Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-07-01
For sale by the publishers.
ActPnfiHc.

/ A gold medal is offered by the Italian So
! celv for the Advancement Of Electrical
Science tor the best paper on electro'mog-
nets, considered mere particularly with a
view to their application 10 dyaamos.
Many experiments In burning brick with
| oil in place OF wood are being made by
manufacturers Of brick along the Hudson
river. II The new method proves 10 be
practical il is estimated that there will be
saving Of 40 per cent Effected. The main
diaculty il in the "drying.OiI" process.
! One result Of using oil instead Of wood will
| he the preservation Of thousands OF acres OF
| forests.
I'm view Of the celebration in 1892 OF the
| iour-hundredth anniversary OF the discovery
OF America the Italian Government has de-
cided, on the suggestion OF The Minister OF
! Instruction. 20 collect and publish all the
documents aud charts relating TO Christopher
| Columbus. The vast undertaking IL TO be
carried out by senator C0rrenti. With the as
sisiauce Of learned commission.
Que OF the most interesting and practical
methods OF utilizing the heat OF the sun is
that recently invented by Professor Morse,
OF Salem, Mass. The arrangement consists
! OF shallow box, the bottom OF which Is Of
corrugated IRON and the top OF glass. This
Is placed outside the building IN snch posi-
ton that the sun shines directly upon II; the
heat rays OF the sun pass through the glass
and are absorbed by tue iron, heating 1t to a
Hhigh temperature. and by system OF ventt'
lltiou current Of air is passed through the
apparatus and into the room to be heated.
BY this means the air has been heated on
sunny days to about 90' Fahrenheit by
passing over the iron.
ba, ON
lived a specimen OF black gold, obtained
from the nugget rocks at Maldon, Victoria,
found 10 the granite veins which are met
with In the quartz OF ibis country. When
first broken the ore ia crystalline, maileable,
and OF silvery appearance, hut on being
EXPOSED 10 tb6 air il becomes dull and black
ems. Running through Sieve eliminates
the blSmulh, and leaves the pure gold. Mr..
MacIyor's analysis gives Its composition as
follows: Gold, Ci.2ll per cent; hlsmutb,
34.30S per cent. silicate matter, 1881 per
cent. The black gold Is, therefore, in reality
natural alloy Of gold and bismuth.
Ayerv useful application has been recently
made OF the action Of an elecrro-magnet in
attracting end holding iron upon It's poles so
long as the current is passing. In mills or
shops where May bars or pieces OF iron OF
any shspe are 10 be lifted or moved, well
nigh haiti the labor consists IN getting The
chain around the load before the hoist Is
brought into requisltlon. Az electromagnetic.
aciuated by dynamo or even by battery,
can easily be made to M several hundred
pounds. and A. the iron will adhere tightly
TO the magnet without any binding cham ii
Is only necessary 10 attach the magnet to the
fan in place Of the hook and drop 1t upon
The article 10 be moved. Then the lifting
anDinp u IN lo MS work
II is not from America, but from France,
that the cOlosssl proposal comes for pre-
pairing a catalogue OF $2,000,000 stars. This
bold conception eManates from Dr. Gill,
whose Astronomical observations at the Cape
and elsewhere have produced some notable
results, aud VINO has put forth his scheme
for a star catalogue on this gigantic scale In
the organ OF the Bureau OF the Permanent
international Committee for the execution OF
Photographic map Of the heavens. DIR.
Gill contemplales the establishment OF CEN
trail Office under the direction OF chief,
with assistant secretaries, aud statf OF
measLrers aud computers. The work, 1t Is
calculated, would occupy twenty-five years.
Admiral MOuches. who defends the proposal
against some rather fierce opposition which
Il bas provoked, saws that the proposed eata-
logue would cost s4,000.00O.