Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-30
POPCLAR SCIENCE.

Railroad sleepers of cast glass by the Sic
mems method are a possibility OF the near
future.
Powdered camphor added to oil or tur-
pentine varnish will allow it to spread
more easily
By the aid of electricity atmosphere
heavily charged with dust and smoke can
be instantly cleared.
Shellac and borax boiled in water sup
ply shades of yellowish brown and brown
ish red well adapted to the painting of
floors.
The japanese have 800 miles of railroad
in operation, some of which was built by
native engineers. They also make their
own cars.
Glass flooring continues to grow in favor
for public buildings. Its first cost is greater
than wood flooring, but its greater dura-
biity renders it far cheaper in the end.
Professor Manassein recommends The wa
termelon as a cheap but effective substitute
for grapes in the treatment OF chronic con-
gestion of the liver, chronic intestinal ca
tarrh and similar affections.
Glaciers, the ice-rivers of lofty mountains,
have been found to move downward from
one or two inches to over fifty day, from
ten to twenty inches day in summer be-
| ing most common. The rate in winter is
about half that of summer.
! A genius with a taste for statistics has
| figured out that the average newspaper
writer makes 100000 strokes with his pen
each year, or a line 300 miles long. A
rapid penman draws his pen through 16!
/ feet every minute. In forty minutes his
! pen travels a furlong.
At recent meeting of the Royal Micro
| scopical Society, London. Professor Bell,
at the request of the President, gave an ac-
count of what he regarded as the most ex-
traordinary biological fact brought to light
during the last twenty-five years-the ex-
istence of a third eye at the top of the head
of certain lizards.
The 600 tornadoes recorded show that
| their whirl is almost invariably in the same
| direction-opposite the hands of watch
and their onward movement with US is
nearly always northeastward. Their ia
vorite time Of day is known, and a tabu
lated list of 162 shows nearly two-t thirds be-
tween and 5 P. NJ.
The following are instructions for max
| ing q mixture Tor coating blackboards
Dissolve one pound of shellac in one gallon
of spirits of wine, 95 per cent; when dis
solved add one-half pound of best ivory
]
one-quarter pound ultramarine blue. Mix
and put i'll stoppered bottle; shake well
each time the brush is dipped into the mix
ture.
Dr. Dawson. in the Rocky mountains,
has discovered remarkable jurasso- creta-
ceous flora. 1t is found in sandstones,
shales and conglomerates, with seams OF
coal. The beds lie in troughs of the paleo-
zoic formations and extend for 100 miles
north and south. The plants are conifers,
cycoda and ferns. Some are identical with
species from the jurassic of Siberia and the
lower cretaceous of Greenland.
Investigations by DR.. r. Won Helmholtz,
described to the Berlin Royal Society, con-
firm the statements that the formation OF
clouds in saturated air is induced solely by
particles of dust, and that the finer and
sparser are the dust particles the more
slowly is the cloud formed. These
results are also confirmatory of Professor
Tyndall's explanation that the blue color
of the sky is due to floating dust.
By observing how far the sun has to sink
beneath the horizon before the topmost
summit of the air is cut off from the rays
Monsieur Bravais, some years ago, deter
mined the greatest upward limit of twi-
light to be 37S,000 feet, or nearly seventy
the earth's shadow on the moon during
eclipses, astronomers had inferred that the
atmosphere must be sufficiently dense to
produce twilight for at least 100000 feet
from the earth's surface.
The now completed Severn tunnel is not
only pronounced one Of the greatest eDgi-
neering works of the age, but remarkable
also in one feature of its construction
namely, that of passing under an arm Of
the sea. The tunnel extends from New
Passage to Portskewet, distance of about
two and one-half miles under the water
It's entire length, exclusive of approaches
being ABOUT four and one-half miles, re-
curing thirteen years to build.
In both the gas Jet and the little bulb
enclosed iilaments glowing under the infu
ence of an electric current light is pro
dUced by the incaadeScence of intensely
heated sIlids. The carbon particles Of gas
are rendered incandescent by the heat gen
Grated by the combustion of other mole
cules; and in the electric lamp the friction
of the current compelled TO pass through
fine carbon fiiament heats the flamen
to incandestence and produces light.
h fayorite form of manufacturing quart
crystals is the sphere, and very valuable or
account of the rarity of large masses OF per
Gectly clear stone One of the largest and
most perfect balls of crystal known is 6!
inches in diameter, and is now in Dresden
The finest ball in this country is owned by
r. E. Moore, measuring 6.625 inches, ant
is valued at $1,000. So rare are the large
pieces of fine quartz that one dealer is sale
to keep standing offer of 81 900 for mate
rial for a live-inch ball, 81 800 for one o
five and 4 half inches, and $4,000 for {
seventh h ball.
The Lancet makes a distinction between
what it calls the use and the abuse of to
bacco. The man who can say, p" Away:
know when | have smoked enough-if
go beyond the just limit lose my powe
of prompt decision" is one, it suggests
who had better not smoke at all; but g {
moderate use of tobacco soothes the sense:
and leaves the mental faculties free from
irritation, and ready for calmly clear in
teile> tual processes. When this is not tht
effect produced by smoking, the weed hac
better be eschewed.''
Liquid oxygen, in small quantities, ha:
been produced By q number Of experiment
ers, but it is only recently that soliditiec
oxygen has been obtained. This interest
ing experiment was performed by Profes
sor Dewar at the Royal Institute a shor
time ago. 1t was accomplished by allow
ing liquid oxygen to expand into partial
vacuum, when the enormous absorption O
heat which accompanies the expansion re
suited in producing the solid substance
The oxygen in this condition resembles
snow. and has temperature of 2000 G. be
low the freezing point of water.
Oak may be dyed black by the following
process Immerse the wood for torty-eigh
. hours in hot saturated solution of alum
and then brush it over with logwood de
COTTON as follows Boil one part Of the bes
logwood with ten parts Of water, filtel
through linen and eyaporate at a gentle
heat until the volume is reduced one-half
To every quart of this add from ten to IF
teen drops of saturated solution of indigo
After applying this dye to the wood rut
the latter with a saturated and filtered solu
ton of verdigris in hot concentrated aceti'
acid, and repeat the operation until blacl
of the desired intensity is obtained.
Letters or envelopes which 1t is desired
. to protect against unauthorized opening %.
moistening the pasted portion) may be Sc
curely sealed by using solution of oxid
of copper in ammonia as paste. Thi
liquid has the faculty of dissolying the Gel
lulose. When applied to the paper it dis
solves the cellulose on the surface, and OF
drying the two partially dissolved surface
adhere indissolubly together. The sam
thing may be accomplished by using waite
glass (silicate of soda or potassal. In thi
case the chemical action is different, bu