The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-05-04
SCIENTIFIC SQUIBS.

Pullman. Ills, Is TO have an electric belt
railroad five miles long.
The direct action OF steam ut 2l2 degs. -
| sufficient 10 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
oiuos. The price is high, but the demand Is
very great.
Tho largest known flower is the Rsesia,
native of Sumatra. IL measures three feet al
diameter, weighs fifteen pounds ana has
calyx holding six quarts. The odor Is often
sive.
Railways are said to consume more than
half the worlds production of iron, the car
wheels required in the United States alone
taking more than 100000 tons.
Mr. Magnns Volk has applied electricity TO
rropcl do- cart The current Is provided
| bv sixteen accumulators capable Of keeping
/ w supply ior six hours. The cart travels
nine miles an hour on asphalt
About 80 colors are now obtained from
coal tar. which have almost entirely sup
planted vegetable and animal dyes. Indigo
and logwood are the only two OF the former
/ class considered OF much importance.
An elcctro-magnot with carrying capac-
| tv Of 500 pounds is attached 10 crane IN
| the Cleveland Steel works, which readily
hicks up billets and other masses of iron with
out the aid Of any other device boy Is
thus enabled 10 do the work OF "A dozen men.
A patent has been granted in England for
tie manufacture of vinegar from tomatoes.
| The fruit, when ripe, or nearly SO, is reduced
| t. a pulp and STEPPED in water for twenty
/ four hours Theresulting liquor is drawn of,
sugar added. and the whole allowed to fer
mcnt
/ OF eighty-eieht species If weeds described
/ bv Mr.. l. H. Pammel of ~. Louis, as GROW
/ ing in southwestern Wisconsin and south
eastern Missouri. iortv-six are OF European
and thirty Of American origin. Ono-thlrd Of
the latter class. and nearly one-fourth Of the
,ntire list, are composites.
OIL seems to wear out by long continued
use. and Ia lose To- some extent its lubricating
qualities. II has been suggested as a reason
| for this that the minute spherical ciobues Of
which tine oil is conceived ~ be made up. be-
Il
! {, me nattcucd los the wear and pressure, aud
So ,io not slide and roll over each other as
easily as before.
Dr. Otto Witt, a German authority, az
tachos some importance TO q troublesome silk
simmer OF "Grcula triltlc tuta'--
/ from which an excellent fiber has been OBJ
tanned. This silk worm is extraordinarily
productive, the living being surviving two
generations in one year, and it forms "a ncU
! land remarkable source oi raw material for
| the silk industry
An approximate Idea OF the amount Of
mancane,- contained Ina steel can Doe gscgr-
tanned los means oil the magnet A MAGNET
CAPABLE Of lifting thirty pounds OF ordinary
/ steel or iron viii only htt few miii-rams If
tine metal contain 20 per cent. ~ manganese.
So small quantity as = per cent a. man
eanc,e will nearly neuTaize the magnetic
attraction
interesting dey .opmcntm photography
| is IN the use OF clockwoik IN printing from
negative. By this mean, "a continuous web
Of sensitizcd paper IS drawn az suitable in
teryals under a negative exposed 90 q ource
Of light. After printing the paper Is drawn,
still by the mechanism. through "waaner,"
toner" aud ''fixer' succe siycly. andappeaH
finally as a series of finished pictures ready
for mounting, aud AN alike ineXposurc, color
and tone.