The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1897-09-17
written for the Citizen.)

An electric rallTOau ol NdPe Ao"h
has caused much trouble in the work
ing of the submarine cable of the East
ern and South African Telegraph Com
pany. To avoid anchors this cable is
looped around Table Bay. being
brought in this way within about 9OO
wards of the tramway for a mile or
more, and the consequence has been
that whenever a car was started or the
wheels passed over sand or other OBJ
iects on the rails, the record of the tel
egraph receiver became irregular. No
effective remedy was found until sec
ond cable was laid alongside the first
for ten miles and connected to the re-
ceiver at one end and to earth at the
other.
A metallurgist states that a mixture
of equal parts of alumlnum and iron
casts solid, but soon crumbles sponta-
neously, and that the useful alloys con-
tain but a surprisingly small proper
ton of aluminium. The amount added
to steel is usually but two to four
ounces per ton. This increases mate
rally the soundness of the ingots and
causes the metal to pour much more
quietly, but slightly larger proper
ton leads to piping of the ingots, and
waste.
A new worm, living in colonies in
the roots of astors and popularity
known as "aster-worm," has been de-
scribed by Rev. Hilderic Friend, of
Upton, England, under the scientific
name of Enchytrdels pdrUuLuS Friend.
1t is the most minute member known
of the order including the earthworms.
Its length is only about an eighth of
an inch, yet it has thirty segments,
the first six or seven being pelucid
The "acid drops" of the confection-
ers are suggested by British pharma-
ceutical writer as an effective cure for
the tobacco appetite, smoking while
the acid taste remains in the mouth
being peculiarly nauseating.
Powdered pumice stone has been
found by a German chemist to be an
effective fitering medium for liquids
containing precipltates-like barium
alphabetically to pass through paper.
Ambergris has been already shown
by Profs. G. Gouchet and H. Beaure-
gard to be an interesting calculus
which it develoved in the rectum of the
sperm whale. This calculus is COM
posed of crystals of ambrine mixed
with varying proportions of black pig
ment from the rectal lining and with
star-coral debris, and when freshly re-
moved is soft and not at all pleasant in
odor. After preservation in an air.
tight tin case for some years, the faecal
odor is lost, or transformed Into an
agreeable perfume that gives the mate
rial value of $3.50 to $500 per pound.
Little weight is lost, and this is not a
case of slow desication which can be
initiated or accelerated by the with
drawal of water. Continuing the re-.
searches, M. Beauregard now finds
that the change is due to a microbe,
which he names SpiTillum recH Phuse-
teTts, and which appears slowly to de-
stroy the offensive odor and to produce
the delicate perfume. 1t has not been
determined whether this micrube is
capable of producing disease in the
whale or in man.
Perhaps the most marvellous ceme-
terry known to science is the sheet of
chalk which seems at one time to have
covered the country from southern
England to Central Asia beyond the
Sea of Aral, having an area about 5000
miles long by 1000 miles broad. This
enormous bed was formed entirely of
microscopic remains of minute sea ami
mails. Isolated patches of the great
sheet now remain, that of England be.
ing more than 1000 feet thick. and
covering the island southeast of a line
extending diagonally from the North
Sea at Marlborough Head to the coast
of the English Channel in Deoset.
Delirium tremens has been studied
by DR.. Jacobson, Danish ph ysician.
from records of PAT recovered cases. He
finds that while chronic alcoholism il
Il necessary condition to the evolution
OF the disease, it is not sufficient alone
to bring about an attack, which re.
quires also some toxic agent, such as
may result from bacteria or from dis
eases of the digestive tract, the kid
neys or the liver. 1t is especially liable
to be complicated by pneumonia. 1t
resembles itself an infectious disease.
having stage of incubation, a dura-
ton of about four days, and ending
with critical sleep. No treatment
appears capable of shortening the dis
ease.
Spring and others have shown that
metals may sometimes alloy at tenn
peratures far below their melting
points, and another remarkable dis.
covery of similar kind is Berthelot's re-
cent combination of oxygen and hy-
drogen at temperatures below 3OOO G.
The action seems to depend largely on
the presence of third body, as in the
well-known combustion through the
influence of spongy platinum. With
baryta, n per cent. of a mixture of OK.
ygen and hydrogen soon disappeared
at 250o, and the whole of it had turned
to water in 26 hours. The baryta at
first combines with part of the oxy-
gen to form barium dioxide, which is
then reduced by the remaining hydro
! gen.
Ossalin is a grayish-white fat pre-
! pared from beef-bone marrow, and
recommended as an ointment base. 1t
/ ia QlQimQd IN ho 20 no hlo of 70 f-;,,r. -. . .