Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-11-24
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

4 %Ah R4A6tAo - o<t an 1tNE'
Britain which. it is claimed will abats
the sewer gas nuisance in large cities
/ tits reported that the frigate bird car
fly at the rate OF 100 miles an hour
and live in the air a week at time
without touching a roost
1t is reported that NJ Bertillon, the
inventor Of the anthropomstrical sys-
tenn Of Identification adopted by the
Paris police. is endeavoring to revive
the use of the picture telegraph He
believes that in rapidly transmitting
and disseminating the portraits OF
suspected anarchists and other crimi-
nails, it would be found Of very grea,
service.
Cobaltic nitrate is found by DIR.
Johann Antal. chemist of Hungary,
to be an antidote to prussic acid and
cyanide poisoning. First he tried the
cobalt on animals and then, presunia-
bly, at different times, on 10 living
persons, who had been accidently
poisoned by prussic acid, and in all
cases the results are reported to have
been satisfactory.
Serum for treatment of diptheria
has been obtained so Ear i'll France
from old hack horses. The French
Government now proposes to give
the Pasteur Institute the first choice
in the selection of horses condemned
as no longer fit for the French cav
airy service. 1t takes from to IS
months TO prepare horse to furnish
the serum used in the latest cure for
diptheria.
The thermogen is an appliance for
keeping up the temperature of pa
tient during the operation, doing
away with blankets and hot water
bottles. 1t is in the form of quilted
cushion, with an arrangement of fiae
wires inside, by which any desired
degree of heat may be maintained by
electricity. 1t was exhibited at the
last meeting of the Royal Society of
England.
The shark, much as the sailors may
hate it, furnishes several valuable pro-
ducts. An oil obtained from its liver
vies in medicinal qualities with that
obtained from the liver OF the cod; its
skin, when dried, takes the hardness
and polish of mother of pearl, and is
used by jewellers for fancy objects, by
binders for making shagreen, and by
cabinet makers for polishing wood;
while the Chinese pickle its fins and
think them one of the greatest delica,
cies beneath the sun.
If a can of milk is .placei near all
open vessel containing turpentine, the
smell Of turpentine is soon communi-
Gated to- the milk. The same result
occurs as regards tobacco. paraffin,
assafptida, camphor, and many other
strong smelling substances. Milk
should also be kept at distance from
every volatile substance and inilkwhich
has stood in sick chambers, should
never be drank. The power of milk
to disguise the taste Of drugs-as po-
tassium iodide. opium, salicylate, etc
lis well known.
We hear that new material, COM
posed of coir fiber, which is obtained
from the husk of the cocoanut mixed
with bitumen, is about to be intro
duced into this country for road paw
ing When formed into blocks and
laid on roadway it forms a surface
which is said to possess all the adj
vantages ofwood ami asphalt, with
none Of the objection to those mater
ials. 1t is wholly impervious to mois-
ture, gives sare foothold for horses,
is very durable. is moreover, very
cheap and the old material can be
utilized again and again for making
new blocks-Invention Q.ondon