The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-02-28
CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.

CURIOUS, USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.
Twenty years ago it required Eve tons OF
coal to make ton of iron rails. Now q
ton of steel rails may be produced from the
ore with half that amount of coal.
According to the Sanitary Review the
causes of the high mortality in Memphis
have been shown By DIR. Thornton to be
connected chiefly with the negro popula-
ton.
Smoke will soon be at a premium. From
100000 cubic feet of smoke given out by
cay 900 cords Of wood, it is said that IL,
600 pounds of acetate of lime, 200 gallons
Of alcohol and % pounds Of tar may be OBJ
tanned.
At Bsku, Russia, process has been sue
cessfully tried by which kerosene oil is solid
fled to look like tsllow, aud can be caused to
revert TO its natural liquid state. Other oils
are said to be treated in the same way. The
kerosene is said to be made into candles and
the oil kings, Nobel Brothers expect to
undersell the candle dealers throughout the
continent.
Monkeys, says Alfred Z. Wallace, arc
usually divided into three kinds-apes,
monkeys and bsboons but these do not in
clude the American monkeys, which are
really more different from all those of the
| Old World than any of the latter are from
each other. Naturslists, therefore, divide
the whole monkey tribe into two families,
one having its habitat in the Old World
and the other in the New World.
According to an English paper there are
now being built on the Clyde, Scotland,
four steel steamers, 20 make thirteen knots
an hour, for the Canadian Pacific Railroad
They are TO run on Lakes Huron and Su.
perior. After they are to be taken down,
shipped in sections, and put up in this
country. The Mechanical Engineer thinks
that when this extra work is taken into ac-
count they might have been made as cheap
ly in this country.
Experts of the Federal Polyte ,hnikum.
Switzerland, have tested the new blasting
material known as smidogen, and are stated
to have found it entirely free from danger
1t appears from their report that this ex-
plosive can be ignited only by exposure to
an electric spark or the naked fame or BY
heating up to 1902 c. But amidogen, even
if ignited, will not exert its explosive effect
unle;s firmly inclossd. The explosive effect
of smidogen is said to be midway between
that of powder and .hst of dynamite.
Filters of cheap and efficient nature
ought TO be in the market. A draft of good
pure wster in the morning can rarely be
nsd. Cisterns are placed so that they re-
csive and absorb the gases of water-closets
ana the dust which arises from rooms dur
ing the weekly sweeping out. Fifty cents
ought TO be enough for filter to supply any
single person with drinkable wholesome
water. Another good thing about s filter
IS that the ice need never come in contact
with the water, and yet make it cool enough
to be palstable.
The 0esterreichMeher Liquor Fabrikant
states that Messrs. Bochet & Machard now
prepare both alcohol and paper from wood:
1000 kilos of wood shavings are treated in
wooden watts with s. 900 kilos OF water and
500 kilos. of hydrochloric acid for ten or
twelve hours, steam being passed in the
whole time, 30 as to keep the mass on
constant boil. Wien this operation is over
the acid liquid is run off, neautralized with
chalk, and fermented in temperature of
24o 25o G. The ligneous residue in the watts
is washed and dried and worked up fer pa
per.
The ancients knew q great deal for which
they get very little credit. A short time
ago collection of surgical instruments was
dug up at Pompeii. 1t was evidently the
property Of some single establishment and
was quite elaborate. OF course the "fndp
was removed to the Naples Museum One
of the appliances attracted great attention.
II was long rod with a metallic plate fixed
at one end at an angle of l35 degrees. At
first it was thought to be a cautery for in
ternsl operations, but its resemblance to the
modern laryngesl mirror suggests the prob
ability that it was so used.
A technical journal give 8 simple recipe
for preserving silver and plated articles
from turning black, as they invariably will
if not kept constantly in use. The same
plan could with advantage be applied, we
should think, to any metal subject to change
or rust from the action of the atmosphere.
Plain collodion-thst is, not Photographic
collodion-is diluted with twice its bulk OF
spirits of wine, and applied to the surface
of the metal with soft brush. The spirit
soon evaporstes leaving an imperceptible
and transparent skin, which can when re-
ouired be removed with hot water.
Elephants are very sensitive to insult,
aad appear frequently to be more annoyed
at anything derogatory to their dignity
than actual pain. In wellknown work
on natural history, styled "The Menagerie,"
| II Is etaLeQ tnhI ~ III eicpuhub Was passing
through the streets Of London q man seized
it by the tail, an indignity that go offended
il that it grssped him with its trunk, and
placing him against some iron ratings kept
him prisoner until persuaded by the keeper
to let him 90. Captain Ship has recorded
in his 'Memoirs' that an elephant drenched
him with dirty water for having put Cay
enne pepper on its bread and butter.
A Sheffield (EnglAndC letter writer says:
IS Jme of our local dressing case makers
have found useful material for tops-that
is. the lids of soap dishes, brush trays, etc.
| in the new aluminium bronze, and which,
am informed, is now being experimental
with by q few Of the local white metal
houses with view of testing its value as
spoon and fork metal. The great advan-
tage which the dressing case makers find in
the bronze-which is obtained in both sill
YER and gold color-is that, unlike the
plated tops, mounts made from 1t do not
tarnish, and consequently, no matter how
long the goods may have to be kept in
stock. the bright parts retain all their gloss
and beauty