Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-12-27
PRACTICAL SCIENCE.
Our Regular Weekly Collection of
Curious Facts for Those SCien-
tificaIly inclined.
AN ARITHMETICAL CURIOSITY.
THE RATTLESNAKE.

Inc rate OF VlDFaLiou Oh Ine raGIl6- |
snakes tail has been determined by DR.. |
OFT to be sixty per second. The method |
of experience was to attach pen to the |
snakes rattles, the record being received |
on a revolving drum.
ELECRTIC FARM MACHINE.
At a recent agricultural exhibition at |
Ludenberg, in Germany, was exhibited |
a threshing machine which was driven |
by electricity at the rate of l 400 revo- |
lutions a minute, and which, at the same |
time Illuminated the enclosure IN which |
it worked.
PRESERVATION OF LEMON JUICE.
A correspondent in Mem de Ned ct |
de Pharn1. liJjt. says, after various
experiments and the test of eight |
months exposure to the sun and heat of |
summer, he has come to the following
conclusion: " Heating the juice OF add
ing alcohol to the same would appear to
be superhuous, as 1t Is only necessary
to filter it and keep it in sealed bottles;
however. since filtration proceeds SO
very slowly, the best way is perhaps to
add 10 per cent. of alcohol 10 the fresh
juice, and bottle. The Pharmaceutical
Journal observes that il may be pre-
served without the addition of alcohol
by heating il to 1902 F., and then ex-
Guiding it from the air by carefully clos
ing the full bottles at this temperature.
The operation should be carried out i'll
winter.
DYEING LEATHER.
In the glove trade the leather has
hitherto always been dyed by brushing
on the dyes by hand. The defects Of
this method are: Its slowness, the 0c-
currence of large soiled edges on the
heshy side, and, notwithstanding every
care being taken, the uneven character
of the dye produced. To avoid these,
Joseph Kristen, of Brunn, has a process
in which even dyeing is obtained by the
application of centrifugal force. The
skin to be dyed is fixed on the center of
a horizontally rotating disk; the color is
also fed on to the center, and by the
rapid revolution of the disk, is spread
equally over the whole surface. The
color Is forced on to the disk by means
of a pump, or 1t merely flows from
reservoir standing at ahigher level. The
excess of color driven off at the edges of
the revolving disk is collected and used
over again, until the skin is fully dyed.
To dye one skin by this method takes
n
color pump may serve for at least five
machines, which would require only one
attendant, SO that by the above arrange
ment, one man could lii twelve hours
easily dye 80 skins possessing great
eYenness of dye and free from spotting.
AN ABITHAIETICAL CURIOSITY.
To find the day of the week for any
date within the first thirty centuries of
the Christian era: From the number
indicating the year drop all to the left of
the tens. To this result add It's fourth
part (regardless OF any remainder). the
day of the month. index of the month,
and index of the century. Divide the
sum by z, and the remainder will be the
day of the week, counting Sunday l,
Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4,
Thursday 3, Friday 6, and Saturday 0.
TABLE OF nSD1cEs FOR MONTHS.
January. 3 BIay...........4 September Il
February. 6 June ..........0 October. 8
March. 6 July. November 6
April 2 August -.......5 December ...... L
For leap year the induces for January
and February would each be one less
than in the above table.
TABLE OF INDIcEs FOR CENTURIES.
Index for s, 9, ls, D. 26, 80.
Index for 1, 8, a.
2-Index for Q, Z, Is, II, q, 25, %.
3-Index for 6, 10.
4-In6ex for 5, u, Is, q, d. IS.
4-IndeE for 4, II, Il, p. 81.
6-Index for 3, 1, 0.
To find the index of the century for
any given year, find IN the table the
number dropped from the year, and It's
index viii be the index required.
EXAMPLE.
Required upon what day of the week
the Declaration Of Independence was
signed, July 4, 1776.
Drop IL, and we rs
Add It's fourth l3rC.... OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 10
Add the day Of the month. 80. ............
Add index Of the month Observation-Disclosures.
Addindex Of the century.
sum-:-7 DOB
IA
and remaining, or Thursday, answer
a. @. Palmer, an Terre Haute
Gazette.
AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
A cablegram from London recently an
nounced that cheap process Of produc-
ing aluminium has been discovered, ana
that there was great excitement in the
metal trade IL Birmingham and Shelf
field in consequence. This discovery
may lead to a revolution in many of the
decorative and industrial arts, and do