Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-18
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Ron Fibre-New insuistor-s Bal mil :,
Germany - cheap aluminium - Mexico,
N0untaIns-Ligh'n ming and Rain >isa,.

On Monday evening, 18th. the u,o,
will be 10 conjunction with the pIsr-.
Jupiter, and on Tuesday evening. ljtb
! with the planet Mars. There arr n,
other astronomical phenomena Of I'm.
portauce for this week.
| The hop is now receiving great ds7r
of attention in FrHnce as tIre p,gp,
| Il makes fue cordage ana i. sa,t
to turn ont paper stock equal in ev,-r
respect to The best MANILA. B'eavb.i
! properly IL works TO perfection Us "A s;3r.
! for the finer papers. The FreEch p-orl4
are pronounring upon it as a most vain.
able crop without taking the fruI atAl
! into consideration.
/ The discovery OF Il new insulating M.
| terial To be employed i'll ussJcmtlna With
! electricity Is reported from London. |;
I is suid TO have nll the qualities ~ su,,,
| perc In but with u higher dielrytrir r.
| sistence. The discovery was mn!r bv
| DR.. Purcell Taylor, II name well known
to scientists. The doctor calls il '.par.
cellite. They say it Is exrepdinsiT
tough and elustic. capable OF bring rivru
any color, and of being made either
| flexible or rigid. and ito be ouiy one
| f"rrirth rs expensive as gutta pprrhs.
We have no Information with references
| TO it beyond this mere ANNOUNCEMENT.
-.
The German chemists, who nor Iona
ago discovered the sweetest substance
known TO the world, which the called
snccnhrine. are sud TO have Reached tn.
other extreme i'll the discovery Of tn,
| worst smelling substance ever before
dreamed of by nnv mans phi.osouhy.
The cities in which the experiments, hive
been goIug on have promptly closet down
on their work. The new pro luct hgs
been obtained from the renciinu of sui
phurated hydrogen on acet0ue. They
got an entirely new bod, which seem.
10 be monosulphuratei ucetone, or tni-
oketone. 1t was impossible, however,
TO obtain the subiauce pure on ucrouut
OF its odor, which makes ali other fau.
smells sweet by comparison. and eu;iile.
this compound hntrvpr II is-te
rank Us the worst smelling substance
known. In the attempts made to purify
the product, with every prerauuou to
prevent its escape, the atmosphere abou.
the laboratory was go infected TO Il i.s-
tance of ut least Il quarter of III l. TIM.
the town made il necessary TO abandon
the investigation.
One might think that nothing Of In
rortance could spring from this newly
discovered bad smell stirred up in Ger
muny, but already its usefulness is being
widely discussed In the war department
of that country. Tnev claim that when
h.as hats I'D he
science into manageable shape it wi he
inclOSed in shells to be exploded in the
camps aud fortresses of the enemy.
While this style of warfare may prove
wonderfully effective il will rertuiuly not
stand out with much prominence as re-
sort TO any new principle in animal war
fure. -.
1t has long been known that valuable
metal called aluminium existed III COM
mon cluys, but way OF getting it ont
chpnply could not be found. Since 1855,
many prominent chemists have BEEN
devoting their whole time to delvinR
after it. AT last Mr.. Eugene II. Cowles
Of Cleveland. Ohio. claims to have made
the much coveted discovery. According
to the New York Times we are now 10
have pure metal made by new pro-
cess that is radically different from any
thing yet known to netallurgists-a pro-
cess that 10 ridiculousy simple III opera
ton and almost Theoretically perfect.
By reason of two chemical discoveries
it Is found that the pure meta.
eau be extracted direct from
the clay. This can be done without the
use of electrical heat. When operated
on as large IL scale Us that on which IRON
,~li tIfN
at cost permitting it to sell al S2lJ per
ton, n price less than the present price
OF copper. Extensive works for turning
out the new metal are 20 be put into
operation without delay.
The height of the great mountain peaks
In Mexico has just been settled by Il
scientific expedition cent out for that
purpose under Angelo Heilprin. II Is nov
fully established that the highest prsd IL
Mexico is Orizaba or the 'Star Noun
tain.'' aud not Popocatepe,I as nus
heretofore been supposed. the former
being 700 feet the highest rs POO fre'
above the sea). Popocatepe;I comes
uext, then lxtuccihauutl, which Is 5IJ
feet lower than Popocatepetl. Measure
ments Of other peaks further north are
soon to be taken with a view TO deridng
upon which is the highest peak III NORTH
America. From the present ouilo'A
scientists are beg inning TO feel ilH'
Mexico will carry of the palm. There Il
now remaining but one chance for Ges--
ing MEXICO, aud that lies 10 ALASKA.
A gentleman came to the writer o.
these notes few days ago and sao
lightning had often struck on his place.
and therefore he felt sure that there
were minerals in the ground. We
have heard that kind of thing often be-
fore, but it is nil nonsense. No metals
(what the man neanD have any speclai
attractions for lightning, where they liz
in al Isolated kind of condition. HhFH
''tbuuder cloud comes up heavily
charged With electricity, that electricity
leaps to the earth at the first poiIt wnefs
10 offered the most direct conductor. Fo'
instance, il your place slopes off III LEE
direction whence the cloud Is colDI1s
there Is danger, but il 1t happens
slope the other way, and there is hi2hei
land or high trees between you aud 'hs
approaching cloud, there is no 0ange'
whatever. When lightning leuye'
cloud for the earth it has It's cour''
marked out at starting, as it were; tns =
il, il starts for the earth, on the route "
least Resistance, or over u way that W.
hiring IL to SOmet hing DIRECTLY C.Cnuectet.