Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-19
BITS OF SCIENCE.

Mr.. Bradlee, an architect, has proved,
| beyond all dispute, that Portland cement
| does expand. He filled three bottles with
| cement and closely sealed them. One Of
| the bottles burst in two days, another in
| eight days and the third in ten days.
The aluminium process for the decora-
ton and preservation of iron and steel is
| intended to take the place Of nickeling,
| Thinning and cOppering. The coating leaves
| the sharpness of the outline unimpaired
and adheres closely to cast and wrought
work.
Arrangements are in progress with No
| bePs Explosives Company for the Ii hting
with electricity of their extensive dyna-
mite factory at Ardeer, Ayrshire, Scot
| land. The installation Of the new system
| of illumination there is looked forward to
with great interest.
The japanese are seriously considering
| the utilization Of the hot springs near
| Toxic as means of producing both heat
and power. In country where the pres
| ence of hot springs and the frequency of
| earthquakes indicate rapid increas of
underground temperature, not few think
| that the thing may be quite practicable.
Boiler tubes that are short from being
| cut out are stretched to length in Eng
land by a special machine very simple in
| character. 1t is merely a long screw run
| through the tube and clamped fast at both
| ends. The tube is then heated in the fire,
and the screw turned until the tube is of
the right length. This is much simpler
than swedging and less injurious. The
screw need not be cut the whole length; a
few inches on the end is enough.
MIR. James Collins, writing upon vege-
table wool or silk cotton, says: For the
lining of quilts, quilted petticoats, ETC.,
silk cotton seems to answer admirably;
but its want of cohesion, or non-felting
qualities, renders it of no use for spin
ming, except as a mixture to impart
silky gloss to the fabric so mixed. Among
its advantages are its lowness of price, its
lightness, its very great elasticity and
softness, and the resistance it offers to the
attacks of insects.
In the Sinaitic range of mountains there
is a remarkable cone of sandy rocks called
Gebel-Nakus. When traveller attempts
in fine weather to scale this miniature
peak he hears sound like that of distant
bells. When there is no wind and the
sand is damp with dew the sound is not
| heard. This phenomenon is attributed to
the friction of the silicious sand on the
declivities of the cone. The atmospheric
vibration whichis thus started is supposed
to be intensified by cavities, which serve
as sounding boxes or resOnatOrs.
The London Lumber Trade Journal
states that new method of tree-felling
by dynamite has been successfully intro
duced. A cartridge of the explosive sub
stance is placed in channel bored di-
rectly under the tree to be operated upon,
and when exploded the tree is simply
forced up bodily and tails intact on its
side. If this system works as it is repre-
scented to do, and the tree is not fractured
by the force of the explosion, large pro-
portion of valuable wood at the base of
the trunk can be utilized, which is now
lost.
CamphOr is made in Japan in this way:
After a tree is felled to the earth it is cut
up into chips, which are laid in tub on
large iron pot partially filed with water
and placed over a slow fire. Through holes
in the bottom of the tub steam slowly rises
and, heating the chips, generates OIL and
camphOr. OF course, the tub with the
chips has a closely fitting cover. From
this cover a bamboo pipe leads to a sue
cession OF other tubs with bamboo con-
nections, and the last of these tubs is di-
vided into two compartments, one above
the other, the dividing floor being perfO-
rated with small holes to allow the water
and oil to pass to the lower compartment.
The upper compartment is supplied with
a straw layer, which catches and holds
the camphOr in crystal in deposit IS it
passes to the cooling process. The cam
phOr is then separated from the straw,
packed in wooden tubs and is ready for
the market. The oil is used by the ma
tives for Illuminating and other purposes.