The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-01-23
POPULAR SCIENCE.

working Parisians average Less
in stature than their idle neighbors.
The sounds of the heart have been. re.
corded and reproduced by the phono-
graph.
To remove rust from steel, take one
half ounce of emery powder mixed with
one ounce of soap and rub we'll.
A French subterranean river has been
explored for mile or more by N. Marte!,
who derives from his Investigations a
theory of the origin of canons.
The progress of the science of making
perfumes is so rapid IN America that the
manufacturer will soon be independent
of flowers for his sweet-smelling essences.
Professor Ayrton estimates that the
power wasted at Niagara Falls exceeds
that which could he produced By the
annual consumption of $50, 900, 900 tons
of coal.
The microscope often reveals impuri-
ties in diamonds, particles of organic
matter and bubbles of gas being common:
Quartz, chlorite, pyrite, hematite and
topaz have also been seen.
Hydrogen is shown by experiments of
DR.. B. W. Richardson to be neither an
anaesthetic nor hypnotic, but if inhaled
so as to be taken up by the blood 1t
quickly kills warm blooded animals. but
suspends life in cold blooded animals for
long time before actually destroying it.
M. Spring, the French physicist, finds
that the preservation of rails in use IS
not the result of vibratory motion, or of
an electric action produced by the pas
sage of the trains, but is due to the
formation of coating of magnetic oxide
by the compression of the rest on the
metal.
Langley finds that hardly one fourth
of the solar energy, as we receive 1t, is
visible; while Hertz astonishes the Ger
man physicists by showing that, although
the visible violet rays of the spectrum
have no influence on electric discharges,
the disruptive effects of such discharges
are increased by the dark ultra violet
rays.
The British Me7ical Journal mentions
report made TO the Central Board OF
Health at Melbourne. Australia, describ-
ing an outbreak of diphtheria in which
the cases occurred almost simultaneously
in the neighborhood of Daylesford. The
local health officers report presents
strong prima facie evidence that the
children contracted the the disease from
cats, numbers of which animals were
dying in the neighborhood.
A variation of DR.. o. J. Lodges ex.
periments on the electric deposition OF
dust has been tried by NJ. Soret. Of
Geneva. Steam submitted to electric
discharges was instantly precipitated,
and when the pole of the electric ma.
chine was sufficiently near the surface OF
the water-the other pole being attached
to the platinum cup used for the boiling
the steam was condensed as rapidly
as formed, presenting the anomaly OF
steamless boiling water.
The wave motor, which was begun at
Point Lobos, Cal. about three years ago,
is nearly completed. AS described by a
San Francisco paper 'lt is machine
for utilizing the dashing in OF the waves
by turning their power into practical use,
such as furnishing water for sprinkling
the streets, flushing the sewers, and even
driving cable cars. Only one piston has
been put in as yet. This pumps at the
rate of three barrels minute. The
motor will run from eighteen to twenty
hours per day, and if the wind and tide
are favorable can be worked throughout
the whole twenty.four."