The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-17

steamer which, on temporary gridiron
between absolute dryneSs and partial fiOta-
spondent of Engineering declares that the
vessel must haze been badly strained. In
experiments on the Clyde large steel
steamers under varying loads have shown
tire length
''Maniak.' or glance pitch" now being
exported from Barbados in increasing
quantity, is kind of petroleum in bitumi-
nous form, and is found in veins like coal
searls. When powdered it is capable of
producing a great amount of heat. Its low
melting point makes it difficult to use for
fire. but this difficulty has been largely
overcome-and a valuable fuel produced
by mixing IL with infuSorial earth. which
is found in the same locality.
Many nervous and mental conditions not
easily explained are attributed by Prof.
Desplats to auto-hypnotism. In one ex-
ample young man was hypnotzed by the
sight of a pair of shining scissors or the
revolving wheels of a bicycle and per-
formed singular actions; while another
gaze of certain friend which became so
uncomfortable to both that they separated
to distant towns. Hypnotism in sport is
very dangerous, il leads to susceptible
ity that may bring serious results.
Seeking to determine the minimum en-
ergy capable of working the Atlantic ca
BILE, the operator at Valencia, in 1866, sent
vigorous signals by means of a battery cell
made from a lady's silver thimbe Not to
be outdone, the American operator made
a battery from an empty gun cap and q
tiny strip of zinc and with this transmit
ted faint but ineligible signals from
Hearts Content. The gun-cap battery, &C
cordng to the Electrical World. is now in
possession of Mr.. H. II. Ward, of New
York
Rubber tubing is used as a core for cast
ing pipes for underground service in the
novel method of French engineer. The
trench is dug and given bottom of ce-
ment mortar, then the tubing lowered with
canvas and inflated-is placed this bot
tom and the trench Is hiled up with &C.
Der core is debated and removed for use
elsewhere. This plan of molding conduits
is simple and economical, and six-inch
pipes from hydraulic lime and sand are
said to have been made at Z or cents a
foot.
The mosquito has prevented or hindered
the settlement Of 100000 to 100000
square miles of fruitful territories. In a
mosquito map of the world" Popular Sci
ence News shows the distribution of this
enormous insect reservation, which is al
most uninhabitable by man. ana comprises
the whole of western Africa from the great
desert to Fish river, half the Sunda ISL
ands, all the vast tundras of northern ST.
lands in the United States, eastern Mexico,
eastern Guatemala and Honduras, with
about two-thirds of South America.
A very sensitive indicator of alterations
in manuscripts has been found by Prof.
Bruylants, of Louvain, in iodine vapor
When a sheet of paper which has been
sized and finished is moistened and ex-
posed, after thorough drying, to this vapor,
the portion that has been moistened be-
violet while
appears brownish yellow. The rubbed por-
lions of a manuscript are shown by a
brOwnish tint. When a rubbed surface Is
moistened after exposure to the iodine it
takes q blue color, and the rubbed por-
tions are made distinct after drying by
paler tint, evidently due to removal of
some OF the starch size. The reactions
somewhat less distnct-may be made 10
appear on paper that has been entirely
in press. Even erased pencil marks may
be brought out on highly sized surface.
Our theories of certain perplexing phe-
nomena are likely to be considerably mod
flied by the researches Professor Goldstein
is carrying on at the Royal Astronomical
Observatory of Berlin. A fact we'll known
is that when a solid body is interposed in
the path of the cathode rays in a vacuum
tube it becomes itself secondary source
of cathode rays, upon which the primary
cathode appeaIS to exercise a repulSiVe &C
ton, and this has suggested the theory
that the sun is primary cathode, sending
out cathode rays to immense distances
and that the solid or gaseous nucleus of
a comet is a secondary cathode, which
sends out cathode rays always directed
away from the sun. The secondary rays
are the visible tail of the comet. In the
remarkable experiments already made
Professor Goldstein has reproduced in his
vacuum tubes most of the phenomena of
comets tails, while he hopes to be able
to explain such other mysteries as the red
flames and prominences seen around the
eclipsed sun, with the magnetic storms,
auroras, thunderstorms and other terres-
trial phenomena supposed to be influenced
by solar action.
The human mind is still evolving, in the
view of DR.. r. M. Buckle, as expressed at
the Montreal meeting of the British Med
ical Association. By slow and dubious
steps, taken in darkness our remote an
cestors YEARLY climbed to simple con-
seriousness, he affirms, and after another
immense interval they reached self-con-
seriousness. This cannot be the end. Our
old mental faculties are some of them fad
Ing out, others advancing toward greater
perfection and alongside of them new ones
are springing up, some of which WILL with
out doubt, be of overShadoWing Importance
in the future. So-called telepathy and
clairvoyance seem to be specimens of such
naScent faculties. But OF infinitely more
Importance than these is that super
imposed upon self-consciousness, as is that
faculty upon simple consciousness, a third
and higher form of consciousness is at
present making its appearance in our race.
We have had occasional and increasingly
numerous examples of it for two thousand
years. In the course of a few more mil
lenniums there should be born a type of
men possessing this higher consciousness,
and the advent Of this higher, better and
happier race would justify the agony of it's
birth through our past