National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-05-13
SCIENTIFIC GOSSIP.

For lighting the new residence of Mr. W. II. Van
derbilt II Is stated that thorc are 2C01 gnsburners
supplied by about 1900 feet nearly three miles o
pipe
Stockings divided 30 rs to separate each toe as a
glove doss tho fingers are now being introduced and
an emin ent medical authority recommends ther az
they are likely TO promote cleanliness, prevent trou
blesome soft corns and abolish foot doiormity.
In determining the amount Of moisture in milk,
Herr Marpmann proposes to place It upon cotton
wool Thoroughly freed from gTease) In chloride Of
calcium tube and draw warm air over IT, Tho moist
ure is expeedin from ten TO fifteen minutes, and tho
fat may be extracted from tho dry residue by means
ofbenzol
Last m onth NJ. Henri Glffhrd died. He was the in.
ventor of the widely used water injector for steam
boilers, which goes by his name, and which at ona
time offered an Interesting problem In physics 10
count for Its action. NJ. Giird received prize from
the Academy Of Sciences, Paris for his invention Of
the Injector. He was ffty-seyen years old.
Mossrs. Howard and Hodgkin have obtained a new
alkaoid from that variety Of chinchona called China
cupren, which grows in great abundance In the Pro-
vince of Santander This alialold Is very like
quinine In It's composition but II differs from the lat
ter in the soublity OF Its salts and the readiness with
which 1t crystallzes nom ether. Alcohol Of % per
cent. dissolves L0i parts.
Summing up his Investigations regarding the mag
netlc properties ofiron and Steel Mr. Louis NJ Chets-
man says; Iron in q mechanically hard con ition
can receive more magnetism than in soft lllion
The magnetic moment of steel magnet I'm amechan.
ically hard condition is greater less than In a sot
condition according the ratio of It's ameter to It's
length Is greater or less than certain limit"
Professor ID wollny insists that the quality ofgrain
Is best when the plants stand spursey. In root cropI
also the roots tubers are, within certain limits
larger tho larger the space allotted TO them and In
gen eral the production OF plants increases with tia
size of the space, because abundance OF room implies
enough of light, heat and moisture, and such
healthy condition of the plant that 1T capable ofro
sisting parasites
The city OF Geneva, Switzerland, furnishes water
for small engines ut about cubic yard under
pressure OF AZ atrnospheres, thus giving horse.
power FOR seven cents an hour This only half thu
charge that is made for water for domestic purposea
Two kinds of apparatus are used for motors one act
Ing on the plan Of the turbine aud the other through
pisons which are actuated by pressure. The second
seems TO be more generally preferred.
An impure dolomite formation In Shenandoah
Mime Snake Creek District, Wasatoh County. Utah
is remarkable for its "phosphorescent" property
This mineral Is OF bright color and exhibls
under the microscope, beautiful crystalline struo
ture. Pressure by the fingers will readily reduce
to powder. When the miners struck their picks into
II flashes OF light produced strilllngy vivid
as to cause supersttous alarm and to suggest for
the ominous name Of Hell-dre Rock"
|. Experiments conducted ut the Palace of Industry,
Paris, TO determine the effect In conservatories OF
illumination by the electric light do not appear to be
very satisfactory. When the naked rays were al
lowed TO stream forth the result upon the plants
put the lamps the injurious consequences OF the
light ceased. but very little good could detected
illumination by night did not TO be fatal veg.
etahe life but no proof was discovered that was
beneficial
If all that Is said about the sellon and voikmar
secondary electrical battery be true, there is new
era-making invention born In this world, as the
Scientific AneTfcdn remarks. This battery pre-.
viously noticed here some time ago. II differs from
tho Fnure battery In having hbrous and destruc-
tibe material betw the plates Sellon and Volkmar
overcome this difficulty by perforatng the plates and
filling the holes with the OXIDES The plates sep
arated by strips of wood arid then immersed in acdu-
lated water This battery cannot fall to be otherwise
than efficient aud durable
Late experiments on Lake Zurich conducted by NJ.
