The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-05-10
prepared Weekly, for the CItizen.l

prepared Weekly, for the Citizenl
Gem-stones are far more numerous
than is commonly supposed, observes
Mr.. 4. Meirs, of the British Museum,
although they often pass muster under
erroneous names. Tourmaline is sold II
as ruby, cinnamon stone as jacinth,
white jargon and phenacte as dia-
mond, while green garnets are univers-
ally known in the trade as Divine or
peridot. That the varieties of avail 4
able gem-stones are not far more numer-
GUS Is due mainly to the prejudice of
purchasers, who ring the changes on
diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emer-
aids, and have heard of nothing else;
estimating the stones, rs the public es-
Inmates popular actors or authors, not
by their real excellence, but by their
names. In the mineral gallery of the
British Museum are many examples of
cut stones, which have rarely or never
been employed in jewelry, but should
certainly win favor on their own mer-
its. Que very curious example is a lit
tie gem cut from a crystal Of the orli-
nary tin-stOne the same ore which is
worked for tin in the Cornish mines.
This is a stone which, when cut from
sufficiently transparent crystal, pos
sesses a most beautiful lustre and color
Another example is single rough
fragment of stone from the ruby mines
of Burmah, which has puzzled many
but has been proven by scientific tests
to be the boro-sificate of lime known as
Donburite, and whose appearance leads
to the belief that il would make beau
tiful gem.
An English chemist has found that
peculiar waX-evidently not existing
in the raw fibre-is sometimes formed
during the disintegration of cotton and
linen pulp, and is deposited on the iron
walls of the beaten. The occurrence,
which few paper-makers have noticed,
seems to be due to some peculiarly of
the bleaching process. In one case 30
pounds of deposit was collected, and .
this yielded U54 per cent OF the sub
stance resembling bees'-wax.
Experiments have been made To de-
termine whether argon exists in notro-
genous vegetables or animal tissues,
but no evidence of Its presence in peas
or in mice could be obtained.
In recent lecture reviewing his in
vestigation of atmospheric electricity
between 1862 and 1865, Lord Kelvin
stated that some very peculiar phe-
nCmena were discovered 1t proved
more difficult to dselectrify the atmos-
phere than to electrify it. The air be-
comes electrified when electricity is de-
posted in il, the electric force being
continually varying and sudden
changes IN electritcation are explained
by the masses of differently electrified I
air. A peculiar phenomenon is that
wherever waterfall strikes againsta
rock the air is negatively electrified.
The pattering of the drops does this.
BY shaking watef IN bottle ii is pos
slble to generate IA strong solution of /
salt causing a positive Identification of I
the air, while fresh water causes mega
tive electriEcation. AS two-thirds of I
the earth's surface is ocean, the spray
Of storms must give positive electrifi- /
cation, and it is quite possible that /
storms at sea may explain the constant /
average of the positive electricity of the /
air.
A cellulose paint is recommended .
by French writer for the protection \
of steel ships and all exposed metal T
surfaces. He would use ten per cent. /
solution of ordinary wood pulp, colored |
as desired, with the addition, at the |
time of using, of some siccative, such /
as an acid salt of lead or of manganese.
This paint is said to be more adhesive .
than oil paints, and it finally becomes
insoluble and absolutely inalIerable.
Flammarion, the ingenious French
astronomer, has been photographinp
the celestial pole. The position of this
is constantly varying on account of the
procession of the equinoXes and other
movements of the earth, but with a
stationary telescope its place at any
particular time may be accurately de-
termined from the circular lines drawn
on Photographic plate by the circum-
polar stars; some of the plates used re-
cord the tracings of more than 200
stars. On a photograph taken last
September with an exposure OF go
minutes, the arcs of the paths of the
stars have length of 60.50, and the
different paths closely join to give a Sc
ries of broken circles around a centre
which represents the point toward
which the earth's axis is pointed.
Experiments by NJ. Augustus Strind-
berg are said to indicate that sulphur,
instead OF being an elementary sub
stance, is really fossil resin or btu
men, and compound of carbon, oXv-
gen and hydrogen
An artificial hand that will not give
chill to the person shaking it-one
4, that is warm and pulsating-is an in
vention claimed by a New York man.
When exhibited, the hand was covered
with kid glove, and underneath the
glove, according to the Electrical Re
Ciew, there was felt gentle throbbing
motion which seemed to be commune
Gated to the diving hand while an
equally gentle and pleasant warmth
was plainly perceptible. 1t seemed
hard indeed to realize that the hand
was not one of living flesh and blood.
The apparatus is said to be very SIM
pie, small dry battery supplying one
electrical current which gently heats
minute abestos tubes-or "veins"-in
the fingers, while another current sets
in motion a number of small dia-
phrams in the palm, thus giving the
throbbing motion to the hand.
disease known as aphthous fever,
identical with the foot-and-mouth dis
oacn of ouftla hao l,aa,,