a multiplicity of motions of the
earth appear in space. in virtue of which
the enrth's axis and the equator shift
their position. This causes q variation
II the forces influencing the earth's
form. and the earth has the tendency to
adapt itself to this change. He also
considers q change of form of the earth
/. occur through the shifting of the
poles and the equator, and this may
have effect some time afterward where
he crust of the earth is weak.
M. A. Cclson thus describes tho
manufacture Of phosphoric acid in the
Bulletin Of the Chemical Society of Par
h: Natural phosphates. unground, are
dissolved in dilute h~ydrocholoric acid.
When tho acid has ceased to act, the
slear solution is run Of from the insol
uble matters and mixed with sulphuric
acid enough to saturato all the dissolved
lime, leaving a mixture of ~hydrocholic
scid. diluted p~hosphoric 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 h~ydrochlor-
ic acid is condensed and collected for
use by e of ordinary columns"
A correspondent Of the Scientific
american at York. Pennsylvania, ''sug-
| gests the burning of petroleum for re-
polling hostile fleets from harbors like
those of Baltimore, Philadelphia. and
| New York. A hundred thousand bar
rels of oil poured upon an outfowing
tide would cover . large area of water,
and when set on fire would sweep a
feet with a torrent of destruction that
nothing could resist" Another plan is
| virtually a modification of the fire ship.
He proposes ITO link together long lines
| OF RATS of oil barrels. and send them
against the feet by small. swift, steam
launches that could be steerod by cleo
tricity from the shore. The barrels
could be exploded and the oil fired by
tho same agency at tho proper mo-
| meut.n