Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-09-04
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Electricity is now applied to the bleach
| ing of cotton and linen fabrics.
The Lumber World says that oiling wood
with linseed oil or even with coal oil or
kerosene, will protect it from worms.
The camphor laurel, from which the
camphor gum of commerce is obtained,
has been successfully introduced into Cali
| fornia 1t is native OF China.
| Paper gas and water pipes have recently
| been exhibited in Vienna. 1t is claimed
| that they will resist an internal pressure of
| 200 pounds. although they are only about
| half an inch thick.
The bed of the ocean, says a foreign
| writer, is to an enormous extent covered
with lava and pumice stone. Still more
remarkable is it to find the floor of the
ocean covered in many parts with the dust
of the meteorites.
A bridge of concrete, thirty feet in span,
W tn a roadway thirteen feet wide. and
capable of supporting safely load of 200
| tons, was recently built in Switzerland in
single day. Two months time was allowed
| for the complete hardening of the concrete,
after which time heavy traffic began with
out apparent injury to the structure.
To polish plates glass and remove slight
scratches, rub the surface gently, ilrst with
q clean pad of white cottonwood, and alter
ward with a similar pad covered with cot
ton velvet which has been charged with
fine rouge. The surface will, under this
| treatment, acquire polish OF great brill
fancy, quite free from any scratches
| Various tests of the new French horse
shoe. which is made entirely of Sleeps
/! horn. show its value for horses used in
towns and known TO have an unsteady foot
on payements. Horses thus shod have
been driven at q rapid pace on pavements
without slipping Besides this advantage,
| il is said to be more durable and but.a trifie
more expensive than the ordinary horse
shoe.
With a lens made of rock salt it may be
possible to photograph in the dark. The
| photographic Ne,rs states that Abney has
! succeeded in preparing plates which are
sensitive to the rays lying beyond the red
end of the spectrum. the dark heat rays,
and with such plates used with rock salt
lens there should be possibility of photo
graphing bodies which possess high tenn
perature, although that temperature may
| be far below that needed TO render them
| self-luminous.
An invention which, it is claimed b. gas
engineers, will reyolutionize the present
system of gas-lighting has Just been per-
| fected BY DR.. Amer in the chemical labora
tory of the Vienna University. Briefly
described, the invention may be said to
consist in rendering cotton wick inconl-
bustible by impregnating it with metallic
LIQUID. Thus treated the wick, instead OF
burning. merely CLOVIS, emitting radiance
not unlike that of the electric light. The
whole process is very simple, and the great
advantage Of the invention is that 1t may
be applied to any gas-ourner.
The Pail MdH Gazette says the latest vic
tory in the long drawn match between the
gun and the armor plate has been scored
in favor of the armor. At Spezzia Ger
man chilled steel armor plate, feet
inches in thickness, weighing 100 tons, was
fixed against the face of the cliff and bat
tered With chilled shot from l0O-ton gun.
4 thundefbolt weighing nearly ton was
hurled against the face Of the plate by the
explosion of 750-weight of powdeS, without
producing more than slight indentation
and some trifiing cracks. Three shots
failed to make any serious impression on
the plate. which has thus come off victor in
the struggle 1t would seem that no shot
yet invented would go through six feet OF
chilled steel.
Few persons, perhaps, are aware that