Huntsville gazette., 1882-05-06
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

All the various mines and coke
works along the New River, West Vir-
ginia, are in full blast, with plenty of
orders for coal and coke. Business
generally is going along finely, with APP
parent prospects of continuing to do so
for some time.
German settlers in the Roanoke
Valley, of Virginia, have given by their
example wonderful impulse to the fruit
growing business. The farmers in Bot
etourt and Roanake are setting out fruit
trees by the thousand.
Henry Henkle, Rochester IN. Y.)
inventor, is engaged in project to gen.
crate electricity on an immense scale
and transmit the electric current to any
point desired for Illuminating and other
purposes.
Mr.. John 2. Gibson, of Hexam,
England, lately described how he sue
ceeded in taking the photograph of a
flash Of lightning. He used Swans
plates, backed with red paper. The
lens employed was half inch rapid
symmetrical, with the largest stop but
one.
-Coal-tar seems to possess marvel
,us potentiality. Already it has been
compelled to yield, under the hand of
the chemist, carbolic acid, picric acid,
paraffine, all the aniline dyes, artificial
madden, artificial indigo, etc, and now
it promises to be a source of ouinine; a
substance called chinoline, closely re-
sembling quinine, has been manufac-
tured from it. 1t is believed that chem
lists will soon be able to produce pure
quinine itself
The London Globe announces that
the Sultan and the wise men of Turkey
are about to enter upon the study of
astronomy. Constantinople is to have
an observatory with all suitable instru-
ments. 1t seems that the Turks want to
know about this revolution of the plan
cts and such things. The Moors in
Spain were excellent astronomers and
mathematicians but the Turks have
until recently regarded astronomers as
wonder-workers, who should be viewed
with suspicion.
"A mode has been described for de-
monstrating that yellow color can be
formed by combining red and blue.
Aiio SOiAoiouo III llllAluS q lCO oOlltIiOn
Of chromate of potash with blue solu-
ton of litmus, and, on filling it into
glass cell of o certain thickness, the
light transmitted through it is seen to
be yellow. Plates of glass coated with
gelatine impregnated with chromate of
potash, placed side by side with plates
coated with galatine impregnated with
litmus, also transmit yellow light 1t is
found however, that the eyes of differ
ent persons vary not little in their
power of approaching the tinge of the
transmitted yellow.-N. Y. Graphic.
The eighty-ton gun at Woolwich
has proved its capacity not only to
throw great ball an immense distance,
but that its accuracy is remarkable. In
one instance thecharge of powder used
was $40 pounds, and the weight of the
shot-the latter being four feet in length
and studded with thirteen rows of four
studs each-was 1,700 pounds. On the
gun being fired at an elevation of seven
degrees, the shot first grazed the ground
at the distance of 1867 yard, or more
than two miles and half, and then
went ricochetting along several miles
further. The time of flight till it first
struck was 11.3 seconds, and the report
made by this vast piece of ordnance is
described as having been tremendous
". Y. SIN.