Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-08
SCIEN FIPIC NOTES.

| A tribe of Indians having tails from six
| to eight inches in length is said to have been
! discovered in Paraguay. Should this an
nouncement prove true, the Journal Of Sci
ence protests in advance against their being
paraded as the missing link, since the
anthropoid apes have no tails,
Ralph Copeland, during the first half of
this year, saw at La Puz, in Bolivia, at an
elevation of 1900 feet, with the full moon
| in the sky, ten stars in the Pleiades with
| the naked eye, and also two stars in the
head of the Bull which are not in Arge.
! lander's Uranometria Nova.
A special correspondent of the Nature
/ states that most of the incandescent lamps
| at the Vienna International Electric Ex'
! hibition have transparent bulbs, aud that
very disagreeable after-images of the G low
| ing carbon ilaments are caused if they are
looked at only for moment or two.
A new method of purifying iron is pro-
posed by DR.. Herman Wedding of Berlin.
! He points to the fact that when melted
cast iron is allowed to chill, the first crys-
tails which form, are nearly pure iron, and
he suggests that by repetitions of the
crystalzing process a metal of high quality
may be obtained from poor pig iron.
The Scientific american describes the
method by which the great cables of the
Pittsburg Pa suspension bridge were lately
repaired. When defective piece of wire
was found it was cut out and new piece
| of wire nicely spliced in so as to bear the
| strain it ought to sustain and no more.
| When the wires were renewed the whole
was coated with linseed oil and then white
| lead.
How to make rat-tail file that will cut
| faster and last much longer than any cut
| file ever made Draw out piece of steel
to the size you want the file to be. Make
it square and tapering to a point at one
end; then twist it like any anger, but
closer; heat it to dull red, and chill it in
water, dipping it straight down. Draw
| but little temper. You will be surprised
to find how fast it will cut and bow long il
will last, The Blacksmith and TVheehcright
is authority for the above.
1t was not until some time after 1906
that wire. drawing became an art. A race
of wire-d drawers, who made iron wires by
hand and afterward by water pc wer, then
sprang up in Germany. and became famous
in Europe. Wire.making was introduced
/ in England about the middle of the fifteenth
/ century. THIS industry was commenced
/ in the United States at the beginning Of
| the present century, and it Is needless tC
! say that it has grown into enormous pro
portions within the past few years.
Wood diminishes the durability of paper
in which it has been used. and it is mat
ter of Importance for dealers and consu
mers to be able to decide whether giveI
sample of paper contains woody tioers Oh
not. a scientific authority recommends
for this purpose a solution OF sulphate O.
aniline, or a mixture consisting of one par
sulphuric acid and three parts nitric acid
Either of these mixtures at once produces
a yellow color upon the paper if wood il
contained therein, the depth OF the yellow
shade increasing as the proportion OF woot
increases,
1t appears that the phenomenon of {
green sun, as recently witnessed in Iudia
has been observed at various times anl
from various places on the earth. An en-,
rirely satisfactory explanation of the ap.
pearance has not yet been suggested. TIL,
Government Astronomer Of India regards
sulphurous vspOr in the atmosphere as tbs
probable cause, bus other observers hsv,
had reason to suppose that the phenomenon
may arise from the presence Of aqueoul
vapor alone-in thick strata, and before i
has become sufficiently condensed to b,
visible as clouds.