Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1891-08-27
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

J cylinders-might lead to seriou
! disaster in case of the breaking on
of fire.
The medical student in the I'm
, versity of Coimbra, Portugal, mus
take course of fourteen years be
fore getting his degree. To tn
ordinary education six years ar
given, to a preliminary scientific
course three years, and to purel,
medical studies five years.
A recent discovery of old English
weights and measure includes thu
two standard yards of 176S anC
1760, supposed to have been des
troyed by fire in 1884. The most
important missing weight-the
standard troy pounds not among
those now brougt to light.
A substance having all the essen
tial qualities of silk has been made
from wild hemp by Nayemura
SSakusabura, of HRons, Japan. The
plant grows on moors and nllllsides,
and could be cultivated. The fbrS
is strong and glossy, and several
silk factories are said to have found
it to be in no way inferior to silk.
About a dozen rocks in the valley
of the Lunain, France, are covered
with smooth burrows running in
various directions. ii. Armand
Vice supposes these burrows to haye
been used at an early epoch for
finishing off stone hatchets, though
superstitious residents regard them
as scratchings Of the devils claws.
A long study of the parallax of
Arcturus has led Dr. Elkin, of Yale
University, to conclude that this
star travels with the inconceivable
velocity of 3S1 miles a second, or 81
times faster than the earth moves in
its orbit round the sun. Arcturus
proves to be so distant that its light
travelling 100000 miles a second,
must take 181 years to reach US.
The Paris Society for the En-
courgement of National Industry
has offered prize of 5000 francs for
the discovery of substance partially
or wholly taking the place of gutta
percha, or for advance in the culture
of the gutta percha tree. A prize
of 1000 francs is to be given for the
best apparatus or method of measur-
ing the insulation of an electrical
plant under full current.
A new and promising combustible
from ignite, of which there are
practically inexhaustible deposits in
Italy, has been tried in Rome. A
locomotive was easily driven with
heavy train, up the steepest grades,
with little greater consumption of
fuel than was necessary when the
ordiDary-and much more expensive
coal was used. A brilliant gas is
also obtained from Ignite.
A CURIOUS BOTANICAL LIBRARY.
A beautiful collection in the
museum at Cassel, Prussia, is that
of 500 different European tyees, ar
ranged in the form of a library.
Each specimen is in the shape of a
book. The back is formed of the
bark of the tree; the sides, of the
perfect wood; the top, of the young
wood, with narrow rings; the bottom
of old wood, with rings wider apart.
The volume Is little box, contain
nag the flowers, seed, fruit and
leaves of the tree, either dried or
initiated in wax.
FAR RUBBER.
Until recently the residue remain
ing after refining tar with sulphu1c
acid has been regarded as worthless,
but is now worked up into a black
and somewhat elastic substance re-
sembling asphalte. When dissolved
in naphtha this forms a very durable
waterproof varnish. After prolonged
to high heat, the new rub
Der is reduced in volume about sixty
per cent. becomes hard like ebonite
and very elastic, and under different
names is applied to various uses. 1t
is a good non-conductor, and is
therefore available for insulating.
A PHENOMENON EXPLAINED.
A well known chemical fact is
that, although commercial metals
are soluble in acids, pure metals arc
not, DR.. Weeren explains this curl
Gus anomaly by pointing out that
the pure metals when dipped in the
acid become quickly surrounded |!
with protecting film of hydrogen. |
There is slight action on INNER
sion, but it ceases after few sec
onds. When the escape of the by
drogen is aided by performing the
in a vacuum, or the ny
drogen is caused to combine with |
oxygen, the metals are attacked.
A SCIENTIFIC PLAYGROUND.
An amusement novelty of the
Frankfort Electrical Exhibition is
labyrinth arranged in triangles, hav-
ing similar boundaries-a pair of
pillars and sort of byzantine arch