Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-11
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Short and Pointed Notes on Many Subj ,c,s
of Interest.

of Interest.
Pullman, H., Is to have an electric bel,
railroad five miles long.
The direct action of steam st 2l2' is
sufficient to destroy all germs in from five
TO fifteen minutes. The efficacy Of heated
dry air is Uncertain.
Waste silk has been shown to be the
most effective non-conductive covering
for steam pipes. The price is high, but
tle demand is very great.
The largest known flower Is the R.ffi.
esis, native Of Sumatra. It measures
three fee. in diameter, weighs fifteen
pounds and has a csly1 holding six
quarts. The odor is offensive.
Railways are ssid to consume more
than half the worlds production of iron,
the car wheels required by the United
States alone taking more than 100000
tons.
Mr.. Msguus Volk has applied cleo
tricity to propel dog cart. The current
is provided by sixteen accumulators esp
sble Of keeping up supply for six hours
The cart travels nine miles an hour on
asphalt.
About $50 colors are now obtained
from cosl-tar, which have almost entirely
supplanted vegetable and animal dyes
Indigo and logWood are the only two of
the latter class considered of much i'm
portsnce.
An electro-magnet with q carving
capacity OF 800 pounds is attached to a
crane in the c. evelsnd Steel Works, which
readily picks up billets ant other masses
of iron without the aid of any other de-
vice. A boy is thus enabled to do the
work OF dozen men.
A patent has been granted in England
for the msnufacture Of vinegar from
tomatoes. The fruit, when ripe, or nearly
SO, is reduced to pulp and STEPPED in
water for twenty-four hours. The re-
sulsipg liquor is drawn OF, sugar added,
and the whole allo wed to ferment.
OF eighty-eight species of weeds de-
scribed by Mr.. L. H. Pammel of ST.
Louis as growing in Southwestern Wis
consin and Southeastern Missouri forty
! six are of European and thirty OF Ameri-
Can origin. One-third of the latter Glass.
and nearly one-fourth of the entire list,
are composites.
OIL seems to wear ont by long cen
tinued use, and to lose to some extent its
lubricatlng qualities. 1t has been sug-
gested as reason for this that the
minute spherical globules of which the
oil is conceived to be made up become
fattened oy the wear and pressure, and
so do not slide and roll over each other as
easily IS btfore.
DR.. Otto Witt. German authority, at
taches some importance to troublesome
silk spinner Of India-"GTieula trifenes-
trats"-ffom which an excellent fibre has
"a &c oil b tc
ORDINARILY productive, the living being
surviving two generations in one year,
and ii forms new and remarkable source
Of raw material for the silk industry.
An approximate idea of the amount OF
manganese contained in steel can be as.
certained by means of the magnet. A
magnet capable Of lifting thirty pounds
Of ordinary steel or iron will only lift a
few milligrams If the metal contain 90
per cent. Of manganese. So small 8
qusntity as per cent. Of manganese will
nearly neulral.z. the magnetic attrsc-
ton.
An interesting development in photo
graphy is in the use Of clockwork in
printing from nega ives. By this
means continuous web of sensitiz I'd pa
per is drawn at suitable intervals under q
negative exposed 10 source OF light. |
After printing the paper is drawn, still by
the mechanism, through "washer,"
"toner"ord "fxer" successfully, and ap-
pears finally as series of finished pic
lures ready for mounting, and all alike in
exposure, color and tone.
A new system of sewage works has
been put into operation st Henley-on-
Than g, Eogland. Its object is to avoid
the discharge of the sewage into the river
which can no longer be allowed-and
lift 10 level which will permit it to be
used for irrigation. Electors are
placed in different parts Of
the town to receive the sewage,
and from there it is forced by compressed |
sir into tanks about a mile distant, and |
$50 feet higher in elevation. The method |
is not costly, has proved practicable, and |
may offer successful solution Of the |
question of the disposal CT the sewage Of |
lying towns.
According to Professor Goul0's inves-
LEGATIONS it appears that aerial telegraph |
wires on poles trans nit electricity At the |
rate of from 1900 to $1,000 miles
per second, and that the velocity
OF transmission increases with the dis
lance between the wires and the earth;
or, in other words, with the height OF
suspension; and that subterraneap wires,
like submarine cables, transmit with
reduced rapidity. Agsin, while wires
at feeble height are known
to transmit signals st velocity of some
1900 miles per second, those that are
suspended higher give q velocity Of from
10, 600 to "a 600 miles. Wheats.one's |
claims to 2SS 900 miles il his experiments
appears never to have been confirmed.
new torpedo boat of the "second |
class" has been completed by MessIs
Yarrow. 1t is IS feet long by 8 feet 8 !
inches beam, with q displacement of 10t
tons light and Il tons when loaded; and |
o speed OF 16 knots. Her ermame Mt is |
the same as in the first boat-namel y, the |
swivel torpedo tube and couple Of small |
Nordenfelt gcns, sn on deck. The object |
of the government in ordering this boat |
was that it might compare her perform
ances and efficiency with those OF the |
larger craft, In order to deter |
mine which Ct tia two should De the pat |
tern for future boats OF the class. A |
successful iun was made with the new
boat on the Thames, the naval represent
atives Of several foreign governments be-
ing on board.-E English Mechanic.
A srus art is claimed AZ development |
of the familiar diversion Of making |
rude figures by the shadow Of the hands |