The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-03-01
CURIOUS. USEFUL AND SCIENTIFIC.

Colorado Springs claims the honor OF beat
ing the whole country ia the variaoeness
Cf temperature, the thermometer there hev-
ing shown variation of 70 degrees in "a
hours during recent cold wave.
NJ. Pssteur recently recommended a mem
her of the Academic des Sciences to expert
ment with young animals in order to sscer
tain If they can be nourished upon the ab
solutely pure food which many people regard
as an ideal diet that is. food wholly free
from microbes. BE believed that such q
Diet would not sustain life, and that the
pTs sence OF common microbes In the di
ges,ive ORGANS was necessary 10 the proper
fur iCnsl action OF those organs.
tower which would have excited the en-.
thusiam of the builders of babel, is proposed
a 8 feature Of the PaTs exhibition of 1889.
II ia 10 be 600 feet higH and made of iron.
The engineer who plans it considers 100 me-
tiers as the limit of height possib in
structure OF which stone is the principal mn
terial, and hence iron is proposed. The base
OF the tower is OF pyramidal shape aud is 70
be 20 meters high, and the superficial area at
this / eight will be 5. 0J0 square meters; above
this there will be three other stages. or
stories. in which will be rooms which
i ie proposed to use for scientific and other
purposes.
From data furniEbed by the Mississippi.
the IaPlata the Amazon and the ST. Law
renee Mr. T. Mellard Reade, an English geal
ogist who has devoted much ate alton TO the
chemical denudation of the.earth' sEsurface,
has calculated that the whole American con-
tinet is losing in this way an average of 100
tons per square mile each year. Similar re-
suits have been obtained for Europe leading
Mr.. Reade to infer that the whole of the
land draining into the Atlantic Ocean from
America, Africa, Europe and Asia contrib
utes matter in solution which, If reduced TO
rock al two tons to the cubic yard, would
equal one cubic mile every SIX years.
The vast quantity OF smoke from twenty.
FIVE pxick charcoal pits producing fifty to IS
Of charcoal per day, at Elk Rapids, Mich, is
thus utilized Large tubes over the pits, by
means Of a rotary suction fan, convey the
smoke and gases to great still OF - inch
corner pipe. from which. after passing the
purifier, runs clear amber stream OF pyro-
licenoUs acid. Each cord OF wood contains
2S, 0C0 cubic feet Of smoke (?) and, from 100
cords per twenty four hours there is pro-
duced y OC0 pounds acetate OF lime, POO
gallons alcohol and twenty five pounds tar,
beside the gas used under the boilers. Thus
this product from 40, 600 cords of wood per
snnum. is q source OF profit al little current
expense.
q waiter in al English technical Journal.
having explained how cold air is the CT use If
smoke, which may be greatly rsdaced oy
ere, remarks that in the open fire grave the
existing Ere ought to be dra vn 70 the fro
OF The Crate, allowing the fresh coal to be
placed behind or on the back Of che FIRE; thus,
the fire in the front will ourn more rapid Y,
warm the air above, and so prepare the ris-
ing gases for combustion. In this way the
amount of smoke is diminished. as the gases
from the Goals at the back rise much more
slowly than when placed upon the fire aud
the air partly warmed For stoves and boil
ers, warm aif may be produced for the entire