Asper, show conclusivey that light will penetrate
water 10 the depth at least OF 10 metres. He used
emulsion plates, and sunk them at depths of 10. 30
co. 70 and 80 metres in the lake night last autumn
In the morning all the plates showed that the light
had acted upon them. Substantially the method
had been trod by Professor Forel In Lake Leman,
but he did not think that light went further down
than 40 metres. The difference in conclusion Is due
to the fact that Professor Forel used albumenized
paper and NJ Asper the more sensitive Photographic
emulsion plates
Mr.. Charles Linden, of the Buffalo Society of Nat
urnl Sciences has published paper the domesti
cation OF our wild ducks. He found thnt the only
kinds which made themselves at home In the ba r-
yard the mallRrd, dusky duck and Canada
goose, "the progeny OF which prospered and attained
greater weight and size than the ordinary domesti-
Gated stock. Some OF them are still living and berny
I'm many instances tendency revert In point OF
plumage TO their original condition, while tho major
lty have become quite metamorphosed into ordinary
barnyaId fowl" These ducks were taken when very
young or raised from eggs.
Leather and skins are made impermeable to
moisture by Mr.. Trencke by sh king them In sou
tion of water 200 parts geatine, parts and bl
chromate of potash, parts; or water 800 parts6
| ge atine, 20 parts; and b!chromnte Of potash, 3
tam Of gOlut
| from 800 to 2l2o Fahrenheit. When the
solution is not rich in bchrOmate II is used
cold, and the leather skin s subjected to Its action
| for twenty four hours The bichromate may be
placed by the following solutions Water, 1000 parts
alum, 100; goatine, TO- and acetate Of lead. l0o In
every case after shaking two sides, the leather
| or skin is prep Rred with parafine.
Absence or prevalence Of cockroaohes In a house Is
capital test of the cleanliness and neaness OF those
| having charge of the sanitary management OF tho
dwelling fnny are seen be sure that bread crumbs
and other food refuse arc left In apartments, for
reaches do not live mir neglect to deprive these
| pests of food implies that there present moro
troublesome insects of sleep pdestroying character
the cntcr Eeefudrius for Instance The moral of this
Is. do not take lodgings in house which Is infested
by - crotonbugs" or cockrolohes- An abundant dis
trbutlon of borax pyiTheIEl ross indicates gen.
orally q plentiful lack Of the proper application OF
| brush and dust'pan or ofsoap and water
| The principle Of new Photographic revolver Ia
| explained by NJ. J. Jansen In Les Mondes. Usually
In instruments Of this kind the sensitive plate Ia
caused to rotate by suitable mechanism, and upon ID
are produced the various phases OF changing phe-
nomenon. In the new apparatus the sensitive
plate ia stopped whenever an image has TO be taken.
and II only moves again to permit neighborng re-
gion, not yet acted upon, to receive new image.
Under these conditions a certain rumber Of photo
graphs may be taken per second, as has been done
by NJ. Marcy in his study tho flight OF brdsi but
IL is not easy 10 exceed the number OF ten Images per
second. NJ. Jansen has succeeded In taking photo.
graphs upon plate in motion at the speed OF 00l5
metre per second and he finds that practically there
is limit TO the possible lumber OF images be OBJ
taHed In a given time.
Not less than 5i 900 tons of coal were taken oui
of British mines last year. and TO do this work 95 COO
men were employed. Sir Henry Bessemer has been
endeavorng 70 make people realize what that guam
tity Of coal really H. He says that II this coal were
formed into cylindrical columns so feet In diameter
and 800 feet In height and II these placed In
row, their own diameter apart, they would make
coonnade IS miles 100 yards long, the product OF each
working day being sufficient to make lisuch columns.
Another moh)d Of giving some Idea Of the Immense
nature Of the British coal industry Is TINS; Ihe coal
extracted last year would mako wall 200 miles long
100 feet high and AZ feet II Inches thick, paass ex
ceedng that OF the great wall OF China by enough 10
add $40 miles TO Its length And yet so vast are the
British coal dcpOsits Il IN estimated that they viii