The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-03-30
SCIENTIFIC MATTERS.
INFORMATION CONCERNING INDUS.
TRY AND SCIENCE.
Electrical Energy From Peat-E1ec-
tricity at the P~IOw-GIass for Eiec-
t-ica1 WOrk-A Common Scientific
Observation-Disclosures Notes.

bhDE =
1t is pretty well known that the dy-
namos which furnish current for lights,
street cars etc, are driven by steam en-
gines, gas engines, water wheels and
other prime movers, but it is not so
well understood that the great charm
of electricity to many economists Is
its aid in utilizing a great number of
waste and by products. For example,
a great many saw mills get their light
and power by burning up their own
shavings under the boilers, while
many coal mines are now using up
their w culm piles, thus preventing
the further accumulation of the vast
mounds that distinguish coal regions.
Another scheme, more or less practic-
ed, is the consumption Of city refuse,
while holder but less practical ones
aim at the use of the tides, although
something is already being don with
the help of the winds. But perhaps
the most original idea of all is the ear
nest suggestion of Mr.. J. Munro, a
leading English electrician to derive
electrical energy from peat. 1t ap-
pears that i'm the United Kingdom
there are no fewer than 100000 acres
of peat of an average depth of II feet.
The total extent of peat in Ireland Is
2,S30,OOO acres, or about ~One-Seventh
of the whole area of the Emerald Isle.
| AS the fuel value of raw peat is, COM
pared with coal, about 1 to 6, and as
the quality in Ireland is reckoned equi-
valent to 1000. 900 tons of coal, that
at II shillings a ton represents the 81
gantic value of f2S0, 100000. 1t will
surprise many Irislimen to find their
| county so rich. Anyhow, the advis-
ability of peat as fuel is beyond dis
pute. Little Holland uses 100000 tons
a year, and in Sweden some 10000 tons
are used as fuel in metallurgical opera
tiOns. Mr.. Munro suggests thai moth
ing could be better for Ireland and
Scotland than to convert their peat
bogs into electricity for light, heat anC
power. He says, "Just as in the case
of Niagara, where electric power Ii
to be sem to the City of Buffalo by
wire, so in the Highlands and ireland
it could be distributed to work rail
WAYS and to the nearest towns ant
villages, and Oban, Inverness, or ever
Glasgow, might derive both light ant
energy from what is now the dark
inert and dismal moor of Rannoch.
1t is believed that such measures Nigh
do much to keep the Highlanders IL
their ancestral home and prevent tn
Irish from further repatriation.
A Common Scientific Language.
One of the most encouraging signs IL
the of acknowledgements il
this country is the way in which tn
medical profession has been reaching
out towards electricians and compal
ing and interchanging with them idea
on the physiological and physical phe
nomena of electricity. Not long ag
the medical man who had spent year
in the conscientious study of the al
plication of electricity to medicine
still wanted the confidence to submit
his results to the scrutiny and crit
cism of the professional electrician
and the usefulness of much homes
and valuable work was thus deplor;
bly, circumscribed. Within the las
two years, however, electro-therapel
lists have realized that they can we
afford to stand by their results an
NAYS ClOSt dSSONldtIoh th'
with electrical bodies, and one of tn
most notable lectures given last yea
before the American Institute of Ele
trical Engineers was by DIR. w.
Morton, on ELECTRICITY in Medicine
On the other hand, many leadir
electricians are making careful +
searches IN the physiological bearin
Of electrical phenomena, and in vie
aaa ,lo,o. ,a1ntinnS hptDvnon mod
cine and electricity, DR.. w. J. Her
man urges the adoption Of a cosmop
Titan language in electrical scienc
He saws: "Words must mean the san
to the acknowledgements that the
do to the physicist. For the sake
simplicity, and clearness and in II
interest of progress, the electro-th
rapeutist must be willing to lay asst
his 'galvanism,' and 'farad:sm' al
sneak. of constant and induced Gu
rents, while the physicist, electric
I engineer and biologist, on the 9th
hand, must not affect a system of p
culiarly technical expressions
1t is interesting to note that Il
same idea has Just been ventilated
! France. M. Hospitalier, the we
e known French electrician and write
$ IN drawing attention to the errors al
: inaccuracies of language in Fren
> public documents relating to scien
8 &c matters. says: In ientific Ia
guage there should be no synonym
one word should be dictated to o
thing, and have a perfectly detinI
!, meaning. 1t lis poverty rather TIL
= wealth of words that science demand
: Where compound words are require
they should be formed according
a strict rule, and always used in thu
q entirety"
Electricity at the Plow,
1t is a good many years ago sin
s. the first attempts were made in G.