Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1886-06-09
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY,
Compiled for the SPECTATOR. I

MINERAL-wAx sLEEPERs.- the Trans
caspian railroad in Russia, now approach
ing Merv, it is claimed that about $500 per
mila is being saved by the use of ozokerite,
or mineral wax, for ties. When purified,
melted and mixed with limestone and
gravel, the ozokerite, which is abundant in
the vicinity of the railroad, produces very
good asphalt. This is pressed into shape
in boxes, and gives ties which retain their
form and hardness even in the hottest
weather.
EFFECT OF HOT DRINKs.-By direct ex-
pertinent on human subjects, and the use of
tube for examining the contents of the
stomach at intervals, DR.. V. E. Nyeshel,
of ST. Petersburg, has ascertained that a
healthy person may drink three tumbler-
fuls of hot tea after meal without percepti-
bly, affecting digestion, but that greater
quantity of hot drink retards the digestive
process. No difference could be detected
between the rate of digestion of hot and
cold food
LAKE RIvERs.-Surveys made during the
past two years have shown that the River
Rhone has cut for itself channel in the
bottom of Lake Geneva, through which it
flows, between parallel banks, like an or
binary stream on the earths surface The
Rhine makes a similar passage through
Lake Constance.
Physicists find two kinds of progress in
space-that of matter and that of FORM A
bullet discharged from gun represents the
former, while the overwhelming circles
which follow the plunge of a stone into a
pool of water illustrate the latter.
The largest crystal of alum ever produced,
weighing over eight tons, has been sent to
the Edinburgh International Exhibition
from the Manchester and Goole Alum
Works.
WATER PURIFICATION.-In q recent adj
dress in London, DR.. Percy F. FARMLAND
remarked that the earliest attempts at. puri-
flying water were confined to the removal of
suspended particles, but at a later date
chemists gave attention to the invisible dis
solved substances. When it became known
that some, if not all, zymotic diseases are
due to living germs, the fact was recognized
that the microscopic organisms in water
might be source of danger. Filters were
at first supposed to be of no value in re-
moving these organisms, but various filter
ing materials as coke and animal and
vegetable charcoal-are now known to be
very efficient when frequently renewed
Agitation of the water in contact with
Similar porous solids has considerable eff
feet, while the precipitation process for
softening water with lime produces reduc-
ton of SO per cent in the number of micro
organisms. Natural filtration makes the
water of many deep wells almost entirely
free from organic impurities. For num-
Der of months the water supplied to London
has been regularly tested, and during the
last four months of the past year the puri-
fication processes employed were found to
remove from SO to SO per cent of the invisi.
Bile life forms crowding the water of the
Thames and the Sea.
TREES AS HoUsE-PLANTs.-A very pretty
ornament for the house or lawn is dwarfed
white oak, some enthusiasts making verit |
able pets of these miniature lords of the
forest These plants are readily raised in
flower pots from the acorns, and require no
attention except watering. The dwarfing
OF the tree is effected by cutting off the tap
root every spring for few years, this pro-
cess keeping the tree of diminutive size
while it does not prevent the ordinary de-
velopment of new branches.
Salts of copper-usually regarded as very
poisonous-have been administered by a
French chemist to dogs and rabbits without
from long-continued regular use of the
substances.
POLAR ICE.-The ice of Arctic regions.
according to Major Greedy, does not usual
" form to greater thickness than five feet.
but in Baffin's Bay, the Greenland Sea and
parts OF tho Arctic Ocean thicker masses
IRE produced by the jamming together of
1oes, which are thus piled up and become
frozen together. The ice of the Polar Sea
u OF almost inconceivable roughness, and
Is doubted whether any explorer has ever
cen three hundred square yards of it that
s Lowell
INDIAN RICE.-An instructive display at
he newly opened Colonial Exhibition in
london is that of the rice of Indian, which
Includes ten thousand different varieties,
IL belonging to single species. All colors
70 represented, from black to pale yellow
nd white. Two species of wild rice are ,
noWn, only one of which closely resembles
be cultivated varieties.
believers in the necessity to health Of
pring bitters will be interested in the in
estigations Of DR.. Cheltsoff, reputable
European physician, who has found that
be common bitter extracts really act iniu-
iously in retarding digestion, while there
re no beneficial effects.
In an address at the London Roval Tn. =
tuition, Mr.. VIM. Anderson has offared
le suggestion that cork, on account of it's
orosity, may prove to be superior to India.
lbber as material for waterproof over.
,ats.
The thickness of the earth's crust is be-
eved by Mons. Faye, the French geologist
, be greater under oceans than haneath |
,ntinents, because the earth's heat has al
avs radiated more freely there.
A favorite project with Peter the Great !
'ems likely to be carried out at last, the
ussian authorities having resolved to COM
ence work this year on canal between
le White Sea and the Baltic Sea.