The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-07
SCIENTIFIC.


OF collodion, is advised by Professor Klein
az an elastic and waterproof coating for
small wounds.
Some metal-backed glass mirrors of the
third or fourth century have been investi-
gated by NJ. Bertheot. They are of Gallo
Roman origin, and the backing is of lead.
which seems TO have been applied in
molten state.
A French bread-making process consists
in soaking the grain and passing it sue
cessively through u crushing and knead-
ing machine, which convert it directly into
dough. This contains the full nutritive
value of the grain, and, it is claimed, can
be kept Indefinitely.
Italian physicians seem to be convinced
that the long-sought remedy ror pulmonary
consumption has at last been found in Dr..
Maraglianos serum. DR.. De Rehzi of
Naples University, reports forty-four cures
in his hospital practice, with even greater
success among his private patients.
A powder of resorcin, sulphate of Quinine
and sugar, blown into the throat, is re-
garded by DR.. LeauriauX, of Brussels as
an absolute specific for whooping cough
two hundred cases, of which tWenty-six
have been detailed to the Paris Academy
of Medicine.
The diffusion of alcoholic ferments by in
sects-especially by ants and flies-has been
a subject of experiment by DR.. Amedeo
Berlese, an Italian biologist. 1t is found not
only that yeasts-varying according to their
source-are conveyed by these INSECTS but,
that they live and multiply in the interior
of flies, and are doubtless largely preserved
during the cold season in the bodies of in
sects. The part played by living organisms
in disseminating the yeasts to which the
fermentation of fruits, etc., is due must be
very much greater than that by air.
1t appears that the personal equation"
in scientific work may be literally mat
ter of personal magnetism. A French ac-
count states that a certain person exerts a
magnetic influence toward a galvanometer
needle, which is DETECTED first one way and
then the other as this person turns himself
before it while completely undressed Nu-
merouS repetitionS of the experiment have
given the same result. A dozen other per-
sons had not the slightest effect on the
needle, but another human magnet was dis
covered in Murani, an Italian professor,
whose breast is a magnetic north POLE while
his back is a south pole. This peculiar
quality clearly units its possessor for max
ing delicate galvanometer measurements.
For many years surgical cauters have
been made depending on the curious prop
erty of fine platinum wire of remaining in
candescent under the influence of hydro
carbon vapors, and an attempt was long
ago made to apply the principle to illumina-
ton. A portable luminous protector is the
new idea of M. Brenot, maker of surgical
small sphere of platinum gauZe, placed in
the center of a metallic reflector with a
hollow handle, containing a gaSoline-Satu-
rated sponge, through which air is forced
from rubber bulb or compassionate reser-
voir. The proportions of air and vapor can
be varied until the maximum effect is pro-
duced. One form of apparatus includes a
knapsack air reservoir, and with a nine
inch reflector a surface of forty square
yards is brightly lighted up at a distance
of more than two hundred yards Such a
light is expected to prove especially useful
in military and detective operations
A very unusual subject of analysis-a
ladys silk dress-is reported by an English
chemist DR.. T. L. Phipson, as having been
brought recently to his laboratory. In the
course of his work it developed that much
of the material was not silk at all, and
that much of the foreign substance was
oxide of tin, making the fabric richer than
much poor tin ore from Cornwall, and dem
onstrating the fact that the silk dresses
seen daily on London's fashionable thor
oughfares represent, taken together, Cor
niSh mine of very fair quality. 1t proved,
moreover, that the mateIial-instead OF last
ing a lifetime, as pure silk was once sup
posed to do-would not continue present.
able three months if worn every day. These
are the figures of the analysis: Water, 1l.43;
ash (mostly tin oxide and silica), 14.3O; real
silk 2S.14; organic matters, ETC., not silk,
46.1S. serious assertion, It is added, is
that the weighted silks of France, Ger
many and Switzerland, which grow shabby
in a few weeks, are even preferred by the
public, as fashions charge so rapidly tnaJ
better material is useless.
The Royal Gardens at Kew. though es-
tablished as national institution in 1S40
had no official record of work done until
1887. A review of the first decade of the
Kew Bulletin shows great progress as di-
rect or indirect result of Kew's influence.
Botanic stations, dealing with new eco
nomic plants in the colonies, belong almost
entirely to this period, the first having been
established at Grenada and Barbados in
1856 while there are now nine in the West
Indies, with five on the west coast of At
RIGA and one in Fiji. An important colonial
development has been the increasing trade
in fruit. This began with the shipment of
oranges and bananas from Jamaica to the
United States, and within the ten years has
been followed by a considerable importation
of fresh fruit into England from Cape Col
ony and Australia. Kew has aided in the
introduction of several fruits OF the West
Indies into the East Indies, and OF new
bananas and mangoeS into the former. The
fioras of many regions have been investi-
gated. The world has been rdnSacked for
new orchids whose culture is so important
in England and not less than 766 species
and varieties lowered at Kew in 1890. Re-
cent attention has been given to the tropf-
cal and subtropical plants or the Riviera,
and the trees and shrubs OF the United
States. Many plant diseases have been Spe-
cially investigated. A studythas been made
of fiber plants of which about seventy are
now known. many OF the nbers having been
traced to their source, and other valuable
information secured. Important new
sources OF Understanding the remarkable
one of Lagos-have been pointed out and
developed Information has been collected
regarding various teas. including P'u-erh
tea, made into huge balls or into cakes;
tablet and brick teas, compressed from tea
dust. Lao tea. used only for chewing, and
Leppett tea, a picked tea, eaten with the
food Since the important discovery Of
Seeding sugar canes at Barbados a seed
ling from Kew has yielded excellent re-
suits in Queensland. The highland coffee
81 Sierra Leone has been pointed out as a
possible rival Of the Arabian coffee. and