The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-31
SCIENTIFIC.

The production of jet black roses is the
remarkable botanical feat claimed by Rus
sian horticulturist.
A French army sugeon claims several adj
vantages for bullet of compressed paper
covered with polished aluminium, the chief
being that the wounds surgically Clean
healing with little risk of blood poisoning.
Testing lamp burning olive oil under va
rious atmospheric pressures, Professor Ben
edicenti has proven that combustion is as
complete in the rarefied air at the summit
OF mountain 10000 feet high as at sea level
but that it becomes considerably slower as
the height is increased
Statistics lately collected in various local
tiles in Bavaria and in Sweden prove a def
mite relation between the hardness of the
drinking water used and the decay of the
teeth. Teeth were most affected where the
water was soft or contained little of the
alkaline earth salts and the harder the
water the sounder were the teeth.
Trees that weave bedclothing are among
Ecuador's wonders. A recent description
of an Indian blanket of that country states
that it is more than six by five feet in size
is as soft and pliable as flannel and can
be rolled and placed in a shawl strap with
out injury, and that 1T is simply the inner
bark from section of the trunk of the
demajagua tree.
What appears to be hybrid between the
lion and the tiger has been exhibited in
London museum. The animal is about two
years old. and by artificial light its ground
color is that of the lion. while faint tiger
stripes distinctly visible, especially on
the tail. Further marks of the tiger are
seen at the corners Of the mouth where the
hairs. which are white in the lion, are jet
black
The heaviest substance known is the metal
osmium, whose specific gravity is 22477,
while that of gold is 1926, lead 1887, iron
: =
O.594. Osmium is also the most infusible of
the metals. 1t reSists the oxyhydrogen
flame, in which platinum and iridium flow
like water and is even almost entirely I'M
affected by the electric arc which readily
melts the extremely refractory ruthenium.
In new method for converting peat into
charcoal, M. B. Jebsen uses cylindrical re-
torts heated by electricity. The retorts are
lined with asbestos or other suitable nom
conductor which is wound spirally with an
iron wire, while another winding is en-
bedded in asbestos surrounding the core.
These wires serve as reSiStances for deVel-
oping heat from the electric current passing
through them. 1t is claimed that the heat
ing is made more uniform and thorough, as
well as more exact, than by any other pro-
cess, and, destructive burning is avoided
while timeAis saved.
Calcium has been described by most work.
ers as a yellow metal. NJ Moissan sup
poses that this error has been due to i'm
purities, as none of the methods until now
attempted have yielded the pure metal,
which is white. This author describes two
ways of reducing the impurity to less than
per cent. In the first the calcium is dis
solved in liquid sodium at dull red heat.
and separates out in brilliant hexagonal
crystals on cooling, when the sodium may
be removed by cautiously treating with abb
solute alcohol. Electrolysis of fused call
cium iodide yields similar white calcium
crystals.
Globe making has not kept pace with
map making and Prof. Elisee Reclus points
out that a genuine revolution may be ac-
complished when the former takes its de-
served place in science and practice. Only
when geography is taught by large and ac-
curate models shall we gain a true idea of
the earth's surface A small globe cannot
represent the highlands and mountains, but
on a scale of at least 1 to 100000 the
heights and depths can be shown. and on
a sphere Of l to 100000 even hillocks fifty
yards high can be made TO appear. The
plan OF exaggerating attitudes is unscientific
and to be discouraged. The cOnstruc-
ton of huge globe has long been a pet
scheme with the distinguished French geog-
Tapher and he urges that the time for II
has now come; that the work should be