Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-31
BITS OF SCIENCE,

A solution made Of tablespoonful of
! saltpeter t0 four quarts of wafer is one Of
| the best antidotes for the rose-bug and
| currant-woTm. 1t is also death to the
cabbage-Worm. Apply with force pump
! or garden syringe.
| There is less blood in cold-blooded than
in Warm-blOoded animals. The larger the
animal the greater is the proportion of
blood to the body. Man has about gal
Ion and half Of blood, equal to one-thir-
teenth of his weight.
Ten quarts of normal alcohol have been
made from six pounds Of watermelon pulp.
Free suIphuric acid was added, the mix
ture was warmed and the sugar was
changed into glucose and leyulOse. This
product ferments directly.
The toad, frog and chameleon capture
insects by darling out the tongue, which
is tipped with glutinOus saliva. The boa
constructing serpents crush their prey in
their coils before swallowing, and the ven
omous snakes have poison fang.
Luminous waterproof paper may be
made from mixture OF forty parts pulp,
ten parts phosphOrescent powder, one
| part gelatine, one part potassium bichro-
chrOmate and ten parts of water. It can
often be used where luminous paint can
not.
A German invention, it is said, will pro-
! tect iron from rust. Ordinary oil paint.
| mixed with 10 per cent. of burned magne-
| STA, baryta or strOntia, as well as mineral
! oil, neutralizes the free acid of the paint,
| and the alkaline reaction protects the iron
! from rust.
| 1t is now claimed in the Scientific Amer
| lean that dogs may be used in mines not
| only to draw small carts but to patrol the
/ mines and detect the presence of gas.
| They can be made to go through the mine
! and return, and the latter will be favor
! able Indication.
An engineer in Michigan has invented
an attachment to steam cylinders which
t cOndenses the waste from the steam cock
on starting the engine. 1t does away with
the Kissing noise which frightens horses
and worries men. The engineer has been
offered SAT 900 for the patent.
Workmen in the st. Gothard tunnel
were affected with a peculiar disease,
which seemed to be caused by minute
worms. The same malady has been OBJ
| served among brick makers. From the
| latest researches it appears that the
worms develop in muddy water, which
the w0rkmen carelessly drink.
A cement which resists damp and firmly
| attaches labels to iron and tin work con-
| sists Of Il paste OF rye meal and little
| solution Of glue and water, to which as
may be required. Ordinary -four paste,
when wet! made. and some glycerlne thor
! Oughlv incorporated with it, does very
well for liking printed labels on timed
sheetiron boxes.
A possible clew to the sudden fatality
! produced by chloroform iu some cases,
even when administered by the most eau
tious experts. is furnished by the Just
published experiments Of NJ. Dubois, of
! Paris. who finds that this agent acts with
extraordinary rapidity on criminals after
the introduction Of alcohol into the sys-
TEN, and terminates in death with start
ling abruptness.
1t is found that the seaweed known as
''zostera MARINA or wrack, can be made
to yield, by treatment with mineral acids,
! a substance quite resembling horn, capa-
BILE of being manufactured into forms and
of receiving color from pigments. This
substance is called algin, from alg@, the
| generic name of one common species of
seaweed. The crude material is obtaina-
bic in large quantities on all exposed
shores.