Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-04
BITS OF SCIENCE.

CamphOr gum, when packed with furs,
is said tG have a tendency to tighten the
color. Thorough cleanliness and tar pa
per are commended as moth destroyers.
A correspondent of the Scientific amer
lcdB recommends sowing Hungarian grass
around the outer edges of wheat or corn
field as protection against the raYages
of the chinchbug.
DIR. Squib has substituted for the ordi-
nary blue and red litmus paper a single
color, viz: purple. This purple litmus
paper turns red with acids, blue with al
kalies. 1t is claimed TO be much more
delicate and convenient.
Hydrophobia is said to be unknown
among the dogs of Australia, which cir
cumstance is supposed to explain the ac-
ton of New South Wales and other colo
MES in forbidding the importation of dogs
from Europe and America.
The analysis made by DIR. Reusch of
volcanic ash from the Krakatoa eruption
shows the principal constituents Of the
ordinary pumice stone, with fragments
ranging in size from that of impalpable
powder to upward of one milimeter in
length.
The fibre Of silk is the longest continu-
Gus fibre known. An ordinary cocoon of
well-fed silkw0rm will often reel / 1000
yards, and reliable accounts are given bv
L.
yards, or fibre nearly three-quarters of
mile in length.
The power developed by the explosion
of ton of dynamite is equal to 4a675
tons raised one foot, or 1868 foot-tOns.
One ton of nitroglycerine similarly ex-
plOded will exert power of 81, ASP tons,
and one ton of blasting gelatine similarly
exploded, 1850 fOOt-tOns.
As a cure for pimples: Wash the face
in a solution of carbOlic acid, allowing
teaspOOnful to pint of water. This is
an excellent and purifying lotion, and
may be used on the most delicate skin.
Be careful about letting the wash get into
the eyes, as VIII weaken them.
A writerin the British Medical Journal
says: 1.-THE best remedy for cramp-the
simplest and the most efficacious that L
know Of-is-a band of cork. 1t is-easily
made by cutting a small new wine cork
into thin slices, which must be sewn
close together upon ribbon or tape an
inch.wide. It can be tied around any
part affected and worn during the night.
For grinding circular saws, NJ. Dugop-
jon, of Paris, replaces grindstones by
disks cast with a V groove on the periph-
cry. filed in with lead. Pulveri2ed lints
or quartzOse sand and water are allowed
to drop during the operation of grinding,
Willtu - tuuS accomplished lliOEt SDttu-
lily, and consequently more economically,
than the usual process with grindstones.
To obviate kinks" in submarine tele-
graph cables ard, consequently, render
these important means OF communication
less liable to break when subjected to a
strain Messrs. Trott and Hamilton have
adopted the eXpedient of making each
alternate layer Of sheathing cross each
other. Thus if the inner sheathing of
hemp has a right-hand ''lay," care is
taken that the lay of the next sheathing
shall be left-handed.
Professor Fitzgerald, Of the University
Experimental Science Association. Dub
lin, has published a paper on the magnet
| OphOne, a new form of which instrument
has been devised by Mr.. w. V. Dixon. In
| this a diaphragm removed from a tele-
| phone is placed in proximity to one end
of bar magnet, while at the other ex-
| tremity of the magnet small masses Of
soft iron fixed radially are rotated. A
note is produced at the diaphragm.
DIR. Thomas Stevenson in GUYS Hospi-
| tai reports asserts 'that water does, I'M
der certain conditions, act energetically
upon zinc and upon galvanized irOn.''
AS zinc and galvanized iron tanks are
commonly used for storing water, it is
/ well to know DR.. SteVensOn's test for the
presence Of zinc in that fluid. The clear
water is slightly calculated with hydro
| chloric acid, ferrOcyanide Of potassium is
then added; if zine be present a whitisk
! cloud VIII Immediately form.