The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-01-29
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

The hundrcth anniversary of the in
PRODUCTION of the potato into France i
soon Ia be celebrated.
Chemically prepared palmetto fibeI
has successfully stood remarkable test.
rs II covering for underground wires.
A new apparatus called the .'meldo
meter" is designed for the microscopic
study of minerals in II state of fusion.
BY the addition of Il small ~percentag,
OF cobalt the ~tenacity of copper is great
~ incrcascd-even as much Us fifty t.
one hundred per cent. according t.
Mons. Guillemin. The alloys are al
red.
The continuous heating of cast iron
for several days i'm II vacuum. withou,
melting. is found by Mons. l.. Forquig.
non 10 cause the metal tn become MALE.
able, with Il uniformly black surface,
dotted with black grains of a%morphous
graphite.
a remarkable dust-shower which fell
in Italy one night in October is thought
by Father DenZa, of the Observatory of
Moncalieri to have been of metcoric
origin. BY others the sand is supposed
To have come from the distant Sahara.
in certain Austrian coal-mines work
is suspended in dangerous places during
Il fall of the barometer. experiments
still in progress having shown that the
quantity and intensity of explosive gases
greatly increase as the atmospheric
pressure diminishes.
Trouvelot finds some reason for be-
lieving that he has seen Il second new
star in the Andromnda nchula. With Il
comparatively small telescope. he now
observes a thirteenth magnitude star
which the large instrument of the Har-
ward College Observatory failed To show
him in 1874.
The production of magnesium having
been cheapcned by a new clectrolytic
process. efforts are being made in Europe
To extend lis Use us u source of light.
Two prizcs-Sl25 and S50-havc been
offered 10y Il Bremen firm for the best
designs for magnesium lamp with clock
work movement.
Recent observations, according to Mr..
+. Il. Miers, of the British Museum, show
that crabs do not reach great depths in
the ocean. The Challenger expedition
obtained few specimens from points
more than 400 fathoms below the sur
face. and only Il single specimen was
found ut II depth of 1000 fathoms.
During eighteen asccntS of lofty
mountains-from 5000 to $4,000 feet in
height-Mons. Vernet has made a num-
Der OF physiological observations on
himself. He finds that the strong eXer-
tion-both III mounting and descending
-causeil an average rise in bodily tenn
pcraturc of about three degrees; Il rise
in the pulse from about 70 TO SO in Il
mute and an increase in respiration
from about u to % i'm Il minute.
Near Burgbrohl on the Rhine Il bore
hole about l75 feet deep Yields II large
and steady supply of carbonic acid gas.
which Is now compressed in wrought
iron vessels and used for various purpo-
seS. Its enormous expansion is employed
by MeSsrs. krupp at Essen for compress
sing steel and other casts, and it is also
so utilized for Imprcgiiiting beer and
natural wafer, for fire-eNtinguisfring APP
paratuS. as Il motor force for torpcdOes,
etc.
In Il new engraving machine. Lieut..
Il. Carter. of London, has made IN in
teresting application of electricity. The
machine is chiefly intended for decora-
tive work upon metals. and rapidly pro-
duccs higll-iinished results. The words
or designs TO be engraved are first fur
niShcd by Il setting of ornamental types
or stereotype plate. a fine platinum
point traycrscS this, lis motion being re-
spondcd To by n table carrying the metal
TO Ice engraved under the point of the
graver. As the platinum point is raised
or let down by the design an electric
current acting upon an electromagnetic,
produces II corresponding movement of
the gravcr. which is thus made To accu-
cut in the metal an enlarged OF
reduced cOpN of the typpS.