Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-03
BITS OF SCIENCE.

DR.. j. Miner Fothergill, of the Royal
College of Physicians, London, defines
pain as E'the prayer of nerve for healthy
blood"
Van Nosnand'S Magazine says: ga
mixture of 100 parts of resin (cOlophony),
% parts of gutta percha, so parts of par
affine, 20 parts of magnesia and some
mineral oil is good coating for iron
which is to be put under ground"
A Kentucky correspondent of the Sci
entifc american recommends the curing
of bacon by hanging it up, after proper
sailing, in tobacco barn. He says this
process makes a sweet and perfect cure,
with no necessity for smoking, and leaves
no taste of tobacco in the meat,
Naturalists urge that humble bees, nests
should be carefully preserved, the insect
! bein" the most valuable we have in the
| fertilization Of fruits and other crops, their
tongues being longer tnan nose OF money
bees and therefore better adapted to Sc
curing pollen and depositing it on other
blossoms.
Combined nitrogen, nitrous acid or III
trates, or ammonia compounds, are found
to some extent in all soils. Schonbein
explains it on the theory that the mere
evaporation of water in the air is accom-
panied by the formation of a small guam
tity of nitrous acid, and so the soils ac-
quire it from the air.
Prot. ChOwlson, st. Petersburg, reports
the invention of an electric watch, which
derives it's motion from a very small bat
terry. 1t is said to keep very good time.
No details are given regarding the con-
structiOn and arrangement of its several
parts, but the mechanism must be very
simple if, as it is stated, the watch has
only two wheels.
When tissues of wool and cotton are
subjected to a current of superheated
steam under a pressure of five atmOspheres
the wool melts and falls to the bottom of
the pan, leaving the cotton, linen and
other vegetable fibres ready for paper
making. The wool, evaporated to dry
ness, becomes soluble in water, and is
called azotine, being used for agricultural
purposes.
The new German mode of treating pneu-
mOnia, consisting of six grains of i0dide of
potassium every two hours and the appli-
cation of an ice-bag over the seat of the le-
sion, is one of the leading topics just now
in medical circles in the NOrth-in which,
by the way, that disease has earned the
appellatiOn of the BRAIN workers enemy,
so deadly have been its ravages among
professional men.
The cement used in patching the uppers
of fine shoes is generally made by dis
solving gutCa percha in chlorOform until
the mixture is about as thick as syrup.
Scrape and pare clean around the hole to
be covered, and thin carefully with a long
chamfer the edges of the bit of leather to
be applied. Only little of the cement is
needed, but the surfaces must be pressed
close together. The parts will adhere
firmly in a few minutes.
Resin is easily removed from violin
bows by rubbing them carefully with a
piece Of flannel saturated with parafine
oil. The varnish will remain intact, but
the hair must not be touched. The process
ought not to occupy more than few min
utes. Wipe off the surplus oil with a
clean, soft. dry rag. A simple apphca-
ton of SOAP and water should remove all
the scales from the hairs, but if this is not
enough the bows had better be rehaired.
Prof. Thomson, in recent lecture, in
formed his audience that the magnetic
pole is now near BoOthia, Felix, or more
than 900 miles west of the geographical
pole. In 1857 the magnetic pole was due
north, it having been eastward before that
year. Then it began to move westward
until 1916, when the maximum was
reached. This is now being steadily di-
minished and in 1876 it will again point
due north. Prof. Thomson says that the
changes which will have been observed
not only in the direction but in the
strength of the earth's magnetism will
show that the same causes which origin
ally magnetized the earth are still at
work.