Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-08
BITS OF SCIENCE.

Electrical foOtwarmers for use in rail-
road carriages are undergoing experiment
by NJ. de Meritens aG his works in the Rue
B0ursalr, Paris.
a commission has been appointed by
III. Cookery TO determine the conditions
necessary for laying electric cables suit
able for transmitting currents Of high
tension.
The quinquennial prize Of the Belgian
Government has been awarded to Prof.
La Paige, of the University of LIege,
for his researches in mathematics and
physics.
NJ. II. Lepley has from analyses Of
masses of boiled beetrOOt obtained an
average OF 131 grams nitrate of potassium
and lab grams of chloride of potassium in
every 100 Kilograms.
Cows are said to eat horse chestnuts
very readil but these nuts do not APP
pear to do so well with other animals of
the stock raiser. Meal made from horse
chestnuts contains 10 per cent. of albu-
minOlds.
DR.. NJ. Rubner says that, while the ex-
periments of ChOssat, Regnault and others
seem to show that small animals consume
relatively more nUtriment than large
ones, he is unable himself to confirm this
conclusion.
European hOrolOgists have begun to
place on watches, etc, the hour hands of
which make two circuits in q hours,
dials with figures 80 arranged from to
"a that those for the day hours are shown
on an inside circle and those for the night
hours on an outside circle, after the man.
ner first popularity introduced i'll this
country.
To demonstrate Me transference Of bac-
terra from the soil to the air Brautlecht
mOistened ignited sand, gravelly soil and
moderately clayey garden soil with Ii
quid containing bacteria, and covered the
substances so treated with glass bells.
In few hours micrObia of the kind con-
tanned in the liquid abounded in the
moisture condensed on the sides of the
bell.
The action of the alkaloid cocaine as
local anasthetlc to the eye is one Of the
most interesting of recent discoveries. A
small quantity of a solution Of the chic
ride Of cocaine dropped into the eye pro-
duces a perfect insensibilItV of this deli
cate organ, which can then be operated
upon without causing the slightest in
convenience to the patient. The alkalOid
is extracted from the South American
cocoa plant, the leaves OF which have
long been used by the natives as a nervous
stimulant.
Recent experiments have shown that,
after tea has been stepped il. boiling water
for three minutes, over hve-siXths Of the
valuable constituents of the leaf are ex-
tracted, while at the end of ten minutes
the leaves are almost entirely exhausted.
1t is better. therefore, not to allow tea to
'draw' for long while; as there is no
gain in strength and the faYOring princi-
pies are YOlatilized and lost. Hard waters
dissolve less tannin from the leaves than
soft waters. and are to be preferred on
this account.
HeddebaUlt has succeeded in separating
rags of cotton and wool mixed by subject
ing them to the action Of a Jet OF SUPER
heated steam. Under pressure of five
atmospheres the wool melts and sinks to
the bottom Of the receptacle, while cotton,
linen and other vegetable fibres stand,
thus remaining suitable for the paper
manufacture. The liquid mud which
contains the wool thus precipitated is
then desiccated. The residue, which has
received the name of azOtine, is COM
pletely soluble in water and is valuable
on account of it's nitrogen. Moreover, its
preparation costs nothing, because the
increased value Of the pulp, free from
wool, is sufficient to cover the cost Of the
process.