Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-25
BITS OF SCIENCE.

Orders have been issued that telephones
for the use of divers shall be supplied to
! British ships carrying such men.
| Mother-Of-pearl shells are largely used
in the Sheffield trades and the prices have
a tendency of late to reach high figures.
There are $4,000 miles of railroad in the
United States, or seven times as many
miles as there are in the United Kingdom
OF Great Britain.
S. WroblewsH supposes that the tenn
/ perature required for the complete Iique-
faction of hydrogen is about that which
may be obtained by means of boiling oxy-
! gen.
| 1t is now placed beyond a doubt in the
course of the investigation regarding
cholera in the East that DIR. Koch, of the
German Cholera Commission, has discoY-
cred the bacili of the disease.
Silk, which is carelessly treated in dye
| ing with some artificial c0lors, loses much
! of its lustre; as the wOrkmen say, it is no
longer silk, sit is changed into cotton"
| This can be avoided by the addition of
soap to the dye bath.-IertiLe Recorder.
HOnigman's fireless locomotive. with
the caustic-soda condenser, has been used
regularly since March 81 for passenger
! traffic between St0lberg, near AK la Cha
pelle and Wurfelen. The locomotive when
charged, it is found, will 90 for twelve
hours.
In England during healthy years air
travels on the average about A miles an
hour and 81 in unhealthy. The percent
age of carbOnic acid ranges thus: In coun-
try, %; IN town, "a; in hospitals, .05; in
fogs, .07; in crowded lanes, 10; in the
aires, 80.
Aluminium can be beaten out, either hot
or cold, as perfectly as gold or silver, and
can be rolled in the same way. Leaves
as thin as those for gliding and silvering
can be made of it and it is easily drawn
into wire. Its high cost prevents its use
extensively in the arts.
Built-up wood, like that employed for a
good many years back in bottOming chairs,
already completes with canvas for the pur-
poses of the artist aud with binders board
for book covers. Its lightness, almost en-
tire absence of cleavage lines and non
liability to split are among its commend
able features.
The ReCue Scienhfque, January 5, 1884,
states that NJ. J0anes ChatIn has found
parasite in the common onion that gives
rise to disease. NJ. Pasteur, who has ex-
amined it, finds it similar to the parasite
of mildew in wheat, but with less vitality.
The affected plants, it is said, should be
pulled up and burned.
Mr.. J. F. Cowell, of Buffalo, points out
from insect attacks. The oak is preyed
on by some $50 kinds Of insects, the elm
by Al, the pine by 10, the willow by 80,
the maple-the most free generally of all
trees-by IS; but the butternut receives
the attentions of only about 20.
To render leather, paper, ETC., imper-
meable, NM. Huleux and Dreyfuss en-
ploy the following mixture: White or
yellow wax, first quality, 1000 grammes;
Burgundy pitch, 60 grammes; oil of ara
chide, so grammes; sulphate of iron, 90
grammes, and essence of thyme, 30 gram
mes. The quantity of the ingredients
may be varied for special purposes.
Peter Thomas process for bleaching
fibrOus materials without the use of chic
rine runs as follows: The goods are boiled
in dilute caustic soda and Immediately
afterward run into a warm concentrated
bath of permanganate Of potash. When
the goods have cooled they are run into a
bath of 2 1-5 pounds of borax in % gallons
of water saturated with gaseous sulphu-
rous acid from oil Of vitriOl and charcoal.