The record-union., 1897-12-20
SCIENCE BREVITIES.

Several English publications" says
the American Machinist," have re-
Gently discovered that the American
mile is, 5000 feet instead of $3.50. The
same discovery is not yet known in the
United States: but they are using it
over there in an attempt to discount
some of our locomotive performances"
A French inventor, we are told by
Engineering" has made use Of rub
Der tube as a core on which to mold
pipes of cement and sand ITO make
a continuous conduit in the ground a
trench is dug, and at the bottom of this
a layer of cement mortar is placed. On
this rests the rubber tube, which Is
surrounded by canvas and inflated. The
remainder of the trench is then filled
with cement mortar, and as soon as this
is set the rubber core can be Debated
and removed for use elsewhere. 1t is
stated that six-inch pipes have been
made on this plan out Of hydraulic lime
and sand at a cost Of about % cents
per yard"
Mexico has now become a producer
of sulphur, aside from that which is
obtained from the crater of Popocate-
Engineering and Mining Journal" "a
trial consignment having been received
recently at Yuma from the mines in
Lower California, which are being ex-
plotted by an American company. Ar
rangements for the construction Of an
aerial tramway to bring sulphur on a
large scale from the summit Of Popo-
catepetl to the foot Of the mountain
have been discussed for q long time,
and surveys have been made, but we
have not yet heard that actual opera
tions have been commenced
IN. B. Renault has long worked at
the indications of bacteria found in ge-
illogical strata" says the Dental
Practitioner" "and publishes the gen.
eral result of his observations in a pa
per illustrated by large number of
drawings. As might be expected from
their simple structure, bacteria appear
to have been coeval with the first ap-
pearance of organic life on earth. the
cocoid form being apparently earlier
than the bacillar. Indications of their
presence are found in bone, teeth scales
and coprolites, as we'll as abundantly
| in vegetable tissues, the spores and
sporanges Of ferns appearing to have
been especially subject to their attacks
The species are, as rule. distinct from
those at present in existence
"a gliding boat is a mechanical nov
city which has lately been tried in
England with considerable success, y
says Popular Science News" 1.-TWO
parallel hulls are connected by cross
beams, forming a platform on which
are placed the engine and boiler. The
propeller shaft runs down obliquely into
the water. Beneath the hulls are Sc
cured fiat blades, extending from one
keel to the other, and projecting some
distance on each side The fiat sur
faces of the blades incline slightly up
ward in front. When the engine is
started the boat gradually rises to the
surface, and when a speed of twenty
miles an hour is reached, as was actu-
ally realized, only the back part of the
blades touches the water"
THE total mileage of electric traction
in Europe" says the Electrical En-
gineer" Gondon), comes to $40 miles,
on which are employed about 300 car
riages. In America the total mileage
is about 1900 miles $4,000 would be
more accurate figure) but the cir
cumstances are of course different.
Progress in America and progress in
Europe are two very different things,
but there are many indications that
Europe is going ahead now very fast,
not only in the matter of electric trac-
ton, but also as regards lighting and
the more general use of electricity. We
know what rapid developments are TAX
ing place in England, and perusal of
the French and other Continental elec-
tric papers reveals the fact that those
countries are. if anything, ahead of Us
in the way they are adopting electricity
in small towns as well as large, espe-
cially for traction purposes"